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Good Direct Marketing Email from Network Solutions as Part of DDN

Elliot Silver
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7

As I quickly scanned my email, I saw something from Network Solutions that caught my eye. The subject was “HORSESTABLE.ORG is Available – Register it Now!” Since I own HorseStable.com (I sold HorseSupply.com earlier this year), I thought it would be smart to register the .org, to give a potential buyer some added value.

Since I don’t generally register domain names at NetSol, I emailed my Godaddy representative and asked him to buy this domain name on my behalf. He replied that the domain name has been registered for a while to Protopixel Pty Ltd, one of Dark Blue Sea’s entities.

I looked back at the email I received and I noticed that it was imploring me to buy this premium domain name in the aftermarket, which I believe is part of the Domain Distribution Network. I’ve seen plenty of upsell efforts at registrars like Godaddy working with the DDN, but this is the first time I was emailed directly instead of a point of sale attempt.

Although I felt the subject was a bit misleading with them suggesting I “register” it now, it’s still a smart direct marketing tactic. Had I been an end user client (most of their clients are), I may have opted to buy it.

This is a great example of a well-targeted direct marketing effort.

Fulfillment by Amazon Program

Elliot Silver
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11

Did you know you can build an e-commerce website and have Amazon store your inventory and fulfill your shipments? A friend and I were talking about a new product he is developing, and when we started talking about distribution, he mentioned that one option he is considering is the Amazon Fulfillment Program.

With this program, customers can store their inventory at one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers. You can then either sell your products directly on Amazon.com where customers can purchase them along with other Amazon products, or you can sell them directly on your own website and simply use Amazon for inventory fulfillment. Instead of paying for storage space or filling your home/business with inventory, Amazon will do it for you, likely for a smaller cost than you could do it on your own.

Living in an apartment in New York City, I can’t exactly store much inventory of any kind. Likewise, it would be a costly pain in the neck to deal with shipping and other inventory control if I used a storage facility. This seems like a great concept for small business owners.

As I’ve discussed with BumperProtectors.com (now developed using an Epik site), ultimately it would be great to be able to sell bumper protectors.   Since I have no experience with inventory and have no space for it either, Amazon fulfillment would be something interesting to explore if I ever want to earn real money.

Does Your Domain Name Suck?

Elliot Silver
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20

Al lot of people (myself included) look at some of their domain names and wonder why end user companies aren’t interested in buying certain domain names. Instead of thinking like a savvy small business owner or corporate titan, we think like domain investors, which isn’t always a good thing when it comes to selling domain names.

I think we must put ourselves in the shoes of our potential buyers. Ask yourself the following question about a domain name you’ve been trying to sell, and maybe you’ll see why you’ve been unable to sell it.

“If I was in the _____________ business, would I want to pay a domain owner $x thousands of dollars to buy the _________.whatever domain name, when I can hand register ____________.whatever for just $10 from that company with the hot girls in Super Bowl commercials?“

Many (if not most) business owners don’t tend to think of domain names as essential elements of their business. Not even business who predominately work online always think that a good domain name is critical to the success of their business. Most want to build a solid brand online, and that is different from using a generic domain name.

Think how a business owner would think, and tailor your sales pitch appropriately. You may find that your sales will increase.

Why Google Instant Might be a Game Changer for Domain Investors

Elliot Silver
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55

Google is in the process of rolling out its real time search functionality, now known as Google Instant. While the company previously made search suggestions as you type, Google Instant goes a step further and begins showing actual results before you finish with your search.

I’ve been playing around with it, and my immediate thought is that this could impact domain investors, especially those who develop. If Google is predicting your search before you’re finished typing it, people will probably be less likely to finish longer tail searches, which helped produce traffic for developed, long tail keyword domain names. For instance, if yo are looking for “debt management tips,” you may stop typing at “debt management” after seeing some interesting results, and if my site ranks well for “debt management tips” but not the more general term, I will be pretty much SOL.

This does bode very well for short, exact match keyword domain names that rank well in Google for those keywords, but it can also be problematic for some. I know this is contradictory, but let’s use my example below.

DogWalker.com ranks #1 in Google for “dog walker,” #2 for “dog walkers,” and in the last week, dropped out of the top 10 for “dog walking.” If someone is searching for a dog walker, they may actually stop at “dog walk” when the results begin appearing. Despite great rankings for the exact match keyword domain names, DogWalker.com does not rank in the top 3 (see screenshot):

Google Instant Search

It’s way too early to predict how search habits will change, but if they do change, it could have a big impact on domain investors and the domain names they buy.

Confirmed: MLB Acquires Angels.com

Elliot Silver
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8

The Angels.com domain name has been purchased by Major League Baseball, and Angels.com now redirects to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim website. The domain name was purchased at the end of August for $200,000 at a Sedo auction.

In my opinion, this was a smart acquisition for the baseball team, and it was a smart sale for the owner, who hasn’t been able to monetize the traffic that was presumably mostly looking for tickets, baseball gear, and other baseball related products. In 2007, Major League Baseball filed a UDRP for Angels.com, but they lost the decision. According to an article written by Andrew, the team was offered the opportunity to purchase the domain name back then for around $300,000.

As you can see from a prior post about sports team domain name, most professional sports teams (and leagues) understand the value of owning the team .com domain name. (Big exception: Dallas Cowboys who still down’t own Cowboys.com).

According to the most recent Whois update, the domain name is owned by MLB Advanced Media, LP, and the domain name is registered at Corporation Service Company.

Vote Today for TRAFFIC Awards

Elliot Silver
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0

Last week, Rick and Howard announced the TRAFFIC Award nominees, and I am honored to have been nominated for 3 awards (thanks to whomever nominated me). Emails were just sent to the TRAFFIC mailing list asking people to submit their ballot by Wednesday (tomorrow) at 8pm Eastern US time to be counted.

One vote per category (except Hall of Fame) more, will result in the ballot not being counted. To vote, send your ballot to nominations@targetedtraffic.com. Winners will be announced Tuesday, October 19th at 10AM at TRAFFIC South Beach.

SPONSOR OF THE YEAR (Vote for 1)
.CO
DOMAINADVERTISING.COM
NAMEDRIVE
PARKED
SKENZO

DOMAINER OF THE YEAR (VOTE FOR 1)
JAN BARTA
MIKE BERKENS
JUAN CALLE
STEVE CHEATHAM
LARRY FISCHER
ROB GRANT
MERLIN KAUFMAN
MORGAN LINTON
MIKE MANN
GREG MCNAIR
JERRY NOLTE
ILZE KAULINS-PLASKACS
ELLIOT SILVER
DIVYANK TURAKHIA
JOEL WILLIAMS

BEST OVERALL DOMAIN SOLUTION (VOTE FOR 1)
ABOVE
DOMAINSPONSOR
EPIK
MONIKER
SEDO
SKENZO
SMARTNAME

BEST NEW MONETIZING SOLUTION (VOTE FOR 1)
ABOVE
DEVHUB
ELEPHANT TRAFFIC
EPIK
LOCAL.COM
SKENZO
SMARTNAME
WHYPARK

DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR (VOTE FOR 1)
FRED MERCALDO
ROB GRANT
KEITH LEVENSON
ROB MONSTER
SHAUN PILFOLD
ELLIOT SILVER
TIA WOOD

THE “WE GET IT” AWARD (VOTE FOR 1)
BODOG & SLOTS.COM
LEXIS-NEXIS
MIKE MANN
NATIONAL A-1
OVERSTOCK
QUINSTREET
SWIFT RANK

BEST DOMAIN NEWS BLOG (VOTE FOR 1)
ANDREW ALLEMAN (DomainNameWire)
MIKE BERKENS (TheDomains)
DOMAINERSMAGAZINE.COM
RON JACKSON (DNJournal)
LARRY FISCHER
MORGAN LINTON
HOWARDNEU.COM (Declined)
RICK SCHWARTZ (Rick’s Blog) (Declined)
ELLIOT SILVER (Elliot’s Blog)

DOMAIN HALL OF FAME (VOTE FOR 2)
MONTE CAHN
GARY CHERNOFF
ROB GRANT
JEREMIAH JOHNSTON
AMMAR KUBBA
RICK LATONA
MICHAEL MANN
HOWARD NEU
JERRY NOLTE
MARC OSTROFSKY
ADAM STRONG
DIVYANK TURAKHIA

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