Sweetmantra: Domain Name Strategy

I’m Heading to Collision to Discuss Startup Domain Name Challenges

I will be attending the Collision startup conference in Las Vegas May 4-7. According to conference organizers, over 10,000 people from around the world are expected to attend this downtown Las Vegas event devoted to the fusion of entrepreneurialism and technology.

To stimulate dialog about the many domain name challenges facing startups, my domain name consulting firm Name Ninja analyzed the domain names of 491 startups attending the upcoming conference.

Our analysis revealed that 79% of the startups at the Collision conference may be using a “risky” domain name that could play havoc with their marketing efforts. Choosing a hard-to-spell name that fails the “Radio Test” was the number one problem we uncovered, followed by not having the exact match .com domain.

Here’s a link to the official press release about the results of our analysis. We also published a handy infographic that summarizes the results and includes some startup domain name best practices, common mistakes to avoid, and other useful information.

Anyone who knows me is aware that I sympathize with the challenges that startup founders and other entrepreneurs face when it comes to acquiring the optimal domain name. For those on a tight budget, free tools like LeanDomainSearch.com and NameBot.com can help an entrepreneur come up with a name and matching .com domain name for their new venture.

Since I will be in Vegas attending the Collision conference, I am going to make myself available to any startup founder that wishes to discuss their domain name challenges. Startup founders that would like to book a complimentary in-person meeting with me can do so by emailing collision [at] nameninja.com.

See you in Vegas.

 

Ten Reasons Why I (and Others) Won’t “Connect” with You on LinkedIn

I am a huge fan and user of LinkedIn. I joined the platform over 10 years ago and I use it every day as a research and communication tool. I also get several invitations a day from people wanting me to add them as one of my connections. Truth be told, I decline most of these invitations for one of several reasons. I used to take the time to message people back and explain why I was declining their invitation to “connect” but this has become too time-consuming so I’ve decided to explain my reasons in this blog post instead.

What follows is going to piss some people off. From my perspective this is about using a business tool in the correct way. LinkedIn is not Facebook, it’s not Twitter, and it’s not email. You are free to develop your own rules for who you accept or reject as connections on LinkedIn. These are mine, love ‘em or hate ‘em.

I do firmly believe that if you avoid making the following LinkedIn “connect” mistakes that the likelihood of other people – not just me – accepting your invitations will dramatically increase. Try it out and let me know what happens.

You are probably also wondering why I seem to be so picky about which LinkedIn invitations I accept. It’s because I believe that if I accept someone as one of my LinkedIn connections it’s an implied endorsement by me of that person. By adding someone to my connections list, I’m essentially saying that I know this person and vouch for the fact they are legitimate and worthy of your attention.

So here we go, my never-before-revealed reasons for not accepting your LinkedIn invite:

