Root Orange’s technology allows local businesses to lease a localized version of a domain name. When someone types in the domain name, the user is delivered to the business who has leased the domain in their own respective home city.

For example, let’s use the domain name “DivorceLawyer.com” and the city of Los Angeles, CA. When someone in Los Angeles visits DivorceLawyer.com, they will be delivered to the website of the Los Angeles law firm who leased the domain name for the Los Angeles area.

Currently, Root Orange are leasing DivorceLawyer.com in Los Angeles for $899/month. To lease DivorceLawyer.com for Phoenix, Arizona would cost $289/month, and only $129/month for Fresno, California. Lease pricing is based in part on the size of the city/region and its corresponding population number.

The advantages are obvious in that a particular attorney can capture all of the traffic for DivorceLawyer.com in his or her city.

Root Orange are currently leasing city spots for the premium domain name, Attorney.com. Attorneys across the country can have this domain name redirect visitors to their legal website if they lease the rights to Attorney.com in their city. Pretty interesting approach to the monetization of a premium domain. And of course, a more affordable means of capturing high-quality traffic without having to invest in a multi-million dollar premium domain.

Poker.org

Also of special interest is a post at DomainNameWire regarding Afilias. The entry reports that Afilias has requested approval from ICANN to release 1 and 2 character .info domain names from their reserved list. The Neustar Registry did something similar several months ago with the .BIZ web address resulting in a number of 5-figure sales for 1 character .biz domain names.

Lastly, consider this a public service announcement -> Avoid automated domain name appraisals. Like the ones you find advertised & sold on domain name registration websites. Sadly, I have noticed a new wave of people selling (pushing) automated domain appraisals, quoting them in domain forums, and referencing them in email inquiries.

Quality domain names in particular cannot be properly appraised using the simple metrics that automated appraisals employ. Those who sell automated domain appraisals are looking to cash in on the gullibility of new domain investors and buyers. An experienced domain professional will never make reference to automated domain appraisals as they are uniformly understood to be nothing more than a gimmick or toy.

There may come a day when automated appraisal algorithms are sophisticated enough to tap into real value and produce a defensible price range for premium domain names. At the current time, nothing comes close to doing this. All automated appraisals have enormous margins of error such that they consistently fail tests for validity and reliability.

A number of large corporations are operating parallel websites on both the .com and the .biz web address while some companies are solely establishing their primary website on the .biz domain. This makes sense in that dotBIZ is recognized globally for “Business”. Dotcom has the largest footprint, but is not necessarily representative of “business” on a world wide basis.

Below are examples of both international corporations operating with a .biz presence, and also a few privately held companies doing the same.

	WaveSecurities.biz – Merrill Lynch’s online financial management & investment platform.
	RBSGroup.biz – The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Huge international bank with over 40 million customers worldwide.
	Cisco.biz – Cisco Systems Inc. is a well known international computer networking giant.
	EarthLink.biz – Well known internet access company offering business solutions.
	F-16.biz – Yes, the F16 fighter jet, other F-series aircraft and a range of other hi-tech defense products.
	CorporateSuites.biz – East coast based private company who specialize in corporate office suites.
	CitizensManagementInc.biz – One of the largest service companies in the midwest. Part of the Hanover Insurance Group.
	Pepsico.biz – The Pepsi Bottling Group, the manufacturer of Pepsi-Cola beverages worldwide.
	uk-ipo.biz – The official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the (UK) United Kingdom.
	Start.biz – The National Business Register which keep data on 10 million businesses, trademarks, and brands in the (UK) United Kingdom.
	Billboard.biz – The Music industry web portal for world famous Billboard magazine.
	BaylorCollegeofMedicine.biz – One of the leading medical schools in the United States.
	DSI.biz – A leading provider of management & consulting services offering business valuation & acquisition, forensic accounting, and corporate restructuring.
	TheNCAA.biz – The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).
	DollarCar.biz – Dollar Rent A Car Inc. was founded in 1965, has over 640 worldwide locations, is in 53 countries, and has maintained a fleet of over 185,000 vehicles in the USA & Canada.

The 4th quarter of 2009 was marked by a 5% sales increase. Increases were attributed to a surge in geographical and descriptive domains. These types of domains have long been considered the gold bullion of the domain name industry.

Of particular interest was Sedo’s specific mention of the internet’s official .BIZ (Business) web address in the study. They indicated …

In terms of the best-performing extensions for average sales price, Sedo’s study saw the sharpest rise in .biz domains. This growth can be attributed in part to the growth in sales of one character .biz domains, which first became available through the .biz registrar in September 2009.

