This is a topic that we have received several of questions about throughout the years. Now readers may be able to learn a few tips from this recent interview conducted with WebmasterRadio.fm today.

It took over a month to organize due to conflicting schedules between Skip and myself. Additionally, due to the holidays as well. However, Victor Pitts ended our procrastination today and the interview was executed with Skip in Panama and myself in North Carolina. Victor did an outstanding job moderating the interview as he does all of them, and is a true professional.

This is the first live interview we have conducted as a team since forming SimplyGeo.com LLC. The industry has come a long way since the specialized  blog was established and it has been both rewarding and difficult at times. However, as the popular saying by Mr. T. says, “No Pain, No Gain”.

We hope you enjoy the interview and look forward to many more years of networking and success. Our goal has always been about promoting the geo domain space and helping others become successful in it.

I am almost certain there is much more pain to come, before we start to gain. LOL.

Have a good day and thank you for all the support throughout the years.

Listen to the interview Here

Here is the press release.

Manchester, United Kingdom – Following the time honoured tradition of
January Sales in the United Kingdom, UK domain name and website
hosting firm 34SP.com has announced a special promotional sale to run
for the month of January which offers all new domain names at 50
percent off the normal retail price.

According to information released by 34SP.com, the company will offer
.co.uk domain names for just £2.50 per year for the first 2 years
during the promotional period. Recently conducted market research
indicates that this is the lowest price currently available for UK
domains. Additionally, the company said that this is the lowest .co.uk
domain name price it has ever offered. The special January Sale
pricing covers all top level domains offered by the company including,
.com, .net, .org, .eu and .mobi to name just a few. There is no limit
on the number of domains that may be ordered at the discounted price.
34SP.com is a Nominet certified domain registrar.

Stuart Melling, co-founder of 34SP.com commented on the half price
domain name sale, ”We are happy to offer these historically low
domain name prices during this time of economic uncertainty. Any time
you can save half off a purchase that you really need, it helps out.
Of course we also expect that customers will discover our service
oriented web hosting products, and take advantage of our great values
in hosting as well.”

34SP.com offers a wide variety of the most popular domain name types
including UK domain names. The prices for these domains during the
special January Sale is 50% off standard retail prices. The 50% off
pricing is available on new domain purchases only (excludes renewals
or transfers) and will revert to standard pricing upon renewal. The
34SP.com January Sale is for a limited time only – and will conclude
at the end of January 2010.

34SP.com has solidified its reputation based on great customer
service. The company recently upgraded to to the latest version of the
SmarterTrack help desk application software created by SmarterTools.
According to information released by 34SP.com, the company is
continuing its efforts to provide the highest possible levels of
technical support to web hosting clients. The company was also
recently among the first web hosts to offer a new VPS template,
pre-installed with the Google Go development language, ready for rapid
development testing. Go is a proprietary programming language that
Google has been using internally for a quite some time, and has now
been released under an open source license.

To learn more about 34SP.com domain name registration and the special
January Sale pricing please visit: http://www.34sp.com/domains.

About 34SP.com
34SP.com offers professional website hosting services for cost
conscious web developers, designers and small businesses. The 34SP.com
team of technical experts offers industry leading support and service
coupled with a money back guarantee to ensure client satisfaction.
Website hosting services offered include: UK domains, UK web hosting
and dedicated servers. The company is headquartered in central
Manchester, England.

The New Year is upon us, as 2009 winds down. It is time to evaluate the execution of your goals this year and conclude if they were executed or not. Additionally, it is a time that most people establish new personal and business goals for the new year. 2009 was a tough year for global economies and businesses as the complete financial system of the USA laid in crisis. The $7 billion financial bailout improved the crisis (at least on the outside), and the economy started to rebound in the 4th quarter. Hopefully this momentum will continue to improve in the coming year as millions of consumers continue to rebuild financial stability. As this momentum continues, opportunites are going to arise that did not exist before for the savvy entrepreneur on the lookout.

