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It turns
out that the seed for Kate's new venture with Todd was
actually planted the five years ago, even
though she didn't know that at the time. "I
acquired the Defining.com domain name back in
late 2019 from our friend Josh Schoen,"
Kate began. "He had a very reasonable price
expectation and I just liked the name. I
wasn’t completely sure what I’d do with it, but my
gut told me it would be ideal for business usage. The
more I thought about it, the more I became convinced
that it was the perfect brand platform for the
growth and evolution of Buckley Media. I love
the purity of the name—and believe it encompasses
our mission statement and values: Defining the new
standard. Defining.com says it all: Defining
business, Defining brands, Defining categories, and,
of course…Defining dot com! Additionally, I like
that we’re putting our money where our mouth is:
rebranding our own business on a one word dictionary
.COM."
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Todd
Henderson & Kate Buckley at a fundraiser
for
The
Friendship Shelter in Laguna
Beach, California. |
It also turns
out, that the multi-talented Miss Buckley's
connection with Todd goes even further back
than her acquisition of Defining.com. "Todd
and I originally met back in 2014 at a
charity event in Laguna Beach, and then
connected further over business (we didn’t
start dating till 2018)," Kate recalled.
"It was a “Paint and Sip Night” for a
charity benefiting at-risk youth and
I’d been tapped to emcee/instruct the event
(as you know, I’m also a painter, poet &
writer: KateBuckley.com).
I struck up a conversation with Todd because his
painting was by far the best in the room!
Turns out he’d gotten a full ride to art
school, and then was an animator at DreamWorks
before embarking upon his branding career over
20 years ago.
"
"On
that note, Todd was co-founder and CEO of
INK for 17 years—a full-service brand
strategy firm specializing in helping large
technology firms leverage their brand to
elevate |
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company
valuations. In one way or another, he’s been
positioning and launching brands for the
better part of three decades and
intimately knows the impact a great brand can
have on the growth trajectory of a company. So
you can say that we’ve both been
focused on strengthening corporate
brands, just from different sides of the
coin—his from positioning and storytelling
and mine from the immense utility and impact
of a premium domain." |
As
for how and when the decision was made to combine
their strengths in one new business entity Kate
said, "We’d been discussing the idea for years,
given the logical need for a brand to be built around
a newly acquired domain—and often times vice versa.
In mid-2023 Todd was in the process of officially
winding down his previous agency, INK, and all the
puzzle pieces seemed to be coming together. In early
January of this year (2024) we launched Defining.com—a
merging of our respective companies, bringing top tier
domain brokerage and corporate domain services +
high-end brand and growth consulting together under
one roof.
"
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"It
helps that our skill sets are complimentary as
well as overlapping in the best possible way.
We both are highly driven Type As who never
shy away from a challenge. Additionally,
given our personal relationship, we respect
one another’s strengths and appreciate the
subtle nuance of being both life and business
partners. That undercurrent of trust and
respect is invaluable."
When
asked about the specific strengths each
partner brings to the table, Kate added,
"I’d say that mine is understanding the
true potential value and utility of an
ultra-premium domain name and how it fits
into an overall brand and business
strategy—and how to communicate that value
to the end user (whether on the buy or sell
side), as well as, of course the fine art
of negotiation—which I’ve honed over
the past two decades helping both buyers and
sellers find win/win ground on every
transaction."
"Todd’s
obvious strength is his intimate knowledge
of brand building and his unique
perspective as a broker, entrepreneur and
branding executive," Kate said,
"Having spent the past 30+ years working
with executives in leveraging brand assets to
elevate company valuation, he intimately knows
how to maximize the value of these assets.
Our clients love how we understand their
business and goals at their level, providing
them with best-in-class brokerage services
they trust. They expect results from a
brokerage of our caliber, and we don’t
disappoint!" |
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Above:
Kate Buckley has been a featured
speaker at major domain conferences throughout
her career. This shot is from a speech
at NamesCon Global 2019.
