On Monday, it took me more than three whole hours just to think through all the steps I need to take before I can finally start telling friends and family about this Substack publication. I am DYING to blast this thing but GEEZ.
There is so much housecleaning to do!
I am going to need another week to be ready, maybe two. But shout out to Bay Area Letters for finding his/her way over and liking this article.
My very first “like”! Woo hoo!
URL Forwarding
I redirected the URLs from the “for sale” websites that I had developed a long time ago. Promoting them via Substack will be way easier and more effective. At least I already have all that content.
New Registrations
To my absolute horror, I turned around and registered MORE domain names. Clearly I have issues… HELP!
OrientedMagazine.com - It is impossible to register every two-word phrase imaginable with “oriented”. (Plus anyone who does and manages to have some success will a) inadvertently raise more brand awareness of “oriented”, and b) want to own ORIENTED.COM, eventually.) But not having this particular URL just kept nagging at me, so I broke down and got it.
OrientedHappyHours.com - I had this domain name a long time ago, used it for a few years, no longer needed it, and let it go. But since I’m now on this mission, I got it again. If ORIENTED.COM is acquired by an entity with no interest in the global networking concept - like an autonomous vehicle company - then I have an idea for this URL. It’s not over until I say it is!
Substack Article
I only wrote one Substack post this week — the article about LinkedIn — and then decided not to post any more (try not to, at least), not until I am ready to launch this Diary of a Domain Name Owner.
My backstory about LinkedIn is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a much larger narrative that I plan to show and tell, and I will definitely want those posts in the subscriber newsletters for wider distribution.
Content on ORIENTED.COM
Back in the day, I worked my tail off researching and writing outbound sales material for ORIENTED.COM, and a good chunk of it included industry insights and expertise.
Promoting that content on this Insights section will be way more effective, so I removed all the hyperlinks on ORIENTED.COM to said content. All of that hard work wasn’t in vain after all.
Instagram Handle
After much pain and suffering, I finally settled on this Instagram handle Since /ChristineHsu was already taken.
The next step is to set up the promotional channels — figuring out how best to auto-link all the social media accounts (FB, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, X, blah blah blah) — now that everything has been set up, finally.
See why I kept procrastinating for as long as I did… ?! This is such tedious, mind-numbing work!
And yet, it needs to be done if I want to accomplish all of my goals.
OUCH.
SINCE I was already logged in to the DN registrar, Instagram, YouTube, etc. for the above — and because I really hate logging into anything these days — I addressed some of my other DNs as well.
URL Forwarding
AE — Same reasons as above
BNS — Same reasons as above
Personal URL
RoomConfigurations.com
I originally got this DN thinking that I could use it for my organizing business, since space planning is my area of expertise.
I can’t decide if I want to develop it. But since I already have a sales video for it, I set up this YouTube channel and redirected the URL there.
I already have the Instagram handle but totally forgot that I did until now. It’s been 14 years since I set that up, know what I mean?!
HsuShine.com
I registered this one, too.
I actually had it for decades just for fun (personal blog?), but I finally let that go, too, last year I think.
It’s not nearly as memorable as HeyChristine.com, so really, what was I ever going to do with it?
But in building out this Substack endeavor, it occurred to me that hmmm, I actually DO know people who’d like to have it. For sure I can at least recover all the DN renewal fees that I paid all those years, lol!
LoveBoatReunion.com
I had registered this one in 2024 for a non-profit alumni organization that I am spearheading and then let it go in 2025. Long story.
Like HsuShine.com, I now realize that I can likely sell this one, too, if LBAI doesn't need it. So yeah, I registered - well, re-registered - it.
Somewhere along the way, I made two executive decisions:
I shall post these weekly updates on Saturdays, if not Sundays, right after my Turbo Kick classes.
Otherwise, per this commitment that I made to myself, I shall refrain from working on this project during the weekends.
I gotta say…
Using this public platform to hold myself accountable — to do what needs to be done to sell my premium domain names — is actually working.
I do feel pressure to report my progress for these weeklies, lol.
I just want to note, for the record, a prediction that I made with Janet when we had lunch together two days ago.
I was telling her about all the doors that may very well open for me as a result of this brilliant idea of mine — brilliant, I say!! — and that one day, I shall be a guest on one of my favorite industry podcasts to talk about this Diary of a Domain Name Owner.
Looking forward to it. 🎉
FUN FACT
Years ago, I did make Janet register her own DN - JanetZola.com - as I've done with many other friends. She eventually let it go because she really does not need it. For one, she’s long retired! But just wanted to share this little tidbit.
Peace out. ✌🏻
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