Allen’s E-Commerce Blog

What customers really want

Posted by Kevin under Entrepreneur

What do leading companies have in common?

Posted by Kevin under Domain Names, Entrepreneur, My Thoughts On The Internet

Generic Domain Name Ownership

Prime generic domain names are steadily being acquired and used by world class companies. Here are some examples of names that corporations own…

* Bank Of America - Loans.com
* Barnes and Noble - Books.com
* Bayer - Aspirin.com
* Carl’s Jr - Burgers.com
* Citibank - StudentLoan.com
* CityBreak - Visit.com
* CNET - News.com TV.com
* CNN - Money.com
* CondeNast Publications - Gourmet.com
* Country Buffet - Buffet.com
* Diago - Malts.com Rum.com Scotch.com
* Disney - Movies.com
* Enterprise - RentalCar.com
* Fixodent - Dentures.com
* Foxy Fresh Vegetables - Salads.com
* Honda - Motorcycles.com Scooters.com
* JC Penny - Gift.com
* Johnson and Johnson - Baby.com
* K-Swiss - TennisShoes.com
* Kraft - CreamCheese.com
* Mannington - Floors.com
* MasterCard - Priceless.com
* Merriam Webster - Word.com
* Monster - Jobs.com
* National Pen Company - Pens.com
* Nestle - Meals.com
* Office Depot - OfficeSupplies.com
* PetSmart - Pets.com
* Procter and Gamble - Toothpaste.com Laundry.com
* Puritan’s Pride - Vitamins.com
* Ragu - Eat.com
* Rocky Mountain Bicycles - Bikes.com
* Sylvan Learning - Educate.com
* The History Channel - History.com
* The Map and Globe Store - Worldmaps.com
* The Weather Channel - Weather.com
* The Wedding Channel - Weddings.com
* Travelocity - Vacations.com
* U-Haul - Trailer.com
* Woodway - Treadmills.com
* 1-800-Wheelchair - Wheelchair.com

Such are the benefits of owning generic domain names that some companies have even changed their name to a strong generic .com domain name - Dealtime has changed its name to Shopping.com.

Redirect it

Boost the traffic to your existing web site. Redirect the visitors going to the generic domain names directly to your main site.
Example: Motorcycles.com (redirects to Honda’s web site)

Park it

Get additional revenue by ‘Parking’ the name at a ‘Parking company’. They will put up a web page for you that contains adverts pertaining to the subject contained in the name. Parking companies will split the revenues they receive with you. Recommmended parking companies include Sedo and Name Drive.
Example: Printers.com (parked and displaying ads for printers)

Develop it

Set up a new web site that compliments your main site, then link between the two sites where relevant.
Example: Movies.com (owned by Disney)

Base a company on it

Start up a company (or change the name of your existing company) to use the generic domain name as your company name. Examples: Chocolate.com (new company start up), Shopping.com (previously traded as DealTime.com)

Once you own the name you can choose the use you put it to. You could, for instance, redirect it to start with, with a view to developing it later. This popular strategy doesn’t involve any work, benifits from the traffic in the short term and secures the name for a possible future development project. It also removes the possibility of your competitors getting hold of it.

Andrew Miller, the President and Co-Founder of the Internet Real Estate Group has said: “Our success has been accelerated by outside validation as some of the most successful dotcoms have been built on generic domain name platforms.”

How trying to find a job on a sidewalk can relate to domain names!

Posted by Kevin under Branding, Domain Name News, Domain Names, Entrepreneur, Humor, Marketing Resources & Tools, Money & Finance, My Thoughts On The Internet, News Stories That Interest Me, Online Marketing

An out-of-work banker who became a symbol of the looming financial crisis by trudging Manhattan streets wearing a sign advertising “MIT grad for hire” has landed on his feet - scoring a well-paying job at an accounting firm.

In a more hopeful sign of the times, Joshua Persky got rid of his sandwich board and demonstrated that creative people can bail themselves out without any help from the government.

I came across this news story You can read the full article here

But after reading it a couple things really hit me and how it his basic story applies to the internet, domain names, marketing and so much more. I think the first thing that hit me was having the courage or “balls” as I would say it since I tend to say it how it is rather some “PC” bullshit but anyways this guy had the courage to set aside his pride and take measures into his own hands and do what he needed to do to take care of his needs and his family!

