Sweetmantra: Internet Marketing Advice

Want to Work with Me at Tucows?

Because I am fascinated with the world of domain names, I truly believe I have the coolest job in the world as the General Manager of the Tucows Domain Portfolio.

Now I have the pleasure of adding a new person to my existing team. That's right, I'm looking to hire someone in the role of Associate Domainer. Maybe that someone is you or someone you know?

Here are some more details about this special role:

Associate Domainer at Tucows

Tucows is currently seeking a unique individual to join our Domain Portfolio team as an Associate Domainer. As a key member of this exciting and rapidly evolving business area, you will report directly to the General Manager, Domain Portfolio. (That would be me.)

Tucows has one of the largest domain name portfolios in the world, and these domain names are currently monetized through domain parking and domain sales.

In this full-time position, located in our office in Toronto's Liberty Village, you will assist in reviewing and selecting domain names from daily lists for possible acquisition by Tucows. You will also grade and price domain names, manage, restore, renew and transfer names, and optimize the landing pages of parked domains. You will generate daily, weekly and monthly reports on data trends and patterns as well as respond to internal and external email and phone sales and support inquires about domain names in our portfolio. Your ability to work in a fast-paced environment will contribute to the growth of this evolving business area and the ongoing success of Tucows.

The ideal candidate will have kick-ass Internet research skills and excellent verbal and written communication skills. Proficiency in Word, Excel is a must, while database experience (MS Access/SQL) would be a nice bonus. Previous experience in and/or passion for the domain name industry, domaining, or PPC advertising would be very useful.

If you can multi-task, are detail-oriented and have the ability to manage your time effectively under minimal supervision, then this is the job for you.

To apply and for more info, go here:

http://snipurl.com/24805

I have to say that this is an amazing opportunity for someone who wants to break into the booming but still relatively unknown industry of domaining (domain name investing). Here's a fascinating and seminal article on the topic of domaining that got a lot of people buzzing about domaining and domainers (those folks that practice domaining) when it was first published a year ago. It provides a rare 'behind-the-scenes' perspective on this fascinating industry and some of its key players. With any luck it will also inspire a few people to apply for the Associate Domainer position at Tucows.

Domain Slamming: Don't Let It Happen to You

Earlier this week I got an email from my friend Mike. In it, he wrote:

"I just received a letter from the Domain Registry of Canada asking me to renew [my domain name] through them, and I'm confused... Do I renew through them or through [my current registrar] Register.com? Or does it really matter?"

As fast as I could, I fired off the following reply to him:

"Hi Mike,

I am SO glad you asked, and you will be too.

You were about to fall prey to an old and nasty trick called "domain slamming". Google the term "domain slamming" and you will find lots of articles about this slimy practice and the havoc it causes, as well as more information on the companies that have been accused of domain slamming.

Renew your domain name via your current registrar ONLY. You can always identify who your current registrar is by doing a WHOIS search."

Mike is a highly educated technology professional who has worked in the Internet industry for over a decade. If someone like him can come close to being duped by domain slammers, imagine what could happen to someone who is less tech-savvy (or less suspicious).

You may be reading this and saying to yourself, "yeah, yeah, this is old news, I'd never fall for something like this."

And that's great. Good for you.

But I'll bet some of your colleagues, clients, friends, or family could get suckered in.

Do them all a big favour and spread the word. Share this blog post and/or the following list of domain slamming resources with them, and help protect them from being the next victim of the domain slammers.

Domain Slamming Resources:

Domain Slamming

Be Aware: Domain Registry of Canada Scam

Domain Registration Scams

Beware of Fake Domain Name Renewal Notices

Domain Registry of America Scam

The $165,990 Domain Name Mistake

Last month, I watched with fascination and amazement as the domain name shoppers.com expired and was then purchased at auction on Pool.com.

While it was impressive what the expired domain name sold for - $166,000 (USD) - what really blew me away was that the original registrant (owner) of this domain name let it expire. That's right, instead of paying a mere $10-20 to renew this terrific generic domain name, they somehow let the domain expire and ultimately end up in the hands of one of the domain dropcatching services (Pool.com), who then put the name up for auction.

