Domains ARE Brands!

I’ve been listening to a LOT of startup related podcasts. Especially ThisWeekInStartups.com mentioned earlier and Andrew Warner’s Mixergy.com. I’ve pretty much spent the last month going over every one of Andrew’s podcasts. It’s surprising how many startups miss the boat on domains and how that can impact marketing efforts. I think this clip from an interview Andrew did with Grasshopper.com founder Siamak Taghaddos pretty much sums up what I hear over and over again.

Siamak Taghaddos

Seems pretty obvious, right? But here’s an example (from another excellent Mixergy interview) of what so often happens.
Noah Kagan

Matt (WordPress / www.Ma.tt) had to get it. Would like to know more about that story.
Matt Mullenweg

Otis (of Goodreads.com) definitely gets it. Exactly, “a good domain will give you a 30% extra chance of success”.
Otis Chandler

Sure, domain names can be expensive. But the trouble is, the larger you grow your company, the more you
run the risk that someone is going to hold that domain name hostage (and why shouldn’t they, really?)
I guess my point is that getting the right domain name upfront will save you a lot of money in the long run.
If you would like help finding or acquiring a domain name for your startup please drop me a line. I love to
brainstorm domains and can help broker a deal for a domain that’s already owned.

In The News.
From: DomainNameWire.com

Social gadget company upgrades its domain name.
Sedo
has brokered the sale of Poken.com for $75,000 to a company that bills itself as a mobile social business card.

According to the web site, “poken is your ‘social business card.’ it’s an easy way to share your contact details and online social networks in the real world. just hold two poken palms together – high4! – and you’re connected.”

The web site makes it look like a product primarily for teenagers. This domain is a big upgrade, as it appears the company has been using DoYouPoken.com as its web site.

From: DotWeekly.com

Ad.ly Purchases Adly.com Domain Name
Ad.ly is becoming a very popular in-stream advertising platform for Twitter.com users and they just purchased what would be considered a typo of their domain name, Adly.com for $6,000 at Sedo.com .

Adly.com was first registered in late 2001 and changed hands to Adly Inc. on 10-31-2009.

This is a very wise purchase for Adly Inc. because not only could the domain name be considered a typo of it’s Ad.ly domain, but it also matches the company name exactly.

I think Adly Inc. got a Great Deal on the new domain purchase, as Adly is a nice 4 letter brandable domain name… Just like Ad.ly decided to name their company!

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One Off Records – OneOffRecords.com

OneOffRecords.com

A one-off thing is made or happens only once.

This is an idea I’ve had for a long time that I keep coming back to do more research on. Recently I was able to register a great domain for the business. Basically the idea, based on 30 years in music, is to gather musicians together in a studio for the purpose of creating 1 only, direct-to-vinyl recording. Then match the musical artist to an awesome paint/print artist for the 12″ cover and you have a one-of-a-kind record. There’s only one. The musicians all sign it. The artist signs it. Everybody participates in the sale. You can make the digital versions of it available for free- the free version generates buzz and interest and there’s still something of value to sell at the end of the day. And, there’s only 1.

Right now the pain point for me is the vinyl cutting hardware. I know a lot of great musicians. I have a close friend with a killer studio who really cares about getting great tone. But the last time I checked, vinyl cutting hardware was running around $10k. I also just discovered that the one I had my eye on, the Vestax VRX-2000,   has been discontinued.

One Off Records Vestax VRX-2000 discontinued!

What do you think? Do you know of anyone doing something like this already? How they’re doing? Also, if you stumble upon this post in your search for vinyl cutters,   please share your insights with me in the comments.

TWiST Angel Showdown – Things Got Interesting!

TWiST #23 – Angel Funding Showdown

I’m assuming that’s a Halloween AK-47 Jason Calacanis is holding. The other fellow is Steve Bell (links to his take on all this). Things got a little heated today on This Week In Startups around the issue of Jason’s current beef, “Why startups shouldn’t have to pay to pitch angel investors“. Mr. Bell likened Jason’s attack on companies like Keiretsu (who Mr. Bell, an angel investor who uses Keiretsu’s services called in to defend) to ‘Jihad’. The upshot? Jason stated he would start an OpenAngelForum if Keiretsu and their ilk refuse to drop their fees. He also made what I think is a very valuable offer (paraphrasing here) – that if Keiretsu does drop their fees, Jason will support them 100%. Hmm. Having the support of Jason with all his Tech Crunch 50 experience and connections, not to mention the Jason Nation -VS.- going head to head with one of the most savvy entrepreneurs on the planet? Watching this go down live was a lot of fun. The chat room was going off.

Entrepreneurship 101 – Name Your Company The Same As Your Domain Name

From Jason Calacanis of Mahalo and ThisWeekInStartups.com TWIST Episode 16.

Listen to the clip

Jason Calacanis –   … Number one, the name is terrible… If the name of the company is Aardvark you should own Aardvark dot com. They only own Vark dot com. I mean this is like 101 entrepreneurship stuff like name your company the same as your domain name.   I don’t know, what’s the domain name of Challenge Post?
Brandon Kessler –   It’s ChallengePost.
Jason Calacanis – (sarcastic) Oh is it? Really? Do you wanna know the domain name of Mahalo, by chance? It’s Mahalo.com. Do you know where to find This Week In Startups?   That dot com. You know where to find Aardvark? Drop the a-a-r and the d,   and then put a dot com.
Aaron Vohen – What if they were thinking people don’t know how to spell Aardvark? They would try A-r-d-v-a-r-k.
Jason Calacanis – It wasn’t available obviously, but I mean if you’re…

[Follow-up from TWIST 31]
Listen: Vark ll

Walking the walk.

Calacanis then laid out $11,000 for the domain name Mahalo.com, which, at one point, had been a nude-celebrity site.

Of course there are exceptions (when you’re a seed investor and on the board perhaps?).
TWiST #17 with Ryan Block and Peter Rojas 32:30

Listen to the clip

Jason Calacanis –   I love the logo to g-d-g-t… and you can call it gadget
Ryan Block / Peter Rojas – You can call it gadget,   yeah.
Jason – People can just call it gadget.
Peter Rojas – I say g-d-t-g just so people know how to spell the url.
Ryan Block – I’ve been saying gadget a little bit more lately, but…
Jason – Yeah, people will get it. Anyway… Great to get a four, was that four letter domain available?
Ryan Block / Peter Rojas – We had to buy it but we didn’t have to spend very much. We had to buy it but… surprisingly affordable.
Jason – Under a G?
Ryan – Yeah.
Jason – Oh perfect. I mean, it’s not even a rounding error.
Ryan – So what it actually was was they had like a catalog of just letters. You know, so like g-d-g-t, g-d-g-s, g-d-g-r…
Jason – Oh there just waiting for people to buy them. They’re like, (as in company receptionist), Hello, Domain Squatting Scumbags, how can we help you?   Which domain did we take of yours… bastards… that’s quite a business idea… I think I   ought to do that. Let’s do it with five letters. Probably didn’t get to five letters yet.

Little bit of a disconnect here considering Jason’s comments in TWIST 16. But certainly understandable considering what Gadget.com or Gadgets.com might cost (guessing $400k). Looks like Gadget.com is a real site, but Gadgets.com is parked. Perhaps Gadgets.com owners Domain Capital would consider some sort of equity/lease-to-own deal.
Jason is obviously kidding when he refers to the previous owners of GDGT.com as “Domain squatting scumbags”, but he’s been around the interwebs for a long time. A lot of people do see domain investors as squatters. But only be because someone else has registered a domain name they want. At least a domain investor (or ‘domainer’) is looking to sell the domain! Better a domainer than a competitor who has bought up all the keywords in your niche for the sole purpose of keeping them out of your hands!

Shoe Toss – ShoeToss.com

There’s a LOT of Shoe Toss content out there. Besides the original buzz, a lot of the meme can be traced back to a game called SockAndAwe that was created by Alex Tew.

From TechCrunch Europe Dec. 17, 2008

Alex Tew, the Uk entrepreneur most famous for creating the Million Dollar Home Page, has stumbled on another hit, almost by accident. Tew is currently working on PopJam, currently in stealth mode, but came up with a viral game to promote the site’s launch in the new year. The smartly named SockAndAwe lets you throw a shoe at President Bush, referring his recent escapade at a press conference in Iraq. However, the game itself is now proving to be a smash hit in its own right.

The site has now been featured on Reuters, AFP and many other mainstream sites.

Today the site got half a million unique users only two days after launch. Now Tew has put the game up for sale on eBay as a further promotion. Bidding starts at £100 GBP.

Of course, the eBay listing will simply add fuel to the PR fire. It’s certainly a novel way to raise financing for a startup.

Here is the information from the eBay listing:

SockandAwe.com has gone viral on a massive, global scale. Here are some visitor stats (at time of writing, 9:02pm UK time, 17th Dec)

– 1,161,825 Absolute Unique Visitors since launch on 15th Dec
– 1,680,465 Pageviews since launch on 15th Dec
– 823,906 Unique Visitors so far today alone (17th Dec)
– 9,533 sources and mediums of traffic (that’s a lot of inbound links!)

Oh, and in the game itself: over 21 million virtual shoes have successfully hit president Bush’s face so far!

UPDATE: Entrepreneur Brendan McLoughlin has bought the game for £5215 on ebay.

SockAndAwe.com is now owned by Fubra who seem to be a development company that builds niche product social sites. They have over a hundred sites and seem to be fairly evolved. They’re hiring for instance. Some pretty sophisticated flash stuff. Check out their FubraWorld site. SockAndAwe seems to be about collecting (optional) email addresses from players. I don’t know anything about online games but I suppose this is how a viral game has value- a percentage of the players will leave their email addresses.

So what am I going to do with ShoeToss? A little late to the party? Considering that throwing your show at someone is a common insult in the Arab world. We can expect there to be more incidents. Perhaps the next incident will inspire a new game. In the meantime I’ll use this page to build a little directory of everything Shoe Toss and see what kind of traffic it generates. I’ll also be brainstorming the ultimate Shoe Toss game. I’m looking for a talented Flash game/widget developer.


Bush Shoe game at Mind360.com

sockandawe.com game
SockAndAwe.com

Read the Wired.com articles:
Bush Shoe-Toss Immortalized in Games, Animations

Attack of the Bush Shoe-Toss Games Continues

contact

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Cat Scanners – CatScanners.com

Domain name for sale. CatScanners.com.
Buy it now. Immediate transfer to your Godaddy account.
These things are expensive! Great deal for a vendor.
Google search: 607,000 for cat scanners, 66,500 for “cat scanners”.

cat scanner ct scanner

contact

No Ads, No Clicks, No Revenue? What Business Model?

Something Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix.com said on a This Week In Startups episode got this started. He stated that Content was worth $.08 to every $1. of Search. Thanks to the magic of Twitter, a DomainNoob like myself, was able to follow-up with Chris directly for details. He pointed me to research (here and here) Mike Markson had conducted. Wow! You mean to say that for every $1 Google makes on Search, they (and we if we split it) make $.08 on (our) Content? Well sure, Mark’s figures could be off, and the articles were written in 2006, but even if they’re close… For me it begs the question, “Are we all just fodder for Google’s search engine?”

Then a post on Michael Berkens’   TheDomains.com blog about Comcast stealing error traffic, ” Comcast Launches “Domain Helper”: I Call It “Cash For Typos” re-sensitized me to how much it pisses me off that Verizon steals my type-in errors (costing me time and frustration) and re-directs to their ‘Domain Helper’ page full of ads. (Not to mention how much it pisses me off that OpenDNS isn’t Open at all and has their own version of browser-bar-Hijack-to-ads).

Then a friend who’s deep inside the web marketing business Tweeted how invasive ads are getting to be on some pages.
That all lead to me try the Adblock Plus Addon for Firefox, which blocks ads. Check out this 1:30 YouTube video for an overview. it really couldn’t be simpler.

Here’s what ad-free browsing looks like. I picked Ron Jackson’s DNJournal.com. I have a lot of respect for Ron Jackson and I very much appreciate the information he provides, but I’ve always hated visiting his site because the ads are so obnoxious. (If you haven’t heard it already, check out OzDomainer.com’s interview with Ron).