Securing opportunity at the right time is one of the best strategies to becoming successful. Timing is everything, as those who take advantage and embrace opportunity at ”ground zero”, prosper the most. 

Hidden in plain sight, Opportunity! Yup, it is all over for those who keep an open mind and know how to secure it. Anyone with entrepreunurial spirit is always in search of opportunity, however, very few find what is right before their eyes. People always look in the wrong places, and continue to struggle in the crusade to financial independence. How many times have you found yourself asking, “How can I make more money?” Chances are that most of us have asked this question more than once in our lifetime. Check out this video.

(Thanks to Rob Sequin for this video)

This is opportunity in your surroundings that occurs daily. Hidden in plain sight, yet it is unreachable for most entrepreneurs because they refuse to see what lies before their eyes. While few are able to see and secure the abundance of opportunities that exist, most of us stay blinded and are consistently in search.

The internet will continue to deliver an abundance of opportunities if you know how to look for it, and most importantly, secure it. Simply, find a service or product that is underserved and solves or improves consumer issues and you are off to a good start at securing a successful future. The internet will create more millionaires than any other industry in the world. It levels the playing field for the small guy looking to make it big. All of it starts with a website and domain name.

2010 will be a great year in my opinion. There will be new success stories that make news headlines from small time individuals who secured hidden in plain sight opportunities that everyone else overlooked. These will be opportunities that effect consumers on the internet and the offline world. When it happens, many of us will find ourselves asking these two simple questions:

Why didn’t I think of that? and How can an idea so simple impact so many? 

A good example is DJ Steve Porter who may have single handedly reinvented a complete industry how product commercials will be delivered in the future to younger generations with his remix of SlapChopRap.com on youtube.com. The company now uses it on mainstream TV.

In closing, I would like to ask readers to share their opinions on this subject and ask what major goals did you accomplish this year that you are most proud of?

Google.com is consistently looking for areas to exploit in the local arena. Recently, they launched favorite places where users interact with local business listings. What I find amazing is the bar codes/decals that google is issuing each business to place on their windows. Consumers can scan these bar codes as they window shop with their smart phones and read reviews about the business. This is why geolocation technology is hot in 2009. 2010 is going to become an interactive year for consumers shopping in local markets. The internet will continue to evolve to our offline world.

As I stated in the past article, local is hot and there are plenty of investors ready to commit their money into the local industry. TechCrunch.com covers ReachLocal.com’s recent $100 million IPO announcement. Even with all the geolocal technology coming to market, nothing can replicate human interaction to deliver sales results.

Reachlocal.com has an ad sales force of 525 employees who generated $143 million in revenues the first three quarters of 2009. Local.com, Yellowpages.com, Superpages.com, etc also have a sales force. It is no secret that these type of local platforms require human beings to do the selling.

Geodomains are powerful local platforms when developed properly. They deliver targeted traffic that can lead to selling advertising space to small business owners in the area easier than traditional websites. The brand communicates clearly to savvy business owners who understand how the internet works. 

However, there is only a small force of savvy business owners who understand how the internet works. What does this mean to the geodomainer who is trying to recruit small business advertisers online? It will become mandatory for you to establish some sort of sales force. The size of this sales force will depend on the level of success you set for your business. 

It is unrealistic to expect advertisers to beat down your door just because you have a developed geodomain. It will take hard work and a sales force to grow advertising revenue consistently. Through the years, I have met many owners of quality developed geodomains, and everyone of them have a sales force. So if you are planning to develop your geodomain, make sure to build a game plan for your sales force. Remember, local advertising is all about a sales force.

“70% of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services…”

2009 will go down as the biggest year for the local online advertising industry. New innovations and technology flooded the market this year. New startups in the local and geo location fields found investors lined up around the corner to issue venture capital to promising technologies. It is amazing how the internet has transformed everything into a local platform. There is no question that geolocal is hot and will continue to gain momentum with the advancement of mobile technology. The driving force behind all this innovation is consumers. In case you have not noticed, it is becoming mandatory for all websites to deliver local results. Geodomains will become effective assets when combined with this new technology coming to market. Interesting times ahead.

