New Anti-Circumvention and Fraud Control in place for newsletter sales

Recently we have been catching people who have be contacting our sellers outside of the normal channels. Please don’t do this to us.

We work very hard on our newsletter and deserve to get paid when a domain sells.

Using a combination of technology and human labor, we have put in place certain things that will tell us if you attempt to circumvent our efforts.

If you want a domain from our newsletter for less than the asking price, you are expect to make the offer to us. We will pass the offer on to the seller.

If you are the seller, and one of our customers contacts you, you are expected to still sell through us.

Skenzo and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. partner on all 6 shows in 2010

The domain industry’s most exclusive parking program has committed to being the overall show sponsor in 2010 for all 6 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. events.

This is a major commitment on Skenzo’s part and shows their belief in the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. event remaining the force behind the explosive growth in the domain industry.

Skenzo joins InterNetX as sponsors that will participate in every show we are doing in 2010. As has been published, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. will have two events in the United States, one in Canada, two in Europe and one in Asia.

Skenzo powers the parking behind many of the leading registrars in the domain space as well as offers solutions for large portfolio owners. If you have a lot of traffic, I seriously recommend that you check them out.

Thank you again to Skenzo for being our overall show sponsor in 2010.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. comes back to Vegas in January at the Hard Rock

World’s First and Largest Domain Conference Brings Online Industry to Las Vegasrts and network with the biggest and best names of the domain industry.

BOCA RATON, FL - The internet conference that formally launched the Domain Industry in 2004 will hold is first show of 2010 at Las Vegas, Nevada January 21 through 23.  The Targeted Redirects And Financial Fulfillment Internet Conference, best known by its acronym T.R.A.F.F.I.C., will be hosted at the  Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.  The first show of 2010 provides  a unique opportunity to gain insight from industry expe

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is known around the world as the domain conference that brought together domain investors at a unique venue that has resulted in hundreds-of-millions of dollars in business deals and domain sales, along with countless, incalculable transactions.  The show essentially helped internet entrepreneurs unify as an industry, define their common goals, and make use of a powerfully-charged business environment to meet and network.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C.’s unique networking platform is based around breaking bread with other goal-oriented entrepreneurs.  The show features as many as seven full meals, three cocktail parties, great seminars, big name speakers, and the best night-time parties.  There have been many efforts to emulate T.R.A.F.F.I.C., but none with the proven results and overall=2 0business deals that the attendees of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. enjoy.

Among the show’s trademark events is the World’s Largest Live Domain Auction.  T.R.A.F.F.I.C. was the first domain industry conference to host a live domain auction.  The event also features the greatest number of auctions, and these auctions have resulted in some of the largest domain sales in industry history.  Domain auctions at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. have grossed more than all other domain shows, combined.

Rick Latona and his company, Rick Latona Auctions, have joined with Rick Schwartz, Howard Neu, and other co-founders of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. to be the exclusive auction company for every T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show held during 2010, both in the United States and around the globe.  Rick Latona Auctions has also announced they will be running themed auctions during the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows, in addition to the World’s Largest Live Domain Auction.

Rick Latona Auctions was founded in 2008 as an extension to the marketing division of RickLatona.com.  Premiere live and extended auctions have been held in New York City, Gold Coast, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, and Amsterdam.  The live portion of these auctions is always staged with a in-house bidding crowd, and the auctions also feature streaming video feeds, permitting online bidders around the world to participate in domain name auctions.

Domain investors and developers who wish to attend the first show of 2010, in Las Vegas, are strongly encouraged to make plans now.  Rick=0 ALatona Auctions is accepting submissions for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas as well as other upcoming auctions.   The company is accepting only the highest-quality domain names.  For domain name submissions to Rick Latona Auctions, please go online to www.ricklatona.com/auctions/submission-form, and for more information about Rick Latona Auctions, please visit www.RickLatona.com.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. has hosted some of the best-known names of the domain industry and the broader financial sector, including economist and actor Ben Stein, domain investor John Reese, real-estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, and economist and publisher Steve Forbes.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C.’s influence around the world continues to grow, having held shows in the United States, Europe, and Australia.  During 2010, the conference will again be held in Europe, and the coming year will feature the show hosted in Asia for the first time.

For information about T.R.A.F.F.I.C., and to see archives of previous shows, go online to www.targetedtraffic.com

Big Thanks to InterNetX for agreeing to sponsor all 6 Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows in 2010

Leading ccTLD and gTLD registrar and Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. team up in 2010.

I’d like to give a huge shout-out to InterNetX for agreeing to sponsor all 6 Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows in 2010.  It shows a level of respect and commitment to support us at both show in the United States, one in Canada, two in Europe and one in Asia.

For those of you that aren’t American or travel to ICANN meetings, you know that InterNetX is a dominant player on the scene.

I’m thrilled to have their support and welcome them with open arms.

