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Quick Hits for the Weekend

Elliot Silver
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Wedding season has started again, and I am in another one of my best friends’ weddings tonight. I am in Detroit (well, Dearborn), and from what I can see, Ford branded everything around here. Apparently the Mighty Ducks are staying at this hotel tonight… kinda neat I guess.

I think the WhyPark/Parked deal makes a whole lot of sense for both companies. They each have a very large number of domain names under their “control,” and both have different experience in monetizing these names. I don’t know any terms of the deal, but from the outside, it looks like they have created a stronger company.

Every time a huge world story hits, its amusing to see all the different variations of domain names that are created. On the domain forums, Ebay, and other venues, I can’t help but laugh at the long tail keyword swine flu names that are being sold and/or discussed….

They’re almost as bad as the swine flu jokes I am seeing all over the place – one of the downsides of Twitter 🙂

Congrats to Moniker on selling Ad.com for $1.4 million. It goes to show that Moniker (and other companies) do work hard to get bids from people outside of the domain industry, as I’ve heard the bidder was a large advertising agency that wanted to rebrand.   You can now see the auction of Ad.com in a video posted by Rick.

Sorry to keep this short, but I have to head out to lunch with the guys. What other quick hits did I miss from the week?

What Are You Buying These Days?

Elliot Silver
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As I’ve mentioned in the past, I have been buying much less and focusing on developing my websites lately. Instead of spending money externally, I am investing internally, continuing my effort to build a steady alternative revenue stream.

I am still buying great domain names at great prices in order to resell, but my investments are more cautious because I want to make sure I have enough liquid on hand to pay the bills for the next xx months – how ever long xx ends up being. As highly as I value domain names, I would rather have $20,000 sitting in the bank than a domain name I know is worth $20,000 because even those $20,000 names can’t produce $20,000 when you need to liquidate.

I am still primarily buying one and two word category defining .com domain names, because I think there will always be a market for them. Some of my friends aren’t buying anything right now as they wait out the storm, but I have other friends who are buying a variety of different type of domain names – alternative extensions, numerics, ccTLD…etc.

So… my question to you… what types of domain names are you buying these days and what’s your rationale?

Please post the types of names you are buying rather than examples, as most examples will end up in the spam folder.

Names Added to GeoDomain Auction

Elliot Silver
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Usually in the closing days of an auction, a few domain names receive interest and the remaining names go untouched. Domain Consultant hasn’t gone the way of a typical auction, and that is obvious with their announcement today.

Reserve.com was listed in the extended domain auction at No Reserve. In addition, some other great domain names were added, including Massapequa.com (a wealthy town in Long Island), Zodiac.com, and Fargo.net.

If you haven’t checked out the extended auction, you now have a great reason. You should also check out Moniker’s extended auction. I will have some picks from that tomorrow if I have time, as I will be traveling to Detroit for another wedding.

Strong Argument for Ad Sales

Elliot Silver
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A comm0n response to an advertising inquiry I’ve made numerous times for my websites is, “we already do our Internet advertising on Google.” Sure, Google can be a very effective source of leads, but it can also be expensive and might not send the most targeted traffic, depending on the Adwords campaign.

One of the best ways to close an advertising deal on a website or blog is to discuss the direct navigation traffic. It’s important to point out to a potential advertiser that direct navigation traffic can’t be purchased like traditional media buys. Visitors to a particular website that directly navigate, generally do so because they know what they want, and they either know they can get it at a particular website or they assume this. Companies who want to reach out to these visitors need to advertise directly on that website. In my brief experience, I have found this to be a compelling argument, and the same can be made by any domain owner whose domain name receives type-in traffic.

I was thrilled when traffic to TropicalBirds.com grew to over 90% search engine-based. It meant that I was doing something right in terms of SEO, and I was happy that people were visiting because of it. However, an advertiser could easily buy some of   this traffic simply by advertising on Google. However, direct navigation can’t be bought because it completely bypasses Google and Yahoo. IMO, this is a great deal closer.

Why I am Not Following Moniker Auction at TRAFFIC

Elliot Silver
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I wrote a post this morning about why I am not attending TRAFFIC in San Jose. I was planning to watch the Moniker TRAFFIC auction this evening, however.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this will happen. I checked in on WebmasterRadio.FM and the auction wasn’t beaing streamed over the radio. I visited Domaining.com and UStream.tv hoping to find a video feed – no dice.

I did find the page on Snapnames where I can download the software – but I don’t operate on a laptop with Windows, the first requirement of the auction software. I’ve mentioned this before, but it still hasn’t been fixed.

I am not a big auction buyer, and I suppose if I planned to bid I would have gone through other channels. However, it’s disappointing – although it does free up 3 hours I had initially set aside.

Why I am Not at TRAFFIC

Elliot Silver
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11

One of the most common questions I was asked during the waning hours of the GeoDomain Expo was whether I planned to attend TRAFFIC up the road in Silicon Valley. As you can see from the title of this post, I am not at TRAFFIC, and there are a couple of reasons.

The first and foremost reason was that I went directly to Burbank for some ad sales following the show in San Diego. It was a 3 hour train ride along the Pacific Coast, and it was a great opportunity to catch up on some rest and to think about many of the things I learned at the Geo Expo. I must say, the Expo gave me added confidence in the area of ad sales, and I have 3 pending deals, two of which may be big deals.

The second reason I didn’t attend TRAFFIC this time was the price. Sure, I could have spent the money on my flight to San Jose, hotel rooms, and TRAFFIC ticket, but in this economy, I am cutting costs. It was more pertinent to my growing business to visit Burbank than it was to attend the show. I also plan to attend TRAFFIC in New York, and I look forward to seeing many of the same people who are now at the show.

BTW, don’t forget to tune in to the Moniker auction later on today. Now it’s time for some follow-up emails!

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