Domaining Biz

I am so excited!  I sold my first domain.

I hand registered a .org domain based on a news story I heard.  I had to get the .org because the .net was taken while I was trying to decide which I should get.  The next day, both my .org and the .net someone else got while I snoozed had bids on them for purchase.  Mine was for $100 and the .net was for $500.  So, I guess I know now which one I should have regged, or else I should have just grabbed both.

Due to the activity, I sent it to auction at Sedo.  I got one more bid which was high enough to cover Sedo’s 10%  charge for handling the transaction.  I was surprised at the amount of time Sedo held the money after I had pushed the domain to them (1 week), but it makes sense that they hold it for a bit to make sure the money clears that they were paid.

Sedo then paid the money to me without a hitch.  Overall it was a very good experience.   

Ever wondered who owns some of the great domains?  Here’s some that I found:

movie.com & movies.com - Fandango, Inc.
radio.com & tv.com - CNET Networks (CBS)
work.com - Busness.com, Inc.
play.com - Play Limited
dog.com - PetsUnited, LLC
usa.com - NJ Domains
money.com - Time, Inc.
smith.com - Smith International, Inc.
eagle.com - Eagle Aeronautics, Inc.
chicken.com - DigiMedia.com, L.P.
internet.com - Jupitermedia Corporation
water.com - DS Waters of America, Inc
dinner.com - Versimedia, Inc.

Choosing a name to represent your business is very important.  After all, this will be YOUR business. Here are some things to consider as you decide on your domain name:

Use keywords people use in search engines that are pertinent to your business
• Make your domain name as short as possible
• Choose a name that is easy to spell
• Choose a name that does not change spelling in different countries or have multiple accepted spellings: color vs. colour; license vs. licence; traveler vs. traveller
• Make sure it is easy to communicate your name over the phone: redbook.com vs. readbook.com; reedbooks.com vs. readbooks.com
• Trademark your name to protect it
• Make sure you are not infringing on someone else’s trademark. It would be terrible to spend your money and time investing in your brand, only to lose it to someone else.
  Search for registered trademarks in the countries you will do business in
  ex: http://tess2.uspto.gov/
• Use Google to search for existing companies
• Conduct a trademark search
  http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectId/79BB0841-5898-40C3-A441E98A7494A853/310/274/FAQ/
• Avoid names that can easily be singular or plural, or else purchase both versions. For example, if your site has to do with medical graphic art, get both medicalartstudio.com and medicalartstudios.com or get both medicalgraphicart.com and medicalgraphicsarts.com
• Make sure your domain doesn’t have additional unintentional meanings. Webad.com can be read “Web Ad” or “We Bad”. Medicalartshits.com can be read “Medical Arts Hits” or “Medical Art Shits.” Even worse, medicalartsexposed.com can be read “Medical Arts Exposed” or “Medical Art Sex Posed.”
  Having the word “Sex” in your domain name is a sure-fire way to have your business email sent straight to junkmail folders, and a great way to lose customers.
• Make it memorable
• The fewer words the better. The fewer characters the better
• Make your name rhyme (i.e. heartart.com)

Some things to avoid if at all possible:

• Hyphens
• Numbers, especially the number 4. Some search engines penalize numbers in domain names.
• Non-standard grammar or speech (i.e. medicaldrawing.com vs. medicallydrawing.com,  medicaldraw.com or medicalcollege.com vs. collegemedical.com)

The domain business will be changing forever, starting next year.  ICANN has approved not just a couple of new top level domains, but are making it so just about anyone with $100,000 to $500,000 and the proper infrastructure can have complete control of generic TLDs.  Read the announcement here: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-26jun08-en.htm

This means cocacola can have .coke, or if you have the money and resources you may be able to have domains such as .weather, .you, .hotels, .dogs, .green, or even .news.  Imagine the possibilities!