discredit.org

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a Los Angeles Clippers game, courtesy of a few close family friends.  One which is a season ticket holder and the other manages DJ Dense (the official DJ for the Los Angeles Clippers).  While sitting in section 111, row 13 in seat 20 I noticed something from a distance.  Something seemed a bit strange, but quite familiar.

No it wasn’t the fact that the Clippers were up the majority of the game or the fact that they even won 88 to 72.  What I saw was the infamous GoDaddy logo!  As a fellow domainer you could say I got a little excited when the GoDaddy advertisement was displayed court side.  I had to think fast!  Since my camera didn’t have a phone on it, I asked my friend / business associate to take a picture with his iphone.  He promptly accepted the challenge and was able to grab a few pictures before the GoDaddy advertisement disappeared.

I am elated that GoDaddy has taken such a proactive step with their advertising campaigns.  When it comes to brand recognition, they are raising the bar as a domain registrar & hosting provider.  This brings me to the conversation which was sparked after seeing the advertisement.  My friend actually stated that GoDaddy should spend some of that money on simplifying their checkout system.  He said it was confusing.  They should simplify it so customers don’t get frustrated and go elsewhere.

This is coming from a software developer!  If he thinks it’s confusing then imagine what the average person must feel like!  Personally, I completely agree with my friend’s statements.  When it comes to using GoDaddy, I have learned to ignore any and all upsells.  In fact, I don’t think I have ever been upsold on a GoDaddy service with the exception of the free privacy trial.

In the end it turned out to be a great game.  Just when I thought I could get away from thinking about business, the GoDaddy advertisement pops up.  Kudos to the marketing team at GoDaddy, someone has obviously done there research.  I wonder what other sports goers had to say that night when the advertisement was displayed.
*Yes, I am a Los Angeles Clipper Fan!

This week’s domaining comic is a continuation of the domain extensions and people series.  Today we are focusing on the .info, .biz and .ws extensions!  If you have not viewed the previous comics based in this series, feel free to view both comic 5 and comic 9 here as well.

As always if you have any ideas for a future comic strip feel free to submit them to info@dnpimping.com or call us at (909)257-PIMP and if chosen we will give you a $20 GoDaddy.com gift card!

You’ve built an amazing site and within a week of building it you have been able to monetize it exactly how you planned.  Your google adsense and affiliate partner accounts are starting to reflect all the hours you spent developing the site.  The website you intricately took the time to build is working.  Now you can move onto the next project as you are confident that this developed domain will continue to trend upwards.

Another week goes by and your developer confidence has sky rocketed.  You decide to log into your affiliate partner accounts and notice that there is a large gray area which effected your earnings potential dramatically.  This can’t be real, there must be a glitch or a problem with the affiliate tracking software.  No, this is very real and it can happen to you!

Have you ever heard of the term, “police the police.”  Well in this case the police unit is your hosting provider and monitoring them is your legal duty!  I used this example because there are a number of domainers out there who simply TRUST that there hosting provider will have there best interest.  Well guess what?  You are a very small blip on your hosting provider’s radar and when your site goes down I can almost guarantee that unless you notice it your hosting provider will turn the other cheek.

Now I am not writing this blog entry to scare you.  My objective is to arm you with the write tools and information to make sure you are monitoring your online properties properly.  With that in mind, I also want to remind you that I have worked in the web hosting industry for years and have seen the unfathomable.  We’ll discuss that in a future blog entry!

What tool should you have in your domaining arsenal?  In walks pingdom.com!  This site is a life saver!  A few months ago while I was away from the computer, I received a text message saying that my blog was down.  At that time I had DNPimping.com hosted on a server which was running a proxy site.  To put it simply the server was running out of swap due to the popularity of the proxy site.  Since it was running out of virtual memory, apache would crash and along with it goes access to DNPimping.com!

Without that text message I would not of known that the server was down.  In addition to this I would not of been able to calculate the total downtime to notify my dedicated server provider with.  Most quality webhosting companies have an internal system to monitor uptime.  Again, I want to stress “police the police!”  Because I had my own monitoring service I was able to be proactive on resolving my problem.  Ultimately I decided to kill the proxy site, move my blog and cancel the dedicated server.  This process has saved me both time and money!

Pingdom.com is an uptime and performance monitoring service.  Best of all you can take advantage of this service for free.  The free account only allows you to monitor one website, hostname or ip.  For me this is all that I needed, the only website I am actively monitoring at the moment is my blog.

If you decide that you would like to upgrade your account to monitor multiple properties, the interface allows you to do so at the click of a button.  Email and SMS alerts make this service a no brainer for the average domainer.  (Hey that rhymed!)  Basic accounts start off at $9.95 a month and business accounts start off at $39.95 a month.  If you decide to sign up for the service, feel free to write a comment about it.

