Updates

It’s getting a bit brisk here in New York City, and this is the time when I think about how nice it would be to live in Florida or southern California. NYC is a great place to live, but it’s cold in the winter. Here are some Saturday updates.

– Congratulations to Mike, Rick, and Ammar on their big sale this past week. I know of another very large (all cash) .ME sale that happened this year, although it was/is a private deal. It helps prove that people who invest wisely can still make significant money with their domain investments.

– Rick is on point with his post this morning. For me, the timelines and amounts of money may be different, but that’s exactly how I was able to turn a hobby into a full time profession that I enjoy. Yes, there is considerable risk if you don’t have disposable income, but there is also innumerable upside. The key thing is to read everything you can to learn what makes a domain name valuable.

– A while ago I blogged about Cheesecake.com going up for sale. Someone asked me about it last week, so I thought I’d give an update. The domain name is now being represented by Domain Advisors, according to a September press release. Contact
Brooke Hernandez at (800) 477-8207 if you are interested in discussing this opportunity.

– Dan Vescuso from NameMedia is participating in this year’s Mt. Kilimanjaro Water Climb to benefit the Water School. You can support his efforts and others on the Water Climb website. The deadline to sign up for the March climb is December 1. Everyone I’ve spoken with that has gone has had a life changing experience.

– I had a ratings plugin added to DogPark.com and people are also able to post reviews. If you happen to visit a dog park this weekend (or have visited a dog park in the past), please consider taking a moment to rate and/or review it.

– Thanks to Theo for his Domain Gang post yesterday, and thank you to others who sent emails, Facebook messages and Twitter posts. Very exciting times.

– If you like dogs, you’ll probably like this video I saw:

– Congratulations to Mike Jackness and his Terran Marketing team on the seven figure acquisition of IRA.com. In the US, IRA stands for “Individual Retirement Account,” and virtually anyone who has ever worked has at least one IRA. It’s a very powerful name and should be a great addition to the portfolio. Also, congratulations to  Derek Giordano for brokering the deal.

– Moniker / Snapnames released the list of domain names for the Moniker year end auction. There are several excellent domain names at reasonable prices. The auction ends on November 17.

– Here’s a domain transfer tip. When you are pushing a sold domain name to a different account at your registrar, or if you’re buying a name and someone is pushing it to you, be sure that they don’t check the box to have the registrant information pushed, too. You want the domain name to be owned by the account holder of the recipient of the push. Otherwise, it will continue to show the old registrant.

– I attended the Baron Funds investment conference yesterday, and as always, it was excellent. Speakers aside, the lunch featured an hour long concert by James Taylor and the afternoon concert featured Sting. Not only does the company line up interesting CEOs to speak every year, but they also bring in top musical talents, too. Perhaps the best part… it’s free to attend for Baron Funds investors.

The east coast was hit with a pretty big snow storm this weekend, and I know a few people who lost power. Hopefully you made it unscathed – and if you live elsewhere, I hope it’s been a nice weekend. Here are some weekly updates:

– I try to send follow up emails after meeting with people at tradeshows, and I appreciate it when people do the same. The photo above is a cookie I received from The Parking Place that says “RIP PPC.” There was also a card with a note from Jenny Johnson (company VP). It’s a great way to remind potential clients and business partners to get back in touch, and especially appropriate with Halloween coming up tomorrow.

– To follow up with my article about creatively bridging the gap in a negotiation, another great way to bridge the gap is to ask for a product or service from the buying company. For instance, if you’re selling a domain name to Best Buy, perhaps you can ask for a gift card as part of the deal.

– Numeric names continue to be hot… I keep receiving emails on a 3 number .com name I sold last year. People also continue to ask if I have any or know anyone selling any .com numeric names (2,3, and 4 numbers). If you have any for sale, let me know and I will try and put you in touch with a buyer – no fee or commission necessary.

– There’s going to be a .CO auction with some premium domain names starting tomorrow on Pool. I am sure you’ll hear more about it tomorrow, but just giving a head’s up.

– I want to buy a more comfortable office chair and am looking for suggestions. I am thinking about a Herman Miller Aeron chair, but they’re expensive, and want some feedback if you’ve tried it. Other recommendations would be appreciated.

