Sweetmantra: Domain Name Strategy

Mission Accomplished: Tucows Expired Domain Names are Now Available at Afternic.com

From the moment I joined Tucows back in August of 2007, I felt there was an opportunity to improve the way we auctioned off expired domain names. Ten months later, after a ton of work by an army of talented people (go teams!), I can finally reveal that Tucows has collaborated with Namemedia’s Afternic.com to auction our expired domain names.

I am super excited about this because this was by the most challenging -- and therefore fascinating to me -- Internet project I have worked on to date in my career. While on the surface it might seem simple, there were (as my colleague Zeljko would say) lots of moving parts.

You can read all the gory details in the official press release. Then you should head on over to Afternic and start bidding on some of the names!

I'm Speaking About Search Engine Advertising at MagNet - Canada's Magazine Conference

I will be speaking at MagNet - Canada's Magazine Conference, June 4-6, 2008 in Toronto, Canada. MagNet is the Canadian magazine industry's big trade conference, and this will be my first time speaking at this event.

I will be giving a talk on Search Engine Advertising on June 4 entitled "Search Engine Advertising: The Ultimate Measurable Marketing Tool?"

My talk will provide actionable insights into the measurable marketing potential of search advertising and explore why it may be the ultimate direct-response vehicle.

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

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!

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.

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!

Earn Your Black Belt in Domain Name Karate at BC AIM Direct Marketing Day 2007

I bought my first domain name over 12 years ago for $70 and sold it a few years later for $10,000. I guess I've been hooked on the magical allure of domain names ever since. In fact, that's one of the reasons I now work at Tucows, the largest domain name wholesaler in the world, where I get to think about domain names all day long.

If you'd like to learn how to protect your domain names, increase your website traffic, and outmaneuver your competitors, join me at the BC AIM Direct Marketing Day, November 8, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada.

I will be giving an informative yet fun presentation entitled "Domain Name Karate: The ‘Ancient’ Art of Maximizing and Defending Your Domain Names." I'll be demonstrating my secret Domain Name Karate moves like "The Quiet Warrior," "The Five Blades," and "The Peacock’s Feather." I might even be persuaded to share "The Green Volcano" with those in attendance, but only if I have a spotter.

Seriously, I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned about domain names over the last 12 years.

Of course, I'm not the only reason to attend BC AIM Direct Marketing Day. Other featured speakers include Stefan Tornquist from MarketingSherpa and Kyle MacDonald (a.k.a. the One Red Paperclip guy).

I hope you can make it. Visit http://www.bcaim.org/dmday for all the details.

2007 Digital Marketing Conference

The death of Princess Diana. The Bre-X scandal. James Cameron's Titanic.

Where were you in 1997? And what were you doing?

Although it seems hard to believe, this year marks the - gasp! - 10th anniversary of the Canadian Marketing Association's Digital Marketing Conference.

I'm on the organizing committee for this conference and we've really tried to pull out all the stops in honour of this year's first decade mark.

Some of the featured speakers we've lined up include Mike Murphy from Facebook, Chuck Porter from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and Simon Assaad from Heavy.com.

Ipsos Reid returns for a second year with the results of The Canadian Digital Marketing Pulse survey and we've just added a very special surprise session for Thursday afternoon featuring four Canadians you won't want to miss.

The enormously popular roundtables, "The Experience Exchange," are back by popular demand, and yes, yours truly will be moderating one of the roundtables on podcasting.

If you're serious about Internet marketing, please join me and a few hundred other Internet marketing enthusiasts at the 10th annual Digital Marketing Conference in Toronto, Canada on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26.

For more information and to register, visit the 2007 Digital Marketing Conference Website.

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.

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.

Crossing 10,329 Miles with Communication Consultant Lee Hopkins

Last week I had the honour and pleasure of being interviewed by Australia's Lee Hopkins for his provocative Better Communication Results podcast. Despite the fact my Skype connection kept disconnecting us every 6 minutes or so, Lee and I had a lively 30-minute discussion about search engine optimization, business blogs, and social media.

One of the questions Lee asked me triggered me to tell the story of a friend who recently launched an online store and was looking for help with the search engine optimization.

Because my friend's store was created using a database-driven e-commerce solution that was not designed with search engines in mind and would therefore be impossible to properly optimize for search engines, I recommend that my friend focus his efforts instead on creating a blog related to the product he was selling.

I told my friend that this would be a far more effective way to generate targeted traffic than trying to optimize the existing site. Not only would it be good for the search engines, it would also be good for prospective customers. This is not the first time I've made this recommendation to someone, nor will it likely be the last. That's right, yet another great reason to consider launching a blog.

You can download an MP3 file of the full interview (14 MB) or, better yet, subscribe to Lee's podcast feed so you can receive this and future episodes of his Better Communication Results podcast.