What was the original registrant of this domain name thinking? How the heck did they let this domain name expire? And what must it be like for them to discover after the fact that a domain name they could have renewed for a few dollars sold for a small fortune?

As far as I can tell, the expiry and subsequent purchase of this expired name followed the proper channels - nothing shady took place - but I am still very curious to know how anyone could let such an amazing name slip through their hands. (I don't know who the new owners of shoppers.com are, but the domain redirects to the site of etailer ShoppersChoice.com.)

I think there are some lessons to be learned here for any individual or business that owns a domain name or two.

First of all, for the domain names you intend to hang on to, are you sure you know when the domain names are coming up for renewal? Have you put the renewal date in your calendar to ensure you renew the domains in time?

And if you are planning to NOT renew a domain name, are you aware of the potential value of that domain name on the aftermarket? Rather than let it just drop, have you thought about pro-actively putting the domain name up for sale?

Most people only dream about owning domain names that would sell for six-figures, but that's no excuse for not paying close attention to these valuable assets. Had the original owners of shoppers.com followed this advice, they'd have avoided making a $165,990 mistake.

Sinful Domains: TRAFFIC West 2008

I'll be in 'Sin City' this week to attend and speak at the biggest domain name industry event of them all, TRAFFIC.

TRAFFIC West 2008 is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada from February 18-20 and attracts about 500 of the top movers-and-shakers in the domain name industry.

I'm there in my official capacity as the General Manager of the Tucows Domain Portfolio. On Wednesday morning I'll be speaking on a panel about the positive and negative perceptions (and misconceptions) surrounding domain name investing. (Don't get me started...) Joining me on the panel will be Mike O'Conner, David and Michael Castello of Castello Cities Internet Network, Phil Corwin of the Internet Commerce Association, and Dan Warner from Fabulous.com.

I'm also charged up about Wednesday's live domain name auction since Tucows has several domain names up for auction. Let the bidding commence!

Scoring the Canadian Super Bowl URLs

I'm no sports fan, but the 42nd Super Bowl was an exciting event, and not just because of the antics on the field.

As I watched the Canadian feed of this much-watched event, I counted over 40 different URLs on display in the TV commercials run during the three-and-a-half hour broadcast.

Here's a rundown of the good, the bad, and the ugly of Canadian Super Bowl URLs:

The Good:

www.maplepictures.com

www.waramps.ca

www.telusmobility.com

www.mini.ca

www.nissan.ca

www.ironmanmovie.com

www.underarmour.com

www.ctv.ca

www.freshenergy.com - Guess who?

www.airmiles.ca

www.forthegreenergood.ca - Guess who?

www.apple.ca

www.newzealand.com

www.alarmforce.com

www.bestbuy.ca

www.doritos.ca

www.builtfordtough.ca

www.monster.ca

www.dodge.ca

www.vw.ca

www.mazda.ca

www.terasengas.com

www.disney.com

www.seeingandhearing.ca - Guess who?

www.spend.ca - Guess who?

www.forces.ca

The Bad:

www.nflcanada.com - What, they couldn't get NFL.ca? Sheesh!

www.siriuscanada.ca - Doesn't the .ca make "canada" redundant? sirius.ca would have been so much better...

www.manulifeincomeplus.com - Man that's a lot to have to type!

www.creditunionsofbc.com - Ditto!

www.cdic.ca - Well, it's not so much that this one is bad as much as it's boring.

www.10000bcmovie.com - This one's just begging to be mistyped! And the studio forgot to register the typo variations like 1000bcmovie.com. Typical.

The Ugly:

www.rogers.com/tellyourstory - Now that's awkward! Is that "tell yours, Tory" as in John Tory? ;+)

www.rogers.com/windowsmobile - That's a lot to type...

www.truehd.ca - Great domain name, but inconsistent with this company's URL strategy (see above)

www.disney.com/narnia - If you already own narnia.com, why use the slash version instead?

www.bcaa.com/tv - Hmmm, do you think they're measuring their TV spend?

www.ikea.ca/mattress - Yawn...

