I get a big kick out of seeing domains for sale that have to have an explanation to identify it or the sellers interpretation of what the domain says, especially acronyms.

Basically, 99% of the time it is telling me Look what I made up for the meaning and you can use it too.

The power of persuasion.

A while back I was interested in buying the domain name GRL.us simply because it is my initials. That domain name was posted along with perhaps 200 more on one of the domain forums. The seller was taking offers. I offered a respectable $200.00 and thought I would use it purely for the novelty of it or perhaps as an email.

The seller turned down my offer and added, Oh no. That says GIRL. I am going to have to have more for that.

Needless to say, I did not buy it. The purchase was purely for the novelty of it, $200 was respectable for an LLL.us, and finally…um, no – it does not say girl. It only says three letters – G R L.

All the sounds like, looks like, feels like, smells like, tastes like nonsense is exactly that -nonsense.

Absolutely there are always exceptions to the rules. An identifying phrase with a few choice keywords will help it get indexed. There is nothing wrong with salesmanship, marketing, and promoting your name with descriptive text.

But not the snake oil salesmanship. There is usually very little ingredients to the contents that is actually good and beneficial.

That is what distinguishes some names into a class all by themselves and what helps identify this as The Art of Domaining.

For the most part it is generally a monumental waste of time to spend that time fabricating all these acronyms or descriptive text. If you want to try to convince another domainer that this is the name above all others that really stands apart then have at it.

Not once have I ever sold a domain to an end user and I have had to explain to that end user what it says or what it means.

The end user has been the one who has sought me out. That end user is also a consumer and already knows that the domain name means to them.

In The Art of Domaining there is very little, if any, need to say anything that helps quantify or qualify the sale.

What, beyond a word or two, can you offer or say to make that word more than just a sequence of numbers or letters?

Usually nothing.

In my previous career as an illustrator and designer, it was my portfolio of original work that would get me the job. I am talking about a physical leather-bound case about 30″ x 40″ loaded with hand selected works of art and usually limited to 15-20 pieces.

Art Directors and Creative Directors are notoriously busy people. If you are in a large advertising mecca like New York rarely would you ever meet with anyone. You left your portfolio at the door along with all the other portfolios.

In essence, the portfolio did all the talking. If it was good enough I would perhaps get a call back.

I want to stress that there is no difference in art art portfolio and one of a domain portfolio with one major exception – domain names are nothing more than concepts. They are not a finished piece of art. My art portfolio were examples of my finished and published works. The art portfolio represents my ability to take a piece from the concept stages all the way to the published work.

Going from the selection of a domain and creating a site is very much the same. Except this has become an age of virtual portfolios.

I was able to take all my years of honing my skills and my God given talent and create something that in the end demonstrated that I was a true asset to an organization.

Amazingly, there is strong parallel between a portfolio of graphics and a portfolio of domain names.

Imagine going to an Art Show opening at some posh gallery and the artist is present and has to walk with the crowd and explain what each piece means and represent. Sure, with abstract pieces perhaps a little interpretation is needed. In the end the person just stands there and just blankly stares at the piece and gives an Aha nod of approval or simply states, I still don’t get it.

A great work of art stands on its own.

Welcome to the Art of Domaining or Domaining as an Art Form.

By now every one who uses Google Adsense should have gotten Google’s announcement of Interest Based Advertising.

I think the initial reaction of all will be, Huh? For a real detailed (and still somewhat confusing) here is an explanation from the Official Google Blog site.

As I understand it (and sometimes I don’t get it right) is essentially keywords that I set are going to be somewhat irrelevant.

Again, I may be wrong.

I have been a little curious lately in some of the ads displayed to me when I visit a site. The ads displayed seemed very much targeted to me and my location. Personally, I think Google has already been testing it.

I have noticed some weird links on parked pages (even when setting up Sedo’s pages and using the preview) that a great portion of the ads are based on my whereabouts. Tracking a user’s IP is not anything new. However, it appeared as if almost 50%+ of the ads were of very local searches for me and this was very obvious. Obvious in that this was not a typical ad display unit that I routinely see.

I am just curious as to what is behind this and driving this. Is it a homeland security issue? And those must be some helluva data storage units to do all of this.  Law enforcement departments and courts could have a field day with all of information.

The biggest issue that confuses me is the keyword issue. Keywords we set will have no bearing because all the ads will be set based on the users previous keyword searches. Huh?

Yeah, try to anticipate that!

