Readings for April 9th, 2008


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April 10th, 2008 »

DNJournal Follow=up: ICANN's Paul Twomey Misquoted

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, as I expected a widely quoted news article that claimed ICANN CEO and President Paul Twomey had made anti-domainer comments at a conference in 

Dubai last week proved to be false. ICANN Media Adviser Jason Keenan dropped me a note today saying "I have discussed the Gulf News report with Paul Twomey and he has asked me to clarify that the article incorrectly suggested that he has concerns with domainers. 

Keenan wrote, "As Paul said to me: "When asked to look ahead at what might happen on the Internet, I did say it was likely domainers would move increasingly into the ccTLD space. In no way did I say or suggest that domainers were a negative force in any way and certainly did not refer to them as "a downside." The many domainers I have met and chatted with at meetings across the globe will know I would never say such a thing. As I noted in my closing remarks at the Dubai meeting, the marketplace has evolved and domainers are a part of the robust domain name market that exists today."


Source: DNJournal

Rick Latona: How Important is a Good Domain?

You might be surprised to find out that I don't think a great domain name is important to a business to have a successful web presence.

I completely disagree with people like Rick Shwartz who think that Hershey's Corporation is stupid for not buying candy.com or Marriott needs to do some soul searching to find out why they didn't buy hotels.com.

I agree with Madison Avenue when they try to explain to domainers on their panels that marketing executives would rather have a brand like M&Ms than Candy.com.

I myself have owned many successful websites that had lousy domain names. Was ConsumptionJunction.com a good name? Heck, I spent a small fortune on typos. You wouldn't believe how many ways one could spell that name. That company has been sold and scrapped at this point but we had a good run before youtube.com. In 2000 our Alexa ranking was as low as 300 at one point. I wonder if the founders of youtube.com are wishing they bought videos.com while they are counting their Google cash.

What a good domain name can do is allow you to enter a market and compete with these big guys. They make it a little easier and sometimes a small edge is all you need. Yes, they also generate traffic and revenue if they are really good names but what makes them sell for far more than 20x earnings at times is that edge.

It's the ability to call hotels in San Juan and tell them you are with sanjuan.com which gives that name so much value.

Just don't believe the hype that a good name is necessary. They only help.


Source: RickLatona.com

Right on the money, from experience.

Seller's thoughts: Recruiting.com

When I sold the domain name Recruiting.com to Jobster two years ago or so, I never really thought I would see the day where the opportunity may present itself to maybe somehow buy it back.

Now I have no indication at all from Jobster that they are looking to sell the domain name but they know that I am interested in getting that name back and into the hands of RecruitingBlogs.com.

Jobster has really changed since they acquired the domain name 2 years ago or so. It's quite amazing to see the transformation. As a shareholder I'm disappointed and as the former owner of what was Recruiting.com, I am blown away.

It's obvious that the way Jobster utilizes Recruiting.com brings them absolutely no value whatsoever. One may even consider it a parked page where the "revenue"? goes to those pumping it with self-promotion and not to Jobster. Yes I do it sometimes but I am not nearly as guilty as others. Again, Jobster gets nothing from this at all. The domain name goes up in value so yes Jobster benefits that way but I don't think this is the business they want to be in. The way Recruiting.com was set up brought no industry marketplace awareness to them.

Jobster seems to be trying to regain focus and bring some understanding in the marketplace to what it is they actually do. That's a good thing. They have a new CEO who is not from the online recruiting industry but has a good track record. I had a conversation with him about a month ago and I got a good feeling from him.

Source: RecruitingBlogs.com

DomainTools: Attending Domain Roundtable

I was asked a question in a forum recently: "if I really thought attending a Roundtable conference will be beneficial to domainers?"? It didn't take me long to answer that question. Yes. I believe participating in any conference can be beneficial. If you take advantage of any of the networking opportunities, meeting new potential business partners, speak with companies about their tools offerings, attend sessions that can aid in portfolio performance and of course take full advantage of all the party events, you will find it worthwhile. Really it comes down to being successful in making a new business connection or gain knowledge on new technology / tool to increase traffic or find out about an available domain name that would enhance your portfolio and your return on investment is made. The conference has paid for itself.

Source: Domain Tools

DNZoom folks will be there to help with your portfolio management questions. I attended the Seattle one last year and found the conference to be well worth the trip. I plan to attend this one as well.

Sahar