SAMPLE LETTER

Date

Company Name
Address
City, State, Zip

Attention: [Relevant Contact Person]

Dear [Buyer Name],

Would [Company Name] group be interested in the domain name [Domain Name you are trying to Market]?

Our development plans for –[domain name]– site have changed and we have opted instead to sell the domain and hope your company would be interested.  (Note: If you can find competitors that own or use similar names now would be a good time to mention it. Idea is to plant a seed or put forward a concept they may not be aware of).

Thank you and we apologize for the inconvenience if this is not of interest.  If this should be directed to another individual could you kindly advise the correct contact person.

Best regards,

Your Name
Phone Number
List or link to the Domain for Sale

Determining an Asking Price for your Domain Name

Now that you have your approach letter ready you should do some homework to determine the fair market value (FMV) or present market value (PMV) of your asset. Some would argue this should be step one.

How to determine an asking price for your domain:

As mentioned, in previous posts, the true PMV depends on your niche and what someone else is willing to pay for it. If you register a domain name for under $10.00 and receive an offer of $500.00 for it, sell it and move on. What business model are you aware of that generates that kind of a profit margin with no downside or risk?

There are strategies you can use to avoid common pitfalls and hone your decision-making skills. Making better, faster decisions will help you take advantage of business opportunities and avoid disappointments.

1. Reframe the problem
Backing up is sometimes the best way to move forward. When you are presented with a problem, step back, digest it and think about its full context. Try to see the issue from as many perspectives as possible. That will help ensure you are not emphasizing one aspect and neglecting others.

Begin by trying to think of at least 3 different ways of looking at the problem.

2. Make evidence-based decisions
The aim of evidence-based management (EBM) is to use scientific evidence when making decisions, rather than simply trusting one’s instincts. Like most people, you probably tend to use your judgment and to base your decisions on what is familiar. But experiences that you have had at other companies or in different circumstances may not apply to the present situation.

There are simple steps you can take to incorporate evidence into your decision making.

* Use performance data to support your decisions. Get the most current and complete data possible. Use search engines, keyword tools, your analytics, website statistics.
* Challenge your gut feelings. Is there any objective evidence to support them?
* When a course of action is suggested, find out what it’s based on and whether it’s supported by data.
* Determine whether commonly used business strategies have worked in a situation like yours. Will they apply to your particular case?
* Check that the business data you come across are current and objective.

3. Challenge the status quo
People tend to choose the status quo over change, to stay in their comfort zone. But being comfortable with an approach may not be enough to justify it. Question whether you would choose a course of action if you weren’t already following it. Examine your options as realistically as possible. Don’t overstate the cost or the effort involved in making a change.

For example, if you were starting over, would you use the same marketing tactics to attract customers? Would you attend the same trade shows? Would you pay for links, use PPC advertising or a mix? Don’t forget to find supporting data that will help you review your choices objectively.

4. Get an outside perspective…but trust yourself
Make it a habit to ask others for information and opinions. Visit forums and create relationships with other domainers or website managers. Be open-minded. Get a wide range of views, so you can see an issue from as many perspectives as possible.

Employee opinions count
Find ways to encourage information sharing in your company. Be open to plain talk and foster an atmosphere where people can be direct, even when the truth is unpleasant. Using performance evaluations is one way to encourage these values.

Deal with problems
If you want to consult others about a problem, be sure to consider it carefully from as many angles as possible before talking to them. That way, you will avoid being limited by their interpretations and ideas. Frame the problem in as many ways as you can, and then seek out others to see whether they can add to your understanding of the issue.

5. Develop an eye for risk
It’s possible to train yourself to look for all types of risks. Whenever you make a decision, ask yourself: If I make the wrong decision, how will I know it?

For example, if you are considering changing your hosting company to cut costs, think about how you would determine that you’d made the wrong decision.

* Your technical group would report more complaints about site access or uptime.
* You wouldn’t see cost savings at the end of the quarter.
* Administration staff would complain of poor service from the new host.
* The hosting company could go out of business, leaving you to find a new agent and issues with moving site again.

This type of exercise can help you see the potential pitfalls of a decision and take steps to avoid them.

Even a generally good plan will have costs and potential problems. Ask for information on how the plan could go wrong. Examine all the evidence, both bad and good. Don’t underestimate the costs and effort required.