I don’t know what to make of this new targeted ad model,  with the exception that Google will be tracking the hell out of people!

Basically, dependent upon a persons SEARCHES they will see ads displayed based on the HISTORY OF THEIR SEARCHES, not the keywords set or specified on parked pages. Whether parked pages or website,  will this be good or bad?

This almost makes keywords impossible to optimize and monitize because it does not depend on what we enter but it is dependent on the visitor’s previous searches. This is going to be really bizarre!

The biggest nightmare will be for those sites that claim your information will never be shared or collected because, guess what? It is being collected and stored. Google wants to alert merchants and sites to this change and is asking sites to review their policies. Why does a site have to review their policy of privacy? Many sites intentionally do not collect information

Not to mention the go-live date is not that far off. This does not really allow for my debate to consider and weigh the risks/benefits. Such short notice may be a nightmare for some legal departments.

I guess that alternative of saying no, we will not permit it is to unsubscribe from AdSense.

OpenEndSoftware.com TDNAM

$7,216.00 17 bids, 8 days remaining

I will go out on a limb and clarify my points of difference.

Domaining Business vs. Business of Domaining

If you register domains, buy, park, and sell domain names then you are in the domaining business.

If you do the above plus actively work at marketing, networking, and promoting the domaining business as well as yourself then you are in the Business of Domaining.

I often use the words Domain Game to identify this pursuit but to many, this ain’t no game!

I want to focus on the Business of Domaining.

As we have recently seen posted by many domain bloggers, many in this industry are stepping things up a notch or two. In the Business of Domaining these people are either working on or perfecting the Art of Domaining (more on this later). We are seeing some very nice sales early into 2009 despite economic indicators pointing to a downturn in all sectors. And, rightly so, we are also seeing major media outlets such as TV and print picking up and running with many domain success stories.

The Business of Domaining is a form of business in which there is an integration of additional skill sets or services by the domainer into the Domain Business.

Simply registering or buying a domain name to sell, park or make a couple of web pages is not enough to these people. Anyone can buy, swap, sell, park domain names. Those who have entered into (and even created) the Business of Domaining tend to incorporate marketing and creative skills, other professions, and knowledge gained in various backgrounds into their domain name(s). More importantly they are marketing themselves along with a product.

In a piece that Elliot Silver wrote the other day regarding partners, I want to stress something that is key to this concept of the Business of Domaining – what do you bring to the table?

If you just want to ride on someone’s coattails and success then the door will be closed. If you have marketing, writing, developing, promotional, creative, artistic skills along with a plan then you are likely to have a receptive ear. I am seeing attorneys of different legal backgrounds, brokers, people with MBA’s and medical professionals getting into the Business of Domaining as a source of genuine interest. And I do want to stress genuine interest. Most of these people were in the Business of Domaining before an economic downtown, not as a result of it.

If a Renaissance man is a person of wide knowledge and intellects then we are in the midst of a Domaining Renaissance. Suddenly the domain industry is waking up. And fortunately we have some wonderful people at the forefront to represent the industry as a whole.

They are not only selling domains. They are selling a package. And inside that package are these different skill sets I mentioned along with the main ingredient – self. Above of all it, the success relies on the individual self and selling of the individual self.

Think about it; in the preliminary set-up we posed the question of what do you bring to the table? Now, as we enter the end-user market, that question is again posed by the client – what do you bring to the table?

What do you have and why do I want it. That should be the question we ask ourselves in our own decision making process because ultimately that is going to be what is asked of us.

That is what distinguishes the differences of the Domaining Business and the Business of Domaining. Along with the Domaining Business side (buying, selling, parking) comes added value, services and marketing to reach the end user (even if the other end user is a domainer).

A well planned, thoughtful, feature rich presented package.

What did you bring to the table?

Coming up –

Don’t Say a Word: The Art of Domaining

A few days ago I commented on how some see this business of domaining and how some see domaining as domaining. And thats that.

Many in the domaining venue can not see that the two, business and domaining, are connected. Honestly, I about fell out of my seat when I read a post on a forum a few days ago from someone who wanted to hire a broker to buy some domains for him. When a couple of respondents wanted to know what was his strategy he really did not have one other than the fact – he wanted to buy domains. A member responded that he should study the market and find out more about what is a good investment vs. getting ripped off, the post originator said he did not care to learn a thing about it and was not going to put any effort into learning and that is why he wanted to hire someone to do it for him.

Can you imagine the risk of hiring someone to make an investment for you without knowing anything about what you are investing in? Where have I heard this scenario before? Oh, the US economic meltdown.

I do not  let another blogger inspire or influence me even though I read another blogger. And truthfully, this is rare.  I am one of those people who do like to read and form my own opinion and original thoughts. It does not matter if others agree or not or if I am on the same page.

There were too posts today that caught my attention as they were directed to from other sources.

Rick Schwartz asked,  Are you a “Domainer” or a “Businessman?” in his post today.

Today Elliot Silver stressed,  Incorporate What You Know Into Your Business.

Some reading this are going to wonder why all the talk about business this and business that.

Alright, so you are in the domain business.

Now what?

Saying that you are in the domain business does not mean you are a business person. It means you own some domains that you want to sell. It could be any number of domains from one to one hundred thousand.

If you are not willing to learn about the business of domaining and you have nothing to offer other than a domain or two, then you made a serious mistake getting into the business of domaining.

There are two distinct concepts here for you to wrap yourself around – the domain business and the business of domaining.

More of that on another day.

Holy Moly!

LankaLibrary.com on TDnam

$6,671.00, 20 bids, just listed last night with 9 days remaining.

This is a dropping name.

NetLawBlog.com on TDnam

Currently at $506.00 with 28 bids. Seven days eleven hours remain

PostItJobs.com

10 years old and so relevant to today.

There is no point going in to a long intro but rather I will get right to the point.

A member of a  forum raised a legitimate issue of why do drop catchers send out notices announcing upcoming drops and auctions that are a blatant TM issue. The matter was posted in the appropriate sub-forum but could have been asked of all drop catchers and auctions:

I receive —– daily “hotlist,” which shows about 20 of the most promising deleting domains.

Yesterday, I sent them this email:

I know you don’t check every domain for possible TM violations … but it still reflects badly on —- when your daily “hotlist” of deleting domains includes things like verizonaccountonline.com (on today’s list). I’d suggest that you at least check the lists before you email them to people, to ensure that you’re not advertising blatant TM-violating domains.

Today I received from them a reply, basically stating:

Thousands of domains are deleted every day and we do not have the resources to review each one [...]

And look what showed up on today’s “hotlist”: verizonbillpay.com

This is a very shallow argument. We do not have the resources to review each one. Okay, how about the list that is compiled and sent out to each subscriber? Computer generated list? If so, then why do I not see 820996arringtiinoons.com on the list.

Of course not – the list is not computer selected at random. It is a hand screened and hand compiled list.

If I thought for one minute that the list compiled and sent out to each subscriber was randomly selected by a computer then there would be no issue. Those names appearing on the list are hand selected and that listing is compiled by a human and send to subscribers. The argument of no resources available to check is shallow and full of holes as that resource you just assigned to the task of compiling a list could have easily selected a non-TM.

Lets face it. 820996arringtiinoons.com on the list is not going to garner the attention or the bids that the verizon names do.

So what do you say we just post the post and counter posts:

Filtering on TM names is not a bad idea but is difficult to implemetn oni a grand scale. You should all remember of course that the names in the hot list are just that “hot” which means thay have been ordered by customers. We don’t go after domains for ourselves we only go after domains that custoemrs place orders for and some customers may have valid rights tot he domains they are ordering.

The technology does exist to purge the lists of TM violations.

No one will start using it until a lawsuit is filed making these drop catchers culpable for facilitating the sale and transfer of Trade Marked property much like pirated DVD’s etc.

And, these drop cathers, auctions, and so on know it.

No point in taking these names down when business is good…or bad!

But, DocCom, you miss the most important point and that is what if the legitimate TM holder wants to order the domain? Shouldn’t they be allowed? And what if there is more than one person that owns the TM? Shouldn’t they all be allowed? And who is to decide which TM owner has more validity over another? This is not the job of the drop catcher.

To suggest that a TM holder wants to order or backorder something that is already theirs is absurd.

Simply WIPO/URDP and end of game.

One or more than one person/entities own the word or have rights to the domain? Again, if it is known TM irregardless of holder or rights then it should be pulled.

If one or more make a claim and that claim is backed by a simple TM database check then private auctions.

These systems and checks are already in place. Drop catchers act like it is too expensive or time consuming to implement. That is total bull.

Why dropcatchers/registrars/auctions do not want to clean up their own act or be subjected to ICANN oversight is beyond me.

