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Check out these recent ‘colossal’ domain name sale prices! Massive Profits are well and truly back in the news. (Truth be told, they’ve never really been out of it). With ‘big’ money at stake, it’s no wonder the Domain Name Barron’s prefer to keep an extremely low profile. Here are 10 Hot Tips to turn ‘your’ domains into dollars.

Tip 1. (More a ‘revelation’ than a tip). Did you know that there are now businesses specially set up to ‘finance’ those looking to buy domain names? Were you aware that there are multi-million dollar companies, whose sole activity is buying, selling, parking or leasing domain names? Why is this relevant? Well, these ‘major players’ are not in it for fun. They know (for sure) there’s ‘big bucks’ to be made from domain names.

Tip 2. When it comes to turning domains into dollars, names ending in .com are still ‘king’. The two word domain name DataRecovery.com went for a whopping $1,659,000.00 in the first half of 2008, whereas the one word Fund.com when for a simply staggering $9,999,950.00 in the same month / year. OK, your chances of getting hold of a good ‘one word’ domain are slim, but bear in mind that, as the price of such exclusive domains increase in value, a knock-on effect occurs. Down the road, sales of this magnitude can influence prices paid for good ‘two-word’ (and even ‘three-word’) domain names.

The best domain names are those consisting of generic terms / expressions (and ‘keywords’). ‘Anti Virus’ is an example of a generic expression, as is ‘Poker Tournament’.

Tip 3. Understand, it’s not just dot com domain names that sell. There’s money to be made from other Top Level Domains (TLD’s) too. i.e. .net, .org, .info and .biz.

FilmSchool.net and WallStreet.info sold in 2008 for $49,501.00 and $25,500 respectively. If you had discovered either of those examples as an ‘unregistered name’, you would probably have been asked to pay no more than $10 to secure your prize!

Perhaps more appropriately, numerous sales in the $0000 and $000 price range occur every month.

If the .com version of a domain name is already registered, you must take care to avoid identical domain names (with different name extensions) where ‘brand name’ or ‘trademark’ infringement might be an issue.

However, if the dot com name is a pure generic name (e.g. Christmas Tree) then it may be safe to snap up one of the other TLDs or a Geo / Regional version of the same domain name as (to the best of my knowledge) it’s still the case that obvious ‘generic’ terms cannot successfully be protected by trademark registration. (But don’t rely on this, always investigate and take professional advice).

Tip 4. When it comes to domain names with ‘country’ or ‘region’ specific extensions, exciting 6 figure sales are occurring. Don’t believe me? Well note that FreeCreditReport.co.uk sold in 2008 for a very healthy $300,000. (Wish I’d turned that domain into dollars).

Tip 5. Domain Names don’t have to be short and memorable to warrant a fantastic 6 digit purchase price. Demand is steadily increasing for sensible names, comprised of one or more words that clearly describe a marketable product or service. Why? Every year the number of businesses goings online increases dramatically. (Work it out for yourself).

Tip 6. Don’t for one moment think that ‘flipping’ (i.e. buying in the hope of immediately reselling) is the only way to turn your domains into dollars. If you acquire several domain names, you should investigate developing some into websites that you can then sell, along with the domain name. Doing this can add a lot of value to the domain. It also gives you more opportunities to make a sale, as you can look to attract not only those looking for a good domain name, but also folk simply seeking a website with a decent name.

Even if you know nothing about website development, you can get a freelance to build one for you quite cheaply. Web Developers frequently advertise their services through elance.com, guru.com (or a whole range of other Outsourcing Websites).

Many domain names are suitable for ‘Free Parking’ via services willing to share revenue generated by visitor traffic. Simply type ‘Domain Parking’ into your favourite search engine, then compare offers. Such services effectively host your domain name for free, and can make your domain look more appealing to a prospective buyer.

If a Free Parking Service makes you just $5 each year over and above the annual cost to register your domain name, you’re ahead of the game. OK, $5 a year is not much (unless, that is, you’ve got 100, 1000, or 10,000 domains that are all earning you a $5 profit annually). Do the math! Decent domain names will increase in value overtime so, by parking names to cover their renewal costs, you can afford to sit back and wait for a decent offer. (Win, Win!)

