Last Chance Domain Sale

$20 each or $50 for all of these trend terms from ClickZ’s Pete Blackshaw's forecast: “New currents beget new buzzwords. In 2008, the “conversation” will certainly march on, but I’ll put myself out on a limb and predict we’ll see more than a little correction and a reality check on our sometimes overly romantic exuberance over Web 2.0.
credlining.com
friendiligence.com
shamsparency.com
we-bargaining.com

First to Paypal to ofrager (at) aol.com gets them

Retirement Red Zone (.com)

New TV campaign with call-to-action RetirementRedZone.com from Prudential. Very nice video player on this mini-site, I might add.

One Kings Lane (.com) Gets Funded (and is mining YOUR PPC domains)

TechCrunch in an article titled, "One Kings Lane Raises Funding From KPCB, First Round And Reid Hoffman" writes...

"One Kings Lane, an e-commerce startup that operates a private sales website dedicated to home furnishings, decor, and related products, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with First Round Capital and angel investor Reid Hoffman participating."

According to their website, "At One Kings Lane, we believe that living (and giving) well is more than just a fantasy. That’s why we bring the world's best designer décor and home essentials, entertaining and travel needs, fantastic gift selections and more to our members – at up to 70% off retail.

How it Works
As passionate fellow design enthusiasts, we see nothing glamorous or elegant about overspending on home décor. We work directly with the top brands you love to bring you a curated, inspirational selection - at truly sensational prices.
New sales events launch daily at 8am PT/ 11am ET and last 72 hours. Or shop our hand-picked OKL Must Haves boutique. Come early! Quantities are limited."

This is the latest in a series of membership and private sale sites like Gilt Fuse that mine domains and PPC pages to get the golden customer sign ups, that empowers the company and values it extraordinarily for acquisition or IPO.

The Dumbest Name Change In The World: CrunchPad is now JooJoo

Wired has an interesting piece on the start-up Tablet Computer once dissed by Michael Arrington and thought dead.

CrunchPad is now JooJoo, neither of which domain resolves to them.

The CrunchPad name was originally suggested in the comments by an Adam Helweh. This author agreed that it's the best name out of all the suggestions, and went see if it's registered, it's not, so he grabs the domain, just in case. Said he, "Like I mentioned on Hacker News, I was never planning on holding the thing hostage, I just grabbed it, before anyone else did. Interestingly enough, I was never contacted by anyone asking about the domain."

Gather Go Get (.com)

State of Florida tongue-twister of a call-to-action domain. On January 1, 2010 there will be new documents required to get a Florida driver license or ID. Visit http://www.gathergoget.com to make sure you have what you need.

Frank Schilling Gems: $18,000 For Rumcakes; $4100 for Rumcakes.com and then there was Halvarez

OR wasn't.... but interesting in hindsight... in a February 2007 flashback Frank writes:

Thank-God!! This one’s over.. I have been tossing and turning loosing sleep for a WEEK. I don’t get excited about names too often but anyone who gets my Christmas gift knows why I wanted this one. I spend $18,000 a year on rumcakes. Thanks to all who had pity on me during this auction .. extra cake for you this year !

Comment Posted by HairyApe | February 21st, 2007 at 7:22 PM
Hmm, for a man of your budget and snap auction skills I would’t think you’d be tossing and turning and loosing sleep when you can pretty much alway be the highest bidder on any name if you really want to. That brings me to a related question, how often your emotions get better of you and you end up bidding for a certain must-have domain more than your business sense would normally allow you to do? In other words, when you emotionally overbid and win in one auction do you immediately sober up and underbid in some consequent auction? How do you ensure that you are running things on an even keel?
RumCakes.com, even without looking I’d know this name belongs to you. It has your signature all over it. I love rum cakes too, especially those that are fresh and moisty. MORE


Ps. If you are looking for a perfect holiday gift, I can personally attest that there's nothing better then a Tortuga Rum Cake purchased from Rumcakes.com (at 37 grams of carbs per slice... you know it's got the good stuff in it!)

Thanks Frank. Thanks Vern!

