The bezel helps you measure the elapsed time over a pre-determined distance. You can measure up to 400 units per hour whether measured in kilometers or miles.

It’s got a nice heavy feel to it and a look that from a distance is similar to a sub-mariner.

However, if you are more likely to be driving a sports-car than looking at fish, it’s probably a better choice.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona that we have is in like new condition. It’s got a two tone yellow gold and brushed steel Rolex oyster bracelet.

If you aren’t familiar with the term, Google it. The advertiser list is a who’s who of the Internet business. Companies like Google themselves, SAP, NetSuite, Salesforce.com, Rackspace and Symplified all have paid spots.

This domain encompasses the future of how both individuals and businesses will use software.

Don’t take my word for it – listen to some industry experts and what they have to say about SaaS:

Worldwide software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenues in the enterprise application software market will surpass $8.5bn this year, according to new figures from Gartner.

The forecast means that the SaaS market has grown by 14.1 per cent compared to 2009 revenues, which the analyst firm said totaled $7.5bn.

The latest figures also indicate that SaaS will take a bigger share of the enterprise software market over time. Gartner predicts a shift in total revenue from just over 10 per cent of the combined markets in 2009, to more than 16 per cent in 2014. – Source V3.co.uk

As it sits right now, SaaS.com is number two on Google (organically) for the term SaaS behind only Wikipedia.

The SaaS industry is growing rapidly – and is the future – This is your opportunity to own a pure category killer domain for a massive industry that is seeing unprecedented growth.

If you would like to learn more about this domain, please contact RJ Bergh: RJ (at) Latonas.com

Let’s take a look at a good reason why registries make restrictions for their country code.

This August we are bringing the TRAFFIC show and Latona’s Domain Auction to Dublin, Ireland. And the home TLD for Ireland (.ie) is perfect for this commentary. Although, the number of .coms registered from Ireland outnumber .ie. .ie is growing rapidly in popularity from local business owners (Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ie)

Like some ccTLDs .ie would be considered a difficult domain to invest in for non Irish citizens.  Although, if you think ccTLD investment is difficult you can go to ccTLDs.com to learn more about it.

Reading the registries rules .ie is solely available for Irish citizens and Irish companies. Is it necessarily a bad thing? For domain investors yes but for local businesses no.

The Irish registry answers this for us explicitly: http://www.domainregistry.ie/faq.php#mod This quote from #3 answers all of your questions of where the registries’ thoughts are. “Anyone can get any .com domain name – which means somebody has probably already grabbed your .com domain name! Because it’s a .ie “Internet address” it tells your potential customers that you’re doing business in, or from, Ireland and that you really are who you say you are!”

If I were a local business owner in Ireland I would feel proud that the registry is looking out for my best interests. Although, as an investor, I want a piece of the action. One thing I have learned from investing in ccTLDs is that the local country takes great pride in the their TLD. Much more than I have seen with .us here in the United States.

We hope to see you at TRAFFIC Dublin. Ireland is filled with a rich history, great people like Michele Neylon, and of course local pubs.

The photos on our site don’t fully do it justice. It’s a modern timepiece and very elegent. It’s got pizzazz and diamonds but I wouldn’t say it has too much “bling”. It’s too classy to use that phrase.

It’s in near perfect condition and contains the original box and papers.

It’s perfect for the lady who doesn’t necessarily want to wear a watch but likes fine jewelry and appreciates good design. It’s called “The Secret” by Van Cleef and Arpels because the watch itself is hidden in the frame.

There’s a dainty yet sturdy chain that you pull to reveal the watch which smoothly glides out from the cavity.

It’s an extremely well made piece and a nice addition to the modern and classy woman’s collection.

We’ve all heard the success of companies like Blo.gs and Del.icio.us. Those sites have helped raise consumer awareness in the United States that sites don’t necessarilly need to end in .com. Does that directly translate to the domain investor?

It’s my opinion that it doesn’t. At least it doesn’t for now. Perhaps sometime in the distant future that will change but it is too far out to speculate.

I’m looking for someone to prove me wrong though. Please tell me if you have had success in selling domain hacks for a substantial return.

For those of you that are looking to register domain hacks or come up with clever web 2.0 names that use directories as well as extensions, check out Domainr. It’s a great little site that automatically generates options. A quick search for “latona” came up with lato.na, la.to/na, l.at/ona, lt.na, lat.na, and l.tn/a. While names like those wouldn’t have resale value, it’s a good resource for a web developer on a budget looking for a catchy brand.

Speaking of names like watch.es. I’m going to diverge for the rest of this post

.es, Like its football team, is more than a hack. Most of us know that.