6. Let go of past mistakes
People have a tendency to make choices that justify past experiences, even when a previous decision has not worked out as well as they’d planned. We also tend to spend time and money fixing past problems, when it would be more useful to acknowledge the mistake and move on. Re-work can add an additional 25% to the cost of doing business.

Making sound decisions means taking into account the evidence that is available at the time. Sometimes the context changes and that decision is no longer valid. Recognize that you made the best decision possible under the circumstances, and then review the situation to see whether a different decision is now called for.

In your company, take time to recognize employees who make good decisions based on sound evidence. Don’t focus exclusively on outcomes, as that approach can encourage employees to perpetuate mistakes by continuing to try to fix them.

7. Be honest with yourself
Before gathering evidence to make a decision, take time to review your own motivations. Is your mind already made up? Are you really gathering evidence objectively, or are you simply looking to confirm an existing idea?

Being aware of your own motivations can help you remain objective and focus on finding the best possible solution for your business.

Be decisive
Briskly proceed through the 7 previous steps and then make a decision.

Article Credit: http://www.bdc.ca/en/my_project/Projects/articles/7tips.htm

Your options are to seek and destroy the dude that registered the name, buy it from them or come up with an alternative domain name or another handle that will work specifically in your niche.  If you opt to approach the registered owner you can usually find out their coordinates by using a “whois”  program where you can gather an e-mail and establish contact. Another approach would be to use a broker or middle man who will handle the approach and negotiation for you. This option works if you wish to remain anonymous, however, by using a broker it may trigger the seller that they are dealing with a big wheel and the unit cost will likely be inflated when the offer is presented.

The most economical option is to find another domain name which will work for you. This can be a challenge as most of the good names or virtual real estate has already been registered. If you are on a budget and want to simply find a name you can register here is a tool I use on occasion:

http://makewords.com/

Once on the site enter a keyword … for example if you select “water” and change the min to 6 and max to 18 you will be provided with some potential domain names which may work for you.  Play around with the options as you can also use the Prefix and Suffix fields to generate further options… good luck with your search.

What’s Quality Click Pricing?

Until now, eBay Partner Network has paid for sales and leads. With Quality Click Pricing, we will now instead pay affiliates for each click sent to an eBay site. The price paid per click will still depend on the short-term and long-term revenue of the traffic that the publisher drives to eBay, but will now also take into account the incremental value of that traffic to eBay, i.e., whether a sale happened as a direct result of the publisher’s actions. The greater the incremental revenue and the higher the expected lifetime value of the customers an affiliate sends, the higher the EPC and total earnings the affiliate will receive. Earnings Per Click (EPC) will be set daily for the previous day’s traffic.

What does this mean for you?

Quality Click Pricing (QCP) will have several positive impacts for many publishers:

• QCP simplifies the commission structure.
• As the payout will be more closely aligned with traffic quality, we will pay more than we do today to publishers that are driving us high quality traffic, regardless of the size of the publisher.
• Publishers will be rewarded for multiple sources of value in addition to sales, such as revenue from advertising on eBay pages and PayPal transaction revenue.
• The EPC will be visible the very next day and will be more stable on a day to day basis. Publishers will not have to wait up to seven days to see if clicks convert to sales, or 30 days for new users to sign up after a click.

The impact of Quality Click Pricing on publishers’ earnings will vary according to the quality of the traffic each publisher is driving to eBay’s sites. For many of you, this change will mean that your payout will increase. For others, you may make less money than under the previous payment structure, and will need to make some changes to your campaigns in order to see better rewards. All publishers will have the opportunity to increase the amount of money they make under Quality Click Pricing by sending ever more engaged, targeted traffic to eBay sites. Again, we have lined up extensive resources to help all our affiliates earn more under the new payout model.

This program is to be in place no later than October 1, 2009.

MICHAEL JACKSON SCULPTURE .COM DOMAIN NAME US $299.99 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Sunday Aug-01-2010 1:25:14 PDT   | Watch this Item

The actual glove worn by Jackson recently sold for approximately $50 K so why would an undeveloped domain name be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Well, the true value of a domain name is what your customer is willing to pay for it. The highest returns are made when you are able to find an end user or someone whom has the intention of developing the domain name. They have a specific need for it to sell their goods and these are usually corporations or businesses. This is your target market!

The biggest returns I have made were as a result of contacting corporations directly using a well written letter identifying how they can use the domain name or how it would compliment their existing business. And  make sure you address it to the right individual in the company. If you cannot find a contact on their website phone them directly and ask whom you should address the letter or e-mail to. We would love to hear your success stories when it comes to selling domain names and how you accomplished it.

For those interested, here is an excerpt on the Jackson glove:

Sun Sep 6, 6:22 am ET

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – A white glove worn by the late singer Michael Jackson sold at auction for A$57,600 ($49,000) in Australia Sunday, nearly twice the price auctioneers expected, the auction house said.

The white bejeweled glove was a trademark of the U.S. singer, and according to auction house Bonhams and Goodman this was the first Jackson glove to go on sale since he died in June at the age of 50.

The glove sold in Melbourne Sunday was worn by Jackson in Sydney in 1996, on the day he married Debbie Rowe, the mother of his two elder children, the auction house said.

After a bidding war between collectors in Australia and the United States, it was bought by Warwick Stone on behalf of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“There was a huge amount of interest in the week leading up to the sale. We were still pretty surprised by the price,” Charlotte Stanes of the auction house told Reuters.

In November 1996 Jackson was in Sydney during the HIStory tour, and attended a premiere in Sydney of the film “Ghosts,” in which he starred. Earlier the same day the singer had married Rowe.

At the end of the performance Jackson threw the glove to Bill Hibble, a collector of music and film memorabilia, who has since died. Hibble’s mother put the glove up for auction.

Giles Moon, national head of collectables for the auction house, said he was “astounded” by the price it fetched.

“This meeting will be a great networking opportunity and a chance to learn from the best authorities in the field of domain name law, domain name monetization, advertising, affiliation, web development, SEO and more!” said Daniel Dryzek, the organizer of MeetDomainers. “You will be able to meet lots of Polish domainers and company owners as well as specialists and entrepreneurs from other European countries.”

There will also be valuable opportunities for networking, plenty of entertainment, and a live domain auction with .pl, .eu, and .com domain names. There will be Polish to English available at all times.

Visit MeetDomainers.eu for more information.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Snyder was the CEO of Internet REIT for the past three years where he rebuilt the company’s senior management ranks. Prior to his position at Internet REIT, he co-founded and was Executive Vice President of Marchex.

“Craig has the right blend of experience and knowledge to assume leadership of SnapNames and Moniker,” said Peter Celeste, the Senior Vice President for Domain Services at Oversee.net. “Not only does he understand the industry deeply, he has extensive experience in managing multiple lines of business. Craig is a very strong fit in this role.”

[via PRWeb]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

According to the letters, South American Domains lost accreditation for failing to provide “an interactive webpage and a port 43 Whois service providing free public query-based access to up-to-date (i.e., updated at least daily) data concerning all active Registered Names sponsored by Registrar for each TLD in which it is accredited.”

Simply Named and Tahoe Domains both lost accreditation for failing to escrow registration data with ICANN and failing to pay accreditation fees according to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement.

According to Michele Neylon at CircleID.com, each of the registrars had less than 300 gTLD domains.

Click here to read ICANN’s letters to the registrars.

[via DNXpert.com]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

This is a complete waste of time and the time of many other domainers. GoDaddy should wake up and  automatically provide the lowest possible price in the shopping cart at time of renewal or at the very least provide a link from their user interface or dashboard to these promo codes and the discounted rates that relate to the domain extension requiring renewal.

Why should we have to surf the net to discover that special price, coupon or promo code discount on an unrelated website and then test it to see if it actually works? Talk about Goofy, did not realize GoDaddy was owned by Disneyland!

What would really peeve me off is if I was a new customer, regged a bunch of names with GoDaddy, only to later discover I paid more than I should have because I was not aware of the coupon scheme.

Marketing people sniff too much glue or they drink too much Red Bull. GoDaddy  do us regular, long standing, loyal customers a favor and save us the hassle. Again, let me reiterate, I think GoDaddy is  a leader in domain registration services, and I use them almost exclusively, just feel this is one area they need to revisit.

GoDaddy Promo Codes

CJC749DOM – – Save $3 on .com domains.
You pay $7.49 for registrations, transfers and renewals

OYH7 – $7.49 any .COM (renewals)

BTPS7 – 20% any order of $50 or more

OYH5 – 10% off whatever

OYH6 – $5 off a $30 purchase

BTPS4 – 10% off anything

chill5 – 10% off

chill6 – $5 off $30

chill7 – $7.49 .coms

hash5 – 10% off

hash6 – $5 off $30

hash7 – $7.49 .com registration

gdd1101c – 10% off any order of $40 or more

Try any of the above and hopefully one will work and save you some dough.