Chunky (.com)

Give it up for Campbells Chunky Soup's new call-to-action for TV spots at Chunky.com.

"It took about two months to develop and deploy and then raked in $181,000 in the first month

If you don't see the connection to a need for names and the cash to buy them.... "Just like NibiruTech’s iTwitter, now known as Twitbird Pro, Naan Studio’s TwitterFon has received a name change. TwitterFon is now Echofon, which we first assumed was to avoid copyright issues, once again just like NibiruTech, although the developers have stated that it was merely a way to unify the names of their products."

App Store Is a Game Changer for Apple and Cellphone Industry - NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

As the Apple App Store evolves, it is changing the goals of developers, bolstering sales of iPhones and causing competitors to overhaul their product lines.

Social Media for Sales: Picking a Domain Name

by BILL RICE on DECEMBER 4, 2009

Selecting a domain name can give you a big head start in creating that perfect (sales producing) social media hub.

I have a personal bias towards picking a domain name that means something versus a clever brand name. I like to think this is a lesson learned by hard-knocks, take it from the guy who named his company Kaleidico. It is hard to build traffic to a word that means nothing and sets no expectations within the almighty Google search results.

Having said that, if this domain is going to be the hub for a new business then you do need to think about flexibility. Naming it something specific or trendy can back you into a corner, if (probably when, if you are like most start-ups) you business changes. Trapping a lot of good loyal traffic and hard work.

This is all to say, this is important!

Let’s look at some of the key elements I consider in picking the right domain name.

1. Think like a customer. This is the most important thing in my experience. Customers don’t talk the way we do (in the business). And they search the way they talk.

   So, ask your spouse, your mom, or some random kid in the neighborhood to sit in front of Google and find your product or service. Then name your website what they type in or at least as close as you can get.

2. Base it on keyword(s). I know in most popular niches this is nearly impossible. For example, try to get nearly anything with mortgage in it. However, I have found that suggestion #1, think like a customer, will often score you surprisingly powerful keyword domains.

   I have done a lot of work in the mortgage lead generation space so I will use another example from that vertical:

   Customers don’t look for “mortgages,” that’s what mortgage brokers and loan officers call them. They “buy homes,” “get loans,” and “find lower loan rates.” Meanwhile, the most competitive keywords for mortgage in the day were “mortgage rates” and “mortgage calculators.”

3. Make it simple (easy to remember, type, and say). Someone once told me, “Make it pass the phone test.” Can you say the name on a bad phone connection and have the person still type it into the address bar. That test gives us the simple rules for keeping it simple.

   A simple domain name should be:

   • as short as possible,
   • easy to remember,
   • use familiar letters/sounds (no confusing q, s, v, w, x, z),
   • avoid clever (mis)spellings, and
   • simple to type-in

   Finding a simple domain is more difficult than ever, because like real estate the domain business is highly speculated on. However, you should spend a considerable amount of time trying to find a gem (or two).

4. Make sure it’s unique. Try avoiding names that are similar to other domains or brands. This is especially dangerous (and we’ll talk more about this later) is a competitor or confusing concept owns the same name, but with another Top Level Domain (TLD), (i.e., .com, .org, .net, etc.)
5. Consider complimentary domains. Of course I am assuming, and so should you, that your business and community s going to take-off around this domain name selection. If that is the case you may want to offer other complimentary products, services, or membership sites.

   As a savvy entrepreneur you should search for other domain names with a relationships or synergy to the domain you select. These can be used as feeder domains, product domains, or simply as a defensive measure to keep competitors off similar domains.

6. Create and fill expectations.

This is a gem I borrowed from SEOmoz’s list on how to pick a domain. It’s a smart marketing tip to keep in mind and not surprising it comes from an SEO expert.

What most non-SEO folks don’t realize is that your Google search engine result is probably your most powerful advertising. And it contains little more than your domain name. So, the secret is to pack that short name with as much charm and call to action as you can get. It needs to say what you do and the customer shouldn’t be surprised when they land on your homepage.

7. Stay out of legal trouble. This one is pretty simple. Don’t squat on someone else’s brand or copyright. It’s just not worth the headache for any little bit of accidental traffic you might get.

