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Marketing a Teenage TLD

by — Uncategorized 24 Comments

[Editor’s note: This is a sponsored post by Lori Anne Wardi of Neustar]

Hi, my name is Lori Anne Wardi and I’m a domain junkie.

I’ve been buying, selling, studying, developing, dreaming about, promoting and preaching the bible of domain names since 2000. With many years as a domain investor under my belt, I got the opportunity to join the founding team of .CO Internet in 2009 as the Director of Marketing. From 2010 through today, it has been amazing to watch .CO grow from 28,000 domains under management to well over 2.2 million – and become the domain of choice for many of the world’s leading innovators, entrepreneurs and startups.

In 2014, when .CO Internet was acquired by Neustar, this born and bred New Yorker was given the chance to serve as the General Manager for the launch of New York City’s .nyc domain.  Working with the Neustar team to help turn the greatest city brand in the world into the one of the greatest city TLDs in the world was beyond rewarding, amidst all of the excitement and novelty of the new gTLD program.

Launching a brand and building a community around a domain extension is the best kind of challenge – it pushes your creative and strategic brains at the same time and forces you to think outside the box. But not every domain extension has the luxury of starting with a blank slate. Let’s take the .US domain, for example.  With 17 years under its belt, it’s hardly a brand new, baby namespace. So exactly how does a teenage TLD, like .US, stand out in a marketplace with more than 1,000 shiny new competitors?

Keeping .US fresh after 17 years

I know that the topic of .US marketing has occasionally inspired some very, shall we say, “spirited” commentary by domain investors. I mean, I read all the domain blogs too!  I get it, and it’s for good reason. As investors, we want to know that the TLDs we invest in are being well managed and marketed, and are building an engaged, loyal customer base of end-users in today’s increasingly crowded and complex marketplace.

After 17 years as the .US Administrator, there are a host of different strategies and tactics that Neustar’s marketing team uses to keep .US fresh, relevant and in demand by end-users. I could rattle on about how we use things like programmatic advertising, paid search, influencer marketing, retargeting, content marketing, and the like. But don’t worry, I won’t bore you with all the gory details. My goal today is just to give you a quick flyover view of our approach to defining and engaging with the .US target market.

’Micro-targeting’: The many faces of .US

It is marketing 101 that you need to clearly define your target market for any product, service or brand. As the country code domain extension for the United States of America, our most obvious end-user target market is, you guessed it, American businesses, organizations and individuals.

While “Americans” are obviously a cornerstone of our marketing, if our marketing Click here to continue reading…

A Power Packed Webinar by LogicBoxes that Demystifies ICANN Accreditation

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[Editor’s note: This is a sponsored post by Accreditation.com, the consultancy arm of LogicBoxes]

For any business that hopes to not only get successful but also leave a mark in its respective industry, upgrading plays a pivotal role in getting to the next level. When we think about Web Hosting and Domain Name Resellers who have just started out in the industry, we imagine the usual reselling of Domain Names and Web Hosting packages, often bundled with complimentary value added services such as Website Builders, Digital Security certificates, Email Solutions, etc.

But there’s more to it; especially when it comes to the Domain Names business.

A lot of Domain Name Resellers have scaled new heights in their respective businesses after they upgraded to the Registrar status by getting ICANN Accredited. For the uninitiated, ICANN Accreditation is a seal of trust and credibility granted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body responsible for the formulation, maintenance and governing of policies and processes for all Domain Name-related matters. ICANN Accredited Registrars are looked upon as trustworthy and credible Domain Name providers in the industry. Since these Registrars are bound by ICANN’s agreements, among several other Registry-Registrar agreements, a well secured and healthy work relationship is guaranteed at all times.

However, a lot of aspiring Registrars avoid making the decision of getting ICANN Accredited because they believe that it’s a long, winding and a monumental process. Some of these folks are too concerned about their eligibility to even give this idea a chance. We will be addressing a lot of these doubts, and a few more, in our webinar titled ‘Demystifying ICANN Accreditation’, scheduled to take place on December 4, 2018. For several Domain Resellers, ICANN Accreditation has proven to be a game changer that paved way for additional revenue and branding benefits; one of which is Namespro.ca., who are an experienced and a prominent player in the Domains industry.

In this 30-minute webinar, you can expect to get your doubts pertaining to the ICANN Accreditation process clarified and also hear how this step has benefited those who made that upgrade. The rest of the details are as follows:

Date: December 4, 2018
Time: 05:00 PM CET | 11:00 AM EST
Duration: 30 minutes
Speakers:

  1. Eeshaan Satwalekar (Manager, Business Development at LogicBoxes)
  2. Vicole So (Managing Director, Namespro.ca)

Here’s the registration link to the webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6104914463170992396

We hope to see you on the 27th!

