5 With...

Since launching Lowell.com, I’ve constantly been asked who I use for a designer. Knowing how difficult it is to find a reliable designer who does great work, I have always been reluctant to give most people his details. With the new year approaching, my efforts will be on monetizing my websites rather than development and design, so consider this an early Christmas present.   Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t give out his contact information, but Mike has been great for my business this year, and I am happy to highly recommend him to my friends. 🙂
When I wanted a new look and feel for a company logo (Top Notch Domains, LLC), I turned to a design competition on Sitepoint (now 99 Designs). Mike won this competition fairly handily, and I began asking him to do other projects, including the logo for ElliotsBlog.com. Mike is responsible for creating just about all of the design work for my two companies, their corporate websites, and the websites they operate, including Silver Internet Ventures, LLC.
Mike founded his company, SixOneFive Design in 2000 to provide creative design to clients all over the web.   Although currently located in Milwaukee, WI, Mike’s client base remains largely dedicated to clients mostly throughout the United States. He has served clients from California to New York, and even clients as far away as Australia. Whether you need a logo created, a new website presence or a complete identity rebranding, Mike can do it – at prices that are truly affordable.
EJS 1) How did you get involved with development and designing websites?
MM: I’ve been designing websites for about five or six years, learning along the way.   For three years I split my time between working a full-time job at a digital photography studio and working freelance at night, trying to gain clientele.   Finally, I decided it was time for a change.   My plan was to quit my job and find something more suited, maybe as a web designer, but then freelancing took off.   I started out doing mostly graphic work and smaller websites.   It wasn’t until I met Elliot last year that I began developing large-scale geo-domains.
EJS: 2) How can you leverage your skills to add more value to category killer domain names?
MM: The biggest advantage I have is that I started in graphic design and then learned web design later on.   This helps me provide my clients with complete solutions that look AND function great on launch day.   You rarely find a developer with good design sense and programming skills (if you do, hire him immediately and don’t let him stray too far).   Although I am not the best programmer on the block, I am learning every single day.   Every project is a learning process and adds to my skill set.   Also, if I ever decide to develop some of my own domains, I can do so at little to no cost.
EJS: 3) Since working on my projects, what have you learned about development and yourself?
MM: First and foremost, I work better off of lists versus multiple emails ;).   Honestly though, working on projects like Lowell.com and Burbank.com, especially, have taught me SO much about developing a large-scale website. I have become more familiar with dynamic navigation, coding for affiliates, working out .htaccess issues, and more recently RSS feeds.   I have found that with enough research and testing, I can pretty much solve any issue I run into.   It gives me confidence going into large projects, knowing I can accomplish exactly what the client needs.
EJS: 4) With your busy work load, are you still taking on new clients, and what projects are of interest to you right now?
MM: I will definitely be looking for my next big project around the beginning of the year.   My girlfriend will agree that I deserve the holiday break that’s coming up!   I have been working tirelessly all year to grab as many clients as I can and next year will be no different.   I am really up for any challenge at this point.   Since development is a hot topic, I want to bring more aesthetically pleasing and functional websites to the domaining world.   All those great domains need a place to call home!
EJS: 5) Have you worked on integrated marketing efforts, combining web design and development with offline marketing efforts?
MM: Working remotely, it is really hard to provide any kind of offline marketing.   I would love to be a jack-of-all-trades but I try to leave the marketing to the marketing specialists.   So far my experiences are that clients either want to do their own home-brew marketing or they just don’t want any marketing at all.   A friend of mine is a marketing guy and he just can’t convince businesses of the value of marketing.   More and more SEO strategies are becoming the new wave of marketing.   Once it’s perfected, it basically does the work for you.
EJS – 6) What can domainers do to cut down on costs of development?
MM – This may sound like a no-brainer but the best thing you can do is take a little time to learn some basic web design skills.   You can stop by Barnes & Noble and get any beginner web design books and learn some really valuable information that could cut down on hourly costs.   Think of it this way, the cost of one web design book is probably less than one hour of billable work from SixOneFive Design ;).
Another great thing which is sweeping the web is Content Management Systems.   CMS will allow you to update your content without needing a developer around all the time.   WordPress can be a great CMS and it’s growing every day.   I am actually finishing some WP themes myself, aimed at different domaining niches.   You will have the ability to customize your logo, colors, ad banners, AdSense, RSS and many other things from an easy-to-use theme admin panel.   I’m trying to make it as easy as humanly possible to use as a development tool.

Reinvent, the leading domain company at the forefront of the industry, recently announced that they will be rolling out the Reinvent Index, an index created to allow domainers to track the parking performance of 20 domain verticals. The Index will be operated in conjunction with Hitfarm, Reinvent’s parking company.
The Reinvent Index is made up of 200 domain names in 20 industry verticals, allowing people to see and track revenue and traffic trends in particular niches. Verticals that are covered in the Reinvent Index include automotive, business, education, fashion, health, music, shopping, technology, and many others. The Index was created to bring transparency and knowledge to the domain space, and it will allow you to follow the performance of domain names, which is going to be very interesting given the current economic situation.
To help introduce the Reinvent Index and acquaint you with Hitfarm, I had the opportunity to interview Don Ham, the operating director of Hitfarm.
EJS: 1) Are there specific requirements that people need to meet to sign up?
DH: Hitfarm will cater to accounts that have quality traffic so there will be some restrictions. Each new account will be evaluated on a case by case scenario. All accounts must maintain a good TQS (Traffic Quality Score) and and be void of any Adult or Gambling names. We also require applicants earn a minimum of $1,000 USD/month*. Whether you have one high quality domain or hundreds of thousands in your portfolio, if you meet these criteria, we’d love to partner with you.
(*) Subject to change
EJS: 2) How can domainers who don’t have huge portfolios use the Reinvent Index to benefit their portfolio?
DH: Reinvent Index may actually benefit smaller portfolio owners more so than bigger portfolio owners. Large portfolio owners generally have many of the stats and/or trends at their disposal via their own portfolio. The 20 verticals give domainers insight into each of the available categories they might be interested in. By studying a particular vertical and it’s performance, a domainer may find that they want to invest in a particular vertical which may be new to his portfolio. It is also useful if a domainer has a small portfolio heavy in a single vertical. He can use the index to benchmark the industry as a whole and compare the trends to his own portfolio’s fluctuations. For instance, if he notices a steep decline/increase in CTR, he can refer to the Reinvent Index and compare the CTR trend for that vertical and find out if it is an anomaly or industry trend.
EJS: 3) What added information about the Index will people who sign up receive?
DH: Reinvent Index is available to the public, there is no need to sign up for this. Hitfarm Index, on the other hand, will be restricted to Hitfarm clients only. This tool, which is still under development, will enable all Hitfarm clients to compare how their portfolio is performing against all other domains on our platform and look for quick answers to trends/anomalies. Hitfarm Index will be of most value to Hitfarm clients in this way. Between the Reinvent and Hitfarm Index, we are making it easier for domainers to evaluate their portfolio performance. Furthermore, with upcoming Hitfarm 2.0 implementation, all Hitfarm clients will have the functionality to create and manage their own custom Indexes.
EJS: 4) Which new initiatives add the most value to Hitfarm partners?
DH: I feel it’s our commitment to transparency and integrity as well as our new Portfolio Management initiatives. Transparency and integrity because we let our clients remove any doubt about revenue skimming with the option to audit their revenue numbers by a qualified auditor of their choice. Portfolio Management is a new initiative that we are rolling out to clients engaged in a Hitfarm Exclusive Agreement.   For these clients we dedicate an experienced and knowledgeable Portfolio Manager who is backed by technical and editorial staff to cater to our client’s specific needs. The Portfolio Manager liaises with the client and they work together to implement a plan that best to utilizes the dedicated staffs’ resources and optimizes the portfolio’s performance. Ultimately, our goal is to have each of our Portfolio Managers know his/her client’s portfolio better than the domainer himself. Once this is reached, we give back the most valuable asset to our clients, his time.
