Frank Schilling

Latest Interview

The Story of the First Domainer of the Year – with Richard Lau

In 1995, Richard Lau registered several domain names that he simply thought were cool, but never considered would be worth thousands of dollars. His portfolio attracted the attention of Microsoft, who tentatively agreed to pay $9,500 for one of his domains. That gave him an inkling he was on to something big.

Later, after spending 80 hours per week building one of the first 30 domain name registrars in the world, he was faced with stage A colon cancer and a series of unfortunate business liabilities.

In this biography, Richard Lau discusses how he learned the industry, tells some fantastic stories, and provides guidance to others that are just starting out.

Michael Cyger April 1, 2013 20

SportsMemorabilia.com: From a $12,500 Parked Domain to $19.5 Million – With Jesse Stein

In 2006, Jesse Stein purchased SportsMemorabilia.com for $12,500 when it wasn’t much more than a domain name.

Fast forward several years, and the company now leads the market in high-end autographed sports merchandise and memorabilia, making $19.5 million in revenue in 2012. We start at the beginning to learn about SportsMemorabilia.com’s journey and how they plan to be a $100+ million company.

Michael Cyger February 25, 2013 14

ICA: The Domain Name Trade Association That Represents Your Financial Interests – With Philip Corwin

Large corporations have deep pockets and large intellectual property staffs with which to protect their interests, including trademarks. The result of such financial power can often be lobbyist-influenced legislation that does not favor domain name investing.

What you probably didn’t realize is that the Internet Commerce Association is a domain name trade association that since 2006 has been representing the financial interests of domain name entrepreneurs.

Michael Cyger February 4, 2013 0

What to Expect in the Domain Name Industry in 2013 – With Ron Jackson

For the past decade on DNJournal.com, Ron Jackson has tracked, analyzed and presented the most comprehensive and accurate collection of domain name sales data.

In this interview, Jackson both reviews trends of the past decade and looks ahead to the events of 2013 (e.g., the release of new gTLDs) that will affect future trends.

Michael Cyger January 21, 2013 8

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About UDRP – With David Weslow

Domain name disputes are happening more frequently every day. Why? And how can a UDRP impact you as an entrepreneur or domain name investor?

Intellectual property attorney David Weslow discusses the ins and outs of the UDRP process, including what is required when filing an action, how to defend against a claim, the approximate costs of filing a UDRP or law suit, and how you can prepare for the 1,400 new gTLDs to be launched in the upcoming years.

Michael Cyger October 8, 2012 6

Maximizing Domain Name PPC Income – With Howard Hoffman

In the midst of a recession and with domain name parking revenue down, what can you do today to maximize your domain name pay-per-click (PPC) income?

Howard Hoffman, president of PPCIncome.com makes a living focused on maximizing the revenue from his portfolio of 9,000 domain names. Actually, that’s only half of his living. The other half is O2Cool Oxygen Water, a company he founded in 1998, which was the catalyst for his domain name career.

Michael Cyger February 20, 2012 8

Helping Communities Shop Locally – With Colin Pape

How do you leverage 8,000 domain names to create the largest buy-local network in the world?

Colin Pape, president of ShopCity.com, answers this question and more as he describes how he built ShopMidland.com – serving a town of only 16,000 residents – into a $100,000+ business, and is now scaling it across thousands of Shop[CityName].com domain names. Pape is also taking on Google by filing a U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint for anti-competitive behavior.

Michael Cyger November 28, 2011 19

5 Essential Lessons Learned from T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011

Last week, the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Conference & Expo took place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Top domain investors from around the world converged at the Ritz Carlton for five days of networking, sharing, learning, partying and dealmaking.

Here are five lessons learned that you can use to grow your business that I gleaned from this conference. If you attended the conference and learned a lesson or two that is not covered here, please let us know about it in the comments.

Michael Cyger October 23, 2011 18

Tenacity Drives Highest Domain Sale in Turkish History – With Nokta Domains

In July 2011, the Nokta Domains sales team closed the highest domain name sale in Turkish history: UcakBileti.com, which means “flight ticket” in Turkish. The domain name sold for a quarter of a million U.S. dollars.

In this show, Arif Şengören and Merve Engin, a sales specialist and a portfolio specialist with the Nokta Domains sales team, share how the domain name was acquired, valued, marketed and sold for top dollar.

Michael Cyger October 11, 2011 22

Building a Niche Lead Generation Empire – with Braden Pollock

When it comes to marketing, the two biggest problems that small business owners face are effective ad buying and maintaining a consistent effort. While it is easy to try a one-off marketing campaign, it can often lead to disappointment.

Enter Legal Brand Marketing: a national brand that generates local leads for DUI lawyers. In this interview, founder and CEO Braden Pollock describes how providing targeted leads, geographic area exclusivity, and coaching on turning hot leads into paying customers has allowed Legal Brand Marketing to build a niche lead generation empire in just eight years.

Michael Cyger August 2, 2011 24