Help! I need to defeat a cybersquatter!

[aptmunich]

Go to Domainr: fast, free, universal domain name search and pick a clever variation of your domain.

[1goodI]

I'm in a similar situation; where the name an associate wants is already taken and the holder isn't doing anything with it.

1. Up your offer with an explanation. If this guy is a business man he just wants to make a profit. Set your max you will pay and negotiate.
2. Pick a new name or some variation. Or better yet try something like my-new-site.com with the dashes. I've done this myself for my tax business.

All in all, this is just business not personal. Treat it as such and you should come out just fine. Good luck on your business.

[RachaelBachael]

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys.


I did check out the .com and googled the name I thought of to make sure there were no conflicts before, the .com was a squatter site so I figured I'd get it easily. Guess not!

My company will be managing all facets of social media for local and domestic businesses as well as creating iPhone apps and basic websites. So if anyone needs that...

Oh and here is all the info I found on the guy:

Joshua Garrett
10223 Berry Hill Ln
Tomball, Texas 77375
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (Domain Names, Web Hosting and SSL Certificates - Go Daddy)
Domain Name: THESTATUSPRO.COM
Created on: 16-Dec-09
Expires on: 16-Dec-10
Last Updated on: 16-Dec-09

Administrative Contact:
Garrett, Joshua joshua@businessremedy.net
10223 Berry Hill Ln
Tomball, Texas 77375
United States
(832) 368-2629 Fax --

Technical Contact:
Garrett, Joshua joshua@businessremedy.net
10223 Berry Hill Ln
Tomball, Texas 77375
United States
(832) 368-2629 Fax --

Domain servers in listed order:
NS61.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS62.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

Thanks again for all of the suggestions!

[RachaelBachael]

Originally Posted by King of Assholes

He doesn't have offers, he's full of shit. Just find a cute way to let know that you're not retarded. You offered $100, he counters with $5,000, so now offer him $101.

I might just do this

Originally Posted by EastTexas

I'm kind of on this guys side. Just because you decided now that you want to call your business that name doesn't mean he has to give it up.

Someone actually owns the domain for my name and has been sitting on it for 8 years and done nothing with it. I'd like to have it, but it doesn't mean he has to give it to me for the price I want.

Luckily I thought of this and went ahead an bought my name.com

Originally Posted by Tech007

- Build a major TV franchise.

- Make a major motion picture

- Petition WIPO based on obsure legal mumbo jumbo.

- Cut a cheque.

Voila! You have a url.


This is 2010 not 1996. Do you have the trademark? Do a title search for prior art in USA? Canada? Overseas? Seriously, get creative - add something zippy to the name you want. Do a blog version. Grab every version you can find. It's gonna cost. No way around it. Internet Biz = Moola. <see G-o-o-g-l-e>

Join your chamber of commerce and ask for help. Look for small business advice on-line and in local gov't and universities/colleges.

Get a lawyer. An accountant. Insurance. Line of credit. Advertising help. SEO advice. etc etc.

Allow 3-5 years to get on your feet.

Bonne Chance!

This is great advice, I will definitely look into all of that!

Originally Posted by 1goodI

I'm in a similar situation; where the name an associate wants is already taken and the holder isn't doing anything with it.

1. Up your offer with an explanation. If this guy is a business man he just wants to make a profit. Set your max you will pay and negotiate.
2. Pick a new name or some variation. Or better yet try something like my-new-site.com with the dashes. I've done this myself for my tax business.

All in all, this is just business not personal. Treat it as such and you should come out just fine. Good luck on your business.

I will try the dashes, I was just trying to make it as easy on my clients as possible with a good old .com

[TheGrundle]

Had the same situation. Had thegrundleonline.com cause thegrundle.com was taken. Five or six years later it came available but they wanted $5000 for it. I offered $150 and they took it. Maybe I got lucky. I'm sure he doesn't really have multiple offers or he woulda sold it already. You can probably talk him down.

[DaHonay]

My company site is both hyphenated and a .net. Never had any problems with clients getting confused. Meta tags etc... you'll be fine.

[DWarrior]

The good thing is that site's quite blatantly a squatter site. If you're targeting people who are somewhat web-savvy, even if they accidentally type .com they'll be reminded and put in the .net

[Rabbit]

If it's a web address that people are randomly typing in then he might be making some money from the ads. Even if he's just profiting $10/month I would turn down your $100 offer.

As other people are saying, you need to find a different domain name.

[hoshnobobo2.0]

Originally Posted by EastTexas

I'm kind of on this guys side. Just because you decided now that you want to call your business that name doesn't mean he has to give it up.

Someone actually owns the domain for my name and has been sitting on it for 8 years and done nothing with it. I'd like to have it, but it doesn't mean he has to give it to me for the price I want.

QFT
the dude has been paying for it its his, just because you don't want to buy it does not mean you can have it. hey i know a guy that has a really nice bike, he never uses it and it just sits in his garage all day. i need a bike to get to work so i asked if i could have it. he said he would sell it, i offered 20 bucks and he said he wanted 500. what a dick!! can you guys help me steal it?

[1goodI]

Originally Posted by RachaelBachael

I might just do this




Luckily I thought of this and went ahead an bought my name.com



This is great advice, I will definitely look into all of that!



I will try the dashes, I was just trying to make it as easy on my clients as possible with a good old .com

good luck.. also check out Andrew Warner and Michael Khalili on twitter and online. These are Chemda's brothers. I'm not saying this to just be a fan. There is a lot of good business advice and tips these guys are offering for free. I've used quite a bit with success.

- 1goodi