Yesterday the domain I bought for The Black Room, theblackroom.co.uk, expired. It wasn’t asn admin error and I’m certainly not turning my back on The Black Room or any of its projects. So, why did I let it go? Well, read on dear reader…
The Folly of Domains
I have a lot of different interests and different projects, as you might be able to tell from this website, and I used to run a domain for each and every one of them. It was time-consuming, expensive, and ultimately pointless. Every domain needed content, carefully curated to avoid duplication between my sites but also written and built to take advantage of the overlap and link between my various endeavors. Domains would go through flurries of activity when I was busy in that particular area, then lay dormant for weeks or months whilst I was doing something else. Worst of all, when I would actually speak to someone who had been on one of my sites they would say things like…
“I went on your website but I couldn’t find your books.”
“Oh,” I would reply meekly, “Which one were you on?”
“It had a film on it?”
“Oh,” I would reply meekly… “Which one?“
This is the great folly of buying domains for small projects and side hustles before they are fully formed and ready to exist as entities in their own right. We’ve all been duped by the Go Daddys and the 123Regs of this world that every idea needs a domain. The moment you conceive your side-hustle, whether it be cake baking or naked DJing, you need to rush out and buy the right domain for it before it’s too late. Because that’s how you stake your claim, right? There’s gold in them thar hills and if you don’t mark out your territory, someone else is going to buy www.nakedcakebakingdj.com, right?
Wrong.
Since I started my Big SEO Experiment I’ve pulled more traffic into this one, completely niche-less domain. I’ve had offers to work on projects, requests for interviews with podcasts and online magazines, and I’ve sold more books. So, here’s what I’ve discovered… you don’t need a domain for every little thing you do.
So, The Black Room’s carrying on?
Absolutely. You can still see the original pilot for The Black Room on YouTube and I’m still, when I’m not working on other things, working on more ideas for The Black Room universe. The biggest Black Room project of them all, OffWorld, remains in post-production and is inching towards completion day by day, week by week, and month by month.
As for any new Black Room projects, after my failed attempt at a Batman fan-fic-flick, I’m licking my wounds a little bit on the topic of projects where I’m reliant on so many other people and where things can fall apart completely out of your control. There is a purity to prose that I really enjoy; although it still takes other people to bring the books to market the actual creative process is entirely under my control and the only person who I’m relying on to make sure the story gets finished is me. Life has a real habit of getting in the way of projects and I don’t hold it against anyone when things don’t work out but it does leave you a little jaded when something you’ve poured your heart into doesn’t come to fruition through no fault of your own.
Having said that, there is a little light at the end of the tunnel for The Exorcism of Bruce Wayne. I recently discovered that there’s a very large community of people making Batman fan-fic audio dramas. Audio would certainly keep the SFX bill down…