EJS: 5) Does Reinvent have plans to expand into other domain areas such as sales and auctions?
DH: Domains are our core business. Domain Marketplace and Auctions have always interested us but we have other priorities at this time. I think there are many marketplace and auction platforms that serve the industry well. If at a later date we feel we can add value to our industry by expanding into these areas we’ll certainly give it a serious consideration.

Although Karen won’t be known as Karen Abraham much longer, I thought it would be very appropriate to do a 5 with my beautiful wife to be, Karen. In November of 2004, Karen and I were taking the Amtrak train back to New York from Boston after Thanksgiving. Karen randomly sat next to me and I struck up a conversation with her. Long story short, it’s been a great 3.5+ years and we are getting married on Saturday.
Karen has always supported me 100% in my endeavors, and she has been especially supportive of my decision to start my own company. I listen to her opinion when it comes to buying and selling domain names, and I always — well usually — appreciate her advice and feedback. If Karen wasn’t in graduate school for clinical psychology, she could probably jump right in and become a domain investor.
1) EJS: What have you learned about the domain industry since we started dating?
KJA: I’ve learned about the high value of domain names. I couldn’t believe that someone would pay so much money for a domain name when I first met you, but now I understand the market better so I know why certain domain names have so much value. Domains are like one of a kind pieces of real estate or even art.
2) EJS: If you could own a personal domain name, which would it be?
KJA: I would own ClinicalPsychologists.com or DrKarenSilver.com. I think i own the latter (karensilver.com is a fully developed site already). These two names would be good for search engine purposes as someone would either search for me directly or would be looking for a psychologist and would find me. Unfortunately, you owned the first one and sold it!
3) EJS: Out of the following cities, Burbank, Secaucus, and Lowell, where would you rather go on vacation for a long weekend and why?
KJA: Burbank – I’d rather go to Burbank because the warm weather and proximity to LA would be great year round. I grew up not far from Lowell and live close to Secaucus, so it wouldn’t be exciting to take a long weekend to those cities.
4) EJS: What’s the best thing about marrying a domain investor?
KJA: Cha-ching! Just kidding. I love that you are entrepreneurial and are able to make your own hours. You are dedicated to what you do and I love being a part of this growing business. I also love that you can work anywhere… but…
5) What’s the worst thing about marrying a domain investor?
KJA: The blackberry addiction and non-stop working mentality!!

Jeffrey Reynolds is the President/CEO of Precision Marketing Solutions, Inc., a privately held communications and ecommerce company based on Long Island. The company’s portfolio includes about 3,000 domain names and websites in a dozen markets, the most prominent of which is AmericanFlags.com.
Since purchasing that domain a month after 9/11 on eBay for $2,650, Reynolds has turned the once vacant URL into one of the nation’s top flag retailers, with revenues doubling annually since that time. Other websites in the company’s portfolio include JackOLantern.com, SantasMailbox.com, Discrimination.com, DivorceDirectory.com, BestPsychics.com, PetSitter.com and BlackBikeWeek.com.
Precision Marketing offers a wide range of marketing, public relations and communications services on a flat fee or monthly retainer basis, as well as strategic business consulting services with an emphasis on ecommerce.
Dr. Reynolds holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in social policy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he is a member of the adjunct faculty. In addition to his business endeavors, Dr. Reynolds provides strategic marketing, government relations, fund development and program evaluation services to health and human service organizations on Long Island including a youth violence prevention program and the region’s largest HIV/AIDS care agency.
1.) EJS: How did you acquire AmericanFlags.com, and when you were bidding on it, did you plan to build a website/business using the name?
