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TRAFFIC Auction Will Be Different

Elliot Silver
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I received an email via the TRAFFIC conference mailing list with an update on how this year’s TRAFFIC auction will work. The auction will take place on October 18, 2011 at 4pm. In lieu of working with one auction company, TRAFFIC organizers will accept submissions from various aftermarket companies and even individual domain investors. Conference organizers will provide the auctioneer and presumably an online bidding platform.

For those who wish to submit their domain names separately, there is a fee per guaranteed auction submission, and it’s pretty steep. That being said, the commission structure is favorable should the domain name sell. It’s based on a sliding scale, so the higher the reserve, the higher the submission fee, but the lower the commission rate.

One other big change is that all auctions will start at either $1.00 or $1,000 and work their way up. It seems misleading when an auctioneer gets a $2,000,000 bid on a domain name when the reserve price is $2,500,000 and other people talk about that $2 million bid. A bidder who makes the $2 million bid knows his bid won’t be accepted, so it’s not really a true bid. Working towards a higher price should help determine a market value.

The auction list has already started to form, and there are 20 premium .XXX domain names that are scheduled to be auctioned. Additionally, the following domain names have also been scheduled: FortLauderdale.org, Her.CO, Sub.CO, and TrainingSession.com.

A full explanation of how the auction submission process will work as well as the full rate chart can be seen  here. I recommend reading that information before submitting any domain names for auction.

Could Demand Media Share Buyback Program Help With Employee Retention?

Elliot Silver
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10

One of the best methods a private company can use to hire and retain good companies is to offer stock incentives. When the company later goes public, the employees are typically rewarded for their efforts. This gives people incentive to work for the company and stay working even in difficult times.

Last week, Demand Media stock (DMD)  hit a low price of $7.12/share. This morning, the company announced a $25 million share repurchase program. In announcing the news, company CEO Richard Rosenblatt stated, “This share repurchase program reflects confidence in our business and our commitment to maximize shareholder value.”

This is how the company explained the program in the press release:

Under the program, Demand Media is authorized to repurchase up to $25 million of its outstanding shares from time to time on the open market or in negotiated transactions. The timing and amounts of any purchases will be based on share price, market conditions and other factors. The program does not require the Company to purchase any specific number of shares and may be suspended or discontinued at management’s discretion at any time without prior notice.

The part about “in negotiated transactions” makes me wonder if this will allow the company to purchase shares directly from employees who own company stock.

One might imagine employees are nervous about the precipitous decline in stock price since the company went public and managed to reach a price of $27.38/share just a few months prior.  By repurchasing shares from employees, the company could allay some of their fears and reward them for their hard work over the past months and years.

I am certainly not the most knowledgable about this type of thing, but if I were a DMD employee with stock, I would be nervous about the value of my stock, especially given the state of the economy. If you aren’t aware, Demand Media owns domain registrar Enom as well as NameJet.

Lots of “Active” .CO Names on NameJet

Elliot Silver
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7

I was a bit surprised to see a whole bunch of great keyword domain names for sale in NameJet’s “100 Most Active Pre-Release Backorders” email list this morning. After rubbing my eyes a bit, I noticed that most are .CO domain names for sale, and the majority of domain names in the list are .CO domain names.

Here are some of the “most active” .CO domain auctions at NameJet. As more .CO names come on the market, it will become more important for you to confirm the extension of the domain names on which you are bidding.