I think a lot of domainers and for the most part entrepreneurs in general sometimes need to check pride and ego at the door and just do what they need to do. Whether that’s taking on a partner because your skill set alone isn’t able develop a web property, running and growing a business properly, marketing efficiently, web programming, cash flow/finances, or whatever it might be that your skill set or situation is missing for your venture to shine. Sometimes making some concessions here and there are needed to get a desired outcome and other times patience is needed for that. This guy did just that… Set up shop on the curb and pimped himself to bankers, accountants, stock traders and anyone in the financial district in downtown new york and had the patience to do it for a couple months.

The second thing that hit me was the simple notion that he “Got it”, You might be asking what it is he got, but us domainers, or real estate investors know this all too well… location location location. This guy parked his unemployed ass on a street exactly where his audience / customers would most likely come through the city streets in the financial district. Now that last sentence said a lot, but I will break it down a little… Location is one piece of the puzzle for businesses, the second thing was traffic which in my eyes was most important. You can have a great location with traffic or without depending on your particular situation/plan and what the location does for you, increases sales? brand awareness, raw materials, talent, etc….

He figured out that in the end it more effective to play the numbers game more effectively than sitting at home pressing the submit button to hundreds of online job applications, mailing and calling with no luck for hours on end. The best analogy would be going duck hunting with a sniper rifle from a long distance or sitting behind some brush by a pond that ducks ALWAYS come to with a automatic shot gun with a 30 round clip, then again shotguns don’t have clips last I checked but you get the point.

Choosing to setup shop in prime location, targeted audience of thousands of bankers, accountants, lawyers, stock traders, investors all walking the streets in the financial district every day who probably know someone who could use a banking / finance guy… How many streets in America or job sites could one find a comparable location and marketing opportunity to expose your talents, products, and or services?

You can’t!

——————————–

“In his weeks as a walking classified ad, he got several job interviews.”

“Obviously, I had vigorous interviews, but I think it was [the blog] which sealed the deal,” Persky said.”

——————————–

This is the same thing any Web developer, business owner, or domainer faces. For the developer its finding the right thing to develop at a given location in a specific time period of time. The business owner is very much in the same boat as the developer but he also faces picking the right location, having the right product or bait, and having traffic to feed his business… The domainer or e-real estate investor has to pre emptively forecast where people will want to be in the future for development whether for himself, other real estate investors, or someone else. The other argument a real estate investor can ask himself is can I broker or rent this space / traffic to someone else for a profit.

“The publicity I got from the sandwich board encouraged me to set up a blog to document my experience,” said Persky, 49.

A headhunter spotted the blog and brought it to Weiser’s attention.

“Obviously, I had vigorous interviews, but I think it was [the blog] which sealed the deal,” Persky said.

“It feels so great to be back at work. I went through some frustrating times, but every day I tried to be optimistic.”

He posted the happy news on his blog and got cheers from around the world.

Now the father of five - who declined to discuss his new salary - is looking forward to being reunited with his family.

His wife and youngest kids, 4 and 5, had moved to her parents’ home in Nebraska to save cash. But they’ll be returning to New York after the end of the school year.

“We’re looking forward to being back together,” he said. “It’s hard being a telephone dad.

“There is all this holiday spirit around me, all these holiday parties, and I’ve got such a lot to be grateful for myself. It’s like I’m celebrating twice this year.”

Online entrepreneurs should take note it can be done, you just have to position yourself to be ready when the opportunity presents itself.

8 really, really scary predictions

Posted by Kevin under Entrepreneur, Money & Finance, News Stories That Interest Me

8 really, really scary predictions
Dow 4,000. Food shortages. A bubble in Treasury notes. Fortune spoke to eight of the market’s sharpest thinkers and what they had to say about the future is frightening.
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Nouriel Roubini
Nouriel Roubini
Known as Dr. Doom, the NYU economics professor saw the mortgage-related meltdown coming.

We are in the middle of a very severe recession that’s going to continue through all of 2009 - the worst U.S. recession in the past 50 years. It’s the bursting of a huge leveraged-up credit bubble. There’s no going back, and there is no bottom to it. It was excessive in everything from subprime to prime, from credit cards to student loans, from corporate bonds to muni bonds. You name it. And it’s all reversing right now in a very, very massive way. At this point it’s not just a U.S. recession. All of the advanced economies are at the beginning of a hard landing. And emerging markets, beginning with China, are in a severe slowdown. So we’re having a global recession and it’s becoming worse.

