We obtained a lot of new information so it’s going to take a month of reviewing it and focusing on building a “hot list” of FT domains that are in the forefront of maturing either now or very soon.  It seems that “cloud” adj/noun is a great for a domain, except that there aren’t any decent variations of this word as a phrase that is left for purchase OOTB. (I checked,      )

However, for my readers and FT samurai, I am giving specific info to assist you in what areas to focus on for “fast sales”. Successclick.com is getting four figure offers daily on several of our solar domains. The buyers are “reaching” and hoping to get them cheap, but all FT domainers know that Solar domains are actually here, and I’d say were about 50% matured into the mainstream consciousness, both consumer and commerce.  This makes many of them at least low to mid level five figure domain names.

I want to thank those FT domainers who took the time to present their domains, include a bio with some relevant links, to allow us to build a nice PDF directory out of all the information that describes what the FT domains are, and will be, in the future.  After we analyze the results, we might send out an idea form for our members to email us on ideas they may have to make the auction better, easier, which categories they think we should focus on, or should we break up each auction to include at least five major FT trend categories:  Solar, 3D, Wind, Electric, Apps, Alt. Energy, and others.

In the meantime, to show those people we don’t just have FT Domains,  we’re cleaning house, and you might like a domain or two for the price stated:

PatientServices.net                                $199

KneeBoarder.net                                    $299

WebCompanies.net                               $499

NetMediaPartners.com                        $199

PersonalInjuryAssociates.com           $599

SamoaResort.com                                   $79

Traderville.com                                     $599

Verifree.com                                          $3500

JudgementCollector.com                    $299

CatherineOwen.com                            $299

GlobalTechCenter.com                        $199

Of course, any domain can be “negotiated” but the best way to buy domains here is to buy two or more and get an automatic 25% reduction on the combined price. Our domains sell quick, we require payments made through our Verified Paypal Account at: dotplanners@yahoo.com

All you need to do is email us with the domains you want, say “SOLD” and make a payment within 24 hours of our email acknowledgement of your picks.

AND, don’t forget, the Snapnames private auction on your domains runs for another few weeks. so your domain could sell still. If you had more great FT domains, a better, more organized versioon of the Future Trend Domain Auction™ will be held sometime in January 2012.  Don’t burn your shorts!  Let’s get everything ready, work together, and prove the naysayers —- wrong.

Have fun everybody!
Cheers!

However, what I’ve just read is that my domains below, which could have been purchased for $100 (I think that’s the minimum bid), (UPDATE- During Moniker’s Extended Auction, the minimum to buy any domain is $300) were not sold. Really? Am I that lame now? Should I close my doors and say “hell, I have no idea what people want”? Or should I take about 2 minutes to analyze the reality of this failure by the domain auction services to sell obviously generic brandable domains for $300 or more?

I chose the latter.  I analyzed the situation and thankfully, came back to my ongoing rant I’ve been screaming for over five years now:

DOMAINS ARE NOT SOLD AT VALUE UNLESS YOU GET END USERS INVOLVED. Obviously, the domain conferences have stopped trying to reach out to “end users”. Now it’s even become a “nice domains for cheap” isn’t enough for other domainers to get involved — they’re all in “sell mode”. So, for the auction sites,  it’s a “come kiss your sister and cousin, they’re cute” sales plan. “Let me hook you up with your aunt, and you can pay me 15% of the escort fee.” Ewww.  In other words, we’re selling to each other. There are no widespread “end user” markets being approached, educated and lured into these domain auctions. It’s a wholesaler’s game, and WE ARE IT. So all the domainers you know are aware of your domains, but there’s a few hitches in their expectations: Every dollar they spend on a domain is considered carefully. If they don’t have a buildout or resale plan in their heads already, your NO RESERVE DOMAIN, regardless of how wonderful it is, will not be sold at these auctions.  Sure, the one word naturals will sell, even in ccTLD’s… hooray for that.

