Archive for May, 2010
Bill Kara of Hallpassmedia, shows how its done with Domains and Development, Wanna be like Bill?
Bill acquired the domain JuegosGratis.com from South American domain investor/developer Chris Chena who was profiled in DNJournal's July 2005 Cover Story.
Bill Kara is a lot different than many domain investors who buy up domain names for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It’s development that’s key to his success, and that means developing his “casual games” internet properties and getting those names out of parked and into the top of the search engines.
Bill Kara is a fan favorite here on Fusible, and he recently updated his Hallpass media site again with news updates – such as the launch of CookingGames.com, the DNJournal Cover story, and more. In his latest news section, he also links to quantcast, sharing how in just five months after development, his Spanish gaming site JuegosGratis.com has topped the charts.
Quantcast Directly Measured Data has Juegos Gratis ranking as one of the most viewed websites in key Spanish markets, 140th in Mexico, 71st in Argentina, 179 in Chile and 135th in Columbia…
Casual Games is anything but Casual
The Casual Games industry is big money as Bill Kara can tell you. If you’re looking to get into the gaming industry, you can actually find WordPress themes that can help you get started especially if you’re on a budget.
RestaurantGames.com (a property not owned by Bill Kara) uses MyArcadeBlog Pro. Owning RestaurantGames.com may not be as important now anyway, now that Bill owns the macro level domain for restaurant type games with his recent acquisition and launch of CookingGames.com. For those looking for a script to start your own games portal, the MyArcadeBlogPro theme lets you transform a boring WordPress Blog into an amazing arcade games portal using Mochi Media, HeyZap, Custom and IBPArcade games.
The theme is cheap, but powerful – however it does require quite a bit of configuration and setting up and if you’re unfamiliar with WordPress, it may take you longer than the average user.
Six Months Later: Domaining.com statistics show interesting results about Reader’s preferences
Francois Carillo the owner of Domaining.com, has pumped a large sum of money into advertising and marketing the site over the years, and as anyone would tell you who is listed on Domaining.com, it's a great way to drive traffic to your website.
Domaining.com is the best website to get up-to-the-minute news and information from over 100 blog and website feeds in the Domain Industry.
Last year Steve Morales wrote a story titled “Is Your Blog Popular on Domaining.com? Content Kings Identified”. The story caused a stir in the comments thread when Steve listed his findings from the popular Domaining.com website – statistics that many didn’t know existed since they had been recently introduced.
Domaining.com Statistics: Six Months Later
Six months later from Steve’s initial story, and now with 132 feeds listed on Domaining.com, the website offers up some interesting data for those who are curious about reader’s preferences.
There is no smoke-and-mirrors approach in the data. Of course, some blogs have been listed longer than others, some shorter, some take out sponsored ads, some don’t…
For now, what you see is what you get, straight from the Domaining.com Preferences section.
Most Headlines for the past 30 days
Domain Name Wire 106 posts
Top Article Blogger (2 – 19 posts)
Rick Schwartz 12 posts 338 unique click average
Top Serial Blogger (20 or more)
DN Journal 27 posts 205 unique click average
Most Blocked Blogger
DomainGang.com blocked by 51 subscribers
Least Blocked Blogger
SullysBlog.com blocked by 1 subscriber
Professional Poker Player Dutch Boyd Gets Back to Poker, Blogging and …Domain Names
WSOP Bracelet Winner Dutch Boyd returned to one of his favorite past times on his personal blog: domain names.
Dutch Boyd began the month of May with a new website look on DutchBoyd.com. The website title even has the word “Domainer” added and reads “A professional poker player and domainer”. The website redesign while simple and clean, introduces readers to the thrilling adventures of a professional poker player who is also a domainer – a phrase many of his site’s visitors may have no idea about.
Readers scouring his blog though, will certainly be surprised to learn he discusses domain names as much as he discusses his poker career. Though his blog has gone quiet the last couple weeks, his two most recent entries discuss two of his domain names – one that he put up for auction and the other, a hand-registered domain name which he built into a Q&A website.
The name Dutch put up for auction was Pokerai.com, which sold on May 12 through Sedo for $700. VegasAnswers.com is the name he registered months earlier after it had expired. The website now provides answers to frequently asked questions by would-be visitors to Las Vegas.