1. I don’t recognize your name – I may not have a perfect memory, far from it in fact, but if I don’t recognize your name that’s going to make me immediately less motivated to accept your invitation. If we’ve met before but it’s been a while, you’d be wise to mention that in your invitation message to me. (More on that all-important invitation message in a moment.)
2. We’ve never interacted in the past – This goes hand-in-hand with me not recognizing your name. If I haven’t ever met you before in person, or at least interacted with you in some way, the chances of me adding you as a connection are slim. If we have met before, remind me of when and where.
3. You don’t have a profile photo – This is a deal breaker for me. If you haven’t even bothered to upload a photo to your LinkedIn profile, I’m not going to accept your invite. Would you show up at a business networking event wearing a paper bag over your head? Of course not. So don’t show up on LinkedIn without a profile photo.
4. Your profile picture is not a photo – Sometimes people like to get ‘creative’ and use an illustration or random piece of artwork as their profile photo. This might be appropriate for your avatar on Facebook or some gaming platform, but LinkedIn is a business tool and I’m not going to connect with a cartoon illustration.
5. Your photo is obviously a fake – I can smell a fake LinkedIn profile a mile way, or at least a bogus photo, and there are lots of them out there. The dead giveaway to me is when the photo looks like it was ripped from a stock photo site or a fashion model portfolio site. If your photo is either too generic or too sexy don’t expect me to accept your invite.
6. We don’t share any common connections – I have 500+ LinkedIn connections around the world that I have built up over the last 10 years. If we don’t share a single common connection that’s a potential red flag to me. It doesn’t mean I won’t add you as a connection since I’m not opposed to meeting new people, but I’m going to need to better understand from you why someone with zero current ties to me or anyone else in my professional network is a good candidate as one of my valued LinkedIn connections.
7. Your LinkedIn profile has no details or is vague – Unless I know you really well, I’m going to review your LinkedIn profile to see who it is that’s asking to connect with me. If your profile is light on details and doesn’t tell me what you do for a living and where you work, I’m probably not going to accept your invitation to connect.
8. Your invite message is generic – If we’re not already familiar with one another and you want me to take your connection request seriously, take a minute to customize your LinkedIn invite message. For instance, tell me where we met or how we know each other or why we should know each other. Give me a reason to accept your invite. A monkey can click on a big blue LinkedIn “invite” button. Real people take the time to craft a brief but personal message.
9. Your invite message is a sales pitch of some kind – If your invite message and first contact with me is a sales pitch, not only am I going to ignore your invite but I will also report your message as spam. Behaviour like this is the equivalent of that annoying guy at business events who interrupts your conversation with someone else to thrust his business card into your hand. Take a hike buddy!
10. Your LinkedIn profile is the name of your company and not you – I don’t accept invites from company names or Websites. Why would I? I am only interested in connecting with people.

I realize the above rejection reasons may seem rather harsh, and despite all of the above I do try to give everyone the benefit of a doubt. If anything – and despite appearances to the contrary – I’ve softened my stance over the years. I also respect the fact that your criteria for accepting a LinkedIn connection invite may be looser than mine. I would argue, however, that if you let anyone with a pulse “connect” with you on LinkedIn you are probably missing a critical component of this powerful business tool. What’s the value to you or anyone else if your LinkedIn connections are a bunch of random strangers (some of whom might be bots and not even real people) that you blindly accepted invitations from?

Want to Be a Successful Domain Speculator? Start with these Seven Key Steps.

Almost every day I get approached by would-be domain speculators (a.k.a. domainers) wanting me to sell their domains or give them feedback on their domain portfolios. Sadly, 99% of the domains that come across my desk are mediocre and have zero chance of being re-sold. In fact, most of the domains I get sent shouldn’t have been registered in the first place. Yes, they’re that bad! It pains me to have to tell people that they’ve wasted their valuable time and hard-earned money on buying this crap, but they deserve a reality check.

While there are many people and companies that have made a very good living from the speculative buying and selling of domain names, that doesn’t mean this is an easy field to break into and that hard work isn’t required. Frank Schilling didn’t make his millions by accident or dumb luck; he’s worked seven days a week for two decades to build his successful domain empire. The same can be said for many of his peers.

The common thread I have noticed with the newest generation of people who have been successful in this field, the folks that have emerged in the last five years, is that they didn’t just dive in and register a whack of domain names – anyone with a credit card can do that. These people did their homework first.

Your goal shouldn’t be to amass the largest portfolio of domain names. Your goal should be to really understand what types of domain names can be re-sold for a profit. Then, and only then, should you start building your domain portfolio.

One of the cool things I admire about the domain speculating industry is that a lot of the professionals in this field are willing to share their expertise with newcomers. This means that you can avoid making the same mistakes that they did. There are numerous excellent blogs where professional domain speculators share their wisdom on a daily basis, plus a wealth of other resources and tools to bring a newcomer quickly up to speed.

Because I don’t have the time to individually help every aspiring domain speculator that approaches me, I usually recommend that they take the following essential steps to learn more about what works, and doesn’t work, in this field.