But here’s my list of ZERO RESERVE DOMAINS, which would have been bought for $100 $300 if you were the only bidder, seemingly a reality at this point:

wirelessaccess.net, $0   (WIRELESS ACCESS . NET)
worldsubjects.com, $0  (WORLD SUBJECTS . COM)
learningcompanies.com, $0  (LEARNING COMPANIES . COM)
livecomfortable.com, $0  (LIVE COMFORTABLE . COM)
securealarmservice.com, $0 (SECURE ALARM SERVICE . COM)
simplewebservices.com, $0 (SIMPLE WEB SERVICES . COM)
perfectspanish.com, $0 (PERFECT SPANISH . COM)  SOLD FROM THIS BLOG POST, DOMAIN NOT AT AUCTION
bargaincruiseships, $0 (BARGAIN CRUISE SHIPS . COM)
unlimitedwebservices.com, $0 (UNLIMITED WEB SERVICES . COM)
advancedreservation.com, $0 (ADVANCED RESERVATION . COM)
administrationservices.com, $0 (ADMINISTRATION SERVICES . COM)
autographguru.com, $0 (AUTOGRAPH GURU .COM)
billingcompanies.com, $0 (BILLING COMPANIES . COM)

Any of these domains could have been purchased for at least $300, which I believe is the minimum bid on a “no reserve” domain. No bidders? Is DFG populated with a lot of attendees who are only networking and trying to sell sell sell… and the cycle of incest has finally ended? Is it all just Pimps now? Have we all become Pimps who have no street location to sell our wares?

Do I need to market to real “end users”?  Is this apparent failure to sell clearly generic domains for the minimum price ultimately marking the FINAL POINT where domain auctions have to bring in end users?

Do domain auction sites, live or silent, now have to step it up to reach out to the relevant companies that would be interested in these domains in order for the auction sites to actually EARN their commission? Heaven forbid!

Here’s the facts: Most of the above domains make enough PPC rev to pay for their renewal or close to it.

Is it the economy, or do these domains suck? I can handle the opinions… but  I know similar domains to these have sold in the past for $1000 or more. I just think it’s the failure of domain auction sites to market to real buyers. Period. So, I think I will get some outside readers to my blog.

THE BIG DEAL: All the above domains are available for purchase for only $99 EACH. Buy three and pick a fourth one for free.   Contact me directly at “successclick-at-gmail.com”. Paypal payments only.

Let’s start with Owen Frager of the Fragerfactor.com. He picked up on a side comment I made on Michael Berkens blog about Madison Avenue. It’s the same thing I’ve been saying for three years, but I appreciate Owen’s recognition and credit given to me about my “observation”.

I think in the archives of my blog here, I’ve commented several times about Madison Avenue agencies fearing domains. I know I made about 20 posts on domain forums about this. I worked as a consultant for one of the largest MAA’s, Foote Cone & Belding, so I know the intricacies of their “profit model”. One thing MAA’s don’t want is having a client purchase a domain name for 1/10 their ad agency budget and then seeing that domain perform better, and forever, bringing in eyeballs. This is a clearcut “crystal ball” of advertising investment success for any company.  Spend $1 million on a domain name that brings in eyeballs 24/7/365, or pay an ad agency $10 million for a campaign that lasts, well… maybe 60-90 days.  And, throw in the kiss by the pretty girl when you score the touchdown – the investment in the domain appreciates, so as I’ve said, a domain is an “appreciable marketing asset.” It is a fact that many domain companies that failed during the Great Internet Bubble Massacre in 2000 had domains worth more than the company’s other assets.

The MAA’s don’t like this idea, and really are terrified of it. I actually found a “Brandweek.com” article alluding to this back in 2005. “New Media” advertising was threatening the “old guard”. It was regarding the Johnson & Johnson “baby.com” domain purchase and branding. Contact me if you want to read it.

Then Rick Schwartz writes about “incestuous” domaining, which is great to see his change of heart, because for years, he’s promoted his TRAFFIC conferences as being only for the “best of the best” attending. There is a reason the term “bluebloods” came about. It referred to royalty back in medieval times, where the court advisors believed royal bloodlines should only marry each other, which kind of weakened the DNA of the spawn, hence “bluebloods”.

I coined the term “incestuous domaining” years ago, because I knew that selling domains back and forth to the same group of people, especially at domain conferences, would eventually diminish the value of the domain unless the buyer/domainer developed it.

So I’m honored by Owen’s recognition of my observation (really a fact) that I’ve been pushing for years, and I’m really honored that Rick The King would be influenced (or will this be denied?) by my longtime and recent comments about “incestuous” domaining.  Go to TRAFFIC and see the changes for the better in domain conferences!

Either way, it only matters that this industry focuses on the right markets, brings in the right demographics, reaches out to the right people, works to present themselves legitimately and transparently, and ultimately… for all of us… those people at the end of our invitations will be excited and interested end users.

Cheers!

So, out of respect, I’ll start with Rick’s domain purchases first… although I’m leaving out a few picks he made that are questionable to me… of course, I can be mistaken, and it wouldn’t be the first time.

