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The Billion-Dollar Domain Babies

A plan by ICANN to open op the domain name system to new suffixes creates opportunities for companies to build and strengthen their brand identities. While the cost to create a domain would be as much as half a million, it’s a drop in the marketing bucket, writes branding expert Naseem Javed.

The latest ICANN plan to allow the global populace to assemble an entire domain name like www.yourname.yourname as their free choice is a revolutionary and timely decision. This now opens doors to cyber-brands like “my.ibm,” “hotel.chicago,” “it.jobs,” “play.poker,” “fly.usa” or “go.dell.” Applicants will submit a non-refundable fee of US$100,000 to $500,000 for each name idea, and businesses are already jumping to get started.

A new study estimates that this new registration process would create $33 billion in fees in the first three years. The prime beneficiary will be ICANN, which operates as a not-for-profit organization, but it still would have to deliver a highly structured, high-speed service and meet global needs.

Other big recipients will be the worldwide domain registrars and highly specialized experts and lawyers, while the cascading revenues will go to IT and Web support organizations. The public at large will become the real beneficiaries, as a billion new users will come online, millions of new interactive gateways will open and thousands of new global brands will emerge.

Ripple Effect
This will have a global impact and bring a new face to global e-commerce . The study also points out how in countries around the world, new national clubs of overnight billion-dollar domain name owners will emerge, all fueling the new global race.

In contrast to the nickel-and-dime registration fees and fighting over domain names, this mature approach will alter the domain name perceptions for the global business community, as by and large, domain names have been the most grossly overlooked aspect of a name identity, assumed to be only handled by junior programmers and Web designers. The new registration process has built-in controls — gone will be the days when billion-dollar businesses were on their hands and knees when some kid squatted on their domain names for peanuts and had the capability to pull the corporate strings. In those earlier days, at $70 per domain name, up to a million names per day were being registered. The success was so huge that VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN) ended up being sold for $22 billion.

This latest approach allows great ideas to catapult into overnight global-cyber-name-brands of extraordinary proportions, yet the game must be played fairly and with proper registration while accommodating all the trademark issues. However, the businesses will have to deploy smart and professional strategies with a commanding knowledge of global corporate nomenclature and cyber name identity ownership.

Name Matters
The logo design-driven methods of the previous century are rapidly being replaced by name identity-driven cyberspace. Names like the ultimate flag carriers of the brand will skate around the world and tap the right customers, using the latest online multimedia-searching and cyber-branding tools, and this rule of owning a perfect name with a perfect suffix will propel a brand to new heights overnight.

After years of research, a study by ABC Namebank, titled “The New-Name-Economy & 2010 Cyber Branding Strategies” finds there are already some 18,700 companies in the world today that will apply under this new policy, either by choice or forced by competitive elements to secure layers around their existing brand name identity. Based on their huge budgets, the suggested fee of $100,000 to $500,000 is easily affordable.

Already, most big companies are either spending millions pushing poorly crafted names or spending millions on defending hit-and-run squatters.

The Second Layer
According to this study, there is also a huge second layer of applicants, where some 1.1 million businesses representing the big commercial interests from all the countries of the world that will enter this arena. These organizations basically have no choice but to fully embrace the new model, as the performance of their current and existing name identities are already seriously questionable. There are also the government and municipal bodies all over the world and thousands of trade associations who would like to form exclusive consortia to create cyber-umbrella-identities.

The study further refers to the last layers of entrepreneurial players from all over the world who will enter this arena to quickly become the next eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) , Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , YouTube or Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) , using the mix of multimedia forces and online visibility. The study confirms the role of the dot-com suffix as still being the king, and will remain so until the new system is fully entrenched over the next five to 10 years.

All told, the new registration formula brings a serious high-class tone to the process; the sophistication of creating, building and playing on this new name economy will be awesome. Only the best-designed and properly crafted, highly logical identities that will pass the stringent test of the Five Star Standard will have the chance to join the real race, while the others will merely be the spectators. Business naming is a very tactical, black-and-white exercise and is not to be confused with a typical, logo-driven agency project.

Give Them a Break
The study also challenges the high non-refundable costs as being out of reach for nonprofits, public organizations, developing countries, educational services and religious and community organizations and suggests that the huge economies of scale should bring it to a moderate fee, comparable to a regular highly automated and streamlined current global trademark filing fee structure.

