It seems a CPA's personal and professional life keeps on getting more complicated and more expensive. Just think, a couple of years ago you didn't have a cell phone, laptop, or PDA, not to mention the installation of high-speed digital lines or the creation of a wireless environment in your home. It's no different with insurance, as you probably now have life, property, disability (both short and long-term), long-term care, malpractice, and business interruption insurance, just to name a few.
Well, here is the latest complication, a.k.a. expense. It is whether your firm should get a .pro designation in addition to the .com that it has.
Open registrations for phase I of the .pro domain started last Tuesday afternoon. It involves the general availability of third-level domains of xyz.law.pro, xyz.med.pro, and xyz.cpa.pro. Phase II begins July 12th with the availability of second level domains of xyz.pro. Both .pro designations are limited to lawyers, doctors, and CPAs. Early registrations indicate that many of the applications are both for the firm name as well as keywords that describe the type of practice that these professionals have.
So what if you already have JackSmith.com? If you don't move quickly, someone else might get JackSmith.cpa.pro. Willing to pay for a defensive registration? How about ask.cpa.com or litigationsupport.cpa.com? How do they sound? Assuming you can get what you want, the annual registration fees aren't the only costs, you will also have to spend time and money marketing the new Web address.
I am a firm believer in simplifying life. It seems that today's world is becoming more complicated, but in some ways it might be getting easier. You don't need to wait to be billed, then write a check, and mail it in. Now, you can give the okay for the charge to be automatically debited from your bank account in perpetuity.
Listen, as long as you are considering a .pro registration, you might also want to consider registering for JackSmithcpabankruptcy.com.
