Blacknight 10 Year Anniversary: Google Nexus 7 Giveaway

Elliot Silver
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blacknight solutions logoBlacknight is an Ireland based, ICANN accredited domain name registrar and hosting company. The company is celebrating its tenth anniversary by holding a drawing for a Google Nexus 7 tablet with Android 4.1 Jellybean.

It looks like visitors can enter up to 15 times each, and one random winner will be drawn in a couple of weeks. So far, there have been under 350 entries, so it looks like you may have decent odds to win (better than the lottery!). You can sign up via Facebook or with an email address, and no purchase is necessary to enter.

As with every type of giveaway, there are some terms and conditions, so check out the blog post and contest widget page for full details. Congratulations to Blacknight on its 10 year anniversary.

Dynadot Holding $2,500 College Scholarship Contest

Elliot Silver
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DynadotI bet there are many high school-aged people who invest in domain names. Many are probably planning to go to college, and we all know that can be expensive. Dynadot is offering a $2,500 college scholarship, and I want to share information about it with you in case you’re interested or know someone who might have an interest.

Seniors in high school or college-enrolled students majoring or planning to majoring in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Graphic Design, Web Design, Digital Marketing/Communications, or a related degree are invited to apply. For high school seniors, the winner must be planning to enter college next fall.

Here’s what’s needed to apply for the $2,500 scholarship:

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Go Daddy Employees Do the “Harlem Shake”

Elliot Silver
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Go Daddy has tackled what’s become the latest Internet meme – the “Harlem Shake.” Looking forward to seeing Name.com’s take on this.

Dear “Valued Customer”

Elliot Silver
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This morning, I was cleaning out my email spam filter when I noticed an email from a domain registrar I use. The email started out “Dear Valued Customer.”

Although I appreciate the fact that this company values my business :-), I think it would have been better if they identified me either by name, company name, or by the Whois registrant name to make it more clear that it’s a legitimate email and not spam. I don’t click links in emails as a safety precaution, but I think they could make it more clear that it’s an official communication and not a theft attempt.

In this company’s defense, the subject of the message included my account number, but many people probably don’t know their registrar account numbers so this could easily be faked. I suppose someone could also easily send personalized phishing emails with my name included in the copy, but that would take more time and effort.

I’ve seen this type of thing with other domain registrars so I am not going to identify the registrar that sent this, especially because they did have my account number in the subject. I reached out to the registrar to let them know and they’ve passed along my feedback to the appropriate party. It’s possible that because it’s an ICANN required email, they must adhere to set standards.

Banks and other financial institutions do this as a safety precaution, and I think it’s something that domain industry companies should consider adopting.

What Was the Best Cyber Monday Domain Industry Deal?

Elliot Silver
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I didn’t buy anything  extraordinary  for my business as a result of seeing special Cyber Monday deals, but I did see just about every domain registrar, hosting company, and other assorted domain name industry companies promoting special offers.

Did you buy anything as a result of a Cyber Monday deal? What did you think was the best deal in the domain industry this year? What type of deal would you like to have seen that nobody seemed to offer?

Feel free to vote in the poll below and leave a comment if you saw a great deal or wish there were better deals. Maybe someone in a marketing department will take notice and put it on their to do list for next year.


My Ideal Domain Transfer

Elliot Silver
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Just about all of us transfer domain names at least every once in while. Whether we are transferring a domain name because of a sale, to consolidate a portfolio, or to take advantage of a better price, domain transfers are an integral part of being a domain investor.

Unfortunately, it seems that many domain registrars make it very difficult to transfer out domain names. From hiding the authorization code request link, to taking a week to send the auth code, to taking several days to approve the transfer and release the name, and every other trick in between, it can be annoying to transfer domain names. It’s especially annoying when you have a huge sale pending the transfer.

In case there’s a company that wants to make it simple to transfer out domain names, here’s my idea of an ideal transfer (there are some companies that come pretty close to this, like eNom):

1) In my domain control panel, there’s a request authorization code link along with an unlock domain box.

2) The authorization code is emailed to me within one minute and the name is concurrently unlocked.

3) Immediately upon receiving a transfer request from the gaining registrar, the losing registrar sends an email with the registrant with a clear explanation of the transfer, letting the owner know they can click the link to immediately approve or cancel the transfer.

4) Within 1 business day, the name is released to the gaining registrar and a confirmation email is sent.

What do you think could be done to make transfers easier?

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