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Busy @ Work!

Published on June 19, 2009 in Business and Domain Names. Closed

Don’t let anyone tells you differently, times are challenging, the strong will survive, and many shall perish. To give you an idea what one to do these days to create a better future, the scope of urgency, action, here are few things I’m working on these days:

1. New bido release, multiple auctions & more

First and formost on my list, we’ve been hard @ work on a new upcoming bido release. This release will bring multiple auctions per day to the bido community. Also, Bido experts will be soon voting on all submitted domains, upcoming auctions. We want to be as much hands-off as possible and shift the focus to the community to make these important decisions. Transparency is good business.

2. Professional business brokers

I put few partnerships together to explore deals, whether they come to us or we go to them. We have not done much of it in the past but times are ripe and since all is hungry, all want to be a part of it, and all listen.

3. New site developments

We’ve always worked on new experimental projects, the difference is there is more urgency to produce today than ever before. No time to delay, to take your time. Everything is ROI and sooner you get to positive ROI, the better.

4. Major partnerships, accounts

Some of our businesses we’re putting much focus on bringing major accounts in, that is, accounts which are worth six, seven, or eight figures per year. Major players, as the rest of the world, are in need to produce aggressively for their shareholders. For that, they must explore more than ever before, while at the same time be pickier than ever before.

5. Raising capital

Raising capital is a full time job. We have never focused much on it however, to grow faster, to scale higher, capital helps. If you are a six/seven/eight figures investor and interested in investing with us, see our site for contact details.

6. Buying domains

Contrary to others who are holding back, we feel much safer to invest in domains than having money in the bank. We’ve been buying lately and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. There are many deals out there, and those may never be back to those level ever again. Remember GOOG at 250$? You snooze you lose.

And I’m sure am forgetting a couple of other things I’m busy @ work. There’s much to do, so little time.

Have a great day.

Sahar

(comments are blocked as I’m on a blog break, if you wish to reply, on my Twitter page please)

A Public Note To Francois @ Domaining.com

Published on June 13, 2009 in Business and Domain Names. Closed

UPDATE:——————————————-

eMail from Francois now, reversing this action.

Dear feed member,

Yesterday, I made a decision that generated some publicity: If you are not aware, I announced that bloggers advertising competing news aggregators on their sites would no longer be listed in our newsletter.
From a business perspective, why should I do extra to help those who help promote my competitors? In retrospect, the language and tone of my email may have been misinterpreted or misunderstood, and I want to make my position clear to all.

Today I have a strong advantage over my competition, but due to this fact I realized I also need to take care to not create a monopolistic situation. It’s mad to create a climate of injustice and I don’t want to give my
competition any possible issue by blocking the market.

So this will be my revised and official position:

- Each feed participant can advertise any site he wants in his pages without impacting his exposure on Domaining.com

….

I consider this a small win to all. Thanks for participating and voicing your opinion about this important matter. If we do not take care of fairness within our industry, no one else will.

——————————————————————–

Francois never understood why I never sent a reply privately. It is simple: The email was not addressed to me privately, nor personally. As it turned out, Francois sent the same exact email to others. Since then, as this issue is now in the public eye (as it should be), all communication is now public.

What is anti competitive behavior means?

Via Wikipedia:

Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent and/or reduce competition in a market

While I do not see eye to eye with Francois on many levels for a long time, this one was the one I felt I had to draw the line. There’s a big difference between what was done previously to this last event. While I did not like some of the ideas Francois implemented in the past, I admire his willingness to try new things, find what works, adapt. With that said, that last event was none of it. That last event basically told bloggers that in order to be included in syndication (site or newsletter, it is the same principle), a blogger must remove competitors from their site. While I’m not an attorney I’m quite sure this is illegal in many countries. But more than that for me, it is highly unethical business practice.

Many have said that Domaining.com is a good source of traffic therefore they will make the decision based on that. I highly disagree. I believe at times we all call our higher set of values, those that tell us what is right and what is wrong. This is plain wrong.

The only acceptable conclusion here is a sincere apology and reversal of this action by Francois. Anything else is selling ourselves short.

