Beach + Linux Book = ?
Today, even though it was a slight overcast I decided to head over to a beach which is around 15 minutes from my house. So where does the Linux book fit in? Hold on, I will get to that! As many of you know I have enjoyed running a business. I have worn many hats over the years and have established a great set of clients within the IT consulting world. I also love the competitive nature of the domaining industry, hence the reason why I started this blog.
Domainers are a unique breed and those that blog about domaining are at the top of the list. Now to the juicy part! On Friday I was offered a job that made me think quite hard. I am utilizing the phrase “quite hard” because it is something that I am seriously considering, in fact I might of already made up my mind! I love being an entrepreneur but I also like to explore opportunities every now and then. At this time all of the puzzle pieces seem to be falling in place and I can confidently say that I will be moving forward with this position.
Although I won’t be going into much detail about the position, I will say one thing. The position involves Linux! Yep, it involves every nerds favorite five letter word. I have been revisiting my old Linux books and will be mashing through console screens for the next couple of weeks. Although I really don’t need to be doing this, I figured it would be fun! Now you know why I brought the Linux book to the beach!
The book has around 900 pages and I am only going over the concepts I feel are important for my new position. You’d be amazed at how proficient the Linux operating system is! Ok, enough of the nerd talk. I want to revisit a point which has been controversial for some and trivial to others. Should domaining be considered as a full time job? My answer to this is yes, but only if you can sustain a healthy lifestyle off of it. If you have the luxury of developing a portfolio which continues to earn for you then by all means make it happen!
At this stage in my life, I feel it is important to have the best of both worlds. I have been able to structure my business commitments in such a way where everything will continue to run as planned! With the help of delegating tasks to a small team and properly planning my days I can continue to work as I have done and maintain a full time presence at my new job. Time is of the essence and I have learned that when a good thing comes your way you must grab it by all means. There will always be opportunities and for me this one is a perfect fit!
Have a great weekend everyone and remember that whether you like the Lakers or not they will win the championship this year and next year and maybe even the year after that. 
Feel free to place your bets!
Ever Heard Of Yummy.com?
Chances are you haven’t heard of Yummy.com and until today I probably wouldn’t of heard about it myself. Today I had the urge to stay home and relax a bit, I decided to skip going to the office to take care of a few personal tasks that I had been overlooking for quite some time. After opening the fridge a few times, I realized and continued to realize that there was no food.
How can this be? My lazy day at home was no longer going to be LAZY! I wondered what could be done about such a thing. I didn’t want to order take out or even hop in the car to buy groceries. I decided to visit Google and see which services deliver groceries to your door. To my surprise I ran into a great domain name! Yah that’s right I said great. What gets better than Yummy.com? Apparently they are one of the few grocers which deliver to my local area and boy am I glad they do.
This is a great example of a domain name, which is easy to remember and a service which will be hard to pass on. Not only do they deliver to my local area, they also provide free delivery for orders over $100 or more. They also deliver the items within about 30 minutes. Since I don’t exactly know the time I placed the order I will guess that it was placed at about 2:10. I say that because they called me at 2:15 to let me know that they were out of pine sol. I promptly asked if they had a replacement for it and they said they would look and the rep said we have Lysol. I went ahead and told them that the Lysol all purpose cleaner would be a perfect substitute. He updated the total and thanked me for understanding.
Now its about 2:45 so the about 30 minutes is about right. I am confident that the items I ordered will be in great shape and the company will be here soon. Lets see how long it takes for them to arrive. While I wait I want to talk about how they were actually a spin off of home grocer. Isn’t that ironic? Does everyone remember homegrocer.com? The company which tried to attack a market, before the service being offered was actually accepted.
Unfortunately there were a number of great ideas like this which were swiftly popped when the Internet bubble occurred. Well these companies are back, with new names and better strategies. The company car just showed up at 2:54PM.
Alright and I am back, the associate who delivered the groceries was very friendly and showed up in a small Yummy.com car. I tried to take some pictures of the car through my living room window, lets see how they show up a little later.
He brought all five grocery bags up to my duplex! I am located on the second story of a duplex and gotta say that this is great service. I am very impressed, the driver even carded me for the six back of bohemian beer that I purchased as well! Sometimes you’ve just gotta say it! I love LA! This was my first experience with Yummy.com and I am sure that I will have plenty more like this in the near future. Here are a few pictures for everyone to enjoy! While you look at the pictures I am going to get back to eating my bowl full of honey nut cheerios and silk almond milk. =)
With Focus Comes Drops
Whether you are a new domainer or an industry veteran, registering a domain name can be similar to opening a gift during the holidays. The element of surprise can be quite fulfilling. As with gifts its the thought that counts and sometimes you find yourself returning an item that you just didn’t need. Your aunt doesn’t need to know that you returned the tube socks she purchased for you!
Every domainer eventually realizes that focus is the key attribute to becoming successful in this industry. They have what I like to call a “domainer wake up call” which is another way of saying an epiphany. Mine came in the form of a portfolio assessment. I realized that there is a large percentage of domain names that I just don’t need anymore. Now only if these domain names could be returned back to the store from where they were purchased.
Unfortunately, these domain names can’t be returned! Instead of wasting anymore time or effort on the names I’ve decided just to let them drop. My focus as a domainer has changed and I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to increase the value of my portfolio by shifting what I concentrate on acquiring. These days I am focusing less on registering forum / dictionary based domain names. Forums had a nice run while they lasted and can still be extremely valuable if developed properly, but I can honestly say that I do not have the time to focus on developing forums any longer. As for dictionary based domain names, the majority of the terms that I would register are being held hostage in another domain investor’s portfolio. Instead of searching for such terms in vein and wasting a great deal of time and effort, I’ve decided to throw in the towel on these names.
I am letting the majority of the dictionary domain names which I currently have in my portfolio drop! I couldn’t see myself developing half of the dictionary based words. My main focus these days are geos, product names and lead generation. When I say geo, I am referring to my surrounding areas. I have no business in registering domain names for a small town in Texas. Since most of the great city domain names in my area are taken, I have decided to focus on geo-community based domain names. Although this term may have an alternative meaning, I am focusing on regions of the city which aren’t necessarily listed on a map.
I’m not exactly sure how many domain names I have let drop this year, but it is safe to say that it has been in the double digit range!
Drop it like its hot!
My Sunday Experiment: Enjoying The Three Day Weekend
This is an experiment in itself. As you may of noticed, I can be a bit of a work a holic. I’ve decided to take it easy this weekend and work on my development projects at another time.
This weekend is more about spending time remembering those who have served this country. Regardless of how they served our country, the fact that they did is commendable in its own right. I want to wish everyone a great Memorial Day Weekend from my family to yours!
Feel free to mail me any leftovers as long as it doesn’t come in the form of a can of SPAM. (Attila knows exactly what I am referring to!)
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!
My Cat Inspires Dot Me [Domainer Comic Strip]
Are you ready for comic #21?! Its been a long time, shouldn’t of left you without a nice comic to…. Some of you will remember that old rhyme and some of you will scratch your head wondering what in the world I am talking about. Whelp lets forget I even mentioned it and fast forward to our very own Domainer Comic Strip! These comics will be worth money one day so make sure to print them out and place them in a plastic zip lock bag.
Today’s comic strip is based on how my cat inspires me! If you missed the story and all of the wonderful domain names that I registered because of my cat, then take a little time and read this entry. (Make sure to click on the comic to make it bigger!) Enjoy!
Laugh Out Loud eBay Thursdays – BUSTYINMATES.COM
Prepared to be entertained! It doesn’t happen often but today I spotted a domain name which made me LAUGH OUT LOUD! It made me laugh so hard I had to tell some other people in the office what I was looking at. Today’s Laugh Out Loud eBay Thursday domain is BustyInmates.com and yes you heard that correctly!
Now I’m not sure what a busty inmate looks like, but lets sit back and ponder about this a bit….
What came to your mind?