There are other uptime monitoring services and tools out there.  I have tried many of them and in my opinion this is one of the easiest to use and it flat out WORKS!

*I enjoy the service so much that I am in the process of joining their affiliate program.

With a total of 105 bidders, goodwill.com rakes in a five figure sum on NameJet.  Some say that this domain was a complete steal and others are mentioning that this domain is a hot bed for legal issues.  Goodwill.org,which is  owned and operated by Goodwill Industries International, Inc. could potentially cause a problem for the new domain owner.

It should be interesting to see what happens in this case and I will make sure to keep a close eye on any news surrounding the domain name.

As a disclaimer I would like to say that I am not promoting online gambling in any shape or form.  I do have to admit that I have tried online gambling before and did not like it much.  I do enjoy gambling in a traditional casino atmosphere and have played everything from blackjack to roulette.

One thing I can say is ever since I tried online gambling for the first time, blank envelopes have showed up at my door.  These anonymous envelopes contain a well written letter bundled with a CD.  The last envelope I received from an online casino was from GrandEagleCasino.com, a website I have never heard of before.  The team of people responsible for these mailings are quite persistent and are the focus of today’s domain spotlight.

“It’s time to roll with $100 FREE!  No purchase required!”  This is the first sentence which headlines the letter included in the mailer.  The letter is well written and very enticing.  One sentence which made me chuckle a bit was the portion which stated that Americans are welcome.  It then proceeded to say the following:

“Gamers in the land of the free are able to safely play in a convenient, secure environment.  We’ve got a wide range of payment methods to suite any pocket or need.”

This sentence is iconic in nature!  It makes you feel like you are a high roller!  There is nothing to worry about and you can securely gamble utilizing our amazing environment!  It doesn’t mention however that online gambling could potentially be illegal in your jurisdiction.  This is unfortunate, as they are bending the truth to make a quick buck.  This is another reason why the gambling industry as a whole has been under so much scrutiny.

To my amazement the letter does not mention the domain name one time.  Was this done on purpose or could this been overlooked by the team responsible for writing the letter.  Either way, I feel that this is definitely something that should be corrected.  If you want to remind people of where to go, then you have to mention the domain name a few times for name recognition.  I often tend to forget about online casino names and this is probably the reason why.

Next I looked at the CD packaging.  On the packaging itself the domain name is listed a total of 5 times.  The domain name is also printed on the CD as well.  What about those people who tend to misplace CDs?  I always do this.  Without the CD I would not know where to go.  If I were simply rating this based upon the CD packaging I would give them 2 thumbs up, but if I were to judge this based on the letter included in the suspicious looking envelope 2 big thumbs down.

Branding is very important and not including your domain name in a promotional letter will simply weaken the brand you are trying to promote.

Excuse me for my ignorance and for the fact that I didn’t ask a pertinent question before the lead question to this blog entry.  That question would be, does a domainer need a business card?  Since I feel that a domainer indeed does need a business card, I figured fast forwarding past this question would be best.

Now what kind of information should be included on a domainer’s business card?  I guess that really depends on the target market that the domainer is trying to reach.  Target markets can get quite diverse, so I figured I would stick to two potential target markets which are:

I.  Domaining Associates

II.  End-Users

Lets talk about domaining associates.  These are the indviduals who partake directly in the domaining industry in one form or another.  They tend to be well versed in industry “lingo” and will understand terms that the typical person might not understand.  For this target market I would suggest the following be included on a business card:

1. First and Last Name

This is a given for most people, unless you consider yourself a private person.

2. Title or Position

I can not stress how important this is!  In the domaining industry a number of us tend to wear many different hats, some of us work for larger companies who specialize in products or services geared towards domainers and some of us run our own businesses where domaining happens to fit under one of the many services our business offers.

Then there are those who domain part time or as a hobby.  Regardless you need to include a title!  It allows for your audience to immediately know where you fit into there business / social network and superseding this point it allows for them to know immediately how you can benefit them or vice versa.

3. Company Name

If you have a company this is a given.  Make sure to include your full legal business name, try not to abbreviate it.  Name recognition is important, so why not!

4. Telephone & Fax Number

Yes, the telephony age is still here.  People want to know that they can reach you.  Make sure to include a telephone number where they can.  Nine times out of ten if you are passing your business card out, you are most likely generating new leads for your business or trying to network with people.  Either way make sure that you can be reached!

There have been times where I have received business cards from associates, where the number leads directly to a PBX system with a pre-recorded message.  After not being able to reach that person, I simply went elsewhere to connect with someone who would actually answer there phone!