  • 142.co
  • 953.co
  • annualcreditreports.co
  • asbestoslaw.co
  • aspenhotels.co
  • autobytel.co
  • autoweb.co
  • babyfood.co
  • bankloan.co
  • barbadoshotels.co
  • byf.co
  • cabohotels.co
  • canadavacations.co
  • cancunvacations.co
  • carpetcleaner.co
  • carribbean.co
  • creditloans.co
  • dbl.co
  • debtcollection.co
  • debtloans.co
  • eliminatedebt.co
  • eordb.com
  • familydoctor.co
  • federalaid.co
  • fijiislands.co
  • floridacondo.co
  • floridacondos.co
  • furniturestores.co
  • give.co
  • governmentgrant.co
  • hawaiicondos.co
  • heartland.co
  • interns.co
  • italyvillas.co
  • juicer.co
  • lasersurgery.co
  • ll6n.com
  • luxuryrental.co
  • luxuryvillas.co
  • maidservice.co
  • marketingplans.co
  • mazatlanhotels.co
  • mexicohotels.co
  • mexicoresorts.co
  • mortgagelenders.co
  • neckties.co
  • newyorkcityhotel.co
  • newyorkcityhotels.co
  • orlandovacationrentals.co
  • orlandovacations.co
  • personalbanking.co
  • pottery.co
  • puertovallartahotels.co
  • puertovallartavacations.co
  • remortgagecalculator.co
  • restaurantequipment.co
  • reuter.co
  • trusts.co
  • voiceovers.co
  • worldclass.co

$100 Fantasy Football League

Elliot Silver
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31

I am a big New England Patriots NFL football fan. A couple of years ago, I was in a fantasy football league and found that all of the games were more exciting when there was something on the line.  I am participating in a fantasy football league with some friends, and I want to see if anyone would be interested in a domain investor football league using Yahoo (this will be a points league)

The buy in will be $100 per team, and I will collect the funds and then distribute them to the winners at the end of the season. There will be ten teams in the league and the winner will receive $600, second place will receive $250, and third place will receive $150.

If you are interested, can pay $100, and can participate in a draft some time this week or next (most likely on this Wednesday or a week from Wednesday), post a comment here. If there aren’t enough people, I won’t set it up. I will be in touch with those who comment though.

PS: If you’re one of those people who likes to complain about non-domain related (or domain sales) blog posts appearing on Domaining.com, here’s your cue to whine email Francois to lodge your complaint and then he can email me about it.

Why I Like Screenshot Tool

Elliot Silver
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2

I was making my daily inquiries the other day, when I saw a great domain name with a “coming soon” landing page. The page said that this was going to be a new venture and it would be launched sometime soon. There was no copyright or update date on the site or the footer.

Ordinarily when I see a coming soon page with a 2011 date, I generally refrain from making an offer. I know that development can be time consuming and expensive, so if the domain owner posted something that said the domain name was in the process of being developed, there’s little reason for me to make an offer to try and buy it since it will likely be expensive or there won’t be an interest in selling.

This is precisely where the screenshot history tool comes into use for me. On this particular domain name, I checked the screenshot history, and it showed me that the same landing page has been on the site since May of 2009. That indicates to me that the domain owner either got sidetracked or had other issues preventing him from launching the website. It also told me that he hasn’t monetized it, so he doesn’t know what he’s leaving on the table.

This information is invaluable in negotiating to purchase a domain name. If the guy replies to me and says he’s working on a website, I can tell him that it hasn’t happened in two plus years, so perhaps it might be a good time to throw in the towel and make some money from his underutilized asset. In any case, it’s a tool that I use on occasion, and when I do use it, I find it very helpful.

Quick Sales Tip: Don’t Click The Ads

Elliot Silver
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4

I want to share a quick tip with you regarding selling domain names to end users. It’s one of those tips that may seem obvious, but I am sure it’s happened before and it’s something you may or may not have considered.

When I try to sell a domain name to an end user, I pitch it to companies who are advertising on Google via Adwords for that exact keyword. I figure, if they’re spending money trying to attract people who are searching for the keyword, perhaps they’d like to buy the exact match domain name and build a website to help the rank organically.

One thing I never do though is click on the ad to visit the website. Not only is it rude for the domain owner to make the potential advertiser pay to hear his or her pitch, but it can also cost a sale and business contact if the website owner is tracking the leads and sees that the visitor goes straight to the contact page.  This is especially true if it’s an infrequently searched term and is much easier to track. It will piss off the website owner if you made him pay $2.00 to read your domain sales pitch.

No advertiser wants to do business with someone who is so lazy that he or she can’t cut and paste the url into a different window and opts to make the advertiser pay for his or her visit.

This is something that you may or may not have considered, but if there are just a few potential buyers for one of your domain names, burning one bridge by doing that can kill any chance of a deal.

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