SnapNames.com has finally finalized the live and extended catalogs for the auctions that will be held at DomainFest.  I went thru the Live Catalog and there are some Geo Gems listed.  It will be interesting to see the prices they sell for, since the largest domain investors will be present under the same roof.   

Those attending DomainFest, please feel free to send in updates and pictures of the conference and hot topics discussed to SimplyGeo.com for our readers.  It would greatly be appreciated by all. Especially any sale prices on the names listed.

Here are the Geodomains that will be in the live auction.  How do you think they will do?

NewYork.net                    Reserve $325,000
SouthPole.com                  Reserve $95,000
Massachusetts.net           Reserve $27,500
Oregon.net                         Reserve $27,500
Yemen.com                       Reserve $30,000
Beijing.net                         Reserve $15,000
Holland.net                        Reserve $15,000
VegasRealestate.com       Reserve $10,000
Yucca.com                         Reserve $10,000
PhoenixDoctors.com       Reserve $5,000

I just received an email from NameJet.com.  It appears they have lowered their starting bid price to $29.00 on select names from $70.00.  This is a smart move and will increase activity on alot of  auctions.  This will allow alot of domainers to secure some good niche names at affordable prices.  Aditionally, they have given bidders the option of bidding in small increments.

Dear NameJet customer,

We appreciate your business and have listened to your comments and suggestions. Based on your feedback, we’ve recently made a number of enhancements to our Web site and bidding processes to make it even faster and easier for you to find, manage and bid on domain names.
We’ve lowered the minimum bid price on all our domains! Minimum bid pricing will now start as low as $29 on some domains. Our Pre-Release, Pending Delete and Public Auction domains will have variable starting prices. Please note, if you already have a bid on a domain at our previous minimum bid amount of $70, NameJet will automatically adjust your bid to the new minimum bid amount. 
Plus, bidding increments are now even more flexible. Instead of only having the option of bidding in increment amounts–$10 for auctions less than $1,000 or $100 for auctions greater than $1,000–you can now bid any amount over the $10 or $100 minimum bid needed. If you want to place a bid of $11, $12 or any whole dollar over the minimum bid increment, you now have the option to do so.

Many people in this industry, have several logins at multiple websites.  If a hacker was to gain access to any of your accounts, a variety of very bad things could happen. 

1.  Identity Theft
2.  Fiduciary Losses
3.  Access to Bank and Credit Cards
4.  Loss of valuable domains
5.  Loss of Credibility 

I asked what happened to Iran.com and discovered a huge unpublicized problem that occured on Sedo.com while the domain was listed for sale.  The bidders account was hacked at Sedo.com, resulting in a bogus bid of $735,000. (Thanks Patrick!)  This is very troublesome to all parties involved and extremely difficult to understand why Sedo.com does not have a system in place that throws up the Red Flag to validate large offers made on domains in auction.  It is very apparent that $735,000 is an extremely large offer that demands validating before wasting the domain owners time and embarrassing Sedo.com’s auction platform.  (Like they need additional bad press after the .mobi auction problems.)

The user received an email stating he had made a bid at Sedo.com in the amount of $735,000.  It is then, that he identified his account had been hacked.   After informing Sedo.com via email of the issue, 2 days later he received a reply and an investigation occured.  All this could have been prevented by doing the following:

1.  The USER having a Internet standard secured password
2.  Sedo.com emplacing software allowing only Internet Standard secured passwords
3.  Sedo.com validating LARGE offers before notifying the owner of the domain of a bid/offer.
4.  Sedo.com prequalifying individuals before being able to bid on coveted, valuable generic domains  

Most internet users select easy to remember passwords and use them for all their accounts to make it easier on themselves.  This is the most dangerous and biggest mistake an individual can do on the internet and any financial business that does transactions on the internet to allow. 

Listed below are some tips you should consider to remain proactive in making it extremely hard for hackers to hack into your sensitive data account(s).  It may be a little harsh developing a secure password, but your identity, money, and valuable domains are at risk if you do not have an industry standard secure password. 

Military internet password standards are very strict.  They are:  

-All passwords must have a minimum of 8 characters in length
-You may not have repeating characters
-You may not have vowels
-You must have at least 2 alpha characters
-You must have 2 numeric characters
-You must have 2 special characters (!, &, *, $, @, #, %, etc) Can not place together such as !@, #$, %^, etc
-password is changed every 90 days

Password strategies to avoid

Some common methods used to create passwords are easy to guess by criminals. To avoid weak, easy-to-guess passwords:

Keep your passwords secret

Treat your passwords and pass phrases with as much care as the information that they protect.