It does not matter if the Snowe Bill is a bunch of crap. It does not matter that the Department of Commerce has issued a statement strongly urging ICANN to reconsider its position. It does not matter if there are Senate hearings and Congressional subcommittees ongoing as we type regarding these very issues.

It does not matter if there are now at least two systems in place to block all parked pages, typo and brand squatting and one of those systems has identified 42 million sites/pages that fit this description.

What matters is the industry has turned a blind eye to all of this while the money is good and flowing, even in a downturn economy.

What matters is due to poor over site and policing of self, now congressional members and internet commerce enforcement organizations feel compelled to make an issue out of it.

Call it grandstanding or a ploy for the headlines or campaign fodder.

The fact remains that it is an issue, a big issue, and these very commitees, organizations, and lawmakers represent the global consumer and not domainers interests.

The problem with domainers is they are domainers. They think the control the internet and every thing on it.

Domainers in fact make up a minute portion of the nearly 6.5 billion people on this planet.

Is a member running for congress going to appease the 47,000 members of this forum by voting down any attempt to regulate the industry? Or do you think that congressional member may want to represent the 30,000,000 voters in his home state?

All of this is a signal, a strong signal in my opinion, that it is past time to clean up your own act before your act is banned and shut down.

I am getting ready to have a TM finalized as we speak. All is a go and I should be hearing any day that the TM is registered.

You can damn well better believe that if a name is registered after the fact and it is sold, traded or auctioned off that it will be a clean sweep of the registrar who permitted the registration, the person who registered the name, and the auction company that facilitated the sale and trade of trademarked material. And I feel confident that I could find an attorney or even someone from the State Attorney General’s office to take the case on a pro bono basis. Controversy makes great publicity and it is free press coverage that most could not afford to pay.

A statement in the TOS does not release any one involved of any wrong doing. Some think it does, others don’t think so.

Am I guilty of violating these issues?

Yup.

Its a matter of time for me and all involved in the domaining business.

Time for domainers to quit thinking and speaking like a domainer and act more like a consumer and see things from that perspective.

The problem with UDRP and/or WIPO is expense. If a TM owner can reclaim their domain by simply placing a $60 bacorder, why shouldn’t they be allowed to do that? And it is simply not practical for a drop catcher to maintain a constant up-to-date TM database for all TM offices world wide. There are companies that provide that service at a fee of course. But with 50,000 domains dropping each day do you really think someone has the resources to idenitfy daily what domains pose a TM violation? As I said some companies do that but they charge a feeto make that determination.

Indepent of the issue of making dropping TM domains available to TM owners, DocCom you seem to think the problem of monitoring dropping domains against a TM database is an easy enough task to do, why don’t you do it? And offer the service for free to all potential purchasers so that they can assess the possible TM issues before placing an order.

It is not my job to do it.

It will be yours.

Expense?

A program.

Impossible to do?

I have already outlined how it is done.

You know this can be done and you know it can be done at a reasonable cost .

You act like you have to hire an entire staff to do it.

This is not the case and you know it. A name gets red flagged and it is checked.

How difficult can that be.

Some companies do that and charge a fee.

Like Pool catching domains and charging a fee to the buyer and winners?

Great concept of doing business.

Playing dumb is not going to make this issue go away. It is not just Pool and it is not going to go away.

Seriously, time to implement some measures to protect the consumer and protect these brands before it is written into law and ICANN is replaced by another body.

As for a TM holder just paying 60 bucks (if that ever happens) vs UDRP/WIPO, how about the TM holder just filing suit in district and federal court.

What, costly you say?

What kind of mileage and traffic and notice such a filing would bring to the general public?

Seems to me Microsoft could easily seized the 44 names from the three individuals typosquatting in the state of Indiana.

Why do that when every newspaper and internet media outlet picked up the story and ran with it.

Cost to microsoft? Court filing fees.

Free publicity? Priceless.

Even microsoft would have to had shelled out millions to sway every print and internet media outlet to make this story a feature.

Another member summed up this matter very nicely:

You are skirting the issue.
Nobody is saying you must monitor all names for possible TM violations, but when you dispatch a daily ‘selection’ of drops to your customers, it is your editorial responsibility not to appear to be endorsing the registration of blatant TM domains.
It’s no wonder domains have such a bad rep when the industry leaders set the standards. Seriously, it’s an invitation to another Snowe Bill.
Maybe one day Verizon et al will have had enough and they will sue you like they did to onlinenic. When they drive you out of business I will place a backorder on the pool.com domain

Personally, I do not want Olympia Snowe or Congress or the Department of Commerce to feel compelled to clean up the domain industry due to their own negligence.