Here’s Rick Schwartz’s Top Picks:

HotProducts.com – $9k  Incredible buildout retail site… major branding! This one domain alone owns all  other buys at the auction for the price. Invest $500k in this domain, you have a killer brand website touting the best deals on the internet, and a pickup acquisition at about $5mill or more in 2 years. This is the one domain I really wanted to bid on. Congrats on this one, Rick. My appraisal value at minimum – $80k
_______
NetMarketers.com $1,250
This is a nice domain for the price. Now if Rick can get the ignorant old school marketers to respond to the reality that a great domain name is the beginning of any company’s prodservs… My appraisal value at minimum – $25k
_______
AsianFlu.com $3,000
Hopefully this flu won’t appear, but if it does, Rick will make a lot of money off people getting sick, scared and dying… which is not something weird or bad, we have pharmaceuticals doing that daily. It’s just business, and I have some domains that have this unfortunate “quality”.
Appraisal value at minimum – $25k
______
AffiliateAdvertising.com $5000
This domain is a category killer. Unbelievable that Rick bought it at this price. This domain can own CJ and other affiliate “sources”, so they better think about making some offers to Rick to pick this baby up.  Appraisal at minimum value – $75,000

The rest of the domains Rick bought, with the exception of “breakfastbars.com” for $1300, have no meaning to me or I can’t see where the value will come from. I won’t appraise them. Let them expire or sell them quick on Snapnames to try to recoup your money. Exhibiting.com?  $5k? Exhibiting what? What do you see this domain pointing to as a website? A museum? Heck, Rick could have picked up Supplications.com (Prayers) for one fifth the price and had a simple website or flip for 5x ROI.
—–
Now for the total damages for Rick:

Rick spends $42,550 for domains minimally appraised by me here as follows (I left the purchase price as my minimum appraisal on domains I wouldn’t have purchased, except for one where I lowered the value off the domain purchase price), and Rick gets domain portf value MINIMUM of:  $265,300.

So Rick scores nicely by instantly increasing his domain purchases at the auction about 5.3 times his investment, at the MINIMUM expectation of value for each domain. In other words, his purchases added about $220,000 of increased cash value to his portf. Free cash down the line. Pretty damn good…

++++++++

Now for Mikey-B’s picks:

CampingEquipment.com (Correction) hey, this domain was mentioned on other sites, but the real domain is “CampingSupplies.com” which Mikey B bought. No problem, maybe even better because it’s not a longtail -$16k Sweet buy and just $20k more to build a power directory on this domain to list every single camping prodservs retailer/manufacturer at $500 a year… hmmmm I’d say about 1000 potential directory advertisers paying chump change to be listed… half a mill a year. This was a killer buy.  This domain, built correctly, could be a pickup acquisition at $3.5 mill or more in 2 years.
Appraisal value at minimum – $100k
______
ImageConsultants.com for $9,500
Like Mikey said, huge business. A simple directory again can bring in EASILY a half mill a year within 2 years of development. Appraisal value at minimum – $150k

PhotoDeveloping.com -$3k for a service people will always use, even with digital cameras. Over 50% of digital camera users don’t know how to process their photos, and every photo outlet/drugstore has digital processing services. Very good buy. I was considering this one. Appraisal value at minimum – $50k

Redistribution.com - $3k for wholesaling and product placement, and other product flow management. Appraisal value at minimum – $10k

GlutenFreeRecipes.com for $6K – HUGE NEW MARKET IN FOOD RECIPES, EASY TO BUILD, EASY MARKET TO IDENTIFY.  Category killer for millions of people who are gluten intolerant. Appraisal value at minimum (even as a longtail) – $50k
—–

Now for the total damages for Mikey-B:

Mikey spends $37,500 for his five domains. No waste, picked cleanly, all domain purchases have excellent ROI potential.

By my minimum appraisals, I put Mikey-B’s ROI on his domain purchases at $360,000. This puts Mikey’s ratio on ROI at a whopping 9.6 times his investment, raising about $323,000 of free cash value into his domain portf.
_____

Bottom line from the Viking:

Both Rick and Mikey-B spent very little and gained a hell of a lot of potential ROI with their domain buys.

Kudos to both. I think more domainers should have let their b*lls hang low (including myself, shamefully I admit) like these guys and jumped in to bid (of course, having millions of dollars in cash reserves helps a lot, and these buys were woefully wimpy purchases amounts for both these power domainers). I would have bid on at least three of these domains, except excuse, wife “sell what you have”, excuse, wife “almost 4000 domains already”, excuses …”that money can go to building the deck walkway from our sunroom to the pond then over to build the cedar bridge across the creek and gazebo (about 60 yards)” aarrggg

Best story I try to tell my wife is how Frankie took his family finances to the edge of disaster to now control a portf worth hundreds of millions.  Every domainer should BELIEVE in the domain they’re going to buy, have a purpose for it, understand the market behind it, and then step up like a man and control the business online with a category killing domain.

