Guest Post

This is a guest post from Edwin Hayward, who has been involved in the domain name industry since 1996. He set up the first dedicated domain name news and information website, Internet Goldrush (later sold to the current owner).

Edwin continues to participate actively on several domain discussion forums, and has been invited to be a panelist at various industry tradeshows. He is a director and co-owner of Memorable Domains Ltd, a UK based domain investment company with a portfolio of 7,000 .co.uk domains.

Nominet has proposed allowing the registration of domains directly under .uk (such as example.uk) for the first time.

Currently, there are over 10,000,000 domain names registered in the UK, and 93% of them are .co.uk domains. The internet economy contributes over £121 billion to UK GDP (at 8.3% it’s the highest of any G20 country).

However, Nominet is planning to turn its back on existing domain name registrants and make the .uk domains available to trademark holders first.

This would mean organisations such as Barclays stand to lose “bank.uk”, Kellogg would lose “breakfast.uk” and so on. Basically, Nominet are choosing to ignore the fact that just about every common English word and phrase has been trademarked by someone somewhere.

Generic domain holders on the other hand tend not to trademark their names because by definition they’re descriptive, and you can’t trademark something in the class to which it relates.

So far, Nominet have done a fantastic job of ‘burying the lead’ on this issue. Of the 51 news reports that followed their initial call for a consultation, only 2 mentioned anything about possible effects on existing domain owners, and this only in passing. Instead, Nominet managed to distract attention by making its “pitch” for the new domain space squarely about trust and security.

The proposed price point for .uk registrations is around £20/year wholesale, making them 800% more expensive than existing .co.uk domains. This would bring Nominet an overnight windfall of some £50,000,000 (for context, that’s more than double their 2011 revenue).

UK businesses would be left to pick up the bill, because they will have no choice but to try and secure the matching .uk domain for their existing .co.uk domain at any choice. Nominet has seen to that by packaging .uk with a suite of additional services designed to make “.uk” the most trusted and secure domain extension in the UK.

The flipside of course being that if something’s “more trusted and more secure” then everything else will be seen as “less trusted and less secure” – in other words, Nominet’s going to erode the existing very high trust in .co.uk in pursuit of new revenue generating opportunities.

It’s like washing powder ads, if the new powder “washes whiter” then who’s going to want to keep buying the old one?

Nominet’s proposal ignores best practices that have been established during similar transitions in other countries. In all other cases, the rights of existing domain owners have been acknowledged and they have been given priority over the matching 2LD.

It’s worth noting that Australia has considered and rejected a rollout of registrations directly under .au on a number of occasions, most recently in 2010 and 2007. The 2010 Names Policy Panel noted that “People thought the current 2LD hierarchy is well-known and understood, and introducing direct registrations would cause unnecessary confusion for little public benefit”. This is exactly the same issue facing .co.uk registrants.

I have prepared a detailed position paper on this issue. Packed with stats and data, it illustrates exactly who stands to win and who stands to lose, and it can be downloaded from:  MyDomainNames.co.uk

On occasion, I publish guest posts on my blog, but they are almost always done at my request. I’ve either vetted the writer, or I know they will provide valuable information to readers (and me).

Because I’ve allowed guest posts on my blog, I often receive requests from others to provide guest posts. I am pretty sure most of these requests are because there is SEO value in the embedded links, so people try all different ways to get me to publish their guest posts.

I want to share some of the email introductions I receive because I think they’re fairly amusing. I guess the word on the street is that flattery gets the best response rate.

My name is Alicia and I’m a writer from Manchester, UK. I have a keen interest in guest blogging and have covered different financial categories
Having looked at your site I find your approach is informative and engaging for your readers and I would love the opportunity to have my piece published on your site

I hope all is well with you. My question is: Do you allow guest post on your blog? if so, I would like to request to write a guest post for you blog. I can send you some of my ideas and sample writing for a guest post. I am looking forward in hearing from you soon. Thank you for your time.

We are interested in forming a content relationship with elliotsblog.com.

Our writers can construct a carefully researched guest article for your site. The aim is unique and interesting content for your readers to enjoy. Our goal is to provide high quality content that can naturally attract traffic and links. This way we both win! We just ask that we can place one reference in the article or bio back to our site.

I am a writer and a blogger. I went through some of the articles on your site and they were worth reading. The quality of your content is excellent and I was wondering if I could get an opportunity to guest post on your website.

I am looking for travel home page PR 2 sites, OBL less 80 for guest article post. I also need General business, Finance sites for guest article post. I would like to give you a unique and quality article on any travel related theme. No duplication or copying of the article is done. I assure you that the article will be published only on your site. Show me your all sites.

We find your blog interesting and I’m wondering if I can do a guest post? I can write something interesting about your website/blog. If this is something you could allow me to do, may I as well add a single link to our site?

I have been reading the content on your website www.elliotsblog.com, and find it extremely interesting. As a keen writer, I was wondering whether you would consider allowing me to write a guest post for your site.

