The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York live auctions ended yesterday with modest results. The Rick Latona auction had a net of $1,295,000 (including the sale of geodomain Rio.com for $450,000) and the Moniker auction generated $415,000 in domain sales (NY.biz $7000, MultiVitamins.com $45,000, I.biz $17,000, TrademarkLawyers.com $24,000).

The relative turnout was small leaving one to ask “What’s the next stage in the evolution of domain name auctions”?

Earlier this year, Moniker participated in a very innovative approach by partnering with real estate auction company, J.P. King, in a San Francisco event aimed at selling a large portfolio of real estate domain names. The auction preparation and marketing appeared to be very well done. However, the auction was cancelled due to lack of interest by the real estate industry. This was a result of the auction portfolio consisting of only lower-tier long tail domains like HoustonRealEstateListings.com.

It’s time to take a new approach. Instead of hosting a pure domainer conference with domainer topics, take an industry-specific auction to the National Realtors Conference & Expo or the National Insurance Conference … where true end-users with community-based businesses will be located.

Such an auction would contain only geo-targeted and generic domains names which tightly fit that industry’s niche. The auction would contain quality domains at a range of price points and would cover geo-locations such that professionals from all over the U.S. (or Canada) would see relevant domain names specific to their business and their city. In other words, the name selection and pricing would be very enticing.

The marketing of this auction event would occur months in advance and coincide with the larger conference’s promotion such that they too can publicize the auction. 5% of all sales would be given to the larger industry association such that they retain a vested financial interest in the auction’s promotion & success. There would be 2-3 good quality domains raffled off to increase attendee interest.

Local media coverage would be actively pursued. But most importantly, a direct mail would be sent to everyone registered for the conference, and in that mail a link to the auction inventory which would be posted & updated regularly so that people don’t have to guess what domains will be offered.

Any domain auction is ALWAYS about the quality of the names and to a lesser though significant extent, the price. The most important thing moving forward for major auction venues & events is to narrow the selection down to include only quality domain names.

Buzz, excitement, interest, and commitment-to-buying are built upon enthusiastic want or need for a domain asset that makes sense to a company wanting to expand their internet reach. Placing 10 high-quality domains alongside 200 low-quality domains is a losing strategy. Most buyers will not waste time browsing through a dime store when they are in search of a jewel. Particularly when it comes to business.

High-profile, high-standard auctions looking to attract quality clientele must avoid the bargain basement mentality & approach. And that begins with inventory. Don’t try to sell a 1974 AMC Pacer to Ferrari, Lamborghini, or even Ford Taurus buyers.

Domain Auctions bido, Moniker, Rick Latona, Sedo

PremiumDomains.US is home to the Menius Enterprises domain name portfolio. This domain collection is separated into distinct categories that represent popular areas of business.

The website also divides domain names into various price points, geographical locations, and domain extensions (such as .com, .biz, .info).

In selecting domain names for development, resale or other monetization strategies, I typically look for several key characteristics before adding a domain to the portfolio.

These key “ingredients” will include a combination of the below:

• Is the domain clear, descriptive, and easy to communicate?
• Does the domain relate to a common business category?
• Is the domain name a generic word or word combination?
• Does the domain specifically avoid trademark infringement?
• Is the web address a geodomain or geo-targeted?
• Does the domain have special appeal to an audience or group?
• The domain name fits the domain extension?
• Usually avoid hyphens, typos, and uncommon abbreviations?

The various categories of domain names featured on the site are: Business | Geodomains | Hotels | Jobs | Keywords | Legal | Medical | Real Estate. Each of these categories contain high-quality, premium domain names that meet all of the criteria listed above.

Below are examples of high quality domains in various extensions:

1. .US -> Charlotte.US | Portland.US | Indianapolis.US
2. .biz -> Miami.biz | AutoRacing.biz | NewOrleans.biz
3. .info -> Indiana.info | Knowledge.info | Memphis.info
4. .com -> ColoradoSpringsApartments.com
5. .mobi -> Manhattan.mobi | Tampa.mobi | ParisFrance.mobi
6. .TV -> Albuquerque.TV | BeachHomes.TV
7. .net -> ManhattanCondo.net

Visit this link for more on Domain Portfolio Strategies & Approaches

.BIZ Domain Names, .INFO Domain Names premium domains, premiumdomains

The Kansas City Business Journal released an article in their technology section Friday announcing the forthcoming auction of the domain name, KC.biz.

KC.biz will be offered through Moniker‘s silent auction which will commence during the New York T.R.A.F.F.I.C. domain conference. KC.biz is obviously a short and fitting domain name address for a Kansas City based real estate firm, or any business for that matter.