The MVP:

www.educate.com - Sweet! Guess who owns this killer domain name?

The Sore Loser:

www.nestle-bowlblitz.ca - Not only does this feature "the dash of death" but someone forgot to register the version of the domain without the dash. (Please tell me this wasn't the work of the agency I used to work at!)

Touchdown!

Domain Names Are the Stars of Tinseltown Conference

Last week I was in Hollywood, California attending and speaking at DOMAINfest 2008, one of the domain industry's two big conferences. Attendance was up this year with nearly 700 people attending from more than 25 countries. Many of the attendees were domainers (domain name investors) looking to buy, sell, and network.

I attended a number of sessions over the course of the event and thought I'd share a few highlights:

"Domain Names and the Law"

Domain name legal expert John Berryhill cautioned domain owners to be wary of vaguely worded purchase inquiries that don't explicitly offer to buy the domain; they could be lawyers representing trademark holders who are trolling with a different agenda (e.g. gathering info for a future legal claim against the unsuspecting domain owner).

Berryhill says, "The best trademark search tool is Google," as opposed to relying on official trademark databases.

"Domainers Town Hall with Frank Schilling"

This session was a Q&A with Frank Schilling, one the most famous and successful domainers in the world. Here are some choice quotes from Frank:

• "Domain names ARE the Internet."
• "There's no shelf life on domain names...domains are like Cognac" - on domain names as assets.
• Owners of even just ten domains will be the media companies of the future."

When asked, Frank said he owns about 370,000 domain names that are managed as a business by a small team of five, including himself and his wife.

"Understanding the Big Picture"

Monty Cahn from Moniker provided some insights into the overall strength of the domain industry. Cahn says 70% of Internet users are using direct navigation (typing a domain into the browser address window) to get to a site. He also predicts that aftermarket (previously-owned) domain name sales will be a $1 billion business in 2010. Cahn estimates that also by 2010, 240 million domain names will have been registered. For reference, that's about double the amount that are registered today.

(My Tucows colleague James Koole helped with this report.)

DOMAINfest 2008

I will be speaking at, and attending, DOMAINfest, January 21-23, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. DOMAINfest is the domain industry's other big industry event (along with TRAFFIC), and this will be my first time attending.

I will be participating in a panel discussion on January 22nd entitled "Branding for Gold, Balancing Hype and Reality." Joining me on the panel will be David Sams, Mike "Zappy" Zapolin, and Andy Miller.

I believe we're going to discuss and debate the 'brandability' of domain names. That should be a lively discussion.

I'm particularly looking forward to the SnapNames Live Auction since one of the many gems from the Tucows domain portfolio will be on auction.

For more information about the conference, visit the official DOMAINfest Website.

Does Your Domain Name Have a Dirty Secret?

When it comes to choosing a domain name for your business, it helps to have a 'dirty' mind. Otherwise you might end up being stuck with a domain name that will get you into trouble with word-based content filters.

That's right, if your domain name inadvertently contains a 'naughty' keyword or phrase, your entire Website may be blocked by content blocking filters still commonly used by large corporations, libraries, schools, and overprotective parents. Your site might also be hindered from showing up in some search engines, and some of the email messages you send from your domain could end up being blocked by spam filters.

Here are some fictitious examples of what at first appear to be innocent domain names:

• HireThisExCopper [dot-something]
• EssexWorld [dot-something]

Look closer, however, and you will notice that the first domain contains the word "sex" and the second contains the phrase "sex world." Both of these domains could end up running into trouble with filters, especially the second one.

And can you spot what's problematic with these domain names?

• ScanAlley [dot-something]
• CanalTours [dot-something]

Both contain the word "anal" which also poses a risk of running afoul of filters.

You get the idea...

So before deciding on your next domain name, be sure to scrutinize it carefully. Look for any and all 'troublesome' words and phrases. The last thing you want is to have your seemingly innocuous domain name misinterpreted by word-based content filters.

