thedomainess.com

In order for people to access a website, they must first enter in its associated domain name.  This is a word or phrase that denotes the name of the site and/or summarizes what it is about.  Even free web hosting companies offer domain names, but there’s an essential difference.  With free web hosting companies, the domain names offered are in the form of third level domain names.

This means their domain name must be included when a person is trying to access the third level domain.  The only problem with this is that it makes a domain name long and hard to remember.  For this reason it’s best if a person considers just buying their own domain name.  And with the availability of cheap domain names, it is possible to get one that is very affordable.

Cheap domain names can range from being completely free to around $6.95.  Usually free domain names that are worth anything are included with a web hosting package.  So, a customer is technically still paying a fee.  The other types of domain names that require a fee can be purchased separately without a web hosting package.  The prices for these start at $1.00 and go up from there.

When a person purchases a cheap domain name, the overall registration process is the same as it would be for regularly-priced domains.  This means that first they would have to see if their domain name is available.  To do this they must enter in their desired domain name in a special text box, then select the extension they want.  If the domain name is available, they are free to purchase it.  If it is not available, they will have to choose another domain name.  Cheap domain name companies will offer suggestions on alternative domain names when this scenario occurs.

Are there any downsides to using cheap domain names?  Unfortunately, yes.  If a cheap domain name company is unscrupulous, a person may never receive a domain name at all.  What happens is the company tells the customer to wait a few days for the domain name to become active.  However, at the end of the timeframe, the domain name still doesn’t work.  And since the company is unscrupulous anyway, emailing customer service won’t do anything.

How can a person ensure they don’t encounter a fraudulent cheap domain name company?  First and foremost they need to check to see if it is registered with the Better Business Bureau.  This is an organization that ensures businesses are operating in a legitimate manner.  Secondly, they need to see if the company has normal contact information, such as an address and a telephone number.  Thirdly, they should see if the company has a bad reputation on message board dedicated to webmasters.  Of course, one may not always get an opinion on a particular company but if they do they will know to stay clear of it.

Yet, if a cheap domain name company is legitimate, there is no other disadvantage to getting a discounted domain name.  They work just like regularly priced domain names, so if a person has one available to them they definitely need to take advantage of it.

Most Internet marketing gurus know the importance of using a domain name.  However, only the experts use bulk domain names when marketing their website.  How do things work if one is using bulk domain names?  Basically, with the bulk domain name tactic, dozens maybe even hundreds of domain names point to one site.  The practice is completely legal, (since ICANN places no limitations on how many domain names a person can register), and could even boost search engine listings.  This is because search engine bots have more URLs they can find that relate to a particular website.

So, how can a person get started with bulk domain name registration?  Well, if they have money, it’s best if they go to a bulk domain name company.  These are better than traditional domain name companies, because they are specially designed to help webmaster better manage their bulk domain name campaigns.  With a bulk domain name company, webmasters can manage up to 10,000 domain names in just one account.  This includes placing them in related groups, alphabetizing them or viewing which ones are going to expire first.  An example of an excellent service offering these features is DomainNext.com.

If a person doesn’t have money, they will need to consider other means of bulk domain name registration.  For example, they could try to get maybe 100 or so domain names from domain name registrars charging just a dollar.  This would mean the initial fees would be $100, which is an affordable amount for most people.  They could also consider getting a series of free domain names.  However, they must be aware that many free domain name providers will places ads on a site as well as contain an extension that is not traditional.

There may also be a limit to how many free domain names a person can register.  Either way, webmasters may want to consider pointing free domain names to a second site that relates to whatever they are promoting.  They can advertise the domain name to their main site.  With this method they can take advantage of free bulk domain names without having to worry about bombarding their original site with advertisements.

It should be noted that if a person does not get free bulk domain names, they will have to pay renewal fees once their domain names expire.  If a person got a number of bulk domain names they can handle, this may not be an issue.  However, if it is, they can consider selling their domain names on domain name auction sites.  They will lose the marketing advantage, but at least they will get an opportunity to save money.

In conclusion, bulk domain name registration can be a way for webmasters to help corner the Internet market.  They can go about registering several paid domains and/or free domains.  Regardless, they should also make sure that their site contains other elements that make for good Internet marketing.  This includes being keyword-optimized and containing several inbound links.  Without doing these things, bulk domain name registration in and of itself will only bring limited results.

For more information on the topic of domain names, visit “The Domainess” 

Many webmasters erroneously believe that just because their domain name registrar says a particular domain name is ‘available’ that it truly is.  This is not necessarily so.  Even if a domain name is physically available, it may not legally be open for use. Why? It’s because there might already be a company that has the rights to the keywords used within the domain name.

If this happens yet the webmaster claims the domain name anyway, they are at risk of losing it through a domain name arbitration proceeding.  They could even be charged with trademark/copyright infringement if things get really ugly.  For this reason it’s best to make sure the keywords used in a domain name aren’t protected for someone else.  This article will explain how webmasters can make such a determination.

First, webmasters need to check and see if their chosen domain name resembles any existing trademark that is on the books.  They will want to do this before actually investing any money in the domain name.  To search existing trademarks, webmasters can visit the website of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which is USPTO.gov.  From here they can search a database that contains current trademarks as well as those that are pending.

If a domain name is similar to a registered or pending trademark, webmasters need to evaluate whether the domain name is still worth taking.  Usually, if a site is not selling the same types of merchandise or services that the other business is selling and the trademark is not popular, a webmaster probably won’t get into legal trouble if they decide to go on and register the domain name.  To be completely sure, webmasters can run the domain name by a trademark attorney.  It shouldn’t cost too much for an hour consultation.

Of course, if a webmaster would prefer zero percent risk, they can simply try to think of another domain name.  When they go about doing this, they need to be more generic and less creative in what they come up with.  Using search engine keywords for a domain name is one such strategy.  Webmasters can also look into using dictionary terms.  If all else fails they can take a generic term and combine it with a term that is less likely to be taken, such as their first and last name.

Either way, once a suitable domain name has been chosen, webmasters should consider getting it trademarked themselves, especially if they are using it to help brand their business.  With an official trademark, a webmaster has more legal power should another company try to take them to court.  And since there’s no shortage of domain name bullies, (companies that try to steal profitable domain names from smaller enterprises), a webmaster should use all legal avenues available to protect the rights of their business.

In conclusion, by checking whether or not a domain name has keywords that are part of a trademark, webmasters lessen the risk that they will have legal problems in the future.  If there are problems, and a domain name arbitration proceeding does not rule in a webmaster’s favor, they can turn to The Domain Name Rights Coalition.

If you want more information on domain names, check out “The Domainess”

All About Mobile Domain Names

When the Internet first came out it was restricted to a wired connection to a computer.  Eventually technology improved, creating wireless Internet.  At that point the Internet could be accessible through desktops, laptops and mobile devices without wiring.  This means that the Internet was now portable.  And as more mobile devices are getting created, consumers are exploring how to increase this portability.  In fact, wireless Internet has gotten so popular with mobile devices, domain name companies have created a new extension.  It’s called .mobi.

.Mobi is the extension of choice for websites that are being formatted for cell phones, pdas and other mobile devices.  It can be bought from most major domain name companies such as Godaddy or Network Solutions.  As far as registering a .mobi domain name, one would go through the same type of procedure that is associated with traditional domain names.  This involves first choosing a .mobi domain name and seeing if it is available.

If it is not available, the domain name company will offer suggestions on what a person can use.  Either way, the customer will be given another chance to select another .mobi domain name.  Once they get one that is not taken, they can proceed to purchase it.  The contract will last one to two years, depending on what they agreed upon with the domain name company.  When the contract is up, a person will have to renew their .mobi domain name if they want to continue to keep it.

So, why would a webmaster decide to invest in a domain name that is restricted to mobile devices?  Well, it’s mainly because they get an opportunity to center in on a market that is relatively new.  Since most webmasters or companies are trying to take advantage of the .coms or the .nets, the .mobi has become somewhat forgotten.  This means that it is prime for search engine keywords that would normally not be available for traditional domain names.  It can also allow a webmaster a branding opportunity for their company.

However, since a .mobi domain name means a webmaster is creating a website specially designed for a mobile phone, it cannot have the types of frills that it could have if it was being promoted on a computer.  Good mobile websites need to be mostly textual with very limited number of pics, (if any).   Granted, plain text is not fancy, but it doesn’t require much loading time.  Mobile phone sites should also not be very large nor should they be created with frames or other more complicated layouts.

A webmaster may also want to consider trying to divert the mobile website visitor to a regular website.  One way this can be done is by advertising the domain name that is associated with a traditional website.  But it must be made clear that the site will only display appropriately on regular computers.  Another option is trying to capture the person’s email address by offering them something free, such as an e-book or low-cost merchandise.

When they sign up to the email subscription, their first newsletter could advertise the traditional website a webmaster wants promoted.  By doing either of these options, webmasters can still take advantage of pay-per-clicks or affiliate programs, revenue generators which may not be promoted on .mobi websites due to viewing limitations with banner or text ads.

Check out more about domain names here: “The Domainess”

Today I just want to ask you a simple question: “What’s in a name - a domain name, that is?”

Well, if you’re a domain investor, the right domain name can be worth millions of dollars. Yes, I did say millions. I know that seems incredible, but you need to understand the market for good  domain names is huge. Don’t believe me yet? Well, then check this out.

According to industry research, the domain name industry is currently worth $2 billion, and it will grow to over $4 billion by the year 2010!   That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?  Each and every day ordinary people just like you and me are buying cheap domain names and making money with them in no time at all. And it’s simple once you know the secrets.

In the new video course and manuscript I talked about earlier, Domains Into Dollars,
you’ll learn the exact process used to buy and sell domain names every day, how they are monetized, and how to sell them to reap huge rewards. This is one ofthe fastest and easiest way to make money online.

If you want to stop working harder and start working smarter, then Domains Into Dollars may be exactly what you are looking for. After all,  you can’t make a fortune buying and reselling the same old ebooks and software, but you can make a ton of cash buying and selling domain names.

Just enter your name and email address over there, to the left, and I’ll send you my free Special Report on you too can turn your domain names into dollars.

And when you’ve had a read of the report and decided this is something you’d really like to do, check out my brand spanking new website.

http://www.thedomainess.com

Here, you can check out all the domain names that I have for sale, who knows? you might find the exact fit for your online business journey, or one you can see potential in to build into a site and sell.

You can also list your own domain names for sale, and for a very limited time, listing your domain names for sale is free!

http://www.thedomainess.com

Last time I posted, I told you  all about the new video course and manuscript that teaches
you how to make money with domain names. Today I want to explain how you can become the master of your own domain and make money doing it!

There are many ways you can use a domain name to make money. The first way is to simply park the domain with a service that will provide you with a web page with a variety of ad links. When people arrive at your domain, they click on the links to these ads, and you make a percentage of the click-through fee. With the right domain name, you can
transform these hundreds or thousands of monthly clicks into lots of cash!

Another way you can make money with a domain is to buy a good name at a low price and then resell it for ten, twenty or even hundred times the original registration fee. Yes,  it is entirely possible to earn several thousand dollars each month all through the resale of domain names. If you don’t believe me, go search for domain names on eBay, and you’ll see tons of good names selling every single day. These could be your domain names, too!

In the new video course and manuscript I mentioned, Domains Into Dollars, you’ll find an explanation on how to use both of these techniques and many, many more to create domain name revenue in little  to no time at all. Best of all, unlike a lot of “get-rich-quick” schemes, making money with domains doesn’t cost you a fortune. In most cases a good domain name can be purchased for under $10.00! Can you imagine changing a $10.00 investment into $100.00 or even $1,000.00 in just a few days?

It happens every day, and now is your chance to become the master of your domain and make money while you sleep. Just enter your name and email address in the form over there, to the left, and I’ll send you my free Special Report on how to turn domain names into dollars.

And if you have decided this is for you, and its time to “sell the shovels”,  check out my brand spanking new website.

http://www.thedomainess.com

Here, you can check out all the domain names that I have for sale, who knows? you might find exactly what you are looking for to compliment your online business.

You can also list your own domain names for sale, and for a very limited time, listing your domain names for sale is free!

http://www.thedomainess.com 

In my last post, I told you two different ways you can use domain names to make
money consistently, each and every month. But do you hear that sound? It’s the sound of a clock ticking. And with every tick another good name gets purchased. If you want to get
in on this game, you need to do it now, before all the good domain names are gone, gone, gone.

You see there are over 100,000 professional domain traders today. And they are busy grabbing up as many good names as they can. It’s their job to do the research and testing.
And they make big, big money buying and selling names each and every day. Just like the stock market!

But if you arm yourself with the right knowledge, if you had a mentor to show you the right way to approach the domain name market, you could join these professional domain traders and start earning big dollars quickly and easily. That’s where my free report on how to turn domains into dollars can help you.

Just enter your name and email address over there, on the left, to get my free Special Report on how to turn domain names into dollars.  You’ll see examples of sites that have sold for millions of dollars. That’s great when it happens, but I assure it doesn’t happen every day. No, the average domain name sells for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, but heck, I wouldn’t mind earning that kind of money anytime, would you?

You also get the opportunity to get a personalized video course and manuscript. Both are included mainly because some people learn better watching an expert while others
learn better by reading. Whichever you prefer, the same information is available in either format. That’s over three hours of expert video testimony and nearly 200 pages of
priceless information not available anywhere else.

And if you decide that this is for you, and it makes sense to “sell the shovels”,  check out my brand spanking new website.

http://www.thedomainess.com

Here, you can check out all the domain names that I have for sale, who knows? you might just find exactly what you are looking for!

You can also list your own domain names for sale, and for a very limited time, listing your domain names for sale is free!

http://www.thedomainess.com

Did you know that the time to make money buying and selling domain names is right now! Still don’t believe me? OK, well let me tell you little more about those three magic letters: V - R - E !

VRE stands for Virtual Real Estate and refers to domain names. back in the 1980’s buying and selling real estate was all the rage. Every TV channel carried late night infomercials about the ease of making money by using other people’s money to buy homes at a low price and then resell them quickly for profit. And they always reminded you that it’s about
location, location, location.

Well, in the new millenium, there’s no better way of making money than by buying and selling virtual real estate - domain names. And best of all, you don’t have to worry about having to make huge investments, worrying about mortgage payments until you sell your property, or even being concerned with having to deal with fixer uppers.

You see, with VRE you can buy a good domain name for under ten bucks! You can afford that can’t you? Of course, you can! Now if you added Google AdSense ads to that domain home page, you could start earning money right away through click-through advertising. Every time someone clicks through an ad, you earn money. Get enough visitors and that can turn into a few hundred dollars or more every month!

Now add some affiliate program links for related products, and you can begin earning additional commissions on sales of other people’s products, too! Think about it. There are
virtually unlimited ways to earn money. Add Amazon.com links for related books, DVDs, and more. The sky’s the limit!

But you can earn even more money when you can take a site that is generating money like this and receiving consistent traffic, and “flip” it for several hundred or thousands of dollars.

Let me show you how. Just enter your name and email address over there, to the left, and I will take you to this site right now where you can read about the huge successes people have had buying and selling domain names.

And if you decide that this is for you, and it makes sense to “sell the shovels”, check out my brand spanking new website.

http://www.thedomainess.com

Here, you can check out all the domain names that I have for sale, who knows? you might just find the exact domain name that fits your purpose like a glove!

You can also list your own domain names for sale, and for very limited time, listing your domain names for sale is free!

http://www.thedomainess.com

What is a copyright? Can everything be copyrighted? A copyright is the expression of an idea. The idea itself is not copyrighted. Ideas can be patented and I will talk about patents later.

Let’s consider the example of a story: a poor man who found lots of cash on his way back to his home from his work. He decided to keep the cash to improve his financial situation. But he could not sleep at night because he was haunted by strange voices that told him to find the owner and return the cash. This idea cannot be protected. Anybody can write a short story based on the idea. What is protected is how the author expresses the idea in the form of texts, illustrations, drawings, photographs, etc.

Once an expression is copyrighted, others can still use it for fair use. You can tape a few 15 seconds video clips from a copyrighted TV programs and post it in your video blogs about a commentary on the program or broadcaster, etc. This will be considered a fair use and you will not infringe the copyright.

After a copyrighted material expires, it falls into the public domain. The life of a copyrighted material is the life of the author, plus 70 years. The public domain copyrighted materials can be reproduced without any infringement. For example, if you have an old picture with expired copyright, you can post the picture in your website.

In the USA, the Copyright Act of 1976 governs all copyrights. The Copyright Act does not protect any ideas, procedures, process, systems, and methods of operations, concepts, principle or discovery regardless of how it is expressed. It is the expression that is protected by the Copyright Act. You cannot copyright titles, names, slogans, and short phrases even if those have new ideas.

As mentioned earlier, the life span of a copyrighted material is the author’s life, plus 70 years in most cases. There are a few exceptions to this rule and they are: un-renewed copyrighted materials published pre-1964, materials published before 1978 without a copyrighted notice, and materials published by the US Government.

All copyrighted materials should be fixed in a tangible medium (papers, CDs, DVDs, etc.). If it is not fixed in a tangible medium, it is not copyrighted. For example, your speech to the graduating class that was never recorded, taped, or published is not protected under the US Copyright Act. Your can register your copyrighted materials with the US Copyright Office. All expressions of ideas are copyrighted regardless it is registered with the Copyright Office or not. If you register the expression with the Copyright Office, you can receive statutory damages and attorney’s fees if an infringement occurs. If the material is not registered with the Copyrighted Office, you can only recover actual damages.

A patent holder of an invention has the right to exclude others from using, selling, and making the invention. The United States Patent Office (USPTO) awards patents. There are three kinds of patents: utility, design, and plant patents.