As I’m still on a blog break comments here are blocked. You may reply on the issue at the links below or on my Twitter page.

Bye Bye Domaining.com

Published on June 12, 2009 in Business and Domain Names. Closed

Got an email earlier from Francois of Domaining.com:

Hello,

Just a quick note to tell you we’ll no longer will include headlines of bloggers promoting other RSS feed agregators in their pages.
As normal we cannot be promoting competitors… plus most are old members who simply copy cated our site.
Plus we think our industry will benefit of a strong central feed agregator site most than have traffic diluted in many, united we are stronger.
We checked your site and it’s your case, so if this change further please drop us a note to update your account.

Best Regards,

Francois Carrillo
Domaining.com

I did not plan to post for a while on the blog as I’m on a blog break. I wouldn’t really mine if my blog was dropped due to inactivity, but due to anti competitiveness? I feel this is just plain wrong.

I believe Francois & Domaining.com have done much to further the domain industry. With that said, I can no longer align myself with such a venue, and such beliefs. I believe the best should win, not because of blocking competitors, but because of best service.

To those who wonder who that other service is (domain aggregator), I believe he is refering to NameBee.

As I’m on a blog break comments here are blocked. You may comment on this post on my Twitter page.

The Choice Of Making No Choice

Published on May 18, 2009 in Business, General and Life lessons. 1 Comment

(image source)

After a long weekend, I’m finally glad to be back home. See, I spent this last few days somewhere in Trinidad, “meeting the Fockers!”. Good food, great hospitality, was good to finally meet the family. The place is as hot as Florida if not hotter. A lot of things made no sense to me. Why the rooftops are made of metal sheets in such a hot place? Why Rum is so popular? Why the roads, houses, and living conditions are so horrendous when it seems the country is doing well from its natural resources (Gas, Oil)? Why many are not trying to better themselves?

During the weekend we spent quality time with the family, drove around the island to meet Michelle’s extended family, and in between I had time to chat with some about business, life. Internet there, while common, isn’t yet to where it should be. It should be all over, it should be more affordable.

Rum and killing one another seems to be the favorite past time there. Laventille, one of the most dangerous places in Trinidad, counts well over 200 killings since the beginning of the year. And Rum? Not only locals make little money, they choose to spend it on drinking for the most part. Pausing reality keeps one away from making a better one. I found that sickening.

On the way back to the airport after spending the weekend there, seeing a stray dog walking on a busy highway calmly towards cars as if they were not there, head down, described my feeling there. Feeling of no hope, no future, nothing really matters.

I’m going to stop here, let you think it over for a day or two.

Have a blissful day!

Sahar

Year Over Year, Advertisers Cut Back Paid Search By 26%

Published on May 13, 2009 in Business and Domain Names. 2 Comments

(Source: Hitwise)

Via Hitwise:

Hitwise data indicate that the share of search traffic coming from paid listings is decreasing at the expense of organic traffic. In the four weeks to May 9, 2009, 7.25% of search engine traffic to All Categories of websites was from paid clicks. This compares to 9.84% in the same four week period in 2008 - representing a 26% decline in the share of paid clicks

Most in the domain industry know the trickle-down effect has been definitely felt as domain name parking revenues have fallen since last year by about the same percentage, if not more. Talking to parking companies lately there are good indications we’ve hit bottom and things will now start to get better. This is to be seen.

Cheers

Sahar

Business Development: I’m Busy. Are You?

Published on May 7, 2009 in Bido/DNZoom, Business and Domain Names. 7 Comments

(image source)

Not sure what you are up to, but I know here, there’s no stopping this train. Here’s some things I’m involved with, working on:

1. Contacts: If you want to get deals done, getting to the right people through the right channels is extremely important. Building the network, or tapping into existing networks through associates, I believe has much potential. This isn’t something you do on your free time but something that well worth focusing on and do right.

2. NDP: Still working on our directory business (see FuneralHomes.com). It’s been tough but the best decision we’ve ever made. Getting your own advertisers, owning the cash register. What else can you ask for? Should you do it though? I would say this isn’t for all as it is A. expensive and 2. require teams. My suggestion is to partner with others who have done well and can work with you.