I would hate to have to sell my domains at the bargain basement prices that Rick and Mikey swept up. However, even at those low prices, I bet the sellers made more money on those domains than if they had… gulp… invested in stocks or mutual funds!  Thank GOD for domain names!

++++++

If you are confused about the value breakdown/categorization of your domain portfolio, the most valuable but inexpensive service you can use to help define where you should spend your domain dollar is in having your portfolio evaluated.

EMAIL ME FOR DOMAIN PORTFOLIO EVALUATIONS AT ONLY $.50 PER DOMAIN ON 300 OR MORE DOMAINS (for portf under 300, it’s $1.00 per domain). Find out what domains you own are premiums, which need to be built out, appraised and sold, or dumped. I also do TM cleaning for bulk domain lists within this pricing. Identify your potentially dangerous domains that could cost you big!

successclick [at] gmaildotcom

Funny that most the public still isn’t sure what a domain name is, but Godaddy feels showing breast-bait TV commercials will somehow “educate” the public on the value of owning a domain. Think of the good Godaddy could do for the domain industry if they spent the same amount of money on advertising that quickly explained the “appreciable marketing asset” a domain is.  Sad… but seeing this marketing game continue has inspired me to find for my readers an alternative to GoDaddy’s bloated “Mall Food Court” style registrar that I fondly call “GackPappy”.

I set out to find a registrar that I believed had a solid domain purchase system, excellent pricing, topnotch domain management services, and an obsessive desire to be a customer service-oriented registrar would be able to bring in amateur and pro domain buyers in droves.

There are many great domainer registrars out there that fit the above positive features, including Fabulous, Moniker, Name.com, DirectNic and Enom. However, one registrar stands out with a killer brand name, and  sporting a solid focus on providing the simple basics of registering a domain name, especially for the beginner. That registrar is REBEL.COM.  (and no, I don’t have any referral commissions with them).

I love this registrar because of their business model and its simplicity. In a nutshell, Rebel.com’s costs are comparable with GoDaddy, but Rebel doesn’t bog you down with pages of upsell, nor play games with you on transferring or renewing your domains. Hey! All you want to do is register a domain! You don’t need the company to bombard you with other features, items, and services during the process of buying that domain.

Back in 2004, I wrote Bob Parsons to tell him this upsell process on GoDaddy was a problem for domainers, and he answered through his assistant by asking what my solution was. I then created for GoDaddy the checkbox “I’m an expert. Please bypass these great features and send me to checkout”, which allowed domainers to click this box and get to the checkout page without suffering through inane sales pitches on multiple upsell pages. I think this checkbox still exists, but you have to look hard to find it when you’re registering a GoDaddy domain.

My point is this: DOMAIN BUYERS HAVE A BETTER SOLUTION THAN THE CREEPILY ADVERTISED GODADDY

You can register a domain quickly and transfer your domains easily to Rebel.com. They are dedicated to doing one thing: Working to help and protect the first-time domain buyer and professional domainers in purchasing and controlling their domains.

I wanted to do an article on Rebel.com for over a year. I finally had the opportunity to have a quick chat with Dave Chiswell, the CEO of the Momentous.ca Registrar Group, which includes Rebel.com. The photo above shows Dave Chiswell on the right, and the author on the left, attempting to look as cool as possible in front of the Playboy Mansion. Later, here’s what we talked about:

+++++++++++++++++++

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: When was Rebel.com started, and what was your business model in light of so many other registrars to compete with?

REBEL.COM CEO – DAVE CHISWELL: In 2005, we knew we wanted to change the game. The big, consumer-based registrar had been done (GoDaddy) but the domain professional market was under-served. Domainers were acquiring names at lightning speed, but their names were registered anywhere and everywhere. A single interface, a single company that could help professionals manage their entire portfolio had yet to exist. That is what we set out to build and I dare say, we have met our goals.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: I was impressed with Rebel.com’s simple interface and focus on providing a secure and customer-service prominent system. Who was the founder of Rebel.com, and what companies, if any, is it associated with?