5. Website & Email

Make sure the website is operable or at least has an under construction landing page.  There’s nothing more embarrassing then going to a website which resolves to a hosting directory with folder listings.  Actually the only thing more embarrassing is visiting a URL which does not resolve at all!  Make sure it’s working before you list it on your card.

Same goes for your email!  Bounce backs are a dead end for business.

6. Summarize What You Do

Please summarize a bit of what you do for your target audience.  If you are a domain broker, then make sure to list it!  If you are a domain investor then put it on your business card!  You get the picture!  One sentence or phrase can go a long way when presenting yourself.  These lines alone have the capacity to open and close a deal.

Now for end-users!

This might sound funny, but you need to remember that the average Joe walking down the street has no clue about the domaining industry.  If you were to tell them you were a domainer they would either ask what that is or shrug and act like they know what you are talking about.  If you fail to convey this message to them on your business card, guess where your card will end up?  Perhaps the garbage can or if they are nice, the recycle bin.

The end-user business card should have every point which I have listed above.  In addition to this you should designate an area to describe some of your experiences in the domaining industry or include a couple of lines on what the domaining industry is.  The perfect location for this would be on the back of your business card.

An example of this would be “As a domain broker, I help facilitate the domain acquisition process.”  This statement alone will be sure to spark some interest or if you prefer to explain a little more information about the domaining industry you could include maybe a simple definition of domaining.  For this I will reference wikipedia “Domaining is the practice of identifying and registering or acquiring Internet domain names with the intent of selling them later for a profit.”

Regardless of what you decide to put on the card.  Taking the extra step to identify your target market will increase your chances of succeeding in this industry.

On a special note, if you have any suggestions feel free to post them as well!  All input is welcome!  Till next time my friends.

As a designer, I have a deep affection for typography.  I’ve decided to create visual elements every week to represent the quotes which are posted on Sunday.  The way the quotes are displayed may change as the blog matures.

“Domaining is an art, one that starts out as a blank canvas and ends up as a masterpiece.” - Pimp Jason

It’s that time of the week again.  Let’s get right to it, as this entry speaks for itself!  For those of you who did not hear about the shill bidding incident with SnapNames, feel free to read about it here.

As a domainer I have a natural interest in what other domainers are doing.  Here are the top five domaining blogs I tend to visit:

1.  BruceMarler.com

Bruce’s blog entries tend to be well thought out.  He tends to inform his audience on everything from business ventures to the best wordpress plugins to use for your blog.  This is by far my favorite domaining blog and my comments on his site are a testament to this.

2.  Domainvestors.tv

Morgan has an amazing way of making the complicated sound simple!  Armed with great videos and a professional attitude, in my book he has become one of the best teachers in our industry.  In fact, I don’t think there are many others out there that can break our industry down to a science like he can.

3.  NameTalent.com

Mike is a refreshing voice in the domaining industry.  His blog is fairly new to the landscape, but he covers a diverse range of topics which tend to reflect the overall outlook of domaining.  When I want interesting news and want it fast, I head over to his site to view all of the latest trials and tribulations.

4.  TeenDomainer.com

Brian is a young domainer with the passion of a veteran.  His posts prove that the domaining world has no age limit.  He can compete with the best of them and has always been more than willing to provide advice when needed.  Brian represents a demographic which is needed in our industry and is sure to inspire many other young domainers with his future accomplishments.

5.  Domaingang.com

This site speaks for itself.  I always felt that the domaining world was a bit too serious!  In walks the domain gang to flip it upside down and shake it up a little bit.  This blog is the gossip magazine for the domaining industry.  Sometimes the gossip headlines are written so well, you can’t help but to believe the content that follows!  I always get a kick out of reading the site!

Yes even domain pimps need a bit of R and R. I wish that were the case for me! The blog is currently undergoing some much needed maintenance. For those of you who are hosting provider savvy, you might even notice a healthy change. I’ve decided to move my blog from one account to another.

Why am I doing this?

There are a number of reasons, but the main one revolves around the fact that I no longer need to host the site on a dedicated server. As much as I love to have access to the abundant resources of which my current dedicated server provides me with, I simply don’t need it!

The real reason behind this change is due to the fact that I decided to disable a proxy website I have hosted for several years. This proxy site consumed a massive amount of server resources, as well as bandwidth. So for now, I went ahead and parked proxy-sock.com at namedrive to let it cool off a bit.

The next step is to back up the entire blog and transfer it to its new location. There will be a few quirks in this process since I am going from DirectAdmin to Cpanel, but it shouldn’t be anything I can’t handle. If you notice the site acting funny, then now you know the reason behind this.