German domainer Markus Schnermann is the picture of good health. By any measure – physical, mental, financial, you name it – he is at the top of his game. Schnermann founded a very successful business at KeywordDomains.com, is a partner in another (Domain Invest S.A.) and co-founded the biggest German language domain forum at ConsultDomain.de. After watching him soar to the top of the industry, domainers in his homeland often refer to Schnermann as a “superstar.” Heady stuff – especially for someone whose parents were once told they would have to care for him for the rest of his life.

Schnermann spent most of his youth battling spastic cerebral palsy, a condition caused by a shortage of oxygen at birth. It triggered an average of 30 convulsions a day and left him in need of constant therapy. “As a little kid it took much longer to learn to speak or walk,” Schnermann said, adding that his medical issues led people to reach the wrong conclusions about him.

“When I entered a standard school the teachers told my mother that they were sorry but her son would just be dumb,” Schermann recalled. When a new school for handicapped children was opened Schnermann was sent there for the next four years. At the age of 11 doctors gave his parents the bad news – Markus would not be able to make it on his own.

The Schnermann family needed a miracle – and they got it. “During adolescence I showed fewer and fewer symptoms of convulsions and my wish to attend a normal school grew bigger and bigger.” When his chance finally came he made the most of it. When Schnermann found his way to the gymnasium he found his previously missing physical skills were now blossoming. By the time he completed his Abitur (final exams) Schnermann said, “I realized I could easily catch up with other standard school students and I proved that I knew a thing or two. From that part of my life I learned how much I could accomplish if I just try hard enough and believe in myself. I owe my parents and especially my mother so much for supporting me in these difficult times.”

Schermann was born on April 2, 1968 in Ochtrup, Germany – the second of Franz-Josef and Regina Schnermann’s four children. “My father was a brickmaker who ran our family brickyard in Wettringen, Germany. While my mother took care of us kids my father worked six days a week doing some of the hardest work people could possibly do,” Schermann said.”It was hot from the brick oven, dirty and the bricks were heavy. I remember my father telling me that the factory had problems finding workers who were willing to do the job and often the only people willing to do it were former prisoners. So
I learned what hard manual work was from my father with whom I spent every free minute, starting as a teenager, working together in the brickyard.”

“My mother came from a big farmer’s family with 10 kids,” Schnermann said. “She taught us to treat people with respect, all the soft skills you need in life to deal with challenges and problems and how to communicate openly and frankly. She supported us in everything we did and gave us the love and support that made us believe that we can achieve everything in life.”

After surviving his childhood struggles, Schnermann’s next challenge was deciding what he wanted to do with his life now that he was an adult. “I started working in construction, building houses, then got a job as a lifeguard at a big public pool. In 1994 when I met Susanne, the woman who would become my wife, I realized that there has to be more in life for me. Trying different jobs in manual labor was fun and taught me an important perspective on work in general but I never felt challenged enough.”

“I started studying education of handicapped children at the University of Dortmund and got a degree in Education,” Schnermann said. “I then started working with handicapped children and even spent some time working at the school for handicapped children that I attended as a kid. Today I know that going through this experience was my personal catharsis, a process I had to go through. I also believe that I benefit today from these experiences. I can take a lot of strength from it.”

Schnermann had also taken up a pastime that would eventually lead him into the world of domains. “In the early 80′s, like many others I started becoming fascinated by personal computers. I learned Basic on a Commodore C64, then worked with all of the PC generations. In 1995 at the University of Dortmund I stumbled upon the internet and domain names. Uni-dortmund.de, by the way, was the first registered .de domain and the university was responsible for the maintenance of the registry in its early years,” Schnermann said.

“Registering domain names was very expensive then so the first homepage I tried to publish happened to be on Geocities.com. In 1997 I registered my first .de domain when I wanted to publish a private travel site dedicated to India after I had taken a long trip there. I realized that all of the generic keywords that came to my mind to register were already gone. Most of these were owned by individuals whose names I saw again and again when doing a Whois search.”

“While I ended up with a lousy domain name for my India site (Alles-ueber-Indien.de, which means “All about India”) I instantly got infected by the “domain virus”, started to register as much as possible and as I could afford. I taught myself programming and designing websites, got a degree as a webdesigner and spent nights researching and learning on the Internet about SEO and online marketing.”

