Why I am bullish on NFTs and the Proton Chain (XPR) by Mr. Frankie

Why I am bullish on NFTs and the Proton Chain (XPR) by Mr. Frankie November 14th, 2021

 

I am not one to mince words so I will go straight to the point.

In June 2017, Crypto-Punks were initially given away FREE to anyone with an Ethereum wallet who wanted one; it was released in June of 2017 as one of the first non-fungible tokens (NFT) on the Ethereum blockchain. The project was developed by American studio Larva Labs, a two-person team consisting of Canadian software developers Matt Hall and John Watkinson” (1)

In January 2017, the price of Ethereum was around $7. Are you with me so far, so in 2017, one Crypto Punk was free and one Ethereum was around $7. Fast forward to today and Ethereum is kissing its all-time high “After dropping as low as $4,580 on Sunday, Ethereum rocketed to $4,767.55 Monday” (3)

As of the time of this writing, the cheapest CryptoPunk is listed at $374.25K. (4). Now you do the maths on which has performed better. 

Bringing it all in, since the Proton-Chain makes minting gasless, (No gas fees) the NFT marketplace has developed considerably well. Notable works such as the CrypFennecs, Proton Skulls, Kia Spirit, and a host of rising stars such as the Proton Cocks, an unusual take on NFTs and the Proton Bots, which as of the time of this writing, have shaken up the space and of course LYNXY the Proton Lynx which is offering people a doorway to experience the NFT market at a juicy entry point.

Take advantage of this momentum. Now is the time. You do not have to understand it. Whether you do or not, like it or not, think it is art or not, NFT is here to stay and it is the future of art. “This branch of artistry is finally being respected in its own right” (5)

This is definitely no financial advice and many NFTs will fail just as many Cryptos will. However, one good NFT buy could bring a good smile to your face and help you forget all the trash you accumulated.

 

Mr. Frankie is the creator of Proton Chimps. An ambitious NFT project in the Proton ecosystem. Check it out at https://protonmint.com/531513514231

 

Works Cited

“CryptoPunks: Punks for Sale.” Larvalabs.com, 2021, www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/forsale. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

“How Did Ethereum’s Price Perform in 2017?” Investopedia, 2021, www.investopedia.com/news/how-did-ethereums-price-perform-2017/. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

Morris, Chris. “Ethereum Hits New All-Time High as Bitcoin Closes in on One.” Fortune, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2021,

fortune.com/2021/11/08/ethereum-all-time-high-bitcoin-btc-ether-spot-etf/. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

Nouriel Gino Yazdinian. “Council Post: A Guide to Non-Fungible Tokens, the Future of Art.” Forbes, 28 Apr. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/04/28/a-guide-to-non-fungible-tokens-the-future-of-art/?sh=2f582780546c. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

Wikipedia Contributors. “CryptoPunks.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Nov. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoPunks#:~:text=CryptoPunks%20was%20released%20in%20June,Matt%20Hall%20and%20John%20Watkinson.. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

 

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SkyDomains » My First Check From Indeed

Jul
28
2010

My First Check From Indeed

Good day people. Have you received your Indeed.com check for the qauter yet? When I got home yesterday, waiting for me was an envelope from Indeed.com. Yes it is finally here, my very first check from Indeed. I thought it will never come, for most of the time until recently I had ignored the revenue since it was just so little. However recently I added the required tax information which made me eligible for the next round of payments.

Now lets not get carried away. This is not a big check especially when you consider the fact that Indeed only pays quarterly. Somehow my biggest excitement is that I have seen a progressive revenue increment from the site that generated the Indeed cheque over the past few months. It is possible that the state of the economy might have helped my earnings somewhat.

So how much was the check ? Two hundred ninety-nine dollars and eighty eight cents. ($299.88) Not bad but I am hoping for more and better revenue in the near future.

Revenue is from September 2009 to June 2010. The bright side is that my Indeed revenue for the month of July only is currently at $56 as of the time of this writing.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

2 Comments »

  • Jay Lohman says:

    Frankie,

    You might want to check into some other domain development or monetization options like Epik.com, DevRich.com, SmartNames.com, etc. @OFrager is putting on a big developers discussion today, so other good info will be shared there, too. http://ow.ly/2hFWU

    keep rollin’

  • Jim says:

    Do you mind telling us which job boards you won. Did you develop them yourself?

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SkyDomains » When Google knows your name

Jun
19
2009

When Google knows your name

Today is Friday and I usually like to end the week on a lighter note. Nothing serious so if you do not have 3 minutes right away to read this post, you can always come back to it.  I won’t be mad. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. That is the popular lyrics from the old TV program “Cheers”.  There is something I like to do once in a while. I often Google my name, yes my birth given name (First and last name, not SkyDomains or any of my other domain names) just to see what comes up. From this simple and somewhat elementary action, I can often learn a lot. Mostly  it lets me know what Google feels is most important to my name, what domain, what event. Some years back, I had to put my name in quotation marks or Google will return every Frankie and all the Latin associations with the ALADI acronym before it gets to me. Over the past 3 years, my relationship with Google has improved and we are now on first and last name  basis without quotes.

Last week when I found out someone had lifted my domain name as the title of his typo site, I was so furious aftwerwards that I miss typed my name while I was trying to make sure non of my brands or worse my name have been polluted. (I did not do my name typo intentionally, I am a natural bad speller) but Google’s reply had me grinning from ear to ear. It was a simple bold captioned question in red “Do you mean Frankie Aladi” I felt like I have arrived or at least boarded the train. For most of  you this is no big deal but I celebrate the little things in life and hopefully you did not mind my sharing.  Great will be the day when you type in “Frankie” and Google returns ” Do you mean Frankie Aladi’

Now lets go out and have a fab weekend. To all the fathers out there, I wish you an amazing spirit filled weekend.

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SkyDomains » Is your website writing checks it can’t cash?

Feb
09
2009

Is your website writing checks it can’t cash?

Here I go again. I am sure you are wondering what is this leading to. Well stay with me here. I recently had a site developed. Hearing dogs(dot)Com. I felt the need to add a “for sale sign” on the website so that people will know that the site is also for sale. It reads “HearingDogs(dot)com is for sale” Well well well, will you believe I have gotten a good couple of requests but not for the domain name and site but for hearing dogs. Yes requests for hearing trained Scooby’s!. In case you are wondering,  hearing dogs are specially trained dogs for the hearing impaired. A couple of days ago I had another  $700 dollar offer for you guessed it, a hearing dog.

These offers don’t bother me what bugs me is the stories  they come with. I do not know if I can take it anymore. The stories of this people just breaks my heart and I feel even more pain that I cannot do anything for them. There is information on the site on how to get a hearing dog but apparently the waiting list is so long that they are trying to get it from me. I have tried to contact the owner of the .net who claims to breed and train hearing dogs but got no response. The .org is where the waiting is at.  I can not  donate the domain as it is an integral  part of my pet portfolio.  Short of becoming a breeder myself, I don’t know how else I can help.

Anyone have such or related experiences?

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  • I heard this tip from the guy who runs estibot.com. Collect all those requests. If you are trying to sell that name, you can just use it as proof to a buyer of how the right domain names buys you targetted customers. Then they’ll see

  • What you need to do is set up a contact form where people can request info regarding the purchase of these dogs. Then you sell the leads to places local to the visitor that sell these dogs. Don’t miss out on a great opportunity to make some cash.

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SkyDomains » Why they named it Amazon.com

Mar
15
2011

Why they named it Amazon.com

Long time everyone. Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes and why a company may choose one name over another. Ever wondered why your supposedly one worder never seams to catch the attention of venture capitalist or startups?  Like I promised I have resolved to post only when inspired to do so.  As some of you know I went back to school.  Recently my Economics term paper revolved around picking one company that begins with the  initial of your last name and answering over 50 questions based on your company of choice’s   full *10-K report.  For me,  Amazon was the obvious choice due to the fact that I do most of my shopping online and Amazon tend to get the lion share of all that shopping. Secondly, It is a pretty young company so I hoped its 10-K report will be shorter and easier to read than say Apple. inc.

Well need less to say that this assignment made me know more about Amazon than I ever imagined and that brings me to the tit-bit I wish to share.   For some of us who have not been around log enough in domaining, it might be news to us that the original name of Amazon.com was; well not Amazon.com. According to  Wikipedia.org;

“Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. in 1994 and the site went online in 1995. The company was originally named Cadabra, Inc., but the name was changed when it was discovered that people sometimes heard the name as “Cadaver”. The name Amazon.com was chosen because the Amazon River is one of the largest rivers in the world, and so the name suggests large size, and also in part because it starts with “A” and therefore would show up near the beginning of alphabetical lists.”

Felt this was interesting enough to share.  I have always found naming facinating as it can sometimes make or break a company. I also enjoy it immensely when I am consulted towards the naming of a new company.   I am currently working with a friend in picking up a domain name for her online venture.

That’s it for today but before I go I will like to leave you with this little words of wisdom that I cannot take credit for “Love your wife, hug your kids always, use your good dishes, wear your good suit. Life is too short to be lived marginal!

References

Amazon.com – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com>.

*A Form 10-K is an annual report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that gives a comprehensive summary of a public company’s performance

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11 Comments »

  • Apparently “Cadabra is a computer algebra system designed specifically for the solution of problems encountered in field theory”. (source: wikipedia). If they chose the name “Amazon” because it suggests large size, I wonder what the heck they were thinking when they chose the name Cadabra :)

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SkyDomains » An Encounter With an End User

Jan
26
2009

An Encounter With an End User

Each time I have a brush with a potential end user, it is always exciting, When that end user is the Executive Vice President of a Multi-Million dollar Company, excitement reaches a whole new dimension.
Last weekend I was introduced to a gentleman who  is the Executive Vice President of a multi-milion dollar  company. Some of there products deal with defense and other high tech stuff. After all the pleasantries, he gave me his business card. The domainer in me took over immediately. I noticed that the URL of there company is  TheLLLGroup.com (LLL substituted for actual name) so I asked why not LLL.com and his reply was simple “We don’t need it that bad”

When it was convenient I checked to find that  LLL.com was being used but not by his rival. The interesting thing was that LLLGroup.com is parked and still available for sale but they made no move to purchase this name. His company actually goes by LLLGroup so why add “The” to the URL instead of spring for LLLGroup.com?

Here is the body of this post.
Most end users still do not care. Most will add “The, Go, Our, Now, My ” or whatever comes to there mind rather than spring for a name. Look at our biggest registrars (GoDaddy.com, enom.com )

This is not the first time I am seeing this type of scenario.

The end user just does not care for domains as much as we do.

May I add that this particular end user did not have his company URL on his card. I deciphered the URL from his corporate email on the card.

My question is why don’t they care? What can we do? This  particular end user is no novice to domains, he is even aware of the prices they command but just feels they do not need it that bad.

I must  add that I do not own any of the names referenced.

Have you had any experiences like this?

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

4 Comments »

  • I have not had many encounters with end-users, but they do not know the value of the domain you are trying to sell then. I can understand your situation, the company was developed and has been using that domain for some time i imagine. So why would they change.

    Domains are only good to end users trying to get into domaining or trying to start out a domain but there are the few developed businesses that purchase domains that are linked to there product they have or are building.

    I guess some buy and some do not care.

  • Yes. In recent weeks I have been targeting companies with hyphenated domains, 2-3 word .net/.biz/.org domains, and brand names which do not describe their product or service. The response after more than 300 letters thus far has been practically nil and these names are NOT priced for thousands of dollars. One response I did receive perhaps summarizes it well, “…what we have already (a two-word .org) is sufficient…”

  • Michael says:

    They don’t know the value of domains because we are not educating them. We should be explaining the power of type-in traffic to businesses every chance we get. When he said “we don’t need it that bad” you should have jumped on him and told him he can’t afford not to own the LLL.com, and explained to him why. Every time we accept a lame excuse for why a business is fine with a crappy reg-fee domain, we are hurting ourselves and our industry.

  • Micheal,
    I wish I could agree with you but ironicaly, not everyone needs a killer domain. If you are the only surgeon in town, your name does not have to be easy to pronouce. This guys company definately did not need the LLL though it will look nice. What I do not understand is why they did not get the LLLgroup.com since that spelt there company out.
    Believe me as hard as it will be for us domainers to accept not everyone needs a killer URL. This company I assure you does not need or desire type-in traffic.

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SkyDomains » Trademark Solution to UDRP Losses

Jun
08
2011

Trademark Solution to UDRP Losses

Correct me if I am wrong. However this is a thought that has been bogging me for a while. I will keep it nice and short and hopefully you can fill in the details where I fall short. Who amongst you will buy a house for 100K and not have insurance on it. What if you own one thousand houses worth 100K each, would you still have insurance on every one of them? The reason I ask these questions is that it seams to me that if I have a domain worth 100k and above that could potentially be challenged by UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy) trademark thieves, then I will probably invest  a couple of dollars to trademark it. Ironically I think it cost me less than 1k.  Seriously, it is not that hard. I own a trademark and I did it all by myself without the help of a single lawyer or anyone for that matter. I just hit its renewal mark a couple of months ago and with a few clicks and my credit card, it was done and I do not have to worry about it for the next ten years or so. The trademarked name is probably not worth anywhere near 100k but the idea behind it was valuable enough for me to want to protect it at the time. Wondering what my TM is, well it is, “Safari Rack” registered Mar 1. 2005 Reg. No. 2,929,776

Since this discuss is not on how to apply for a trademark, I will not go into that. I just thought I should bring up for discussion a line of thought that has had me worried each time I read about UDRP loses that in my own opinion could have been protected. Take for example the recent UDRP loss of Octopus.com. A simple trademark for Octopus.com would have prevented this. I am quite sure the United States Patent and Trademarks will not allow the term “Octopus” to be claimed exclusively but Octopus.com sure can if Amazon.com can be trademarked. The owner could have trademarked the domain for whatever it was she was doing with it on her site. I am just saying, the common consensus is that most people will fight harder not to loose 10k than they will fight to get 10K, so why is this so different when it comes to domaining? Why do we not put up much of a fight to protect that which is ours?