Jeremiah Johnston, COO of Sedo, said that he expects to see ongoing demand for premium domains as marketers & businesses leverage domain names to meet their goals.

Among some of the hottest categories of domain sales from 2009 were city domain names and employment domain names. Getting more into the game are marketing and advertising firms who are beginning to realize the power that generic, quality domain names have in attracting consumers.

Sedo’s Johnston is quoted as saying that domain names which match the search terms of a particular business are in demand. An example of this would be a domain like DenverRealEstate.biz which was just sold by my company a day ago. The buyer being a real estate company located in Denver. Get the picture?

To shop for premium domains, visit: PremiumDomains.US or PremiumDomains.biz 
or our Sedo Portfolio.

FLO.TV is an excellent domain name being both short and memorable. Since the service being offered is live mobile television, the selection of the .TV web address is just perfect. The company catch phrase is appropriately titled …

Now TV Goes Where You Go.

FloTV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. The FloTV personal handheld television can be purchased at Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Radio Shack among several other known retailers.

There is a pretty extensive channel line up including those dedicated to live sports and lots of breaking news channels. The corporate website for FloTV identifies both Verison Wireless and AT&T as main partners having the ability to deliver FloTV to over 200 million subscribers.

For more about the .TV web address, visit the official .tv website. To peruse our .TV domain names, visit PremiumDomains.US.

This trend is being replicated across the country with an increasing number of realtors and real estate companies moving to the .biz (Business) web address.

Some realty companies are still maintaining their initial .com site while also launching their newer .BIZ web address. Often with a slightly shorter or more intuitive .BIZ version of the company name.

Collett & Associates were founded in 1987 and currently manage commercial properties in 12 U.S. States. Not only do they manage, broker, and lease commercial properties, but they are also involved in client commercial property investments and a number of ongoing development projects.

My online research produced an impressive number of real estate companies setting up shop with the .biz web address. Since the extension is business-focused, it is an ideal choice for a wide range of companies both internet-based and of the brick-and-mortar variety.

A sampling of others: PeakProperties.biz, ClarkCommercial.biz, NewResorts.biz, MLS.biz, BellMarcRealty.biz, Avalar.biz.

Since I very much like the .biz web address, I checked out the company. They are rather large having offices and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Argentina. In the U.S. alone,  Dart have 13 facilities spread across 11 states.

The company used to operate on DartContainer.com, but have since switched to the better domain name, Dart.biz. Dart was established in 1937 with their early roots planted in the town of Mason, Michigan. Dart specialize in food service packaging and have since become the world’s largest manufacturer of foam cups.

The Dart.biz domain name was originally registered in March of 2002. This short, memorable domain name coupled with the internet’s official business extension makes for a great company web destination.

.BIZ – The Internet’s Official Business Web Address!

Domain name auctions are both an opportunity and a risk. You must weigh the pros and cons before submitting a domain for auction consideration. Be sure to understand the contract which you will be required to accept as part of the auction submission agreement. Some terms in an auction contract border on unacceptable, and can significantly diminish your rights (and revenue) as a domain owner.

Here are some potential drawbacks to be aware of in submitting your domains for an auction:

1. LIVE + Silent (or extended) auctions often will not provide you the option of specifying whether your domain will be placed in the LIVE part of the auction or the extended (non-live auction). You may only want your domain name to be considered for the LIVE auction. It is OK to ask for this guarantee up front. The auction house may or may not agree to this. The risk is in having your high-quality domain stuck in the “silent auction” where there is much less visibility and publicity. 

Furthermore, the auction house will ask for reserves that are very low in order to effect a sale (to insure their commission) thus placing entrants at risk of losing a valuable domain in a relatively low traffic auction where your good domain can be sniped cheaply in the final minute of a so-called “silent auction”. Once the domain is sniped cheaply (because you set the reserve too low), then you are contractually obligated to sell it. This is not a good result or feeling!

2. Auction contracts used to require 180 day (or 120 day) exclusivity in which any sale of the domain (even through your own outside efforts) resulted in you paying the auction house their commission. This contract length was far too long, abusive, and terribly lopsided in favor of the auction house and against the domain owner. It actually rewarded the auction house for YOUR WORK instead of their own.

Today’s contracts have been pruned down to 60 days which is more reasonable. I know of many premium domain owners (myself included) who simply refused to submit their domains under a 180 day contract. Historically, this resulted in LIVE auctions receiving lots of lower tier domain names which ultimately received no bids in the auction. This hurt the live auction format for several years because premium domain owners would not submit their domains under such terribly abusive contract terms.