(Via ecommercetimes.com)

The future of local online advertising is bright. As we stand on the brink of 2010, there are many reasons to be hopeful. We are seeing new innovations on search engines, the proliferation of hyper-local content developed and managed by micro bloggers and business owners directly, and a resurgence in online coupons with sites like Groupon.

All of these trends are driving an increasing number of consumers to go online more often to find local products and services. More than 80 percent of consumers are searching online for local products every day. They are searching from their homes, but increasingly they are searching on mobile devices — and the new Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Nexus phone will likely offer souped-up search capabilities.

With all this innovation, it is no wonder that small business owners are spending US$7 billion on local online advertising…………………..

You can read the rest of the article by clicking on the link.

(Via ecommercetimes.com)

Conference shows are the backbone to growing an industry. They are where people meet, become educated on new strategies and technologies, and most importantly, network. The domain space is filled with a variety of these conferences. Each of them have their own unique spin and draw a wide range of attendees. Today, Rick Schwartz published an article on his blog that motivated me to comment. I tried to post the comment on his blog several of times, but an error message came up each time. I do not know if it has anything to do with typepad. 

Anyway, I didn’t want to waste the time I spent writing my response, so I decided to share it here on the blog.

——————————————————————————————————

Rick,

First and foremost, I think what Howard and you initiated with the Traffic Show is nothing short of amazing. You both set the standard for growing the industry, as well as educating members. You both were the beacon of light to unite the industry. Others took notice and moved into the space and evolved the conference experience to meet the needs of their clients because of the foundation you both established. Everyone has a great deal of respect for both of your accomplishments with the show and in the industry. Well Done!
 
However, I must be honest with you and share my opinions based on facts. Through the years,  the Traffic Show strategy has become stale, complacent and failed to UNITE the complete industry, from small fish to big fish. It’s main focus has always been on catering to the big fish in the industry. Traffic was in the position to CRUSH anyone even thinking about entering the conference area, but remained focused only on the big fish. A SHAME, and the reasoning even more shameless. Everyone needed a conference like Traffic to take pride in and network to earn more revenue and strike partnerships.

This is where the other shows seized opportunity and established successful affordable Conferences to cater to the need and demand in the industry. The small fish have always been an essential element to the industry’s growth. From Services to new innovations, as well as thousands of low end domain sales. They make the industry what it is today. Remove them from the ecosystem, and there is no industry. However, Traffic never catered to them. Admission to the shows were too steep and the fact that you had to be invited to attend or apply to attend sent the wrong message to the community. Your intentions were well, but you failed to cater to the complete industry.

I feel it is UNNESSARY to take a stab at other conferences in the industry who have had outstanding success and growth over the years, without having definitive facts about why their clients attend. To attempt and compare Traffic with other shows is a bit foolish and is like comparing Apples to Oranges. Both are fruit, however, both have a different taste. They are doing something right because they continue to grow in attendance annually.

All tradeshows are about networking, it doesn’t matter what industry. Always have been and always will be. Parties will always take place at key conferences as well. It is where most business and networking take place. You can’t expect to network during a keynote address!

Anyway, the Traffic Show is evolving and I have no doubt that Rick Latona is going to unite the complete industry off the foundation both you and Howard have built. Prices are dropping, panels are being formed for the small fish, and opportunity to take pride in the premier Industry conference for all domainers small and big, is finally being offered. Rick Latona understands what needs to be done and you selected the right man for the job to take the Show to the next level. His interview with DNW.com clearly identifies he is on the right track.

In closing, I am confident that Traffic will become the premier conference for both small and big fish. So win graciously and do better than your competition on meeting the needs of the attendees. The key is to Focus on the future vision to move the Industry forward as a Unified Front. Only my opinion. 

Respectfully,
Steve