Yesterday, I added “Ask a Geodomain Professional a Question” to the Geo Forum.  Many Geo professionals frequent this blog daily.   This is your opportunity to list questions you would like answers to in regards to development and geodomains.   I can not guarantee these Geo professionals that visit will answer all of your questions.  It will all depend on the quality of questions asked and participation on that topic.

There are only a few (8) Geopreneurs who have taken advantage of the Geo Forum.  I would like to encourage all of you to sign up and embrace it, before your Forum name is taken.  It is a platform designed for Geopreneurs to learn from each other and share related information.  In such a unique industry, it is imperative to network, share ideas, and communicate tactics that work.  Individualism has occured too often in the domain industry throughout the years.  The whole purpose of this blog and the forum is to break out of this traditional mold and get others to spread Unity as a virus throughout the industry.  I do not wish to use this blog as an “All About Me Platform”. 

It is ALL ABOUT YOU and FOR YOU, feel free to contribute, make recommendations, and interact thru the blog and Geo Forum.

I can not do it alone and need your help to get topics and comments started on the Geo Forum.  The blog keeps me very busy.  I am providing the tools for you, it will be upto you to Unite and embrace them.  Knowledge is power, but it can also be said that it is useless if you do not share it.  Unless it is Top Secret stuff!  =-)   

On 31 December, I posted that Iran.com was on auction at Sedo.com.  It had a solo bid of $735,000 on 31 December.  Since then, the auction has been completed but there has not been any news of Iran.com selling.  Does anyone have more info on the Iran.com listing on Sedo.com?  It is no longer listed for sale on Sedo.com when you do a search.  I would like to know what happened to the solo bidder.  Did Rick Latona pull the domain from auction?  I find it hard to believe Rick refusing to sell the name for $735,000, when it was purchased a few months earlier for $400,000.  But it could happen!

On a different note, VirginIslands.net started auction today at GreatDomains.com.       

“Out of The Box”

(via reuters) 

While a plan for local advertising on the site is in the works, YouTube is touring the country with mobile kiosks where staffers show users how to upload videos, Garcia says. “Before we think about the monetization aspect, we need to make sure the community finds the site interesting.

YouTube.com is very smart with this “out of the box” initiative to teach individuals how to use their video platform in a foreign country.  This is going to be a small trend in the future, mobile internet learning kiosks.  With so many baby boomers now coming online, it is imperative for services to teach them how to use the internet, as well as their computers.  Most have never been on a computer, to include senior citizens.  Have you ever seen an older person struggle trying to figure out the basics of a computer?  What about with definitions of internet terms and the importance of traffic to a business website?  It is not easy for a person with an oldschool mindset to embrace technology.  They have programmed themselves to operate in the traditional ways and need assistance to break out of that mindset and embrace technology.

In my career, there are many old school leaders that do not have a clue about the power of the internet or advance functions of email.  I am always teaching Senior leaders different things when it comes to computers and the internet.  Most small business owners are baby boomers in the same position and are stuck in traditional media thinking.  When you discuss advertising options on your targeted geodomain to small business owners, probally 90% are turning you away because they simply don’t  get it/understand it and keeps them from signing up with your service.  No one will commit hard earned money to a game plan that sounds confusing or that they do not understand.  Would you? 

I think it would be a great idea for city.com owners and prime georealestate.com owners to explore the possibility of establishing a Geo.com mobile kiosk platform to promote your geodomain and teach these uninformed business owners how you can increase their profits.  Additionally, you can network with other geo owners in the area and reenforce it thru Geo Seminars in your area.

In the end, it is not about you that future advertisers care about.  They care about their business and maximizing their ROI on advertising dollars spent.  Make them the center of attention and meet their needs, not yours.  If you focus on them, these same small business owners will do free word or mouth advertising and your customer base will increase 10 fold.  We have to collectively find ways to break them out of the traditional mold in order for the geodomain industry to reach it maximum potential. A Geo Mobile Kiosk just might be one of those of tools. 

Places they could be set up, Walmart, Tradeshows, Staples, Home Depot, and of course on demand  

What are your thoughts?

