1. A late night moment of registration madness

You’re tired and you should be asleep, but instead your creative mind begins to move your fingers across the keyboard as you tap in ridiculous domain name combinations that appear like the most amazing domains ever created. Why isn’t this one registered already? Because it’s rubbish and no one wants it. Resist. Go to bed. Things will look different in the morning.

2. You thought he was a Pay Pal

He seems like a good guy, and paying by PayPal will make things so much easier for him. He feels like a pay pal. Why not, he won’t scam me over $600 will he? Oh, he did. Never do it. If you know the guy personally or the transaction is under 100 bucks, fair enough. But all other transactions use escrow.

3. You let fear talk you out of that awesome domain

It’s gone now. No use in crying over spilt milk. That domain was awesome. It felt right, there were only a few bidders in on the auction, and it went for silly money. But you let fear tell you it was a waste: what if you couldn’t sell it, what if it was too good to be true, what if, what if, what if…If you don’t learn to trust your intuition you’ll never make the big-time.

4. You ignored those renewal requests that little bit too long

I know what you were thinking; “I’ll ignore this email and wait for another reminder”…And before you knew it you’d lost a domain. It slipped thru the net amidst thousands of emails you’ve been planning to get to. Deal with requests as they come in. At the very least assign a dedicated folder to all your renewal correspondence and check it weekly.

5. That big sale made you lazy

They do happen, and when they do, it’s easy to fall off the wagon. Getting a few months worth of cash or more in one nice lump sum makes you want to play PlayStation, watch movies until 3am and eat copious amounts of junk food. It makes you want to put on pyjamas and lounge around for days on end while your girlfriend/boyfriend moans at you to get a real job. Okay, go on then, but just a couple of days. Don’t neglect the bigger picture. Another sale like that might not come around for a good while so you need to get back in the game and work on your portfolio. Invest some of that cash back into domains, bank the rest and do something proactive like start a blog, perhaps. Don’t get lazy for too long. Procrastination and laziness are easy habits to fall into.

6. That troll made you look like a fool

It’s happened to us all: you came in on a hot forum topic, started reading just out of interest, and before you knew it you’d been led into a war of words with some idiot that really wasn’t worth your time. Read blogs and forums, submit the odd valuable comment, but don’t react to trolls and end up slinging insults that will only tarnish your name. Remember, you are your own brand and online reputation is massively important.

7. You didn’t Google for a coupon or even try for a discount

If you’ve got domain names with Godaddy, especially, never renew without a discount coupon. It’s rare that there isn’t a special offer going on this platform, and if you’re about to renew 10+ domains it is well worth you seeking out a discount coupon. Moreover, ring them up and ask for some sort of loyalty discount. Count the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves. Every saving counts!