3. Bido: Our auction platform, we’re happy with the progress we’re making and appreciate all the help and participation. New partner program will be introduced in the next 60 days. This program will not only introduce many to a new way to sell domains but also, it will finally open the platform to multiple auctions per day. Later in the year we plan on opening the platform completely where you will be able to log in, start your auction, and manage your listing on your own.

4. Content platforms: I’ve been working on a couple of content platforms, mainly to monetize our domains a little better. Still in the early stages of these platforms. The idea is take a domain, create a brand, build traffic, momentum, get direct advertisers. If Domaining is going where it seems to be going I believe many of you will get direct advertisers in the future as well, either by directly soliciting or by using your parking companies to bring direct advertisers to your domain name. Once an advertiser signs up it opens up an opportunity to bring those direct advertisers together on a shared platform where they can buy from similar sites with ease. If metrics are similar, quality is graded, and data is quantified and easy to grasp, it makes perfect sense. Instead of buying from one site, this gives them the ability to buy from many, focusing on a budget and quality and not so much on the site itself. This is of course a much better way of buying advertising.

5. Flowchart.com: In progress, many thousands of users. Feedback tends to be positive.

Couple of other projects are in the work I cannot elaborate on. Each of the above has sub-projects as well. And lastly, I’m quite sure missing something.

But what about you? Are you busy these days? Are you excited about tomorrow? Are you struggling? The best defense is an..you know the rest. In our office there’s a big sign, it says “Go Big Or Go Home”.

Don’t hold back. I read an article earleir today on Inc Magazine, it quoted Atari founder Nolan Bushnell:

I think that one of the reasons Silicon Valley creates so many entrepreneurs is, you work next to someone who has started a company and you say to yourself, ‘That guy has been successful and he’s a dumb $#@$ ‘ Bushnell says. “I saw these guys at Nutting who were not smart folks, and yet they had this successful company. So I said to myself, ‘I couldn’t possibly screw up more than them.

Need I say more?

Have a great day!

Sahar

Video: A Spot-On Prediction The Internet Will Take Over The Newspaper Industry (1981)

Published on May 5, 2009 in Business. 4 Comments

Enjoy,

Sahar

Business Development = Compound Investment

Published on May 2, 2009 in Business and Recall Media Group. 6 Comments

(image source)

Long before one could see the recession in the horizon my partners and I have been hard at work to break out of the domain cycle. This was about 2003 when we made our most important decision ever: Stop buying domains and focus on building businesses.

The beginning:

Like all beginnings it was venturing into the unknown. We had ideas, some money to invest, but since we have not done this before, it was all in the air. How to go about it, what to do, when are we ready, when do we hire, who will run the office, manage employees, raise funds if needed, and the list of questions goes on and on and on..

Working hard!

As it is with most of our R&D projects, we work really hard without a concrete plan to execute, nor a time frame. We hired many developers and started building our first product, our directory platform (NDP). In 2004, the first Targeted Traffic domain conference, we came to the show with a rough demo. We showed it to few and had a good response. We believed in it of course more than anyone else. Some looked at it, said “looks cool” and walked on their ways. Darren Cleveland, my partner and co founder of RMG, took a different approach..

A partnership in the making

Darren and I spoke a bit, we found out we live in the same area here in South Florida, and decided to get together and talk some more. Darren liked our product a lot and felt he can do something with it. He already had his own marketing business locally so we felt the experience will help. In addition, both Jeff and I were impressed with Darren as he managed some 200+ employees in his past job. As our platform was built mainly for a sales force this was a point we could not ignore.

Working in the trenches

We decided to work together at it, partnered. We all took a leap of faith here, none really knew if our model will work or not. We cleaned up the software, created a finished product, put a plan in motion, and went hiring.

First months..

Pretty quickly we realized our model will not work. Worst, since it was all new we didn’t know what was broken. Is it qualify of sales people? Is it the sales pitch? Is it the business model? Is it the economy? Is it the industry? Is it our technology? Imagine buying a car and driving it off the lot just for it to stop working 2 minutes later. What is broken? You have no idea. We didn’t either.

