I currently use GoDaddy as one of my primary domain name registrars and several months ago I heard about the GoDaddy VIP program which offers a few perks such as a dedicated account manager, lower domain name renewal costs and improved security etc. I thought these benefits would be worth the effort to go after a VIP account so I set out on my quest to gain VIP access. As you may have already guessed, I was successful in my quest and what follows is the tale of my journey:

How I got a GoDaddy VIP account:

Like many things in life, you never get what you don’t ask for so all I did was simply call up GoDaddy and lead with, “I heard GoDaddy has a VIP program, can you get me in it?” I was transferred to another person to discuss it more at length and they said that I was a potential candidate based on my domain spend; however, I was a little bit lower than what they usually require to get in. So as soon as I heard her start to say I didn’t spend enough to get in I pulled the trick I had up my sleeve by sharing my sob story:

Nearly 3 years ago I had a social engineering hacker gain access to my GoDaddy account. Long story short I was able to regain control of my domains before he was able to take them; however, it taught me some valuable lessons which I shared in a follow up post on 9 ways to protect your online assets.

So after I spent some more time persuading the rep to let me in, she said it shouldn’t be a problem but that she would get back to me with an answer 48 hours later. Sure enough, 2 days later I was in and introduced to my GoDaddy VIP account manager.

Sadly the VIP access isn’t as wonderful as I had hoped (no free drinks, no free privacy on domain name registrations etc.) but any time a domain is initiated to be transferred out of my account the account manager has to confirm it with me first which is a great last chance security step. Overall I like GoDaddy as a domain registrar even though every single time I purchase a domain name I have to navigate through a labyrinth of upsells just to buy the domain name alone and privacy (which is why more experienced internet marketers tend to hate them).

In either case, I spend about $5,000 a year or more on domain names at GoDaddy (if I include premium aftermarket names) and although I don’t know the exact number GoDaddy requires customers to spend to gain access to their VIP program my assumption is that if you’re above that $5,000 mark you should be able to get a VIP account. Just lay on your persuasion skills and a little charm and try it out. In this business you have to hustle for what you want. Like I said before:

You never get what you don’t ask for.

In my next post I’ll show you how I used this philosophy of hustling and making requests that most people never go through with to go on a test drive with a $120,000 Tesla Roadster Sport. Don’t worry I’ll get back on topic soon, but for those that look closely you can see how this attitude and philosophy is useful to employ when working with internet marketing.

Spoiler alert: The car was fast. 0 – 60 in 3.7 seconds fast… I’m still drooling.