New York Teaser - A few of the premium names that will be in our TRAFFIC auction

Planning is in full force for our auction at Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in New York this October. We have a small army beating down doors of end-users and are determined to put up respectable numbers.

Please, if you have a fantastic name that you want to submit, do not wait until the last minute. Submit them to us now so we have enough time to market them properly. Late October will be here before we know it.

Below is just a small sampling of some of the names that will be in the auction. We have another 100 or so that we aren’t going to release publicly yet and room for more so let’s talk business.

247Live.com
Bourbon.com
Bunk.com
CellPhoneApps.com
ChildPsychologists.com
Christian.com
Draw.com
ExoticSportsCars.com
Felizcumpleaños.com
Fights.net
GameShow.com
Hookahs.com
Lawsuits.com
LotteryNumber.com
RomanCatholics.com
Rome.net
SeniorCitizen.com/SeniorCitizens.com
TechnicalSupport.com
Whiskey.com

Cost Per Action/Lead Generation Auction, preliminary inventory released inside

Editors Note: We certainly have room for more and better names. Please submit to us if you have something that fits.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Rick Latona Auctions CPA / Lead Generation Auction Starts Friday – Initial List Released

Atlanta, GA – Rick Latona Auctions upcoming Themed CPA - Lead Gen - Affiliate Marketing Auction starts on Friday, August 21 at 8:00am EDT and the initial list of domains has been released and is posted at www.ricklatona.com/auctions.

The catalog is posted at www.proxibid.com/ricklatona and registration and bidding will be at this same site.  All technical questions regarding Proxibid registration and bidding can be answered by calling toll free 877.505.7770 from inside the US or +1.402.505.7770 from outside the US.

Here is the initial list of domain names which are for sale at this auction:

The online only auction will take place August 21st through August 28th, 2009.  The CPA - Lead Gen - Affiliate Marketing sector is currently experiencing unprecedented growth and this is the auction where buyers and sellers for domains suited to this business will come together.

With its large client base, Rick Latona Auctions is the place to submit your names now for consideration.  If you would like to submit a name or names for consideration for this auction, do so immediately.  Submissions will still be considered.

About Rick Latona Auctions:

Rick Latona Auctions is a proven entity in the aftermarket domain sales channel.  Founded in 2008 as an extension to the marketing division of RickLatona.com, premiere live and extended auctions have been held in New York, Gold Coast, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, and Amsterdam.  The live portion of these auctions has an in room crowd and a streaming live video and audio component on the internet which allows anyone in the world to watch and bid on domain names.  Rick Latona auctions also recently announced that they will be running regular themed auctions and they announced an agreement with T.R.A.F.F.I.C. (www.targetedtraffic.com) to be their Exclusive Auction Company for 2010.

Contact:

David Clements

david@ricklatona.com

Rick Latona Auctions, LLC

3 West Paces Ferry Road, Ste 201

Atlanta, GA  30305

Ph: +1.678.468.9228

aeiou.com website designs - financing now available

You put chocolate in my peanut butter. No, you put peanut butter in my chocolate.

For Immediate Release:

Friday August 14th, Atlanta, Georgia, USA – “AEIOU.COM a sister company of DigiLoan.com have just had one of those ‘on yeah’ moments”, said company president Rick Latona.

AEIOU.COM, the leader in selling custom web design for the domain industry and beyond announced today a temporary partnership with DigiLoan, Inc a company that has traditionally only loaned funds on domain purchases.

Ryan Steel, the partner that runs AEIOU.COM said, “It’s such an obvious marriage that we have to give it a try. Even relatively small investments can be hard for some of our customers to pay for out of today’s cash flow. If we build them something that can make them more money today that they can pay for over time it could really be a game changer for them.”

As of this release AEIOU.COM plans to offer the service only through the end of August. They have said that should things go according to plan they will extend it but there are no guarantees.

Interested clients should fill out the form on AEIOU.com for more information.

Back to the top - Climb Kilimanjaro and help provide clean water to those in need

In March of 2010 ICANN will stage an event in Kenya. Being that it’s only a reasonable drive from Kilimanjaro a climb needs to happen. Want to join us?

We’ll be raising awareness and hopefully a lot of dough for The Water School in the process, a non-profit organization supported by Internet businessman extraordinaire Gregg McNair and an organization that Gregg is slowly but surely getting the whole domainer community to support.

Besides an incredible 6 day workout, you would be spending time with me, Jeff Eckhaus (the president of eNom) and surely many other high-profile individuals.

Fraser Edwards (he runs The Water School) will be coordinating the event. Please hit me up if you would like to join us on the climb and I will put you in touch with him.

I’ve already climbed the mountain once and can attest that it is a game chaning experience that you will never forget. I blogged about it afterwards here.

Running a restartup company - The state of the family of companies

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this blog. I’ve been busy restarting various business units. I’m using that term loosely because it’s been my rallying call here in Manila during my stay on this trip.