Things are going to be awful for everyday people. U.S. GDP growth is going to be negative through the end of 2009. And the recovery in 2010 and 2011, if there is one, is going to be so weak - with a growth rate of 1% to 1.5% - that it’s going to feel like a recession. I see the unemployment rate peaking at around 9% by 2010. The value of homes has already fallen 25%. In my view, home prices are going to fall by another 15% before bottoming out in 2010.

For the next 12 months I would stay away from risky assets. I would stay away from the stock market. I would stay away from commodities. I would stay away from credit, both high-yield and high-grade. I would stay in cash or cashlike instruments such as short-term or longer-term government bonds. It’s better to stay in things with low returns rather than to lose 50% of your wealth. You should preserve capital. It’ll be hard and challenging enough. I wish I could be more cheerful, but I was right a year ago, and I think I’ll be right this year too.

Click here to read 7 more of the predictions by CNN!

By Beth Kowitt, Jon Birger and Brian O’Keefe

Venture capitalists see opportunity…

Posted by Kevin under Domain Names, Entrepreneur, Money & Finance

Venture capitalists see opportunity… In A Recession!

By Edward Iwata, USA TODAY

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — Ever the glowing optimists, venture capitalists here vowed this week that a backlog of healthy young companies — with $100 million-plus in annual revenue and growing — are poised to lift the economy and stock market next year when they get acquired or go public.

Ignore the gloomy forecasts, says Tim Draper, founder of the Draper Fisher Jurvetson venture firm in Silicon Valley. Many successful start-ups were born or grew quickly during downturns. That includes Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Google, eBay and Fairchild Semiconductor, which launched the technology revolution in the 1950s.

“Each recession provides opportunities for renewal and growth,” Draper said. “The short-term view may be down, but the long-term view is fantastic.”

Draper and others even predict that new products and companies in clean technology, medical devices, wireless technology and other sectors will usher in a new economic era.

Some economists forecast that the U.S. economy won’t bounce back for several quarters. But that didn’t deter several hundred leading venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from spreading economic cheer at the AlwaysOn Venture Summit Silicon Valley at the Ritz-Carlton hotel here.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Internet | California | Microsoft | Google Inc | eBay Inc | Cincinnati | Hewlett-Packard | Morgan Stanley | Warren Buffett | Ritz-Carlton | IPOs | San Jose-based | Camarillo | Draper Fisher Jurvetson | Fairchild Semiconductor | Tim Draper

Touting their products were dozens of start-ups, from Somatic Digital, a Cincinnati company that converts printed material into digital touch-screens, to Altierre, a San Jose-based firm that creates digital price tags for supermarkets and retail chains.

Mike Cheiky, president of CoolPlanetBioFuels in Camarillo, Calif., believes his company’s low-emission fuel for vehicles, homes, industrial heating and electrical generation will slash atmospheric carbon to 1970s levels by 2030. Like many start-ups here, CoolPlanetBioFuels launched on seed money and hopes to raise millions of dollars in early-stage venture funding in 2009.

Initial public offerings in technology are down 94% from last year, with only four technology IPOs this year, said Paul Kwan, managing director at Morgan Stanley. But he noted that credit is loosening, big companies continue to spend on technology and the economy could rebound in two or three quarters.

Kwan said that start-ups are riding out the downturn by building long-term customer loyalty, by analyzing and selling online customer data and by finding “multiple revenue streams.”

Young tech companies, which used to focus mainly on the U.S. market, also increasingly are looking abroad for sales — especially because the top 10 emerging markets boast more Internet users than the top 10 developed markets, Kwan said.

Despite the financial turmoil, investors are eager to pour money back into equities in early 2009, said Lise Buyer, founder of the Class V Group, a consulting firm for start-ups hoping to go public.

Jeff Matthews, general partner at the RAM Partners hedge fund, said the current downturn is “absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen since the mid-1970s.” The upside? Wise investors will follow the example of legendary investor Warren Buffett, who bought all of the stocks he could afford in that recession 30 years ago.

“This is a cycle, a very terrible cycle,” Matthews says. “But this, too, shall pass.”

Domaining: To See Is To Believe

Posted by Kevin under Domain Names, Entrepreneur

Reposted from: http://www.conceptualist.com/

This guy is on top of his stuff!

To those in the domain space, before being in the space have you realized the power of domain names? Before seeing in your own eyes the statistics on domains and the enormous power of which have type-in traffic, power that can be measured by quantity and quality, would you believe if one told you about it? Before seeing domains which make hundreds, and sometime thousands of dollars per day, all generated by type-in traffic (I understand most have not yet saw such a thing), would you believe if one told you of such domains, such a phenomena?