Why Choose LogicBoxes’ Domain Reseller Program

by — Domain Registrars 6 Comments

[Editor’s note: This is a sponsored post by Eeshaan Satwalekar, Manager, Business Development at LogicBoxes]

Change is the only constant in life; and the same applies to brands too.

Change, as we know, is an essential driver of development. However, there are a few things that must remain consistent. One such thing, and a very important one, is the promise you offered your customers before they made their first purchase from you. It is that promise that sustains your customers’ unwavering faith in your brand.

Back in 2013, LogicBoxes made the promise of delivering an impeccable domain automation platform which would enable Domain Resellers as well as Web Hosts to provision lucrative and high-demand domain names along with other value-added products such as Web Hosting, Site Builders, Email solutions and Security Certificates. This was aimed at empowering these internet players with a wholesome product portfolio. The Elite Reseller Program was tailor-made for Web Hosting and Domain Name providers and was geared towards helping them achieve maximum growth in terms of revenue as well as market share.

What sets this program apart from the rest of its kind in the industry is the fact that it lays immense amount of importance on not just the product offering but also on the service aspect of it. The ‘4 Ps’, as we call it, form the building blocks of this program:

1.Pricing

Pricing can either make or break a business. With competitive pricing on Domain Names, Hosting, and other value-added services, resellers are left with healthy profit-margins to play with. For instance, our .COMs are available for a price as low as $8.42!

2. Privilege

Our skilled set of experts always go the extra mile to provide world class business assistance.

  • A Dedicated Account Manager: The Account Manager helps resellers to strategize and chalk out growth plans that benefit their business.
  • 24×7 Technical Support: Our Support specialists are available 24×7 to assist resellers with technical queries and resolve issues via phone, chat and email.

3. Platform

Our flagship platform – OrderBox, is multi-tiered, multi-currency, multi-lingual and intuitive. With inbuilt promo, coupon and automated tax engines and third-party integrations with billing modules such as WHMCS, AWBS, Blesta, etc., handling transactions becomes effortless.

4. Products

With over 25 variants of Web Hosting, 800+ TLDs , Business and Enterprise Email solutions, intelligent Website Builders, beneficial Plugins, and industry-best digital security solutions, our product portfolio guarantees variety.

LogicBoxes’ flagship reseller interfaces ensure flawless product configuration, provisioning and management. There are two ways to go about this:

SuperSite

Our fully customizable, white-labeled storefront offering ensures that end-customers have the best checkout experience which enables them to start selling instantly.

API Integration

The HTTPS-based OrderBox APIs enable resellers and sub-resellers to connect to their automation platform i.e. OrderBox, directly.

It goes without saying that our program, our platform as well as our product suite has only evolved ever since the program’s inception. Fast forward five years, and today, we take pride in saying that we continue to cater to some of the biggest players from the industry. The Elite Reseller Program is a holistic solution for Web Hosts & Domain Name resellers, and a much needed one for this segment. To know more, you can head to our website and request for more information by getting in touch with us!

Catching Up with Weebly Cloud’s Chris Sheridan

by — Services 0 Comments

This is a sponsored post from our friends at Weebly.

In this sponsored post by Weebly, I had a chance to catch up with Chris “Selfie” Sheridan, Head of Strategic Partner Sales at Weebly in the run up to NamesCon later this month.

DNW: Weebly Cloud launched in early 2015; so we are coming up on the third anniversary of the platform.  Tell us about some of the highlights.

CS: It has been a very busy and exciting three years. In looking back at the evolution of the Weebly Cloud platform, I see three key developments/highlights:

1. The website market opportunity remains very big. There is strong demand for fully featured, easy-to-use web building platforms. We are supporting 200+ web hosts, registrars, and telcos as of today. These partners are leveraging our Cloud platform to capture their fair share of the 50% of SMBs that still do not have a web presence. It is really a great time to be in the website market. In addition to the offline market, we also see a lot of clients looking to switch website providers (most being driven by mobile) and this also provides a huge opportunity for our channel partners.

2. The website “product” has really evolved. When we launched in 2015, we focused on providing a solid Editor experience that was powered by our drag and drop tools. Fast forward today, the Weebly Cloud platform is now supporting Resellers with custom app integration, custom theme integration, and extended API commands like “sub-reseller” support. So, the level of engagement from channel partners with the Cloud program is increasing and becoming a more critical platform for them.

3. Ecommerce is becoming more a strategic focus for our Partners. This is a key change from 2015. It’s no longer good enough to just provide a high quality web building solution – it is now more critical for Partners to take a larger role in providing ecommerce solutions and catering to the needs of ecommerce sellers. Ecommerce customers are a higher value customer as well – they will spend more for the right ecommerce solution and they will also utilize more services from the Hosts, Telcos, and Registrars – specifically domains, security solutions, and more “selling” tools like SEO, SEM, and email marketing services.