   Make sure by checking your domain on copyright.gov

8. Avoid numbers, hyphens, and trends. This kind of strikes back at rule #3. Numbers in a domain becomes a multiple choice question for customers. Was that 2, two, or too? Hyphens are just as bad. How do you say, “low-mortgage-rates” or “web-design-expert?” Finally, and this one can be up to your discretion, avoid hot trends because most are flash fires. For every million dollar domain on a hot new word there are hundreds of them on domain auction sites.
9. Dot-com is king. Regardless of how much you fall in love with a name, never settle for a .org, .net, or .info is .com is gone. If you do, you will simply be giving free traffic to you namesake over at the .com
10. Where do I search for domain name? This is probably the easiest of them all. Most of your popular domain registrar’s like GoDaddy.com offer a search feature. I always recommend that you only register domains at an ICANN-accredited registrar.

    Here are some other helpful places to search and get help finding the perfect domain name: NameBoy.com and Domjax.com

Hopefully, this list floods your brain with ideas for you new sales producing domain. Do you have any domain name selection guides? Maybe you already have a domain you use that helps you get sales and you’re willing to share? Maybe you have some more questions?

VIA

Emery Cat (.com)-- Why Didn't I Think of That?

Move over SNUGGIE. Here comes EmeryCat.com.

These direct response TV mini-infomercials and effective landing page is selling like hot-cakes.

Self-administered pedicure for cats. WARNING: When they show the problem with nail clipping, the cat's scream will knock you across the room

Flashback 200: "My Diminishing Checkbook Makes The Fire Sale of These Domains Imperative"

Are you paying renewals for 10 years on domains that have no value?

Thu Dec 7 11:51:29 2000 - 207.17.206.127 - message #360

Looking to rent, lease, sell or partner with any domains listed below. If you are interested then shoot me an E-mail at info@XXXXX

http://www.HumanBrains.com
http://www.BeenHacked.com
http://www.SensitiveData.com
http://www.SnapServers.com
http://www.WebsiteMaintenance.com
http://www.WebsiteAnimations.com
http://www.BelatedBirthdayGifts.com
http://www.PrecisionEyewear.com
http://www.JavascriptNetwork.com
http://www.FlightArrangement.com
http://www.DomainVisibility.com
http://www.DesignerMinds.com
http://www.UnixEnvironment.com
http://www.NTadministrator.com
http://www.EvilAngels.com
http://www.BumPorn.com
http://www.OnlineComputerJobs.com
http://www.MediaInspirations.com
http://www.MindlessReactions.com
http://www.UnitedPowers.com
http://www.RealtimeTransaction.com
http://www.BrainPuzzle.com
http://www.InteractiveMiracles.com
http://www.BirthdayInvite.com
http://www.StrategicRelationship.com
http://www.DomainPartnering.com
http://www.TrafficRedirection.com
http://www.AutomobileMaintenance.com
http://www.AutomobileCollectors.com
http://www.IllegalFirearms.com
http://www.MultimediaEnterprise.com
http://www.LanguageBarriers.com
http://www.MaliciousProgramming.com
http://www.DiskSecurity.com
http://www.NetworkedAlliance.com
http://www.IntranetNetworking.com
http://www.PerfectDetail.com
http://www.ShitTalking.com
http://www.IdeaExposure.com
http://www.ObsceneGestures.com
http://www.EvilClothing.com
http://www.FilmFeatures.com
http://www.TropicalSunwear.com
http://www.PeepHolePorn.com
http://www.AnimatedLife.com
http://www.GradeAgirls.com
http://www.OnlineJobListings.com
http://www.EyesOfDeception.com
http://www.DomainCreativity.com
http://www.ComplexIdeas.com
http://www.KeyDestinations.com
http://www.FixedWidth.com
http://www.ExtraterrestrialSightings.com
http://www.AlteredIllusion.com
http://www.TechieDate.com
http://www.4x4Adventurer.com
http://www.DNSmaintenance.com
http://www.LifeguardTowers.com
http://www.TheInkHouse.com
http://www.RadiantIdea.com
http://www.ListedPrice.com
http://www.PoliceActivity.com
http://www.HardRacks.com
http://www.StatisticsSearch.com
http://www.EditorialEye.com
http://www.ComprehensiveKnowledge.com
http://www.SplatterBug.com
http://www.URLdreams.com
http://www.LearnHowToHack.com
http://www.TelnetHacking.com
http://www.FTPhacking.com
http://www.NetbiosHacking.com
http://www.TrojanHacking.com
http://www.MailHacking.com
http://www.HiddenCounters.com
http://www.InvisibleCounters.com