I believe when it comes to domain sales the domain name industry is doing well. Coverage from DNJournal, NameBio, Sedo, Moniker, and Name Media are all contributing factor when one needs to sell a domain name, however, what if one needs to educate the other about the value of domain traffic?

Domainers realize for the most part Madison Avenue knows very little about the power of domain name traffic and domain name portfolio value, or otherwise they would have been highly invested in the space, as we are. When we talk to a an industry outsider, a friend or colleague, about one of our prized domains we sometime wonder how he or she does not “get it”, does not see what we see. What is wrong with “these blind people”? It is so obvious !! …or is it? If one approaches you with one of their prized domain name and tells you how great he thinks it is, would you be as excited? In the case of Madison Avenue and advertising agencies it is not just the domain, but the lack of education that is largely missing here. After being in the domain space for a while, just as any other space, the evaluation of a product/service/property, by professionals, is done on an auto-pilot mode, it is automatic, some call it “second nature”. We’ve learned it, we’ve used it, we’ve owned it, and we know it. But can Madison Avenue say the same thing about domain names? Have they ever owned a portfolio of prime domain names, traffic rich, like many of us do? Have they ever seen a portfolio like this? I’m sure you know of a Domainer or two that believe their domain portfolio is worth that much (not you of course!) to other domainers and maybe a little less (or more) to mainstream, but is this reality, or just a dream? Today, the likelihood of anyone in mainstream to understand what you have and the value of those domains without experiencing it on their own first-hand is extremely slim, it is why in most instances most of us cannot cross over, cannot “sell” what we have for what we believe it is worth to those who simply do not know, have not seen.

One of the most significant events this year was the release of Reinvent Index, an index of top 200 domain name properties to the wild. Elliot Silver on his blog, when interviewing Reinvent’s Don Ham, says:

The Reinvent Index is made up of 200 domain names in 20 industry verticals, allowing people to see and track revenue and traffic trends in particular niches. Verticals that are covered in the Reinvent Index include automotive, business, education, fashion, health, music, shopping, technology, and many others. The Index was created to bring transparency and knowledge to the domain space, and it will allow you to follow the performance of domain names, which is going to be very interesting given the current economic situation.

Reinvent Index Hitfarm
(image source: Reinvent Index)

I believe the true value of Reinvent’s index is far greater than what Reinvent or other domainers see in it. I believe the power of Reinvent’s index is the power to cross over, educate the uneducated about the power of domain names. If we want to achieve mainstream acceptance, we have to realize “seeing is believing”. Seeing one portfolio from one credible company is a start, but I would not say it is the end. We need more companies, more portfolio owners opening up, showing others, especially those outside the industry, their underlying data.

To discover is to see, to see is to believe.

Have a great day,

Sahar

Where the money is at..

Posted by Kevin under Domain Names, Entrepreneur

From Matt Cutt’s Other Blog http://www.isitmeoriseveryoneelsestupid.com

This week I was invited to attend a quorum where the subject of domaining and “domain traffic” was the topic for discussion. I wont bore you with the name of the company that held this get together but, sufficed to say, they are a big enough deal for me to bother getting off my arse and actually attending (ahem, i mean “contributing” and not just being there for the buffet).

Actually, my main interest was why this particular organisation would choose to hold such a meeting in the first place, why so many employees of said organisation were at this “quorum” [didnt understand its meaning until i wikipedia'd it] and what their take was on the subject. Perhaps, you might say, I was looking for a “windows” of opportunity… Errm, i mean “window”

What transpired was a very informative 6hr long meeting which not only felt like about 20 mins but also gave me some fascinating information on the state of the industry, how this silent, yet big player has been watching all along and where they perceive the source to be for all our lovely traffic. In fact, I wasnt so much contributing, more digesting (if you can excuse my hors d’ourves based double entendre). I think i spoke twice actually.

Anyhow, I took a few notes: (not my data)

165,000,000 registered TLD’s (100,000,000 GTLDs, 65,000,000 ccTLDs)
75% of all domains are renewed
110,000,000 domains are developed (67%)
37,000,000 domains are parked (22%)
18,000,000 domains have no DNS settings (11%)

$2.8bn is the annualised total domain parking revenue.
10% of all parked domains earn 90% of the total revenue
75% of parked domains receive no type in traffic
72% of the total parking revenue comes from domains which are a typo of another site
21% of domain traffic is fraudulent (down from 38% 2 yrs ago)
Domain traffic converts at 28% to that of search traffic

From this I made the following observations:

Why on earth does the industry exist…..???

