Sometimes, a name is all you need. It just pops up in your head and you immediately know that it is valuable. ‘Valuable’ until you find out that it is trademarked or already registered by someone else. Stuff like this pushes me to think and try harder - and hopefully, find a hidden gem.

The Gem

In this case, my ‘hidden gem’ came up as Dikke Klok. This roughly translates to “baller”-watch in Dutch. “Dikke” or something being “dik” is often used to refer to something cool, fancy, flashy, expensive, etcetera. The exact category to describe the latest Nike sneakers, newest gadgets, sports cars, or limited edition releases of watches.

Being able to use this name sounded too good to be true. Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out, then, right?

Registering the domain

Being familiar with one of the biggest domain registers in The Netherlands, TransIP, it was a logical choice to go with them and register my domain there. They even had a promotion ongoing where U could register a .nl domain for just 0.49 EUR.

TransIP

I, of course, tried DikkeKlok and could not believe that it was actually free to register!

I could not resist this offer and bought a lot of relatable domains at the same time. The idea is to use these domains for backlinking (simple landing pages that redirect traffic to the main site).

More on this later…

So, being 2.96 EUR poorer we’re off to a great start!

TransIP invoice

This is where a lot of great project ideas already come to die. A name is registered and the domain bought, but no follow-through on execution. I also plead guilty on this…

This one, however, felt different. It is difficult to describe why or in what way. I just knew that this one would be easier to start and grow. Maybe because it is more closely related to my hobby/passion, and in tech (from a web/e-commerce point of view) at the same time. We’ll see.

Another success

So apparently, the Instagram handle ‘DikkeKlok’, was also still available! This was another really, really big motivator to follow through with the next bits - setting up the blog, e-mail hosting, and writing the first articles.

Business e-mail first, other bits and pieces later

To prevent my personal mailbox from being flooded with project-related items, I quickly realized that a proper business mailbox was needed.

The requirements for this mailbox were as follows:

  • Relatively cheap (below 20,- a year)
  • Work with multiple domains
  • Accept wildcard inboxes ([anything]@[domain].nl addresses)

I found various sources and tips online and ended up going with Zoho.com.

Zoho invoice

I went with the Mail Lite plan, which is perfect and meets all the requirements listed above.

Another 13.07 EUR was spent, but we’re almost ready to launch focus on the launch of the blog/website.

I added my domains in Zoho and configured DNS accordingly. Later that day I was able to send and receive my first e-mails! Another victory, and item completed.

Main takeaway

I don’t exactly know why, but having a domain on its own is not ‘it’. However, with a functional mailbox attached to it, it makes a lot of things a lot easier. This removes a lot of friction when registering for services or if you’d like to try something.

The next steps are to register for hosting, and get a file storage (Google Drive) up and running to store some files/notes.

I will split the next few articles between the initial website setup and some of my thoughts and ideas for the first few posts. More to come soon!