1. Do not register a single domain name for potential re-sale until you have completed the remaining steps. (From what I have seen, this is the hardest step for people to take!)
2. Purchase and read Sean Stafford’s excellent eBook, “Domain Graduate”, which can be obtained at http://www.domaingraduate.com. For the price of registering two domain names, you will learn a ton about what kind of domains to register, what kind of domains to avoid, and where to sell your domains. I insist that everyone who works for me read this eBook because I consider it the definitive guide to this field. Lots of eBooks have been written on this topic, but Sean’s eBook is the best one I have ever read.
3. Purchase and read David Kesmodel's excellent book “The Domain Game” (available at http://thedomaingame.org/), which is an entertaining and informative read about the birth of the domain speculating business. The Domain Game features excellent profiles of some of the pioneers in the space including Scott Day, Garry Chernoff, Frank Schilling, and Mike Mann.
4. Spend at least a week reading current and older posts on as many blogs by professional domainers as you can, starting with DomainInvesting.com (Elliot Silver), The Domains (Michael Berkens), Rick’s Blog (Rich Schwartz), plus check out DomainShane, Domain Name Wire, and the weekly Domain Sherpa Review show on DomainSherpa.com (Michael Cyger). For even more domain speculating blogs, be sure to visit Domaining.com.
5. Join a domain speculator discussion forum such as DNForum or NamePros and read as much as you can. Tip: spend your first week reading and getting to know the lay of the land before you start posting questions.
6. Analyze the weekly domain sales reports published by industry tracker Ron Jackson on DN Journal and for each domain ask yourself, "why did someone buy this domain?"
7. If possible, attend a domain name conference such as NamesCon or TRAFFIC or a local domain investor meetup.

Once you’ve completed the seven steps above, you will be ready to register (or buy or trade) your first domain name for re-sale. Best wishes to you and your domains as you embark on this exciting new venture!

 

Expert Tips for Finding a Domain Name for Your Startup

One of my favourite things to do is help entrepreneurs find the perfect domain name for their new business startup. Over the last 15 years, I've had the privilege of helping hundreds of companies with this, and I take a certain amount of pride in knowing that I helped play a role - no matter how small - in giving birth to a new business or product.

If you're planning to launch a new business or product, or are in the early stages of a startup, here are five expert tips to help you find the perfect domain name.

1. Give yourself ample time to hunt for a domain name.
The more time you have, the more options you will have, and this will also mean you probably won't have to spend as much. I usually recommend that you allocate at least four weeks to do a thorough search of what domains are available, to gather the prices of domains, and to complete the negotiation, purchase, and transfer of ownership of your chosen domain. In a perfect world, give yourself several months because this will give you the greatest amount of choice and puts you in the best negotiating position.

2. Set a realistic budget.
I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but you are not going to be able to buy a fantastic, one-word .com domain like pizza.com for only $500. (It sold for $2.6 million.) The likelihood of you getting a quality .com domain name - one that is suitable to build a new business or product around - for less than $500 is pretty slim, especially if you are in a hurry. If you are willing to spend $500-$1,000, there's a lot of pretty good inventory available for immediate purchase. Move into the $1,000-$10,000 range - which is a modest sum when amortized over the life a business - and you should be able to find some very good inventory. And if you can justify spending $10,000 or more, you will open yourself up to a world of fantastic inventory. Sure, you can spend five figures or more (sometimes much more) on a killer, one-word .com domain, but there is a plethora of good quality inventory out there in all price ranges if you know where to look. Speaking of which...

3. Look for "buy it now" inventory in the leading domain name marketplaces.
If you have given yourself a decent amount of time for your hunt (see point #1) and have a realistic budget (point #2), you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of domain names that are available for immediate purchase in the more popular domain name marketplaces. Most of these marketplaces will allow you to do very specific advanced searches of their inventory, e.g., .com domains that are 10 characters or less and begin with the word "scuba". The domains that you find in these marketplaces can typically be purchased right then and there for the listed price using your credit card. This removes the vagueness of the domain's availability for sale and its purchase price. Here are the domain name marketplaces I recommend you check first when looking to obtain a premium domain name:

• BuyDomains.com - millions of domain names starting at $100, with lots of fantastic inventory in the $1,000-$5,000 range
• Sedo - millions of domain names starting at $10
• Go Daddy Auctions - hundreds of thousands of domains starting as low as $5 (plus registration fee); a great source of bargain domain names if you are patient

Some other marketplaces you could also look at, if you wanted to be really thorough, are:

• Aftermarket.com
• BrandBucket
• Fabulous.com
• NameJet
• SnapNames
• YummyNames

There are lots of other smaller marketplaces where premium domains are listed for sale - heck, you can even buy domain names on eBay - however a search on BuyDomains.com, Sedo and Go Daddy Auctions will probably capture 80% of the inventory that is available for immediate purchase at a fixed price.