While it has been more than a week since Spain’s world cup victory, we can still use it as inspiration for examining their ccTLD which is .es. Between you and I, I was rooting for The Netherlands. I’d never let that get in the way of a perfectly good blog post, however.

Many forward thinking domainers have been fond of the .es extension for some time. It’s one of those rare country codes that represents far more than just a country. There are 21 countries that speak Spanish as their national language. More than 400 million people speak Spanish worldwide and it is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese (source: wikipedia).

With so many countries speaking Spanish, it’s hard to imagine maintaining and Internet presence on each of their ccTLD extensions. That’s why the debate on Spanish language keywords usually focuses on .com versus .es.

Lastly, I’d like to take a moment to plug my friend Alfredo Torres. He’s our resident expert on ccTLDs.com and will answer nearly any question posted there. He’s a tremendous help on the board.

The watch is large and heavy in its solid 18k white gold case. You can sense the value while you wear it. It’s not so heavy that its uncomfortable. Rather, it has a manly feel to it.

The one we have in inventory might as well be new. The box it comes in is reminiscent of sunken treasure. You feel like you’ve discovered something when you open it.

It has all the paperwork and is still wrapped in plastic. Our model comes with two rubber straps.

Let us know if you are interested.

The Calatrava, introduced in 1932, set the standard for round wristwatches. It defines what it means to have a classic design. It’s Patek’s signature model.

I had a Calatrava myself at one time but mine was a manual watch, meaning I had to wind it once a day. This watch that we have is an automatic. I’m just amazed at how they could do that in such a slim design. You don’t have to be a watch expert to appreciate the skills involved behind the production of this time piece.

The gold itself is silky smooth and the band drapes around your wrist. It’s the most comfortable watch I’ve ever put on.

Below I’ve pasted some technical specs on the watch. If you want to make an offer on it, you can do so at Latona’s. More detailed photos will also be found there.

Watch:

• Caliber 240
• Ultra-thin mechanical self-winding movement
• Hobnail patterned bezel
• Silvery gray dial, gold applied hour markers
• Gold “Calatrava” bracelet
• Sapphire crystal case back
• Water resistant to 30 m
• Yellow Gold
• Case diameter: 35 mm

Caliber:

• Overall diameter: 27.5 mm
• Height: 2.53 mm
• 27 jewels, 6 bridges
• Balance: Gyromax
• Vibrations per hour: 21’600
• Power reserve: 48h max
• Number of parts: 161
• Patent CH 595653
• 22K gold off-center minirotor
• Ultra-thin movement

Test Track is looking for candidates to pitch their ideas at the next conference, August 24^th -26^th in Dublin, Ireland.  If you are new here, Test Track is a segment in our show, brought to you by .CO, where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to real investors in an effort to raise real money.  It’s a golden opportunity to have angel investors not only give feedback on your plan but potentially invest.

Many of you and you know who you are, have contemplated an idea or two but how far did you get? What point did you toss in the towel? For real meaningful feedback, and potentially the capital you need, to http://targetedtraffic.com/test-track.php

If your application is chosen you will need to be at the show, to pitch your idea. All Test Track applicants will receive a discount for their show ticket. Test Track is on August 24^th at 1:15pm. http://targetedtraffic.com/dublin/schedule.php

That’s incredible if you think about it. I’ve been selling domains for many years and I’ve never sold a large company a large domain for a large amount on the very first phone call. Usually it takes time, effort and contacts.

When I have the time and put in the effort I have a good closing ratio.

The story reminds me of a conversation I had with my grandfather 20 years ago. I was a 16-17 year-old punk at the time that was pretty sure of himself. I said, “I want to figure out a way to make a million dollars without working.” He replied with, “I want to figure out a way to make a million dollars working my ass off.”

So work our tails off we do. If you have premium gTLD (.com, .net, .org) or ccTLDs (.uk, de, etc) names that you want to submit to our T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Dublin auction, do so. Don’t delay.

The more time we have to put in our effort the better. My team is ready for the challenge.

Other notable .co.za sales have been:

Furniture.co.za $33,000 USD
Toys.co.za      $20,000 USD
Domains.co.za   $15,000 USD
Slots.co.za     $10,000 USD
S.co.za         $8,500 USD
Shirts.co.za    $8,000  USD

In the United States, there is a correlation between soccer (football) and ccTLDs. Many Americans do not understand football and its popularity around the world any more than they understand ccTLDs; and they both are HUGE.

If you are not into football or ccTLDs, now is a good time to reconsider.