Hope you’re having a nice weekend. As much as the death of Apple’s Steve Jobs was somewhat expected, it was still really sad to hear about. In looking around at the devices I use on a daily basis, almost everything important to me is from Apple (with the exception of my Blackberry). The guy was an innovator and his presence will be missed. Anyway, I want to share some updates with you.

– For my Jewish readers currently observing Yom Kippur, I hope you have an easy fast. It’s during the Jewish holidays that I wish I would be doing more with Torah.com. I am sure I will eventually be able to turn it into a meaningful website.

– Shaun Pilfold’s company sold two great domain names last week, although the sales prices are subject to a non-disclosure agreement. Pilfold sold Campgrounds.com and RVParks.com. Pilfold originally picked up Campgrounds.com for a reported $175,000in 2007, and  I believe a company had been leasing the names for a few years. I am quite certain this was a lucrative sale and I congratulate Shaun.

– I read a press release announcing that Gay.XXX sold for half a million dollars this past week. Wow. I am pretty floored about the sale price. It sure does make Frank Schilling and Michael Berkens look pretty savvy after their .XXX investments/purchases.

– Just because Gay.XXX sold for $500k, it doesn’t mean that RandomGayDomain.XXX will be worth anything. I think the biggest issue with some domain investors buying gTLD domain names is that they buy crappy names and then get pissed at the Registry and everyone but themselves. If you stick to good domain names, you’ll probably make money.

– I’m very happy the Yankees and Devil Rays lost each of there ALDS series and the Philies lost the NLDS. I’m a Red Sox fan, and if the Sox don’t win, I thoroughly enjoy rooting against the Yankees.

– Some recent domain purchases I’ve made: SciaticaTreatment.com, LinkwheelService.com, MemoryBoxes.com, AftermarketPrices.com, RosslynRealEstate.com, and CallCenterOperations.com. Feel free to share yours in the comment section.

Hope you have a great weekend!

The year is three quarters of the way finished, and I am excited about the fourth quarter starting. I think it’s going to be a good few months for many of us in the domain space. Here are some Sunday updates.

– With the fourth quarter now here, I bet we’re going to see some nice domain sales reported during the next several weeks. Companies want to use up their entire marketing budgets over the next several weeks to ensure they receive the same or more funds in their 2012 budgets, and a domain purchase is a smart way to spend marketing dollars.

– A few people asked me why I am not attending the GeoPublishers Expo in Chicago this weekend, and there are a few reasons. First, I would have had to fly out on the second day of Rosh Hashana to make the opening party, and I didn’t want to do that. Second, and most importantly, I am taking a “working vacation” in Portland this week and didn’t want to miss that. Finally, Fred Mercaldo’s team actively works on Burbank.com for me, and Lowell.com is basically on cruise control.

– I am still a proponent of city .com domain names, and I don’t regret turning down a $113,000 offer for Burbank.com (from a domain investor who bought another domain name of mine). The business model for a city .com website is more hands on than I anticipated when I started out, and I do think there is still quite a bit of money to be made in this sector. I would bet the Geo Expo attendees will come away from the conference excited, with some great ideas on monetization. I hope some of that knowledge trickles down to me.

– I think the happiest guy in the domain space right now is DomainTools CEO, Tim Chen. Not only does his company continue to grow, but his Buffalo Bills are off to a surprising 3-0 record. I am a Patriots fan, and yes, this is a feeble attempt to jinx the Bills.

– Business Insider posted an article about The 50 Most Jaw-Dropping Luxury Purchases In The Past Year. The Sex.com sale for $13 million was listed at #35. (Thanks to Kevin for the link).

– According to an email from Rick Schwartz, there aren’t many conference passes for TRAFFIC remaining for sale. If you want to buy one, you should probably get on that ASAP.

– In another strong “brandable” domain sale, Mike Mann sold ComeSee.com for $20,000.

– I bought my first fully operational website in September and re-launched it: DogPark.com. There are over 600 dog parks listed, and with some major changes to the ad placement from the original site, revenue is already 3x what it was before I bought it. I am also sending traffic to DogWalker.com, which is an added bonus.

I am in the process of having this blog moved to its own server. I am expecting the migration to be finalized at some point today. I am hopeful that no comments or blog posts will be lost, but I cannot guarantee that it will be a seamless transition.

I use Automattic’s Vaultpress for frequent site backups, so I should not lose anything, but you never know.  Just wanted to give you a head’s up in case you notice anything funky over the next several hours.