Insurance Confusion May Be Good for Domain Owners

Apparently, there has been considerable confusion with respect to the Affordable Care Act, which is widely known as “Obamacare.” It seems that there have been a whole bunch of issues with federal and state government websites where people would learn about the law as well as sign up for the necessary coverage.

With people from around the country forced to visit different (and unfamiliar) websites to purchase insurance coverage, there is most likely considerable confusion even finding the correct website. On MyNorthwest.com this morning, there is an Associated Press article about a Washington state-based insurance agent who may be benefitting from some of this confusion.

Here’s an excerpt

Merlin Kauffman Launches Soothe

SootheIt’s great seeing some of the entrepreneurial people in the domain space starting new ventures. I want to share news about a new venture that was recently started by Merlin Kauffman. Soothe is “an online and mobile app that connects people who want to book same-day in-home massages with the best hand-picked massage therapists.” Wisely, Soothe can be found at Soothe.com.

Merlin privately  acquired  the Soothe.com domain name in May of this year, and the business was launched soon thereafter. The purchase price for the domain name was not released, but I am sure it was expensive.

According to its website, “Soothe is now the largest massage provider in Los Angeles, and has plans to be in every major city in the USA within 24 months.” That is some incredible growth to go from a startup without revenue to its current positioning. In addition to its massage service offerings, the company also has a line of massage products under the Soothe brand. One of the nice things about the Soothe name is that it is a meaningful descriptive term, and it’s also a great brand.

Congratulations to Merlin on his company’s rapid growth, and I wish him all the best as he builds Soothe. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Merlin making more news soon.

Featured in Entrepreneur.com

I want to share an infographic about domain names that was posted on Entrepreneur.com today. The infographic is called “9 Essential Elements of Choosing a Domain Name,” and it shares advice from a number of sources, including my blog (which it spelled wrong). The infographic was created by a company called WhoIsHostingThis.com.

Check out the infographic below the jump. Feel free to chime in if you think they missed something.

Want To Give Away Your Company Gear?

Whenever I go to a conference, there are companies that are giving away all kinds of company branded gear. There are coffee mugs, shirts, mouse pads, pens, pads of paper, flash drives…etc. Companies want to put their brand gear on clients and potential clients, and there are many people who take these freebies.

I am offering domain industry companies the opportunity to give away branded items to people who read my blog (at no cost). I think there are people who would love to have this free stuff, and I assume there are companies in the business who would like to get their brand name out there. It would have to be something substantial to make it worthwhile (no pens for example).

If you’d like to do a

Google Announces Calico but Oracle Owns Calico.com

According to a blog post from Google today, “Google today announced Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases.” Google CEO Larry Page also announced the new company on his Google Plus page.

To me, the most interesting aspect of this news is that the exact match domain name for this company, Calico.com, is owned by technology giant Oracle. I did some research and here’s how it appears Oracle came to own Calico.com:

Thanks to Vin of Vin’s Domains!

photo1One of the nicest things about having a blog in the domain investment space is that I get to meet many people who are also domain investors. Earlier this Summer, I helped organize a meet up at a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and that gave me the opportunity to meet Vincent Jacques of VinsDomains.com. Vin has commented on my blog and we’ve exchanged emails in the past, but we had never spoken prior to the meet up.

At the Red Sox game, Vin and I talked about domain investing and also about the New England Patriots. Vin’s had tickets for a while, and he promised that at some point we would go to my first Pats game at Gillette Stadium. True to his word, a couple of months later, Vin emailed me offering tickets to the home opener against the Jets.

Vin, his friend Mike (also a domain investor), my brother, and I met up for a great tailgate a couple of hours before the game, and we