I hope all of our U.S. readers had an enjoyable Memorial Day holiday weekend. The three-day break is viewed by many as the unofficial start of summer, but it is always summer here in Florida so we don't notice the change of seasons a lot! :-)  I spent all of this first day back at work completing our latest Cover Story that was just published a few minutes ago.  

It is a profile of Elephant Orchestra Co-Founder Jan Barta, a wildly successful young entrepreneur with a remarkable family history. Could you imagine losing everything you own? Not just you, but every member of your family losing everything they own as well? Barta, one of the brightest young stars in the domain industry (as well as in the Czech Republic's mainstream business world), can imagine it because his family lived it.

The 26-year-old Barta has become well-known in the domain industry after co-founding his  Prague-based domain investment, monetization and lead generation company in 2007. Barta has since diversified into other businesses including feature film production, auto insurance, mobile marketing and many more that are giving him an ever growing financial footprint in Eastern Europe and beyond. 

Things could have turned out much differently 

Jan Barta  

for the young entrepreneur but he seems to have inherited a success gene from his forefathers - a trait that a Communist takeover in his homeland and confiscation of the family's property could not eliminate. 

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Domain industry pioneer Michael Mann, who co-founded BuyDomains (and later sold the company to NameMedia) has been featured in two DN Journal Cover Stories (one of the first 

Michael Mann

we ever did back in 2003 and another in 2007 after he sold BuyDomains and founded his next venture, WashingtonVC). Michael, who has been involved in buying, selling and developing some of the web's very best generic domain names, knows more than a little about how to beat the competition and now he plans to share his knowledge on that topic in a free webinar that will be presented next Thursday (June 2, 2011) at 1pm (U.S. Eastern time). You can register for the 45-minute session here. 

During the webinar, Mann plans to tell you how to:
   • Use best practices
   • Change directions when something isn’t going well
   • Benefit from “first mover advantage”
   • Embrace natural selection
   • Gain consensus
   • Master efficiency, leverage and scale
   • Sell your company

Several years ago, Mann produced another valuable resource when he wrote a book called Make Millions & Make Change! that he has kept updated and now makes available for online reading (also free of charge).

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Verisign has released their latest quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief (.pdf file) covering the opening quarter of 2011. Verisign, as most of you know, operates the .com and .net registries, but their quarterly reports are always packed with useful information about registration trends across all TLDs, making them a must read.

The latest report showed that demand for new domain names continues to rise worldwide. 4.5 million new domains were added to the Internet in the first three months of this year producing a 7.9% jump in the number of domains registered since this time a year ago and a 2.2% increase from the previous quarter (4Q-2010). 

1Q-2011 ended with 209.8 million domain names registered across all TLDs, 15.3 million more than the number that existed a year ago. 

Verisign's combined base of .com and .net domain names crossed the 108 million mark in the latest quarter, rising a solid 9.2% from a year ago and 2.7 % from the previous quarter. Verisign said the already healthy renewal rate for .com/.net domains also strengthened, rising from 72.7% in 4Q-2010 to 73.8% in 1Q-2011. 

Country code domains also continued to show growth but at a slower rate than .com/.net. The number of registered ccTLD domains increased to 81.7 million in 1Q-2011, 5.1% better than a year ago and 2.1% more than the previous quarter. 

While some claim that the importance of domain names is being diminished by social media, search engine changes, falling PPC rates and other factors, the numbers show that the none of those developments has dimmed the worldwide demand for domain names.

1. A Ritz Carlton Bathrobe, 2. A $150 Room Credit (Use Group Code: AULAULA), 3. a Special Spa Treatment or 4. A $150 Ritz Carlton Gift Card. 

They are also offering a new payment option for those that want to lock in the $1,495 price (that will be increasing as the show approaches) but want to pay the bulk of the fee later. You can sign up now with a $495 deposit and then pay the $1,000 balance by September 15th. You won't be eligible for the bonuses above if you use the payment plan, but you will get a $50 Ritz Carlton Gift Card for signing up early.

A shot of the spectacular Ft. Lauderdale Beach Ritz Carlton pool directly overlooking 
the Atlantic Ocean. The Ritz will host T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011 October 16-19.

This is the only T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show in 2011 and, with the days of conference over-saturation now a thing of the past, it is also the only major multi-day domain investor's conference scheduled on U.S. soil for the rest of this year. Couple that with a new venue that I think is the most attractive in T.R.A.F.F.I.C. history, and this is shaping up to be a can't miss event.

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Over the past few years when talking about how the Internet is siphoning readers and viewers away from traditional media, the focus has been on newspapers because they have been hit the hardest by the rise of the web. However, the paper's print media cousin - magazines - have also had a hard time holding on to their audiences as is illustrated in a Media Daily News column that Erik Sass posted Monday on Mediapost.com. 

Erik's article broke out some key results from a  Mediamark Research and Intelligence report that showed many individual magazine titles losing hundreds of thousands of readers each over the past year. The cumulative loss across all titles was 22 million! Certain categories were hit harder than others with magazines about cars and celebrities being among the biggest losers. Both topics are covered extensively online of course, especially celebrities whose lives are chronicled in the most minute detail (and often in real time) on one website or another, leaving most magazine coverage a day late and a dollar shot.

In the automotive field, Automobile magazine readership plunged 21% (from 4.6 million readers in the spring of 2010 to 3.63 million this spring). A car magazine I subscribe to, Motor Trend, also got whacked, falling 12% (from a little over 8 million to just over 7 million). 

Weekly news magazines, as you might expect with so much news content on the web, also took a seriousbeat down. Newsweek, which seems to change owners every other week, slid 12.8% (from 15.25 million to 13.29 million). Time (another title I subscribe to) fared better but still lost 4.1% of its readers (down from 19.74 mllion to 18.93 million). 

While the carnage was widespread, some titles still managed to gain ground despite the ever growing strength of the web. One of the biggest gainers was Entrepreneur magazine which shot up 34% (from 2.5 million readers to 3.36 million). That one doesn't surprise me a lot as the brutal recession we have been going through has forced many furloughed workers who couldn't find new jobs to go into business for themselves. 

I'm sure a lot of domainers aren't cheering Entrepreneur magazine's success though. The publication became something of a poster child for over-reaching trademark interests through their efforts to take domains that had the word "entrepreneur" in the string away from rightful owners of the generic term (in fact an entire website at Entrepreneur.net is devoted to exposing the magazine's bullying tactics.)

Despite there being some magazines that have managed to swim upstream against the  tide, you still have to believe it's just a matter of time before the inexorable growth of the web takes a big chunk out of their hides, just as it has done to so many other traditional media outlets. 

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While I was traveling late last week, Domain Holdings, the new domain development, SEO and monetization company co-founded by Secret Millionaire John Ferber, announced their role in creating a strategic alliance between Silver.com (owned by industry veteran Mike "Zappy" Zapolin) and leading silver investment company Northwest Territorial Mint.

Soon after Zapolin's group acquired Silver.com (based on their belief that silver prices were going to explode - which they since have) Zapolin teamed up with Domain Holdings to transform Silver.com from a parked page into a global resource for silver information with tens of thousands of monthly visitors.  

Utilizing their in-house web design and development resources and original content management services, Domain Holdings produced an SEO-ready, informative destination whose features include a widget to track silver's real-time market value and updated industry news.

Once the site was well established, all that remained to do was find the best way to monetize the asset. Ferber said, "We had conversations with all of the top-level players in the silver industry and Northwest Territorial Mint was the perfect partner. Northwest Territorial Mint is leading edge in the industry, passionate about its business, and confident in the opportunities that have yet to be presented in the silver market."

Domain Holdings and Zapolin believe that the strategic alliance allows Northwest Territorial Mint to reach consumers while maximizing the credibility of the Silver.com brand, as well as Silver.com's strong base of  traffic. 

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Over the years Britain's Ian Andrew has sold hundreds of generic domains names through his company, DotcomAgency, but he decided to get some outside help to give one of his best domains special attention and it has paid off in a big way. DomainAdvisors.com (DA) has just closed a $358,000 sale of Andrew's 33.com in a deal brokered by DA Senior Adviser Gina Aubrey. The domain went to a buyer based in China where numeric domains are especially popular.

That is the highest numeric domain sale reported since we started tracking and verifying domain sales in the fall of 2003. Two other sales, both made in 2008, came close with each topping the $300,000 mark, but 33.com finished ahead of both. The previous leaders were 770.com, sold by Sedo for $343,208 and 173.com, sold by Moniker for $302,790.

Ian Andrew  

Andrew was understandably delighted with DA's performance saying, ""DomainAdvisors has been a pleasure to work with. I have worked with Gina and DomainAdvisors CEO Tessa Holcomb (who also serves as Group General Manager for DomainAdvisors' parent company, PPX International) and they are efficient, flexible and deliver smooth fast transactions. I would highly recommend them."

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RegistryPro, operator of the .PRO registry has a new CEO. The company has hired Karim Jiwani, formerly a Senior Director at Afilias (operator of the .info registry) to fill the role. Jiwani will be responsible for all aspects of the .PRO registry's operations including strategy, marketing

Karim Jiwani
New CEO at RegistryPro 

and sales, registrar support, expansion and policy. RegistryPro is also counting on Jiwani to help them benefit from the unlimited number of new gTLDs that ICANN plans to start approving soon. 

Lucas Roh, CEO of Hostway Corporation, the parent company of RegistryPro, said, "Our registry is poised to grow significantly in the coming years, as the awareness continues to grow for .PRO domains and our backend registry services for other TLDs. We wanted someone that could expertly grow the registry and take it to the next level. Karim has proven experience in the domain industry and is well respected in the community. With his knowledge and passion, he is well equipped to take the company to the next level in providing registry services to registrars and other TLDs."

Jiwani said "Our industry's landscape will look completely different in 24 months. I am excited to lead RegistryPro into the new era of the Internet naming space."  Jiwani brings over 12 years of industry experience to .PRO after being one of the original board members of Afilias. Prior to his role as Senior Director, he served as the Managing Director at EMA Afilias Ltd. 

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One thing I have always loved about this business is that it never stands still. There is no time to get bored because the industry landscape is continually shifting. Even though the twists and turns are not always good ones, at least they keep things interesting and force you to keep your head in the game if you want to continue playing with some degree of success.

Just as the overall industry is constantly reinventing itself, a lot of well-known people in our industry are going through big changes and/or landmark events in their lives as well. Fortunately, most of those developments have been for the better. Take for example, Morgan Linton. This past weekend Morgan and his long time, lovely girlfriend Daina got engaged during an idyllic trip to the beautiful wine country in Santa Barbara, California. 

Morgan said, "'It really was the best weekend of my life and an incredible time for Daina and I to appreciate each other and the commitment we are making to spend our lives together. I’ve never been happier, I’ve never felt luckier, and I can’t wait to share all our future adventures with all of you!" 

Morgan Linton & his fiance Daina
(photo from MorganLinton.com)

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In an enlightening Online Media Daily article at MediaPost.com today, author Les Luchter shared some revealing statistics on how many small businesses are utilizing social media marketing vs. other means of promoting their businesses. Luchter's information came from a survey of more than 1,500 small businesses that was conducted over the past two months by Constant Contact, a leading small business marketing resource (as an aside, I take a special interest in small to medium sized business (SMB) developments because the vast majority of domains I sell go to SMB end users and I'm sure that is true for many other portfolio owners as well). 

Within the domain community there has been considerable debate over whether or not the rise of social media (and having that powerful new tool available for businesses to promote themselves) would one day supplant domains. I don't think that will happen and the data from this new survey supports that, showing that while more and more businesses are adopting social media as a marketing tool, it is just one of many tools they are using and that the one they rely on most is marketing through their own websites. 

95% of the respondents said they rely on website marketing. 91% of them said they use email marketing and the third most popular tool is print advertising used by 77% of the small businesses polled. The fact that website marketing is now used by considerably more businesses than print advertising is a remarkable testament to how far the web has come vs. traditional media over the last few years. 

Among those who are using social media, Facebook was easily the most popular choice, used by 95% of those businesses, far outdistancing Twitter (used by 60%), LinkedIn (used by 58%), YouTube and other video sharing (used by 45%) and daily/local deal services (used by 23%). The social media business users also rated Facebook as the most effective tool with 82% saying Facebook was effective. 73% said that about video sharing and 55% felt daily/local deals were effective. Twitter and LinkedIn brought up the rear - in a tie - with 47% of businesses using social media saying those are effective tools.

It seems pretty clear to me that nothing is likely to replace websites (and by extension the importance of domain names) any time soon. Small business entrepreneurs are smart enough to use every affordable tool at their disposal and they continue to say that their websites remain the most important weapon in their arsenals.

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Domain industry veteran Taryn Naidu has been named Executive Vice President for Registrar Services and General Manager of eNom, the popular registrar that is a wholly owned subsidiary 

Taryn Naidu
Executive VP & General Manager
eNom.com

of Demand Media and the world’s largest ICANN accredited domain name wholesaler. Naidu joined Demand Media in 2006 as an executive advisor to the eNom management team. He soon joined the company full-time with responsibility for driving business and product development strategy and corporate growth. 

Naidu, a Senior Vice President prior to his latest promotion, will take  on executive leadership of the eNom business. Michael Blend, who previously held that position, will now be working full-time on special projects for Demand Media, reporting to CEO Richard Rosenblatt (who was the subject of our April 2007 Cover Story). 

Blend said, "Coming off a record quarter for eNom in Q1, this is a great time to turn the leadership over to Taryn. We have worked closely together developing this business for nearly five years, and Taryn is the ideal person to lead eNom through its next phase of growth.” 

Prior to joining Demand Media, Naidu, who has a computer science degree from the University of Regina, was the CEO of Pool.com. That domain marketplace originally hired him as an engineer but Naidu rapidly rose through the ranks to become President and ultimately, CEO. 

As industry followers know, Demand Media is a leading content and social media company that,  through its owned and operated web properties, attracts more than 100 million monthly visitors. Demand has also assembled a global network of digital partners and operates an innovative content studio. The Santa Monica, California based company recently went public and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: DMD.

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Seattle-based EVO Media Group, best known for their DevHub domain development platform, has always done things a little differently and now their unconventional approach is also being 

reflected in the executive suite with the installation of two of the company's founders as Co-Presidents. Mark Michael, who has been serving as EVO Media/DevHub's Vice President of Marketing has moved up to the President's office along with Daniel Rust who has been the Chief Technical Officer. The pairing is appropriate since these two have been in business together since they were 16 years old!

Geoffrey Nuval joined them   

Mark Michael (left) and Daniel Rust
EVO Media Group Co-Presidents  

to co-found EVO Media Group in 2007 and while serving as CEO Nuval helped build the firm into an operationally sound and profitable business. Nuval is also donning another cloak in the executive hierarchy as VP for Business Development.  

Michael said that in their new role as Co-Presidents he and Daniel are "ready to turn EVO into a development powerhouse beginning with several international deals already closed this year which aim to bring 1 million small business websites onto the platform within the next 14 months."

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I had the pleasure of meeting impressive teenage domain investor Brian Diener a few weeks ago at the South Florida Domainers Group meeting that Secret Millionaire John Ferber hosted at his Boynton Beach, Florida home. I already knew about Brian from reading his well 

written blog at TeenDomainer.com where he has been recounting his adventures as one of the industry's youngest entrepreneurs. From his writing I was expecting to meet a personable, smart young man who is going places and that is exactly what I got. 

I envied Brian for getting such an early start in a business that still offers some of the greatest opportunities you will find anywhere in the business world. I would love to have gotten started in domaining when I was his age - the problem is there was no such thing at the time! Brian is lucky this business exists now and he is taking full advantage of it. The high school senior's experience has already paid off for him in a big way. He just won a $10,000 college scholarship in GoDaddy.com's .ME scholarship competition. 

In a post about the win on his blog today Brian said, "The essay was on how the internet and social media has had an impact on your life and growing up as a high schooler. I wrote

Brian Diener 
Won $10,000 college scholarship
in GoDaddy,com essay contest.

about my experience in the domain industry and how I see domain names. All of the hours I have spent learning about domaining have finally paid off in my parents eyes!" 

The $10,000 will come in handy for Brian when he enrolls next fall at Emory University, a top notch (and expensive) private college in Atlanta. He had already won another smaller scholarship ($1,000) for his domain business activity in the National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Awards competition. As I said, this young man, whose last day of high school was today, is obviously going places and at the rate he is going, it is not going to take him long to get there!

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Every time someone asks me what the biggest threats to the domain industry are I always put attempts by covetous parties to change ICANN policies (or even the laws of the land) to make it easier for them  to take your domains without paying for them at or near the top of the list. Well, they are at it again - this time trying to slip one such trojan horse into the .net contract with ICANN that Verisign has up for renewal.

I'm sure it is no coincidence that this proposal was made late in the game - ICANN"s public comment period on the .net contract renewal ends tomorrow (Tuesday, May 10). So, if you want to help head off this latest assault on your assets, you must file your own comment by the end of the day Tuesday by sending an e-mail to [email protected] (as comments come in you can view them here). 

So, again, if you want to head this extraordinarily bad idea off at the pass, email your own comment to ICANN at [email protected] letting them know you do not want untested rules developed for new gTLDS to be applied to existing TLDs, particularly through an attempted last minute end run like this one meant to bypass debate on a critical issue and proper vetting of the URS system before it is applied to any gTLD. 

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I had heard this was coming and Wednesday (May 4) the rumor became a reality when Moniker.com founder Monte Cahn filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit (PDF file) against his former employer, Oversee.net, as well as that company's co-founder Lawrence Ng and its President and CEO Jeff Kupietzkty who were named as individuals. That sets up a domain 

industry version of Clash of the Titans (Cahn, Ng and Kupietzky have all been profiled in DN Journal Cover Stories, with the Cahn article dating all the way back to our first year of publication in 2003 when he was already one of the most widely known figures in the industry).

Cahn had joined Oversee as Moniker's President when they purchased Moniker for $35 million in a deal announced in January 2008. Cahn parted ways with Oversee at the end of 2010 when his contract expired and now alleges that they violated the contract terms of a Management Incentive Plan under which he could have earned as much as $13 million (but wound up receiving nothing). Cahn also alleges that Oversee did not pay him a commission he was due for the sale of Restaurants.com in February 2011, even though he claims to have written evidence of the commission agreement. 

Moniker Founder Monte Cahn 

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I've had so many interesting news items come across my desk since Friday I decided to start the new week off with a round up of some those items. Let's start with Marc Ostrofsky's new book about how to make money on the Internet - Get Rich Click! As I told you on Friday when I ran a special pre-release interview with Marc, the book's official release date was today. So, how are sales going now that the book, five years in the making, is finally on bookstore shelves? The answer is spectacularly well!

In fact, as of this writing, Get Rich Click! is the #1 best seller at BarnesAndNoble.com! It is also #1 in three separate categories at Amazon.com - Business Management, Marketing and Business & Culture! I am delighted for Marc to see his hard work paying off and also delighted for our industry as the spotlight that Ostrofsky, a veteran domain investor, is shining on the many opportunities online is a great thing for all of us.

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