As much a Domainer as he is a Poker Player
Dutch owns domains like HeadsupPoker.com and Cured.com and had described plans in August 2009 for unveiling a Domain Registration service through his GoDaddy affiliate account on JackNames.com, but the “Under Construction” page hasn’t changed since then.
Dutch Boyd has been the subject of several stories here on Fusible and having domainers who get media attention helps bring more attention to the domain industry, which is a good thing.
From Dutch Boyd’s Blog Bio
I’m a Vegas pro poker player. A part-time domainer. And the greatest Photo Hunt player to have ever lived. I am recovering from a nasty cigarette addiction that I gave up when I discovered that smoking causes cancer. They knew it all along. I drink Cherry Zero ™ now instead of Pepsi because I don’t want the calories. I am the 2nd youngest law school graduate ever. I am a Blood Elf Rogue. I lived every poker player’s dream by winning my World Series of Poker bracelet in 2006, going headsup against the then reigning world champion Joe Hachem… all in front of the ESPN cameras.
I am just like you. I put my pants on one leg at a time. Except after I do that I crush souls at the poker table.
I live in Vegas with my beautiful girlfriend Michele and our two puppies… a shipoo named June and a puggle named Stuey Ungar. Just a 29/m playing through life trying to make the right moves.
Corporate Blunder by Bloomberg leads to Valuable Domain Expiring: PersonalWealth.com
Bloomberg the company that was the winning bidder for BusinessWeek magazine in 2009, recently incorporated the Bloomberg name in the logo and updated the BusinessWeek.com website.
As some writers suggested, the acquisition of BusinessWeek presented Bloomberg with a challenge of having to incorporate an outside operation since Bloomberg hadn’t made an acquisition of another business since the late 1980s.
Bloomberg’s First Internet Blunder with BusinessWeek
Not renewing PersonalWealth.com, could be the first major internet blunder by Bloomberg.
The URL personalwealth.com redirected visitors to the Investor section of BusinessWeek since the early 2000s – but now the name has expired and is up for auction at NameJet.
The name expired May 3, 2010, just weeks ahead of the staff at the former BusinessWeek magazine moving to its new Bloomberg headquarters.
Start Making Money with National A-1 Internet and of all things, Sex Toys
National A-1 has their hands in alot of different online businesses these days. When it comes to buying, selling, and operating some of the hottest internet properties, few companies can compete with National A-1.
Several of the more popular domain names owned by National A-1 include Pizza.com, Antiques.com, Cash.com, Free.com, as well as thousands of other category-killer domain names and websites – including a lucrative online porn network.
National A-1 is one of the best funded companies, as measured by their acquisitions and sales. The company almost acquired the domain Toys.com after getting into a bidding war with Toys R Us. By the time bidding had finished, National A-1′s high bid was $5million, Toys R Us $5.1 million.
Make Money with Sex Toys
Though National A-1 didn’t acquire Toys.com, they do own and operate one of the best Toys-related domains on the internet: SexToys.com. And if you operate an adult website, you can start making money with National A-1′s affiliate program at ToySales.com – that allows publishers to earn 20% of every sale including re-orders.
Mike Sullivan of SullysBlog.com has a great online interview with Mark Farlow of National A-1 Internet that he published earlier this month, which offers insight into how SexToys.com has benefited the company.
In case you’re looking for a great domain industry blog to read, Mike Sullivan launched his blog in December 2009 and it includes a number of candid interviews with keyword domain name business owners.
As far as SexToys.com and ToySales.com, if you dabble in affiliate marketing, testing, testing and re-testing is always a good idea – so if you have a website you want to test, this might be the program for you.
If you want to learn more the affiliate program, here’s a blurb from the ToySales.com website.
Sextoys.com customers return again and again because they have a great user experience. With live 24 hour customer support, no other site can compare. Your customers won’t need to look anywhere else for the great products that we carry.
Sextoys.com carries a wide array of sexual health and lifestyle enhancement products from time tested favorites to hard-to-find specialty “niche” toys and erotic clothing. Sextoys.com customers return again and again for great products, service and value.
The toysales.com interface is easy to use, while still having all of the features and options that professional webmasters have come to expect. With 10 years of experience in the adult webmaster business, we know exactly what seasoned affiliates are looking for. Our flagship affiliate program for our video on demand sites – moviedollars.com – is considered one of the best adult affiliate programs, if not the best adult affiliate program on the net today. Affiliates stick with us because they know that they are going to get professional personalized support, will be paid accurately on time, and will be promoting a quality product. With a dedicated live support staff, webmasters can rest assured that any concerns or questions will be dealt with promptly by an affiliate manager that knows what affiliates need to be successful.
