Settle on a name and acquire the .com!

I had been thinking of audio ideas for about three years, and mulling over a name the whole time.

In many ways the name doesn't matter at all. But you do need to pick SOMETHING to have SOME .com to build your website on, and to have some brand name for all the social media accounts etc.

I mainly chatted with one friend about potential names: Ciarán Gallagher – the same friend who first introduced me to podcasting back in 2012! I had an mp3 player back then, and he loaded some "This American Life" episodes onto it from his laptop.
Several weeks later, I'd listened to all he gave me, and I had to figure out how to get new episodes… on my Blackberry. And so I really learned what a "podcast" was and how to "subscribe"… Even on Blackberry, was a podcasting app! It was cool! New episodes showed up like new email. And not like annoying [ACTION REQUIRED] email, but more like email you're Cc'd on, so can ignore if you like, or enjoy if you like. Absolutely class.

I later discovered a better podcast app on my (personal) Android, and in 2014 work upgraded our Blackberries to iPhones.

As my love of podcasting evolved from "heard of it" to "want to build a business to improve it", I naturally used Ciarán as a thinking partner in coming up with a name. Well, specifically he offered "Name is important... Can I be of any help there?" and I took him up on the offer!

I got hung up on the name "awedio" but awedio.com owner wouldn't reply to my emails. Since he wasn't replying to my digital efforts, I even tried to reach him physically. In desperation, I paid ~$20 for a stalker type report online that promised extra information about the person, deduced their address in Los Angeles. I believe the site I used was legal. Now, I live in London, so I wasn't about to fly out there and harass they guy in person. I did the next best thing: I ordered flowers and a hamper with a "thank you" card… pre-emptively thanking him for getting in touch and being willing to talk to me. The flowers/hamper had no effect, I still never heard from the domain owner. Wasted about $100, all-in.

I bought awedify.com, but if you say "aweify", it's not obvious how to spell it. The worst reaction was "oh cool, like Spotify.com, but audio" and I thought nooo, it can't sound like a knock-off of another company!
Besides, audify.com was already in use for something else… I'd need a more unique name.

Ciarán and bounced a LOT of ideas back and forth…
Which ones sound unique, not like variations of other company names?
Which have good connotations vs dodgy ones? ("brAWEdcast" sounds like "brawl")
Which ones would you know how to spell just by hearing it?
Which ones have the .com available?
Which words sound good as a verb?

After 2-3 years of noodling around different names, I finally came up with one word I loved more than all the others: "Awesound".

Hm, if I could get "Awesound.com", I'd be glad the "Awedio" man never replied to me. Awesound is even better!

Alas, the .com was taken – bummer!

But it wasn't exactly an impressive-looking site… do they really need it? Perhaps they'd be willing to sell?

Reading back, the exchange of emails is a classic exchange laden with "sorry for my late reply" messages:

Sep 19, 2014: I sent the first enquiry email.
"I'd love to buy awesound from you if you'd consider selling it?"

Sep 20-25: Received several "delivery failed" messages for the email addresses I'd tried, and so I tried different emails.

Sep 26: I received the first reply.
"I have just now seen this and your previous message. Interesting project!
I will pass your request on to the domain's current owner, for whom my company provides technical services.
On his behalf, I will ask you what you are offering for the name."

Oct 22: I realise my reply is still in drafts, and I finally hit send. In this email, I pick a number and offer it:
"If awesound.com were available now, I would be willing to offer up to $800 if it's available immediately (will save me time further investing in another site). That's a lot right now, but it will turn out to be another sort of "waste" if I take several more weeks to settle on a name, so I am willing to offer that much now. I can paypal whatever email you give me directly, or use escrow if you prefer."

Oct 29: After no reply, I follow up.
"I realise I initially let a month slide by and now I am following up very impatiently!"

Later that day, receive a reply:
"Once again I didn't see your initial message right away (this one), but your second one prompted me to go back and check. I have just passed this along to the owner. Sorry for another delay.

Also, see a more direct email address for me in the Reply-To of this message.

I will await hearing from him with further instructions; if he agrees, you can work out the PayPalling of funds between yourselves, and I will transfer the domain at your instruction, or modify the DNS at its current registrar if that is desirable."

So the offer has been passed on to the owner, and all I can do is wait.

On October 31st, at a halloween house party, I see a new email on my phone, and I have to eagerly open it right away:
"He has agreed to sell, congratulations!"

I remember immediately sharing the good news with my newest friend, who was sort of unaware of the long context behind it all, but very happy for me in my elated state. We were at a house party and left shortly afterwards when others started doing coke – not our scene. After a long night partying, he bought me dinner at what must have been 2 am or so, in a middle-eastern restaurant that seemed to be serving food all night. The whole night was a sort of bizarre London experience I wouldn't have had in my hometown of Cork. We celebrated our new friendship, and the new .com, which would surely be the beginning of great things.

AWESOUND.COM – I love it.