Don’t do keyword research at 3:00 AM.

Why?

Chances are, you’ll hit on a cool phrase that sends you off to other cool phrases, then you take up residence on the domain name registrar of your choice’s name search page…only to end up registering names that may not make as much sense in the light of day.

How many domain names do I have registered at present? Too many for me, since I’m neither in the flipping nor the development stage. But I have a LOT less than those who are utilizing those processes. I just grab ‘em cause they “sound cool” most of the time.

Now I ask, what reputable domainer or web developer registers a domain name just cause it sounds cool, huh? Hence this post that I must be an “aholic” when it comes to domain names.

Check this out: on Skype, I’m the “Idea Fairy.” Why? Because I constantly am having new ideas…about something. Not a day goes by when I haven’t at some point in the day gone, “Ooooh, that’s a great idea!” Sometimes I write them down, sometimes I go so far as to plan out possible businesses and…you guessed it…register a domain name for it.

Once I had an idea for a service that would pamper women who just wanted to feel special. It would have been a recurring income service, with affiliations with some big-name companies from various industries like flowers, cards, jewelry, and more. Was a really good idea. I had everything all planned out, too, even to the color of the envelopes and boxes, and the company logo.

There’s a guy over on one of the forums I frequent who probably still laughs about this one, but hey, it sounded like a really, really good idea at the time. Er…I STILL have two domain names for this business idea.

But that’s not the only one. Oh, no.

I also had an idea to create my own virtual kingdom online. Delusions of grandeur, anyone? Really. In this kingdom, I would be queen, and I would issue letters patent to anyone who paid the fees of investiture (I think that’s what it was called) for their noble titles within the kingdom. Still have that domain name too. Actually, have a few that would fit in with that.

Want another one? I decided to create my own holiday, one that would fit with the release (and promotion) of my then latest book release. Of course I had an idea for products I could sell on that holiday, too. I actually picked up three related domain names for this.

Here’s another…Internet marketing. Ever notice how there’s so many tricks and strategies in this industry? Well, I decided somewhere in my brain that the IM industry was very, very close to another popular industry at present, and that this other industry makes a fortune selling a certain type of guide.

What did I do? Ran out and grabbed two domain names with the intention of creating my own guides for IM and selling them here. Even mapped out the thing, ready for research and writing. It’s still sitting in my notebook right now, but I haven’t done anything with it yet.

These are just a few of the examples of my obsession with grabbing domains to match my many ideas. I haven’t even mentioned those related to my writing endeavors (pen names and book titles) or my promotional endeavors, or my city directory ideas, or my training websites, or my publishing endeavors, or my web/graphic design sites, or my associations, or my fan sites, or…or my…you get the picture, right?

Some days it goes from silly to downright ridiculous. But it keeps me occupied. Which, I think, is the same as keeping me distracted enough I don’t manage to do anything with what I have…I just keep getting more.

Don’t get me wrong, some of the domain names have fully developed websites. They make me money, too. How else do you think I can afford to keep getting more, huh? But there’s so many more that aren’t developed, some days I really wonder if I’ll ever get around to doing anything with them all, or if I’m just hoarding them up for no good reason other than “they sounded cool at the time.”

So there’s my confession. I love domain names. The more the better. And someday…someday I’m actually going to put sites up for them. I am. And you’re really going to be surprised!

Just wait till you see what I’m putting together on Extreme Alchemy!

written by Tina Adams