As the economy continues its tumble, bargains are showing up in the oddest places. Remember those folks who snapped up lots of inexpensive domain names during various dot-com booms, then sold them to the highest bidder for staggering prices? I do, because sites I wanted were occupied by investors.
Very few people are snapping up domain names now, and it turns out that some investors are very happy to sell domain names at reasonable prices. I bought “writerway.com” last week, and it’s now pointing to my Writer Way blog. A happy reunion.
If someone else has the domain name you’ve always wanted, a modest offer from you might look good to them in the current economy. It’s worth a try.
And, if you do purchase a domain name, be sure to read some articles on transferring ownership (I didn’t trust any of the ones I read enough to recommend them here!). It’s a bit tricky. The bottom line seems to be that ISP that is hosting the domain name needs to provide the seller with a unique transfer password that the seller gives the buyer to release the domain name. In my case, the seller was unfamiliar with the process, and I ended up opening a free account with the same ISP and paying the annual domain name fee to them, keeping them as the registrar for the time being.
As for transferring the contents of writerway.blogspot.com from Blogger to WordPress, it went smoothly, bringing in archives, images, and links. It did, however, take a very long time — nearly two hours. If the WordPress dashboard still says “Importing,” believe it, and be patient.
Welcome to Writer Way on WordPress!