DAVE CHISWELL: Rebel.com is part of the Momentous.ca Corporation whose companies include several Canadian and International-based domain name registrars (Domainsatcost.ca; Namescout.com) as well as Domain Marketplace, Pool.com. In addition to its Registrar Group, Momentous.ca operates Canada’s #1 Online DVD rental company, Zip.ca. The President and Founder of Momentous.ca, Rob Hall, is a highly-recognized industry expert. In 1998, Mr. Hall founded the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the governing registry for the .CA domain extension. Prior to Momentous.ca, Hall was the founder and CEO of Echelon Internet Corp. and Internet Access Inc., and highly-successful Ottawa based ISP and was one of the principle founders of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) representing all ISP’s in Canada.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: There is obviously some expert and respected experience behind Rebel.com’s team. What are the best features of Rebel that makes it the first choice registrar to use?

DAVE CHISWELL: Simply put, our business model is focused on serving the domainer community. As the needs of this community evolve, so will our offerings. Out of the gate we delivered bulk operations, security, and portfolio tools (for example DomainMerge, and multi-tiered access to accounts) together with outstanding customer support, tailored to the customer’s specific need. Recently security continues to be a hot button so look for some new innovative offerings in that area. Also, although not a specific customer offering, the fact that we are headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, has offered our customers an additional layer of protection. We answer to the courts of Canada and have responded that way for many of our customers.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: It’s almost becoming accepted, in light of some of the U.S. court decisions on shutting down and controlling domains that our “freedom-based country” has unfortunately “caved-in” on their rulings, which has many domainers very worried, and rightly so. Being outside the jurisdiction of the hysterical inclusion of “Patriot Act” style justice is hurting our industry. Being outside this ridiculousness is a big plus for domainers if they use Rebel.com.

However, GoDaddy uses a juggernaut advertising/marketing campaign that is prevalent everywhere. Many new domainers are using Godaddy to purchase their first domain because of GoDaddy’s under $10 pricing. Is the “new domain buyer” market demographic an important one for Rebel to also consider?  It would seem that Rebel could be a great alternative for first time domainers, and even current pro domainers. Can you explain why that would be?

DAVE CHISWELL: Rebel.com is a great alternative to the first-time domainer as our pricing is below $10 per domain and our customer service staff are extremely knowledgeable and friendly. First time domainers would benefit from working with experienced staff that is ready, willing and able to share their knowledge and experience. We go the extra mile to ensure that our customers receive the very best service and support. We provide a registrar website that is easy to navigate and makes domain registration quick and hassle-free, and our domain management interface is easy to use. This is critical in minimizing the confusion for first-time domainers and streamlining the registration, transfer and renewal process for seasoned domainers.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: Your answer is what struck me as the biggest selling point for Rebel.com. No distractions, no crap, and excellent customer service that works hard to educate anyone needing help in domain basics, such as DNS setup, transfers, and domain renewals, is a dream for domainers. Does Rebel have bulk domain pricing for bringing in large amounts of domains, and can they be priced over a “term limit” or do they have to be moved all at once to receive the discount pricing?

DAVE CHISWELL: All of our volume customers have special pricing. Prices take into consideration the following:

• Portfolio size
• Portfolio make-up (.COM/.NET vs. more support-intensive TLDs (.EU, .US))
• Trademarks (as UDRPs consume valuable resources)
• Customer responsiveness (e.g. if we have to ask three to four times for a response on an issue, again it is more work for us)
• Method of payment

It is honest and transparent pricing based on a cost plus model. In addition, domains do not need to be moved all at once as we recognize that this would be an extremely costly initiative that not many would be able to undertake. Basically, our goal is to establish a symbiotic relationship with our customers. We initially establish commitment levels with our customers and over time as our customers continue to meet these commitment levels with us, we continue to refine and adjust their pricing. And it’s a system that has proven to work well for us.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: What I noticed about Rebel.com, with your customer service team, including Jason Lavigne, is that you guys bend over backward to make sure you provide the best help as quickly as anyone can expect from an online service. What are the main secondary market features and services Rebel provides, if any?

DAVE CHISWELL: None right now. We are focused on our Registrar goals. We are looking at additional services to roll out to our customer base….but frankly with PPC and auction revenues declining over the last 6-12 months, we feel lucky that we focused on our core business as we are positioned now to take advantage of the next wave of services. Bottom line is being ahead of the curve rather than behind it.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: I hope my readers focus on your answer for my “trick” question above. Rebel’s main focus is what domain owners want the most – Rebel.com’s strong domain registration/management support at every level. Now for the killer question that makes most registrar VP’s sweat:  What is Rebel’s policy on domain expiration, and how they would handle it with their customer?  (Detailed by expiry and drop process would be nice to hear, especially for Michael Berken’s Blog TheDomains.com readers.)

