Domain Investing News, Strategy & Tips

Domain Industry Veterans Launch Domain Guardians

Domain Registrars

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March 3, 2011

domain guardians A few weeks ago, I learned that Fabulous employees Mike Robertson and Jen Sale had announced their resignations from the company, and they hinted that the two of them had something big in the works.

I received a press release announcing the pair’s new venture, and I was surprised to see some others involved in this exciting project. Domain Guardians is a new domain registrar that is going to officially launch during the ICANN conference in a couple of weeks, and it involves Mike Robertson, Jen Sale, Bill Vanderent, Adam Strong and Paul Keating.

This is not going to be your standard domain registrar though. The company will offer “domain estate planning and management services to domain professionals.” Estate planning specifically for domain investors is something that has been discussed by many (including me), but I don’t believe there are any companies offering these services.

I spoke with Adam Strong, and he mentioned that a health scare about 5 years ago focused his attention to this issue.

“The concept has been one I’ve discussed with many other domain investors and my attorney and it didn’t seem there was a solution or an entity that was set up to handle these issues, especially one with trust and experience. I think Jen, Mike and Bill have all that it takes to fill this void.

Additionally, I’ve got my hands full with many projects. Logo.com is going to be occupying a great deal of my time when we launch, so it’s also refreshing to have a team that I can trust available to turn to and manage my domains for me when I’m engaged in other things.

The Domain Legacy service is designed similar to how banks & trusts handle real estate when someone dies. DomainGuardians works with your attorney and heirs/family and fills the role of handling either a liquidation strategy or a management strategy in the event of death or disability. If your beneficiaries wish for something else, DG will also accommodate those wishes. This is a white-glove sort of service that is tailored for each person based on their individual plans and portfolios.”

I think this company is addressing an unfilled need in the domain space, and I look forward to hearing more about it in the coming weeks.

Full press release is below.

Domain name industry experts Mike Robertson, Jen Sale, Bill Vanderent, Adam Strong and Paul Keating have partnered to establish Domain Guardians, an ICANN accredited registrar providing domain estate planning and management services to domain professionals. The team will be launching the company and services at the upcoming ICANN Silicon Valley conference in San Francisco, CA, USA from March 13-18, 2011.

The combination of Dark Blue Sea alumni, Robertson, Sale and Vanderent, along with Strong and Keating, offers over 50 years of combined experience in the domain industry. “Working with a group of this caliber is humbling, and we’re all very excited to offer the domain community a comprehensive suite of services that provide real value,” stated Robertson of this opportunity.

Domain Guardians has developed Domain Legacy to technically and legally protect and manage domain assets in the event of a portfolio owner’s death or disability.

Paul Keating, prominent domain lawyer, recognizes the complicated nature of managing a portfolio, “No one lives forever, and most domain investors are not planning enough for the future. Managing domains across multiple registrars and monetization providers is a daunting task. It requires a great deal of skill developed on the back of years that may include lost opportunities, missteps and other failures. What will happen to the asset base and income streams when the manager is no longer “there” because of a death or disability? How will our survivors cope in an industry where contacts and experiences are shared by word of mouth?”

Veteran domain professional, Adam Strong, addresses the importance of Domain Legacy for your loved one’s protection and peace of mind, “Like other domain investors, I’ve thought, ‘Who’ll take care of my domains when I’m gone?’… I’ll be transferring my assets to my loved ones, who unfortunately don’t have the skills or desire to continue managing my business. It gives me peace of mind to know that they can trust the expertise of Domain Guardians to do this for them. Every domain investor with a valuable portfolio should protect the future of that portfolio.”

For more information, and to arrange a meeting with the team at ICANN, please email hello@domainguardians.com

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NamePros Removes High Priced Sales Forum

Elliot Silver

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March 2, 2011

42

If you’re a frequent NamePros visitor, you’ve probably been to the High Priced Domain Sales section on the popular domain forum. Although you can still directly navigate to this section, a link to it has been temporarily (I assume) removed from NamePros.

I have not been given an official reason for its removal, but I did receive a private message about it’s disappearance when I attempted to list a domain name for sale there the other day.

There was also a public thread on the topic. According to forum administrator NPQueen, “We have hidden that forum while RJ is working on improving it. It will either come back improved or there will be another avenue for them. In the meantime they can be listed in another appropriate forum.”

I always thought this particular sales venue was well-moderated, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store for it in the futute.

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John Galliano is a Winner (with Video)

Cybersquatting

Elliot Silver

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March 2, 2011

9

As you can see from the CBS News video embedded above, (Former) Dior designer John Galliano made news this past week for allegedly making anti-semitic remarks. There was also another video in which he allegedly said something about Hitler.

All of that aside, John Galliano was actually a winner this week. He may not have gained many fans, but he and his legal team did win a UDRP case for a ccTLD domain name: Galliano.fr (the decision is written in French).

According to my handy Google Translate tool, one argument Galliano and his legal team made was that “John Galliano is well known for being one of fashion’s most gifted of our time.” I am not that much into fashion so I can’t make a judgment about that, but I can say that Galliano is likely more well known this week than ever before, and that’s probably not a good thing.

The domain owner in this case did not submit a response to the UDRP, and the single panelist found in favor of Galliano.

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Go Daddy Looking to Hire: Plans to Grow Workforce by More than 10%

GoDaddy

Elliot Silver

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March 2, 2011

5

Already the largest domain registrar, and likely the largest employer in the domain space, Go Daddy has announced a new hiring initiative in which it hopes to hire an additional 350 employees. The company currently has about 3,000 employees operating in various roles within the company.

In recent months, Go Daddy has expanded its call center operations both in Arizona and in Iowa. In addition, the company has opened offices outside of the United States, including an office in Canada, Singapore, and The Netherlands.

One thing I didn’t realize was that “Go Daddy holds a more than 53 percent market-share of the world’s new domain names.” I am sure many domain owners need quite a bit of support to get their websites operational, and I have found the customer service to be exceptional. I do have an Account Representative, but I’ve also called in on the main line a number of times for support.

Go Daddy notoriously treats its employees very well. The annual Christmas party always makes the news because of its extravagance and generosity to its employees, no matter what the economic situation is.

Congrats to Bob Parsons and his company. It’s always nice to hear when a company is hiring rather than having layoffs.

Below is today’s press release from the company:

Go Daddy, the world’s top Web hosting provider and domain name registrar, now employs more than 3,000 people and is looking to hire at least 350 more in the weeks ahead.

A majority of Go Daddy’s employees work in the legendary Customer Care centers, all based in the U.S. These are the people standing by the phones to help any of Go Daddy’s nearly nine million customers.

The company has doubled in size in fewer than four years, even as the world economy sputtered.

What is the key to Go Daddy’s fast-paced growth? “We know people like to use the Internet to communicate, shop, research, play games and more,” said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “But when it comes to solving a problem or figuring out how to improve their website … people want to talk to people!”

Go Daddy’s round the clock, personalized brand of customer service is considered industry-best. The company provides extensive training for its recruits and looks to hire people passionate about the Internet.

Not all of Go Daddy’s open positions are in the Customer Care. Go Daddy is hiring in a wide range of disciplines, including Linux and .NET engineers, I-T development, marketing, accounting and facilities.

Recognized as one of the Best Places to Work, Healthiest Employers and top Workplaces for Women, Go Daddy provides a variety of generous employee benefits including three-week paid vacations starting in the first year of employment and 100 percent company-paid medical and dental plans. There are also team building initiatives, financial incentives, bonuses and prizes for top performers that range from cars, parties, all expense-paid vacations and trips inside the Go Daddy “cash machine.”

“It pays to treat your people well,” Parsons said. “A happy employee is a productive employee. I like knowing when a customer calls us for help, they are going to get an enthusiastic person excited to help.”

Parsons founded Go Daddy and became a domain name registrar in 2000 after recognizing a need for better service and lower prices. Parsons’ formula of low-priced, feature-rich products and customer support, along with aggressive marketing, has proven very successful. Currently, Go Daddy holds a more than 53 percent market-share of the world’s new domain names and registers more than one domain name every second of every day.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company has facilities in Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert, as well as offices in Hiawatha, Iowa; Denver and Washington, D.C. In recent years, Go Daddy has expanded with a facility in Toronto, Canada and state-of-the-art data centers in The Netherlands and Singapore.

To join the Go Daddy team, apply online at GoDaddy.com/Jobs.

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FaceTime.com Now Owned By Apple Ahead of Wednesday’s Event

Brand Marketing

Elliot Silver

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March 1, 2011

1

Many technology blogs and Apple fans are looking forward to the Apple event scheduled for tomorrow in San Francisco. It is widely speculated that the event will be the venue for an announcement about the newest version of the Ipad.

Some people have speculated that the IPad 2 may have a camera, which would likely enable Apple’s “FaceTime.” FaceTime is a popular application that allows video calls on the iPhone 4, the newest version of the iPod touch, and Mac computer to Mac computer using a wifi connection.

I just received a tip that in the last couple of days, it appears that Apple has taken possession of the FaceTime.com domain name. According to a Whois lookup as recently as February 20, 2011, FaceTime.com was owned by a company called FaceTime Communications, Inc.

As of this afternoon, the Whois information now shows Apple, Inc. as the current domain registrant for FaceTime.com. The domain name does not yet resolve to Apple’s website, so if you want to learn about FaceTime, you need to visit www.apple.com/mac/facetime.

I don’t have any idea if FaceTime.com will be a part of tomorrow’s Apple announcement, but the timing of the Whois change is interesting.

Thanks for this tip goes to to Mark over at SpreadOffense.com.

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Legionella Not Yet Confirmed as The Source of The Illness

DomainFest

Elliot Silver

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March 1, 2011

11

Despite a couple of mainstream media articles written today that appear to indicate legionella (the bacteria that causes Legionnaires Disease and Pontiac Fever) as the cause of the illness that may have impacted DomainFest attendees, there has been no confirmation from the Health Department or the CDC.

I know Shane received his test results, and they indicated that he was infected with Pontiac Fever. However, the health department still has not made any determination about what the cause of this illness was, nor how people may have become infected.

I was very sick for a few days after returning from DomainFest, and I was even mentioned in an Associated Press article that was distributed widely. The running joke was that the AP said I “succumbed” to the illness, and a number of comments were made on various sites (like the Boston Globe) asking how I was quoted if I had died.

Anyway, I had some bloodwork done a little over a week ago, and I need to go back in a couple of weeks for more blood work to see if I have antibodies built up, which may indicate what caused me to become sick.

Here’s today’s press release from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health:

As reported previously, on February 11, the Department of Public Health was notified of a suspected respiratory infection outbreak among attendees of the DOMAINfest Global Conference held in Santa Monica on February 1-3, 2011. To date, approximately 200 individuals associated with this conference have reported illness with symptoms mostly consisting of fever, chills, general discomfort (malaise) and some cough.

In the course of its ongoing investigation, Public Health has identified Legionella bacteria in a sample taken from a water source at the Playboy Mansion, where a social event connected with the conference occurred. This does not however confirm Legionella as the source of the illness, as Legionella bacteria are commonly found in moist or wet environments. “We are still considering several possible causes of illness,” said Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health and Health Officer.

Public Health is continuing to work with surrounding county health departments, the California Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate this suspected outbreak.

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Please help me raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House

DomainInvesting.com

Domain Industry Veterans Launch Domain Guardians

NamePros Removes High Priced Sales Forum

John Galliano is a Winner (with Video)

Go Daddy Looking to Hire: Plans to Grow Workforce by More than 10%

FaceTime.com Now Owned By Apple Ahead of Wednesday’s Event

Legionella Not Yet Confirmed as The Source of The Illness

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