DNW: What are the key trends you see in 2018 for the Hosting and Domain space?

CS: The underlying trend coming out of 2017 is that the “website builder” is no longer viewed as a “product” or a “feature”. It is viewed as a platform that customers will utilize to run their entire business and manage their customers. This is a huge difference. Platform vs. Product. Based on this I see two trends in 2018:

1. Web hosts, registrars, and telcos will make significant efforts to go bigger in ecommerce. I see this as a big driver for growth in Weebly Cloud. We spent significant effort on building out our ecommerce business. This strategy is working in our retail business and I look forward to extending more of this functionality to our Cloud channel. Specifically, we will be extending our new “Performance” plan to Resellers in 2018. We already offer a Business (ecommerce) plan today. The Performance plan will allow our channel to target more ecommerce client directly with improved shipping, tax, and other ecommerce features.

2. We should expect to see the website platform/product take a larger share of marketing spend and be the strategic focus of more telcos, hosts, and registrars. This transformation will take many shapes, eg. diminished promotions of domains/hosting in favor of larger web builder promotions, partnering with companies like Weebly Cloud, or some folks taking the step of building their own web builder.

DNW: What makes you personally excited about the website opportunity in 2018?

CS: Great question! In 2017, I was very encouraged to see Hosts, Registrars, and Telcos become interested in custom themes and custom apps. It signals a deeper focus by them on the website platform and their desire to further customize/differentiate their offering. Similar to this trend, we also opened up access to our channel to the Weebly App Center in 2017. This was widely adopted by our channel and is proving to be a key tool in keeping users engaged with their sites.

This deeper engagement by the Channel has been built around the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) business. As the channel becomes more successful in selling & supporting DIY services, it positions them for success on ecommerce as well. Ecommerce is its own “world”. So, after three years of supporting 200 partners in building success in DIY, I feel very confident and excited about the potential of DIY ecommerce sites and how that will material revenue and client success for our partners.

Learn more about Weebly here.

RRPproxy launches new domainer focused UI

by — Domain Registrars 0 Comments

This is a sponsored post+ from our friends at RRPproxy.

Domain registrar Key-Systems extended the focus of its reseller business RRPproxy particularly to domainers by launching a new responsive web interface optimized for any users with mid-size up to large domain portfolios. Along with the UI change, RRPproxy offers .com domains for $8.13 to new customers until March 31 using the promotion code BRANDnew.

Center of the interface reinvention is a bunch of usability features intended to “bring domain management to the next level“, according to Key-Systems’ CEO Alexander Siffrin. The UI comes up with a customizable dashboard using widgets for different products and processes, right-click functionality, drag&drop, pop-ups, automated processes and extensive dependency handling.

“We used these means, so that customers can reach their destination as fast as possible and then stay as long as needed to carry out their often complex tasks without needing to switch to another destination”, Siffrin explained. Examples for these means are the direct access of filters through right-click in the menu, value dependencies during the registration of TLDs with special regulations, drag&drop for taking over contacts or the automated generation of auth codes for any TLD.

Predefined domain overviews include registered domains, pending transfers, pending owner changes as well as pending restores to avoid the unintended loss of domains. All lists allow the selection of several domains for a bulk update, the definition of column headers and sorting according to column headers or tags. Domain tags consisting of any keywords as well as default or self-defined TLD categories are there to organize domains. Presets are available to specify settings for e.g. contact, name servers, tags, domain period etc. and apply them to domain portfolios.

The interface supports bulk processes for domain search, registrations, renewals, deletions, transfers as well as domain updates, supported by the list and filter options. Monetization includes purchase and sale at Sedo. Furthermore, RRPproxy offers the sale of expiring domains at SnapNames, and domain parking with ParkingCrew as well as a Premium Domain System for fast access to new gTLD premium names.

With the new web interface, RRPproxy also established several security features, among them 2-factor-authentication for login and domain lock, the limitation of IP addresses for API commands and the encrypted display of security related information such as passphrases and auth codes by default.

Being a business unit of the German-based registrar Key-Systems, RRPproxy is part of the Luxembourgian KeyDrive group, to which also the US registrar Moniker belongs. Same as RRPproxy, Moniker recently relaunched their web interface, however strengthening the focus on retail business. “While Key-Systems’ retail portal domaindiscount24 mainly aims at European customers, Moniker is the equivalent for the North American market”, states Key-Systems’ CEO Alexander Siffrin. “From a strategic point of view for the KeyDrive group, RRPproxy is the right address for resellers and domain investors.”

+Sponsored Posts are provided by our supporters. Domain Name Wire’s editorial staff did not contribute to this post.