Posted on by Jeff Gluck

So, about that name…

As you might have heard, I’m now “Jeff Gluck from JeffGluck.com.” And people seem to be getting a kick out of the name.

For example:


It sounds funny and it IS funny. I’m laughing along with everyone else, and people sort of grin when they ask me if I’m keeping the name.

The truth is, I tried to come up with a bunch of different names before launching this new venture. None have worked out so far, but I figured you might get a kick out of the backstory.

At first, I thought I hit on a good name: Starting40.com (get it? Forty cars in a NASCAR race?). I bought the website domain and then even convinced the dude who had the Twitter name @Starting40 to give it to me for free (although I sent him a $25 gift card to Amazon because I felt bad).

But then I realized there was a big problem: It looks there might not be 40 cars in many Cup races this year! So that would be pretty dumb if I used it and it was really a starting 37.

Next, I thought of a really cool website name that involved the word “restart” in it (I don’t want to say what exactly it is). It would be appropriate because I’m restarting my career and there’s an obvious racing connection to the word, too.

So I looked up the dude who owns the site (which doesn’t have anything on it) and emailed him out of the blue, asking if he’d consider selling it. I got a reply saying it was his wife’s site and he needed to talk to her about it.

A couple days later, some good news!

Hi Jeff,

I talked to my wife and she is ok potentially selling the domain so if you like please name a reasonable price and see if we can work it out together. I was super pumped about this, but I wasn’t sure how much to offer. How much does a website name cost? I dunno.

I wrote back:

That’s very kind of her, please tell her thanks for considering it. I’ve actually never done this before and, embarrassingly, have no concept of what would be an appropriate price. Is $100 in the ballpark? No offense intended if not, I just really don’t know.

Well, apparently that was an insulting offer, because I never heard from them again despite following up several times. Damn.

Then I came across a site called OnTheTrack.com, and I thought that name was semi-cheesy but not terrible. And the site actually had a form on it where I could ask for sales info.

Sweet!

I filled it out and sent it off, with fingers crossed for a reasonable price.
Then I got this email back:

Hi Jeffrey,

My name is (Redacted) and I’m a Domain Broker with (Redacted). We represent the current owner of onthetrack.com.

I discussed this with my client and based on many criteria, their expectations are $19,000.00.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to make an offer. Thank you for your inquiry.

LOLOLOL … WHAT??? I couldn’t believe it. $19,000 for a website name? Who pays for this stuff?

Anyway, I went back to GoDaddy and tried to come up with a non-lame name that ends in a .com (I don’t want a .net or .info, personally) and struck out.

With time running out before my site launch, I realized I was stuck with JeffGluck.com for now.

My media friends have been very encouraging so far and keep telling me to say it in news conferences. “Own it,” they say. But instead, I’ve only said things like, “Hi, Jeff Gluck, over here in the middle” after initially mentioning it in the format changes presser.

Anyway, hopefully I can either come up with a good idea or enough money to buy a good name at some point.

In the meantime, we can all laugh together.

21 Replies to “So, about that name…”

  4. Personally, I like the name JeffGluck.com. It’s cool, but people know who you are. Make a brand out of it!

  9. How about QuietTrack.com you are famous for that with all your quiet track pictures. Thought I would atleast throw out an idea.

  11. Keep your name on the site and build your brand. How about GluckRacing.com or GluckOnRacing.com?

  12. I like it. You are already established and people in the Sport know you. I think it is authentic. Like putting your name on a race team. You could be JGR, Jeff Gluck Reporting hahahah

  14. Sort of hinted at this on Twitter, but in long form…my father-in-law is in the business of selling domain names. (He has a portfolio of names he’s bought over the years, and tries to remarket them – sadly I don’t think he has anything racing-related.) He’s told me what he tries to move some of them for, and sadly, that $19,000 figure isn’t totally out of line (though frankly, he’s told me offers he turned down and I might have taken the money and run!). I suppose it funds their modest pre-retirement lifestyle, but man, knowing you can get something *almost* as good for $15 a year off DirectNIC or GoDaddy makes it hard to stomach thousands of dollars for a domain name.

  16. Think you should stick with JeffGluck.com. It’s already in everyone’s head from the conference. Makes sense to me. I love it!!! Just my opinion ❤

  18. Or “Inside Line” or “Inside Lane” or “On the inside”? Something denoting you being on the “inside” of Nascar.

  19. Here’s the thing. YOU are the brand. It’s your take, personality, and general style that draws people into your work. Your ability to be genuine is one of the major reasons you’ve thrived on Twitter and established such a following.

    I jokingly remarked on Twitter that the biggest news out of this week’s NASCAR announcement was “Jeff Gluck of jeffgluck.com.” I hadn’t seen anything about it yet because I’m slightly disconnected from the NASCAR world until media day starts rolling. I immediately went to see the site and find out exactly what happened. After reading your explanation I felt a lot of ways about it…most of which I’m assuming are the emotions you feel about the move, but at a much higher level.

    If you watch the clip you’ve included in this article and pay close attention to Dale Jr, I think it best describes how a lot of us felt. There’s a moment to realize what is happening, then that smile, and an encouraging fist pump.

    I really believe this can work. The relationship with drivers, teams, and the sport in general are there. You don’t need a media “machine” to help open doors at this point. You have a very solid foundation of followers/readers.

    The world shifted. When I was a kid I would listen to what Siskel & Ebert thought of movies, even though our specific tastes might not mesh. They were the standard and we all fell in line. Now I can be standing in line to buy tickets and see crowd sourced reviews from people that line up with my overall taste.

    I say that to say this. The “Jeff Gluck Brand” means way more to me when it comes to NASCAR than USA Today’s brand ever will.

    In my opinion, you should stay with jeffgluck.com and say it proudly. I think you’ll find that not only do you have supporters (one of which looks to be the most popular driver in all of racing), but it is going to stand out ways that will help during this launch phase.

    1. Dang, dude. This is overwhelmingly nice of you. All I can say is “Thank you” because that really means a lot.

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