Below:
Todd Henderson joined Kate
on stage for the first time at last
year's NamesCon Global conference
in Austin where they spoke about Domain-First
Branding: The Key to a Winning
Corporate Branding Strategy. They
will be back for an encore at the
upcoming 2024 edition of NamesCon
Global conference when
their June 7 session will focus on Demystifying
Domain Valuation: See Through the Eyes
of the Buyer. |
|
Defining.com
has gotten off to a fast start. As we reported just this
week, they closed a $302,760
sale of
Pose.com with a promise that many more
are coming. Kate said, "We launched Defining.com to
continue and expand upon Buckley Media’s
mission of providing best-in-class domain brokerage
services (sales & acquisitions): highly curated and
high touch, with an ethical, experienced and
professional approach. I originally launched Buckley
Media back in 2013 because I saw a need in the
marketplace for just this sort of brokerage—I
purposely didn’t follow anyone’s playbook; I wanted
to write my own and create a sort of Sotheby’s of
domain brokerage, if you will. We take on very few
domain names and are known for getting our clients top
dollar."
|
"Defining.com
expands upon this," Kate added.
"We’ve brought Todd’s impressive track
record and 30 years of top tier brand
strategy and activation in house, along with
a full suite of Corporate Domain Services.
Defining.com provides two distinct areas of
expertise for businesses—expanding on those
two sides of the coin: From name and brand
ideation, domain acquisition, to launch and
brand building thereafter. Then you’ve got
side two: brand and portfolio management,
including a full suite of Corporate Domain
Services (on that note, check out the article
we recently published over at Forbes Business
Councils)." |
Image from Bigstock |
On
another topic, we were curious about the level of "domain
value awareness" Kate sees in corporate clients
who come to her. Do they understand the importance of
getting the right domain name for their enterprises? Are
they often surprised to learn how valuable those assets
can be? Kate said, "It definitely depends
on the client! Some clients are extremely savvy;
others are quite unfamiliar with domain names and view
it as a “black box” industry. And yes, clients who
are first time domain buyers are definitely surprised
by how valuable domain assets can be. We’re happy to
work with clients at any knowledge level—or wherever
they are in the lifecycle of their business. We excel at
obtaining the right domain at the right price for our
valued clientele using our proprietary “Domain
First” methodology, which enables us to shorten the
runway of the traditional naming exercise from months to
weeks.
"
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For
those who are surprised or even shocked to learn
what it would take to get what might be the
perfect domain for them, how does she bring
their expectations and the reality of the market
for top tier domains into a balance the client
will understand and accept? "In all cases,
we work to |
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showcase the
immense
utility and value of ultra-premium domain names,
reviewing metrics and sharing relevant case
studies and data points," Kate said.
"We also work with them to better
understand how the domain in question will fit
into their existing brand architecture and
marketing blueprint, as well as add to their
overarching brand development and integrity. Our
holistic understanding of how domains fit
into branding (and brand protection!) proves
incredibly helpful in moving the conversation
forward.
" |
A
sure sign that Defining.com is quickly gaining traction
is the quality of domains they have been chosen to
represent. Kate noted, "We’ve got a great crop of
names right now under exclusive brokerage that we’re
incredibly excited to be overseeing: Searchlight.com,
Shelter.com, Bar.com, Patriot.com,
Staff.com, Will.com, Den.com,
Friday.com, and Brigade.com
just to name a few. You can see an overview at: Defining.com/domains."
In
closing, Kate added, "We are passionate about not
only our business, but helping our clients build
theirs through our domains, products and services. We
also care about supporting our communities.
We’re not only brand and business builders, but
community builders. We believe that every person
matters. We believe that anyone can make a difference,
at any time. In addition to team members’
philanthropic involvement in a personal capacity, I
ensure that Defining.com provides pro bono work for
worthy causes and donates a considerable portion of
the proceeds of each domain sale to worthy charities
such as Feeding
America and Promises2Kids.
When Todd and I aren’t working on domains or
brands, you can usually find us volunteering for
Promises2Kids, working in our garden (we’re growing
all manner of fruit, flowers and vegetables on our half
acre here in Solana Beach), playing with our pups
(Murphy and Lila, two Cavalier King Charles
Spaniels), riding bikes, hiking, or throwing dinner
parties."
Kate
& Todd's pups, Murphy and Lila, have first dibs on
the couple's free time.
One
last note for those who will be at NamesCon
Global June 5-8. In addition to Kate & Todd's
session noted above, Kate will take part in a panel
discussion on Picking
Winners: Everyday Strategies and Tactics for Domaining
and the head of Defining.com's Corporate Domain Services
division, Alison
Simpson, will be moderating a panel on
Corporate Domain Strategy: “Is
Your Domain Name Strategy Costing You Business?”
Alison has 20 years of experience helping brand owners
secure and optimize their online presence, including a
15-year tenure at corporate registrar, MarkMonitor.
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