etc.. etc.. etc.. Over 900+ domains !!

I also have the (.net) to all of the domains above along with a few of the (.org) extension when I felt necessary)

Sorry to kill the board with a monster POSTING like this but my diminishing check book made me call out for entrepeneurs / buyers. { hehe }

Rick Schwartz: Since 2000, One Argument Always Gets Proven Right, dotCOM Rules

From the private archives of Rick Schwartz. People have been trying to justify their non-dot COM purchases since 2000. Anyone remember .WS? Take it from Dave... on December 2000 on Rick's board:

"I always said .WS was a Scam by them pretending WS means WorldSIte when it really means Western Somoa (spelling?). I told eveyone WS domains were worthless but many did not believe me. I know one guy personally who purchased zillions of them and said he would be risc, and now is upset about it. At the time I think he really thought WS did in fact mean WorldSite as the real TLD.

To show you how worthless they are, here is a Spam I received today from them, notice how they still call attn in the Spam to WS meaning WorldSite. They are basically giving their names away now!"

-------------

"Dear Dave, Happy Holidays from WebSite.ws - Free $75 US Savings Bonds! Announcing a holiday special for all of our WebSite.ws customers. We will send you a $75.00 US Savings Bond when you register a .ws (WebSite) domain name for a minimum of two-years for only $70! That's right, between now and December 31st 2000, you will receive a $75 US Savings Bond when you register a .ws (WebSite) domain name for a minimum of two-years.

You pay only $70 for the .ws WebSite) domain registration and we will give you a $75 US Savings Bond. What a great deal and it's our gift to you this holiday season. Get your Free $75.00 US Savings Bond by typing http://www.freebond.ws into your browser to take advantage of this incredible offer. If you are not interested in this offer, pass it on to a friend....!"

--------------

P.S. A few years from now I predict the following scenario: COM will be far and way number 1. By then WEB will be approved and easily be Number 2 and worth perhaps 50% of Dot Coms. ORG will be Number 3 and NET Number 4 in value. There will be hundreds, perhaps thousands of other extensions, all basically worthless except for Com WEB ORG and Net. Just my opinion.
Dave
Thu Dec 7 15:43:50 2000 - 24.246.60.58 - message #384

ABC Settles For dotORG: The View Online (.org)

In Hollywood it's essential to launch media properties with matching domain names. No longer can you get away with anything less in 2010. That means many producers will be shopping for names first then building their scripts around them. MostWantedDomains and GrandNames have known this and are prepared.

Moodys: Economy.com

A big "we get it" to Moodys!

Frank Schilling Gems: Fabulous Rolls their Shiny New Hot Rod out of the Garage

oops!

I blogged about this a while back. It may not look like it.. but this system is the beginning of something revolutionary. It links previously unlinked buckets of names so people looking for a domain name can take their pick from the best of all worlds, available inventory and privately held inventory. In the past you could only make money from your domains in paid-search and re-sales were spotty and unpredictable. This is going to value the long-tail of your portfolio which makes no PPC revenue, because it is going to drive a more consistent stream of offers and create a more reliable and vibrant secondary market for domain names:

Dear Frank Schilling,

As you may have already heard, Fabulous.com has launched its Domain Distribution Network (DDN) that allows access for domain portfolio owners to list their domains across multiple aftermarket domain sales platforms.

