ygrab.com

Domaining.com and the Donation

Ross — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:04:02 +0000

By now you have probably seen the donation button and the useless feeds on Domaining.com. I have come to the conclusion that people need to get over it and accept it or not. There are many bloggers and website owners that do the same thing, even though they make 10 fold what their average reader makes. This is probably something that Francois did want to do but had to make the hard decision to do it. Was it the right thing? I have no clue. Anyways i am not going to go on about this forever but i do have one thing.

I challenge the bloggers that are complaining about it to take their feeds from domaining.com and see where they go from there. Maybe even donate a bit of money to Francois, i know he makes a hell of a lot more than i do but he is hurting and he has been for a while. So either get over it or go away. That is all !

Pizza.com Disappointment

Ross — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:42:01 +0000

I have been away from the general online/domaining industry for the past couple months because of a business opportunity that has suddenly come up. If you have not guessed it has something related to pizza ! Anyways this business adventure had set me in a direction on the Internet to find out as much information about pizza as i could along with finding forums and people to answer questions.

As i had been participating in 2 popular pizza forums for the past couple of months i had come to realize that they are not all that active. With my thirst for more knowledge i set out to find a couple more active forums to get on and chat it up with pizza fanatics and business owners. What i found next horrified me and sent a chilling feeling through my body.

Now i know that sounds a bit dramatic but i felt quite ashamed at what i found. I did a simple search on google for “pizza forum” and as usual return a comprehensive list of sites that may strike my interest. Started lightly browsing through the list and to my amazement Pizza.com caught my eye. Feeling super excited that such an awesome name, also one that had been sold for quite the penny, had a forum.

One thing lead to another and i clicked the link and it brought me straight to the forum. Not really reading what posts were about and all that i did realize that the post count was well in to the thousands. I immediately clicked open a sub-forum to dive right in and get the information wheel spinning. What i found was not only disappointing but disgusting being a domainer.

The forum was FILLED to the TOP with SPAM. I do not mean a rouge account or two getting through their filters but the whole freakin thing is filled with spam. Not one informative post, not one real person, not one ounce of respect. So i thought at this point, “OK maybe they just do not moderate their forum”. What came next was the worst part.

So i decided to do some research on the main site and see what it was all about. Feeling confident that the domain is being used for a good purpose considering that it is worth so much and that had sold in the past for $2mil+. Typed in my browser “Pizza.com”. I wanted to go directly to the MAIN site and check it out for myself. Got to the main site and said to myself, “not so bad maybe there is a light here”.

First thing i did was check out a link on the main page. What was it you ask? A freakin FEED! Pizza.com was a glorified parking page that i am sure made the owners quite a bit of money. Considering that the website looked and felt like a real legit website that had tons of info and great things going on. At that point my stomach felt empty and my heart fell out of place. I just had no respect for what i had been doing for so many years, granted i had not taken it to the extreme, but i saw and felt what so many people on the Internet and online business feel everyday when it comes to great domains not being used. Just was not good to see this straight up first had.

Anyways, since then they have come out with a new site and it looks really really good. Only beef i have with it is that its nothing we have not seen before. Just a glorified minisite and search index. Other than that it offers nothing at all. I know they are taking the step in the right direction here but i really do not think the site will be a success unless they put their hearts into it, and from what i see they just want to make money.

Anyone else have a similar experience or some type of debate to this?

No related posts.

Short And Quick Domain News Video: Episode 1

Ross — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:04:32 +0000

Doing something new as i have done over and over here at YGrab.com. I am going to start up the video blogging again with short and quick domain name news videos for the week. So instead of having to watch videos of people for 6+ mins i am going to try to keep it under 3 mins. Along with that i am going to provide links to all mentions below the video so you can easily find the pages that make sense. The links will be listed in the order they are mentioned. Want to see your article in the video just let me know about it and i will check it out.

What Will Rio.com sell for at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.?? Win a Ticket to TRAFFIC South Beach 2010 – RicksBlog.com

Yahoo Wins Yahoo.tel Domain Name in Arbitration – DomainNameWire.com

Name.com $5.99 .com and .net Fridays – Name.com

DomainGang.com

Optimizing Value Of An End User Domain Name Purchase – BruceMarler.com

DomainHack.com Launches

3 Three Letter .Com’s To Drop Sunday – TheDomains.com

Domainvestors.tv 2-Year Anniversary!

Oklahoma.me On The Launch Pad – BruceMarler.com

Bankruptcy.Net Sells For $56K Putting SnapNames October Showcase Over $100K – TheDomains.com

Resumes.com Sells For $400,000 – ChefPatrick.com

There’s no money in web design. AEIOU is getting out of the outsourcing business – RickLatona.com

Upgrade Wordpress – Now! – DomaInvestors.tv

Moniker Auction Inventory – Moniker.com

Rick Latona Auction Inventory – RickLatona.com

Software.co.uk Sells For $248,549 – ChefPatrick.com

Breaking News: British Court Refuses To Enforce Kentucky Domain Seizure Order – TheDomains.com

Domaining.com Up For Sale at $3m – YGrab.com

DomainHack.com Open For Business – ChefPatrick.com

.De Domain Name Auction Melts Sedo’s Servers – DomainNameWire.com

LiveSigns.net – Finding an Audience Outside of Tradition

Ross — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:57:12 +0000

I was at a hotel the other day when i noticed a monitor displaying weather and airport arrival/departure times through a service located at LiveSigns.net. I did not think that this was out of the norm since it is the closest hotel to the airport. With the down turn of traditional news print and people on the go using cell phones ect this is pretty cool.

I know that in recent years i have been using my Centro to look up arrival times and other things like that when on the go. So now that i have noticed this i do not have to take out my phone and type in the web address along with other info to get what i need on the way to the airport. I can simply check out one of these monitors in the lobby of the hotel. Knowing that this hotel has this provided i am more likely to stay there over the others in the area unless i see something similar.

Initially after seeing this i had to visit the LiveSigns.net site and see what it was all about. From what it looks like they offer a bunch of different things you can display on monitors or TVs around your location. These things include twitter updates, flights, shuttles, news, and even used for meetings. The one that i had seen displayed flights and weather in the area along with around the country.

Not only on top of that they offer and advertising platform for people. Now this is nothing new but it is a great alternative to the traditional advertisement in the newspaper. What makes it really great is that i am sure you target different areas of the country ect ect. Obviously the market opens people up to the on the go people so expect ads directed towards this.

Anyways thought i would share all that with everyone. Anyone else see these or seen something similar?

As a side note it does not look like they own the .com. Just another reason to expand or develop on the .net version of a domain name !

NamePros.com Newsletter and Meet Up

Domaining.com Now Up For Sale $3m

Ross — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:35:15 +0000

Yes you heard that right the popular domaining aggregation site is up for sale for a cool $3,000,000 site. This is appearently the claimed ‘reserve’ price that they are asking for this domain. Pretty crazy since it is the category killer domain for the domaining industry.

Said at the official sale page, “We got many offers since we bought this domain but recently we received a much more serious but that still do not match our reserve. So today we decided to simpy list this domain, so anyone having a true interest and the funds can simply contact us without wasting mutual time.”

They seem to be extremely serious about this and it should not be taken lightly. This could be the chance for someone else to take the helm and shine in the domain world. Rick Latona? Rick Schwartz? Frank Shilling? Ron Jackson?

My Piece of Advice to New or Part-Time Domainers

Ross — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:21:18 +0000

Elliot from ElliotsBlog.com is running some great posts right now that have advice from some of the greatest domainers of all time: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3. So i thought it would be great to share a piece of advice straight from me to everyone out there. Otherwise strike me as a retard and just read what the greats have to say !

One of the best pieces of advice i can give to a new or part-time domainer is to not actually be a domainer at all. Do not take that literally… What i mean is diversify yourself and do more than just buy and sell domain names. Not everyone has the capital to dive straight in and start making a great profit off the domains they invest in. I would recommended starting out by getting to know the market and watch the auctions over at sedo and other major domain auction houses.

This will in return let see what types of domains sell for at certain price points. This is valuable information to you because it can help you gauge how much money you need to break in to the niche that you are interested in. Notice i mentioned the “niche you are interested in”, i said this because the smartest thing someone can do when buying domain names for profit is to invest in what they know best. Everyone is an expert at something.

If you are buying in to a niche that you know a lot about it becomes more about the niche rather than buying and selling domain names. By using this method it allows you more options to do things with those domains if you fail at flipping/selling them. For instance if you know a lot about training dogs, buy domains that make sense with that niche i.e. DogObedience.com. Now i know to get a name like that it would take some money but it will help you in the long run to sell the domain name and/or develop the domain name.

Basically what i am saying is buy domains in a niche you know a lot about. What this does is give you more than one out for the domain name and expand your options for what you actually want to do with the name.