FYI here is a brief article on trademark cost and application from About.com (Not Affiliated). I am just making the link available here as a courtesy for those who want a brief overview of the process.
OK time to go back to my studies. Talk to everyone soon, I will try not to stay away for too long this time.

 

 

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  • todaro says:

    see… this is what we need in the domaining industry… people who make sense. just in the last week i applied for a trademark to protect my most valuable name. and you gave me a good idea. why don’t we get a couple of lawyers who have nothing better to do and sue every company for civil racketeering who tries to take a domain that is not a clear trademark violation. i mean by the octopus ruling then livingsocial.com could take social.com for $1500 instead of maybe paying five million for it. unfairness sucks.

  • Todaro,
    “why don’t we get a couple of lawyers who have nothing better to do and sue every company for civil racketeering who tries to take a domain that is not a clear trademark violation.”
    This is what a real domainning community will do. Unfortunately for now it is more like “everyman for himself” while greed, envy and insults are levied on the very few who have the ability to effect any form of change. I have been thinking of a post to that effect but have reneged so far because I do not have enough time to follow the comments I suspect may follow.
    But if domainers spoke as one, if every domainer will chip in when there is an UNFAIR UDRP, (just the unfair ones) and defend the case, maybe this corporate domain thieves will not be so eager to steal domains. Just maybe.

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SkyDomains » My First Check From Indeed

Jul
28
2010

My First Check From Indeed

Good day people. Have you received your Indeed.com check for the qauter yet? When I got home yesterday, waiting for me was an envelope from Indeed.com. Yes it is finally here, my very first check from Indeed. I thought it will never come, for most of the time until recently I had ignored the revenue since it was just so little. However recently I added the required tax information which made me eligible for the next round of payments.

Now lets not get carried away. This is not a big check especially when you consider the fact that Indeed only pays quarterly. Somehow my biggest excitement is that I have seen a progressive revenue increment from the site that generated the Indeed cheque over the past few months. It is possible that the state of the economy might have helped my earnings somewhat.

So how much was the check ? Two hundred ninety-nine dollars and eighty eight cents. ($299.88) Not bad but I am hoping for more and better revenue in the near future.

Revenue is from September 2009 to June 2010. The bright side is that my Indeed revenue for the month of July only is currently at $56 as of the time of this writing.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

2 Comments »

  • Jay Lohman says:

    Frankie,

    You might want to check into some other domain development or monetization options like Epik.com, DevRich.com, SmartNames.com, etc. @OFrager is putting on a big developers discussion today, so other good info will be shared there, too. http://ow.ly/2hFWU

    keep rollin’

  • Jim says:

    Do you mind telling us which job boards you won. Did you develop them yourself?

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SkyDomains » Beginners take heed; why .co may not be for you

Oct
21
2010

Beginners take heed; why .co may not be for you

He who has ears, let him hear or in this case, he who has eyes, let him read.  Sorry if this post comes rather late but it is better late than never. I have been asked by a lot of people about my opinion on the .co domain extension. Most of the questions where simply conversations in passing while a few of them were actually beginners and fellow domainers who wanted to sample my opinion on the now popular .co extension 
Before you read further, please be advised that anything you read here is simply one man’s opinion. I will however try as much as possible to back my  reasoning with facts and lessons learnt from history.

First lets, make something clear .co is not the next best thing after .com, It is not the .com url shortener, in-fact it is the cc tld (Country code top level domain) of  Colombia, population approximately 44 million.  Just like “dotTV does not stand for television, dotME is not about you and dotCM is not typosquatter heaven. They are the ccTLDs for Tuvalu, Montenegro and Cameroon – and if you think that will never matter down the road think again” (David Castello, Castello Cities Internet Network,  ElliotsBlog.com,  October 8, 2009, Success Advice from the Most Successful Domain Owners of All Time).

Fact is a very few select people will make money but most will be left holding semi-worthless domains. Yes it is possible to make some money off these extensions and many have already done so by off loading there domains on the next dummy around the corner but does that mean you too could make a killing out of .co? probably not. Ron Jackson mildly put it in ElliotsBlog (October 12, 2009) by stating “first world ccTLDs like .de and .co.uk are proven winners but there is almost no chance of finding buyers for third world ccTLDs like .ws and .cc.”

History has shown that with the lunch of every new extension comes marketing hype which lasts only for a short while since these new extension have generally proven to not hold value or at the least rarely appreciates in value, just like a knock off Rolex seldom appreciates in value.

During the .cc craze, everyone and there second cousin fell for the hype especially after the heavily publicized sale of beauty.cc for $1M (Some domainers say this sale was engineered, some say it was dealt, others say it appears to have sold) Even yours truly acquired one or tow .cc domains then. One of them was  Jot.cc (wanted to develop this into a  web journal) After holding this domain for a couple of years, I quietly let it expire as the popularity of .cc wained. By the time I let it expire, I could not even get reg fee from the popular domain forums.

Some domainers fell for the .ws hype. I did not, the wounds of .cc was still very fresh. Even as recent as .Mobi one of the most hyped extensions of our time. I thought like many .mobi might have a chance and registered 2 or 3 mobis but the fact remains that the money to be made from .mobi has already been made.  dotName, dotTel all have similar stories, so much hype very little substance in the end.

You noticed I did not limit my analogy to just cctld’s  so if you have not gotten what I am eluding to, here it is in plain words, stick with quality, stick with the extension that have remained true over the years, as  a beginner stick with .com. You get more bang for your buck with .com. It is also easier to sell a junkyard in lower manhattan than it is to sell 20 acres of land somewhere in kalahari desert. As a beginner, you are most likely going to have limited capital, most beginners do, you want to invest your cash wisely.  In a nutshell, my .co advice is “don’t do it”

If you a beginner think that you will prosper from investing in .co domains, you have a right to be wrong.

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31 Comments »

  • The advice is a double edged sword; it is unscientific, however. The only chance a beginner with few cash has is to in fact invest in .CO, of course taking some risk while doing so, so if .CO enjoys any modicum of success, the newbie will become a hero. The newbie has no chance of purchasing an aged .COM; the newbie with no money has no chance in hell with .COM. The newbie will be ripped off by domain parkers; the newbie will be shunned by old domain pros, except an occasional advice on .CO.

    1. .CO doesn’t have to knock of .COM to be successful
    2. .CO is acronym for COMPANY, universally.
    3. Many countries have .CO in their ccTLD (.co.uk. .co.com, .co.de etc)
    4. .me, .cc, cm, are not .CO; .CO registered over half a million dollars in a couple of months, during a recession, at 300 – 400% of .COM’s price, thats a factor of over 1000 if the tangents are calculated.
    5. >CO may not be shortner for .COM, it is definitely a shortner for .CO.UK, .CO.DE, .CO.COM, etc. The Europeans will rush the .CO, trust me, they just want sneak in on it. By this time next year, I predict the rush will be on. They will convert wholesale. Just my opinion. DOT will be CO-captain with .Com in five years. So, go on newbie, jump in. No guys, no glory. If you never gamble, don’t get into this business.

  • zn says:

    i am a new domainer and i did not had any chance of bying a decent .com for a low badget. so .co came as a magic. glad to tell i invested 500$ and yesterday i flipped a .co for 1988$ possibile and end user who contacted me!!!

    I am sure when people in uk when introduced the .co.uk, nobody would have question ‘what Britons have to do with columbia…”

  • Rob says:

    With respect, i couldn’t disagree more, i started of with cctlds, including .in and .tv and have done rather nicely over the years, never had more than a couple of dot coms, you can get great keyword cctld in growing extensions like .in and .tv and make a VERY tidy profit.
    The uk use .co.uk and Germany .de, neither care much for dot com,.TV is everywhere in Europe and experiencing some very nice sales of late,the .in market is growing, the facts are that dot com whilst still the daddy in USA is over populated and saturated and some countries prefer their own cctld over it.

    Just another dot com article, trying to protect their dot com portfolio imo.

  • em says:

    This argument is so unconvincing. Reeks of protectionism. The .com game has been played to death. The two above commenters couldn’t have said it better. .co is perfect fo newbies. Beware newbies…its the hardcore .comers that want you to feed from the scraps of their tables. Looking for new opportunities is the way to go instead of letting some .comer lead you around with a piece of meat in their hands. The world is a big place with many opportunities. Don’t let .com cronies stop you from doing something new and innovative.

  • tim says:

    although the argument will only be proven with time, it’s interesting to note the incredible list of .co and .com names that were dumped on auctions.epik.com Looks like someone is selling out with no reserve!

  • Alan says:

    Very presumptuos article……I just can’t understand
    why some people insist on giving us “their opinion” on
    something that only the world wide market will decide.
    Have you ever gone to Sedo and seen some of the sales
    for .co.uk extensions?????? I am sure at the time the .co.uk extensions were offered, there were a lot of
    people who said it will never take off, stick to .com which is something many of us would prefer to do, but there is very little chance of getting anything decent.
    Any new extension is a gamble, but I would encourage
    people on the .co extension simply because of the over
    whelming responce to .co.uk in the market place.Indeed, at Latonas recent MiamiBeach auction, Coches.co fetched $15,000……..not a bad profit for a $30 reg fee.
    Like anything else, .co is a gamble, if you are right
    I lose $30 bucks or so……………but what if you are
    wrong???? Oh, and by the way……..ahh………..er………”this is just my opinion”

  • Will says:

    And the earth is flat… and man will never travel to the moon… Sorry, Mr. Aladi, I’ll continue to invest in .co names. I believe .co is intuitively appealing, is recognizable internationally, and is a great opportunity for new domainers to succeed financially.

  • Rob says:

    I should add that while i have no .co names and do not invest in the extension, i applaud those that continually diversify and move with the times,seeking out new opportunites, as i said i have made good money in .tv, and wish those speculating in other cctlds the very best of luck.
    @em whilst we differ in our extensions, i agree about the old guard dot com lot trying to protect their investment.

  • Sex.com just sold for $13 million. My brother and I have a seven figure deal in the works. There is nothing to “protect” about dotCOM. Yes, I hope ALL investors in ALL extensions make money, but the truth of the matter is that, even though it is possible to make money in any extension, dotCom is the Gold Standrad for domains and will be for quite some time (and will be more so after the new gTLDs are released).

  • Robin Ong says:

    When a new wave comes along, there are chances that various hindrance may come and try their best to ripple off the wave. Hindrance like David Castello and the old guards. Remember the classic case study of IBM placing their bet on mainframe instead of PCs. At least IBM woke up after letting the new rave rolled it over.

  • @Robin
    You sound a lot like one of the old dotMobi proponents. If anyone said anything negative about dotMobi they swopped down like a squadron of Stukas on Warsaw in September. And where are they now? Exactly.

  • L. Butler says:

    Have to say the arguments are solid. There seems to be a good market for .cc’s and, of course, a huge flipping market with .co’s of late. Good for all domainers, regardless of niche, I might add.

  • Chris says:

    OK first things first:

    @ettelouR.com

    “CO may not be shortner for .COM, it is definitely a shortening for .CO.UK”

    No it is NOT, well at least for the UK anyhow. NO-ONE in the UK uses a .co domain over a .co.uk !!!

    In 2003 the .co.uk domain market was a little like some of these new markets today, plenty of untapped domains, some of which I registered. However had I known the uptake I would have registered many, many more.

    So, personally I will register .tv, .cc, .co but only on very good names on the assumption that I will have to wait over 5 years for existing domains to start to become in short supply, pushing up demand.

  • em says:

    david,

    I think you have a very ethnocentric view of the internet real estate world. In years to come IDN.IDN will play a much larger role in the internet world. .com is really not as popular around the globe as you might think. .com is the American extension and it will have less and less significance with more and more IDns coming out. And who are the biggest proponents of the American Extension? of course, Americans. I don’t hear the Japanese or Russians ballyhooing over .com the way North Americans do.This will inevitably lead to a substantial decrease of .com value , given supply and demand. Eventually .com will become a collector’s edition.

  • Robin Ong says:

    @David, when I read my comments yesterday, I do sound a bit emotional. Maybe you are right by comparing .co to .mobi, but time will tell. I hope I will have the last laugh though.

  • Laurie says:

    Interesting thread.

    Given the technology advancements [minimizing web development], todays economy [necessitating home employment] and the up and coming demand RE; keystroke efficiency by todays youth, the .co is 33% more efficient than a dot com.

    The younger generation sees no boundaries [having been raised on computers] and; as such, seem to seek the fastest, quickest, most efficient way to their intended destination.

    While the whales chase the presumed Holy Grail of the .com, the younger generation is developing catchy and/or domain hacks alternatively. The pendulum has swung, IMO.

  • Laurie says:

    @ em

    SPOT ON!