Are owners of “Group Buying” domains poised to cash in?
DailyBargains.com a much catchier name in some regards compared to even "GroupBuying.com" recently sold for $10,500 on Sedo and currently shows an Adsense for Domains page hosted by Google. If the owner doesn't have plans for development, the name itself could possibly get flipped for a nice return as more companies enter the market.
Do owners of “group buying” domains stand to cash in on their relevant domain names? Type in GroupBuying.com into your browser and a parked page hosted by Parked.com appears. Type in GroupBuy.com and a blank page with whitespace appears.
One reader asked the question, “I wonder how much GroupBuying.com would sell for at auction right now.”
The free domain appraisal service Valuate.com used by many domain investors to help gauge the buy and sell price of names, only places the value of the name at $1,700. But that’s not really an indicator of the name’s value. GroupBuying.com would likely fetch a large sum of money if it went to a major public auction website as the “group buying” trend picks up and continues to recieve lots of news, and even more venture capital.
New “Group Buying” sites, aren’t all relying on keyword domains
With the rising number of sites launching, many aren’t necessarily relying on keyword domains related to the Group Buying concept – they’re depending on their brand and marketing to do the selling – and a lot of paid advertising on the web. LivingSocial.com with nearly 80 million daily users, didn’t use “daily deals” or “bargains” in the name. The company doesn’t even own BuyingSocial.com.
Type in “daily deals” or “group discounts” and none of the top Group Buying sites rank well, but they have paid out for sponsored ads on search engines like Google.
HomeRunDelivers spent six figures to buy and brand their group buying online business with the domain HomeRun.com.
And while there are several sites gaining attention like BuyWithMe.com, Kevin Ham who owns over 400,000 domain names, and who likely owns something very relevant to daily bargains or group buying – instead went with GoodNews.com. A name that sounds a lot less like a group buying site offering discounts or coupons, and a lot more like a site offering hope for visitors — which would’ve probably been a better fit for his Gospel Media network.
CamRoulette.com gets a redesigned homepage, making it more inviting to ChatRoulette users
Camroulette, gets Chatroulette facelift
CamRoulette.com has redesigned the CamRoulette homepage, giving it a Chatroulette style making it more inviting to visitors familiar with the ChatRoulette-look.
In keeping with the ChatRoulette look-and-feel, you might notice several changes to the CamRoulette homepage including a white background, a text based logo, and a chat window.
The original CamRoulette.com home page had an emphasis on color with a red and green graphical logo, and a dark background. You can see several screen shots of the old CamRoulette home page here, here, and here.
Roulette Domain Landrush
There are lots of ChatRoulette-like websites rolling out on the internet, and many competitors are snapping up Roulette domains and launching sites with similar user interfaces. If you missed out on the Roulette domain landrush and did not get a domain, registrations and aftermarket buys continue.
There’s even a ChatRoulette Typo Domain King.
Here is a list of Roulette.com domains that are available for hand-registration using popular category titles found on YouPorn + Roulette.com.They’re not necessarily the most interesting roulette domains, they’re just adult categories that happen to be available.
If you decide to register the names at GoDaddy, you can use the GoDaddy Promo Code cjc689b009 to get .COM domains for $6.89 at checkout.
BIGBUTTroulette.com
BIGTITSroulette.com
COMPILATIONroulette.com
CREAMPIEroulette.com
CUMSHOTSroulette.com
CUNNILINGUSroulette.com
DILDOSTOYSroulette.com
DProulette.com
FINGERINGroulette.com
GONZOroulette.com
INSTRUCTIONALroulette.com
KISSINGroulette.com
PANTYHOSEroulette.com
POVroulette.com
REDHEADroulette.com
RIMMINGroulette.com
PUBLICroulette.com
ROMANTICroulette.com
SHAVEDroulette.com
SOLOGIRLroulette.com
SOLOMALEroulette.com
SQUIRTINGroulette.com
SWALLOWroulette.com
THREESOMEroulette.com
VINTAGEroulette.com
UPDATED: Scott Day”s Digimedia lists Name TrueLove.com for Sale at BargainDomains (Not quite)
UPDATE: Francois from Domaining.com has provided an update regarding the TrueLove.com listing today. Apparently, BargainDomains.com has quite a bunch of users who try to scam and submit domain names they don’t own – and Francois is doing his best to prevent this from occurring. Francois writes, “Another scammer from one of these emerging countries… I deleted a dozen of such accounts these past 21 weeks. At a point I am seriously considering asking a no refundable membership fee to can list names for sale. This I hope should seriously refrain these poor and stupid guys.”
