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Nine
months ago
Mike Robertson (who
previously gained fame at Fabulous.com
and DomainGuardians.com)
moved to America from his
native Australia to take on a
new role as Director of Business
Development for DNC
Holdings (the parent
company of several Internet
enterprises including popular
registrar Directnic.com.)
Our December
Cover Story detailed
what Mike and another industry vet, Kellie
Peterson (then DNC's President),
were building from their base in Tampa,
Florida. Since then Kellie left
to fulfill a long time dream to live
in Oregon's wine country, a move
that happened when she took a new
position with Neustar. Rob
Alfonso (also featured in our
Cover Story) took Kellie's place and
he,
Mike and the DNC team have kept the
ball rolling with the launch of
several new services. I
connected with Mike this week to get
the lowdown on those.
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DNC
Holdings Director of Business
Development
Mike Robertson at DNC's Tampa,
Florida office.
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The
first is a VIP
Program for qualified
clients designed to attract domain
investor/portfolio owners to the
Directnic registrar. Robertson
said, "We understand that
domain investors require a different
approach when they need customer
support. VIP status allows them to
"jump the queue"
and receive quality support in a
timely fashion." Robertson said
the program also allows Drectnic to
reward and build on the kind of
customer loyalty the business has
thrived on. "47% of our
active customers have been with us
10 years or longer," Robertson
noted, adding, "We're confident
that the level of customer service
will help us retain this
market."
Asked
what criteria is used to determine
VIP status Mike told us, "Applications
are reviewed case by case. Our main
selling point is that we are very
aggressive/competitive on price.
To do this, we are looking for
volume, so the size of the portfolio
is one of the main factors we take
into consideration."
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Directnic
has also rolled out a new Domain
Specialist
service that can help you acquire
domain names from their
current owners. Much of this
initiative stems from
Robertson's personal skills,
experience and relationships
that helped him successfully
acquire domains such as Rev.com,
Curious.com and Strong.com
for clients. Roberston said,
"We're seeing a growing
trend of companies seeking
out quality, premium domain
names, many of which don't
understand the process
required to acquire such
names, or they simply want
to remain anonymous during
the negotiations."
In
yet another new initiative
Robertson said "We're
in the process of rolling
out a "From |
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Local
to Global" campaign
in the New Orleans,
Louisiana region (where
Directnic was originally
founded). This initiative,
is designed to encourage
local businesses to take
their ideas from a local
audience to a global market
by utilizing the powerful
tools Directnic provides. Leslie
Almeida, Directnic's
Creative Marketing
Strategist, will be the
editor of a campaign blog,
conducting Q&As with
NOLA-based business owners
and discussing how they took
their business from local to
global. The blog will also
serve as a hub of valuable
business and entrepreneurial
resources." |
Robertson
also told us, "We recently
acquired the domain business of
NatNames, adding 2,000
domains (and over 100 customers) to
those we have under management.
We're also looking at other similar
opportunities to increase our growth
and solidify Directnic as a leading
registrar."
While
catching up with Robertson we were
also curious to know how he was adjusting
to life in the United States
since his move from Down Under.
"I've really found my feet here
now in Tampa," Robertson said.
"I'm working with a really
great group of people, which is key.
We've initiated a "Fun
Friday" policy, where the
first Friday of the month we finish
up early and do something as a team;
ten pin bowling, laser tag, movies,
etc."
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"I've
also managed to do a few
trips away, spending
Christmas and most recently,
4th of July in Sylvania,
Georgia with Brian
and Charlie (Charlotte)
Gilbert. I flew over to Las
Vegas for |
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a
weekend to attend the Rock
in Rio music festival.
Another weekend I was up in Philly
for another concert and last
month I had a much needed
dose of "family time"
when my twin brother
Mitch visited and I
spent two weeks traveling
with him to New York City,
Nashville and Orlando."
"It's
coming up to my 9 months
anniversary here in the
States and I can't believe
how quickly it's
gone!," Robertson
declared. "As they say,
time flies when you're
having fun," Robertson
smiled before signing off
with a bit of information
that had him especially
excited. "Oh yeah! I
passed my driver's tests
first try and got a set
of wheels, so I've been
exploring more of the local
area!" |
The Robertson Brothers
Mitch and Mike (or is Mike
and Mitch)! |
Before
saying goodbye we thanked him for the
warning. We happen to be located
in Tampa too and as many of you know
Australians drive on the left
side of the road while we drive
on the right. While we are
always happy to run into Mike, we
would just as soon not have it
happen in a head on collision!
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