When it comes to real estate the adage is “location, location, location” and online real estate isn’t much different. Having something other than “.com” at the end of your URL is like the difference between being in Manhattan, NY and Manhattan, KS. Not that we all don’t love Manhattan, KS! It can just be confusing. That’s why Mighty Cricket CEO Sarah Schlafly was so excited to finally get the URL she wanted all along.
“I’ve been having a lot of problems with the ‘.co’,” she told the 4thEst8. Her URL has been MightyCricket.co “When people go to email me they just automatically – even if they know it’s ‘dot-co’ they’re automatically typing ‘dot-com’ it’s so common. Another reason, people thought it was a typo… those who weren’t familiar with the ‘dot-co’ domain.”
Dot-COM is also important with search engine optimization. Schlafly saw that someone had the MightyCricket.com domain, but wasn’t using it, three years ago – and she wanted it. The problem was that the owner had their contact information hidden.
Improvise, adapt and overcome
“I would have to contact GoDaddy to contact them, and to contact GoDaddy it was gonna cost me $120 just to have the priviledge of speaking to the domain registrar,” she said. “I mean, I wanted the domain, but I really don’t want to spend that money because with a startup there’s so much else you need to spend on.”
A little more than a month ago she searched for a GoDaddy domain broker on LinkedIn and connected. She asked him to reach out to the owner of the URL she wanted and he did – and the broker said the owner was aware of Schlafly and what she was doing. He recommended putting together an offer of $3,000. Schlafly had a different idea.
“I decided to create a video explaining my company and my vision and how we’re trying to build clean protein supplies to save the world,” she said. “Maybe he could give it to me for like $100… (because) I’m trying to put all my money towards marketing and investing in that to keep the mission.”
The domain broker kindly forwarded that to the owner, all through LinkedIn, and then the owner reached out to Schlafly with a surprise.
“He said ‘I definitely think you should have it and, here, I’ll just transfer it to you for free.’ I was blown away,” she said. It was “incredibly kind of him to give me that domain. He bought it for this business idea he was going to do and then he never ended up doing it. So it turned out I just assumed he bought it to sell, but that wasn’t the case.”
Coincidentally the man is in the food industry, in automated food production, and Schlafly says they might end up doing some business together with her cricket farm.
Lessons
“There’s always a creative way to get around the gatekeeper,” she added, when asked what advice she has for other entrepreneurs. “And don’t be afraid to just ask for what you need.”
Schlafly launched Mighty Cricket in 2018. A pound of cricket protein takes a fraction of the water and other natural resources to make when compared with cow protein. An equivalent mass of crickets emits far less greenhouse gas than a cow as well. Products include protein powders, flours, oat meals and protein bars. In addition to online sales Mighty Cricket can be found in St. Louis at The Alpine Shop, Momentum Cycles, The Annex Coffee and Foods, and AO&CO Market and Cafe.
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Also on the 4thEst8:
Schlafly takes home $500 in pitch competition
