Trust - who do ya?
October 23rd, 2007 by Allen Voivod
So I was walking to the office this morning, and the Prince song “Trust” from the 1989 Batman soundtrack popped into my head, unbidden. Not a bad way to start the morning - and certainly better than having “The Name Game” song stuck in there instead.
But “Trust” got me thinking about a topic Lani and I have talked about a lot amongst ourselves and with business owners looking to establish an online presence. (Yes, it’s true, even though it sounds like a thinly veiled, Carrie-Bradshaw-esque thematic plot device.)
It’s domain names and email addresses, and here’s the best way I can think of, with only half a cup of coffee in my bloodstream, to describe the difference between having your own domain, and not having it.
If you’re on eBay, with all other things being equal, who would you trust more?
1. A seller with a contact address of service@batman.com
2. A seller with a contact address of batman4203@verizon.net
The answer: Neither. Since eBay has a robust customer satisfaction rating system in place, and if these two sellers have the exact same customer satisfaction ratings, then it makes no difference from whom you buy.
But say you’re off of eBay now. Instead, you’ve gone to two different websites, which each sell the exact same product for the exact same price. One website is www.verizon.net/pages/batman4203, and the other is www.batman.com.
Who do you trust more with your purchase - including your contact information and credit card information?
The hands-down winner is www.batman.com. And what this example shows is, if you want to inspire customers to trust you with their private purchasing information, you’d best be using a domain name that matches your business name - and not the free space provided to you by your Internet Service Provider.
We use www.AhaWebHost.com for our domains and website hosting (that links to 1&1, possibly the world’s largest provider), and we’ve been perfectly satisfied with their service and responsiveness.
Having your own domain - and the email addresses to go with it - is the first step to “A-Ha Yourself!” online, putting your boldest insights into joy-filled action.
And now, I’m off to find my old Batman CD….