Tip 7. While there are no ‘absolute’ rules, consider carefully before you buy an ‘already registered’ domain name that contains a hyphen, a numeral, or both. In some instances, you can come out on top, but in most cases you’ll be wasting your money. Also, beware of those offering domains that appear to be really great one or two word names until – that is – you realize that the person who registered the name (not necessarily the seller) has used the number ‘0′ (zero) rather than the letter ‘o’ as part of a word. There are other text variations that can create a misleading impression. (So be careful!).

Tip 8. We’ve touched on this point earlier, but it’s very important you avoid names that have been trademarked or – through passage of time – come to be recognised as ‘known brands’. Just because a dot com name is available, don’t jump to the conclusion that the fantastic name you’ve identified is a safe bet.

OK, you may well decide that – for the risk of just a few dollars – you’ll register it while you can, and investigate later. (That’s probably what I’d do!). But subsequently, always remember to do your ‘due diligence’ before using such a name, or offering it to someone else.

Bear in mind that some business may (for whatever reasons) chose to go with the .net, .org or some other extension. In many cases where this applies, those businesses will have taken the sensible precaution of purchasing the .com version too. But not always!

So, irrespective of the extension of any domain name you might be thinking of buying (e.g. .com, .net, .org, .us etc) check to see if anyone has registered / is using the same domain with an alternative extension.

Also bear in mind that there are still some businesses without an internet presence, who may be using that fantastic name you came up with ‘off-line’. Where this applies, they may well have Trademark or similar rights over it.

You can also get your fingers badly burn if you register a deliberate misspelling or ’sound-a-like’ of a famous brand name. My advice? Don’t bother (or check with your lawyer first!)

Tip 9. When it comes to using ‘brand creation’ as means of converting domains into dollars, some businesses deliberately choose (or dream up) domain names with a vague / nebulous quality. This means that, later, they have the option to change what their business does, or move into additional fields, without having to alter their name.

For example, although we all associate Amazon or eBay with what we currently known them for, there’s a chance that – in fifty years time – they could have morphed into new enterprises (which may have nothing to do with the activities we associate them with right now).

You might sometimes be offered, or dream up, domain name ideas that don’t describe or indicate a specific business or interest area. Such names can be valuable if you can locate someone with cash, who agrees with you. However, more often than not, they will prove very hard to sell, compared to those that give a clear indication of what an internet user might reasonably expect if he / she decides to visit a website with that name.

Tip 10. In this article it’s only been possible to uncover the tip of the iceberg as far as domain name ‘buying & selling tactics’ are concerned. Tip 10 is to realize that, in order to buy and sell domains like a ‘pro’, you need to get serious about increasing your knowledge, and start planning your strategy. Invest some time and energy in learning all you can from ‘experts’ to give yourself that essential ‘edge’. Then formulate a campaign to turn those domains into dollars.

What Next?

For anyone looking to get a head start I can do no better than point you in the direction of my recommended Knowledge Base

Never forget, just one good idea gleaned from an ‘expert source’ can make you a great deal of money if applied wisely. I take the view that – with a bit of luck – the profits I stand to make by arming myself with ‘inside knowledge’ should more than compensate for any up-front investment of time or money I might choose to make in my future.

Even if you decide that the ‘Knowledge Base’ mentioned above is not for you, you’ll probably pick up some great insights, just by reading the introduction.

In my ‘Resources Panel’ – which immediately follows this article – you’ll find a link to my website (dedicated to the subject of domain names). Once on my site, you’ll find links to a vast number of useful domain name resources that you really ought to be aware of.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. Now it’s time for you to turn those domains into dollars.

Max

As the world economy experiences a gloomy backdrop and continues to be on the brink of recession, its time to position yourself to a stand where you can still hope to profit from the recession.

There are several options you can consider to rise up in the shrinking economy, but an option that can really show remarkable results in every stage of your business lifecycle is search engine optimization.