DAVE CHISWELL: Rebel.com is one of the only registrars to still honor the natural lifecycle of a domain. When a domain managed by Rebel.com expires, it then goes through the renewal grace period during which the owner can renew at any time for the normal renewal fee. The renewal grace period is 45 days beginning the date the domain expires. If the domain is not renewed during the renewal grace period it is then deleted at the registry and placed into the redemption grace period which last 30 days. During this period the domain can be recovered for a recovery and renewal fee. However, what differentiates Rebel.com is that domains that fail to be renewed are not taken into internal inventory nor listed for resale via auction houses or marketplaces. Domains that are not renewed and are not recovered from the redemption grace period are deleted by the registry and first made available through the registry drop process and then made available to the general public if not acquired through the drop process.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: This is a huge selling point for many domainers. The loyalty of their registrars and how they assist them with domains that have accidentally been overlooked during the renewal process. How hard is it for a naive business owner to recover their domain that they didn’t renew because they hired some web design firm that controlled that process, and dropped the ball? A small company can be devastated when they lose the domain/s they’ve worked hard for years to build as their brand. Having a registrar like Rebel.com to cover their brand assets through their domains’ security is extremely important. This very “strength” that Rebel.com promotes can push Rebel.com to the forefront of being the best registrar because this loyalty and help for domain owners who may have been tricked by developers, and misled about the renewal process, seem to have a better chance with Rebel.com in getting justice in saving their domain. This is what we should all be about – fair play and justice for the little guy. This fact alone is enough for anyone wanting to register their domains to use Rebel.com. Your attention to the needs of the little guy, and your advanced services for the professional are topnotch.

Does Rebel plan on adding any new features or services for their customers in the future?

DAVE CHISWELL: We are constantly developing new tools for our interface and new products and services that will benefit our customers. Unfortunately I cannot discuss any current development plans at this time as we are not yet ready to announce to the domainer community what we’ve been hard at work on. But as mentioned earlier, security issues continue to be a hot topic so be on the lookout for some new, innovative offerings in that area.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: Knowing your domain investments are secure give Rebel.com a big plus to new buyers. Where ultimately do you believe Rebel’s strengths lie?

DAVE CHISWELL: Without a doubt, the following is what REBEL.COM has to offer domain buyers:

• Our customer service team (domain name experienced and dedicated to help)
• Our product and its strength (brand new code base; leading edge; fast to adapt)
• Our commitment to the industry (we give our small account customers the same excellent service as we do for our big domain professionals)
  

STEPHEN DOUGLAS: Thanks, Dave, for enlightening my readers. I’m sure that by using Rebel.com, they’ll be able to sleep comfortably at night, knowing they are in great hands!!

DAVE CHISWELL: My pleasure, Stephen. Our dedicated team at Rebel.com is knowledgeable and ready to handle any domain registrations and transfers quickly and easily, from one to 100,000+. I look forward to helping your readers with any questions or concerns about registering and controlling their domains.

++++++++++++++++++

As a final note, Successclick readers, this post isn’t just about my support of Rebel.com. I also have to represent for “whuhhhht?!!” experiences  To that affect, my hilarious run-in with Dave Chiswell while we all were exploring the Playboy Mansion on the last night of the Domainfest 09 is a great anecdote. This is my quick Playboy Mansion wrap-up report for those who weren’t there. Ouch! Check my Facebook pages in the coming weeks and this blog for more detailed, and intelligently-written article on this insightful adventure.

My wife Denise (whose inner/outer beauty blew away every single Playboy bunny and the 100+ cattle-call model/actress wannabees who flooded the event), was one of the official Domainfest photographers. She was taking photos, and after I bought an $80 Cuban cigar from the table of some very “clandestine” folks who didn’t want their photos taken (oops, we got a few, heh heh), we decided to roam around the Playboy Mansion to see what it had to offer while my wife and I puffed on this sweet handrolled ceeeegar.

We soon ran into Adam Strong and Dan Kimball, who were up to no-good, (can’t determine what that was, but just think about Dan Kimball with a couple of blonde bimbos who seemed to love his cave-man appearance, and Adam roaming around with a buddy, his high IQ, X-Man leadership abilities noticing all the “offbeat” opportunities at the Mansion one could partake if one was dumb enough).  So we were easily bamboozled by Adam, who quickly directed us to an off-the-beaten-path leading to the utility area of the Playboy Mansion “jungle”. There  were huge piles of bird cages housing some bizarre lonely-looking birds. We tried to take some photos of the weird birds, but it was too dark. I walked further to see what was around this one corner, and I spied something I can never speak of. IT WAS AMAZING, but I can’t reveal what it was. Nobody may even now, I will take this incredible vision to my grave. I’m sorry for mentioning it. I’m trying to see if those photos came out okay. If so, check out my Facebook page in a week or so.