  • @em
    You lost me when you said dotCom will become a Collector’s Edition. You can’t possibly be serious. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of media history can easily see what’s really going on here. To simply refer to dotCom as another TLD is wrong. In fact, it is the brand for a media pop revolution and has already long insured its place in marketing for years to come. Regardless, you all know my name (most on here remain anonymous) and I have no idea knowing what kind of money the posters on here are generating to back up their logic. To claim dotCom would lose its value because dotCo is 33% “more efficient” than dotCom leaves me at a loss for words.

  • Laurie says:

    @David-
    You misread. Dot com lucrative beyond measure. A point not in dispute. To what extent – and for how long- the issue as far as I read.

    Development and sales of .cn’s, .cc’s, .co.uk’s and .co’s (and others) are rising.
    The bottom line , IMO, domain extensions have multiplied based on overwhelming need and their ultimate potential, do you not agree?

  • @Laurie:
    “…extensions have multiplied based on overwhelming need…”
    Uh, NO.
    The only overwhelming need has been to make money. Seriously, Laurie – there was a need for dotTravel? Were they lining up for dotPro? Contrary to the screams of speculators, there are enough dotCom, dotOrg, dot Net and numerous ccTLDs out there for years to come. The figure domainers need to watch is not the number of domains bought, but how many are actually developed. And things will get really interesting when the new gTLDs come out because there will be too many names for speculators to artificially inflate demand. And then guess which TLDs will soar in value? That’s right – dotCom, dotOrg, dot Net and ccTLDs.

  • Laurie says:

    well said. Couldnt agree with you more RE: .travel, .pro etc. but clarify for me your point regarding “Uh, no … The only overwhelming need has been to make money’ comment.

    You meant through registrars rather than development?

  • @Laurie
    Yes, the “overwhelming demand” has been nearly 100% from registrars and speculators. The general public really couldn’t care less – and in the end they matter most. The more my brother and I speak the more obvious it becomes that domainers live in their own bubble. A very dangerous climate for any investor. As I said, always keep your eye on the number of names developed AND used as the primary brand for a business or individual. Those numbers never lie.

  • @Mr David Castello
    “As I said, always keep your eye on the number of names developed AND used as the primary brand for a business or individual. Those numbers never lie”.

    Except, past is prologue. People such as Domain King (Mr. Rick Schwarz) were able to buy, hold, NOT develop, and made a killing. Now, I’m not saying that you are wrong, I’m saying that there are many ways to kill a mouse; you can trap it, poison it, etc. It is hard to generalize. A lot of domainers, rightfully have respect for you and your brother, and other successful domainers, so I’m holding you to a higher standard here. Unless it’s scientific, statements should be better qualified.

  • Laurie says:

    @ ettelouR.com and David —
    A plethora of good advice. Thank you both. Please excuse my ignorance but…. where exactly does one “get” those numbers? [of domains developed]

  • @Laurie
    You may have to Google for the info. The legacy TLDs (DotCom, DotOrg and DotNet) have the largest number of developed sites. Was it because they were/are better? Of course not. It was because they were first and one should never, ever, ever underestimate the importance of that fact when dealing with the general public.
    @ettelouR.com
    Careful with the “past is prologue” rationale when an industry is as young as ours. However, you are correct in that there are other ways to make money in this business. You can park, develop or flip/sell. My brother and I have never said which was best for others. We simply prefer development for ourselves and have the hard stats to back it up.

  • BTW as we debate this .CO valuation, the market is already doing it’s magic! Put the proverbial newbie in the investors seat here. Over at Latona T.R.A.F.F.I.C extended auction, two .CO have just received Bids:

    Lot : #1610Total Bids : 1 Pisos.co
    Spanish for “apartments” or “flats”. Global Monthly Searches: 3,350,000; Local Monthly Searches: 74,000; Estimated Avg. CPC: $0.71; Competition: 0.06
    Category: Non-English
    Current Bid: $15,000

    Lot : #1610Total Bids : 1 Pisos.co
    Spanish for “apartments” or “flats”. Global Monthly Searches: 3,350,000; Local Monthly Searches: 74,000; Estimated Avg. CPC: $0.71; Competition: 0.06
    Category: Non-English
    Current Bid: $15,000

  • @David Castello,
    Thanks a lot for chipping in here. It pays to have someone with real world success chime in. Congratulations on the pending deal.

  • Aristianto says:

    The biggest problem I see with .co is:
    If you develop domain.CO as a brand, basically you are doing a free promotion for domain.COM. This is because people are much more familiar with .com, so when they hear “hey visit this website.co” they will automatically go to “website.com”. Perhaps this will change in the future, but I doubt it considering the billions of advertising dollars that have gone into promoting .COM

  • kandyjet says:

    @Aristianto

    yes, your comment is good for until 3 months a ago :)

    why i am telling that is, think the babies who born in the core era (nower days). in few years lator, if you say them to goto twitter, they will ask “twitter.com or twitter.co?” coz in few years both extensions are popular on the market. each extenstion promotion others wise versa.

    just IMHO :)

  • Jeffcool says:

    IMO the equation is quite simple :

    .com = display major or worldwide identity
    .cctld = display national identity

    Sometimes it’s not completely stupid to use things for what they are aimed for !

    Alternative uses (as for .tv) can be randomly but not soundly lucrative and will always remain periphal phenomenons (call it niches if you prefer). Even .net and .org are not so convincing in terms of branding (which .net or .org successful business doesn’t try to get his .com at some point ?).

    I have a few decent .mobi .do .co .mx .ws or even .bz (don’t laugh) because I am a dreamer. Never sold one unfortunately.

  • KandyJet & Jeffcool:

    Those are fair points. .CO is different.
    Remember, it depends on what you mean by a successful endeavor with domain names. I believe that .DE and .Co.UK, while they are not .COM, (no other TLD even, is), you can see those ccTLDs sell for handsome profits everyday on Sedo.
    If one invests $30 on a good .CO today and hold on to it for a couple of years, I trust they will not lose any money.
    All it will take for .CO to go viral and wild is one major, cool company using that platform to launch a great service that everybody needs, be it Social media or whatever. You must agree that .CO goes with Company like horse and carriage, or love and marriage.

    You should not use the fact that Domainers haven’t started buying .CO from each other at thousands of dollars to measure this thing; most domainers don’t have a boot to piss in, or a window to throw it out of right now. Most end-users do NOT know what’s going on for now. .CO is a tinder box! One thing I’m guessing: domainers who didn’t buy back in July are regretting it, I know I would. I wish I grabbed 5000 of them. I would have held them for 5 years before selling even one. It will be a hit, in my opinion. Remember, I have thousands of .COMs; I’m a .COM guy that doesn’t mind other TLD’s or ccTLDs living a little.

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SkyDomains

Jan
21
2009

0

21 Suggestions For Success

Whether you have read my blog in the past or not,  you need to read this post if  this title does not ring a bell. More importantly you need to know what may determine about 90% of your happiness or misery. I will share with you  the words of  H. Jackson Brown Jr. These words have  hung on my old home office for years now. They applies to domaining because domaining is part of your life. (more…)

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
16
2009

1

I Want Two of Your Best Domains

I am asking my readers to submit 2 of your best domains if you will. For a period of two weeks I am going to insert them into the Featured Domain marque at the top of my side bar. I will also publish them in  “DNoptimizers – The Blog
You owe me nothing. Like I mentioned in my post earlier this year, one of the things I am working on in 2009  is “gratitude”.  If  gratitude was important to Christ then it is a virtue I have to make a conscientious effort to master.  I know it is no biggy but it is my humble way of saying thanks to you my readers.
The rules are short and simple.
Rule #1 Domain must be a .com
Rule #2 Must not be a domain your grammy will not want to visit.
Rule #3 All domains must have selling price.
Rule #4 All submitted domains must be accompanied by your name, your email address and must match the whois record.

Only 4 simple rules. If your domain sells in this period, Like I said you owe me nothing but feel free to donate to my favorite charity which for now is me. :D

In all a little more exposure never hurts a domain name. Use the form below to send your best 2 domains. To leave a regular comment please use the form below this one or click on the comment icon below this form.

Lets domain!

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
15
2009

3

Favicon.ico

 Ebay has it, Yahoo has it, Amazon has it, Domaining.com has it, NamePros.com, DNforum has it, Sedo has it, Afternic has it and DNoptimizers.com has it. If you do not know what it is then you need to read this entire post. You also have all weekend to make it happen for your site.
Does your website have it? Do you need it, how difficult is it to have one. So what is it? What is a Favicon?

A favicon (short for favorites icon), also known as a website icon, /files/includes/shortcut-icon.css, url icon, or bookmark icon is an icon associated with a particular website or webpage. A web designer can create such an icon and install it into a website (or webpage) by several means, and most graphical web browsers will then make use of it. Browsers that provide favicon support typically display a page’s favicon in the browser’s URL bar and next to the page’s name in a list of bookmarks. Browsers that support a tabbed document interface typically show a page’s favicon next to the page’s title. The Microsoft Windows Shell also uses favicon to represent “Internet shortcuts” to web pages.”
Source; Wikipedia
So the next question, do you need it?
Yes you do for branding purpose. Check out the Favicon of DNoptimizers.com, Pretty snazzy heh!

It is also cool because people like me who have many bookmarks below our browser, It makes it easy for me to list a lot more since for example I do not have to spell out Domaining, I just rename it to “D”. With Domaining’s distinctive Favicon, I can tell it anywhere without using up premium real estate.

Think about your favicon as your mini logo. The mini-me of your logo or that distinct part of your logo.
You probably just looked up at SkyDomains and wondering why the Favicon is so plain.

Well for now that is what it is. SkyDomains favicon is a work in progress.
This entire post was originally intended for the blog post of “DNoptimizers The Blog” So if you want to learn how to make a favicon, there is a FREE  tutorial at DNoptimizers.com for that. In just 9 easy steps you could be smiling at your new  favicon. We trimmed all the fat– trust me.

 

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
14
2009

8

The Best Registrar in The World

Almost every domainer who has been through 4 seasons of domaining already has a favorite registrar. While I have not sampled all the registrars, I have however tried most of the popular ones over the years. I think I probably started with Network solutions at 70 bucks or 35 bucks a domain, I can’t really remember now. From network solutions, I remember being with Joker.com, no this is not a joke, It is a real registrar for real. From Joker, I have some how ended up at enom and have tried GoDaddy, Fabulous and 1 & 1.

Let me start from the worst. I did not have a good experience with one and one. Nothing dramatic happened but I just totally hate their interface and never really fell at home there.

A lot of  domainers use Godaddy but I must tell you that I am not a fan. I still have 2 dot info domains there because I have transferred everything thing else to either Fab or enom. I especially loath the inconsistency of their pricing structure. One dollar today 18 dollars next year. Not cool. Also I dislike all the offers you  are bombarded with while trying to register a simple name. Not cool. It reminds me of the gas station near my house that asks me about 5 questions including if I need a car wash. I just want some gas, make it snappy!
While there interface is not bad, I have however seen better.

Enom is one of the most customer friendly registration interface out there. Simple and with a lot of useful tools for free. Fwd, url redirect and what not are all bundled in for free. They are also easy to navigate. One of enoms strongest point is its stability with price. You know what you are going to be paying at any giving time. Price is also one of there biggest downfall as they are not always the cheapest and will charge you 3 percent for using paypal or credit card. Not cool!  Wake up enom.
In spite of all this, I feel safer and most relaxed with my enom domains but enom just did not make it as the best registrar in the world. Maybe 4 years ago it would have been but things are different now.

Fabulous.com, Well what can I say this is fast becoming a really cool place for the domainer. If you want to register a .com .net or .org, Fab is the place. There price is not always the cheapest but at least it is consistent just like enom but without the 3 percent fee. If you park with them you can also pay with your PPC earnings. There interface is simple and easy to follow. There support is as good as it gets with a registrar. Overall all I have to say is good things about Fab. I know some of you do not even know that you can register your domain names at Fabulous. You need to check it out.

I hereby confer to Fabulous.com the title of “The Best Registrar in the World”

PS: I have not been compensated in anyway to write this review. At press time, this page was published without any affiliate links. I currently have 1 domain registered at one and one, 2 at Godaddy, some in Fabulous and the rest at enom.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
13
2009

0

The best Webmaster and Domain Forums in the World

Like I promised, for most of this week I will be posting what I believe as best in the world. Best in the world to me is usually based on research and documentation but mostly on personal experience. At the bottom of this post you will find a listing o f the top 20 webmaster forums in the world.

I have listed them here for statistical purpose but I am point out a few salient points that  I think the modern day domainer should be concerned about

For a newbie domainer, I am about to recommend a forum I do not even visit that often anymore but I believe it is a good place to start. It is more like kindergarten but the knowledge you will get here, however  rudimentary will help you throuugout  your domaining career. It is also worthy of mention that the people at this particular forum are much nicer and your idiosyncrasies will most likely be more tolerable here than the top domainer forums listed below.

The forum is DiscussNames.com managed by Afternic. Spend at least 3 weeks here, do not buy any domains until you have read most of the important post in that forum. Do a search on a fellow called “Danielr” and read as much of his posts as you can. This will prove to be invaluable information as you grow in your domaining career.

From DiscussNames.com I will recommend DNforum.com. A lot of players in this forum. It is very active. Less tolerant but by now  you should know your right from your left. I am a platinum member at DNforum. Don’t worry, the best time to upgrade is when they have a sale and hopefully it will align with when you have just made a sale so you don’t even feel the pinch. It is a once in a lifetime payment so it shouldn’t hurt much. Remember you do not have to pa y to be a member. A lot of big players frequent this forum and it is a rather very informative forum.

NamePros is like the name says is where most of the big player like to hang out. It has a rather vibrant market place.
Has a boutique feel about it, some say it is more classy. I think it is heavily moderated. If statistics alone are used as a measure, NamePro  is the top domain forum in the world edging out DNforum in Alexa  and compete ranking

Overall as a webmaster, digital point is the best, it offers everything and an unbelievable knowledge base for all,

So her it is the final verdict

Digital point (Best webmaster forum in the world)
NamePros (Best Domainer forum in the world)
DNForum (My personal best Domainer forum)

TOP 20 Webmaster Forums in the world.

Num Website Alexa Category
1. forums.digitalpoint.com 938 Webmastering
2. sitepoint.com 1,867 Webmastering
3. webmasterworld.com 2,199 Webmastering
4. daniweb.com 2,419 IT
5. createblog.com 3,551 Blogging
6. warriorforum.com 4,203 SEO
7. forums.devshed.com 5,628 Web Development
8. talk.iwebtool.com 6,877 Webmastering
9. forums.seochat.com 6,901 SEO
10. namepros.com 7,220 Domains
11. dnforum.com 7,434 Domains
12. forums.searchenginewatch.com 7,637 SEO
13. forums.blogflux.com 7,764 Blogging
14. webhostingtalk.com 8,141 Web Hosting
15. webdeveloper.com 9,282 Web Development
16. ozzu.com 9,368 Webmastering
17. kirupa.com 10,781 Webmastering
18. forum.abestweb.com 16,479 Affiliate marketing
19. affiliates4u.com 17,987 Affiliate marketing
20. freewebspace.net 18,589 Web Hosting

Non of the links here if any is an affiliate link. I have not been compensated in anyway directly or indirectly to write this post. As of the time of this post I have a paid sticky post on DNForum. I did not ask nor was any discount given to me. As of press time I do not have any personal relationship with any of the owners of the forums listed above.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
12
2009

2

The Best Website Hosts in The World!

This is a very bold title I must admit but by the time you are done reading this post, you will see why I beleive so and chances are that you will share my believe too. When I started my first Website,
PetHall.com, that was around the  year 2000. There were not many developed websites then. I arrogantly felt that only pets.com was my competitor or inspiration. I poured my all into PetHall.

At its peak, PetHall had free email for subscribers, that is somebody@pethall.com( Yes this was big back then) We had free greeting cards, horoscopes, you name it. PetHall was built to be a portal for pet lovers and they embraced it as such. PetHall also had one very important component, it had a fledging pet classifieds section. I had e-Classifieds Enterprise edition installed (e-Classifieds was the thing then) We were doing so good at the classifieds section that we had a couple of shelters listing stuff there: of course everything was free. I had no clue on how to monetize it then but that is not the reason for this post.

Here is the dilemma, back then I had to hire freelancers every time I wanted to do anything to my site. I did not know how to FTP or do anything then. This would not have been much of a problem if not that every time my host went down, I had to repair or reinstall my classifieds. After moving from host to host trying to find a stable host, I gradually lost all my customers.

This was when I decided that enough was enough. After days o f extensive research, I learnt of this host Called ICDSoft They had a very bold statement about their up-time and reliability but what caught my attention was that they claimed to respond to all Support request within (if I remember correctly) 15 minutes.
You guessed right, instead of signing up I gave them a try. I wrote, ” My name is Frankie I am thinking of signing up but  I am also wondering how long it will take  you guys to get back to me” I hadn’t even left there site yet when my hotmail messenger service (I used hotmail then) popped up and this is what they wrote ” So Frankie how did we do? Let us know if we can be of any service to you” I  wrote back “impressed” I signed up and PetHall has never had a problem since then. Now this is why I signed up with ICDSoft but the reason I have stayed with them and hosted virtually all my sites there until recently is this. When you are new to domaining or not that tech savvy, this peoples support is unprecedented. They have helped me install scripts that they should not even bother with. They have helped me with all sorts of technical issues that they have nothing to do with just because I host with them. As of this writing, the following sites are still hosted with them PetHall.com, SkyDomains.com (yes this blog ) FleaMarketFinds.com, HearingDogs.com and PetMessageBoard.com.

While the links above and below are affiliate links, I put my websites where my mouth or shall I say my keystrokes are. ICDSoft is second to non when it comes to service and if you are a newbie and not too tech savvy, ICDSoft is  your best launching pad.

Web Hosting By ICDSoft.com

The Second is like it. HostGator is the choice of most experienced domainers. They have a very attractive price package. You get to host multiple domains on one account. A little tech know how is required. Overall service is pretty good. DNoptimizers.com is hosted by HostGator

Tech support is pretty good at HostGator though they will not bend over backwards for you. For most people the tech support is great but I have been spoilt already by ICDSoft 

Now  you know where I host my sites. Like I already stated, all t he links and banners in this post are affiliate links. I however pledge my believe in this post. I have not been influenced by the affiliate payouts as you can use domain tools to see that PetHall.com has been hosted with ICDSoft for a while now. Like I said, I put my domains where my keystrokes are. After you have checked this sites out, please do not forget that I do not get credit if you do not use the links or banners I have provided in this post.

 

If this review has been helpful to you please let me know. I plan to do a series of what I call the best in the world which is basically a review of services I use or have used.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Developed Domains |

Jan
09
2009

4

Bailout for the domain industry?

Seriously, since every industry is going for a bailout, we might as well propose and apply for one. The economy has dealt us multiple blows. PPC has declined or vanished in some cases. Infact I have recorded a few days now with 0.00 earnings for the day from PPC.

To make matters worse, the landscape is becoming tougher for domainers with legal actions and what not. If you have a really good name, you might want to trademark it somehow and tie it to a service  or one day, some company with a lawyer and a dream could just be after your domain. We have seen even our industry greats fall prey so this is no longer exclusive to cyber squatters.

I say we propose a “Domainer Bailout  Fund” to Congress, who is with me?

On a more serious note, while this post was intended for humor, It is imperative that we as domainers start finding and getting our own lobbyist in Washington. If no one is there for us when the laws are passed, more than likely, the laws will be against us.

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 Develop your dreams

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
09
2009

5

What is wrong with the rest of the world?

Have you ever wondered if  it is just you or the rest of the world does not get it? Have you ever told someone the url of a site. Let us use PetHall.com for example. Why will the person go home and type PetHall.com into Google? What is your browser for?

If you already know the place you are going to? Why do you need directions? This is like using GPS to go to your best buddies house. A route you are very familiar with.

Now 80 percent will type in the whole url in Google  as “PetHall.com” while some will just go and google “PetHall”.

Now it really sucks to be you if you are the owner of PetHall and when your name is googled, you are not #1

I have a .comsite  each time it is googled, Google  asks the googler if they mean thesite.org? this site is a .com!

It is amazing how little main street knows about simple browsing. Do you have similar experiences or stories?

 

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Develop your dreams

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

Jan
08
2009

8

Vowels.me now DNoptimizers.com

Yes we heard you loud and clear. We have decided to change the name of our bid for contract website from Vowels.me which got little love to DNoptimizers.com which shows a lot of potential.
From day one, almost every domainer complained about the name Vowels.me, for non domainers, I always had to explain the story behind  Vowels.me which I thought was a pretty cool story.
In the end this Vowels.me will go into history as one of my worst branding efforts yet.
The fact is after all the complaints and suggestions from well meaning friends and readers of my blog, I had to sit down and do a little thinking. The only site I ever paid adwords for is a non dotcom. I really  do not want to go that route again. Do not get me wrong, I will advertise but this time for a different reason.

Aside from the fact that the name itself even for a dotcom was just not good enough, I still say where is the love? where were all the dotMe people when I needed them. I had thought wrong that being one of the few dotMe sites out there, it will be notoriously popular. Anyway that is history now.

Behold the new DNoptimizers.com

 

The Mariam Websters Dictionary defines Optimizer as  “to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible

So if you want to make your domain work for you, We have the contractors and freelancers to do it there

If you want to write a new code for a program
If you want to redesign your site
If you want a new site built from scratch
If you want a new minisite, built and optimized
If you want a new logo, If you want a better logo
If you want Content writers
If you want Tech Writers

What ever demands  issues life  brings your way on  your quest for perfection online, DNoptimizers.com is there for you. DNoptimizers specializes on content , minisites, web development  and the general everyday challenges of a domainer.

The way it works is simple.

Lets say you have a project you want done. You want the best job and yet you want the best deal. You go to DNoptimizers.com and you  register, post your bid, and sit back as multiple professionals in that field bid for your contract. You get to choose who you want for the job. You do not always have to choose the lowest bidder, but you get to choose who is best for your particular project.
Even well established webdevelopment companies can bid for a project if the project is large enough for them. DNoptimizers.com is the market place for everyone. No one is excluded. Register now and try it out.
It is an exciting way of getting things done.

 

dnoptimizers-logo

Develop your dreams

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain News |

Jan
07
2009

6

Domaining.com: Show her some love

It is old news now that Domaining.com went to a partial membership system.  Well before that happened or should I say before it affected me or  best, before I was aware that it affected me, (Yes you guessed it right, bloggers “gots to pay” too for the premium service) I was already thinking what I am going to do about the whole thing.
The fact is even though Domaining.com legally belongs to Cybertonic, it i s still ours, it is our community, we are domainers and Domaining.com is us. So how does one become a good member of the community ?, they help the community grow in anyway they can. So I decided I will feature one domain name every month for the next year just to support my community.  Almost immediately I made that decision, I got a reality check, I was involved in the pay or no deal show. Yes bloggers got to pay too (At least this one has to). No free loading.

I just paid my$25  membership and I feel good about it. I am proud of it because this is our community. We need to do everything in our power to make it grow. A lot of infrastructure has been put into this site not to mention man power to get it to its present level. The site reflects  all of us.

It is often argued that anybody can do what Domaining.com does, I have even somewhat subscribed to that thought but I have also visited some of the stuff put together by other parties and I have this to say ‘ Not Good enough”
Sorry but that is my candid opinion.

Some people say why pay for something you can get free. To you I have this to say, “I can read reviews free online but I subscribe to “Consumer Reports” because I believe in them. I can read stories in “Best Life” online but I subscribe because I think it is a decent  mainstream magazine that needs to be encouraged.

It is not just about the blogs, it is not just about the featured names and who sees it first or next. It is about being part of a community. It is about belonging. It is saying I am a domainer and I support Domaining.com and her efforts.”

Things are tight and times are hard but if you put your mind to it, you can spare the $25 bucks per year for something you believe in. Remember “He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap” Ecclesiastes 11:4

Lift your head up imagine this is going to be your best domaining year ever , sow a seed of hope, pray and never stop working hard towards your goals. Always believe in the magic of  your dreams. 
Yes you can, yes we can.

Vowels.me is now DNoptimizers.com

Develop your dreams

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SkyDomains » What will happen to your domains when you die?

Jun
26
2009

What will happen to your domains when you die?

Ever wonder how a great one worder ends up on the delete list and finally in auction? Sometimes the owners are not stupid or too broke to renew it, they probably just can’t. They are probably dead and no one even knows that they owned such a domain or that they even owned domains at all.

By now every breathing person who owns a TV or a radio and hopefully speaks English, already knows about the passing of “King of Pop” at the age of 50. Events like this somehow reminds one of his own mortality. Death is a future tense. It is going to happen but we just do not know when. This topic has already been beaten to death but the fact still remains that a good majority of domainers need to tidy there affairs.

There is always the basic option of putting things down in a will, however at the foot of this post, you will find  links to some websites that can send email to your next of kin after you kick the bucket. This email can be anything but having it email details of your domaining empire to your next of kin is the goal of this blog post.  You could have a list of the domains and where they are then with a note to where the passwords can be found at home if you do not want to keep that online with the message.

You can become creative and even give suggestions and advice on market values of your domains, names to keep or names to drop based on certain points you establish.

youdeparted.com, letterfrombeyond.com, mylastemail.com and postexpression.com

I am not affiliated in anyway to any of the sites listed above. There links have been provided here as a coutesy to my readers.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

5 Comments »

  • Mick McGee says:

    Thanks for those comments. I think i might have a direction to head for with one or two of my domains names thanks to your thoughts. I was wondering what to do with afterdomainer.com and afterdomaining.com. Maybe they are worth something developed.

  • Great infos but to be honest me too like many here, own a portfolio of valuable domains but didn’t give or write login and password to my relative in case of death simply because they don’t know what domains are, where to sell, what price, how to renew….. This is my business as far as I’m alive and if something sad happens, I won’t care loosing it all, you won’t take it in paradise! Now there is exeption it’s when you have a domain name you bought for $xxxxxx+ amount, I call this asset, you better have all infos about it and write in a letter.

  • Patrick McDermott says:

    Frankie,

    I have seen this topic written about several times before but like leaving a Will you really can never get enough reminders until you actually follow through.

    I must say I was particularly intrigued by those resources you listed.

    I didn’t know these services existed and the other articles written about this topic that I have read did not offer up anything like them.

    Considering modern technology and how easy it is to create your own videos, it might also be a good idea to create a video and include all the relevant info about your domaining business.

    Then keep that video along with other important documents in your safety deposit box.

    Thanks for the reminder.

  • Recent sad experience has let me know that you do not put things for your executor in your safety deposit box. Especially the will, since the box can not be opened without it! Make sure your executor is always up to date on your wishes on handling your assets, like your domains and sites.

  • I’ve dealt with my mother passing and dealing with her estate. I can definitely say that a will can be very complex, especially when you have emotions involved. In my case we had a safety deposit box and it turned out for the better. As far as domains are concerned I would definitely say to include some sort of personalized video explaining the worth of such a domain portfolio along with the places to perhaps sell them.

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SkyDomains » Sony and Oled an Interesting video update

Jul
08
2009

Sony and Oled an Interesting video update

As some of you know, I am a big  fan of OLED which stands for An organic light emitting diode. I also own a good number of  OLED related names. I thought I should share this youtube video I ran across while checking up on OLED news and update.

What is  your best OLED domain? I own P-OLED.com which is another form of OLED and when rightly spelt, it comes with a dash just like my domain.

This is truly awesome. Click here for Video

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

5 Comments »

  • Flexible OLED (FOLED) is really neat stuff. While Flexible OLED is different than high def, it has many similar characteristics that HDTV had 10 years ago for the potential. Flexible OLED holds great promises in 5 to 10 years. I’ve been hearing about it for 4 years now, but this is the first color demo I’ve seen. (Really cool – thanks for sharing!) If this pans out it could wind up in slide-out-pen type displays, on car windshields, in next generation phones, even in the long term future on product packaging. Interesting technology for sure!

  • Mik says:

    I am also into OLED and have invested in a few domains not to mention my OLED blog.

    Lots of potential for this industry imho .

  • dcmike77 says:

    Hey there. Great to hear someone else is big on OLEDs. I happen to own a bunch myself such as OLEDTVStore.com and many others. Out of curiosity, which ones do you own? Maybe there’s a future with the two of our OLED portfolios…create price-fixing or traffic sharing…

    Cheers
    -Mike

  • Reece Berg says:

    I’m a big fan of OLED as well — regged my first domain related to the technology in 2005. Thanks for sharing :)

  • @DCMIKE77

    Mike, somehow the last paragraph of my post was erased when I added the video. I have just added it back. Anyway I had stated that my fav domain name is P-OLED.com I also own OLEDpen.com There is bound to be a big market for the pen if it ever pans out. This is a domain I am holding on to long term because I wanna open an oledPen store. Easy to ship and lots of money.

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SkyDomains » Does your company support our troops?

Nov
11
2010

Does your company support our troops?

1998 Texas Air Force Base

 Today is veterans day (See me in my Air Force blues; circa 1998) . It is fashionable for a company to claim that they support our troops or that they support veterans but how many really do? Without knowing some companies actually do not support our troops and those who support there efforts overseas even when they could have. This issue has been on my chest now for about 4 years.

It all started when I served with the US Air force as a support contractor in the desert   about 4 years ago, this is a couple of years after my enlistment. When you wanted to shop online, it was then you discovered that very few companies will ship to military bases overseas even though it would have cost them the same thing as shipping to any stateside by Priority mail. US bases overseas use what is called APO or FPO zip codes. When I was there, I had to take my hats off for Amazon and DrugStore.com this two stores will ship most of the stuff they sell to military bases overseas.  You never know how much you love Irish Spring soap until you are far away from home where all you see are brands you do not want to use.

Some of the reasons a merchant might not ship overseas could be because of the added risk, and the fact that it takes longer to get there so some merchants might find it harder closing there books on a particular sale. The reason I blog this today is that some of you are going to become big webmasters in future, when God blesses you, remember there are many ways you can show appreciation to our troops, one of them is making sure they can get what they need when they need it. At the time of this writing, I discovered oconus.com an overseas military portal featuring store that offer APO/FPO shipping. I  have never used this service before and hence the mention in this article does not constitute an endorsement.

Happy Veterans Day! HurraHH!!

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

3 Comments »

  • Cedrick says:

    I am an active duty member(Navy)with 18 years in. While stationed overseas I found ShipItApo.com to be handy in getting items shipped overseas.

  • RH says:

    I have a question and you are probably the perfect person to ask. I have another business that I wanted to give a freebie to women veterans or wives of veterans or current enlisted. What can I do to prove that they are for real ?

    Meaning if I say for Veterans Day we are giving away 100 free headbands. How can I be sure the person is in or married to someone in the military and not lying to get a freebie ?

    Thank you and Thank you for your effort in the military.

  • RH,
    You can never be perfectly sure just like CorelDraw can never be perfectly sure that its student edition is bought by students only. However you can do the basics such as ask for a copy of military ID. When people have to prove stuff, they realize that a lie is a lie.
    However, on a larger scale, you could promote it via the military bases or some kind of military organization such as enlisted wives association, officers wives association and so on.

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SkyDomains » How a link request turned into an offer to buy the domain

Nov
04
2010

How a link request turned into an offer to buy the domain

I am yet to make meaning of all this while I write this post. Once in a while, I try to add one or two links to one of my websites. I know you are supposed to do this more often and not once in a while however other commitments sometimes means I am not always able to seek out quality link exchange partners for my site.

I installed a link directory on Petmemorial(d)com sometime last year but stopped short when I finally decided to redesign the entire site. That redesign is currently in progress. What you will see now when you visit the site is simply a functional place holder for the real deal that I hopefully will unveil before the end of the year.  A couple of days ago, I added a prominent industry website to the directory and proceeded to contact its owner for a reciprocal link. Instead of  a reciprocal link, I got a reply with the following question;

Frankie would you like to sell the domain?

Funnily enough within 24 hours of linking there site, I got an order enquiry for there site, the customer instead of following the link, decided to contact my site instead, thinking we were the ones selling the product. So I initially ignored his purchase enquiry and instead forwarded the customers email to him.

He replied thanking me for the referral and again asked if I will consider selling the name.

After the usual chain of emails synonymous with domain deals, he failed to deliver a persuasive offer, In other words, I have been offered more in the past for the same domain name. So I am still the proud owner of PetMemorial(d)com and heavy development is still on the way behind the scenes.

  This domain receives a lot of offers ranging from the ridiculous to the “I hope he will sell at that price cos that is all I can afford”. This offer falls around “this is what I think I can pay for the domain”,  He also claims he never researched the name but he just likes it.  One day this guy will wish he had bought this domain. I am almost certain of that especially with the current development on the way.

The future is looking good!

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domains for Sale |

2 Comments »

  • Nice post, do you own the plural or singular for this .com domain? The singular seems to be a site, the plural a holding page.

    I own the same domain (PetMemorials) but in .ca – good for targeting the Canadian market, if you think there is a partnership opportunity let me know.

  • The one with the site is mine (Singular)
    Sure we can always do something

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SkyDomains » A Generic Domain is Like a Harvard Degree

Jan
28
2009

A Generic Domain is Like a Harvard Degree

I have a feeling this post might ruffle some feathers on both aisles so why don’t I start by apologizing to those  whose feathers I might ruffle.  To those who simply do not agree with me. It is OK, we both have a right to be wrong .

When you are a domainer, you see domains in almost anything. A couple of days ago, I was watching a documentary on the Harvard Business School. I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between generic domains and the salient points  enumerated by the Harvard MBA’s  shows presenter.

Most business schools wish they are Harvard
Most domainers wished there domains are generic

Most MBA holders wish there MBA is from Harvard
Most non generic domain end users wish there domains are generic.

A Harvard MBA cost a boat load of money
A category killer generic domain cost a ship Load of Money

Doors open more readily for you with a Harvard MBA
Doors open more readily for you with a   generic domain

Employers pay more attention to you when you have a Harvard MBA
Investors and advertisers  pay more attention to you when you have a  generic domain.

OK fair and square, I have made both sides of the aisles happy. You can go on and on with this analogy to no end.

Now lets talk about when the rubber meets the road. While there are numerous super successful Harvard MBA holders, some of  the worlds top business men never went to Harvard. Bill Gates, The founders of Google, Amazon.com’s Jeffrey Preston Bezos– close but not quite – Princeton University. Even our own Domain King, Rick Schwartz does not have a Harvard MBA
Even without  a Harvard MBA these  gentlemen  have stood a pace ahead of there peers proving once again that “The race of  life is not won by the fastest or the strongest but by the man who thinks he will”

The same scenario applies to generic domains. While there are lots of  very successful generic domains out there online, yet the top businesses are by no means generic. I will list a few here:

It is ebay not auction
it is  GoDaddy not Domains
it is Google not Search or Ask
It is Amazon not Shop (Close again but not quite– See earlier mention of  ”Princeton”)
It is Craiglist not Classifieds
it is YouTube not Video

I can go on and on and  am sure so can you.
This post is not intended to diminish the significance of a Harvard MBA or Generic domains but instead to let you know that you can still succeed  in this business of domaining even if you do not have either of them.

“…..for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth….”, Deuteronomy 8:18

I am not by any  means advocating buying worthless names but if you cast your hopes in God, the domain in your portfolio that everyone overlooked might become the gem of tomorrow. God is still in the business of giving ideas. With one great idea you can be catapulted to a level beyond your wildest dreams.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding“. Proverbs 3:5

Finally think of these words when next you hear a bad news about the economy this year

 You crown the year with your bounty and your carts overflow with abundance Pslam 65 : 11

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

10 Comments »

  • I used to think that too.

    Until I read the article about this guy earning $10m on just one hr a day work with plentyoffish.com

    A domain name is a useless entity – that makes individuals like Kevin Ham actually fantasize they are the king of the Interent – (uber ego trips) unless you have a clever and differentiating, cost realistic business model and credit lines to support the infrastructure and sale force to make a dime.

    Sure, there are exceptions to the rule where an idiot mesmerized by a Madoff clone will pay $10m for a domain name, but hmm.. that seems to have the same odds as pull a Jackpot machine in Las Vegas.

    Good luck guys. Develop your domains, but develop them only with a good SWOT analysis on how you will maintain your differentiation as thousands of new sites hit the web each day.

  • Mike says:

    Great Post.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you.

    Anything is possible when we believe in it.

  • Tony says:

    @Terence and Frankie,

    Both of you are citing extreme examples of success to downplay the value of a generic domain or a Harvard degree. I can do the same thing with mentioning Einstein not having a Harvard degree and coming up with revolutionary physical theories as a Swiss patent clerk. So every aspiring physicist should become a patent clerk!

    The fact of the matter is for 99.9% of the rest of us who don’t have a killer application/service/product to offer the world, a generic domain will separate that a business from the thousands of other ordinary businesses. That would be how the average person distinguishes themselves from the rest.

    It’s all about probabilities. A Harvard degree or generic domain name won’t guarantee you success but it will give you a higher probability of success than the alternatives. In a world of a thousand ceiling fan manufacturers/distributors, I would be that you would be distinct if you owned ceilingfans.com.

  • @Tony,
    You totaly lost me with your comment. While I understand the point you are making, I do not understand how it differs from the body of my original post.
    What if you do not have CeilingFans.com and You still need to sell fans?
    Do you then close shop?

  • Tony says:

    No, it means you would be better off having ceilingfans.com than not if you need to sell ceiling fans…

  • Tony says:

    “be” should be “bet” in the last sentence of my first post:

    In a world of a thousand ceiling fan manufacturers/distributors, I would be that you would bet distinct if you owned ceilingfans.com.

  • Tony,
    So did you really read the post?
    Remember I said If you do not have a Harvard degree or Generic domain, you can still succeed.
    You will be better off with a Harvard degree but many have archieved great success without it.
    Please Tony, understand the content of the post first.

  • Tony says:

    Frankie,

    My message was more directed toward Terence who said that “a domain name is a useless entity” than toward you. However, you subsequently replied to the “a domain name is a useless entity” post with an “I agree with you” reply. Please understand the content of your own posts!

  • Tony
    You win :D
    This conversation is becoming too challenging to follow with a PDA

  • Wow… This post is very inspirational… even if you agreed or not.

    All best,
    Will

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SkyDomains » Beginners take heed; why .co may not be for you

Oct
21
2010

Beginners take heed; why .co may not be for you

He who has ears, let him hear or in this case, he who has eyes, let him read.  Sorry if this post comes rather late but it is better late than never. I have been asked by a lot of people about my opinion on the .co domain extension. Most of the questions where simply conversations in passing while a few of them were actually beginners and fellow domainers who wanted to sample my opinion on the now popular .co extension 
Before you read further, please be advised that anything you read here is simply one man’s opinion. I will however try as much as possible to back my  reasoning with facts and lessons learnt from history.

First lets, make something clear .co is not the next best thing after .com, It is not the .com url shortener, in-fact it is the cc tld (Country code top level domain) of  Colombia, population approximately 44 million.  Just like “dotTV does not stand for television, dotME is not about you and dotCM is not typosquatter heaven. They are the ccTLDs for Tuvalu, Montenegro and Cameroon – and if you think that will never matter down the road think again” (David Castello, Castello Cities Internet Network,  ElliotsBlog.com,  October 8, 2009, Success Advice from the Most Successful Domain Owners of All Time).

Fact is a very few select people will make money but most will be left holding semi-worthless domains. Yes it is possible to make some money off these extensions and many have already done so by off loading there domains on the next dummy around the corner but does that mean you too could make a killing out of .co? probably not. Ron Jackson mildly put it in ElliotsBlog (October 12, 2009) by stating “first world ccTLDs like .de and .co.uk are proven winners but there is almost no chance of finding buyers for third world ccTLDs like .ws and .cc.”

History has shown that with the lunch of every new extension comes marketing hype which lasts only for a short while since these new extension have generally proven to not hold value or at the least rarely appreciates in value, just like a knock off Rolex seldom appreciates in value.