4. Use a domain name broker.
If you want to pursue a domain name that is not listed for sale in one of the marketplaces but is owned by someone else, get help from a domain professional. A good domain name buyer broker will typically have better success in tracking down the owner of a domain name, can usually get you a better deal than you could get on your own, and should offer you valuable advice along the way. BuyDomains, Sedo, and - of course - Name Ninja (the business I run) all offer domain brokerage services.

5. Protect yourself and the transaction through an escrow service.
When it comes time to purchase the domain name, use a domain escrow service (or reputable marketplace or broker) to safeguard the transaction. Chances are you will be buying the domain name from an individual or company in another city or even country that you've never even met. When you are spending thousands of dollars to obtain a domain name, you want to make sure that you don't get ripped off. I recommend using Escrow.com to facilitate the transaction. Reputable domain name escrow services can also be obtained from Agreed.com, BuyDomains.com, and Sedo.

In summary, if you give yourself a decent amount of time, set a realistic budget, and know where to look, you should be able to find a great domain name for your startup, new product, or marketing campaign.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

Hollywoozy - Helping Hollywood Master Its Domain

It's a little-known fact that I used to be a movie critic in the early 80's. You see, I've had a lifelong obsession with movies. In fact, I studied filmmaking in university, worked in the feature film industry for many years, and still watch several movies every week.

As many readers of my blog know, I also have a thing for domain names, so I guess it was inevitable that I would find a way to combine two of my favourite obsessions.

Today, I am thrilled to unveil my latest creation, Hollywoozy (www.hollywoozy.com), the first Website devoted to reviewing movie domain names. That's right, I'm critiquing the domain names used to market movies.

I don't know about you, but over the last five years I started to notice that just about every movie trailer (another obsession of mine, by the way) ended with the display of the official movie Website's address. Many times, the domain name that would be featured in the trailer and other marketing collateral for the movie was laughably bad, at least to my marketer's eye. At first, I found this amusing. Then it became something of a game for me and my wife, as we would patiently wait for the end of the trailer to see how good, or bad, the URL would be.

I soon discovered that I wasn't the only one puzzled by the domain name choices the movie marketers made. A number of my Internet marketing colleagues were equally amused by what appeared to be Hollywood's inability to grasp the importance of having a good domain name when trying to market a multi-million dollar movie. After all, the producers and studios decide years in advance what the title of the movie will be, so there's no excuse for not researching (and securing) the availability of the appropriate movie domain name ahead of time. Yes, even if that - heaven forbid - means buying the domain name from someone who already owns it. If you're spending tens of millions of dollars marketing a movie, spending $10,000 to get the best domain name for the movie is well worth it.

While all of this was rattling around in my head, I was also itching to find a way to return somehow to my film roots. At first I thought I'd start reviewing movies again, perhaps for a publication or Website, but then I realized that the Internet is awash with movie review Websites and blogs, and besides, I had already been there, done that.

Then it hit me ... what about a Website where I reviewed movie domain names? And that's how Hollywoozy was born, although it took me months to come up with the right name for the thing. Naming, yet another one of my obsessions!

Unlike my other online ventures (see sidebar), Hollywoozy is a little less serious, although at its core it is meant to be educational. Hollywoozy also gives me a chance to roll up my sleeves and try my hand at some new (and not so new) Internet marketing techniques. In the coming months, I will be sharing excerpts from my Hollywoozy "Marketing Diary" with you so that you can learn about the techniques I am using to promote the Website and, perhaps more importantly, find out what works and what doesn't.