A similar domain, e.biz, was sold via Sedo’s online auction for $66,001 just a few weeks ago. Also currently listed for Moniker’s auction block is the premium domain, NY.biz, which is ideal for any number of New York businesses. That domain will be in Moniker’s LIVE auction which commences Wednesday 10/28/09 at 4:00 p.m. EST in New York City.

Feels like we’re entering the NFL or NBA playoffs with so much domain name action on the horizon.

Side note: Disaster.com was just announced as available to the highest bidder in a planned one month long private auction to begin October 22 and last through November 20. The domain name is being brokered by D & D Consulting, and there is a minimum bid of $850,000. For more information, visit the Disaster.com site for details. This upcoming domain auction is also mentioned in the Albany Business Journal.

.BIZ Sighting -> Just noticed that BusinessBroker.biz sold for $2350 at Sedo.

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, kansas city, Moniker

Domainers have recently noticed an increase in news regarding the .BIZ domain name mostly surrounding Sedo and Moniker auctions of one and two letter .biz names and Overstock‘s successful RFP for O.biz (which is scheduled to launch soon).

Another .BIZ website I happened upon was Business Credit Services who operate at CorporateCredit.biz. Started by David Gass in year 2000, the company has grown steadily and is now providing a wide range of business credit services to many companies. The likes of Kiplinger, Entrepreneur Inc., CNBC, CNNMoney, FoxNews, and Dow Jones have drawn upon Business Credit Services’ knowledge and expertise.

The domain name, CorporateCredit.biz, was registered in 2001. It receives around 10,000 to 30,000 unique visitors per month and site traffic appears to have steadily increased over the year 2009 (source: Compete.com statistics). This makes sense given the need for American small businesses to locate new lines of credit to keep their operations moving forward.

Another .BIZ is from an Indian-based company with offices in both New Delhi, India and the United States. They are XICOM International operating on the internet address XICOM.biz. They provide high quality business process outsourcing, software application services, web development, and IT consulting services. XICOM International were founded in 2002 and currently employ over 150 people.

A Charlotte-based company in proximity to my home is Collett & Associates. They are a large commercial real estate firm with more than 10 million square feet of property under lease or management. They operate at Collett.biz again making a good fit for the business-oriented .biz web address.

Related premium domains from the PremiumDomains.US portfolio include: Corporate.biz, CreditScore.biz, and Condos.biz.

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, Collett, corporate, XICOM

Beginning October 26 in New York City the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. domain conference will get underway. Two separate live auctions will be held during the week. The Rick Latona auction will occur on Tuesday, October 27 and the Moniker auction will be held Wednesday, October 28.

The Moniker auction has had some interesting late additions in cooperation with the .biz Neustar Registry. Of particular interest is the two letter domain name ->NY.biz.

This is perfect for New York based businesses. The real question is just how effectively the Moniker auction staff will be able to advertise and promote the availability of this premium domain name to the local business community. The pool of potential New York buyers is astronomical, but it will be impossible to notify such a large group without mass media advertising.

The Rick Latona auction has several top notch domains up for grabs. Rio.com is an incredible geodomain portal in waiting. Would love to see that sold for $500,000 or more. Other Latona listed domains which caught my eye were Detroit.info, Coed.com, GolfClubs.com (which is a fantastic domain but overpriced and likely will not sell).

In addition to NY.biz, other Moniker listed domains I will watch are: NYC.info, Arizona.info, Photo.com, SanBernardino.com, and OfficeSupply.com.

My chief criticism of both auctions is the continuing inclusion of lower quality domains in the LIVE auction while much better quality domains get relegated to the bargain basement online silent auction. For example, such Moniker names as Flatulance.com, ConciergeDoctor.com, GraduateClasses.com, and NewCarQuotes.com will be LIVE auctioned while these better domain names were placed into the silent auction: Accountant.info, America.US, Concerts.info, Jets.biz, and NewYork.biz.

With a limited number of LIVE auction slots available in a New York auction, NewYork.biz should be at the top of the LIVE list, not Flatulance.com! Looking forward to the auction results.

.BIZ Domain Names, .COM Domains .biz, Moniker, Rick Latona

Domain name verticals refer to a collection of related domain names that represent business sectors. A particular type of portfolio-building can be based on acquiring geodomains that cover unrelated niche industries: automotive, real estate, insurance, travel, legal … or related parts within a niche industry such as: real estate, homes, condos, apartments, rentals, properties, etc.

These verticals can be city-specific (DallasHotels), state-specific (TexasInsurance), or even country-specific (CanadaJobs). There is added value in possessing all of the major vertical domains within a particular domain extension.