The approval system should be based on globally recognized intellectual property and trademark guidelines, making the process highly transparent and easy to decipher with efficient, quick and cost-effective outcomes. The entire program must quickly reach critical mass to make its global impact and benefit the global users online. The study offers configurations of various national consortium registration models and corporate and public bidding routines.

With launch scheduled for early 2009, the window of opportunity is already very tight. It requires tactical game planning for businesses to fully sort out preplanned and desired identities and the posture to go after them against a global competition. Corporations have already started serious discussions on how to capture the most creative and powerful solutions. Initially, the early domain names took a decade to spread around the globe, but today they are entrenched in every walk of life.

Like a tsunami, they will all descend at once from all over the globe in this new race. The global businesses and the public both are gathering fast at the starting lines, getting set and ready to sprint.

The shot has been fired.

Source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com…ollar-Domain-Babies-64042.html

Register A Free Domain Name

The following information tells you how you can register a completely, 100% free, domain name from GoDaddy. They are currently running a promotion and will give a promotion code to use once you simply subscribe to their IndyCar newsletter.

1. Click here to get started.
2. Enter in your first and last name and check the checkbox.
3. Towards the top of the page in red font will be your promotion code.
4. Go here to register the domain name of your choice and make sure to input the code at the checkout page.

Reply to this post and let us know if it worked for you! This promotion may end at anytime.

Dedicated Windows Server 2008

If you are looking for dedicated hosting and haven’t found a good web host yet, you should check out Aplus.net. They are currently running a promotion for a limited-time that gives free setups on their Windows Server 2008 plans. So they will be setting up your server for free if a dedicated server is purchased. The monthly licensing fee for the Windows Server 2008 is only $89 per month.

Aplus.net also offers 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support every day of the year, and has more than 10 years of award-winning service. Check them out now if you are wanting a dedicated server!

HostMySite acquired by Wachovia

Wachovia Capital Partners, the private equity arm of the Wachovia Corp. bank acquired web hosting provider HostMySite (www.hostmysite.com) today. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. HostMySite operates more than 4,000 servers and has more than 250 employees. They targetted the small-to-medium sized businesses which is becoming the host spot in the web hosting busienss.

My Favorite Features of cPanel

I’m a fan of cPanel for a number of reasons, but a few stand out over all. First, let me tell you that cPanel is a basic web hosting control panel that comes with most cheap web hosting providers on the internet today. It’s not the only option out there; you will find some companies that offer other control panels such Plesk. I personally find some of these other control panels offer less features, are more unorganized, and can be difficult to navigate around.

My favorite features in cPanel come down to three main things: Password Protected Directories, Backup Wizard, and Custom Error Pages. Password protected directories are a great feature if you have a personal folder setup and want to limit access only to people who have the password such as family members or close friends. The backup wizard is amazing feature as you can completely backup your site to transfer to a new web host within about 5 minutes and 3 mouse clicks. Finally, the custom error pages are great if you want to create a unique and custom page for webpages on your site that can’t be found (also known as 403, 404, and many other error pages). These three features are just a few cool features you can find by using cpanel on your favorite website hosting plan. I’m sure there are huge Plesk and other control panel fans out there, but I’m all cPanel!

DreamHost Users now to use Gmail

Web hosting provider DreamHost has recently given its customers the rather unusual advice of choosing Google’s Gmail (mail.google.com) over its own email service, telling them that “it’s something Google…can do better.”

DreamHost currently hosts more than 700k websites and is suggesting that all of their customers switch to use Gmail for their email needs instead of DreamHosts’ mail servers. DreamHost will continue to support its existing email servers but for new setups and current customers, they are encourage to make the switch. More than half of their support requests and tickets dealt with email, which is part of why this change is being made.

McKremie Web Hosting - cpanel web hosting

I had been searching for a cpanel web hosting company that would work best for me. I came across this company called McKremie that seems to have it all. Packages start at just $9.95 per month and you receive 5000 MB of disk space, 1000 GB of data transfer, unlimited mysql databases, and best of all, it uses cpanel. If you are looking for more disk space, you can purchase their Business plan for only $5 more per month ($14.95/month) and you get 3 times as much space (15000 MB).