It’s hard to believe Digimedia, which owns internet properties like FantasyFootball.com, Shops.com, Thanksgiving.com, Cards.com and more is putting up names for sale at Bargain prices – but if you monitor the listings at BargainDomains.com – Digimedia has listed a domain name with a low starting bid of just $2,500.
Even in the unpredictable aftermarket world of expiring domains where owners sometimes accidentally forget to renew a name, it’s hard to believe a Dating domain like this one would be listed – but look for yourselves. It’s there on BargainDomains.com.
Wondering which domain name?
The name is TrueLove.com.
And in the competitive world of online dating, this is a great name for branding a business and website. The keyword “true love” had an exact global monthly search volume of almost a quarter of a million in April.
Is Digimedia selling off names?
The same week CamRoulette.com sold for a whopping $151,000 – Sofas.com owned by Digimedia sold for $231,500 via RickLatona.com. Both those sales occurred early April with the domain Sofas.com still owned by Digimedia today.
Whatever the case, Scott Day and Digimedia appear to be selling some of the properties that may not be core to their growing enterprise and a starting bid of $2,500 for TrueLove.com shows Digimedia knows it’ll sell for far much more.
Opportunity: Number of “Group Buying” sites offering daily deals is up from 10 to 80 in less than a year
Fusible.com started covering the craze with “Group Buying” web sites in early February when the domain name HomeRun.com sold for $130,000 at Moniker. The domain was purchased by HomeRunDelivers.com who recently launched their own group buying website.
Domain Guru Kevin Ham's latest venture involves a group buying website called: GoodNews.com.
As “group buying” ventures continue to spring up on the internet – related domain names will sell, too. MassBuy.com sold for $2,700 earlier this month via NameJet and what might be one of the best buys for a domain that could be used for branding a “group buying” website and ranking well in the search engines – DailyBargains.com sold just over a week ago on Sedo’s GreatDomains for less than $11,000.
Mainstream News is all over Group Buying
And if you think there isn’t time to get involved in “group buying”, USAToday ran a story last week that discussed the group buying craze which has been fueled by bargain shoppers and social media.
Group-buying websites — Groupon, LivingSocial and dozens of smaller ones — are the latest craze among price-obsessed consumers and an evolution of social media and shopping. Groupon has grown from 400 subscribers in November 2008 to more than 4 million; 8coupons.com, which aggregates online deals, says the number of sites offering daily group deals is up from about 10 last June to at least 80.
The most popular deals tend to be restaurants and activities involving pampering. Often, the more specialized the deals, the less interest they generate, O’Shaughnessy says.
Affiliate Marketing Guru Jeremy Schoemaker shares how he got the Domain Name ShoeMoney.com
Overweight at 420 lbs, living on a friend’s couch, smoking two packs of cigarettes per day, and in debt over $50,000 – Jeremy Schoemaker’s blog ShoeMoney.com is a really inspirational story and blog that is read by thousands on a regular basis, by people hoping to enjoy even a small part of his success.
In 2003, Jeremy took the plunge and started his own business.
His first venture was ShoeMoney.com, the blog.
Earlier this week, Jeremy celebrated six years of blogging after making millions of dollars in short time, starting his own marketing system and turning around his situation on his own. In addition to celebrating his blog’s six year anniversary, he also shared how he landed the domain name ShoeMoney.com which has become it’s own brand within affiliate marketing.
How’d he land the name?
Hand registered? Aftermarket? In Jeremy’s own words:
I originally tried to register the site in 2002 but it was owned by someone else…. so I used Godaddy’s backorder service and kind of forgot about it.
Then on May 20th 2004 I got a email from godaddy that the domain had dropped and I could register it (dropped services then are not what they are today). I snapped it up and started writing. Back then I was using postnuke as my blogging platform.
