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Sunday, Muddy Sunday

Elliot Silver
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I ran in my first “Mud Run” this morning. It was a 5k race in the Bronx sponsored by Merrell shoes company as part of their Down and Dirty National Mud Run Series. We ran through a series of obstacles, like wood hurdles, rope wall, ocean run, and of course two mud pits. Lots of fun!

Anyway, here are some updates:

September was a pretty solid month for my company. I made a few pretty decent sales, including NassauHotels.com, which had been listed for sale on my blog. I don’t know if the economy is turning a corner, but I do know if you are willing to sell solid domain names at good prices, there are buyers.

Rick Schwartz has been posting quite a bit on domain sales and acquisitions, and I think the articles are good reads. If you didn’t see the sponsored headlines on Domaining.com, you should check out Rick’s Blog when you have enough time to read a few articles. I agree with much of what he says, although I’ve made my living primarily by buying and selling quickly, which is something he doesn’t recommend. It’s something you should keep in mind because there are many different business models in this biz.

I am going to be at the Traffic conference in Miami for a day if you’d like to connect. I am extending a previously scheduled Florida vacation, and I’ll be traveling an hour or so south to Miami for the conference.   I already have a couple of meetings scheduled on Monday, but if you think there’s a reason we should meet, drop me a note and I will try to make some time.

Think Twice Before You Use a Domain Hack

Elliot Silver
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Domain hacks can be cutesy, and the more publicity some of the popular hacks receive, the more others want to emulate. The problem with domain hacks is that they can be confusing to consumers, especially when they don’t mention the “dot” in their branding.

Just the other day, I wrote an article about a new start up called Bump, which smartly operates on Bump.com. One of the people who read the article made a comment about another company called Bump, although that company operates on Bu.mp. Unfortunately for the Bu.mp guys, they are most likely going to lose traffic to the Bump.com start up, and not only is it their own fault, but there’s really nothing they can do about it since Bump.com is a venture backed company and the domain name wouldn’t be for sale.

Delicious and Bitly were two of the first startups that went mainstream to use domain hacks, and luckily for both, they were able to get the .com domain name to match (Delicious had to purchase Delicious from the registrant). Delicious probably paid a lot more for its .com domain name simply because it built up considerable traffic and brand recognition unintentionally. People, especially in the .com centric US, just assume it’s on a .com.

Just this past week, Google announced its new url shortener, which uses the domain hack Goo.gl for its own url. Smartly for them, they also own Googl.com in the event of typos, although it seems like they are differentiating it from the main search site by emphasizing the “dot.” On a side note, it will be interesting to track the traffic to GL.com, since there will probably be people who inadvertently type in Goo.gl.com in error.

My recommendation to start ups and to anyone who wants to use a domain hack is that they should only do it if they can secure the .com. If they can’t secure the .com but must use this hack for some reason, it’s critical to emphasize the “dot.”

Baron Funds Investment Conference

Elliot Silver
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Sorry that this post isn’t related to our business, but I think it might be of interest to some people who read my blog. Baron Capital Group (Baron investment funds) holds a one-day investment conference / shareholder’s meeting every year in New York City called the Baron Investment Conference. If you own stock in any Baron Fund, you are probably eligible to attend, and I recommend that you do attend if you can.

Last year’s conference was great for a few reasons. I had the chance to listen to several CEOs   speak about their companies, and this in and of itself was interesting. Additionally, Baron Fund managers took the stage to discuss their funds, and Ron Baron (the founder of the company) also spoke. Not only was Ron humorous, but he was also reassuring, something that was appreciated during the tough economic climate of last year.

Sound like the same old shareholder’s meeting held by every other company? Wrong. Last year’s conference featured a set of about 5-8 songs by The Eagles during lunch, and several songs from Rod Stewart in the afternoon, both oldies and some newer songs. In prior years, the crowd was entertained by Jerry Seinfeld, Elton John, The Beach Boys, and other top acts.

If you have invested in any Baron Funds (check your managed accounts and retirement accounts), you are probably eligible to attend. If you elected to not receive annual reports, voting ballots, and other reports in the mail, you may not have received the invitation, so check with your financial adviser.

This year’s conference will be held in New York City on October 22, 2010, and if you’re eligible to attend, I recommend it.

Boston Globe to Use BostonGlobe.com as Pay Site & Boston.com as Free Site

Elliot Silver
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Editors of the Boston Globe announced that they are moving towards the paid subscription model, and they intend to use BostonGlobe.com as the portal for the paid news site, which will contain all of the articles currently found in the print edition. They will keep Boston.com as the free website for visitors who choose not to pay for subscriptions.

From a geodomainer’s perspective, I think it’s nice to see that the Boston Globe is going to reinforce that BostonGlobe.com is one website with paid news and content, while their city.com site, Boston.com, will remain free and presumably the most widely read. Boston.com will have event listings and really be the go to site for information about Boston, notoriety which I believe it’s already achieved.

From a blogger’s perspective, it will be interesting to see how this experiment goes. Rupert Murdoch has been talking about putting up a pay wall as have others, which was previously tried by the NY Times (owners of the Boston Globe) with their Times Select version (no longer running).

If newspapers successfully adopt the paid subscriber model, perhaps bloggers and others will follow suit. In my opinion, it’s unlikely that the paid model will work since there are still plenty of blogs and websites that make enough money from advertisers that a pay wall isn’t necessary. I am an avid Boston Globe reader, but I won’t pay to read it since there are plenty of other sources of free information.

Did Facebook Quietly Acquire FB.com?

Elliot Silver
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I read an interesting “Tweet” on George Kirikos’ Twitter feed this morning. According to Domaintools’ Whois History tool, the domain name FB.com changed hands on September 3, 2010. Prior to this change, the domain name was registered to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The organization owns FB.org, which might explain their willingness to part with FB.com.

FB.com is currently registered to DNStination  Inc., and it is registered at Mark Monitor, the same corporate registrar used by Facebook for their Facebook.com registration. Could Facebook have stealthily acquired FB.com? The domain name does not currently resolve anywhere, but it would seem to be a good domain name for them to own, especially with the popularity of url shorteners.

Ironically enough, there is a page on Facebook called “Petition to make www.fb.com an official link to facebook is on Facebook.” The group currently has 75 members. Perhaps they were on to something.

BethlehemSteel.com: Piece of American History Pending Auction

Elliot Silver
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I went to college in Pennyslvania’s Lehigh Valley, and one couldn’t help but learn a little bit about the region’s former reliance on the steel industry, especially as a History major with an interest in American history. Bethlehem Steel played an integral part in the development of the Lehigh Valley, if not the United States.

I just noticed that the domain name BethlehemSteel.com has expired, and it is pending deletion/auction at Namejet should the former owner opt to not renew it. If you aren’t familiar with Bethlehem Steel (no worries if you aren’t), you can read more about the former company on its Wikipedia page.

I believe the company was bought by a large company a few years back, although I haven’t done any trademark research. It appears to have been owned by someone unrelated to the company back in 2003, and a couple years later the email address on record is for a large law firm. Similarly, up until the domain name expired, it appears to be registered to a person of the same name at a different large law firm. Perhaps this registrant moved on but didn’t keep the Whois information updated?

In any event, although it’s served primarily as a Network Solutions landing page for a while, I still think this domain name is a little piece of American nostalgia.

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