During the .cc craze, everyone and there second cousin fell for the hype especially after the heavily publicized sale of beauty.cc for $1M (Some domainers say this sale was engineered, some say it was dealt, others say it appears to have sold) Even yours truly acquired one or tow .cc domains then. One of them was  Jot.cc (wanted to develop this into a  web journal) After holding this domain for a couple of years, I quietly let it expire as the popularity of .cc wained. By the time I let it expire, I could not even get reg fee from the popular domain forums.

Some domainers fell for the .ws hype. I did not, the wounds of .cc was still very fresh. Even as recent as .Mobi one of the most hyped extensions of our time. I thought like many .mobi might have a chance and registered 2 or 3 mobis but the fact remains that the money to be made from .mobi has already been made.  dotName, dotTel all have similar stories, so much hype very little substance in the end.

You noticed I did not limit my analogy to just cctld’s  so if you have not gotten what I am eluding to, here it is in plain words, stick with quality, stick with the extension that have remained true over the years, as  a beginner stick with .com. You get more bang for your buck with .com. It is also easier to sell a junkyard in lower manhattan than it is to sell 20 acres of land somewhere in kalahari desert. As a beginner, you are most likely going to have limited capital, most beginners do, you want to invest your cash wisely.  In a nutshell, my .co advice is “don’t do it”

If you a beginner think that you will prosper from investing in .co domains, you have a right to be wrong.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

31 Comments »

  • The advice is a double edged sword; it is unscientific, however. The only chance a beginner with few cash has is to in fact invest in .CO, of course taking some risk while doing so, so if .CO enjoys any modicum of success, the newbie will become a hero. The newbie has no chance of purchasing an aged .COM; the newbie with no money has no chance in hell with .COM. The newbie will be ripped off by domain parkers; the newbie will be shunned by old domain pros, except an occasional advice on .CO.

    1. .CO doesn’t have to knock of .COM to be successful
    2. .CO is acronym for COMPANY, universally.
    3. Many countries have .CO in their ccTLD (.co.uk. .co.com, .co.de etc)
    4. .me, .cc, cm, are not .CO; .CO registered over half a million dollars in a couple of months, during a recession, at 300 – 400% of .COM’s price, thats a factor of over 1000 if the tangents are calculated.
    5. >CO may not be shortner for .COM, it is definitely a shortner for .CO.UK, .CO.DE, .CO.COM, etc. The Europeans will rush the .CO, trust me, they just want sneak in on it. By this time next year, I predict the rush will be on. They will convert wholesale. Just my opinion. DOT will be CO-captain with .Com in five years. So, go on newbie, jump in. No guys, no glory. If you never gamble, don’t get into this business.

  • zn says:

    i am a new domainer and i did not had any chance of bying a decent .com for a low badget. so .co came as a magic. glad to tell i invested 500$ and yesterday i flipped a .co for 1988$ possibile and end user who contacted me!!!

    I am sure when people in uk when introduced the .co.uk, nobody would have question ‘what Britons have to do with columbia…”

  • Rob says:

    With respect, i couldn’t disagree more, i started of with cctlds, including .in and .tv and have done rather nicely over the years, never had more than a couple of dot coms, you can get great keyword cctld in growing extensions like .in and .tv and make a VERY tidy profit.
    The uk use .co.uk and Germany .de, neither care much for dot com,.TV is everywhere in Europe and experiencing some very nice sales of late,the .in market is growing, the facts are that dot com whilst still the daddy in USA is over populated and saturated and some countries prefer their own cctld over it.

    Just another dot com article, trying to protect their dot com portfolio imo.

  • em says:

    This argument is so unconvincing. Reeks of protectionism. The .com game has been played to death. The two above commenters couldn’t have said it better. .co is perfect fo newbies. Beware newbies…its the hardcore .comers that want you to feed from the scraps of their tables. Looking for new opportunities is the way to go instead of letting some .comer lead you around with a piece of meat in their hands. The world is a big place with many opportunities. Don’t let .com cronies stop you from doing something new and innovative.

  • tim says:

    although the argument will only be proven with time, it’s interesting to note the incredible list of .co and .com names that were dumped on auctions.epik.com Looks like someone is selling out with no reserve!

  • Alan says:

    Very presumptuos article……I just can’t understand
    why some people insist on giving us “their opinion” on
    something that only the world wide market will decide.
    Have you ever gone to Sedo and seen some of the sales
    for .co.uk extensions?????? I am sure at the time the .co.uk extensions were offered, there were a lot of
    people who said it will never take off, stick to .com which is something many of us would prefer to do, but there is very little chance of getting anything decent.
    Any new extension is a gamble, but I would encourage
    people on the .co extension simply because of the over
    whelming responce to .co.uk in the market place.Indeed, at Latonas recent MiamiBeach auction, Coches.co fetched $15,000……..not a bad profit for a $30 reg fee.
    Like anything else, .co is a gamble, if you are right
    I lose $30 bucks or so……………but what if you are
    wrong???? Oh, and by the way……..ahh………..er………”this is just my opinion”

  • Will says:

    And the earth is flat… and man will never travel to the moon… Sorry, Mr. Aladi, I’ll continue to invest in .co names. I believe .co is intuitively appealing, is recognizable internationally, and is a great opportunity for new domainers to succeed financially.

  • Rob says:

    I should add that while i have no .co names and do not invest in the extension, i applaud those that continually diversify and move with the times,seeking out new opportunites, as i said i have made good money in .tv, and wish those speculating in other cctlds the very best of luck.
    @em whilst we differ in our extensions, i agree about the old guard dot com lot trying to protect their investment.

  • Sex.com just sold for $13 million. My brother and I have a seven figure deal in the works. There is nothing to “protect” about dotCOM. Yes, I hope ALL investors in ALL extensions make money, but the truth of the matter is that, even though it is possible to make money in any extension, dotCom is the Gold Standrad for domains and will be for quite some time (and will be more so after the new gTLDs are released).

  • Robin Ong says:

    When a new wave comes along, there are chances that various hindrance may come and try their best to ripple off the wave. Hindrance like David Castello and the old guards. Remember the classic case study of IBM placing their bet on mainframe instead of PCs. At least IBM woke up after letting the new rave rolled it over.

  • @Robin
    You sound a lot like one of the old dotMobi proponents. If anyone said anything negative about dotMobi they swopped down like a squadron of Stukas on Warsaw in September. And where are they now? Exactly.

  • L. Butler says:

    Have to say the arguments are solid. There seems to be a good market for .cc’s and, of course, a huge flipping market with .co’s of late. Good for all domainers, regardless of niche, I might add.

  • Chris says:

    OK first things first:

    @ettelouR.com

    “CO may not be shortner for .COM, it is definitely a shortening for .CO.UK”

    No it is NOT, well at least for the UK anyhow. NO-ONE in the UK uses a .co domain over a .co.uk !!!

    In 2003 the .co.uk domain market was a little like some of these new markets today, plenty of untapped domains, some of which I registered. However had I known the uptake I would have registered many, many more.

    So, personally I will register .tv, .cc, .co but only on very good names on the assumption that I will have to wait over 5 years for existing domains to start to become in short supply, pushing up demand.

  • em says:

    david,

    I think you have a very ethnocentric view of the internet real estate world. In years to come IDN.IDN will play a much larger role in the internet world. .com is really not as popular around the globe as you might think. .com is the American extension and it will have less and less significance with more and more IDns coming out. And who are the biggest proponents of the American Extension? of course, Americans. I don’t hear the Japanese or Russians ballyhooing over .com the way North Americans do.This will inevitably lead to a substantial decrease of .com value , given supply and demand. Eventually .com will become a collector’s edition.

  • Robin Ong says:

    @David, when I read my comments yesterday, I do sound a bit emotional. Maybe you are right by comparing .co to .mobi, but time will tell. I hope I will have the last laugh though.

  • Laurie says:

    Interesting thread.

    Given the technology advancements [minimizing web development], todays economy [necessitating home employment] and the up and coming demand RE; keystroke efficiency by todays youth, the .co is 33% more efficient than a dot com.

    The younger generation sees no boundaries [having been raised on computers] and; as such, seem to seek the fastest, quickest, most efficient way to their intended destination.

    While the whales chase the presumed Holy Grail of the .com, the younger generation is developing catchy and/or domain hacks alternatively. The pendulum has swung, IMO.

  • Laurie says:

    @ em

    SPOT ON!

  • @em
    You lost me when you said dotCom will become a Collector’s Edition. You can’t possibly be serious. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of media history can easily see what’s really going on here. To simply refer to dotCom as another TLD is wrong. In fact, it is the brand for a media pop revolution and has already long insured its place in marketing for years to come. Regardless, you all know my name (most on here remain anonymous) and I have no idea knowing what kind of money the posters on here are generating to back up their logic. To claim dotCom would lose its value because dotCo is 33% “more efficient” than dotCom leaves me at a loss for words.

  • Laurie says:

    @David-
    You misread. Dot com lucrative beyond measure. A point not in dispute. To what extent – and for how long- the issue as far as I read.

    Development and sales of .cn’s, .cc’s, .co.uk’s and .co’s (and others) are rising.
    The bottom line , IMO, domain extensions have multiplied based on overwhelming need and their ultimate potential, do you not agree?

  • @Laurie:
    “…extensions have multiplied based on overwhelming need…”
    Uh, NO.
    The only overwhelming need has been to make money. Seriously, Laurie – there was a need for dotTravel? Were they lining up for dotPro? Contrary to the screams of speculators, there are enough dotCom, dotOrg, dot Net and numerous ccTLDs out there for years to come. The figure domainers need to watch is not the number of domains bought, but how many are actually developed. And things will get really interesting when the new gTLDs come out because there will be too many names for speculators to artificially inflate demand. And then guess which TLDs will soar in value? That’s right – dotCom, dotOrg, dot Net and ccTLDs.

  • Laurie says:

    well said. Couldnt agree with you more RE: .travel, .pro etc. but clarify for me your point regarding “Uh, no … The only overwhelming need has been to make money’ comment.

    You meant through registrars rather than development?

  • @Laurie
    Yes, the “overwhelming demand” has been nearly 100% from registrars and speculators. The general public really couldn’t care less – and in the end they matter most. The more my brother and I speak the more obvious it becomes that domainers live in their own bubble. A very dangerous climate for any investor. As I said, always keep your eye on the number of names developed AND used as the primary brand for a business or individual. Those numbers never lie.

  • @Mr David Castello
    “As I said, always keep your eye on the number of names developed AND used as the primary brand for a business or individual. Those numbers never lie”.

    Except, past is prologue. People such as Domain King (Mr. Rick Schwarz) were able to buy, hold, NOT develop, and made a killing. Now, I’m not saying that you are wrong, I’m saying that there are many ways to kill a mouse; you can trap it, poison it, etc. It is hard to generalize. A lot of domainers, rightfully have respect for you and your brother, and other successful domainers, so I’m holding you to a higher standard here. Unless it’s scientific, statements should be better qualified.

  • Laurie says:

    @ ettelouR.com and David —
    A plethora of good advice. Thank you both. Please excuse my ignorance but…. where exactly does one “get” those numbers? [of domains developed]

  • @Laurie
    You may have to Google for the info. The legacy TLDs (DotCom, DotOrg and DotNet) have the largest number of developed sites. Was it because they were/are better? Of course not. It was because they were first and one should never, ever, ever underestimate the importance of that fact when dealing with the general public.
    @ettelouR.com
    Careful with the “past is prologue” rationale when an industry is as young as ours. However, you are correct in that there are other ways to make money in this business. You can park, develop or flip/sell. My brother and I have never said which was best for others. We simply prefer development for ourselves and have the hard stats to back it up.

  • BTW as we debate this .CO valuation, the market is already doing it’s magic! Put the proverbial newbie in the investors seat here. Over at Latona T.R.A.F.F.I.C extended auction, two .CO have just received Bids:

    Lot : #1610Total Bids : 1 Pisos.co
    Spanish for “apartments” or “flats”. Global Monthly Searches: 3,350,000; Local Monthly Searches: 74,000; Estimated Avg. CPC: $0.71; Competition: 0.06
    Category: Non-English
    Current Bid: $15,000

    Lot : #1610Total Bids : 1 Pisos.co
    Spanish for “apartments” or “flats”. Global Monthly Searches: 3,350,000; Local Monthly Searches: 74,000; Estimated Avg. CPC: $0.71; Competition: 0.06
    Category: Non-English
    Current Bid: $15,000

  • @David Castello,
    Thanks a lot for chipping in here. It pays to have someone with real world success chime in. Congratulations on the pending deal.

  • Aristianto says:

    The biggest problem I see with .co is:
    If you develop domain.CO as a brand, basically you are doing a free promotion for domain.COM. This is because people are much more familiar with .com, so when they hear “hey visit this website.co” they will automatically go to “website.com”. Perhaps this will change in the future, but I doubt it considering the billions of advertising dollars that have gone into promoting .COM

  • kandyjet says:

    @Aristianto

    yes, your comment is good for until 3 months a ago :)

    why i am telling that is, think the babies who born in the core era (nower days). in few years lator, if you say them to goto twitter, they will ask “twitter.com or twitter.co?” coz in few years both extensions are popular on the market. each extenstion promotion others wise versa.

    just IMHO :)

  • Jeffcool says:

    IMO the equation is quite simple :

    .com = display major or worldwide identity
    .cctld = display national identity

    Sometimes it’s not completely stupid to use things for what they are aimed for !