SEO offers a platform for corporates, entrepreneurs, as well as individuals to promote their products and services across the web by helping them rank on top of search engines. The real essence of SEO is to ensure that profitable results are achieved regardless of the financial crises broadening and intensifying at every stage and suffocating the global economy.

Amidst all this, the point to focus is the SEO company one might open doors for as their solution provider. It may be a cake walk to hire one in no time, but, definitely not when you have to make sure the genuineness of the company which is a must.

With the right choice of an SEO company to work for you on an ongoing basis, you can expect better search engine rankings, which in turn compliment your SEO efforts with increased traffic. Long term sustainability and profitability are two factors that any company or individual will look forward to, and this is precisely what SEO can achieve if done the right way.

SEO done on a continual basis can help you beat your competition and gain more visibility and exposure by showing on the top of SERPs. Increased visibility creates more awareness about your website or blog and drives more targeted traffic which would otherwise be lost without SEO. Search engine optimization can help you plunge into a more comfortable zone by penetrating your target market and making the most out of your advertising dollars.

During economic recession, advertisers are more bound to find different means (online and offline) of advertising and promoting their products and services in order to sustain their business. However, these offline marketing mediums require a huge amount of money to promote a brand which may not be feasible for every person. It is at this point where one can hope to cash in on SEO which provides an opportunity to make all ends meet with affordable costs that are way less than offline marketing mediums.

If you are still considering your options to beat the global recession, its time to move forward with hiring an SEO professional who can potentially improve your ranking, performance, and save you time. However, it is important that you do not risk your company’s success with SEO practises that are questionable. Therefore, you must conduct a thorough research on SEO companies to avoid any damage some of them can cause to you by employing unethical techniques that are penalized by search engines.

So make your hiring decision today! Spot your SEO company, relieve yourself of the economic backdrop that can or has affected your performance and look over to the greener side of the fence – SEO Traffic Spider – a solution provider for all your SEO needs.

One of the most important and critical decisions that web site owners will be doing during the course of the entire product or service life cycle is opting for the right search engine marketing (SEM) company that can turn around the financials of the company. The search engine marketing (SEM) companies are the make and break deals for hundreds of successful web sites. Time is a critical element since the customers make decisive decisions on the fly on the worth of the web sites. Search engine marketing campaigns need to take into account all aspects of the customer base. The customer base, trends and analytical trends all are important variables and factors that a good search engine marketing campaign should comprehend and base their strategies on.

With such a diverse Asian search engine marketing ( http://www.ilcorea.com/biz/asia-sem.asp ) market; it is comparatively hard to finalize a sound consultant that can drive sales and provide the immediate output that you would so desire. Before choosing any SEM vendor, there are several prerequisite steps that one needs to follow. First of all, you need to have a clear perception of the marketing goals that you want to achieve. Without a definitive mindset of goals, you would not be clear on the pricing model and the various aspects of the marketing campaign. It is not only detrimental but rudimentary to have a comprehensive analysis of your perception of the market and what to expect from a search engine marketing campaign. This kind of input would also help in providing and honing the marketing campaign from the vendor. Goals and objectives identify the steps required to be taken to accomplish those goals and what potential obstacles stand in the way.

One of the primal objectives behind the search engine marketing campaign is to provide lucrative solutions that cater to the hindrances in the way. The marketing campaign has to target the variances in the initial report and ensure that the obstacles have been eliminated in the marketing campaign. Moving forward, the SEM service offering has to fulfill the needs and overcome and known obstacles. Finally, when the services that you require have been identified, you can begin seeking out SEM firms that offer such services, and start evaluating their ability to provide those services in a way that works with your business model. Not all search engine marketing campaigns can synchronize with the business needs and requirements. Extensive meetings might need to take place to create an environment of trust and understanding. Do realize that the search engine marketing campaign has become a catalyst in achieving higher number of hits.

Another plethora of questions that need to be streamlined between you and the search engine marketing vendor is about the products and services you want to market. It is typically easier to broadcast a marketing campaign with a single niche in the internet market but a myriad of services renders a different ballgame. Different services require a completely different marketing campaign. Sales leads are dependent upon the look and price of services. Sometimes bundled packages become more attractive as compared to individual items. And on some occasions, the intent of the web site is to only introduce and sale off items that will be out of stock or obsolete in a few months. All of this again depends upon your goals and ambitions.