Before I wrap up, I'd like to thank the gang at Mouth Media for creating the official Hollywoozy logo. They helped turn my crazy idea into a reality.

I hope you enjoy it!

Recommended: Podcasting for Profit, by Leesa Barnes

I am so not into book reviews, however last week I had the honour of leading a roundtable discussion on podcasting at the Digital Marketing Conference. Near the end of the session I was asked to recommend a book on the subject of podcasting. That book was, and is, Podcasting for Profit, by the multi-talented Leesa Barnes.

Leesa's book was published a few months ago, and I've been meaning to blog about it ever since. Podcasting for Profit is unique in that it's not a technical 'how-to' manual about the production side of creating a podcast, nor is it one of those cheezy 'become an Internet radio star' publications. Plenty of those kinds of books kicking around already!

Podcasting for Profit, on the other hand, is focused on the business side of podcasting. Amen!

This is the book to pick up if you're struggling with whether or not you or your company or your clients should be podcasting. And if you've already decided to move forward with podcasting, Leesa's book will help you identify new business opportunities related to podcasting that you might never have thought of.

Written in a warm, honest, and down-to-earth style (it's by Leesa Barnes, after all), Podcasting for Profit is highly recommended to anyone interested in understanding the business implications of this exciting new medium.

You can find out more about the book at http://www.leesabarnes.com/book/.

P.S. I'm also supremely flattered to be mentioned in Podcasting for Profit, along with lots of other podcasters whose work I admire. Congratulations, Leesa!

My Marketing Martini Podcast is Now Being Served

In my final blog post of 2006, Will 2007 be the Year of the Podcast?, I predicted that we're going to see a lot of growth in the podcasting space this year. While it's too early to know if my prediction will come true, I'm certainly going to do my part to add to the podcast momentum.

Today I am pleased to announce the launch of my first podcast, Marketing Martini, and its tagline, "Internet Marketing Advice Served Straight Up".

Marketing Martini is a free weekly business podcast for busy professionals that serves up a condensed shot of practical Internet marketing advice from yours truly, Bill Sweetman.

Listeners to the Marketing Martini podcast will learn how to market their products and services on the Internet using Internet marketing solutions that are practical, measurable, and effective.

Because I know everyone's time is precious, each weekly episode will be kept to less than 10 minutes in length and will honour what I am calling The Marketing Martini Promise.

I invite you to take a sip of the Marketing Martini, served straight up every week at www.marketingmartini.com.

Marketing Martini would not have been possible without the inspirational musings of Mitch Joel and C.C. Chapman as well as the expert advice of Leesa Barnes. Special thanks to Miss Yvonne for her voiceover work, Mouth Media for the logo design, and Eugene, Oregon's Mofessor for the use of their music.

Who Said Lawyers Don't Have a Sense of Humour?

If you're as fascinated as I am by the high stakes (and sometimes bizarre) machinations of the domain name dispute world, then I think you'll be interested in what I stumbled across recently.

It's called the Gowlings Domain Name Portal, and it's a lot more fun than its bland name might imply. Honest.

Launched in April 2006 by Gowlings, one of Canada's largest national law firms, GowlingsOnDomains.com provides a detailed review of Canadian and International domain name law, with a particular emphasis on .CA domains. It's the best source of legal information on this topic that I've come across to date, and a must-read if you've got questions or concerns about domain name law in Canada.

My favourite part of the site is its CDRP Summaries, which provides summaries of all cases regarding .CA domain names and trademarks decided under the CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Finally, a fast and easy way to get a taste of the legal jockeying behind dozens of domain name disputes such as belll.ca (note the third "l"), fordcanada.ca, and (my personal favourite) mtv.ca.

You see, the cybersquatter who originally registered mtv.ca claimed he, rather than Viacom, had a legitimate interest in the domain name because it actually stood for "Melanie and Todd's Vacations". I am not making this stuff up, folks.

Kudos to Gowlings for taking the initiative to put together this valuable, educational, and surprisingly entertaining resource.