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Before AdBlock Plus (much of this is blinking)

After AdBlock Plus

After tweaking AdBlock Plus for Ron’s site. (Really easy to do)

 

I’ve been browsing ad-free for a few days now. I love it. I’m reminded how much I hate ads. I’m beginning to sense the psychic price (as Bill Hicks would have put it) we pay to see all these ads everywhere. I’m thinking about my own mini-site experiments whose whole purpose in life is to generate a few Adsense dollars. I’m thinking about all of us scampering around generating content for Google to monetize with ads.
And my point? I don’t know yet. But I don’t think I want to be in the ad business. And if it’s this easy to turn ads off, maybe it’s something we should all put a little thought into.

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“The First Man Gets The Oyster…

the second man gets the shell.
Andrew Carnegie.

Today marks the 4th year anniversary of My Trip To Domainland. 4 years ago I concluded a four figure deal on a domain name I’d owned for years. I bought it for a vanity video site where I planned to host my collection of off-beat backstage band banter and inanity. I’d invite other people to host their behind-the-scenes band craziness. It was named after a scene in Spinal Tap. It had absolutely NO generic value. In one of those Black Swan coincidences, a fellow had built a network of domains around one of the keywords and he needed my domain to flesh out his by now successful empire. Yesterday I did the math, and in dollars only, certainly not hours, it turns out I’m about $2k down from that initial domaining seed money. Apart from my domain flipping on Ebay experiment [Fail], I have not sold a single domain–the type of transaction that got me into domaining four years ago has never repeated itself. Certainly I’ve had a few offers, but they were LAME.

So am I getting out of domaining? Am I frustrated and miserable and full of loathing for Domain Kings, Magnates, Experts, Flippers, Whizzbangs and otherwise? Not at all! The fact is I still LOVE domaining! Really, don’t ask me why, I’m sure I don’t know. It’s got something to do with words. Something to do with collecting. Something to do with the potential for huge profits. Domaining gives my over-active imagination a productive place to play.

Which brings me to the question… Is Domaining (for me at least) a hobby? And am I okay with that?

Wikipedia: A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit.
“Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. ” Certainly in my case. “Examples include collecting, 300+, I like them all creative and artistic pursuits, Photoshop chops! making, tinkering, mini-sites! RSS feeeds and adult education I don’t think they mean that kind of Adult. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge and experience Yes, but try to keep quiet about it at parties. However, personal fulfillment is the aim of course,   oh, and boatloads of cash somewhere down the road.
What are hobbies for some people are professions for others You know who you are. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional Elliot is a professional I’m not.

It is easier to turn a Hobby Business into a money making opportunity because the driver is passion and to some degree obsession. Turning your passion into a business say for example in arts and crafts domaining, a home studio internet connection and a credit card is all you need; a space to be creative exactly! Gift shops blogs, specialty stores SnapNames, galleries and arts cafes Sedo are the best avenues to exhibit and sell artworks, pottery, woodcraft, sewing craft domain names, web and   mini sites .

So maybe you weren’t hanging out in the (mostly porn and gambling apparently) forums back in the 90s and so didn’t get hip and grab yourself   a passel of generic category domain names. Don’t beat yourself up about it, relax!– domaining is fun, enjoy it.

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Future Of .TV – I Thought They Were Kidding!

Talk is from PopTech.com.

I like the .tv extension. It certainly hasn’t done as well as I’d hoped. But I thought all the hoopla about Tuvalu sinking was an exaggeration. Maybe not. This excerpt from a talk by Mark Lynas on global warming would certainly seem to indicate there IS trouble ahead for .tv (not to mention the rest of the planet).

Listen to Mark Lynas PopTech 2005 –   On Tuvalu

Tuvalu Environment Ministry
Tuvalu woman doing her laundry.
Tuvalu Laundry Day
Tuvalu Meteorological Office
Tuvalu Meteorological Office

So maybe these domains are overpriced?
WorkAtHomeBusiness.tv
FlightInstruction.tv

See also: GoDaddy Wants You To Know: Tuvalu Is Sinking

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Transferring Names To GoDaddy – 30 Day Gotcha

Update 090709: FIXED! Just noticed that a domain transfer I purchased didn’t actually initiate. I didn’t receive the usual request for the Transaction ID and Security Code that GoDaddy uses to begin the transfer procedure. Checking the status of my transfer I see a new bit of information there,

The transfer cannot be processed because the registry will not allow the domain to be transferred at this time. Most registries do not allow a domain to be transferred for a 60 day period after registration or prior transfer. This will be reprocessed automatically when the domain is eligible for transfer.