Another type of monopoly (though often difficult to assemble) is to have a business-centric domain in all the top extensions. Major corporations do this routinely to protect their brand and to build on the appeal of each unique domain extension. As in: verizon.com, verizon.biz, verizon.us, verizon.net, verizon.co.uk. Acquiring top generic domains in multiple extensions is extremely difficult particularly for high value keywords (like “hotels”) since such keywords are so rare.

A strategy I adopted some time ago was to focus on a particular geodomain and to then acquire the vertical market domains (and related subsets) around that geodomain location. For example …

California.biz 

• CaliforniaAutos.biz
• CaliforniaHotels.biz
• CaliforniaHomes.biz
• CaliforniaRealEstate.biz
• CaliforniaCondos.biz
• CaliforniaApartments.biz
• CaliforniaLoans.biz
• CaliforniaJobs.biz
• CaliforniaRestaurants.biz

Assembling all of the major verticals around a single locality is typically accomplished through drop-catch and direct purchases on the open market. On rare occasions, you may find a geo-specific vertical available via direct registration (if the city or locality is comparatively small). Major metro locations are rarely available for obvious reasons.

The advantage of securing vertical industries around a locality is that one has the opportunity to create a “brand network” with interconnected businesses and services aimed at the surrounding geographic community. The synergistic value of such geo verticals is far more than the sum of its parts.

From a development perspective, acquiring multiple verticals allows for gradual content building in small steps. One vertical can be short-term monetized while another undergoes development and launch.

From an investment perspective, high-quality domain verticals will retain value long-term which allows the investor to examine his or her options over a longer time horizon. Like most assets, the higher the quality of the initial investment, the greater the likelihood that the asset will appreciate in value and bring substantial return on investment.

Internet Domains domain portfolio, vertical market

DevHub is a website development platform I have been experimenting with and which I had written about once previously. DevHub allow developers to drag and drop content sections onto a blank webpage in order to build their site piece by piece.

The jobs section of DevHub incorporates feeds from both Careerbuilder and SimplyHired. Currently, I have just one job listings site utilizing the DevHub feeds -> ChicagoJobs.biz.

ChicagoJobs.biz was monetized over the past year using PPC ads alone (at Parked.com). This was distinctly different from the current set-up in which job openings are now posted in different job categories and specific to the greater Chicago metro area. The test here is to see how traffic patterns increase as a result of bringing relevant content to the ChicagoJobs.biz site as opposed to simply displaying general jobs-related advertisements.

The economy has obviously been heavily impacted by terrible job losses. Consequently, online job search has become a frequent daily activity for jobseekers.

Various jobs domain name sales include: Job.us ($35,225), TheJob.com ($15,000), Job.mobi ($43,600), AnalystJobs.com ($3,650), MediaJobs.de ($4,486), GeneralJobs.com ($3,200), BrooklynJobs.com ($8,000), AerospaceJobs.co.uk ($4,900), MiniJobs.ch ($6,963), JobsinMaryland.com ($4,388), PsychologyJobs.com ($10,000), LegalJobs.co.uk ($39,392).

Site Development

From a personal point of view, I like the internet experience to be easy and convenient. One of my pet peeves in navigating a website are ads which hijack control of the browser and which momentarily interfere with your viewing experience.

Examples of irritating ads are:

• Pop-up’s -> an ad that opens on top of your target window blocking your view
• Pop-under’s -> an ad which is open on your computer but under the target window
• Floaters -> an ad box which dances across the PC screen blocking your view
• Drop-down’s -> large video or text ads which open when you scroll over them
• Auto-Play -> a video ad that plays automatically when you arrive on the page
• Blinking -> The old neon green strobe ad which screams “Over here, look now!”

These ads are annoying and interfere with your visitor’s experience. Patrons typically come to websites looking for specific content. Bombarding them with advertisements actually discourages repeat visits and can undermine user loyalty by wasting users’ time.

Many of the information sites I enjoy display their ads to the left or right of the main content. This allows users to focus on the content they were seeking without being hammered with intrusive advertising.

Another important consideration for domain developers is designing a logical & intuitive layout to the site. Content sections benefit from substantial empty space between sections as well as visual prompts (simple graphics or color coded text) to help users distinguish different topics and site areas.

Many of the geodomain and local newspaper sites are switching to the WordPress format. These sites usually organize and display content sections in a clean manner avoiding clutter and thereby increasing viewer satisfaction.

Google for some time now has allowed Adsense partners to customize the appearance of Google ads. I recommend avoiding the placement of Google ads at the top of a page or in the middle of a content section unless the ad is out-of-the-way and inconspicuous.

In closing, do your quality domain name some justice. Even if it is only a parked page. Disable pop-up and pop-under ads, and keep advertising subtly blended into the background or on the sidebar. As has been said many times before … “There is only one chance to make a good first impression”.

Site Development advertising