• www.pàypal.com
• www.ebày.com
• www.bànk.com
• www.päy.com

Notice that mark on your screen? In German its called an umlaut, also known as an accent mark.  What does it mean for the Internet:

1. An increase in phishing sites that look like the real thing.
2. A new opportunity for typosquatters to profit from registering domain names.

So when is an a, not an à’ ? What happens when an international visitor goes to www.pàypal.com in their browser? Will they go to www.paypal.com or www.pàypal.com? That depends on the characterset they use!

For domainers, its time to start thinking about those new domain names to hand register. For corporates, it time to think about tracking down all those domain names with a view to getting them registered when this thing goes live.

This interview is not to be missed.

1. Ron, you founded NamePros in February 2003, but were in the domain name industry beforehand. How and when did you get started?

Yes, I’ve been in the domaining business for 10 years, full-time for eight.

My first experience registering a domain name and building a website was in 1996 while working as “the tech guy” for an industrial manufacturing company. The following two years I starting stumbling through building websites for myself and discovering more about domain names. I learned the in’s and out’s of the dropping names, but didn’t devote much time or money into it in the beginning.

I was laid off my full-time job in 1999 and tried my best to make it on my own as a freelance web designer and programmer. As it turns out, my side hobby of buying and selling domain names would ultimately pay the bills. I’ve been my own boss ever since. When people ask what I do for a living, I either say I’m a domainer or a webmaster. Both are true.

2. How did NamePros come about?

I founded NamePros in February 2003. I wanted to be a part of a fun and free community for domain owners. Not seeing one since the demise of the original Afternic, I started NamePros.

There were a couple other domain related forums that existed at the time. I did not want to detract from their userbases, so I did not invite anyone from any other forums. Instead I sought out domain owners from other sources. It was a plan that worked out well and help create an identity for NamePros as a place you can meet people you wouldn’t normally see at other places. Over time the more seasoned domainers discovered NamePros and joined in the discussions to form the community we have today.

3. What was that moment, that you said to yourself “This is what I want to do” ?

I never had any doubt NamePros would be successful as a forum. I poured my heart into it and plowed ahead from Day 1 as if it were already a success. However it was about four months later that it really “took off” and I knew I would be doing this for a long time to come.

4. There are a number of forums for domainers that have sprung up over the years. How do you see yourself in comparison to other sites such as DNForum? Is there a key differentiator at NamePros?

All three forums have overlap in their memberships. The thing that distinguishes them from one another is the feel or “vibe” that members get while participating there. To oversimplify things, DNForum is business oriented, DomainState is more community centered. I feel NamePros is a perfect blend of business and community.

You’ll find all kinds on NamePros, from the new domainer with only a few names to the full-time professionals. We welcome anyone who is able to abide within our code of conduct, which is basically “be respectful of other members and straight in your dealings.”

5. It takes a lot of resources to run a successful community like NamePros. Over the past few years there has been various discussions around paid subscriptions. Would you consider moving to a paid model or are you completely ruling this out?

Paid membership sites are a big turnoff for me. NamePros will always remain free to participate in.

6. What do you think makes a great domain name?

A great domain is easy to remember… and hard to replace. There isn’t an exact formula for identifying one, it’s more like you’ll know it when you see it.

7. For newcomers to the industry, do you believe it’s “all too late” or is there still an opportunity to make some serious money? If the opportunity is there, where do you think that is and why?

There will always be opportunities for newcomers to make money in domains, though it takes more work and research to identify the opportunities that are available. It’s not as easy finding good unregistered domains today as it was 10 years ago but the opportunities are still there. I still hand register 10-20 new domains every week. Browsing the auctions is a good place to find values too if you’re careful not to get caught up in the excitement and overpay for a name.

8. If you were a newcomer to the industry, what investment strategy would you undertake and why?

The days of quantity over quality are well past us. It’s easier and smarter to manage a smaller portfolio of quality domains. This is especially true now that registration and renewal fees are on the rise. I would focus on buying a few good names from existing registrants rather than registering a ton of mediocre ones, and set aside half my budget for development purposes to build out a couple of the best ones into useful websites.

9. What’s your view on the future investment opportunities with regard to ccTLD’s and newer TLD’s such as .mobi, .asia and .me ?

I advocate cautious optimism with all new TLDs and domaining trends. It’s never wise to invest all your time and money into a narrow niche of domains. There are opportunities in new TLD launches, but mostly for those that get the best names early on. If I were entering the market now, I would avoid investing much in .MOBI or .ASIA since the initial window of opportunity is gone.