Guest contributor Richard Lau has a background that includes: forming/managing/buying/selling/brokering over 90 ICANN Registrars, the 2004 “Domainer of the Year” award, DomainManager.com and most recently iWhois.com

RL.com – an inside view of the million dollar battle

Background: Tools, time, tenacity

One of the first things I did as a domainer was put in the countless hours cold-calling, cold-emailing and making offers. Unrelated to my new ‘work’, my sister lent me a book about a Skip Tracer who used his skills to track down missing children. In the book were many hints, tips and anecdotes about finding people who, for whatever reason, didn’t want to be found. This seemed to dove-tail perfectly with domain registrants who had put incomplete, out-of-date or fake information in the public whois. Using these new found skills, I managed to track down registrants who had not been inundated with offers and was able to make calm, fair bids for domains that otherwise may have sold for over-inflated numbers. It was during this time that I found tools such as DomainTools.com and Intelius.com indispensable. I also realized paying for information, data and tools was money well spent.

iWhois.com has evolved from

This is a guest post from Peter Askew who has generously supported the Ronald McDonald House. I am hoping to raise $10,000 for RMH in 2012, and I invite you to contribute to help. It’s a great organization!

Howdy!

First off, a gracious ‘thank you’ to Elliot for allowing us to guest post. Runnin’ a blog ain’t easy, especially a blog that provides insightful info week in, week out. How he does it, and operate a successful domain development enterprise at the same time, I’ll never know. Cheers to him.

I initially planned to share some info on how I acquired, developed, and currently manage my travel-based site, DudeRanch.com, but as I put myself into the reader’s shoes, that topic didn’t seem to strike my fancy.

Then I thought, ‘Hell, everyone takes vacations – why not take this time to expose other folks on how amazing dude ranch vacations are, and how some ranches rival the finest 5-star accommodations across the country.’

So that’s what I decided : )

To explain more about this travel niche, I thought it might be helpful to break down the 3 main categories that ranches have evolved into: a Working Dude Ranch, a Recreational Dude Ranch, and a Resort Dude Ranch. All a little different, all a little awesome.

A Working dude ranch concentrates on an authentic ranch experience – herding cattle, tending to horses (feeding, grooming, saddling), ranch chores, and horseback riding (ie. what most folks associate with a typical dude ranch). You’re fully absorbed into the team and pitch in on daily ranch activities. They don’t intend to work you to the bone here, but they encourage some level of participation. Great for folks who want an active vacation – less great for folks looking lazy R&R. Sample Working Dude Ranch: Triangle X Ranch in Wyoming: http://www.trianglex.com/

A Recreational dude ranch focuses on relaxation and participation in activities throughout the day (think pools, tennis courts, hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing, horseback riding). They’ll allow visitors to pitch in on any working elements of the ranch, but mainly focus on recreation & adventure activities crafted for individuals and families alike. It’s a perfect medium, honestly. Transform into a ranch-hand one day, morph into a mountain hiker the next. Sample Recreational Dude Ranch: Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado: http://www.lostvalleyranch.com

And finally, a Resort style dude ranch focuses on high-end accommodations & activities such as trap & skeet shooting, Orvis fly-fishing,   an on-site Spa, geo-thermal heated pools, and   – of course – horseback riding. (ie. these ain’t dust kicking destinations – they rival any 5-star accommodation I’ve ever been to.) Simply put, they’re high-end and becoming more and more popular every year. They provide all of the experience of a working or recreational dude ranch, wrapped in a resort atmosphere. A win-win if you ask me. Sample Resort Dude Ranch: Brush Creek Ranch & Spa in Wyoming: http://www.brushcreekranch.com

All three unique and advantageous in their own way.

And don’t forget, most ranches are all-inclusive, meaning lodging, meals & activities are included in the base price. Something to keep in mind as other destinations tend to nickel-and-dime you.

And if you’d like to tear your kids away from their mobile devices and cell phones, you might not find a better location, as most ranches are tucked away in remote locations with limited cell and internet coverage. Most don’t even offer TV’s : )

To research other Working, Recreational, or Resort style ranches, drop on by our site. We have over 200 dude ranch vacation destinations listed and have them organized by state as well as region. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, as we’ll be live posting our upcoming August dude ranch road-trip through Wyoming & Colorado! One of our planned stops is The Brush Creek Ranch & Spa, so stay tuned for an up & close and personal visit to that location!

And congratulations. You now have a new vacation destination to consider : )

Thanks a ton for reading, and here’s hoping we’ll see you on the range!

I will be traveling for a couple of weeks at the beginning of July, and I want to extend an offer I made last year.

Although I’ve been writing a series of articles with tips and business information that aren’t time sensitive to be posted while I am not around, there are still some time slots where I don’t have anything yet to post on my blog.  I am offering three guest post opportunities on my blog for you to discuss a product or service, and the cost of each is a $500 donation to my favorite non profit organization, the Ronald McDonald House.

Your article can be about almost anything related to the domain industry. It can be to introduce a new product or service, discuss a current product or service, or discuss your company and how it may benefit domain investors who read my blog. The article will be prefaced with some information about your donation to RMH, so people will know that you made a generous contribution to help children with cancer and their families.

Although I retain the final say over what can be posted (just to cover my rear), you can write the article and send it to me in the next two weeks and we can work together to choose the best time to post the article.

Feel free to email me with questions or post “I’ll take one spot” to reserve your spot!