Schnermann and his wife Susanne (center) with a family friend on a visit to India in 1995.
His fascination with this country led to his first domain registration, Alles-ueber-Indien.de

“In 1999 I applied for an internship at an insurance company which had just launched a new unit for the Online Business. After a few months they offered me a fulltime job as an Online Marketing specialist, followed by a job as a Project Manager to build the company Intranet. I continued to invest in mostly .de domains and started listing them for sale on Sedo in early 2000. I also exchanged ideas and fantasies with friends online about all the stuff we would buy once we start selling these names for ridiculous prices!” Schermann laughed.

“It took another year though until I sold my first domain for 3,000 Deutsche Marks and I had to learn about buying valuable names or catching dropping names to be able to make real money. My first purchase was Diaet.com (diet.com) for 700 Euros. Selling this domain three months later for five figures to a German Duke was the real kickoff for my domain business as I reinvested all the profits again and again and cumulated the success.”

“Soon I made more money with my hobby than with my fulltime job, so I founded KeywordDomains.com and decided to focus on this business instead of working as an employee. This was the first time in my life I had the feeling that I found my profession, with all the challenges and excitement I was always looking for,” Schnerrman said.

Today, Schnermann’s domain business has grown far beyond anything he could have imagined when he started registering domains a dozen years ago. “We currently manage around 30,000 domains with KeywordDomains.com and 16,000 more with Domain Invest S.A.,” Schnermann said, adding “These numbers can change very quickly though in our dynamic industry.”

When asked about the kinds of domains he goes after Schnermann said, “I am a big fan of classic established gTLDs like .com, .net and .org and ccTLDs like .de, .co.uk, .nl, etc. I never liked the new extensions as I never saw any real demand for these in the Internet community besides the one pushed by
ICANN and registries and the hype caused by latecomers to the domain business. The big problem with these extensions is the lack of a real content base. The average internet Joe seldom finds the services or products he is looking for on a .eu or .biz. He is either looking for the keyword.com or the keyword.ccTLD depending on where he is based at. Therefore my portfolio contains around 80% .de, 10% other ccTLDs like .es and .at and the rest is spread amongst .com, .net, .org and very few .info and .biz.”

Schnermann added, “Although I own far fewer gTLDs than ccTLDs, they had a huge impact on building my business. Without flipping decent keyword domains like Base.com, Fitness.org or Medicine.org I wouldn´t have been able to raise enough money to fund the growth of my company.”

Schnermann’s travels around the world have made him a better, more knowledgeable domainer. He has been a frequent attendee at the major domain conferences staged in America since 2005 – a routine that started because of a special connection he felt to the U.S. “My grandfather immigrated to the U.S in the 1920s when my aunt Betty was born in Cincinnati,” Schnermann said. “So besides being fascinated and interested in the country I stumbled upon U.S. domain communities like DNForum.com, DomainState.com and Rick Schwartz’s private forum and learned so much about new aspects like Type-In Traffic and Dropcatching.”

“Some of the guys I met there were already fully into the domain business for a living, a path I tried to follow. When the 2005 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show in Delray Beach was being promoted I got instantly excited to meet these guys I read about so much. I will never forget my first show in Delray Beach and I can say today that I wouldn´t have accomplished so much without exchanging ideas and networking at all these shows. A lot of the people I met there I consider today as my friends and not only business partners. So there is no regret at all about travelling so often.

Schnermann’s knowledge of both the U.S. market and his home market in Germany gives him a unique perspective on the differences between the two. “The German domain market is probably the most mature one of all ccTLDs in the world,” Schnermann said. “Both published and unpublished sales have reached levels lately that most people have expected only from .com (kredit.de, poker.de, shopping.de, etc.). The core German domainers are very savvy and professional in what they do. A lot of them can cover at least two markets, for example the German and the English speaking ones. It is also no surprise that the leading domain sales platform, Sedo.com, was established in Cologne, Germany,” Schnermann noted.

“Still I think there is plenty of room for growth in Germany as many potential investors, espescially end users and Fortune 500 companies don’t get it yet, so we deal with the same situations as the .com market. The current recession and environment will probably have a positive impact on this situation – from what I can tell the sales volume has grown significantly lately. A lot of brick and mortar businesses are starting to move online because they have to. This must have an impact on future values as there is a limited supply of good keyword domains and a growing demand. New investors into .de can still find lots of opportunities if they have enough cash to invest and can consolidate the market. Hand registering potentially valuable domains is nearly impossible now as all keywords that make sense are gone already,” Schnermann said.