    Alternative uses (as for .tv) can be randomly but not soundly lucrative and will always remain periphal phenomenons (call it niches if you prefer). Even .net and .org are not so convincing in terms of branding (which .net or .org successful business doesn’t try to get his .com at some point ?).

    I have a few decent .mobi .do .co .mx .ws or even .bz (don’t laugh) because I am a dreamer. Never sold one unfortunately.

  • KandyJet & Jeffcool:

    Those are fair points. .CO is different.
    Remember, it depends on what you mean by a successful endeavor with domain names. I believe that .DE and .Co.UK, while they are not .COM, (no other TLD even, is), you can see those ccTLDs sell for handsome profits everyday on Sedo.
    If one invests $30 on a good .CO today and hold on to it for a couple of years, I trust they will not lose any money.
    All it will take for .CO to go viral and wild is one major, cool company using that platform to launch a great service that everybody needs, be it Social media or whatever. You must agree that .CO goes with Company like horse and carriage, or love and marriage.

    You should not use the fact that Domainers haven’t started buying .CO from each other at thousands of dollars to measure this thing; most domainers don’t have a boot to piss in, or a window to throw it out of right now. Most end-users do NOT know what’s going on for now. .CO is a tinder box! One thing I’m guessing: domainers who didn’t buy back in July are regretting it, I know I would. I wish I grabbed 5000 of them. I would have held them for 5 years before selling even one. It will be a hit, in my opinion. Remember, I have thousands of .COMs; I’m a .COM guy that doesn’t mind other TLD’s or ccTLDs living a little.

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SkyDomains » Apple sued over iCloud; Over Reach or Deserved?

Jun
12
2011

Apple sued over iCloud; Over Reach or Deserved?

So the news today is that a Phoenix based company is suing Apple claiming that the iCloud name infringes on its trademark. The company name in question is iCloud Communications whose primary business is  Voice over IP. They claim that Apple’s use of the iCloud name for its services courses confusion

“The goods and services with which Apple intends to use the “iCloud” mark are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks since its formation in 2005. However, due to the worldwide media coverage given to and generated by Apple’s announcement of its “iCloud” services and the ensuing saturation advertising campaign pursued by Apple, the media and the general public have quickly come to associate the mark “iCloud” with Apple, rather than iCloud Communications”

Do you think this company is overreaching or Apple is just experiencing a dose of its own medicine. I think in the end money will change hands to avoid litigation.
Source:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/230127/apple_sued_by_icloud.html

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

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  • steve says:

    2005?
    cloud was around since 2000/
    They are a little late to the party.
    Sounds like they don’t have the trademark on icloud of iclouds but some two word trademarks.
    2005 is to late to claim icloud.

  • todaro says:

    when apple computer started they were contacted by apple records (beatles) about their name. apple records decided to let it go with the proviso that they stay out of the music business. now that apple has a couple hundred billion to throw around they’ve got a court ruling that says ipod & itunes have nothing to do with the music business. go figure.

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SkyDomains » Are We the “We” Generation ?

Jan
21
2009

Are We the “We” Generation ?

I was watching CNN yesterday like most people. I however did notice something interesting. I noticed that a lot of the ads on TV now centers on these themes ” We, Together”. Everything seams to be community oriented and how you can make the world a better place by getting involved. Notable mentions are the following ads, Starbucks ad, I rate this ad excellent for imagination and originality. Pretty cool ad. Pepsi also had something going with the Slogan “Every generation refreshes the earth” Then there is the clean coal people, the MedicAid people , the Responsible Energy Use people and so on and so forth.

Well as a domianer, if this is the direction the world is going, by the world I mean USA in particular, then it bewho’s me to get involved on a domain level. My point is how does this affect us as domainers? A couple of days ago I read in a blog about the sale of 360.org, that is the kind of thing I am talking about.

I do not want this “We” thing to pass me by.

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SkyDomains » Fabulous offers FREE privacy protection to its customers

Jun
18
2009

Fabulous offers FREE privacy protection to its customers

Now here is a pace setter. I totally dig this news. It is not often that a registrar gets it but it seams fab does. When last did someone especially a registrar go out of there way to give you something for free?

When all this go into place, Fab accounts will probably be one of the most protected in the industry.

Below is part of the email in my inbox this morning from fab.

 

“Additional Account Security

As you will no doubt realize security on the Internet is paramount. Fabulous has always strived to be leading edge when it comes to protecting your domain assets and as part of our ongoing efforts we are implementing an additional level of account security; Introducing the Fabulous Security Key.

The Fabulous Security Key is an innovative USB device that provides additional levels of security to sensitive areas of your account. Sections of your account that can be protected by the Fabulous Security Key include:

  • Sales
  • Transfers
  • Name Servers
  • Pushes


With one touch, it sends a unique one time pass code, ensuring that these actions are only performed by the authorized holder of the Fabulous Security Key. The Fabulous Security Key is an additional authentication mechanism that is used in conjunction with your account password.

If you are interested in using the Fabulous Security Key, let your Account Manager know and they will arrange to have one shipped to you.


Whois Privacy

By popular demand, Fabulous is now offering Whois Privacy Services. Rather than your private information being displayed anytime someone does a whois lookup, domains using our Whois Privacy Service will return unique details to protect your personal information.

Every domain using our Whois Privacy Service will be given a unique identifier and all email and phone messages related to your domains will be automatically redirected to you. What’s the cost to use Whois Privacy? Nothing! You can protect all your domains at no additional cost. *


The Fabulous Security Key and Whois Privacy Service will be available as of July 1. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your Account Manager or myself.”

This is cool.
Have a great day everyone. The weather man says we are going to roast today  in SC

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  • Richard says:

    I would agree the key fob is pretty kewl (not the first ones to do it of course) and there are other registrars that have offered a Privacy whois service for free for a LONG time…. nice to see Fab is catching up.

  • As I have said many many times before, Fabulous.com is by far-and-away THE best registrar on the planet. Not only is their interface fantastic but their people are responsive, trustworthy and accountable.

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SkyDomains » My View on ccTLD

Feb
23
2009

My View on ccTLD

Most of us have watched the video by the 3000 dollar a day domainer. One of the reasons I waited this long to post my views is because I really do not want to influence any one’s decision. However if you care to know what I personally think, then here it is.

Do I believe it is possible to make a lot of money from Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLD).  The answer to this is  a “yes” but with a caveat. ccTLD is not for everyone. They are usually more expensive to get into and are less forgiving of a mistake. You might be able to unload some bad .com regs on some other novice but it is usually much harder to do the same with ccTLD.

One of my readers asked me if I was attending the conference on ccTLD and I said “No” and he wanted to know why. I said “I am not interested”. He replied “but Rick says he is betting the farm on ccTLD”. I replied him “it is easier to bet the farm if you have more than one farm” lets face it most of us are no Rick Latona.

Growing up my mom often told me “When the rat goes to play in the rain with the lizard, long after the lizard is dry, the rat is still wet”  The moral of this story is to ask yourself are you a rat or a lizard? Can you afford to stay wet  for a long time (being wet in this story is a bad thing) . If things don’t pan out, how long can you survive the damage or will this bury your empire before you even start.

Some years ago during the time of Greatdomains of old. There was a very big fuss about .cc domains. When beauty.cc was reportedly sold for 1Million USD, we all went crazy.  They claimed .cc was the new dotcom or more rightly put, the .com crown prince. What most people did not know was that the so called 1Million dollar sale was somewhat shady. It was more of a publicity stunt. I had registered Jot.cc  My plan was to build it into a sort of live journal. The exact phrase I had in mind then was an “online diary”. This was the plan for Jot.cc if  I did not sell it of course. Well I never sold it. I held this domain for 2 or 3 years and finally let it expire. It was a small price to pay for the lesson I learnt. I watched the popularity of .cc drop and within a short time it was nothing. However some people made some good sales at the time.  Some people are still making good sales on .cc but the probability is statistically smaller.

In all this blah blah. I draw some exceptions. .us, .co.uk, and .de
I am one of the few that believe that .us will be popular in future but that future is really far away and that popularity is really for the one worders or strong generics. The type that sells this days for x,xxx
I have never really classified .co.uk  and .de with other ccTLD because they already have a strong following and it is pretty strong.

One other problem you will face with ccTLD is language. Just because you can translate does not mean that is the right term for the people who will be searching for that product or service. This is the only example I can think of now so bear with me – ( I am a pet lover) When you say “Oh he is such a pussy” In England it means he is such a darling, in America it means he is spineless and in most countries it will mean he is just a baby cat (kitten). I use this sentence because it is different from the example where Britain calls Truck Lorry and Hood Bonnet.

In summary ccTLD is not for everyone. I will revisit this topic in another post if need be. I am trying to keep my post short these days and this one is allready too long.

So what do you think? What are your views?

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  • Frankie,
    This is a brilliant post. I enjoyed reading it.

    Here in Britain, we also call the trunk (car) the boot. So if you hear the term, boot sale, it is not a sale of boots/shoes, but rather a sale of anything whatsoever from the trunk/boot of the car.

  • You are absolutely right – ccTLDs are not for everyone. You should also not treat TLDs like .cc, .tv or .fm like ccTLDs – technically they are but they really are more like .biz or .mobi domains.

    If you want to invest in ccTLD you should do a research, a LOT of research. Probably maybe you will even have to recruit someone to have needed language skills on board.

    You can also invest in some projects or companies that specialize in ccTLD markets and have the right knowledge to invest in ccTLD market.

    But what is great about ccTLDs is that there is much less competition and rewards are also much higher – if you have enough knowledge, luck and money..

    No risk, no fun :)

  • Johnny says:

    Nice post.

    I would say that most of us domainer folks could find $500 to throw at experimenting with some ccTLD’s and if it does not work out….then so be it. :)
    .

  • @Kevin I know about all the boot and trunk thing. Don’t get me started on color and colour :D

    @Daniel Fine talk I must say. You are right .Tv, .cc, .ws even though they are technically ccTLD have been over diluted.

    @Johnny with the economy, I have stopped throwing money at anything. I try to make every money decision count.

  • Nick says:

    “pussy” in England means the same as in the US. It does not mean “darling”. No way. If you call someone a pussy here you’re likely to get a punch in the face. Don’t forget, we watch a lot of American TV!

  • Nick,
    by singling out just one word from the entie sentence, you throw my analogy out of wack.
    That sentence was actually curlled from a HBO series “Curb your enthusiasm”
    so I believe the writers knew what they where saying.

  • SIA says:

    Um, I think you miss the point of our exchange. My point in mentioning Rick’s conference was to demonstrate that many of the smart, most credible and most monied individuals in the industry recognize the value of ccTLD’s. It’s a fact that the average domain per user in the US is about .38 compared to about .16 for .co.uk and even half that for .cn and .in domains where most of the world’s internet users are. I think your misstep from your story above was registering English names. I mean, would you go out and register stekare.us (preppy in Swedish). I would hope not – how many people speak Swedish in the US? Unfortunately, most Americans fail to recognize that the world is larger than the shores of the US. I’m quite happy with most people sharing your sentiments because it makes it a buyer’s market for the next several years. Sadly, I think 9 out of 10 American domainers probably glean things the way you do…

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SkyDomains » Brands

Sep
25
2008

Brands

Overseas Contract Logo

OverseasContract.com

 

 Pet Memorial

PetMemorial.com is currently undergoing serious reconstruction. What you see now is simply a functional place holder for the real deal coming soon.

Pet Message Board

 

SafariRacks.com

 

 

  

The Sites Below Are For Sale (Currently accepting serious offers)

 dnoptimizers-logo1

hearing-dogs1

FleaMarketFinds.com

 

Written by Frankie Aladi in: |

3 Comments »

  • Jeff Jones says:

    I enjoyed reading your post about honoring God with your domains. Amen! God speed to you and your business.

    Check the spelling on the image links for two of your Websites – PetMessageBoard and OverseasContract. The links are mispelled and so the links don’t work.

    Have a nice Christmas!
    Jeff

  • Thanks Jeff,
    I am prone to spelling mistakes a lot especially with urls because I cannot spellcheck them. I have corrected the affected urls.
    Thank you and remain blessed

  • I like PetMemorial.com :)

    Nice!

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SkyDomains » 21 Suggestions For Success

Jan
21
2009

21 Suggestions For Success

Whether you have read my blog in the past or not,  you need to read this post if  this title does not ring a bell. More importantly you need to know what may determine about 90% of your happiness or misery. I will share with you  the words of  H. Jackson Brown Jr. These words have  hung on my old home office for years now. They applies to domaining because domaining is part of your life.

 I officially  moved to a  new home  office a couple of minutes ago. My new home office is called the “Rectangular Office” It has been ready for about a week now but my wife and I decided to wait for this historic day ” The inauguration of  President Barack Obama”  to move into the new office. Noting grandiose, I simply  cut my garage into two, completely finished it with doors, windows  and all.  I needed the old office room  for a nursery. The old office used to be called “SkyDomains Command Center”

At  the bottom of 21 suggestions for success, you will see the names submitted by some of my readers. I had asked for each reader to submit two of there best names and they did.