Another important aspect to note is the overall statistical analysis of the sales leads generated from the search engine marketing campaign. How many sales leads were generated? Are they going to be distributed to direct sales or through distributors? What is the turn around timelines to distribute services and get the product delivered? Cost analysis of the marketing campaign versus sales leads. All of these are important avenues that need to be covered while completing the web site for the marketing campaign. Many of times many of the tier one search engine marketing campaign vendors promote white papers and free newsletters that provide more insights to the overall internet marketing campaign. Web sites have been known to be increased due to online demons and ecommerce transactions. All possible avenues need to be explored prior to launching any kind of service in the market.

Optimization and scope of the projects is another important factor that needs to outline. It is imperative that the total number of sales can be easily accommodated within the stated timelines and that the ecommerce transactions are properly logged. Many of times a substantial amount of sales leads come into play but the end services and applications are not optimized for the exponential increase in sales.

Search engine marketing campaigns have become an integral part of all web sites to increase and add value to the current and new customer base.

For more information about Asia SEM Company visit: http://www.ilcorea.com/biz/asia-sem-company.asp

Social media optimization (SMO) is growing immensely in recent times with companies looking to enhance their presence on the web. New and new methods for SMO are being explored; in fact people are trying to implement both SEO and SMO for increasing visibility over the web space. One thing which I can say with my experience after playing with both of them for a while is that SEO and SMO are interlinked and implementing only one of them cannot sustain the top web visibility for long. One should be careful when targeting SMO as it requires a lot of care. A few tips and guidelines before you start SMO assignment for your organization are mentioned below

The key to SMO as I mentioned in the title itself is patience. Keep doing your part and wait, results would show after a little while. Just remember all this would yield results in some time, but if not properly supported by an equally good Search Engine Optimization(SEO) they may soon fade out. At this moment I would really love to look at the smiles on the faces of those who read this article just after or in between their SMO assignment, I am sure they have a story to tell.

For other good articles on IT, SMBs/SMEs you can also refer Dr Subbu Murthy’s blog.

A podcast is a collection of digital media distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players (such as iPods) and personal computers. Believe it or not, you can make a successful internet business out of podcasting. In order to do so, your podcast has to be innovative and informative in order to rise above the competition. You may also be able to get sponsorship for your podcast.

One of the newest forms of internet business is podcasting. Podcasting for profit involves making and distributing podcasts in order to generate revenue. Podcast profits can be made through actually selling the podcast, but they are more likely to be generated through donations, sponsorship and networking.

It is possible to make money through podcasts, but you need to think about how it will generate revenue. Podcasts that cost money to download usually only do well if they contain information that is popular, relevant, and insightful. Podcasts that people have to pay for face serious competition from all the free podcasts available. This doesn’t mean that podcasting isn’t a good way to make money; you just usually need to find other ways of generating revenue besides just selling the podcast.

One popular way of making money through podcasts is by providing a way of allowing people to make donations. Although many may not be willing to pay for a podcast, they may be willing to make a donation in order to keep your podcast alive. In order to receive money from donations, you will need to provide a link on your website where people can easily make a donation. Paypal is a reputable service that offers a donation button you can put on your site.

People are not going to donate money to a service that does not provide a quality podcast. In order to make money from donations, you will need to provide a podcast that people think is worth contributing to. Donations are a great way to generate revenue for newer podcasts that have not yet built up a steady listening base.

Commercial sponsorship is another good way for your podcast to generate revenue. It is not unknown for sponsors to approach podcasters that have a large base of listeners, but usually you have to approach the sponsors. Before approaching companies to try and persuade them to sponsor your podcast, you should have a good idea of the type of sponsors you want and the type of sponsors that would benefit from sponsoring your podcast. You should also have accrued a good listening base and show a good understanding of the business.