If you did not get a chance to read Part 1 of the GeoView, you can read it (HERE)   The GeoView Continued:  

**SMO**Since becoming a member of AssociatedCities.com, how has the geo niche industry grown?

(MAC) Associated Cities enables those of us that have succeeded to provide a window into what makes a geodomain one of the best investments in this industry. A geodomain has multiple revenue verticals that can be tapped at different levels of development. We give to others in understanding and experience the successful tools that we developed and created. This would be akin to a major company giving away the blueprints of their success to their competitors. The original spirit of the internet’s creators like Vinton Cerf, Jon Postel, Robert Kahn, Tim Berners-Lee, Leonard Kleinrock  gave the internet freely to all for its growth and advancement

We are all helping to grow an industry like never before. If you have ever had children and watch them grow you have some understanding of the emotion and passion that flows through the internet. It is inherent in its foundation and that is good for all of us.   

(DJC) Associated Cities is great for sharing ideas and trumpeting GeoDomains through the GeoDomain Expo. It also promotes best practices. Just because you have a GeoDomain does not mean you can join Associated Cities. To join AC, your GeoDomain has to be a city name .com. In addition, it has to be developed with unique content. Many present members were originally denied membership because their sites weren’t developed.

The irony for me and Michael is that even though the success of our GeoDomains have put us on the map, our GeoDomains are the smaller part of our portfolio.

**SMO**What added features do you plan on adding to your geo domains in the near future?

(MAC) At the beginning the need was coming from the visitor outside of a hundred miles of our geos. That is where we found our public and income. Local has evolved into the front position for us now. The locals live there full time and have an emotional tie to the area and name. We are now applying applications like classifieds, forums, local search and local social networking to bridge these two areas. Our Traveler and CCIN logo reads “Local Choice, Global Voice” and we adhere to that logic.   

(DJC)Monetizing local traffic is the future goal for GeoDomainers. In other words, most GeoDomains still make most of their money via tourism related advertisers like hotels.  It’s starting to change, but it encompasses a whole new set of strategies.

**SMO**What role do you think geo domains will evolve into as the internet continues to grow and more consumers come online?

(MAC)  I would like to see all the major .com city names come online with a consistency that is worthy of the visitor. Once the public accepts the trust factor with these geodomains they will virtually connect the dots in creating this virtual world. Other geodomains have a course and visitor base laid out for its continual growth.

(DJC) Properly developed, GeoDomains have the branding power to become the local media of the future. They can have the local relevancy that local newspapers have enjoyed in the past. And they certainly have the national and international branding advantage that newspapers never did.

**SMO**What are some future goals and where would you like to be in 5 years with your geo domains?

(MAC) Of course I would like to live on an island in Tahiti just fishing, diving and relaxing but the internet if far too exciting. Our goal is to be in the mix of it as it grows and prospers. I would hope that vendors and businesses feel they have a place where they could sell their good and products right through the city site. I remember in 1996 someone from Japan emailed wanting to buy some expensive shoes from a store in Palm Springs. I made the connection for them and the store sold and delivered the shoes. I did not make a penny from it but I understood at the time that it could and should be done at some point. We have the ultimate storefront. It comes down to these vendors understanding that there are customers waiting to buy their goods from all over the world. That is not the easiest thing for a small town shop to understand.

(DJC) Working a lot less harder than I’m working now! Even though the advertising sales I handled in 1997-1999 are now done by others in our company, you cannot mentally get away from this.  It’s all consuming and I yearn for the day when I can only check my laptop once a day because we’re too busy SCUBA diving, fishing and sailing through French Polynesia.

**SMO**Any advice you can give to new Geopreneurs entering this niche in the domain industry?

(MAC)  There are those successful in this business that want you to succeed and are willing to help you. Join Associated Cities and ask questions at conferences and blogs. Also, buy the best, most fun, most impassioned city name you can buy. The cost should not matter as long as it is a well know, well traveled destination. That is all relative to how much money a city site can generate. If I were to spend a million dollars on a major name, I would know that with effort I could be making a hundred thousand the first year. It will and probably pay for itself in several years. That’s a great deal and when it is generating a million a year, how much would you then sell it for? You get the picture. If you believe in this business like we do, the prices are well worth it at this stage. It can only grow in value. I have watched this trend continue for 12 years with no end in “”site”.   

(DJC) Three things: 1) Learn from those who came before you, particularly those in traditional media, and do not listen to webmasters or those who know nothing about sales (this will cost you dearly), 2) No matter what anyone tells you, go with your instincts. You’ll be right at least 90% of the time, and 3) Be prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked before.  Everyone you see enjoying life in this business is at least a 10 year overnight success.