About.me Launches in Beta

Elliot Silver
-
3

About.me is a new website that allows people to create a personal profile page, and it recently launched in beta. Invites to people who signed up a few weeks ago are slowly being distributed, and I received mine yesterday.

The website allows its registered users to create a very customizable profile page. You can add a picture or other image, profile information, colored background, website links, and there are a variety of other neat profile options.

I think it’s important to sign up early because you can secure your customizable url. My profile is found on About.me/ElliotSilver. I also think it’s important to sign up, from a public relations standpoint, because it’s always good to “own” the top search results for your own name, and assuming this service takes off, it will probably rank very well.

Vaultpress: Great WordPress Backup Plugin

Elliot Silver
-
1

For the past month or so, I’ve been using a great new WordPress back up plugin called Vaultpress. The creator of the plugin is Automattic, the company that also owns WordPress, so you know they know what they’re doing.

I signed up a few months ago, and since the company is still in Beta, they’ve been slowly awarding “Golden Tickets” that can be redeemed for the ability to install and use the plugin. The cost of the backup is $15/month, which is more expensive than the Amazon Storage I’ve been using, but I am told Vaultpress makes it much more simple to install a back-up in the event of a database problem.

If you operate a WordPress website where data loss or complete data  wipeout  would seriously hinder your business, you should consider Vaultpress. For a few of my sites, having a back up is critical, and I trust Vaultpress with my data backups. I recommend you apply for an account and decide later if/when you are given the Golden Ticket.

Kudos to the Domain Companies That Hire Domain Investors

Elliot Silver
-
5

It might seem like the most obvious thing in the world, but I believe that companies who operate in the domain space should make a concerted effort to hire domain investors or people familiar with the domain space. In reality, I don’t see this happening as much as it should.

Andrew Allemann was recently hired by one of the leading domain companies, Directi, and I want to congratulate both he and Div on the hire. Andrew knows just about everyone that works in the space, and he knows all of the principals at the leading companies as well.  Very shrewd move. Similarly, Sedo recently announced that Dave Evanson was hired by the company, and I thought that was a smart move as well (as I previously noted).

Some people might argue against this for a variety of reasons including the fact that it can be tough sharing information with a potential competitor, it’s difficult to lure independent domain investors to a corporate environment, domain investors may leave the company and compete or take knowledge from the company, domain investors may not trust other domain investors with their information…etc.

While I can see where those arguments are valid, I still think it’s important to work with people who have a direct understanding of the business were in and the way domain investor entrepreneurs think. I look forward to learning more about Directi from Andrew, and Dave and I have already been in touch with regards to his new company.

PS: No, this most  definitely  isn’t a request for a job opportunity 🙂

Advice on Mini Site Development

Elliot Silver
-
18

Yesterday, I wrote a couple of articles giving updates on my mini sites that were built by Wanna Develop and Big Ticket Domains a year ago. Over the last year, I’ve worked with a few mini site development providers and built my own mini sites, and I want to share some tips and advice based on my experience.

– Mini sites may not make a lot of money, but they can be good traffic producers

–  A mini site can help get a domain name get ranked in the search engines, which is beneficial to a potential buyer (or the current owner) looking to avoid the typical sandboxing that comes with newly developed websites once the mini site is turned into a comprehensive website.

– With the traffic some can bring in, lead generation might be a higher paying option than Adsense.

– If you can learn enough coding to enable yourself to work with a WordPress or static html template and use it for various sites, you will save money on many templates (if you have the time). You can use services like TextBroker.com or eLance to find good writers, and sites like Flickr can be a source of free-to-use images.

– If you don’t have the time (or desire) it may be worth your effort to build some of these mini sites on names you haven’t successfully monetized with PPC and/or you don’t have the time/desire/funding to build a big site/

– There are several companies out there that can build you similar mini sites. If you don’t want to do it on your own, test the various services and choose a provider that meets your needs (price, time, personality…etc).

This year, I haven’t done much more with mini sites (aside from a  Epik  site on BumperProtectors.com). I think this is more a result of buying higher value domain names that are quickly selling than buying the less expensive names I invested in during last year’s tougher times. I am sitting on less new inventory this year than I was before, and I have been focusing on growing my revenue-generating websites.

Is This Reverse Hijacking, or Can Reader Win a UDRP For a 3 Letter .Com Domain Name?

Elliot Silver
-
35

I received a comment in yesterday’s post that isn’t really related to the article. I also thought it was deserving of its own post, since there will probably be no shortage of opinions about the topic. Reader LindaM submitted the following question:

“One of my more successful websites, what I would call a ‘real world’ website (ie it sells actual stuff that is posted to customers and is an outgrowth of a long established bricks n mortar) is currently growing nicely. Lets call it “ThreeLetterAbbreviation.com” .

Now then, this website is making some waves in its field and Im currently working to develop it further, it now has an employee and an investor. I was wondering – can I make a move on the 3letter, lets call it “TLA.com” ? Obviously the asking price will be unaffordable but since my company has been trading under the name for years could I fairly win a UDRP? Currently the name resolves to a search portal and ads (not ours), its whois returns a web media firm in USA that own other plum domains, some parked and some developed. Im sure they would fight tooth and claw to retain the “TLA.com” domain name.

Getting the name would give us a shot at world domination, losing a lawsuit could kill us dead.”

In my opinion, even without knowing the domain names in question, this would appear to be a clear cut case of reverse domain hijacking. Just because there’s a better domain name out there that isn’t being used to it’s fullest extent (which of course is subject to one’s opinion), it doesn’t mean that another company has the right to get it via UDRP. In fact, I think that would be a misuse of the UDRP process.

The UDRP was established primarily to protect companies when their brands and/or marks were being used by others who did not have the right to use them. Based on what LindaM wrote, this does not appear to be the case. It’s an attempt to get a domain name at a lower expense than buying it, which I believe is reverse domain name hijacking.

If a company is poised for “a shot at world domination” with this 3 letter com domain name, LindaM should pay whatever it would take to get it, since that cost would almost certainly be lower than the profits that come with world domination.

What do you think?

Millions of Dollars in Publicity for a $1,000 Reward to Find Tiger Woods Cigar Guy

Elliot Silver
-
14

By now, you have likely seen the famous Tiger Woods Ryder Cup photograph, with the ball in mid-air heading right for the photographer, and an interesting-looking guy smoking a cigar in the background. In case you haven’t seen it, the image is above for your viewing pleasure.

Despite the shot looking cool, as the ball was headed directly for the camera, the real story became the hunt for the guy smoking the cigar. Dubbed “Cigar Guy,” the Be Frugal blog (BeFrugal.com) offered a $1,000 reward to whomever is the first person identify the person smoking the cigar. They are holding a contest because they want this guy to be their next spokesman.

The contest and $1,000 reward have generated millions of dollars in publicity. News outlets including Huffington Post, NBC Sports, ABC, Wall Street Journal, and CNN are covering this special offer with news articles and reports, all linking to the BeFrugal.com website. What would essentially cost the company $1,000 has brought them priceless coverage.

This is great viral marketing!

1...140141142...214Page 141 of 214