Question everything!

We decided we will question everything. Some sales guys had to go, we had to try many different marketing methods, hired assistants, tried various advertising campaigns. Anything we could have thought of.. we tried!

The turning point

We found out it wasn’t something specific, just all around we had to figure things out. Better business model, better people, and simply maturing as a company, build reputation, trust, relationships.

Doing better

Every year since than we’ve done better. Slowly but surely things caught on. We were still burning a lot but hope was in the air.. will we ever break even?

This train isn’t about to stop!

A while after we broke even, started to make some profit. Not only that, but as we’re doing better the progress is much faster and noticeable. Like a train, it takes time to build momentum but when it does, there’s no stopping it!

Today

Starting this business, working hard, was the smartest thing we have done. To all who doubted us, you were wrong. Our business today is on an amazing growth curve, highly profitable, and we’re just scratching the surface. Not only what we’ve built is highly scalable, our experience is something money cannot buy.

Compound Investment

Our investment is much greater than building a specific business here. We did not just build a business, we learned how to build a business. We now have the knowledge, skills, and experience to do what we’ve done with other projects. We’re not just dreamers anymore, we’re dreamers with a proven track record. That my friend is compound interest. Our investment over the years will pay dividends in much greater ways than the one business we’ve worked on.

Should you walk the same path?

It isn’t for everyone of course but if you decide to go at it, be prepare for years of dedication. Rewards not always come overnight, and those who stay the path are those who tend to win.

Have a great weekend!

Sahar

Why You Should Insist On Liquidity

Published on April 8, 2009 in Business, Domain Names and Liquid Value. 3 Comments

First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst

-Dale Carnegie

If you are like majority of domain name owners your majority of income comes from pay per clock advertising (PPC). Pay per click advertising for domain owners is being reliant on others’ advertiser-base and fair revenue sharing practices. In current form, most PPC business online as well as for domainers is controlled by two companies: Google and Yahoo.

The liabilities are:

1. Two control pricing. You do not need two to go out of business to spiral down, one will do. If one drops the other literally can do what they want to put prices down. The rule here is the 95/5 rule. That rule, in real estate leasing, says that your ideal price is where you have 5% vacancy. If you have more you are charging too much. If you have less you are not charging enough. Back to commerce, if the standing partner start to reduce payouts, ideally they could go on and on until they are at 5% deduction without worrying much about it. And who’s to leave if there are no viable alternatives?

2. As we all know, both Goolge and Yahoo are black boxes. Very little information is shared with their downstream providers and less with you. Worse, even if all information is shared you would never know the contracts in place as well as what Google/Yahoo are doing behind the scenes. One would think that can never happen but we don’t need to look far to know better.

So the question of the day, what would you do if the PPC train stops at its tracks right this moment? Say you wake up and your provider says Google or Yahoo shut down the channel. Worse, they are not paying you for business provided claiming channel is closed due to channel fraud? I know, it will never happen (right?), but hypothetically speaking of course. What would you do? Where would you be? How will this affect your life, family, and business?

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

-Benjamin Franklin

I had these questions and more in my head since the days I started in the business. I spent many years building alternative revenue streams, businesses, as well as put systems in place for that day that “will never come”. From all I’ve done, since like you, we own domains (assets), the most important part of the equation is to be able to liquidate when needed for the most possible. This is not to say I will get end user prices for those names, it means if I need to liquidate tomorrow morning, I will get the most I can tomorrow morning. How you may ask? We built Bido of course. Bido has a strong pool of buyers, reach, and technology in place to accommodate such needs. But more important than Bido here is what you can do about it. For liquidity to be strong it has to be exercised regularly. If liquidity is something that isn’t happening than when the time comes that you need it, potential buyers won’t understand the message and benefits quick enough. No pressure (buyers) in your liquidity channel means weaker sales prices.

So while you may think liquidity is only needed when you need it, that is just not the case. Preparing for liquidity is as important as liquidity itself. But why am I wasting your time here with this nonsense anyways? Life is still good, while we make a little less it can never get worse. Right? Right! We all know, THIS can never happen to us... right??

Flavius Renatus Vegetius said: