SkyDomains

Today is Friday and I usually like to end the week on a lighter note. Nothing serious so if you do not have 3 minutes right away to read this post, you can always come back to it.  I won’t be mad. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. That is the popular lyrics from the old TV program “Cheers”.  There is something I like to do once in a while. I often Google my name, yes my birth given name (First and last name, not SkyDomains or any of my other domain names) just to see what comes up. From this simple and somewhat elementary action, I can often learn a lot. Mostly  it lets me know what Google feels is most important to my name, what domain, what event. Some years back, I had to put my name in quotation marks or Google will return every Frankie and all the Latin associations with the ALADI acronym before it gets to me. Over the past 3 years, my relationship with Google has (more…)

Now here is a pace setter. I totally dig this news. It is not often that a registrar gets it but it seams fab does. When last did someone especially a registrar go out of there way to give you something for free?

When all this go into place, Fab accounts will probably be one of the most protected in the industry.

Below is part of the email in my inbox this morning from fab. (more…)

This is the guy who took classified ads to a whole new level with .us domains. In most cases he ranked  number one for his search term in Google or at least top 5.  I discovered this guy when I toyed with the idea of developing petclassifieds.org. He owns petclassifieds.us and was number one then with a very successful classified network. Why he is now rebranding all his sites beats me. The must shocking part of it all is (more…)

This is a quick update from yesterdays post, “When someone develops a site on a typo of your domain”. I am going to follow the advice of some of my readers and even my friends offline. Ironically the guy upped his offer by 700% to a wooping $40.  What I have come to realize is that a lot of people especially in developing countries are still in the dark when it comes to domain secondary market. While at first glance, his offers have looked like insults but they were actually not intended to be. Some reasoning behind such asinine offers could be attributed to the fact that they figure if you bought the domain for say 10 bucks then at 40 bucks you have made 300% profit. Crazy but true.

I have politely told the individual to expect his emails being ignored henceforth if he continues with lowball offers. Do I think my domain is important to him? the answer is a resounding (more…)

It is happening to me. I used to think stuff like this was unthinkable. I have a domain name which has to do with Classified service in a particular country. Recently I started getting some unusual traffic from this domain. Nothing spectacular but more than usual. At this same time I received a $5 offer for the domain, I replied and told the guy to get serious. I did a research on this domain and realized that somebody (same $5 guy) has built a website that has http:/www.xxxxx/GoodDomainClassifieds.com as its url but (more…)

This is by no means a review of Bing.com. Far from that. However this is a mini post about how I currently feel about Bing.com. This morning I decided to briefly test drive the Microsoft search platform called Bing.com. At first I was kinda pleasantly surprised about the layout which to me was somewhat unusual.
I wanted to know how Bing will conduct its search. After All I am a domainer and a webmaster. It is always a good thing to know on which side ones bread is buttered. I was not immediately concerned about how Bing may change the world,  bring global peace or feed the hungry– far from that, all I wanted to know was how Bing might affect my bottom line. (more…)

Last week, I left a comment on Elliots Blog. He was talking about his domain goals and what he has achieved so far. Well a couple of readers where suprised  that  he did not mention Tropical Birds.  I went on to post a comment on how he could start from known to unknown, maybe start from the most popular Tropical Birds which is the Amazon parrots. The Amazons also cost approximately 800 to 1500 USD for a baby and about $2500 for a talking Amazon.

The next day, it occurred to me that while I was quick to make suggestions, I happen to be in the exact same situation with one of my minisites, Hearing Dogs.com (more…)

I have not been posting frequently due to a couple of reasons. However this post is not about why I have not been posting but about something I came across in the media that I think is worth passing along. I ask you to indulge me for the next 6 minutes of your life and you will not regret it.

Michael Dorf  the founder of Music Club Knitting Factory and City Winery was recently interviewed by Best Life magazine. Mr Dorf had managed to excel even in tough times like now. The following are adaptations from that interview. (more…)

This post might come as a surprise to some of  you who actually ready my blog. I know I have once proclaimed eNom as one of the best registrars in the world. Well I am going to rescind that honor in this post and I will tell  you why in very few words.

Enom is great, I have enjoyed working with them and maybe because I have used them for so long, I have gotten really comfortable with them. However about a year or so ago, I started registering names with Fabulous.com also.

Enom has a 3% surcharge when you register a domain with Credit Card, Paypal or even direct deposit. I think the only way to avoid the 3% surcharge is to wire the money. It is either that or some very cumbersome method that I have never used.

Are you following so far? See when you deposit 100 dollars into your enom account, you are only credited 97 dollars. The sad part of this story is that it does not end there.  I have been cleaning up my portfolio recently to a leaner meaner and more productive portfolio, I have been letting a lot of names expire in both Fabulous and Enom.

Now the names below expired in enom, and enom want $160 EACH for one year registration. Now that is robbery 

biodieselstudy.com ,blogcicle.com, businesstimes.biz, blogerstar.com, braziliancruises.com

Now these names expired last month in Fabulous: rocketracingbet.com, rocketpilots.com and  bikerkillers.com and should I want to re-register them, the cost will be my usual registration fee. It does not matter what name it is as long as Fabulous has not deleted it.

Enom does selective pricing when a domain expires. I plan on moving 90% of my portfolio away from enom. As a matter of fact, I seldom do new registrations there anymore.

So which registrar do you use regularly? What are your experiences, likes and dislikes?

One of my pastimes is perusing the local flea market. I have also convinced my wife that it is a fun thing to do. Due to a sports injury, I often simply ride around the flea market in my truck instead of walking. This last weekend as I was making my rounds as I call it, I stumbled upon a booth that baffled my imagination. Parked behind the booth was the most tricked out SUV (customized) I have seen in months. This one had it all, 22 -24″ rims, Chromed out with all the works. I could not even readily tell the make of the SUV. It was very eye catching and on it was a big flourecent green logo and the words “Nature Calling” written under the logo. I tried desperately to figure out what it was all about especially since I saw some neon jerseys with the logo being sold. I could not stop because there were other vehicles behind me.  I asked my wife to please help me write down the name as I drove on. Since then till now I have pondered what this Nature Calling  was all about. Was it a health food store? a Clothing line? A bad to the bone custom auto outfit? Everything but the obvious. (more…)