The most frequently used patents are utility patents. They have a life span of 20 years from the effective filing date if the filing date is after June 8, 1995. A utility patent also requires periodic maintenance fees. A utility patent must be a novel, useful, and non-obvious process, machine, manufacture, or compositions of matter or improvement to the same. There are three things that define a utility patent. First, it must be novel. Nobody should have invented, published, used, or manufactured the invention before. Second, one should be able to do some thing useful with the invention. If it is just novel without any usefulness, it cannot be patented. A patentable invention should not be obvious to the person with ordinary skills in the same technology space related to the invention.

A design patent is the appearance or aesthetic of an article and it has a life span of 14 years after the patent is issued. A plant patent, as the name applies, protects a distinct plant produced asexually. It has life span of 20 years from the filing date.

A trademark is word, symbol, design, or a combination of one or more of these items. It is used to identify the source of goods or services of one company and differentiate a company’s goods and services from others. A trademark should not be confusingly similar to other existing names or symbols.

A trademark is registered with the USPTO. It can also be registered through the state’s Secretary of State’s office. If the trademark is not registered, the rights to the trademark may be geographically limited. You cannot use the symbol to represent a mark if it is not registered.

If you want to maintain a trademark for your business, you must actively use it. Just registering a trademark without using it actively will result in diminished rights over time. Never allow a trademark to become a generic word. For example, the trademark “Aspirin” by Bayer has become a generic word to represent acetylsalicylic acid. Others can use it without causing any infringement. When you see a trademark used by authors as a noun or a verb, it may become a generic word. Trademark owners vigorously pursue authors from using the trademark as a noun or a verb. A trademark should always be used as an adjective. For example, Google is preventing others from using the word Google as a verb.

Remember back in school when you learned how to spell? It almost went hand in hand with the “Don’t color outside of the lines!” attitude. It was something you were expected to do - color within the lines and spell correctly. You lost points for bad grammar, incorrect spelling, and oh yes, coloring outside the line.

If you consider words as a business commodity, correct spelling is usually put up for sale and purchased by those of us who are eager to devour it through magazines, novels, books, newspapers, membership sites, and all kinds of downloadable online content. To name but a few outlets. So, what happens to all the incorrect spelling? Where does it go?

You would think that most of it gets stomped upon and eradicated in the classroom, or by the magazine or book editor, or even the newspaper editor. And, for the most part this ib, oops, is true. Yet, with the dawn of text messaging, instant chat rooms, email, and a host of other “who cares how I spell” applications, incurrect speling is becuming the informal norm. So, who cares if you spell incorrectly? Well, despite what your teacher told you, there are people who actually want you to misspell - in fact, they’re counting on it!

Entrepreneurs like Kevin Ham from Vancouver get excited when you absent-mindedly type in prpsi.com instead of pepsi.com. Try it. The ‘r’ key is so close to the ‘e’ key on the keyboard that people mistakenly type the ‘r’ key instead. So, how much money can you make from spelling errors? According to the June 2007 issue of Business 2.0 magazine, Ham’s business is worth over $300million, with much of it coming from owning misspelled domain names that people type directly into their Internet browser address windows. In 2004, Yun Ye sold his portfolio of 100,000 domain names for $164million. Mark Schilling owns over 320,000 domain names and still works out of his home in the Cayman Islands.

In 2006 Ham hashed out a deal with the government of Cameroon in Africa - who have the ‘.cm’ country code (U.S.A. has .us, Canada has .ca, and the U.K. has .uk). Why? Many people who intend to type “.com” as part of a web address end up missing the ‘o’ of com and type .cm instead. Surfers who make this mistake end up on the Cameroon servers where the name is checked to see if it is registered there. If not, the surfer is redirected to agoga.com, which Ham claims to have upwards of 8 million unique hits per month. So, how is the money made?

For the most part, these sites contain simple “park” pages containing money-generating pay-per-click ad links that relate somewhat to the keywords used by the searcher. Each time the visitor to the page clicks on a link, the site owner makes money from that click (pay per click). Other ways these “domainers” make money is from buying popular names like greeting.com and adding a park page to it. Other than joining this bandwagon, one way you can profit from this with your site is to consider different, or even incorrect spellings people would use to access your site. Then figure what the most common mistakes would be and register those sites, and have those sites redirect to you main site.

So, next time someone corrects your spelling you can tell them about Kevin Ham. Happy domain naming!

Check out my website for some awesome top notch domain names for sale.  You can also list your own domain names for sale - and for a limited time, it’s free!

http://www.thedomainess.com