Additionally in regard to auction contracts, look for 60 days maximum length, but also for a 6o day contract that expires automatically. In this instance, you are automatically released from the contract at the end of the 60 day term. If the auction house hasn’t facilitated a sale by then, they’re not going to and should be entitled to nothing. And you should be able to pursue all of your other options without any obligation to pay the auction house a commission.

To illustrate just how exploitive some auction houses could be, they would require the 180 day exclusive contract. But if your domain did not sell at their auction, they still wanted you to pay them a commission even if you sold your domain 4 months later to a buyer you found on your own. Terrible! Not only that, but the 180 day contract would auto-renew locking you in for another 180 days ( in a perpetual cycle of obligation to them). The auction house would be doing nothing to effect a sale during this time period. But they wanted to be paid anyway should the domain sell through your other efforts. Unbelievable.

Rick Latona’s contract, which I recently reviewed, is much better offering a 60-day term that expires automatically. And Latona is known for taking more active marketing efforts than about any other auction house. So Rick is setting a new standard for fairness and demonstrating a more balanced approach to brokerage than any other auction house or brokerage that I am aware of.

3. Auction reserves are a hugely important consideration. Auction staff are famous for saying “Lower your reserve because it will generate more bidder excitement”. This is smoke & mirrors, and a somewhat disingenuous statement that when properly interpreted reads “Lower your reserve because we want to insure that we make money off of your domain no matter what, even if it sells cheap”. Be very careful here.

It’s up to you to arrive at a realistic valuation of your domain name. Be sure to carefully choose the reserve price because there is a very high likelihood that the domain will be sold at that minimum price. The auction house only want to churn sales as quickly as possible, and will not necessarily be a reliable estimator of a domain name’s worth. They are strictly advocating for their own commission. Flip the domain, get the commission, move on to the next. That is their primary interest.

In many cases, a dedicated domain broker with a tiered commission arrangement is a much better option for selling a premium domain name. This will result in a much more targeted marketing approach that is superior to the mass auction house format.

On the good side, having your domain in a LIVE auction can lead to a good sale. Be aware that most all domain conference auctions are predominantly domainer-to-domainer sales. So volume pricing and volume commission are the default fall back strategy for most domain conference auctions. I expect this to improve gradually as the concentric circle of domaining continues to widen.

The company is operating off of websites at Lockheed.info and Lockheed.com. Actually, the .com site is LockheedMartin.com and Lockheed.com forwards to that whereas Lockheed.info is a self-standing site on its own. Some of the links there track back to the LockheedMartin.com site particularly in regard to the jobs availability page.

The .info and .com sites appear to mirror each other. Lockheed Martin have also registered variations on their name in the .US, .biz, and .mobi extensions. Most likely to prevent trademark infringement by cybersquatters.

However, it is nice to see a multi-billion dollar global corporation actually using the .info version of their company name. Afilias.info are the official registry and overseer of the .info web address which currently totals 5,595,978 domain name registrations worldwide.

The Q13 Fox business site (.biz) lists a number of “Biz Categories”. Each category provides a list of local companies and their contact information in the traditional online biz directory format. Local vendors can also display an ad for their products and services in the classifieds section.

Also on the Q13fox.biz website along the top is a “Biz Search” box which yields fast results if you prefer to search specifically for a company as opposed to browsing business listings. A few other links include local business coupons for discounts on services. Movies, Events, News, and Weather are additional links to round out a viewer’s choices.

.BIZ is an excellent business-oriented extension, and in this instance nicely compliments the Q13 primary news website. Based on steady growth with the .biz web address, I suspect we will see an increasing number of companies and professionals utilizing the internet’s official business domain, .BIZ.

FOX Seattle are following close on the heels of the recent launch of Overstock’s .biz website at O.BIZ.

Boulevard’s portfolio of city domains is simply stunning, and the collective value almost priceless. Examples of their properties …

Following some years later came the official releases of .info (information), .biz (business), and .US (United States) domain name extensions. The competition was global and intense for city domain names in these addresses. Many individuals and companies had “seen the light”, and recognized the incredible opportunity before them.

A parallel story which was unfolding alongside the domain name evolution was the unraveling of traditional newspapers and print media. Many newspapers did not understand that their own demise was at hand. In short, their print advertising plummeted. Moreover, newspapers failed to grab the brass ring … which was to acquire a pure city domain name and to adequately position themselves for the internet future.

There were exceptions, however. The Charlotte Observer obtained Charlotte.com, The Boston Globe acquired Boston.com, and the former Knight Ridder Publishing (who owned the Miami Herald) captured Miami.com. All good moves.

Further illustrating the current emergency underway with print newspapers in America is the recent bankruptcy declaration of the Denver Post. They are the 13th newspaper bankruptcy filing by a U.S. newspaper publisher in only 13 months. Read about it here.