If you are unsure about what they can offer you, they even offer a demo available. After checking it out myself, I am happy to say that I was very pleased as to what was offered for the plans they have. Another plus that is provided to you is the use of SSH access. I know of other companies that only provide this if you purchase a dedicated server. So having SSH access at only $9.95 or $14.95 is highly beneficial.

To add to all of this, you receive 24/7 phone and email support. This is practically unheard of especially when you can get the plans for the prices McKremie charges. Most places make you pay $100+ a month to have 24/7 support. Check it out and setup a plan. You have nothing to lose especially since they have a 30-day money back guarantee.

Tucows Announces a $10 million Stock Buyback Program

Tucows Inc. (TSX:TC, AMEX: TCX) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program of up to $10 million for the repurchase of its common stock. Tucows has also filed a notice of intention with the Toronto Stock Exchange (”TSX”) to make a normal course issuer bid through the facilities of the TSX. Tucows will have the option to repurchase its shares of common stock either through the facilities of the TSX or the American Stock Exchange.

The notice filed with the TSX provides that Tucows may, during the twelve-month period commencing May 12, 2008, repurchase up to 6,361,769 shares of its common stock, which amount represents approximately 10% of the public float of Tucows. For purposes of any repurchases made on the TSX, Tucows may only purchase up to a maximum of 4,188 shares in any daily trading session, which number represents 25% of the average daily trading volume on the TSX over the six month period ending April 30, 2008, unless the block purchase exception is relied upon. As of May 7, 2008 there were 73,888,542 common shares outstanding. All shares purchased by Tucows under the normal course issuer bid will be cancelled.

The timing and exact number of common shares purchased will be at Tucows’ discretion and will depend on market conditions and may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Subject to applicable securities laws and stock exchange rules, all purchases will occur through the open market and may be in large block purchases. Tucows does not intend to purchase its shares from its management team or other insiders.

During Tucows’ previous stock buyback program which ended on February 15, 2008, Tucows repurchased 2,616,600 common shares.

TTS Partners with Hosted Solutions

Web hosting provider Hosted Solutions (hostedsolutions.com) announced on Monday that it has signed a multi-year contract with sales tax compliance service provider Tax Technology Services (certcapture.com).

Under the agreement, Hosted Solutions says it will provide TTS with a “comprehensive solution,” including dedicated servers, managed firewall, monitoring and redundant Internet services.

According to its recent press release, TTS provides an online-based service called CertCapture for companies that pay taxes in multiple states. TTS says “the application enables them to manage and track their Sales Tax Exemption Certificates by scanning and mapping them to a specialized online database for review and analysis, protecting them in the event of an audit.”

“TTS has truly developed an industry changing solution that enables large enterprises with multi-state operations to easily digitize and store tax related certificates that have been fully vetted by qualified tax professionals without investing in software, hardware or IT support,” says Brian Baker, VP of sales with Hosted Solutions. “We are proud to play a critical role in their success and growth by providing a secure, reliable and robust online environment for their customers to store and report critical information to state tax professionals around the country.”

Founded in 2001 and based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Hosted Solutions says it offers “high quality data center and managed hosting services,” and operates facilities in Charlotte, Raleigh and Cary, NC as well as in Boston.

Last month, theWHIR reported that Hosted Solutions has been acquired by media and communications private equity firm ABRY Partners for $140 million.

Source: http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/050508_TTS_Partners_with_Hosted_Solutions.cfm

Linux server provisioning aided by open source tool

Brian McArthur, the director of technology at Advantage Professionals, a managed services provider in Charlotte, N.C., wanted a better way to perform bare-metal installations on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server. He and his engineering staff used a pre-boot execution environment or PXE Boot server and the kick-start process for automating Linux installations. While the approach is fairly common, McArthur said, “It was a bit cumbersome and never really worked exactly as we needed.” For one thing, the process was not automated, requiring staff to manually assign roles to servers—a time-consuming and inefficient process.

McArthur set out to find a more automated approach to bare-metal server provisioning to quickly facilitate the addition of new servers running the CentOS distribution of Linux in his company’s data center. McArthur went online, conducted a search and came across LinMin Corp., a Redwood City, Calif.-based systems management startup that focuses on Linux administration and management. McArthur downloaded a demo of the company’s product, LinMin Bare Metal Provisioning and within hours realized he had found the right tool.