You can also profit from your podcast through the revenue generated by your website. Your podcast can direct people to your website, which will have its own ways of generating revenue. In order to generate revenue through the website, it is essential to have a quality website that provides pertinent and engaging information.

The information on the website should tie in with the subject of the podcast and provide information about it. A blog is one way to keep people coming back to your website on a frequent basis, in order to see any new updates. A newsletter can also direct people to specific items on the website and inform them of any new happenings regarding the podcast.

Another good way to get the word out about your podcast and attract listeners is to create an Apple iTunes account and submit your podcast to the iTunes directory. This is a very simple process that will allow a large number of people to find and listen to your podcast.

You don’t even have to be listed in the Apple iTunes directory to make money from your podcast, as there are other podcast directories that can direct people to your podcast. Your website alone may be enough to gain listeners to the podcast, but the iTunes directory will net you more listeners and subscribers, and is worth considering if you really want to make money podcasting.

Podcast profits don’t just happen, they need to be planned. You can’t create a podcast and expect the profits to just start rolling in. If you want to profit from your podcast, you need to spend some time thinking about how it will generate revenue. Proper planning and marketing strategy will provide a positive image of your podcast that people will want to experience. As a result, they will pay to watch it and you will profit from your internet business ideas!

While no one knows exactly what the formula for search engine rankings is, we do know that it has a lot to do with how many “votes” you have out there on the web. These votes are counted as backlinks. If you think about it, what do you when you find something you really like and want to share with others? You link to it! That’s why the search engines count these so highly. While you should definitely aim to get to the point where others will link to you, it’s possible to take things into your own hands for now.

Below are some of the top strategies you can use for building backlinks to increase the value of your blog in the eyes of the search engine.

Write Articles and Submit Them

Writing and submitting articles is a great way to build backlinks! There are sites out there like EzineArticles.com and GoArticles.com that allow you to post your content with a link back to your site. That means you get to have your link on authority sites! The more articles you write, the more you can submit them. The beauty of this is that you can often submit the same articles to different sites, or rewrite them quickly to have something that is more unique.

Comment on Other People’s Blogs

It’s a great thing to remember that a huge part of blogging is getting involved in the community. Commenting on other people’s blogs will not only get you some recognition from their readers right away, it also counts as a backlink! Keep in might that some of these links are termed as “nofollow”, which means the search engines may not pass along ranking or “juice.” That’s okay, because the algorithms are always changing, and since these links are so highly targeted they are a great thing.

Write Guest Posts

Writing guest posts for other niche blogs is an amazing strategy. People love to let you do this because it gives them a day off from blogging. Readers love it because they get a fresh perspective on a topic they are interested in. You’ll love it because it means you get a link back to your site and all you had to do was write an extra post for the day.

Use Social Bookmarking Sites

Another thing you can do is bookmark your sites. Now, there are some rumblings out there that these won’t count as highly in the future as they do now. Still, bookmarking your sites lets the search engines know “you are there” for fast indexing. If you take the time to make sure the sites you bookmark with are high quality, you’ll get the benefit of those links as well.

Paying for Links

There are many different ways you can pay for links. It is important to know that Google and other search engines frown on this because it’s like you’re gaming their algorithm. Whether you choose to do this or not is up to you, but it can be an effective strategy if you don’t go overboard and aren’t obvious. You can contact people directly or even work through link exchange networks.

Learning how to build backlinks to your blog is extremely important if you want to rank well. Add a few links at a time and they will build up in a massive way over the long run.

It’s not surprising that social media has become so popular in so short a time. Not only is it a source of entertainment for most people, it is also the newest strategy for acquiring customers for businesses. And with hot new tools like Twitter, social media marketing has only become more progressive and popular!

What Is Twitter?

In case you’re not familiar with Twitter, it is a social media tool that allows people to know what their fellow twitterers (people using twitter) are doing at this very moment.

Are you getting ready for bed? Put that on Twitter! Are you buying a new couch or writing a report on the effects of social media marketing? Put that on Twitter! Are you throwing a birthday party for your golden retriever? Well, you can put that on Twitter as well. There are no boundaries as to what you can put on Twitter. In Twitter, even the most mundane updates about your life can be pretty liberating. 

Sounds simple, right? Perhaps, it is this simplicity that has made Twitter quite a sensation on the Internet. There’s also something amusing about knowing what other people are doing and letting them know your own business as well. This combination of fun and simplicity is what ultimately appeals to Twitter fans.

Applying Twitter In Business

If you’re business-minded, then you probably already have more than a few ideas on how to make this social media marketing tool work for you. Having a Twitter account allows you to inform your clients and would-be clients the progress in your company. You’re not putting up an ad every week (because that tends to be annoying). However, you get the chance to share with them what’s happening to your company’s products, people, tools, etc. right now. 

Twitter, unlike MySpace and Facebook, poses an advantage for new and advanced marketers. As an efficient social media marketing tool, Twitter allows you to build a giant list of followers. It allows your clients and subscribers to see what you’re doing right now. It gives them access to your immediate profile and permits you to share your ideas with other twitterers. All free of charge.

How Twitter Can Explode Your Profits

While many people have other purposes and values for the use of the free service, the marketer can use Twitter to jumpstart a list of followers that can grow into thousands.

If you’re someone who sells used cars, you can use Twitter to attract members who are interested in automobiles. When a new shipment comes in, you can use Twitter to announce that the latest Ford model has arrived. Or if you’re having a sale, you can use Twitter to let everybody know about it.

These followers are the next best thing to customers. If they haven’t bought anything from you yet, then you can rest assured that they will be buying something soon. As long as you keep providing them something nice to look forward to, they will always be enticed to purchase something from your company.

Think of it as fishing. You already have the fish interested in your bait. All you have to do is wait for the fish to bite. According to quantcast.com, Twitter reaches about 6.1 million U.S. people every month. This social media tool has also reached other countries and is hugely popular in Japan. In fact, there are other Twitter-like applications that have popped up due to its insane fame!

Despite the huge popularity of Twitter, it is not a disorganized system that doesn’t have any limits. For example, you can only send 1,000 updates, 100 API requests and send 250 direct messages each day. And while there is no limit to the people who can follow you, the same freedom doesn’t apply vice-versa.

The maximum number of people you can follow is limited to 2,000. In Twitter-speak, to follow means to receive Twitter updates. This limit will only be lifted if you manage to attract more than 2,000 followers to your account.

According to Twitter, this is done to prevent SPAM users from adding up into their system and to prevent abuse from all current members.

It’s not that difficult to attract more followers into your account. In the long run, this will only make your Twitter account more meaningful because of the effort you’ve put into it.

The beauty at this stage is that once you are at such a level, it’s easier to attract new followers into your account. The benefits from taking such steps are acquiring your own list of eager followers (in which you can pitch your own products and services); and more importantly, gaining new business contacts.

Other Social Media Marketing Methods

There are other methods of social media marketing available for your use. Twitter isn’t the only way to enhance your business and get a constant flow of leads.

Other methods you can explore include:

1) Blogs

2) Community forums

3) Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn.

4) Video-sharing sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, Google videos, Yahoo videos, and AOL videos.

5) Content sharing sites such as Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint, Qassia, and Google Knol.

These days, you shouldn’t just limit yourself to one thing. With the Internet as vast as it is, you should use every opportunity to make new contacts and establish yourself. Besides, think of all the new things you can learn from interacting with other people online!

Leave comments on your choice blogs and participate in forum discussions that allow for signature files after every post.  Make informative videos and upload them to video-sharing sites.  Explode your list of contacts through social networking sites. Share your knowledge and be recognized as an authority by submitting your content to content-sharing sites.

Not only will these help you establish credibility, you probably won’t even have to worry or stress about making money in the future. Remember that social media marketing, like any other marketing methods, works if you work it! Now like many of our mentors say – get to work!

Backordering for a domain name is a well-known process used by a number of expired domain traders. At present, domain backordering service firms offer five different types of model that focus on targeting different stages of domain deletion cycle. Each one of these models has its own weaknesses and merits. Domain backordering is also a preferred process that can yield you very good results. However, there may be a small glitch in the standard backordering process, as the success or failure depends entirely on the level and efficiency of coordination and assistance between different registrars, the cost of backordering and the inclination of an expired domain traders in using such a service.
Tip: If you want to enhance your domain backordering success rate, you may wish to subscribe to a number of backordering services.
Let us know what exactly domain backordering is! It is a useful service that tries to register and grab an expired domain for and on behalf of a subscriber before others grab and registers it. Backordering is an extreme natured process, when you want to buy a very good domain name before other pounces on it. However, not all expiring domains can be backordered as the owner of the domain might renew a particular domain before its final deletion or the domain might be even under the Hold status facing a trademark or intellectual property ownership dispute.
Domain Backordering process:
All domain names are registered for a predetermined period of one to ten years and the owner of the domain can renew his or her domain within this period. If the owner fails to renew the domain name, then the domain in question will go through a series of processes until its final deletion from the registry. Here are the stages of a domain deletion cycle:
Expiration of domain name registration: Once the owner fails to renew a particular domain, the registrar will place that domain under the Register-Hold status when the said domain can only be renewed. The grace period offered by registrar vary from 30 and 45 days. But, the domain will be disabled, so that the owner will not be able to use more common features of the portal like e mail and links. To get back these features, the owner must pay the renewal fees along with penalty fees.
Deletion of domain name: At this stage, the registrar will delete the non-renewed domain names.
Redemption Period status: At this stage, the expired domain name can only be restored and not modified or ejected. Requests for any changes will not be entertained at this stage. The domain will remain in this stage for a maximum of a month, during which the owner of the domain can get back the domain by:
Contacting the registrar
Paying off the required fees including a penalty fee of around $200. Once the required fees are paid, the domain will enter a stage called “Pending Restore” that be in vogue for a period of seven days. At this juncture, all features like email access and web pages are restored back to the owner of the web site. Soon, the registrar will submit a restore certificate to the Registry. Soon after the Restore command and Restore reports are approved, the domain will go back the active status.
Pending Delete Stage: If a domain stays in the Redemption period even after five days, the said domain name will be move over to the Pending Delete stage that lasts for about 5 days. At this stage, the domain will be deleted finally; either the registry or the registrar cannot change the status of the domain.
Deletion Stage: Soon after the sixth day, the registrar will delete the name from the registry. At this stage, the major registrars will release their stock of expired domain names in batches at 6.30 AM.
Hint: Registrars will have in insider information about the deleted names five days in advance and some of them may even pass on this sensitive information to speculators around the world. The batch release is unique and special to VeriSign, while others delete expired domains in a real-time mode within 45 days after the original expiry date.
The last one or two phase are the most critical time period for an expired domain trader, as it is the occasion when most of the good domain names are grabbed by smart domain name traders. Domain name back ordering process comes to your immediate help during this time and you can also grab very good domain names by using this process.

