When I encourage others to grab a personal domain, especially when their last name .com or even first name .com is unregistered, I find myself all but pleading the case, most times unsuccessfully.
I mean for ~$10 annually, and a bit of upfront effort, you can:
- move your email from gmail, ymail, hotmail, whatevermail over to your own domain
- redirect visitors to your favorite social media profile (FB, twitter, github, dribbble) or in minutes have an about.me page going aggregating it all
- alternatively spend some effort building out a blog or portfolio site
- avoid worrying about being "cyber-squatted" or pranked by a buddy with some initiative
- just sit on the domain (defensive registration)
The truth of the matter is that a good number of personal domains are available in the .com namespace, and many last name .coms are also up for the taking.
However, if & when your name is taken, you're basically SOL.
So... I'm curious, why DON'T people register their personal domains?