A Rare Chance to Get the Domain You Really Want

Guest Column from John Reilly along with tips from Shel Horowitz to help you register a domain name.

(Shel Horowitz's Frugal Marketing Tip, December, 1999)

Note: this is extremely timely information that I haven't seen anywhere else. So when I saw John's post in the Internet Sales Discussion List--a fabulous resource and a favorite discussion list of mine--I asked him if I could use it as a guest column. I urge you to move fast on these, before the word gets out. Just remember: the best domain names:
* are easy to remember
* reinforce your product
* can serve as a generic for your type of product (i.e., childrensbooks.com)
* end in .com

Also remember that you can get several good domain names and point them either to the same or different web sites. At $59 for the first two years, great domain names can be among your best tools.

However, with all due respect to John, I should point out that I have not had a chance to verify his statements. If they're true, you won't be sorry I passed this information on. If there are strings attached, I apologize. Normally I would have checked it all out, but this particular month I am juggling a large number of very time-consuming projects.

There are some 20 domain vendors now able to process domain registrations. John's company is one of them. To search all the vendors at once to see if a domain is available, go to http://www.betterwhois.com or http://www.nsiregistry.net

So, stepping aside, I give you John for this month.
--Shel Horowitz

A Rare Chance to Get the Domain You Really Want
By John Reilly

Quietly, in October, the Internic Registry began accepting extended character domain names. Remember the old limitation of 26 characters? Well, it is now expanded to 67 characters (including the .com extension). Let those creative marketing juices start to flow! I am sure there are some names, slogans, titles that are finally within the reach of many of the innovative types on this list serv...say, WhereDoYouWantToGoToday.com or TheGreatestMoviesOfAllTime.com

What does this mean if, for example, your clients are commercial real estate agents and companies? Say they are Capital Associates, a specialist in commercial real estate. Now they can grab the domain name no one else was able to grab before -- CapitalCommercialRealEstate.com or CapitalCommercialRealEstateLoans.com Likewise for some of the office building addresses like Twenty-oneBroadwayTowerSuite.com Or, with permission of the franchisor, they could be GladysKnightColdwellBanker.com

The other good news generated by the recent regulatory switch from Network Solutions to ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers) is that prices will be coming down. Network Solutions still offers the 2 year registration fee of $70 along with a 26 character cap -- today you can complete that same registration for $59 and a 67 character cap. Think of a dynamite name you would like to own; then check out availability at http://InternetCrusade.com Sorry, we already own TheUnitedStatesOfAmerica.com ;-)

This is great news for those who view the Internet as a key tool in their overall marketing strategy . Unfortunately, most people are still under the impression that short domain names are the *only* way to go, even if you have to rely on unsightly abbreviations. Web savvy individuals realize that they should secure a number of 'pointer domains' that will be helpful in their marketing strategies and in search engine placement to drive eyeballs to their major Web site -- they are the ones who will rush to reserve the Plus-26 character domain names.

Aloha from John Reilly
Honolulu, Hawaii
VP Publishing, InternetCrusade
http://John-Reilly.com

Thank you reading this back issue of Shel Horowitz's Monthly Frugal Marketing Tips, published every month since May, 1997; please click here to view the complete archives, grouped by subject. Shel is an internationally known copywriter and marketing consultant, author of Grassroots Marketing Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First and several other books, and creator of the Frugal Marketing web site. Please click here to contact Shel.


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