Oh, i get it $2.8bn..

And, are there anymore prawn volauvents left..???

When i enquired about the entry point or potential entry point for this company I was courteously informed that “if” entry was going to happen, then its 12months away. Sooner perhaps if a certain acquisition comes its way.

Great online tool for business partnerships

Posted by Kevin under Entrepreneur

We help you team with others, track revenue and share it openly and fairly.

Hire people in return for a share of your income stream instead of upfront cash. You save money and they have more incentive to collaborate.

“Don’t start a business by yourself anymore”

Whether you are designing PC software or building a web application, it takes just a few clicks to set up a simple revenue sharing agreement - we call it the “Software Bill Of Rights”.

We distribute the revenue to your team according to the team’s preferences - even filing taxes at the end of the year!
If you have ever came together with a buddy , programmer friend or online acquaintence on a big idea you both came together on the 1 topic you both probably want to dance around without creating problems is finances and who gets what and etc…    Fair Software allows you to issue virtual shares if you will to various people in your venture to show the allocation of money that is duely yours..  Whether it be a 10% stake or some other.   All parties can track the companies finances and take a chill pill not having to worry about getting the shaft along the way.

How to (Really) Make Money with Domain Names

Posted by Kevin under Domain Names, Entrepreneur, My Thoughts On The Internet

When I started writing this, my first sentence was “The time for making easy money with domain names has passed.” It didn’t take me long to realize, though, that there never really has been any easy money in domains.

* Think it was easy to invest $70 each for domains back in the mid-90s when no one could really be sure at all that the Internet was going to be as life-changing as it has proven to be?
* Think it was easy to figure out the drop system so you could snatch up expiring domains before anyone else?
* Think it was easy to work like a dog and max out your credit cards once domain names were a proven commodity?

I don’t think anyone who’s gotten rich off domain names would tell you that it was ever easy. The landscape has changed immensely, but what makes it hard now is just different than what made it hard 10+ years ago.

I can tell you what I know now beyond a shadow of a doubt, though: if you want a low-risk, high-return way to make money with domains today, forget buying and holding. Buy a handful a good generic domains and start right now developing them.
Forget Buying and Holding

Rick Schwartz BiddingI love Rick Schwartz’s model: find top-tier generics at a good price and hold them for a few years until someone wants to pay you big bucks for them. That’s how you make several hundred thousand dollars at a time.

Unless you have significant wad of cash lying around, though, you’re relegated to trying to turn $260 into $8,000. Success stories like that are great, but ask yourself:

1. For every successful domain investment that you make, how many failures would you have?
2. How many deals like this would you have to do to keep food on the table and clothes on your kids?
3. Think you could keep it up consistently?
4. When you’re done buying and selling, what sort of equity would you have to show for it?

To me, domain buying and selling is like day-trading: yeah, you hear about some stellar returns, but the risks are just as high (or higher). For every Frank Schilling or Kevin Ham, there are tons more people who lost their shirts (and more) trying to do the same thing.
The Big, Safe Money is in Development

If you want to make big, safe money with domains today — without laying out big money like Rick — here’s what you want to do:

1. Find some good generic domain names that:
1. You can get for a good price.
2. Are in topic areas that you’re passionate about
2. Focus your efforts on building those out and driving more and more defensible traffic to them.

Your only risk is the money you use to buy the domains –which you totally control — and the time you spend building them out. That’s it. What you end up with in return, though, are very valuable assets that any number of people will be interested in — not just other domain speculators.

That’s because most domain buyers today “are not sellers and even more do not develop.” Because of that, developing a good domain means that not only will it still be interesting to a domainer somewhere down the road, it will also be interesting to a much wider range of people who are looking for established businesses and have no interest in playing the domain market.

Anytime you can take an asset from one market and turn it into one with much wider appeal, the value increases by default: more buyers = more demand = higher price.
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It

Like I said, I still really like Rick’s model, and I agree with Andy that Warren Buffet would recommend investing in premium generics. It’s just that I don’t know many people who have Buffet-type money.

So if you find yourself wanting to get into the domain business without cashing out your 401(k), just take the other path. It’s a low-risk, high-payoff strategy that has worked out great not only for me, but for many others as well.