It is time for the domain industry to clean up itself and to take out the trash.

I will make no apologies for being a supporter of .mobi and the mobile internet.

Last night I found a new online publication thanks to someone I am following on Twitter.

MobiHealthNews.com is not intended for .mobi and not intended for domainers.

Its audience is the healthcare sector s to bring to the forefront new technological advances and tools available to the Healthcare Industry.

An App Store for mHealth? sheds light on how the iPhone (and iPod Touch) are fast becoming tools in medicine. If you have had the opportunity to use either the iPhone or Touch, you know that you can enlarge images to pretty much any size you want. An xray in a 3×5 screen becomes an xray or diagnostic reader in the palm of the hand. Doctors can manipulate the images to focus in on a suspected tumor or questionable mass from a CT or MRIscan.

As the writer of this piece points out, there is a need “to develop new mobile services for individual sectors like health care, agriculture and education: sectors that have yet to fully embrace mobile technology.”

There are several apps already available to the healthcare professionals but it is the apps that have not been created that everyone should be focusing on.

And there is no domain pointing the consumer or user to that product or procedure.

Regging a domain name in any advancing or new technology is a crap shoot within itself.

We know hi-tech and new technoligies are produced and released at a dizzying pace.

On the other hand, based on your research – if the domain name you hand regged suddenly becomes associated with mainstream technology and verbiage used by the masses then there is cause for celebration.

A generic term that you created is now in big demand not only in the PPC arena but also the offers to purchase.

Heaven forbid NO I am not suggesting taking a TM as part of the name. I am merely talking about a procedure or new technology that you had the foresight (or simply guessed right) becoming mainstream.

We all know how it works in regard to new regs. I get a big kick when I read all the great names are taken. Not so. Many just have not been created yet.

A couple of things to consider when thinking about entering into this market. It is purely speculative and no guarantee of success. Think of it as penny stock. The mere mentioning of a procedure or device does not guarantee its success. Mass media, press releases, and actual usage increases your chances.

And you have to be prepared for the down side as well. Planning ahead is going to be so crucial. Get those dreams of striking gold out of your head and come back to reality.

If it is a name you truly believe in having a change then factor in renewal fee and be prepared to sit on a domain for a year or two.

Apply those same lines of thinking to developing an app for these markets.

You can start out in broad terms such as an xray reader or tagging cattle for tracking. Chances are someone has already beat you to it. Sure, you can produce a better app that is already out there being used. The competition thing – these people don’t like to change much once they have gotten used to doing something a certain way. Trust me, I know. There is a great deal of resistance in the health sector to have to stop and learn a new procedure or a new way  of doing things. Not only does it slow the process of the routine during the start up and familiarization but it is costly to train, teach and implement.

So if you go that route, be prepared to create an app that is simpler and more intuitive to what is currently in use. You have competition just from the fact that the competitors product has had a head start on branding itself into the conscious and daily routine of the user.

I will be the first to admit that sticking with an area you know decreases your risk factor and keeps you in your safe zone. Getting into markets you are not part of can be tricky, time consuming, and costly.

Nevertheless, it can be rewarding.

You can make apps or reg domains to sell to domainers, a relatively small market. Or you can study emerging markets and trends. The best example I can think of in terms of a word is Nanotechnolgy. A decade ago this was an emerging market. Now I would venture to say that every one has heard it. They may not know exactly what it entails but there is name recognition.

A better route may be to study those sectors and try to identify a void. You almost have to retrain you line of thinking to learn to see what is not present.

Find a void and fill it.

• apps for mobile devices
• apps for mobile devices used in agriculture
• apps for mobile devices used in agriculture for dairy farmers
• apps for mobile devices used in agriculture for dairy farmers to identify milk volumes per cow

Suddenly you are trying to define a market and a niche within a niche.

Essentially, instead of looking for what is there (being used) you have to look for what is missing – not being used.

If you are a hot shot developer then perhaps the client will come to you. Or you can build the app, market it, promote it, get it listed as a downloadable app or added to the Apple App Store and cnet and be on your way.

Better yet, broaden your scope and better your chances of success by building an app to use across all platforms. In other words, an app not just for the iPhone but all mobile devices.

I am sure it has changed, but the last time I saw some figures the iPhone made up 14% of the mobile internet devices. Congrats to iPhone and shame on you.

Why did you just ignore the other 86% of the market?