Exactly, now you know my reasons for laughing. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word inmate is Bubbah wearing a large jump suit. Now for the busty part…I won’t go there, but one thing I will say is this domain name definitely makes the list for one of the funniest ones that I have heard in a very long time.
For those that ever wanted to make a website about busty inmates, now is your chance! There are only a few hours of bidding left on this domain name. I’m curious to see if anyone will end up investing in the name. I’m thinking about bidding on the name just for laughs!
Domain Spotlight Tuesdays: GlobalIndustrial.com
Warning global based domain names are bad for your health. Just kidding, but I’ve gotta say that the word global is a bit redundant. You hear this term over and over again. What does global truly mean these days? I almost feel it is a way for a company to spark a revolution of some sort with a domain name. I mean come on, how can a company contain the world global within its name if it only ships to the United States and Canada. Now that I’ve ranted just a bit, lets fast forward to today’s Domain Spotlight.
As the title of the blog entry states, today’s spotlight is focused on GlobalIndustrial.com and I have no idea how my name was added to there solicitation list. I guess you can see where I am coming from with this. Maybe I am being a bit bias, but I don’t have a need for Industrial Blower Fans. Even if the domain industrialblowerfans.com was available, in which it is I wouldn’t spend a dime registering it. Now this has nothing to do about the integrity of the company, but I do feel they could of done a little more background research before they wasted money sending me this catalog. Most of the products located within the catalog are geared towards warehouse operations or medium to large scale businesses. Into the recycle bin it will go!
The front of the catalog proudly displays the GlobalIndustrial.com domain name a total of three times, one at the end of a service based email address. Not a bad idea, the main company logo is the first thing which is displayed at the front of the catalog and the domain name GlogbalIndustrial.com is positioned directly below that. Ok, these guys are earning a few points here and they obviously can send catalogs to whomever they feel may need them. They are a REAL business, with an incredible target market.
But I am not going to let that get in the way of critiquing the L and the I combination in the middle of the domain. Is it just me or is this combination joining two separate words annoying? The only thing I could imagine that would be worst is a repeating letter of some sort. Double L and double I for the win. I give the catalog an A for design and I give the GlobalIndustrial.com domain name an E for effort. E, is the only letter I could assign such a name! It was a hard decision for me but someones gotta do it. I hope I didn’t offend any “global” keyword domain investors with this entry. I’m just kidding, I hope this entry offends each and every one of you! 
Take a look at the catalog cover for yourself:
Will The Euro Crisis Effect European ccTLDs?
After picking up the latest Bloomberg Businessweek and reading about the problems surrounding the euro, I couldn’t help but to think about how these issues could directly effect European country code top-level domain names. There is and will always be a gray area within the domaining industry. Sometimes this gray area benefits domainers and sometimes it does the exact opposite, making domain investors think twice before entering into polluted waters. When the US economy was in shambles, I noticed that although the dollar was weak in comparison to the euro, domain investors were selling themselves short.
Premiums domain names were not selling for “premium” prices. Some domain investors were unloading these names into the market trying to recover any costs associated with there investment. Will we see the same occurrence with the European domain market? I have a hunch that we will. Lets face it, the American dollar has been in existence for quite some time and the adaptation of the euro as a currency is fairly recent in comparison.
Some are referring to the euro as a failed monetary experiment. With words like this being thrown around via media outlets, how can one take this currency serious? There are nearly $1 trillion in loans and guarantees that have been announced earlier this month. This is similar to a bailout which led to a swift recovery for the US Economy. Although the United Sates is still suffering from a high unemployment rate, there are signs that we are no longer in a recession. Although I personally feel we will continue to be in a recession for quite some time, the recovery has begun and businesses are now hiring again.
As a US based domain investor, I feel that the European ccTLD market might provide investment opportunities that did not exist a year or two ago. A weak European economy, will welcome the US dollar. I am now open to investing into European ccTLDs because my money will work that much harder for me during these times. I really do hope that the bailout in Europe helps to fix any problems that the euro is currently being effected by. No one wants to see a region suffer.
Lets see what happens in the next few months, maybe there will be a few opportunities for me to partake in. Only time will tell with controversial topics like this.
