It’s been 10 years since Bill Sweetman launched Name Ninja. Since then, he’s helped countless companies acquire domains to launch new products and brands. On today’s show, Bill talks about many of the lessons he’s learned. These lessons are relevant to entrepreneurs, domain investors, corporations, and salespeople.

Sponsor: Sav.com domain auctions

Brand Bucket is perhaps the oldest brandable domain marketplace, and it was started on accident. Founder Margot Bushnaq will explain how it came to be, why trendy keyword domains can be bad for marketplaces, and how the market for brandable domains has changed over the years. It’s a great discussion!

Sponsor: Sav.com backorders

CentralNic is one of the most interesting companies in the domain name space. It started as a third level domain registrar but has grown into a behemoth in the domain registration and online advertising space, generating over $700 million last year. On today’s show, CentralNic CEO Michael Reidl discusses the past and present of the company, and explains why the company has shifted its corporate strategy around M&A.

Sponsor: Sav.com domain transfers

NamesCon returned to Austin earlier this month. It was a great show running in conjunction with CloudFest USA. On today’s program, you’ll hear from 11 people who were at NamesCon. 

Sponsor: Sell your domains with Sav.com domain landers

On today’s show, I explore my domain sales results so far this year. I discuss the marketplaces where I’ve sold domains, where I bought the domains, and how many have been developed. I also run through the three platforms I’m buying domains from.

Sponsor: Sav.com domain auctions

Have you played around with any AI-powered domain generators? They’re surprisingly good. On today’s show, Ryan McKegney, CEO of DomainAgents, comes on the show to talk about the impact these tools might have on the domain business. DomainAgents has its own AI domain generator that you should check out. We also discuss some of the trends Ryan is seeing in the aftermarket.

Sponsor: Sav.com domain auctions

It might be difficult to remember, but there was a time when aftermarket domain name transactions were much more complex. If a buyer in China wanted your domain, they had to go to the landing page where it was listed or find it in a marketplace. Then they had to navigate a language barrier, negotiate the purchase, and figure out the complexity of an international payment. That changed with the introduction of aftermarket networks, such as Afternic DLS. Now, someone can buy a domain directly at their registrar in their currency and language. Bob Mountain, VP of Global Strategic Partnerships at GoDaddy, led the charge to get registrars on board that system. Now, he’s working on making it easier for people to list their domains for sale without ever leaving their registrar’s website. 

Also: Chat.com resold, new TLD sales, and RDNH

Sponsor: Sav.com domain transfers

NamesCon is next week, and that means it’s time for another live domain name auction. On today’s show, Monte Cahn of Right of the Dot discusses what goes into planning a live auction, some of the names he’s excited about, and what he thinks about the current market for domain names. Get your bidding paddles ready. 

Also: 

Sponsor: Sell your domains with Sav.com domain landers

Ryan Maltbie returns to the podcast to talk about his latest domain acquisition, BBQs.com. Ryan was on the show a couple of years ago discussing how he acquired BBQgrills.com and the importance of the domain to launching his e-commerce business. Today, he explains the circumstances of buying BBQs.com and hints at what he plans to do with it (he’s not going to rebrand.)

Also: RDNH bonanza, earnings eason, Dynadot and more.

Sponsor: Sav.com backorders

On this week’s show I talk with Andrew Miller, managing director of Hilco Digital Assets. I had no idea how diverse and large Hilco was, and Andrew explains the role Digital Assets plays in the company. We also discuss the rationale behind the company’s $10M investment in Squadhelp and some of the big 8 figure domains Andrew has recently worked on. Andrew also discusses the concept of ZOPA for domain transactions.

Also: .web, expired domains, Google launches, a PayPal warning, and more. 

Sponsor: Sav.com domain auctions