Menius Enterprises worked diligently beginning in year 2001 to acquire a number of high value geo domain properties, including: Charlotte.US, Detroit.US, Portland.US, California.biz, Miami.biz, NewOrleans.biz, NorthCarolina.info, Indiana.info, and Sacramento.info. Since then, we have sold a number of pure geo domain names and geo-targeted domains.

Morris Communications (based in Augusta, Georgia) obtained cities such as Nashville.biz, Cleveland.biz, and StLouis.biz.

City domain names are rare and have few substitutes. They appeal to a large clientele yielding relevance for local residents, both local and global businesses, and international travelers to the area. Cities have their own unique personality. And a timeless, enduring quality.

I am happy to say that both company sites are very professional in appearance. Both are a definite plus to the domain name industry.

Rick Latona of Latona’s Domain Brokerage & Auction House is a go-getter, energetic, and someone who makes things happen through sheer will and creativity.

Sahar Sarid, Jeff Bhavnanie, and Jarred Cohen are the primary driving forces behind Bido and they too have created an impressive auction format full of features.

The domain name industry is inextricably linked to internet growth and the mass migration of businesses to the net. While the story of domain name expansion is both interesting and exciting, many chapters have yet to be written.

The domain aftermarket has many players, some new and some old. I have used most all of them for both buying and selling premium domain names in various extensions. It is gratifying to see the industry mature, and to witness the continual influence that good domain names have on start-ups and business expansion.

Bido have been in operation for a number of months and are continually reassessing and improving their technology and approach. Latona’s is brand new and preparing to launch within the next few days.

If you are a buyer or seller of domain names, check out these two companies. Chances are you will be hearing about them for a long time to come.

This domain listing page will gradually expand to include new domain name additions, special domain name groupings, and sets of geo targeted domain names in the common business verticals such as hotels, real estate, legal services, employment/jobs, and the healthcare industry.

Interested parties can click through to any domain name’s developed website or go directly to a pricing and information page that will provide additional details about the domain name. Inquiries and proposals can be sent through a contact form on each domain information page.

Client inquiries may cover any range of possibilities including …

• a request to buy or lease a domain name or grouping of domains
• partnership requests, or
• business development proposals

When attempting to contact Menius Enterprises about our internet properties, please leave a detailed message describing the exact nature of the call, a contact person’s name and phone number.

The USA faces a number of challenges in order to get the economy rolling again. Internet growth will somewhat coincide with the larger economy’s movement. And internet growth is the central mechanism pushing the adoption and use of domain names as business portals.

Two of the most prominent drags on economic recovery have been: 1. lack of job creation, and 2. a pervasive fear that massive commercial real estate defaults would re-ignite another financial crisis and meltdown.

On the positive side, recent news points to indications that the feared commercial real estate meltdown may actually be more manageable than was predicted. The Wall Street Journal has published an article quoting Morgan Stanley analysts who suggest that commercial real estate concerns are now …

only a moderate headwind for the economy,

Another article by Reuters further supports this contention quoting a top Federal Reserve official who says …

Community and regional banks can probably manage their exposure to souring commercial real estate loans.

These sentiments suggest that some of Wall Street’s apprehension is being replaced by a more clear view of America’s financial health. However, the last ingredient in a full recovery is the much needed expansion of America’s manufacturing base.

Jobs, jobs, jobs is indeed the cliche’ of the day. But more than that, they are the true driving force behind a robust economy. To some extent, domain name utilization and further internet assimilation will likely move forward regardless of the immediate job situation.

Many companies have survived this economic recession, and they will be preparing themselves to push their products and services out to the online global consumer. That means having a quality internet presence … which will be part of strategy 101 for 2010 and beyond.

Novices should be informed that there is not one, singular market that represents all domain transactions. Most people are aware of Sedo and Afternic sales as well as those documented in Ron Jackson’s DNJournal. However, many sales are undisclosed and never become publicly known due to privacy & non disclosure agreements.

There are reasons why domain sales privacy is fundamental to good business. A buyer does not want others in the marketplace to know what he has paid, or can pay, for future acquisitions. And a seller does not want others to know the level of proceeds received from a sale because that seller often reinvests those proceeds into more purchases.

Publicly disclosed sales information can weaken future negotiations for both buyers and sellers. So “smart money” typically operate outside the public’s radar and prefer to keep quiet their most strategic moves and acquisitions.

This phenomenon greatly impacts public perception of domain sales and creates the somewhat false impression that all aftermarket sales are known. They are not.

Many people try to extrapolate domain trends from known sales data, but they are always operating somewhat in the dark since so many total domain name sales are never made public.