It seems pretty silly, but a few weeks ago I noticed that I had around 950 posts on my blog dating to its inception.   Since then, in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking about what to write for my 1,000th post. I know it’s silly, but I wanted to come up with something fun for the occasion of post #1,000. A few days ago while running on the treadmill, I determined what I wanted to post here for this special post.

Several years ago, I was a “struggling domain investor,” buying and selling inexpensive domain names (which I still do on occasion). While I sold primarily on Ebay and on DN Forum, I also sold quite a bit in private to clients of mine. Most of the domain names I owned were “brandable” domain names, and their sales prices ranged from $20 – $200/each with $200 being the anomaly.

One of my better clients when I began was a lady named Tasha Kidd. Aside from buying domain names from me, Tasha and I also chatted via email and instant messenger about marketing strategy and domain names. Tasha was the first person who introduced me to keyword generic domain names, and she emphasized their value over brandable domain names. In terms of domain acquisitions, that has been my focus since then. Tasha also designed the first iteration of my company logo and website a few years ago.

Later on in early 2006, I acquired a past tense domain name, for a booming industry. Tasha mentioned that she was a member of Rick Schwartz’s exclusive domain forum, and she suggested that I meet with one of the best domain brokers in the business who was a member in order to sell this domain name. Tasha introduced me to Kevin Leto and she also recommended me for admission onto Rick’s Board, which was approved. Before posting on Rick’s Board, Tasha taught me the protocol that she learned, some of which is only learned by making mistakes – helping me to avoid many landmines that may have gone off had I done or said something wrong.

I can’t even tell you how many friends I made and colleagues I met after joining Rick’s Board. Kevin also   been instrumental in private deals I’ve made as well as answering countless technical questions about my blog, website security, and other technical questions I can’t answer. I ended up selling that domain name for 5 figures, which was my largest sale at the time. For all of this that came as a result of Tasha’s help and advice, I want to say thank you x 1,000 to Tasha.

I also would like to thank readers of my blog who have offered their opinions, support, commentary, criticism, friendship, and everything in between. Without your continued visits, this blog wouldn’t exist and without your commentary, it wouldn’t have any life or be nearly as interesting. Being a blogger has its ups and downs, but fortunately there are many more ups than downs. Thank you for all of your support!

Andrew posted some commentary on Monday from ABCsearch CEO Daniel Yomtobian on why the company went out and acquired Advertise.com. According to Yomtobian, Advertise.com “is the perfect brand name to attract new customers and make them feel comfortable if they had not heard of us—which translates into a much higher customer acquisition rate.”

TRUST is a huge aspect of a category defining domain name. People might not have heard of a particular company operating on a category defining domain name, but they generally trust that company until the trust is broken simply because of the domain name. As the saying goes, “perception is reality,” and people automatically think that with a category defining domain name, the company must be trustworthy. Yomtobian knows this, and his results should reflect this.

One thing that is not frequently discussed in the purchase of a domain name is a small thing called “goodwill.” According to Finance-Glossary.com, goodwill is defined as “The value of a business to a purchaser over and above its net asset value. It reflects the value of intangible assets such as reputation, brand name, good customer relations, high employee morale and other factors that improve the company’s business.” A category defining domain name has a considerable amount of good will associated with it, and that alone can help catapult a brand like ABCSearch onto the radar screens of their target clients.

People may not have visited a particular website in the past, but because the name rings a bell, they might think they have. Trust and goodwill are not things that can be very accurately quantified, but they have considerable value to a company.

First off, congrats to Rick Latona on his great personal accomplishment – he quit smoking and hasn’t had a cigarette in 3 weeks. Three weeks might not seem like a long time, but it is forever for a smoker, especially considering all the stress that comes with managing businesses. The first few weeks after quitting smoking are generally the most difficult when the body craves nicotine, and once over the initial hurdle, the rest is just mind over matter, and we know Rick is a determined person.

From a domain perspective though, Rick’s decision to launch a website on KickTheHabit.com is also equally good. When you build a website on a topic of interest, it makes it much easier to write articles and provide insight, which is something people will surely find interesting. Rick will be able to parlay advice from his quest to quit smoking, and others will be able to learn from this.

Soon enough, with a strong (and growing) user base, Rick may be able to sell products like books, patches and other products to help others kick their habits. This will further motivate him to continue not smoking, as people will look to his success to create their own success stories (not as if he needs added motivation though).

Double congrats to Rick, and all the best to him in both efforts.

Despite it’s short time on the market, an alternative to .Tel is already available (and is just $.99 at Godaddy!). I know some people are predicting that business cards will go the way of postal mail and printer paper when the computer was introduced… err… I mean, I know that some people think that business cards may become obsolete because of .tel, but anyway, enough chit chat. Let me present you an alternative to .tel that’s cheaper.

Drumroll please…

I present to you…   DOT INFO

Check this.   Not everyone has a “tel” and not everyone knows what a “tel” even is. Sure, it’s probably the root for some Latin word, but isn’t Latin dead? Universally, “info” is known by all. “Info,” of course is short for “information,” a word in the English language that is alive and healthy (unless you listen to the naysayers who think English will disappear like the dollar in favor of a universal world language or some other BS the negative Nancies are spewing these days). Anyhow, if you visit a site with the .info extension, you expect… information.

BEHOLD: ElliotSilver.info… voila – a virtual business card! I know you can’t “click to call” but all you need to do is look at the number and press those buttons on your mobile phone. Sure, it’s cumbersome, but isn’t these days? I sure h8 reading posts by ppl tryin to keep em to 140 charactrs or < on Twit – that’s cumbersome too, no?

Now I know the information isn’t stored in the center of the Internetical universe or wherever the .tel information is locked down, but for Pete’s sake, you can save a boat load of money, which can be reinvested into other great up and coming extensions like .mobi and .eu.

Happy hunting on this fine April 1 day.

***POST EDIT***

This was an April Fools Day post.

This silver AIG-branded piggybank is my favorite memento from when I worked at AIG.

Now that I am committed to attending the GeoDomain Expo in San Diego next month, I want to make a few suggestions about what I’d like to see on the agenda to get the most out of the conference. There are many changes that have taken place in the geodomain business, and I think this is going to be an important conference.

There are a lot of successful websites doing a variety of things, and I think it will be great to hear about the various tactics that are working and aren’t working.

Here are a few suggestions for discussions:

– Socia Media – How are some of the biggest brands integrating social media tools into their websites? Are sites using discussion forums, Twitter/Digg/Facebook/StumbleUpon icons, comment submission, and/or other tactics? Are their particular companies that geodomain websites can work with cost effectively (such as Pluck)?

– Newpaper Model – Although most geodomains are used for tourism, have any small businesses jumped into the newspaper/media industry to provide relevant news content? Do they use content writers, professional journalists, amateur writers who are readers, or syndicated content?

– Fresh Content – How are geodomain owners keeping their websites updated regularly with relevant content? Who is responsible for creating and adding the content?

– Ad Sales – For non-local geodomain owners, how are advertising sales made locally?   What strategies are working and what aren’t working? What is the key to advertising sales if you don’t live in the area?

– Search Engine Strategies – Google/Yahoo can be the key to a site’s thriving or failure.   What is the best way to get rankings for your primary city keywords, site links, and long tail keyword results – and ensure that they are kept? Are there good link exchange strategies that I can employ?

– Event sponsorships & Memberships – Where should the geodomain owner spend funds in the local community?   Should the geodomain sponsor sporting events, cultural activities, or make contributions to local charities? Is the local Chamber of Commerce or the Rotary Club a necessary membership?   How about others?

What else have I missed that should be discussed?