To me the question implies that industry related sites don’t count. I’m also discounting the must visit sites like Google, Facebook and your favorite news site.

So my question to you is, what sites do you visit regularly that are off the beaten path?

Personally, I love the site lifehacker.com. I regularly use the tips and tricks that I learn from that site.

My two favorite blogs are Seth Godin’s and Fred Wilson’s.

Honestly, I could use some recommendations. After 15 years of starring into the net, I’ve really not done much actual surfing, crazy as that sounds.

Those that know me well know that I’m always spouting these same quotes that I’m basing this series on. I believe in fundamentals and that business skills are learned and need to be practiced like an instrument or a sport.

Today’s lesson learned isn’t one I need to remind myself of as often. It’s one I live by more than most others and one that I say often around the office.

No matter what product you are selling, there are only three ways to increase revenue. You can increase your lead count, improve your closing ratio or raise your average ticket price.

All activities should be designed to affect one or all of those three things.

It doesn’t matter if you are selling domains, timeshares, diamonds, watches, televisions, t-shirts, website memberships, software, or anything else. It’s always the same three metrics that determine your revenue.

Sure, there are other variables inside of those metrics. For example, there may be four or five metrics that you look at when determining your lead count. However, the top of the pyramid contains only those three. Always.

Yesterday, we finished our July goals and incentivized our management from top to bottom in our luxury watch division based on these three metrics.

Our marketing team has a specific July target goal for a lead count that we know if we get, we’ll hit our revenue target.

Our sales team which takes the leads and gets the packages to our offices has a specific conversion ratio as a target that we know if they hit, we’ll hit our revenue target.

Our closing team which sells the watches, has a specific average ticket price that we know, if we hit, we’ll hit our revenue target.

Their goals are structured in a way that we only need one of them to win for us to get to the level we want to be at by the end of July. If two or three of them hit their targets, we are off to the races.

As mentioned in part 1a, this exercise is as much for me as it is for you. I need to type this out to remind myself of what is important.

Today’s lesson:

Sometimes you hire the right person but have them in the wrong position.

I’ve seen it time and again through my career. You have someone you like, trust and know actually works when they are at work. You know they are loyal and dedicated to the cause but things just aren’t panning out the way you’ve expected.

Here’s a piece of advice that has carried me through the years. Move them to another department before getting rid of them. Often, they’ll excel and become an asset for you.

The key is to match the person to the role.

An obvious analogy would be sports coaching. As a manager, you have the right and responsibility to take a good pitcher out of the game if his arm is getting tired and put in a closer. Perhaps moving a player from short-stop to third-base will make him an all-star. Maybe he’s so good at hitting home runs that you throw him in right field where he can’t do too much damage to your defense.

American football coaches turn wide receivers into tight ends and tight ends into wide receivers if that’s what their game plan needs to succeed.

I’ve moved people from sales to support and support to sales. I’ve moved people from marketing to finance and finance to IT.

The more you get to know your staff, the more you are able to see where they fit in.

Just recently we moved a few people around in our company and the plan has worked great. Our old finance guy is now managing click campaigns and excelling at it.

Someone from the watch division is now bringing home big contracts for domain auctions.

I’m often asked how I have so many people that have been with me for ten years or more. The answer is that all of them are doing something different than they were doing ten years ago, just as I am and the company is. Times change and your business must be fluid.

You don’t hire salespeople, support people or IT people. You hire people. Your role is to find what position they can play the best.

The best part of bringing the show to each corner of the world is meeting the local domainers. We had many domainers from British Colombia and Canada as a whole show up in Vancouver and we expect a lot of Irish and British attendees in Dublin.

The event is at the Shelbourne Hotel which is located in the center of the city. It’s beautiful and historic. The Irish constitution was signed there. I’ve been to Dublin many times myself and consider it the best hotel in the city.

At this moment, the Shelbourne is offering rooms for 159 Euro per night. Please reserve your space now before it is too late.

You can’t talk about Dublin without mentioning beers. Folks, the parties will be back at this show. We have two sponsors and the Guinness will be flowing regularly.

The focus of the show, undoubtedly, will remain business. Like other T.R.A.F.F.I.C. events run under my watch there are three full days of events.

Applications are open to entrepreneurs for Test Track

Submissions are open for both auctions. There will be one for Irish and British names as well as a main event.

This is a European event and there will be sessions on ccTLDs but this is not a ccTLD event. It’s T.R.A.F.F.I.C. pure and simple on European shores.