Drunken Sailors on a Deadline: How Not to Buy a Domain Name

One of the most interesting things I get to do in my role as General Manager, Domain Portfolio at Tucows is manage the sale of domain names that we own to third party buyers. Since joining the company, my team and I have dealt with countless inquiries from prospective domain name buyers looking to acquire a domain name from our portfolio. I've seen all sorts of approaches taken, some good, some not so good, and I wanted to share with you the story of one sale that we made because it's a textbook case of how NOT to buy a domain name.

One morning, we received an "urgent" email and series of phone calls from an agency wanting to purchase a particular domain name.

That was their first mistake.

They explained that they were looking to acquire this domain name on behalf of one of their clients and that they needed to close the deal with us by the end of the day. Apparently, they had shortlisted several different domain names for this client and urgently needed to be able to tell their client that same evening that they'd secured one of the domain names.

That was their second mistake.

When it came time for me to negotiate the price of the domain name with the agency, it quickly became apparent to me that I was dealing with people who were spending money that wasn't their own and - worse - could care less. Technically, of course, this was correct - the agency was buying the domain name on behalf of their client - but they obviously didn't care how much their client would have to pay for the domain name as long as it was within a loosely defined range.

That was their third, and biggest, mistake.

Needless to say, I negotiated the price up, way up. In fact, I got us TEN TIMES the amount I would have normally sold that particular domain name for had the agency not been so flippant about the whole affair. Since the agency was in a hurry to meet a deadline and were willing to spend their client's money like drunken sailors, I was happy to assist them in accomplishing their mission. ;+)

So, what lessons might be learned from this affair?

• Rushing a domain name purchase, perhaps because you've left it to the last minute (ad agencies and clients, are you listening?), will likely mean the buyer will end up paying more than they normally should.
• If you are using an intermediary to negotiate the purchase of a domain name on your behalf (which is not a bad idea, by the way), make sure your 'agent' is motivated to get you the best possible price. Ideally, they should treat the money that have to spend with as much, if not more, care than if it was their own.
• Finally, regardless of whether or not you work with an intermediary, establish a clearly defined price range (or at least a maximum figure) at the outset, otherwise you will weaken your negotiating ability and won't know when it's time to walk away from the deal.

In other words, when it comes to buying a domain name, don't be a drunken sailor on a deadline. But if you are, have I got a deal for you...

An Insider's Perspective on the Multi-Billion Dollar Domain Name Industry

As loyal readers of this blog will know, last month I was in Miami, Florida to attend the biggest domain name industry event of them all, TRAFFIC. While I was there, I recorded interviews with several of the domain name industry's major players. Upon my return, I turned these interviews into six special "road trip" versions of my Marketing Martini podcast, four of which have been released so far.

If you'd like a glimpse inside the rather secretive, multi-billion dollar domain name industry, I encourage you to give these episodes a listen. Here are a few highlights...

What's a live domain name auction? Find out from the man who runs the top one in the world.

In Episode #29 of Marketing Martini, I talked with Monte Cahn, Founder and CEO of Moniker.com, about the world's largest live domain name auction. It was only after the interview that I realized Monte also hosts his own podcast, Domain Masters. Such a small world!

Ever looked up the perfect domain name for your business only to discover it wasn't available to register? Don't give up hope just yet; a good domain could still be within reach.

In Episode #31 of Marketing Martini, I chatted with Peter Lamson of NameMedia about the "aftermarket" for domain names. In a stroke of accidental marketing brilliance on my part, this episode was released shortly after NameMedia filed to go public.

Did you know that buying a domain name is no longer the only way you can gain use of it?

In Episode #32 of Marketing Martini, I spoke with Jonathan Boswell of LeaseThis.com about the notion of domain name leasing. Jonathan was such an interesting interview subject that he inspired two episodes.

I have received such amazing feedback from listeners about this special "road trip" series of interviews that I wanted to bring the series to your attention. Enjoy!