NamePros.com Newsletter and Meet Up

Ross — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:02:15 +0000

This morning i was greeted by an email i had not seen before, a Newsletter from NamePros.com. Titled “NamePros Newsletter #1″. Well in fact this is the first instance that i have seen of a NamePros.com newsletter. The newsletter itself was pretty straight forward and short. Although it was short there was a pretty awesome announcement.

NamePros 7th Anniversary Party "One Night In Vegas"

~ NamePros 7th Anniversary Party in Las Vegas ~

Come celebrate NamePros style in Downtown Las Vegas for a domainer get together like no other before. The party starts 6:00 PM on February 7th, 2010 at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino.

Book your trip now! Rooms at start at just $59 a night.

RSVP on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/ev…d=110573501374

Pretty sweet to know that NamePros.com is making an effort to create a gathering of domainers to celebrate their anniversary. Although its not like a traditional meet up or conference it is more of a celebration/party from what it sounds like. There is time for meet and greets along with networking before and after the “party”. I think the best part of all besides meeting all the great domainers at NP is that all the drinks and admissions to the places are FREE, paid by the sponsors of the event. So in all reality you just have to get down there and pay your hotel, which is only $59/night.

4 Easy Ways To Generate Traffic

Ross — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:22:57 +0000

We all want to generate traffic to our sites whether it be a blog or a minisite. Here are 4 easy ways to generate backlinks and traffic that will help your site grow. Not only will these tips help you grow right away but they will also have lasting effects that will help you as your blog expands.

1. Social Bookmarking
I have hear quite a few people say that this is useless and does nothing for backlinks ect. Well they are right in a sense that it really does nothing in the long run for backlinks. What it does is it gets your site out there and in front of peoples eyes. I am sure most of us have experience a stumble upon traffic surge. They are nice and makes you feel good. This is kind of a short term thing and is recommended especially to newer sites. You can find people that you can pay to do this on massive scales for you. You can mostly find those people on forums like, DigitalPoint.com and NamePros.com. Also promoting your blog posts or site this way yourself is something i recommend.

2. Directory Submission
This sort of goes in the lines of Social Bookmarking. Its more to get your site out there and around the Internet than it is to build up backlinks. Although there are some directories that average quite a bit of traffic and that traffic could spill to your site if you are lucky. You can also do paid listings at some of the HUGE directories out there. It will cost you a pretty nickle but they are awesome for traffic and backlinks. Plus it looks good when you get included in one of them.

3. Social Media
Taking your social media accounts and straining your traffic from them to another source is a popular favorite among marketers today. Take twitter for example: how easy is it for people to quickly pop open a link your just posted? Especially if you have some sort of weight in your niche. So when looking at ways to generate more your site always look in to the social media aspect of things, it can be a game changer.

4. Guest Posting
Even if you are running just a website, guest posting can liven things up quite a bit. It does more than just generate good amounts of traffic. More than likely the blog or website you are posting at will allow you some links back to your site so that will generate quality and long lasting backlinks. On top of that it shows that you are serious about what you are doing. Also the most important thing is that it makes you look more established and trustworthy to be able to offer advice on another persons website especially if that person is an authority in the space.

If you have any other ways of generating quick and easy traffic feel free to post them below.

Poll: Will You Attend A Domaining Event in 2010?

Ross — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:14:15 +0000

domaining

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

End-User Follow Up Response

Ross — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:37:33 +0000

Last week I had talked about writing to end users Professionally. I would like to let everyone in on the second round of emails that you should send back to the end user in response to interest in the said domain name. At this point you have over came the odds and the end user is nibbling on the line, so to speak. They want to see what the domain is all about and possible take a bite at it.

In this next email you want to state facts and facts only. This is when you have the chance to actually put the end user in their place. Do not give them any other option but to counter offer, accept, or leave. I am assuming most people want to make a quick and smooth sale so state a reasonable price. Put in the fair market value of their current domain and how your domain relates to that domain on a factual basis, i.e. exact monthly searches, related sale ect.

The most important part in this email is that you present a REASONABLE PRICE for your domain name. If you come back at them asking $2k i for a sub par domain name compared to their already owned domain i can guarantee you that they will walk away. I know that placing a value on a domain is probably one of the hardest things to do especially when its to an end user but you have to keep things reasonable and fair to everyone.

After you have stated the facts about your domain name and their current one there should be no reason that you do not atleast get some type of reply from the end user. I have gotten to this stage many times and i almost always get some kind of response. Everything from, “Wow that is some great information but our business really does not need that domain at this current time” to “We accept”. I really depends on the tone you set right from the beginning and they way you price your domain name.

If you have any advice or think i left something out feel free to add to this.