Consolidation has been re-shaping the domain industry for years now so it was just a matter of time before that irresistible force arrived in the blog sector of the business. I got a note from one of my favorite bloggers, Shane Cultra of DomainShane.com today to let me know that he is merging his publication with the  AccidentalDomainer.com blog. A new site for the combined entity (designed by Tia Wood) is scheduled to arrive May 1 (if not sooner) at the already familiar DomainShane.com URL. Shane and his friend Aaron of AccidentalDomainer.com, typical of down-to-earth Midwesterners, are not ostentatious types and that is reflected in the name of their upcoming joint effort which is - wait for it:

 

Shane Cultra

Yes, that's the name - Domain Shane + Accidental Domainer. If that doesn't pass the "radio" test I don't know what does :-) One thing I have always liked about Shane's style is the good-natured humor that is a hallmark of his writing. Looking at the logo above, I realized the guy is even more clever than I realized. I tried to reduce the logo to a normal width but when I did you couldn't read what it said. So I HAD to run the thing in full-blown Cinemascope, giving him three more real estate than he would have gotten with a normal logo. Now tell me this guy is not a shrewd businessman!  In fact, I just noticed I was starting to write in his style in that last paragraph - that's how pervasive his influence is! Before this gets out of hand, I will shift back to my usual Joe Friday mode and give you just the facts behind why this merger is happening.

Cultra explained, "Aaron and I originally became friends because we both loved the same things,  Domain investing and development, and the outdoors. It was later that we realized that Aaron grew up in my original hometown, and that our families are friends and had worked together for years.  We also realized that we may be the two fastest domain investors based on our most recent marathon times. And we both enjoy the domain aftermarket. What domains are up for sale, how much did they go for, who bought them, and what ended up happening with the domains later. We both decided that rather than both of us having half assed blogs we could combine our efforts and produce some quality content. The two heads are better than one approach."

Another thing that sets both Shane and Aaron apart is that they are both real world businessmen. Shane operates a very successful plant nursery and Aaron is in the real estate business. Having a foot in both the brick and mortar and virtual worlds gives them a perspective that a lot of us don't have. That it no small thing since the majority of Main Street businesses still have no online presence. That is is a big market still waiting to be tapped and being able to understand and speak the language of both worlds gives them a leg up in that regard. 

(Left to right) Ron & Diana Jackson (of DNJournal.com) with Shane Cultra 
and blogger Jason Thompson at the 2013 DomainFest conference in Santa Monica.

Regarding the kind of content you can expect on the new blog Cultra said, "Aaron will continue to write his articles about past sales and flips and flops. And I will continue to do my lists (of good names available for purchase). But we will add more detail. Sales results each day and a weekly sales report. Who bought the domains and a look back at how they used them.  We're hoping to expand on the humor, the creativity, and the research that we've both dabbled with in the past."

Sounds like a winning formula to me, but then I was already a fan. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing  how high the new twin-engine effort will fly - and I've always been a sucker for buy one get free deals, especially when I don't even have to pay for one. That makes this the ultimate offer you can't refuse! Best of luck to Shane and Aaron.