Schnermann thinks some of the best growth opportunities will be in European ccTLDs. “These ccTLDs get more and more popular because a lot of registries opened the namespace and reduced prices and restrictions for registration,” he said. “They follow the footsteps of the .de Registry (DENIC). Registries like the Polish one for .pl even actively promote services like domain tasting and offer drop lists to satisfy the demand from the domain community.”

“Besides the internet penetration in these “late markets” is growing more and more, which goes along with local businesses promoting their services using the local ccTLD. This is a trend I can follow
on some portfolios I own, for example .es (Spain’s ccTLD) is attracting more type-in traffic today then two years ago. I believe that .com will always rank 1st in a global ranking of TLDs but in local markets ccTLDs will continue to grow in popularity. Protectionism caused from the current financial crisis might even accelerate this process.” Schnermann opined.

Despite the current global recession, the past year has been Schnermann’s busiest ever. “In June 2008 I began working as a Managing Director, together with Frederick Schiwek and Xavier Buck, for a new domain investment fund, Domain Invest S.A. I commute every week between my home in Muenster, Germany and Leudelange, Luxembourg. We have a very strong team of founders and investors and believe we can accomplish a lot being based in Luxembourg in the heart of Europe. The quality of people involved in this is amazing and timing for investing couldn´t be better than today,” Schnermann said.

His friend and partner in Domain Invest S.A., Frederick Schiwek told us that having Schnermann on their team gives them a huge advantage. “I am impressed how straight forward he is, if he wants something he works for it until he is successful. He is a very intelligent person who knows a lot about many things. This is part of why he became such a successful domainer. Knowing a lot about many fields gives you the advantage of understanding search terms much better and he was and still is an early bird.”

Schiwek added “Markus, inspired by the American domain industry, started the first big domain community in Europe and that made him a kind of a superstar – someone who always has his finger on the pulse of the domains business. Many very good decisions brought him to where he is today. I am very proud to have him as a partner and friend.”
With his new partnership venture at Domain Invest now on the front burner, Schnermann said Keyworddomains.com GmbH is being run by his brother Joerg Schnermann and Paul Porzky. “Around 90% of our revenue is still coming from PPC but we are trying to establish new revenue streams beyond that,” Schnermann said. “One exciting business model we are trying to grow is something we call affiliate arbitrage. We buy targeted traffic for some verticals and send it to CPA based affiliate programs. It seems we have a proof of concept here with very promising results on some domains that exceeds the former PPC based revenue significantly. There is still a lot of work to do but I am very confident that the potential is huge.”

“Using keyword domains for these kind of campaigns had a big impact on the CTR (click through rate) and conversions, something that has also recently been backed up by Edwin Hayward’s studies about the impact of keyword domains in PPC campaigns. Of course Domain Invest is benefitting from the domain intelligence we have build at KeywordDomains.com and will continue to do so,” Schnermann said.

There are still so many opportunities in the domain business that it is difficult for many in the industry to tear themselves away from work, but Schnermann tries his best to stop and smell the roses whenever he can. “I love spending time with my family, my wife Susanne and my kids Leander and Valentin,” he said. “We all have a passion for travelling. Last year we did a long vacation in California and Hawaii and my sons keep asking when we can go there again. I laso like playing golf or riding my motorbike, a BMW 1200 GS.”

“Six months ago I started working out again and started to learn boxing with a personal trainer. I not only lost more then 30 pounds since then but have also had a lot fun doing it. I never realized how much fun it can be to punch something or someone (with rules involved of course!). 20 years ago I was quite successful as a track and field athlete and I am now considering a comeback in the seniors class,” Schnermann said.

Schnermann is now at a place where doctors said he could never be. The balance he enjoys between the profession he loves and a fulfilling personal life leaves him deeply grateful to those wh have helped him along the way. He closed our conversation by saying “I want to thank all of the unnamed friends and people who supported me in my professional career and in private and I especially want to thank my wife Susanne who supported me and believed in me no matter what decisions I had to make.”

Clearly most of those decisions have turned out to be the right ones. As successful as he has been, for Schnermann, who is still just 41 years old, the best is almost certainly yet to come.