 21 Suggestions for Success by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

  1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
  2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.
  3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
  4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
  5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
  6. Be generous.
  7. Have a grateful heart.
  8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
  9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
  10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
  11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
  12. Commit yourself to quality.
  13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
  14. Be loyal.
  15. Be honest.
  16. Be a self-starter.
  17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.
  18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
  19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.
  20. Take good care of those you love.
  21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

Now you know the 21 suggestions for success, here are 24 domain  names from some of my readers.

internetpaymentoptions.com $1000
daycarecenteronline.com $ 1000
SpeedBag.com  $8500
TravertineTiles.com $12,500
LoveStories.com $75,000
MyPoems.com $25,000
Compcore.com 
NamesMonitor.Com
DealsForStudents.com $1500
CellService.com $8500
AirAndHotel.com $2000
JoinSuccess.com $1500
Commenters.com $2500
CommerceDepartement.com $2500
PontoMoney.com
ShowMeTeens.com
UnSoldDomains.com $3000
RealtyRemodeling.com $5000
NYC-Property.com
GranCanaris.com
marinebattery.com $3500
samoyeds.com $4500
placesdubai.com £3.000
solicitorsdubai.com £4.000

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SkyDomains » A Generic Domain is Like a Harvard Degree

Jan
28
2009

A Generic Domain is Like a Harvard Degree

I have a feeling this post might ruffle some feathers on both aisles so why don’t I start by apologizing to those  whose feathers I might ruffle.  To those who simply do not agree with me. It is OK, we both have a right to be wrong .

When you are a domainer, you see domains in almost anything. A couple of days ago, I was watching a documentary on the Harvard Business School. I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between generic domains and the salient points  enumerated by the Harvard MBA’s  shows presenter.

Most business schools wish they are Harvard
Most domainers wished there domains are generic

Most MBA holders wish there MBA is from Harvard
Most non generic domain end users wish there domains are generic.

A Harvard MBA cost a boat load of money
A category killer generic domain cost a ship Load of Money

Doors open more readily for you with a Harvard MBA
Doors open more readily for you with a   generic domain

Employers pay more attention to you when you have a Harvard MBA
Investors and advertisers  pay more attention to you when you have a  generic domain.

OK fair and square, I have made both sides of the aisles happy. You can go on and on with this analogy to no end.

Now lets talk about when the rubber meets the road. While there are numerous super successful Harvard MBA holders, some of  the worlds top business men never went to Harvard. Bill Gates, The founders of Google, Amazon.com’s Jeffrey Preston Bezos– close but not quite – Princeton University. Even our own Domain King, Rick Schwartz does not have a Harvard MBA
Even without  a Harvard MBA these  gentlemen  have stood a pace ahead of there peers proving once again that “The race of  life is not won by the fastest or the strongest but by the man who thinks he will”

The same scenario applies to generic domains. While there are lots of  very successful generic domains out there online, yet the top businesses are by no means generic. I will list a few here:

It is ebay not auction
it is  GoDaddy not Domains
it is Google not Search or Ask
It is Amazon not Shop (Close again but not quite– See earlier mention of  ”Princeton”)
It is Craiglist not Classifieds
it is YouTube not Video

I can go on and on and  am sure so can you.
This post is not intended to diminish the significance of a Harvard MBA or Generic domains but instead to let you know that you can still succeed  in this business of domaining even if you do not have either of them.

“…..for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth….”, Deuteronomy 8:18

I am not by any  means advocating buying worthless names but if you cast your hopes in God, the domain in your portfolio that everyone overlooked might become the gem of tomorrow. God is still in the business of giving ideas. With one great idea you can be catapulted to a level beyond your wildest dreams.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding“. Proverbs 3:5

Finally think of these words when next you hear a bad news about the economy this year

 You crown the year with your bounty and your carts overflow with abundance Pslam 65 : 11

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

10 Comments »

  • I used to think that too.

    Until I read the article about this guy earning $10m on just one hr a day work with plentyoffish.com

    A domain name is a useless entity – that makes individuals like Kevin Ham actually fantasize they are the king of the Interent – (uber ego trips) unless you have a clever and differentiating, cost realistic business model and credit lines to support the infrastructure and sale force to make a dime.

    Sure, there are exceptions to the rule where an idiot mesmerized by a Madoff clone will pay $10m for a domain name, but hmm.. that seems to have the same odds as pull a Jackpot machine in Las Vegas.

    Good luck guys. Develop your domains, but develop them only with a good SWOT analysis on how you will maintain your differentiation as thousands of new sites hit the web each day.

  • Mike says:

    Great Post.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you.

    Anything is possible when we believe in it.

  • Tony says:

    @Terence and Frankie,

    Both of you are citing extreme examples of success to downplay the value of a generic domain or a Harvard degree. I can do the same thing with mentioning Einstein not having a Harvard degree and coming up with revolutionary physical theories as a Swiss patent clerk. So every aspiring physicist should become a patent clerk!

    The fact of the matter is for 99.9% of the rest of us who don’t have a killer application/service/product to offer the world, a generic domain will separate that a business from the thousands of other ordinary businesses. That would be how the average person distinguishes themselves from the rest.

    It’s all about probabilities. A Harvard degree or generic domain name won’t guarantee you success but it will give you a higher probability of success than the alternatives. In a world of a thousand ceiling fan manufacturers/distributors, I would be that you would be distinct if you owned ceilingfans.com.

  • @Tony,
    You totaly lost me with your comment. While I understand the point you are making, I do not understand how it differs from the body of my original post.
    What if you do not have CeilingFans.com and You still need to sell fans?
    Do you then close shop?

  • Tony says:

    No, it means you would be better off having ceilingfans.com than not if you need to sell ceiling fans…

  • Tony says:

    “be” should be “bet” in the last sentence of my first post:

    In a world of a thousand ceiling fan manufacturers/distributors, I would be that you would bet distinct if you owned ceilingfans.com.

  • Tony,
    So did you really read the post?
    Remember I said If you do not have a Harvard degree or Generic domain, you can still succeed.
    You will be better off with a Harvard degree but many have archieved great success without it.
    Please Tony, understand the content of the post first.

  • Tony says:

    Frankie,

    My message was more directed toward Terence who said that “a domain name is a useless entity” than toward you. However, you subsequently replied to the “a domain name is a useless entity” post with an “I agree with you” reply. Please understand the content of your own posts!

  • Tony
    You win :D
    This conversation is becoming too challenging to follow with a PDA

  • Wow… This post is very inspirational… even if you agreed or not.

    All best,
    Will

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SkyDomains » Amazon.com, a website worth emulating

Jun
28
2010

Amazon.com, a website worth emulating

Good day people. It is probably months now since my last post. Initially it was due to school but recently it has also been due to a medical condition. I am alright . Approximately one month ago I had a hip resurfacing surgery. Over 4 years ago, I sustained what at the time seamed like a sprain while running at the beach. This later developed to pain so unbearable I had no other choices but to choose between a hip replacement surgery and a hip resurfacing surgery. At this very moment, I am somewhat off crutches and can move around almost freely. All that remains of my old pain is a six inch incision scar.

I have always been a prolific web shopper but when  you are home and cannot move much, Internet shopping takes a whole new meaning. There is one thing Amazon does that I still do not understand how they pull it off and still make a profit. For $79 a year you get to join the exclusive “Amazon prime” this means that whatever Amazon sells with the Prime symbol on it gets shipped to you for free with 2 day shipping and for an extra $3.99 you get it next day. Amazon has become my number one shopping site especially around birthdays and holidays. No matter how late I procrastinate, I can always surprise my nephews and nieces with presents that arrive just on time. Last fathers day, I ordered a wrist watch on Friday 7 PM EST and it was delivered on Saturday 11 AM  and I wore it to church on Sunday at 10.30 Am. How do they do they do it? I don’t know. Sure there is FedEx next day but how does a big company like Amazon manage to cut to the chase and package and ship products with such efficiency? I believe  this singular factor will help pioneer Amazon to a level its rivals will not dare dream of.

I have one or two websites that deal with consumers directly or that have in the past. I am always thinking, how and when do my sites get to the Amazon shipping status. First and foremost, I have tried to ensure that no product stays with me longer than it needs to once it is paid for. This is a start. If you are concerned about speed, note that FedEx ground will beat UPS ground in speed almost all the time and for about the same price.

Was this post really necessary? Well we are all domainers, some of us are webmasters, yet all of us should study and master the secret of the Amazon success because I believe it can be applied in almost any web business.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Uncategorized |

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SkyDomains » The Best Registrar in The World

Jan
14
2009

The Best Registrar in The World

Almost every domainer who has been through 4 seasons of domaining already has a favorite registrar. While I have not sampled all the registrars, I have however tried most of the popular ones over the years. I think I probably started with Network solutions at 70 bucks or 35 bucks a domain, I can’t really remember now. From network solutions, I remember being with Joker.com, no this is not a joke, It is a real registrar for real. From Joker, I have some how ended up at enom and have tried GoDaddy, Fabulous and 1 & 1.

Let me start from the worst. I did not have a good experience with one and one. Nothing dramatic happened but I just totally hate their interface and never really fell at home there.

A lot of  domainers use Godaddy but I must tell you that I am not a fan. I still have 2 dot info domains there because I have transferred everything thing else to either Fab or enom. I especially loath the inconsistency of their pricing structure. One dollar today 18 dollars next year. Not cool. Also I dislike all the offers you  are bombarded with while trying to register a simple name. Not cool. It reminds me of the gas station near my house that asks me about 5 questions including if I need a car wash. I just want some gas, make it snappy!
While there interface is not bad, I have however seen better.

Enom is one of the most customer friendly registration interface out there. Simple and with a lot of useful tools for free. Fwd, url redirect and what not are all bundled in for free. They are also easy to navigate. One of enoms strongest point is its stability with price. You know what you are going to be paying at any giving time. Price is also one of there biggest downfall as they are not always the cheapest and will charge you 3 percent for using paypal or credit card. Not cool!  Wake up enom.
In spite of all this, I feel safer and most relaxed with my enom domains but enom just did not make it as the best registrar in the world. Maybe 4 years ago it would have been but things are different now.

Fabulous.com, Well what can I say this is fast becoming a really cool place for the domainer. If you want to register a .com .net or .org, Fab is the place. There price is not always the cheapest but at least it is consistent just like enom but without the 3 percent fee. If you park with them you can also pay with your PPC earnings. There interface is simple and easy to follow. There support is as good as it gets with a registrar. Overall all I have to say is good things about Fab. I know some of you do not even know that you can register your domain names at Fabulous. You need to check it out.

I hereby confer to Fabulous.com the title of “The Best Registrar in the World”

PS: I have not been compensated in anyway to write this review. At press time, this page was published without any affiliate links. I currently have 1 domain registered at one and one, 2 at Godaddy, some in Fabulous and the rest at enom.

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Written by Frankie Aladi in: Domain Talk |

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  • Patrick McDermott says:

    “and will charge you 3 percent for using paypal or credit card.”

    Charging the extra 3% to use PayPal is a violation of PayPal’s Terms.

    Credit Card companies don’t allow it either. That’s why many gas station companies used to give a discount if you used cash.

    They could discount the cash payment but not charge extra
    for credit card payments without running the risk of getting turned in.

    Someday you may want to look at Name.com and Dynadot.com.

    You’ll find very easy to use control panels and pricing
    is reasonable.

  • Patrick
    I actualy search for names a lot of times using name.com
    However in two occassions where I actually wanted to register the name in question. Their price was always higher than either Fab or enom. Dynadot, that has been around for a while hasnt it? I have so forgotten about them. I dont think I have ever used there services either.

  • Patrick McDermott says:

    Frankie,

    For quite some time Name was offering domain registrations,renewals and transfers for $5.99 with free Google Apps, Privacy protection, etc.

    They often run specials but since you loathe price inconsistency that won’t have any appeal for you.

    Dynadot offers better pricing than their regular pricing
    once you spend $500 in a year or pre-load $500 in your account.

    What I like about both these Registrars is the ease of using the Control Panel, pushing domains, bulk management, etc.

  • Patrick,
    I am sure this Registrars offer great service. Which is why I started by saying that every seasoned domainer has his favorite. I really tried to love Name.com but the price was only good if they were having a sale, otherwise the consistent price of enom or Fab always trumps it. While I do not expect either you or I to change camp that easily, I invite you to test drive enom reseller pricing or Fabs standard pricing and interface.
    Prepare to be impressed.

  • Patrick McDermott says:

    Frankie,

    I use Enom and Fabulous and Moniker and GoDaddy,Name,
    Moniker and some others.

    I am an opportunist and I often follow the deals.

    This allows me to reg, renew and/or transfer domains I may not have regged, renewed and/or transfered otherwise.

    Domains that I really want to keep I reg or move to Fabulous or Moniker.

    Both have great security.

    Moniker’s customer service has gone downhill according
    to many domainer’s experience but if you have domains
    at Moniker you can offer them For Sale thru SnapNames without paying a fee.

  • I see,
    You are on top of things then. Moving domains about drives me nuts. I just moved some names away from Godaddy because I plan to keep them. If I could move all my domains at once, they will probably all be in Fab.

  • I wouldn’t trust GoDaddy or anybody else with my most valuable assets. Their policies are wacky.

    Stick with Moniker or Fabulous :)

    Best,
    Mike

  • Gina says:

    Frankie! How can you not mention NAMECHEAP.COM, my absolute favourite Registrar!! XXXXX (love them)

    Interface simplicity, Policy Transparency, BEST 24/7 LIVE SUPPORT ever! I could go on & on… ;-)

    And boy, do I ever agree about GoDaddy.com (Yuck, they are in your face every second you spend on there). You get lost between all the ads swimming between your account settings.

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