At Adam’s direction, Denise and I walked down another path and found ourselves in front of the Playboy Mansion. There were several other domainers posing for photos, and I wasn’t immune to the lure of taking corny pics in front of the door that Hef walks out with a bevy of blonde Harvard grad students who decided that high-level education doesn’t trump a great boob job.

There were a group of domainers there, but I grabbed Dave Chiswell and we posed like weird tourists in front of the Mansion. Dave is grinning ear-to-ear, which isn’t his normal countenance, so I asked what had him so giddy. He tells me a jaw-dropping story that made me jealous. (I produced two Playboy pictorials in the 1980′s, but never met Hef, which was a goal of mine I still haven’t reached.) Well, Dave simply peered into one of the windows of the Mansion and as he was checking out the room’s decor, Hugh Hefner’s face suddenly appears in the window, staring straight into Chiswell’s face. They both jumped, Dave’s eyes met Hef’s, and Hef jumped back into the loving arms of his twin blonde bunnies. Dave quickly vacated the area, and a few minutes later, he saw Hugh and the twins pop out the front door of the Mansion into a black limousine. They drove off, and Dave was left with the story of a lifetime!  (Thanks for letting me tell it, Dave!)

The rest of our tour of the Mansion property was hosted by the magnanimous John Stiles and Evan Horowitz, who showed us secret light switch boxes, nice romantic spots, and the best camera locations for shooting the Mansion (unfortunately only applicable in the daytime). Forcing corporately-dressed domain pros like Derek Newman, Esq. to pose with affable John Stiles and myself on Hef’s tennis courts was enjoyable, because I could see on Derek’s face a touch of “wow, I feel like I’m 17 again”. Later, Evan showed me what I like best in a friend: patience and loyalty. When I forgot my expensive cigar back on the tennis courts, he asked the rest of the group to wait for me as I ran back to retrieve it. Who does that? This showed me that Evan is a guy with a good heart, and now I look forward to working with him. That was GREAT!

MORAL OF THE STORY: Take chances, and you might see Hef close up!

Stay tuned for more inside stories about DomainFest09.

UPDATED 9/29/08: (FRANK SAYS THERE MAY BE A DOMAIN AUCTION AT THE EVENT, WATCH FOR A PRESS RELEASE.

ALSO, SUCCESSCLICK READERS CAN USE THE COUPON CODE “SUCCESSCLICK” to sign up for 20% off).

My good friend and a very respected domain player in our industry, Frank Michlick, is hosting a Canadian domain conference, DomainConvergence.com, October 6 – 8th at the Marriott FallsView Hotel at Niagra Falls, Ontario Canada. The conference, a “must attend” event for all Canadian domainers (and Americans) will focus on the three slam-dunk basics of domaining:  Revenue, resale value, and legal issues!

I like one of the agenda topics, “Don’t Send Your Visitors Away”, which focuses on the extremely important issue of capturing information on your visitors and bringing them back to your website.  You have a great domain name and you get visitors, but you don’t want them to come to your site and see nothing and never return, right? This is an interesting and very viable concept to follow if you want to see higher revenue results from your domain names, especially if you’re building them out.

This is Frank’s first domain conference, but judging by the hotel, the experts who are attending, the fact that the Canadian Domain Owner’s Association will hold it’s first meeting, Frank himself, and the great information/networking from the country that brought us the most powerful domainers in the world, (Frank Schilling, Kevin Ham, and Frank Schilling’s mentor, Gary Chernoff, to mention a few) should prove this event to be a memorable one. If you missed TRAFFIC NY this week, you need to get off your butt and make it to the Domain Convergence Conference. The ticket price is very reasonable: $595  (includes several food functions).

That’s not all. Check the DomainConvergence.com website for hotel and ticket information. One thing is stated clearly for all attendees at this conference:

“Welcome to the Marriott Niagara Falls Fallsview Hotel & Spa -Niagara’s premier AAA four-diamond, 5 Star luxury Niagara Falls hotel, located just 100 yards from Niagara Falls. Experience world-class Niagara Falls hotel accommodations in the heart of the Fallsview tourist district.”

