Home Blog Page 1334

iPad.com: New Millionaire About to be Minted Courtesy of Apple?

Elliot Silver
-
45

Apple iPadAfter considerable speculation and discussion, Steve Jobs introduced the new Apple iPad today in a press conference that received much fanfare. The iPad is a device that is a new category of computing systems that bridges the gap between the iPhone smartphone and the Macbook laptop.

If history is an indication of the current situation, Apple is going to want the iPad.com domain name, just as they own iPhone.com and iPod.com.   iPhone.com was also privately held before Apple paid a great sum of money for it, and iPod.com has been owned by Apple for quite some time (since at least 2001 according to a Whois history search).

iPad.com has been a privately owned domain name since 1997. The current registrant (Administrative Contact) is a person with a New Jersey address named Martine Bejasa. They don’t have much on the front side of the website, although it’s quite possible there is information for clients of the owner, as there is a client log in on the home page. The owners will probably get a ton of traffic, which will be expensive for server maintenance.

If I were to advise   Martine Bejasa, I would recommend selling the domain name for the million dollar plus offer that will be sure to come from Apple. The name probably can’t be monetized by the current owner enough to justify passing on an offer in this range. In addition, there is no guarantee that the iPad is going to be a huge success, just as Apple TV has not taken off. If that’s the case, the domain name will probably be worth much less than its peak value today.

Now is   the best time to sell iPad.com, and I hope the owners and Apple are able to come to terms in the best interest of both parties.

Update:

As Bill Hartzer points out in the comments below, the domain name is registered to a company called Enero 6 Corp, translated to January 6 Corp.   Apple and Jobs always seem to have announcements right around that time, so it’s conceivable that the domain name was already acquired by the company.

Adspace Conference, Sponsored by Google, Doesn’t Renew Domain Name

Elliot Silver
-
0

AdspaceThe inaugural Adspace Conference was held on April 22, 2009 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California in conjunction with ad:tech San Francisco. Adspace’s lead sponsor was Google, and it was billed as a “One-day event, sponsored by Google, to highlight billion-dollar ‘hidden economy’ and best practices leveraging AdSense and other networks.”

The event is still prominently mentioned on the Ad:Tech website, along with a link to its website, located at AdspaceConference.com. Unfortunately for the conference management team, the domain name was allowed to expire on 1/20/2010, and anyone who visits the website will see a Godaddy parking page.

“Contextual advertising is a $6.7 billion industry globally,” says Marc Phillips, co-director, ADSPACE, LLC. “By bringing this community of publishers and advertisers together, ADSPACE can help attendees learn how to make more money from text advertising such as Google AdSense and other affiliate advertising offers.”

Hopefully this was just an oversight rather than a reflection of the future of this conference. Unfortunately, the domain name had a private registration, so I couldn’t contact the previous owner to ask about the domain’s expiration. However, I do recommend registering a name for longer than a year or two, keeping an active credit card on file, and managing your own domain registrations.

Learning Annex Shortcut To Internet Riches Includes Domain Name Seminar

Elliot Silver
-
3

Learning AnnexOn March 10, 2010 at New York City’s Marriott Marquis, the Learning Annex will be hosting its Internet Expo, billed as the “Shortcut To Internet Riches!” As part of the full day session, you will have a chance to learn from one of the most well known domain investors, Marc Ostrofsky,.

As you may know, Ostrofsky was one of the founders of Internet Reit, a large domain investment company in Texas. On the Expo’s page Ostrofsky session is described as follows:

The easiest way to earn a dollar online is simply buying and selling domains. And that’s exactly what Marc Ostrofsky does as the president of Internet REIT, which currently holds approximately 400,000 domains. Find out how he does it… how he sold business.com for a world record $7.5 million…and how can you do the same.

There are a total of 25 Internet experts who will be participating/leading the seminar during the day.   Topics include building a business online, growing a business online, Internet marketing, SEO strategy, the domain session, and many other topics.

The cost of a full day pass is $99.95, and it begins at 9am. I am not attending the conference, but found it interesting that the topic of domain names is being covered as an investment tool rather than as a SEO/business development strategy, which may be more appropriate.

Burbank.com Partnership Announced

Elliot Silver
-
19

In July, I blogged about the City in a Box platform offered by Fred Mercaldo and his team at Scottsdale.com. A few people asked me if I would be willing to use the platform on one of my websites. I can finally answer that question today.

One of the reasons I flew out to California for Domain Fest was to finalize a couple of deals that have been pending. I am happy to announce that one of the deals has been finalized, and I will be engaging in a marketing/content partnership with Scottsdale.com (see press release below).

Scottsdale.com is one of my favorite developed geodomain names, and I have always admired Fred Mercaldo’s team. They have a great sales staff, and they are clearly experts when it comes to geodomain development and monetization. I am very lucky to be able to work with them on one of my more valuable domain assets.

I’ve known Fred since the Geodomain Expo in Chicago, and I am excited to be working with him on this project.

=====

Silver Internet Ventures, LLC Announces Partnership with Scottsdale.com, LLC

Companies agree to marketing, advertising, and content distribution partnership for Burbank.com using City in a Box platform

SANTA MONICA, CA (January 26, 2010) – Silver Internet Ventures, LLC and Scottsdale.com, LLC announce a marketing, advertising, and content distribution partnership on Burbank.com, a domain name owned and operated by Silver Internet Ventures. The new website will be built on Scottsdale.com’s proprietary City in a Box platform, and the sales and marketing team at Scottsdale.com will manage sales and content on the website.

“In the year and a half the company has owned Burbank.com, traffic has grown from a few hundred visitors a month to several thousand,” said Elliot J. Silver of Silver Internet Ventures. “As a result of living across the country, it’s been difficult to manage content and ad sales. The Scottsdale.com team has a great sales staff, and they will serve the Burbank market in ways I can’t. This partnership is something I am excited about, and I look forward to working with the Scottsdale.com team.”

“We are very excited to take on the Burbank.com project.   Personally, I have spent a significant amount of time there over the years, and have a pretty good feel about the city and what it has to offer. Billed as the “Media Capital of the World”, it truly is a hub of the entertainment industry, but it is neighborhoods too, and home to over 100,000 PLUS people,” said Fred Mercaldo, of Scottsdale.com.   “We are pleased to be Elliot’s choice to both develop and monetize his Burbank.com asset, and we will exceed his expectations!”

Mercaldo continued, “we will do our best to make Burbank.com a resource that the locals will come to rely on, along with providing visitors a robust site for planning their studio and entertainment industry visits.   Our ‘City In A Box’ software solution is a perfect fit for this site, and we will be announcing a major initiative within the week that will detail our aggressive growth plans for over 30 GeoDomain markets in the US.   Examples of our software can be reviewed at sites such as Palermo.com, Chandler.com, Sunnyvale.com, and more.”

The new Burbank.com website will be launched by April 15, 2010. Companies who are interested in advertising on the new website should email the sales team at sales@burbank.com. A representative will contact you shortly.

Picks for Moniker’s DomainFest Auction

Elliot Silver
-
5

Moniker announced the inventory with reserve prices for the Domain Fest live domain auction that will take place in Santa Monica on Thursday, January 28, 2010 from 2:00 – 6:00 pm PST. Bidding can also be done online at Snapnames. Below are my top 10 domain names (along with the reserve prices) that are included in the auction. You can see the full list on the Moniker website.

  • CardCollection.com       $2501 – $5000
  • ElectricFences.com       $2501 – $5000
  • FigureSkaters.com       $2501 – $5000
  • FiveStarHotel.com       $1001-$2500
  • Paper.com       $500,001 – $750,000
  • Performances.com       $10,001 – $25,000
  • Spoilers.com       $50,001 – $100,000
  • TaxPreparers.com       $25,001 – $50,000
  • Watchmaker.com       $10,001 – $25,000
  • WoodCabinets.com       $25,001 – $50,000

I didn’t check the Whois info on the names, so I don’t know if I know the owners or not.

What are your favorites in the auction?

Sunday Afternoon Update

Elliot Silver
-
0

Here are a few small updates.

  • I think Rick made the right move by halting the live auction yesterday and re-scheduling the remaining domain names for yesterday. This makes me even more appreciative of Oversee.net and their Snapnames platform which works in conjunction with Moniker on live auctions. The only down side is that they still don’t have a version for Macs.
  • Domain owners frequently receive emails from auction companies asking them to lower reserve prices. In light of technical and timing issues that sometimes impact live domain auctions, one should consider whether lowering a reserve price is a good idea. Yes, there are plenty of names that have reserve prices way above where the should be. However, if you aren’t comfortable lowering a reserve price, then don’t do it. It’s your own fault if you heed the advice of an auctioneer whose goals may be different than yours.
  • I’ve been excited with the results of Dog Walker.com.   So far in the 2.5 months it’s been live, there has been just shy of $3,000 worth of listings on the site. Although I am sure the pace of sign ups won’t be as strong as it has been the last month, I predict break even by March of year 2 (domain acquisition + development + marketing costs).
  • After a couple of weeks worth of work, I launched CatSitter.com this week, a directory of cat sitters and cat boarding companies in the US. Just about everything on this new site is the same, and I expect to have many sign-ups from existing advertisers. I paid much less for the domain name and development since the platform was already built and customized.
  • I want to thank Michael Sumner of DN Media and MiniSites.com for his help with coding/programming on both of these sites. I needed a WordPress expert on short notice during the holidays, and every time something different came up, Michael was there to help. It was especially appreciated because it wasn’t his project, but he was willing to lend a hand and make important (complicated) adjustments to the functionality of the sites.
  • January has been my best domain sales month in over a year. This really isn’t related to quantity (less than 15 domains sold), but rather the quality of names I’ve been selling. I’ve made some solid acquisitions along with quick, private turn around flips in the last few weeks. There is still money to be made in this business after all.
  • I made a last minute decision, and I will be flying out to Los Angeles for DomainFest tomorrow. I have a couple of pending deals that will be finalized in California this week, and it doesn’t look like I will be going to Atlanta as previously anticipated. I wish I could have attended the TRAFFIC show, but I will be at TRAFFIC Vancouver. Safe travels to everyone.
1...1,3331,3341,335...1,573Page 1,334 of 1,573