Save On Domaining
Many of us in the domaining industry make small costly mistakes, we find it easier to drop a domain name rather than renew. We quickly abandon projects which have potential, simply because of the renewal cost of a domain name. This industry is plagued by high renewal fees, which make it nearly impossible for the average domainer to continue to grow his or her portfolio in a healthy manner.
As domainers it is important to invest in great domain names, while saving money at the same time. Who doesn’t want to save money these days? In this article I will show you how to save money while actively investing in great domain names.
Here are a few ways:
1. Go to Google and search for a registrar’s promo code. Simply type “x registrar promo code” where x registrar is replaced by the specific domain registrar of your choice. Once you have received a list of codes, try them out and see if they work for your domain renewals.
2. Research a few domain promo codes sites focused solely on domain names. Here is a great website I can recommend for you to book mark:
DomainPromoCodes.com, it is a great way for you to find promo codes not only for domain registrations but for renewals as well. It is the perfect site to help save money while domaining. There is a wide variety of promo codes listed on the site and currently there are over 20+ registrars listed.
You can also search the site by specific tlds:
http://www.domainpromocodes.com/search/.com/ This link will provide you with all the promotional codes for .com
Live Codes
This is a regularly updated godaddy promo code blog. The guy checks and confirms the codes every week. There are over 20 + live godaddy promo codes currently listed. It is one of the oldest promo code blogs and is perfect for godaddy promo codes.
Here are a few promo codes for you:
$6.99 Domain + icann fee
The code provides almost $4 in savings from the normal price of $10.69.
Best offer for yahoo is of course 1.99$ domain name registration
The promo codes listed is just an example there is lots of similar great discounts at the urls given.
*Disclosure this is a sponsored post!
TooDamnEasy.com: Great Domain, Terrible Scam
I thought I heard it all here on the wonderful Internet, but a few days ago I experienced something new. Apparently there are people that still fall for the same old scams which have been covered on the main stream news stations. The scam I am speaking about is Cash Gifting and the person behind this perculiar operation goes by the name Q. Now don’t get me wrong, he is not responsible for the “cash gifting” idea, as it has actually been around since the 80s. He is responsible for using unique marketing techniques which are edgy and in your face.
At the end of this blog entry I will include some of the videos he uses to entice perspective members into joining this virtual pyramid scheme. The idea of cash gifting has to do with joining a program like Q’s and sending cash in a box people which have joined the program before you. There is also an administration fee for being in the program and according to websites I conducted research on, proceeds from every fifth user goes directly to Q! Now get this! This will really get your stomach churning. It costs $6,000 to start.
Now lets get on to my main point, the main domain name which is being used for this scam is TooDamnEasy.com and it has sleazy written all over it. Apparently Q is operating in another country and likes to tell people he is helping them during these tough times. Programs like this have existed since the 80s, but they tend to flourish during bad economic times. What I can’t seem to understand is how someone operating under the alias of Q is capable of getting people to fork over cash. Who in there right mind would believe a person that they can’t see and entrust them with several thousand dollars worth of cash.
I just don’t get it and if I ever get a chance to meet this guy I will make sure he gets slapped with the left hand. And you thought that Hank Alvarez was bad, wait till you get a load of this guy! I’m going to let the videos do the talking. Now I just need to know how this postcard arrived on my stair case! That means someone in my neighborhood probably fell for this program. I truly do feel sorry for those who are desperate enough to join programs of this nature.
If you want a good laugh call (800)320-5645 and input extension 9715. This recorded message is about as funny as it gets. Listen to Q as he pitches on why you should join his scam! This scam artist has no limits and maybe one of these days justice will be served and he too will be forced to make friends behind bars. Something tells me that he won’t be caught anytime soon as he covers his tracks pretty well. Scum like this should have to face serious jail time stealing for hard working people.
I wrote this entry to spread the awareness of such a scam, if you or anyone you know has been effected by this particular scam artist please report it to your local authorities. Although nothing may be done anytime soon at least you can help save another person from being taken advantage of. I leave you with some videos:
