Domain Name Interviews

Ask three domain name investors for a valuation of a domain name you are selling or thinking of buying, and you are likely to get three different answers – maybe even four.

Enter Dennis Lastochkin, a technical genius who in just six months created a sophisticated valuation engine that is likely to remove most of the subjectivity from domain name appraisals.

Michael Cyger May 7, 2012 38

Most developers build a site, increase readership and then sell advertising space. Unless you own an ultra-premium geographic domain name like FrenchRiviera.com, in which case the brand alone is enough to set up meetings with some of the most exclusive potential advertisers in the region.

Toby Hardy bought FrenchRiviera.com in 2009 and, in partnership with Fred Mercaldo at CitiesPlanet.com, is turning it into the ultimate online destination for the rich and famous who visit cities such as Monte Carlo, Cannes and the like.

Michael Cyger April 23, 2012 13

After three failed attempts over a period of several years to gain approval through the ICANN system for the new top-level domain .XXX, most people would have thrown in the towel. Not Stuart Lawley, who started as a minority investor in ICM Registry at the time of the initial ICANN application and eventually became its CEO and chairman.

Through his vision and indefatigable spirit, Lawley brought the registry to life and extraordinary profitability. Listen in as he describes how the new TLD .XXX generated $25 million in its first three months and what his aspirations are for future growth.

Michael Cyger April 16, 2012 7

More than 500,000 businesses are registered in the United States every year, with magnitudes more being contemplated and planned. As technology advances, more and more businesses are focused entirely online or at least need to be found online.

What do startups and entrepreneurs need to know about domain names? Find out in this interview with domain name veteran Steve Jones, including:
* The trends of premium domain name pricing and desirability
* Options for determining domain name valuation range
* The best way to initiate negotiations with a domain name owner
* Options for buying the “best” domain name for your business, product or service
* Why domain name owners are not motivated, and what to do about it
* Alternatives to premium domain names, including country codes and domain hacks

Michael Cyger April 9, 2012 12

Bill McClure is not a newcomer to the domain name industry. Years ago he bought and built FlowersDirect.com and eFlowers.com and then sold them to FTD. Over his many years of acquiring, building and selling businesses, he has learned one simple fact: You can always trust your family.

Listen along as Bill discusses how he targets markets, how much he purchases domain names for, how he develops them, and what kind of leaders he is looking for to continue building more businesses in the future. If you are an entrepreneur or passionate about e-commerce, this is a must-see interview.

Michael Cyger April 2, 2012 16

It’s relatively straightforward to build a geodomain into a directory or blog. But where most people fall short in making their venture a successful business is the sales process.

That’s because many would-be entrepreneurs loathe the idea of selling advertising, directory listings and leads. Shane Wells, on the other hand, loves to sell. His enthusiasm for sales (and his success) speaks for itself – he went from $50,000 in sales to more than $250,000 per year in sales. To help others be successful, Wells shares the strategies, tactics and tips he uses for selling advertising and services at his geodomain-based Internet marketing company.

Michael Cyger March 26, 2012 11

To have a website that ranks highly in search engines like Google and Bing, just how important is the domain name? For the most reliable information on this topic, I invited the leading authority on search engines, Danny Sullivan, to join me on DomainSherpa.

Listen in as Sullivan discusses the often-debated relationship between domain names and search engine optimization, including:
* Do keywords within the domain name help search engine optimization?
* Are keywords within the domain name better than just having keywords elsewhere in the URL?
* Is buying a premium generic domain name a good investment for a new business?
And many more

Michael Cyger March 19, 2012 32

Paolo DiVincenzo, general manager of DomainPower, increased revenue on 9,800 parked domain names by more than 70 percent. To achieve this revenue lift, he deployed a methodology and four-step process: 1) establish metric/baseline, 2) group, 3) test and 4) optimize.

In this interview, DiVincenzo describes the four steps in detail, as well as how to implement them in your own portfolio.

Michael Cyger March 12, 2012 21

A parked landing page oftentimes doesn’t provide enough information to encourage users to click through on an advertisement. Instead, visitors back out and “bounce” off the site.

Enter Sean Sullivan, co-founder of BankAds.com, which develops full websites for one specific niche – banking and credit card domain names. With original content and a better user experience, the websites his company develops drive higher clickthroughs and create stronger relationships with advertisers. One example is CheckingAccount.com, which increased its revenue three-fold.

Michael Cyger March 5, 2012 15