JR: “I acquired the name in October of 2001 – about a month after 9/11 –via an eBay auction with no specific plan in mind. The second-highest bidder emailed me a note of congratulations and told me that his interest in the name was related to the fact that he had a warehouse full of American flags he was looking to peddle. It was an instant match as I didn’t have a single flag to sell and probably wouldn’t have been able to find inventory at any price given that most major suppliers were sold out within days after 9/11. In a few emails, we worked out a simple dropshipping arrangement.
I fired up my brand new copy of Microsoft Frontpage and threw together a single page website. Orders began coming in literally within seconds of the site going live and I re-couped my whopping $2,650 domain investment almost immediately. Once we had depleted the original inventory, I spent the next couple years building a base of major suppliers, expanding the product line to include US flags of different weights and sizes, world flags, state flags, military flags, residential/commercial flagpoles and more.
I never imagined the business would be where it is today, and it’s been an educational, occasionally overwhelming (think July 4th of every year) and dare I say – even fun – ride. My wife Maureen has become a vital part of the business and with infinitely more patience and tact is far better than I am at things like customer service.”
2.) EJS: Do you think a domainer/domain investor can also be a domain developer without losing his identity?
JR: “Absolutely and having a foot in both worlds has helped diversify both my skills and my business portfolio. The trend among domain investors is development and shifts in the PPC market, along with some other dynamics will likely accelerate the convergence of domain investing and development. Having said all that and getting back to the identity question, most people know me as the “AmericanFlags.com guy,” which I’ve perpetuated by speaking at TRAFFIC and doing interviews such as this one.
The flag business overshadows some of my other projects, but not to the point of great detriment. Frankly, I’ve always seen my experience in developing AmericanFlags.com as a great narrative for helping to reframe the public perception of domain name investors. It’s an all-American success story and at the end of the day, we’ve created something of real value. Done right, development can put a positive, constructive face on domaining and help us shed the misplaced “cybersquatter” label that’s been wrongly assigned by some special interest groups and media sources.”
3.) EJS: Can you give some advice to people who own domain names that they would like to develop, but have no experience with web development?
JR: “Start today. Bounce some ideas off a few friends and family members. Do some market research and talk to folks who have done it. Map out timeframes and then get to work. Good design doesn’t cost what it once did, nor does coding or content development. You can do it in small steps and scale things up as you go. And development doesn’t necessarily mean handling products, it can mean creating a directory with paid listings, a forum or some other service.”
4.) EJS: Would you have had the same success if you had simply registered a name like eAmericanFlags.com, or is owning the premier domain name essential to your business?
JR: “The domain name is absolutely essential to the business. Having a category-killer domain means having the wind at your back as you develop, test and market your product line. It means instant high-quality type-in traffic that increases almost daily. It means better deals with suppliers, more credibility with consumers and a better response from the media. The strength of our name has opened the door to significant military and corporate sales with folks who otherwise probably wouldn’t take our calls and put us at the top of a space formally dominated by multigenerational businesses within just a few years.”
5.) EJS: Do you think you could replicate the business model for AmericanFlags.com in another vertical, and what challenges would need to be overcome?
JR: “Sure, we could replicate the model, though I’m not that hot on creating more work. Running a full-fledged site with more than 2,000 SKUs is an immense task just in terms of order processing, customer service, purchasing, inventory management, shipping and receiving and accounting. I’m content to build out some smaller properties that reflect personal interests or work with the seasonality of the flag business, but am not looking to start a new endeavor of the same magnitude right now.”
BONUS!
6.) EJS: What other projects are you working on at the moment?
JR: “We just launched PetSitter.com, a directory of professional pet sitters and our third new project so far this year. We’ve got two other projects on the drawing board for the Summer/Fall, though I’ve been focusing a large amount of my time on increasing our PR/marketing client base. We’re really good at helping folks attract free media attention through press releases, direct pitches and promotions.
We’ve also taken on some clients and helped them increase their sales conversions by refining the checkout process, boosting product descriptions and making some other minor changes that can have a huge impact on shopping cart abandonment. It’s been rewarding to take some of the lessons we’ve learned and help others scale new heights in terms of visitors, revenues and their own expectations.”