Excellent! It would appear that GoDaddy has come up with an elegant solution, simply do not initiate the transfer process until the domain is eligible. Thank You GoDaddy!

Update 073009: Got me again! Almost. I got the generic ‘update your ICANN info’ email from a registrar where a domain I’d won in auction was registered. Thing is, I thought I’d transferred the domain to GoDaddy months ago. (Helps to keep copies of my receipts… ) Yes I’d purchased a domain transfer back in January. I had one email notifying me that the transfer had failed.   But that’s it. No doubt I let it sit because, GoDaddy used to re-try the transfers later on. Anyway, I got on the phone and a very helpful support guy found the transaction, refunded my money and re-instated the transfer. He thought the refund SHOULD have been automatic. I’ve since re-confirmed with a supervisor that FAILED TRANSFER ORDER REFUNDS NEED TO BE   PROCESSED MANUALLY.

Just a heads up on what in my opinion is an annoying bug in the GoDaddy domain transfer process. Your domain transfer (this is a product you purchase from GoDaddy for $6.99) will expire after 30 days unless the transfer completes. You will be informed via email that the transfer didn’t go through. But you will not (as of 062609) be informed that GoDaddy has dropped your domain transfer and that it is no longer in your account. You will not get an email notifying you that your transfer has been dropped. YOU WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY GET A REFUND. So for example, if you win a deleting name through SnapNames (or whoever), and wish to transfer the name to GoDaddy, DO NOT INITIATE THE TRANSFER BEFORE 30 DAYS HAS PASSED. Because the domain cannot transfer for 60 days (ICANN rule) you run the risk of throwing away your money, or, as in my case, an hour on the phone at your expense to GoDaddy support getting your refund (I was told to call, too complicated for email).
I was told by a supervisor that expiration of a transfer after 30 days is stated in the Domain Name Transfer agreement you have the option of reading at Checkout. And so it is.

2. Failed or Rejected Transfer Requests
Go Daddy may elect to accept or reject Your domain name transfer application for any reason at its sole discretion. Rejections may include, but are not limited to:

  • The current Registrar rejected the transfer;
  • The original registration took place less than sixty (60) days prior to the transfer request;
  • The domain name has been placed in a locked status by either the Registry or by the losing registrar;
  • The domain was transferred to Go Daddy less than sixty (60) days prior to the transfer request;
  • The domain name expired but was not renewed;
  • The domain name expired and was renewed during the forty-five (45) day grace period and the forty-five (45) day grace period has not yet passed;
  • The Domain Name Registrant was changed less than sixty (60) days prior to the transfer request;
  • Any pending bankruptcy of the current domain name holder;
  • Any dispute over the identity of the domain name holder;
  • Any situation described in the Dispute Policy; or
  • Transfer orders over thirty (30) days old.

I was also told by the supervisor that refunds are at the descretion of GoDaddy but that they almost always do.

I guess the reason this is so frustrating is because I remember when GoDaddy would attempt to make the transfer UNTIL THE TRANSFER COMPLETED, i.e I could initiate the transfer after acquiring a domain and after entering the authorization codes, forget about it. Eventually, some 60+ days later, I would get an email confirming the transfer. Anyhow, that is no longer the situation.

Not just to whine. By and large GoDaddy works for me. In this situation though I would recommend:

1. Make mention of the transfer having to complete within 30 days at the point of purchase – not buried away in the legal agreement
2. The email that states a failure to transfer just prior to the passing of 30 days should offer a method to either re-initiate the transfer, or obtain a refund.

But why is it that in 2009, we, YOUR CUSTOMERS, are STILL perceived to be annoying, have-to-deal-with-them, sources of aggravation. The experience I had with GoDaddy, or rather, the feedback I had to provide as a result of my experience, IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR COMPANY THRIVE!. Customer service is the new black. This is what it looks like….

SouthBySouthWest 031409 Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh keynote audio (right click to downlaod) click triangle to listen.

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