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As Usual, Traffic to Cowboys.com Increases

Elliot Silver
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It’s been almost four years since Cowboys.com was acquired by a group of domain investors for $370,000 after a reported bidding error by an official from the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. As Rick Schwartz wrote at the time, “the “Attorney” for the Dallas Football team said days later that he thought the price was $275 and not $275,000.”

Unfortunately for the people involved in the acquisition, the development project that some envisioned seems to have petered out and there isn’t much residing on the domain name. Despite this, visitors still type in Cowboys.com by the thousands.

I don’t think Compete is a good source of data for parked domain names like this, but it shows nearly 20,000 visitors in August as NFL training camps opened, and well over 30,000 during the season last year. I am sure there were thousands of visits on Monday night when the Cowboys played the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.

I understand that 25,000 +/- monthly visitors is really just a drop in the bucket when compared to the nearly 2 million +/-  visitors its DallasCowboys.com website receives each month during the season, but the cost to acquire Cowboys.com would also likely be a similar drop in the bucket.

Cowboys.com is still listed for sale at Sedo, and I think the Cowboys would be wise to purchase it, perhaps via the broker representing the domain name, Dave Evanson (dave.evanson @ sedo.com). Knowing that domain investors own Cowboys.com, I would think the Cowboys would want to make more of an effort to own the name.

How Hipster Acquired Hipster.com

Elliot Silver
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7

Hipster is a fairly well-funded start up company that has received quite a bit of good publicity in tech circles. Until recently, the company was operating on the domain name, UseHipster.com, since Hipster.com was owned by another company.

In May of 2011, Hipster announced  funding of $1 million, and I recommended that the company use some of this money to purchase the Hipster.com domain name. My belief was that as the company continues to grow and increase brand awareness, the price to acquire Hipster.com would grow as well.

Not surprisingly, the company had been trying to acquire the domain name for quite some time, and the effort finally paid off, as Hipster now owns Hipster.com.

According to  company founder, Doug Ludlow, acquiring the domain name took quite some time. “Obtaining the domain was a 7 month process of going back and forth with the original owner.  Lots of negotiation and discussion.  In the end, we reached a combination of cash and stock that worked for both parties,” said Ludlow in an email to me. “Also, a little Pabst Blue Ribbon was thrown in for good measure :)”

The price and terms of the deal remain confidential.

The company is now forwarding UseHipster.com to Hipster.com. In addition, the company already uses the @hipster Twitter account. Congratulations are in order for Ludlow and his Hipster team. I think the acquisition of the domain name now will pay big dividends.

City Advertising Ranked #189 in Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies

Elliot Silver
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Inc. 500Darren Cleveland is one of the first people I met when I started selling domain names. He’s always given me good advice and been a resource to me when I’ve sought his opinion on business related matters.

You may know Darren from his domain industry related partnerships with Sahar Sarid and Jeff Bhavnanie. Darren currently serves as President of FuneralHomes.com, and he is also President of Boynton Beach-based City Advertising, an advertising agency for small businesses.

Congratulations are due for Darren’s company, as it was named one of the fastest growing businesses in the country, according to a press release this morning. Inc. magazine ranked City Advertising #189 in its annual list of the 500 fastest growing companies. City Advertising was ranked as the 7th fastest growing company in South Florida.

According to the Inc. magazine report, City Advertising experienced a growth rate of 1,595% and recorded $2.2 million in revenue. The company employs 16 people.

Having One Primary Source of Traffic is Not a Good Situation

Elliot Silver
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Many people have websites that rely on Google as the primary source of traffic, and consequently, revenue. Some of my own websites fall into that category, with 80%+ of the traffic coming from Google searches. If there’s an issue with Google’s rankings, the traffic and revenue vanish like my morning cup of coffee.

Similarly, there are a number of domain industry blogs and websites that rely on Domaining.com as the primary source of traffic. Domaining.com helps drive hundreds of targeted visitors a day, but when there’s a problem with that website, there is no traffic as a result.

Unfortunately, Francois is dealing with some sort of malicious sql injection at Domaining.com. He is aware that Google Chrome and other web browsers are showing a warning message to people trying to visit Domaining.com, and he is working on fixing the issue.

Luckily for me, traffic is only affected minimally, but I know there are a few sites that are seeing considerably less traffic this morning.

I am sure Francois will have this fixed ASAP, but it’s a good lesson for people who rely on a single source of traffic. Any type of change in algorithm or other type of problem with that traffic source may cause significant problems down the line. Spend time cultivating other traffic sources and become less reliant on a single source, whether that’s Google, Yahoo, or even Domaining.com.

Domaining.com Alert from Chrome

Elliot Silver
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15

I already sent Francois an email about this, but I want to let you know about an error message I just received from Google Chrome when I visited Domaining.com, and you should be cautious this evening.

According to the message, Google may have detected some sort of malware, so proceed with caution tonight if you visit Domaining.com. I visit Domaining.com several times a day, and I have never seen an error message like this on the site.

I know Francois works as much as I do, so I am sure it’s temporary.. However, if you use a web browser that doesn’t provide alerts like Chrome, you should be cautious when visiting tonight.

A screenshot of the error message I received is posted above. Let me know if you see the same thing.

Free Columbia B-School Webinar: “Who Should Invest in a dotBRAND?”

Elliot Silver
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Columbia University Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership will be holding a webinar on October 19th, and it might be of interest to you. The free webinar is entitled, Who Should Invest in a dotBRAND? Evaluating the Business Case for a Top-Level Domain Name, and it will be held from 10am to noon.

The webinar will bring together experts in the fields of marketing, Internet governance, and general business, including Paul Twomey (former ICANN CEO), William Barrett (Global Brand & Communications at Deloitte), Karl Isaac (Executive Director for Digital Branding at Landor), and Roland LaPlante (Chief Marketing Officer at Afilias).

Here are a list of the topics that are expected to be discussed:

  • What types of brands and organizations will most benefit from investing in a gTLD?
  • If I am a .BRAND owner what are some of the use cases to best leverage my .BRAND for marketing and brand building purposes?
  • How are consumers likely to react to these new gTLDs? Will they provide clarity or confusion to their internet experience?
  • How will search engines, social media sites, and other internet properties respond to new .BRANDs?
  • What options are there for defensive action to protect my trademarks?
  • What are the full costs and processes behind applying for and owning a gTLD?

Personally, I think gTLD domain names are going to impact the domain investment market in a pretty big way. Companies and individuals will be talking about gTLD domain names, and while I won’t predict the impact on current domain values, I do expect there will be an impact.

If you make money from domain investing or online marketing, I recommend listening in on this webinar. It doesn’t cost anything and it’s just a couple of hours.  From my perspective, the smart money is already making moves, some behind the scenes and others with more public endeavors.

Thanks to Name.com for letting me know about this.

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