(c) 2009 dnJournal.com

The website is currently empty, but it seems fair to assume that GM intends to use the domain name in a similar way to what Chrysler did with ChryslerRestructuring.com – publishing court documents and announcements regarding its bankruptcy proceedings.

[via Wall Street Journal]

1. The registry itself can pick up to 10 names that it would use for promotion and operation of the TLD.
2. A list of of names will be auctioned through a third party auction provider, potentially with a reserve price. Bids are to be placed through all accredited registrars for .travel.
3. Allocation of names via RFP.
4. Additional auction for all names not allocated above in the same manner as in 2).
5. Registration of the remainder of names on a first come, first serve basis

In addition the registry is taking steps in order to allow ccTLD operators to register their ccTLD under the .travel domain at normal registration cost with the commitment to use the name.

The full details of the proposal are available on the ICANN site (PDF). Similar proposals have been submitted by .BIZ, .COOP, .JOBS, .MOBI, .NAME and .PRO.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Domain.com will be posting a number of coded messages on Twitter every day until June 1. If you’re one of the first twenty people to decode the message, you’ll be eligible to win a free domain as well as the grand prize $500 Apple Gift Card.

How to Play:

1. Join Twitter and become a follower of @domaindotcom. Stay tuned for decoder posts.
2. Once a new code has been posted, you have one hour to crack the code and submit your decryption in a reply to @domaindotcom including the hashtag “#Decod3r” in your reply.
3. Be one of the first twenty followers to crack the code and you’ll be eligible for a free domain. Two of the twenty code-breakers will be randomly selected to receive the prize.
4. Play as many of the games as you’d like. The more codes you crack, the better your chance will be to win a free domain name or the $500 Apple Gift Card.

Sample Code:

Coded Message: laPy uro cdeeord mgea ot nwi efre oaindsm dna na pApel tgif racd!

Decoded Message:@Domaindotcom Play our decoder game to win free domains and an Apple gift card! #Decod3

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[via Domain.com]

As of late April, GoDaddy has changed their domain transfer procedure. It is now much easier to “PUSH” a domain name from one member to another when transferring a domain name within the GoDaddy system.

With the changes, the receiving registrant need not disclose their full information to a seller when initiating transfer now. BUT please remember, if you are the recipient, you MUST provide some vital information, otherwise the quick push cannot be initiated.

The information REQUIRED is:
1) Your e-mail address that you have on file with GoDaddy
PLUS
2) Either your GoDaddy Customer Number or User-name.

Provide this information to the Seller.

Seller

• check off the domain you have sold or about to transfer.
• unlock the domain name
• next from the toolbar select “Account Change”.
• enter the new owners Customer or Login Name.
• select the option “use details from specified customer account”
• Add their e-mail in both fields

Complete remaining steps, agreements and as the Seller you are basically done.

Receiving a domain name just got quicker…and easier!
With the new “quick push”, the domain name will be in the receiving account automatically.
No need to go through the process of typing in the codes!
The recipient will not receive an e-mail with any codes…only one reminding you to accept the transfer.
All the recipient needs to do is:
1) log in to their account and Click on “Pending Account Changes” (located in the drop down menu on the left side).
2) Place a Check next to the domain name and click “quick accept” (right above the domains)
3) Check the user agreement.

By working with representatives of the EPL head office along with officials from Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, and West Ham soccer clubs, Safenames was able to establish a common link between the otherwise separate trademark infringement cases and file a successful complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center using the Uniform Resolution Policy (UDRP).

The WIPO Panel ruled in favor of the EPL clubs after finding that the use of the domain names – including official-manchester-tickets.com, official-liverpool-tickets.com, official-tottenham-tickets.com, official-fulham-tickets.com, and official-westham-tickets.com – were either identical or confusingly similar to that of the trademark holders and have been awarded to their respective clubs.

“We are delighted at the arbitration panel’s decision to award the domains to their rightful trademark holders,” explained Prudence Malinki, the Head Counsel for Safenames. “Unauthorised use of trademarks in the form of domain names is quite a common problem and one that continues to grow as Internet usage grows. There is no industry immune from this damaging issue and we were very happy to assist some of the world’s leading brands in professional sport with fighting this battle.”

Safenames has recently launched a Mark Protect service which helps companies identify and prioritize the recovery of domains which are infringing on their brands. Mark Protect was instrumental in gathering the facts used to build this particular case.

[via Safenames]