I love Ireland and August is a great time to be there. Please contact us if you need help getting there, have questions or just want to talk business.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of reorganizing and repositioning within my organization. I’ve been basing many of my decisions on the same cliché‘s I’m always preaching.

The thing is, I don’t always listen to my own sermons. So I’m writing a new series based on those simple business philosophies which have carried me through the years. This exercise is as much for my benefit as yours. It’s therapeutic for me to put this down in text.

Today’s lesson that I’m teaching myself is my hiring philosophy which I’ve held onto for years but sometimes forget to adhere to. Here it is.

If you’ve hired the right guy to do the job, given him the tools he needs to do that job and removed all obstacles which could impede his success and it still doesn’t work out, repeat step one.

It’s a profound sentence. It’s a philosophy more than a rule.

It implies that you need to hire the right guy for the job. As a manager you should spend a great deal of your time recruiting and team building. Jack Welch once said he spent one third of his time recruiting.

As well it implies that you need to give the employee all of the tools that he/she need to do their job. You can’t hold it against them if you don’t give them the resources they need.

Recently we hired a new sales manager for our watch business. We immediately hit him with questions like “What reports do you need? What metrics do you want to track? How many sales people do you need to hit your target we’ve set for you? How many leads do you need?”

The final implication is that you need to remove all of the obstacles impeding their way to success. This means that it is your responsibility that you know if someone else on the team is causing them problems. There’s a litany of situations which could get in their way to succeed. It’s impossible to write them all down but you know they are there if you are looking for them. Perhaps you just get them better phones or computers. Sometimes its the little things.

Recently we moved our entire Filipino operations to the night shift to improve communications. The time lag was an obstacle that was keeping our manager there from being successful. It’s just an example. There are many of things to look out for.

This leads us to the conclusion. If you’ve done those three steps and the goals still aren’t being met, repeat step one. Think about it. The manager is now liberated from the difficult decision to fire or not fire. Don’t get rid of someone if you haven’t done your job first.

It’s your job to hire the right person. It’s your job to give them the tools they need to succeed. It’s your job to remove any obstacles that are in their way. If you’ve done your job and it isn’t working then it is their fault. It’s your fault until you eliminate those three items, not theirs.

You can’t say they haven’t done their job if you haven’t done yours.

That moment of clarity only comes if you’ve done your job first. Only then can you look at your staff and know if they are doing theirs.

The time difference has been a major hassle. We’d send an email to them, only to get a question back as a reply, which we would reply to the next day and on and on it went. It could take a week to do something that would normally take only hours.

I’m happy to announce that we have switched our entire operations in the Philippines to a night shift (for them) so that everyone in our organization is working on the same schedule.

We are now having regular IM, Skype and telephone conversations and progress is happening much faster.

I apologize to all of you that have had to deal with delays. Ultimately it is my responsibility and I’m sorry that it has taken us so long to make the change.

The team there is great. We’ve spent years developing relationships there and have smart, capable and willing people. It was really only a communication problem. That problem has now been solved.

I’m happy to have the chance to do business with them.

For those that don’t know, we can FedEx diamonds to you and let you look at them before you make a decision. That is, as long as we know you and trust you. You know who you are!

We are getting in stones of all cuts, clarity and carat weight and can help with all budgets.

There are 379 total names on the list. The auction ends at June 22nd.

Financing is available on most names. Please contact us if you have questions on how that works.

A complete list of the names can be found below.

You have to admire Frank Schilling’s business acumen. After entering the domain business in 2001 he quickly assembled one of the most lucrative portfolios of names in the industry.

Frank parlayed that revenue into a diverse range of business opportunities which include everything from rum cakes to wristwatches.

When my own company first entered the watch business it was pointed out to me that many well known players including Mr Schilling, Rick Schwartz and Larry Fischer all had stellar collections.

On the phone with Frank one afternoon he told me his favorite watches were Patek Philippe minute repeaters and vintage Rolex Submariners. He’s got good taste!

While we have yet to get a Patek minute repeater, we do get vintage Subs somewhat regularly.

A repeater is a complication that makes a chime of the hours and minutes with the press of a button. They were more common in pocket watches before there was artificial light so the owner could tell what time it was when it was dark. Putting a repeater in a wrist watch is a complicated process indeed.

Patek Philippe is commonly regarded as the best of the luxury watch makers and their minute repeater is their most sought after watch.

During yesterday’s Christie’s auction which sold more than ten million dollars worth of watches and included many of Frank’s time pieces, a Patek Philippe platinum perpetual calendar minute repeating tourbillon with a moon phase was sold for $602,500. That was Frank’s watch.

Congratulations to Frank and well done Christie’s.