Some of these platforms include Registrars, Aftermarket Portals, WhoIs query websites, and Lead Generation Affiliates. In addition, Fabulous also enables domain owners the ability to have domain sale functionality embedded on their own parked domains with only a 3% (bank fees*) transactional cost for successful domain sales.

Our current implementations include a real time aftermarket sales process (during registration attempts) with the world’s largest registrar. We also expect live implementations to extend to four of the top five ICANN registrars progressively between the next few weeks and October. The sales to date have been very encouraging.

The advantages of the Domain Distribution Network:

-Dramatic increases in domain sale exposure through registrar registration processes
-Access to new Lead Generators
-Real time settlement “Instant Transfer Protocol” (60 second settlement)
-Use of domain classification, pricing tools and live customer support
-Centralized management of domain sales and traffic
-Discounted fees for sales generated by your own domains (X%)*
-High commissions for generating leads as an Affiliate
-Fixed and/or Make Offer pricing**

Fabulous.com is ready to actively sell your domains via the world’s largest registrars and affiliates. Please contact your Fabulous.com representative for more details. You could be live this week!

Cheers,

Dan Warner
COO
Fabulous.com

Now read the comments

Seems We're Not The Only Ones Who Enjoy A Good Conspiracy Theory...

And didn't Jesse clean up nice for prime time!

Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura Delivers 1.6 Million Viewers, truTV’s Biggest Audience Ever for a New Series Launch

In a year that has seen truTV reach new heights in popularity, the network scored another triumph Wednesday night with the premiere of its original series CONSPIRACY THEORY WITH JESSE VENTURA. The premiere episode was watched by 1.6 million viewers, truTV’s biggest audience ever for a new series launch.

“CONSPIRACY THEORY is the latest success story in a year that is well on its way to being truTV’s best ever,” said Marc Juris, executive vice president and general manager of truTV/IN SESSION. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with the success of this show, and we’re very happy to be working with Jesse Ventura.”

MORE

Evaluate My Health (.com)

Get paid to lose weight.

MasterCard Sending Christmas Traffic To Expired Domain...

... and the irony is that the domain Priceless.com is truly priceless now. Priceless.com was acquired by Mastercard in 2006 from Caymans-based Anything.com. Another one of those HUGE NDA transactions that went unnoticed.

The domain expired on November 2, 2009. An expensive call-to-action campaign is now running on major networks.

Click Here to Get Laid (.com)

Guess who owns the adult site that makes $8500 a day on PPC using great headlines like this one. Is it Schilling? Ham? A-1? And can you guess the domain?

Restock It (.com)

San Francisco Journal online business of the year. With 200,000 new items, this restaurant supply site has filled a void. (and is cleaning up selling hand sanitizer and flu masks that are impossible to keep in stock locally).

According to the site: "RestockIt.com is here to offer restaurant supplies, cleaning supplies and office supplies to small businesses at the lowest prices, the most competitive shipping, the largest selection and the fastest delivery online. We’ve been around for over 5 years and have satisfied well over 400,000 customers to date.

We offer the most competitive prices on bakery supplies, bar supplies, cleaning supplies, glassware and so much more for every small business restaurant in the United States. We also pride ourselves on offering 100,000s of items in office supplies including office furniture, office chairs, printers, ink and toner, paper supplies, and office accessories.

We offer our businesses a wide selection of technology products as well including power supplies, cameras, computer cables, computer hardware, GPS and Portable Navigators, Cell Phones, and Storage Media.

We offer all Flu Supplies at the best prices including Hand Sanitizers, Hand Soaps, Face Masks, and Disinfectants.

When it comes to brand names, we know how important these are to our customers and we offer them all. We offer all products from 3M, RCA, Rubbermaid, Georgia Pacific, Kimberly Clark, Hewlett Packard, Epson, Bush Furniture, Hon Furniture, Gojo and so much more.

ReStockIt watches competitors every day ensuring that we have the most competitive prices which are backed by our 110% Lowest Price Guarantee. We also know how hard it can be to order from the web without seeing the product in person so we offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee on 99% of our items on our site. If you’re looking for your office supplies or restaurant supplies to be delivered quickly, 90% of our orders ship same day and are delivered within 3-5 days. We are the leading small business retailer in fast delivery. Give us a try today!