Blogs are making it possible for all of the world’s information to be accessible. But keeping up-to-date with the multitude of information you are interested in can be overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the freshest news and content delivered directly to you without having to surf from one blog to another? RSS informs you when blogs have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and blog entries be they text, audio files, photographs or video in one screen as soon as they are published.
Figuring Out RSS
You must have noticed the little orange buttons with the icons XML, RSS, Subscribe, and Syndicate This Site when you visit blogs. Clicking on the button, all you will see is a heap of computer codes. This is an RSS feed.
RSS stands for RDF Site Summary, Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. The latter is the most popular descriptive definition. RSS is a feed format that allows blog publishers to share and distribute content to other blogs or individual web surfers. Bloggers use RSS to provide updates in the form of blog posts. If a blog publishes RSS content commonly known as RSS feed, this feed will include summaries of all the entries posted on that blog. RSS is written in the Internet coding language XML, thus some buttons are labeled as such.
The first part of an RSS feed is a descriptive detail about the “channel” or the source that is publishing the content. The “channel” may include the title of the source, a short description, its blog address, date the information was last updated, name and e-mail address of the blog author. The second part is the list of items. Each “item” represents one published piece of content. Each “item” includes the headline of the entry (title), a two to three sentence summary of the entry (description) and the URL address to read the full entry.
RSS feeds are meant to be read by a software or web-based application known as a feed reader. Feed readers understand the data contained in RSS feeds and translates these data and make available to Internet users or customized blogs,
Subscribing to RSS Feeds
To receive updates or view RSS feeds, you will need a feed reader. A feed reader is an application that allows you to subscribe (add a feed) to a blog and receive quick summaries when that blog is updated. This application is also referred to as RSS reader, news aggregator, news reader or feed aggregator. When you subscribe to RSS feeds, the feed reader collect from different blogs and organize them in a convenient place for you to read rather than you visiting individual blogs looking for new content. Whenever new content is posted from one of the feeds you are subscribed to, the feed reader displays the new headlines. You can go over the headlines and if one is particularly interesting, you can click the headline and you will be brought to the original source where you can read the entire content.
There are primarily two versions of feed readers – web-based and stand-alone applications. Web-based or online feed readers provide a quick start for RSS subscriptions. They let you read your RSS feeds from any computer. Some of these readers are free while others with advanced features are offered at a cost. Some examples of web-based feed readers are Google Reader, My Yahoo and Bloglines. Stand-alone or downloadable feed readers are applications that you install on your main computer just like the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program. These feed readers are usually run in the background. A sound or pop-up window notifies you of any updates. SharpReader is a free feed reader for Windows. For Mac users, a preferred feed reader is NetNewsWire.
Once you have a feed reader, you can choose what you want to receive in your feed reader. You can also add feeds through the RSS buttons of your favorite blogs. Clicking on the RSS orange icon, you can subscribe to the feed by dragging the URL of the RSS feed into your feed reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your feed reader. Most blogs offer RSS feeds using the orange RSS, XML button. Conversely, you can also create your own RSS feed.
Creating an RSS Feed
You can also create you own feeds. It is a pretty easy task. The hard part is creating the content itself. The feed part is usually just using the standard RSS format that notifies the feed reader which sections of your blog entry relates to the RSS title, description, date, link and other pertinent data. This is done using XML format, the standard method of surrounding the significant parts of the content with tags that the feed reader understands. Once content has been set up with an RSS feed, then it is ready for the reading public.
Publishing an RSS Feed
You can add RSS syndication as a publishing option in your blog. In some cases, this is done automatically, without you having to set up anything. If you are using a blogging tool software like Blogger, TypePad or WordPress, publishing a feed is one of their built-in features plus some other feed-related options. Other types of feed readers may require programming skills to add RSS syndication. Once you have created an RSS feed with your blogging software, pipe it through your feed reader and voila, a whole stream of benefits awaits you.
Benefiting from RSS
The most compelling use of RSS is that it lets you take hold of information you are interested in and have it updated for you in one place where you can read it within the shortest possible time. RSS has been embraced by individual users, blog publishers and businesses as well.
For individual users, RSS feeds keep them updated on news, information and blog posts. There is no need to visit numerous blogs. There is no deluge of e-mail newsletters that clutter the mailbox. Unlike e-mail, there is no spam. Opting out can be done anytime and there is no need to give any contact information to subscribe to a feed. An individual user can also customize content that comes to him and ignore blog entries that are of no interest to him. There is absolutely no need to check back for new postings as the feed reader delivers content to him.
For blog publishers, RSS permits quick distribution of new blog entries to individual users in a convenient way. RSS feeds when incorporated into a blog offers a more personalized and interactive user experience, strengthening blog presence and maximizing revenue opportunities.
For businesses, RSS feeds enable them to do without regularly checking blogs for important updates or plowing through a pile of e-mail distribution lists. RSS provides businesses with much-needed fresh information. RSS feeds are extremely helpful for brand marketing, customer service, internal and external communications and competitive awareness.
In a nutshell, if you want to be informed of the latest news and happenings around the world and is having a hard time managing information overload, RSS is the answer.
Hopefully, these basics can help you get started with RSS. It may be difficult to understand at first, but once you get the gist of it, surfing the web will be effortless with RSS.