You see, we recently moved into a new office in the Philippines and significantly ramped up our staff. We have put a much stronger back office in place to support the various business units and in doing so, have modified much of the way we do business in the broker, auction, development and loan departments of our various companies.

I keep telling the new employees that we aren’t a startup because we’ve been here for years but we also aren’t business as usual. Welcome to a restartup.

Here are just a few of the changes we are making. Naturally, I can’t tell you about all of them because of competitive spying eyes.

RickLatona.com -This is our broker department. It runs our incredibly popular Daily Domains newsletter. It started a couple of years ago with me simply emailing well-known buyers asking them if they wanted to buy any of my names. It now rarely has any of my own names and has become a force in the industry for domainers looking for a quick turn of cash and buyers looking for bargains on nice names.

I think we’ve all noticed the trend in industry focused domain auctions. Our competitors are all doing it and we’ve even started doing it as I’ll talk about below. So why not do it in the newsletter as well?

Last week we ran a test selling “i” and “e” domains like ichick.com, istockbroker.com, etc, etc. It went well. So we announced a sports theme for this week and got off to a good start yesterday. Next week will be GEO domains and so forth. If you think about it, it isn’t hard to come up with 52 themes that can be run in a year.

I like this approach because it is easier to focus on targeting the buyers. Here in Manila we are putting a large sales force in place to hammer end-users and scout for buyers.

We are also testing our new broker landing pages. See www.vino.com or www.database.com for an example. Soon we’ll have individual mini-affiliate programs for each and every name under agreement. More on that at a later date.

Other technological improvements are in the mail like a click to buy feature and some super secret stuff I can’t go into.

Rick Latona Auctions - This, obviously, is our auction department. Let’s separate the conversation into two departments

Live Auctions - Much has been written about our deal with Rick Shwartz and Howard Neu. It was a landmark one for sure. The end result being that RLA is the exclusive auction company at TRAFFIC shows. We’ll have 6 shows in 2010, at strategic locations around the world.

This will require nothing less than a super human effort to pull off well. Fortunately, we are up to the task. Our initial concentration is on New York however and Rick, Howard and I will be announcing an exciting line-up of speakers very soon. We’ll be bringing in top talent from different but related industries for the first time ever.

On the auction front, similar to the brokerage department we are ramping up our sales force in both the Philippines and home in Atlanta. Believe me when I tell you that you don’t want to see our Fed Ex bill from all the packages that have been sent to CEOs of major corporations that might be interested in bidding on these premium names.

Online Auctions - The work has begun on our own internal platform. It’s obviously needed both for competitive reasons and simply to save money. Using third party software in the auction business is simply too expensive and we need something designed from the ground up for the domain business.

Our goal is to have something in place by the New York TRAFFIC event. Clearly it would be too risky to use something untested in a live environment such as this so our live auction will be on the same third party platform as we’ve always used. The extended auction which begins right after the live auction will be the first on our new platform.

By the time our January TRAFFIC show gets here, we’ll have what is sure to be a stable, fast and reliable system ready to run in the live event.

For those of you concerned, I’d just like to point out that this isn’t my first rodeo in complex software development. We have a reasonable sized team of excellent Java developers and we are building this system like a proper enterprise.

We’ve also started our own monthly themed auctions. They won’t be exactly monthly as we move into 2010 because we don’t want them to compete with our live auctions. They’ll most likely be every other month or 6 live and 6 online auctions per year.

Our themes are going to be a little different. We are going to try and follow the money. If an industry is making money online they are likely to buy names. That’s our simple theory in a nutshell. That’s why we are focusing on the CPA/Lead Generation business at the moment because those companies are bringing home the cash.

AEIOU.com and Web Development - Perhaps the business unit with the most immediate change is AEIOU.com. The changes we are making everywhere else require time, capital investment and technology. One the web design front we are seeing immediate improvements, much of which is hard to explain.

I suppose the easy way to get the point across is that we have more of a team to work on projects, more management to oversee the quality of the work done and more efficient management of the projects to help keep both our costs down as well as the prices we need to charge our customers. It’s all under-the-hood type of stuff that you won’t see, you’ll just know it is there.

DigiPawn and DigiLoan - Loaning money on domains and advancing cash on domains is tricky business. Fortunately, over the years, we’ve been very shrewd on these investments. There have been times where my customers haven’t been happy with the amount I was willing to loan or advance but I sure am glad I did things the way I did. Our default ratio is very low and our customer retention is very high.

At the risk of sounding a little egotistic it is important to point out that I invented the business. Since 2003 we have been putting money on the streets using domains as collateral, a full 3 years before our closest competitor.

Changes in this business must come slow and carefully or it can put everything at risk. Earlier this year we launched DigiLoan.com and it has been a hit, primarilly for people financing purchased names from our newsletters and auctions. These services will be more tightly integrated in due time but the core of the model won’t change much.
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That’s about all I have (or can) report at the moment. Exciting things are sure to come. If only I could tell you guys about Project X.