If you had five dollars and two hours, what would you do to make as much money as possible?

You’ll be surprised at what the students did. Watch the very interesting six minute video below:

THANKS SHAUN!

Note To Self: When Going To Domainer Meet UP, Bring A Better Camera. And Clean The Lenses

The South Florida Domainers Meet UP was an unexpected surprise. It was a nice evening- that brought about 50 people out of the woodwork (including representatives of the Boca Chamber of Commerce and management of local-based domain businesses Bido and Moniker), to renew old acquaintances and make new friends. As always, great domain bargains were heard about and deals closed on sidebar. Seen: Howard Neu; Alan Dunn (Luxury Names), Chef Patrick; Mike Berkens; John Holland: Adam Maysonet; Jarred Cohen, Sahar Sarid; Danny Pryor; Dave Sanchez; Chris Brisson; Victor Pitts; Monte Cahn; Dave Sanchez, Scott Ailly and many more.

I was impressed with teen domainer's talk about the younger generation and their totally different proclivities online. I hope to have Brian as a guest on DomainSuccess.com soon, so a broader audience can benefit from his keen insights.

I am happy to say that Chef Patrick will be also bringing something special to DomainSuccess. Something we've never done before. Stay tuned for details.

Thanks to Stu Maloff and Mike Ward for putting it together and to Monte Cahn and Jeff Kupietzky, Chief Executive Officer and President of Oversee for sponsoring an abundant feast of Tai food and drink.

(btw, I was surprised when Jeff told me he reads my VIP newsletter everyday. Since I know he's not on the list as Jeff, it gives me a project today to see if I can guess the alias he uses.)

To get on the 'list" enroll HERE

Photo: Stu Maloff

When Rick Schwartz Showed Me The Red Laser and SquareUP, I Knew It Was Both The Beginning and End For Domains

what if your iPhone could read barcodes?

...just like the scanners at the checkout (you know, the ones with the red laser.)

It's the end for domains as navigation as younger, born digital generations like Teen Domainer, are using more mobile devices and more mobile apps to shortcut navigate to their favorite sites. Even Bido executive, Jarred Cohen, demonstrated the Bido domain social auction iPhone application to me last night on his iPhone at the South Florida Domainers Meetup, admitting who would want to navigate through a whole site when following auctions and bidding on domains could be this easy?

But it was Rick Schwartz who truly blew me away earlier in the day when at lunch he said "you want to see something that's going to change the game in retail?", and then demonstrated the Red Laser application that converts the iPhone's camera into a bar code scanner, allowing the consumer all the power to check prices and hold the cards when negotiating with suppliers. Check out the demo video below.

Then we looked at SquareUP, where a simple tool plugged into the iPhone's audio jack converts the phone into a credit card scanner and form of payment,.

I say this is both the end and beginning of domains because as Elliott pointed out last night, these apps are being launched without much thought into name strategy. Even on large VC-backed budgets.

With over 100 ,000 apps now generating billions of dollars for Apple, this is where domainers bread lies. According to mobile advertising start up AdMob, there are some $200 million worth of applications sold in Apple’s iPhone store every month, or about $2.4 billion a year. And that's just Apple. Google Android ad other phones are also gaining ground.

And purchase decisions for app names have nothing to do with Esitbot appraisals, overture scores, alexa ratings or keyword search data. Nor will you find the buyers shopping on domain forums. It has only to do with intuitive product naming, capturing what the product does and can do for you in a simple, memorable phrase.

Good luck.

It Shows In Your Face

u don’t have to tell how you live each day;
You don’t have to say if you work or you play;
A tried, true barometer serves in the place–
However you live, it will show in your face.
The false, the deceit that you bear in your heart,
Will not stay inside where it first got a start;
For sinew and blood are a thin veil of lace–
What you wear in your heart, you wear in your face.
If your life is selfless, if for others you live,
For not what you get, but how much you can give;
If you live close to God in his infinite grace–
You don’t have to tell it, it shows in your face.
-unknown Via