Wow, I can’t believe it’s been almost two months since my last weekly news video. I’ve been traveling a lot with the shows, meetings and just overall busy with projects. I hope to get back into doing the weekly videos starting today.

Links:

$750 In Prizes Just To Register Domain Names At Name.com – ChefPatrick.com
Sign Up For a Chance To Win One Of Three Apple iPads – ChefPatrick.com
Sex.com Sale To Be A No Reserve Auction – ElliotsBlog.com
Want To Learn More About ccTLDs? – ChefPatrick.com
ICANN Pushes .xxx Vote Off Until Brussell Meeting – TheDomains.com
Get A Premium .CO Before Launch – ChefPatrick.com
Industry’s First Domain Conference On A Boat – DNCruise.com

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I do!

Honestly I don’t know enough about ccTLDs so I’m glad to see that my good friend Morgan Linton of MorganLinton.com has launched a new blog, ccTLDinvestors.com. The online magazine was created to specifically discuss ccTLDs. In addition, Morgan recently released a ccTLD only newsletter, which is a great idea. If you haven’t already signed up for you should. I am very excited to see what he has in store for us!

Here is Morgan’s full press release:

IN SEARCH OF THE NEXT .COM: CCTLDINVESTORS.COM FOCUSES ON TAKING DOMAIN NAME INVESTMENTS GLOBAL
Online Magazine Targets Global Domain Name Market

LOS ANGELES, California – March 11, 2010 – Linton Investments LLC announced ccTLDInvestors.com today – an online magazine dedicated entirely to investing in ccTLDs. Country Code Top Level Domains (commonly called ccTLDs) are the extensions dedicated to a specific country online such as .co.uk (England), .ca (Canada), .in (India) and .me (Montenegro).“The market is there, we’ve already seen some huge sales this year, the problem is that there are very few resources for ccTLD Investors,” says Morgan Linton, the creator of the magazine.

The Domain Name Investing market has grown dramatically over the last few years, and with sales like Toys.com for 5.1 million dollars and Candy.com for 3.0 million dollars it is clear the market is hot. In 2009 ccTLD sales doubled making it the quickest growing segment in the Domain Investing space! With sales like Credit.fr for $851,875 and Free-SMS.de for $162,150 already this year, the ccTLD market has the potential to appreciate just like the .com, .net, and .org markets have over the last fifteen years – but at an even faster pace!

While there are ccTLD sales every week, .com continues to take the limelight in the Domain Investing world. “For some markets there is almost nowhere investors can look to find-out more information about a particular Country’s TLD,” says Linton who is passionate about giving equal focus to oftentimes overlooked countries and regions. “The idea is simple – more people around the world are using the Internet every day – in the United States .com is the focus – in Canada owning a brand means owning the corresponding .ca domain, in Germany it means owning the corresponding .de domain. ccTLDs give investors the chance to buy-into a market before it takes off!”

Markets like England’s .co.uk and Germany’s .de have already seen strong attention from investors and enjoyed excellent sale prices over the last few years. Other markets like .in and .mx are just starting to see some larger sales but have mostly stayed below the five-figure range.

Linton has put-together a team of industry experts for his magazine that will allow it to provide detailed insight into markets very few people have experience with. “Just think, at this very moment India already has more Internet users than the United States. In India, .com is not as strong as .co.in or .in but the market for buying and selling these domains has just started…just like .com did in the nineties!

ccTLDInvestors.com will be published weekly to start and gives readers the opportunity to interact directly with the writers through an online comment system making the magazine more accessible. Linton will continue to add more writers throughout the year to reach even more markets. “The idea is to make ccTLDInvestors.com the online source for information about ccTLDs – this is day one!”

Linton Investments LLC was founded in 2007 as a Domain Name Investment company. Over the last two years the company has grown their portfolio to encompass over twenty TLDs spanning the Americas, Europe, and Asia. With a strong focus on development, Linton Investments turns their domain names into search engine-optimized web properties that generate a consistent monthly income.

The company’s founder, Morgan Linton is also the author of the book – Domain Flipping: How To Profit From The Domain Name Boom as well as Producer of Domainvestors Television. Morgan runs a popular blog – MorganLinton.com where he discusses domain investing, monetization, SEO, and of course ccTLDs.

If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an appointment with Morgan Linton, please call 1-800-274-6440 or email Morgan@LintonInvestments.com.

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While looking at Sedo.com today I noticed the sale of MusicVideos.com for $250,000. MusicVideos.com was previously owned by DNStination, Inc which purchased the domain name from Yahoo, Inc mid to late 2009. DNStination either owns or has sold domains like iSlate.com, Me.com and Z1.com. The current whois information of MusicVideos.com is private and at this point it is unclear who the buyer is.

MusicVideos.com $250,000
Google Search: not listed on first three pages
Google Page Rank: 1
Alexa Rank: na – fowards to an affiliate offer
Compete.com: 21,249 unique and 23,037 total visits per month
Keyword: 673,000 local and 1,220,000 global searches per month

*Updated Information – The $250,000 buyer was Merlin Kauffman of True Magic, LLC. Within a week of owning MusicVideos.com Merlin has resold it to an undisclosed buyer and they are not reporting the sales price.

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Earlier today an attendee for my upcoming conference, DNCruise.com, paid for their pass through PayPal. When I received the payment I noticed no fees were taken out of my account. I asked the payee if they used mass pay and to my surprise they said no. Instead, they were given the option to pay the fee when sending the payment.

I’ve tried getting people to use mass pay with domain sales and for some reason they just don’t understand how to do it. I don’t know about you, but this could be a great way of avoiding PayPal fees without having to explain mass pay.

Here are the steps:

Step 1 – From the main menu select send money. Then select the Personal tab along with Payment Owed.

Step 2 – On the next screen have the payee select the box that says “I will pay the fee”.

The above is just an example to show the box. The fee to transfer using a credit card varies between accounts, in most cases 2.9% + $0.30.

Please note that there will only be a fee if the payee is using a credit card. If they are paying with PayPal funds there are no fees.

Has anyone used this method on PayPal? Is there anything wrong with this or restrictions? I’m also assuming that by using the personal money transfer option there is no way for a customer to dispute a charge?

*Use this technique at your own risk. I personally will not be using it.

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Press Release

.CO Founders Program Launches to Engage Early Adopters, Proactively Develop Domain Extension

MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)– .CO Internet S.A.S. (www.COinternet.co), a new company formed by Arcelandia S.A., a wholly-owned Colombian company, and U.S. company Neustar, Inc., today announced the launch plan for the .CO domain name extension that offers enterprises and individuals a global, recognizable, and credible option in branding their Internet presence.

As a premium domain name space, .CO domains will be available through a select list of accredited partners, including many of the world’s largest and most well-respected domain registrars. These registrars have committed to following international best practices to ensure the integrity and value of the name space for all who participate.

A multi-phase Launch Plan will protect the rights of trademark holders and ensure the stable and orderly distribution of .CO domain names.

• A global Sunrise will take place from April 26 through June 10, allowing eligible trademark holders the right to apply for the .CO domain names corresponding to their marks before registration is open to the general public.
• Landrush will occur from June 21 through July 13, and will be open to anyone interested in registering certain high priority domain names.
• General availability will begin on July 20, opening the .CO domain for registrations on a first-come, first-served basis around the world.

The .CO Founders Program

Starting today, early adopters can gain a true first mover advantage by applying to be included in the .CO Founders Program, an initiative designed to help qualified “first movers” to proactively develop and maintain domains with the .CO extension prior to the public launch in July. The .CO Founders Program is open to all interested applicants from individuals to businesses and big brands.

“The .CO Founders Program provides an excellent opportunity for early adopters to secure short and memorable domain names and truly help shape the .CO name space,” said Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet. “Participants in the program will benefit by potentially being featured in an aggressive .CO advertising and marketing program; likewise they will be expected to actively promote their domain to benefit the broader .COmmunity,” added Calle.

How to Apply for The .CO Founders Program

Applicants submit an application via www.COinternet.co/cofounders explaining the .CO domain they’d like to develop, as well as additional details about themselves and their launch proposal. .CO Internet will then review the applications and approve those that will best contribute to the .CO community. .CO Internet will award domains, at their discretion, subject to certain terms and conditions.

Demand for Increased Domain Options

At the close of 2009, there were more than 192 million domain names registered — an increase of nearly 15 million domain names since the end of 2008. Of those registered, more than 95 million .com domain names have been registered.

Associated globally with the words “COmpany,” “COrporation” and “COmmerce” – the .CO domain opens up new opportunities in the currently saturated online environment.

.CO domains are easy to recognize, simple to remember, and flexible to use. The .CO extension also offers the perfect platform for a new generation of socially-networked individuals and businesses to COmmunicate and COllaborate online.

About .CO Internet S.A.S.

.CO Internet S.A.S. is the Registry Operator for the .CO top-level domain. .CO Internet was formed by a strategic venture between Arcelandia S.A., a wholly-owned Colombian company, and the U.S. public company, Neustar, Inc. The .CO domain offers individuals and businesses a truly global, recognizable and credible option in branding their online presence. Thanks to newly liberalized policies, leading-edge technology, enhanced security and unprecedented rights protections for trademark owners, the .CO domain is poised to become the world’s next premier web address. For additional information, please visit www.COinternet.co.

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