I boobed -what now?

OK I boobed! I know it is my fault, but what should my next step be?

I registered a dot com URL and created a website to go with my business which is part-time at the momemnt. I know I SHOULD have bought the .co.uk version but quite forgot. Today I found there is a younglady trading with my business name in my town - except she has the .co.uk version.

As I see it, there are several implications:-
1. She may well accidentally get my referals.
2. If she messes up a wedding the fallout will undoubtedly affect my bookings & reputation.
There are probably more, but I am too angry at her and myself to think straight just now. I admit I should have forseen the problem, I did but forgot but I cannot understand the advantage to her????? Surely what I mention above must work the other way round in theory.

So where do I go from here to resolve this? What are my options? Or am I just over reacting?

Probably just over-reacting..

From experience, even people in the UK are used to going to .com sites for UK websites. As long as your publicity material makes the url obvious, you won't lose a great deal of business.

If it's going to create a conflict then register another domain name.

Dave

I don't see why you're angry at her, she did things right and you did them wrong. Get another domain name.

My AV scanner picked up a virus when going to her site...not the best way to welcome customers.

it might not seem like too much of a deal right now, but it can be a huge problem sometime later.

a friend of mine was approached by the owner of an established photography company in the same region and told that if he didnt cease trading under his business name he would be sued for damages... the names werent completely identical but so similar that some of the big company's customers had been confused - which was how he found out

my friend was advised to comply & change his company name because the more established business would very likely win if it proceeded to court and then he would have to pay costs as well as potential damages

my friend was in the wrong technically because even though he came up with his name on his own, and bought the domain, he never checked for local similarities with the government companies register

who established their business first? you or her? if it was you then you have a small legal advantage - you could approach her in a friendly way or you could go with a legal cease and desist letter...

According to the whois search the .co.uk site was registered 29 April last year.

You registered the .com on 08 November last year - she had you beat by a good 6 months.

Yup - you boobed - unlucky.

In your position I would just get a new domain name as long as I hadn't spend thousands on literature and advertising for the other one.

by the way - if anyone here visited the .co.uk site i would advise you go check your docs & settings folder/your username and look for a hidden file that is called [Username].exe

could cause you some issues if you don't properly remove it... i had already looked at both sites before reading the warning left by the previous poster, and even though my browser warned me and blocked the site it seems that it was too late and i am now the proud owner of some sort of malware

my advice given the last post is to cut your losses and choose a new name now - specially since your site visitors might be getting infected if they go to the wrong place

You failed to do your research and verification.

Proper advice: Register a new domain name.

Improper advice: Try to sell her this domain name.

*Edit - Just took a look at both sites. There's not much that separates your photographs. Maybe a merger?

Kidding aside... You really could consider calling her up and explain what happened. She might be willing to acquire your license of the domain name so that 1) she protects her business at both urls and 2) you don't have to pay the fees for yourcurrent.com and yournew.com. To show good faith, just ask her if she's willing just take over your billing and don't try to make a profit off of it. I personally think it's in her interest to have both urls point to the same one. If you didn't buy it, someone more scheming like me might have.

Thanks for the advice guys! I will re-brand and do things the right way this time. Yes I will speak to her - nicely as it was my fault and I can see that.

Her web design is better, but IMHO your photos are better.

Stealthy Ninja wrote in post #7859755
Her web design is better, but IMHO your photos are better.

how are all you guys looking at her site without getting snapped by the malware?

S-S wrote in post #7859759
how are all you guys looking at her site without getting snapped by the malware?

Mac

Get another name, you should have done your research to find there already was a business with that name in your area.

Also, and just something that drives me nuts having worked in the music business - are you PAYING for the usage rights to those songs on your site? If not it's illegal and always find it extremely ironic when a photographer puts "copyright" all over there site but steals songs to play in the background.