They have 432 rooms that have full view of the Niagra Falls.  $179 a night. WHOOOOO HAAA!

This conference, by way of exciting outside and inside events, along with groundbreaking domainer organization and domain experts, is a precursor to the biggie TDU event in November. At the Domain Convergence Conference, you have mind-blowing scenic tours, incredible views, a monkey-barrel list of adrenalin activities, gambling, excellent food, and a perfect excuse/reason for bringing your wife or girlfriend/partner to an excellent vacation spot to make up for your dumb manly-man shortcomings you’ve perpetrated this year.

I can tell you from personal experience over the last four years that Frank has been a source of knowledge and inspiration to me, and helped me with my domainer clients with unabashed generosity and lack of ego. I predict his conference will be a great success, and if you’re a Canadian domain investor, (a historically proud mantle to embrace and exclusive “Royal” group to belong,) you need to be at this conference to establish and build the power of you being a smart Canadian Domainer!

In my professional assessment, TRAFFIC NY scores big by implementing the Domain Multi-Auction Format. The multi-auction system may yield a lot of great facts for domainers worldwide. Specifically:

• Which auction system is the most professional and profitable for sellers and buyers alike?

During the TNY conference, these facts will be quite revealing to the whole of the domain industry.

Why?

After all the auctions are over at TRAFFIC NY, it will be interesting to see which auction system ran the smoothest, had the best domains featured, closed the best sales expectations (and I don’t mean the most money made from Premium domains), and how fast the auction producers expedite their sales (how soon the sellers receive their money and how fast the buyers get their domains – which in my experienced estimation shouldn’t take longer than 14 days).

With all the auction producer emails and blogs and news releases flying around for the last 60 days, it is already very educational for domainers and endusers to read each auction producer’s “sales pitch”. If I was a potential buyer, I’d look at each sales pitch for its content (do they try to make the domain sale based on “Walmart-style 50%” off sale advertising on cheap domains made in China,” or “this domain doesn’t need a written description of why it’s valuable, because if we have to tell you, you can’t afford it”). Each breed of domains offered in their domain auction has it’s benefits. However, if you’re defending or circus-selling the domains you’re offering in the auction, that’s the wrong road to take. I could be wrong, but we’ll see.

I’m not going to address the lures used to get domain sellers to commit to any particular auction system. That’s another article for later.

FOR DOMAIN NOOBIES: I’ve seen a lot of blog and forum comments from domainers who obviously have little experience in domain name selection but a big desire to make quick money (Gamblers Anonymous, anyone?) without really learning the craft.  They’re immediately recognized by the list of domains in their comments that weren’t selected for auction.  People, if you’re new to the domain business, either buy an ebook on domain investment (see the links to the right on my blog), or hire my company or another domain consultant to teach you the ropes. The money you invest in learning from a domain professional will be returned a hundred fold. Just in one area alone, you’ll save a lot of money by knowing not to renew crap domains in your portfolio. At the least, subscribe to Eliottsblog. He provides excellent information for domainers of all levels, including beginners.

Anyway, you can’t blame auction producers for turning down your list of domains to auction when your domains immediately announce “I don’t understand the rudimentary and fundamental concepts of domain evaluation.” Notice I said “evaluation”.  I didn’t say “appraisal”. The two words are completely separate in determining how to buy and sell domains. A lot of the posts I saw with lists of domains accompanied by complaints they weren’t picked had domains that in no way whatsoever resembled a workable, brandable, keyword generic domain. They could work on Whypark, but as resale products, yipes!

On the other hand, I’ve seen some blog/forum posts by auction producers that mislead buyers, and that isn’t fair, either. For instance, a generic domain name with no location included can’t be offered for sale as a “geo-generic” domain. It’s not “geo-generic” nor is it a “geo” domain in any respect unless it describes a “location”, which is the proper application to label a domain “geo-generic” or “geo-specific”.  For geo-specific or geo-domains, you need a clear location named in the domain itself. It’s that simple. (See “BerkeleyHeights.com“) Saying that it is a “geo domain” because it can be turned into a directory that may list advertisers “from different locations” is skinning the grape. I’m sure the Carleton-Castello Gang, who are geo domain experts, will back me up on this.

So, a domain like “BestFunSushiRestaurants.com would have to read “BestFunSushiRestaurantsNY.com” to be “geo-specific.”  (Note the “NY” at the end of the second domain).

Domain Auction producers are responsible for giving correct definitions of the type of domains they’re offering, as they are in expediting a fair, fast and honest auction service.  I have high hopes for TNY in this regard.  Happy hunting, everyone!