Sweetmantra: Domain Name Strategy

I've Joined Tucows as General Manager, Domain Portfolio

Today's the day I finally get to spill the beans about the amazing new job I've just started!

I've joined Tucows, one of the oldest and most legendary Internet companies in the world, as their General Manager, Domain Portfolio.

Here's a link to the full press release announcing the news:

Tucows Appoints Internet Veteran Bill Sweetman as General Manager of its Domain Name Portfolio

Tucows has an awesome portfolio of domain names, and I'm going to be leading the charge to further monetize that portfolio as well as develop new products and services related to the portfolio. Translation: I'm going to be performing Domain Name Karate as a full-time job!

When presented with the opportunity to turn my long-held passion for domain names into a full-time gig, I leaped at the chance. This was truly one of those 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunities' and I knew I'd regret turning it down. Plus, I get to work again with Ken Schafer and a great team of people who are equally passionate about the domain name space.

Effective immediately, I will be working from the Tucows Toronto office in Liberty Village, and I will continue to blog and do speaking engagements in Canada and around the world.

Surprising Findings From my Blog's Traffic Statistics

I recently checked the traffic statistics for my blog, Sweetmantra, and was so surprised by some of the numbers that I thought I'd share them with you.

For the last year or so, I've been using Google Analytics to measure and analyze the traffic to my blog. (As an aside, Google Analytics is a terrific - and free - tool.) To be honest, though, I don't spend a lot of time checking the traffic statistics for Sweetmantra because "traffic" is not the main reason I blog.

Nevertheless, when I checked the source of traffic for last month (July 2007), I was rather surprised.

• 65% of my traffic came from organic search results (i.e., search engine queries)
• 18% came from type-in traffic (i.e., people who typed the URL "www.sweetmantra.com" into their Web browser)
• 17% came from referrals (links) from other Websites and blogs

What was I surprised about?

Well, first of all, I was pleasantly surprised by how much of my overall traffic I was getting from search engines. For me, this further proves how search engine friendly blogs are compared to 'traditional' Websites. It also means that a lot of these visitors are probably stumbling across my blog and discovering me and my work for the first time. Thanks to search engines, I'm reaching a new audience, and at little to no cost.

I was also intrigued by the referral source details. Getting traffic from links from other sites and blogs is key to how the Internet works and a great way to generate traffic. Nothing new there. What surprised me was how much traffic was generated by a single blog that linked to my blog. Although I received traffic from 52 different third-party Websites and blogs last month, a tourism Internet marketing blog located at tourismkeys.ca (that I had never heard about and had never contacted) mentioned one of my posts on June 27 and this accounted for 9% of my referral traffic (i.e., 1.5% of my total traffic) in July.

I should also note that I continue to get a steady stream of blog visitors from my profile on two popular social networking sites: Facebook and LinkedIn. If you have a Website and/or blog and aren't linking to it from your profile on these two social networking sites, you're likely losing a great traffic building opportunity.

When was the last time you checked your traffic statistics? You just never know what pleasant surprises and learning may be waiting for you.

Aesthetic Intent: A Podcast That's Driven By Innovation

Yes, the rumours are true; I've left MacLaren MRM and will be starting a new job in a few weeks. I can't reveal the details of the new gig yet. As a loyal reader of this blog, however, you'll be one of the first to hear the news.

Meanwhile, I wanted to let you know about one of the projects I'm most proud to have worked on during my time at MacLaren MRM. It's a podcast series called Aesthetic Intent and it's for the Buick division of General Motors of Canada. Aesthetic Intent quietly launched during my final week at the agency, and to the best of my knowledge is the first ever podcast by a Canadian automotive manufacturer. Even more noteworthy, in my opinion, is that this podcast is NOT about cars.

Aesthetic Intent is a six-part podcast series that "deconstructs the connection between passion and beauty" and features interviews with an eclectic group of people. Each episode is smart, engaging, and authentic ... as well as "inspired by the new Buick Enclave." It's not an infomercial for the vehicle, and the only quasi-advertising content appears discretely in the last few moments of each podcast episode.

Kudos to General Motors of Canada for continuing to be an innovator in the Internet marketing space. Yes, I said "innovator." There are very few 'traditional' Canadian companies that have invested as heavily in the Internet channel, and launching this podcast is just another example of GM Canada's enthusiasm for the medium. Regardless of whether or not Aesthetic Intent turns out to be successful, you've got to give GM Canada credit for trying new things. I'll miss working with them for this reason.

I also want to tip my hat to the great team at MacLaren MRM that I worked with on this project. It was quite an adventure getting this unconventional project off the ground, however I am confident that all the time and effort will pay off.

Check out Aesthetic Intent and let me know what you think. And if you like it, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.