Investing in ccTLDs requires more premeditation and research before jumping in too deep. Established country codes like .co.uk and .de are safer bets where I’ve seen some good values compared to the more obscure ones.

10. Looking into the future, how do you see domaining evolve over the next 3-5 years?

I like that you mentioned word ‘evolve’ because that’s exactly what we’re seeing. It’s more of an evolution than a revolution going on now in the business.

Squatting on typos and trademarks is not the brilliant business model it once was. We’re going to see more domainers retiring from cybersquatting and become trademark holders themselves. It’s a maturing of our industry that I’m excited to see.

As far as parking is concerned there is a real obvious trend away from domain parking and towards development. It’s hard to be proud of a domain name that ends up on a page full of ads. Domainers want more that than, and I think we’ll start seeing more companies offering parking alternatives to domain owners. One reason I got involved with iModo.com was it’s goal of providing useful content based sites in place of traditional parked pages.

11. If you could give one piece of advice to someone new to the industry, what would that be?

Think outside the box, try different things until you find a strategy that works for you, and then stick to it. There is no one-size-fits-all business plan in this industry.

Thanks for your time Ron, I really appreciate it. I’m sure the domaining industry will find this interesting reading.

The guys at Tucows have prepared a little video with Bill Sweetman, General Manager, Domain Portfolio to explain it:

You could watch the video…. but this sums it up - “Instead of having to search Tucows, you can just use Afternic to find expired names”. Easy.

Who Was De-accredited?

1. Best Registration Services, Inc. dba Bestregistrar.com (IANA ID 473). They had 5,400 gTLD registrations.

2. DotForce Corp. dba DotForce.com (IANA ID 461). While they only had 400 gTLD registrations, they were based in Korea, so there could be an opportunity for someone to play in the international space.

How Do I Get 5,800 Domains?

If you are an ICANN accredited registrar, you need to send an email to Mike at ICANN by no later than 23:00 UTC on Friday, 13 June 2008, and include the following info:

1. Registrar experience, including number of registrations and customers managed;
2. Availability of sufficient customer service staffing to timely respond to customer service requests during and shortly after the bulk transfer;
3. Ability to communicate with customers in languages other than English;
4. A list of the TLDs in which accredited and operational;
5. Experience with and knowledge of bulk-transfer procedures;
6. Documentation of procedures to resolve potential disputes of domain name control or registration rights;
7. Experience as a customer-facing / “retail” registrar business;
8. Experience with second-level IDNs in the com & net zones;
9. Ability to provide ICANN with regular status reports.

Of course, if your company name is Godaddy then you probably don’t need any of this. (See sarcasm). Incidentally, if you have not read Bob Parsons 16 Rules then be sure to check them out - excellent work. Go and order the poster.

For Aussies, it’s the first real domaining conference to be held in Asia/Pacific. This makes it especially attractive for those people who have not previously attended the US Traffic conferences.

For International guests its a great opportunity to get to know the Australian domaining market and enjoy one of Australia’s best holiday destinations. With beaches and ocean views like this, you can see why the Gold Coast is so popular.

In an exclusive interview with DomainerIncome.com, Mike Robertson (Business Development Manager for Fabulous) and Andrew Wright (Marketing Manager for Fabulous), cover everything you need to know about the conference. A full transcript of the interview will be made available shortly.

I hope you enjoy it.

Using Coupons At TDNAM

When you buy an expired domain name at TDNAM, you can use coupons to reduce the price you pay. The saving is on the 1 year renewal cost, so here is a list of coupons that I ran through a few minutes ago:

Coupon code: “gdbb776” made the 1 year renewal decrease from $9.99 to $7.50, while “cjcbentld” reduced it to $7.64 and “gdbb776” reduced it to $7.50. So take your pick.

Its important to note that these coupons didn’t work for me on a domain name that was listed by a 3rd party. But don’t let that worry you.

Advantages Of Not Buying An Expired Domain Name

One MAJOR ADVANTAGE of buying a name from a 3rd party is that you get to keep the entire history of the domain name. This is something to give serious thought to when bidding.

For the beginners reading this, I’ll explain what I mean. When you backorder an expired / expiring domain name from a backordering company, the domain actually expires and renews as a part of the drop process. As such, search engines tend not to keep their directory listings, cached web pages etc.. BUT when you buy a domain from a 3rd party, it’s not a part of the drop process. If the expiry date comes up, then you just renew it, like you would any other domain name.

The search engines keep all that valuable history, your happy - everyones happy. Now, time to monetize that new domain!