This is the best deal in the business. And when we say "business" we mean all businesses everywhere ever, because every entity out for success could use a quality domain for the least amount of money. Now hang onto yourself because I'm about to pull out the big font...
For a limited time get your brand new .TV domain for $10.99 per year for up to 10 years!*
If you're not familiar with the domain industry, you might be like, "Heavens to Betsy, that's over a hundred bucks!" But .TV annual renewals are ugly. You're getting ten years for less than what three years of .TV typically costs anywhere else. Really. If you find a lower price, I'll shave your name in my back.
But more about why this is important: .TV domains are coveted and memorable, they represent the video culture that is exploding on the Internet, and excellent availability means you can get the domain name you want.
Hold on...big font...
Don't miss the greatest deal on the web!
*If the domain name is priced at $10.99. If it is priced at a premium rate (higher than 10.99) then you cannot register it for multiple years.
The life of a domain name is not unlike a star, and by “star” we mean the big balls of gas that make the world a brighter place, not the guy who played Screech on Saved by the Bell. Although he’s a star in his own right, he’ll never be able to shine as bright as he once did, but your domain can. Like a star, your domains are at the center of your online universe. They begin simply, shine brightly, and can end up a smoldering hot giver of the green...as long as you don’t let them burn out!
Here’s a domain’s life cycle to greatness and back again:
Phase 1 -- The Beginning: A bunch of dust and gas
Until you register your domain name, your idea is just a lot of hot air. So you employ the easiest and best marketing tool in the universe: you get a domain name (or you transfer your current domain into name.com, where the registration is automatically extended for 1 year).
Boom. Your Big Bang was just a few clicks on the Internet.
(Pro tip: You can register domain names for up to 10 years out, and often time get some stellar discounts for doing a multi-year registration. Pun intended.)
Phase 2 -- Giant Flaming Ball of Awesome: Lighting up your space
During the life cycle of a domain you have 360 amazing days of sunshine. This is the time to illuminate your web presence with name.com web hosting or RapidPress (one-click WordPress setup) and simple SEO. Content is King (very cliche we know, but it’s true) so during this phase it’s important to focus on being a relevant content superstar.
Phase 3 -- Renewal: Don’t be a Black Hole
If you let your domain expire, your starshine will fade. But UNLIKE childhood stars AND celestial spheres, YOU DON’T HAVE TO IMPLODE INTO NOTHINGNESS.
A few tools to help you keep your domain renewal on your radar:
Make sure renewal notices are enabled
Enable automatic billing puts your domain renewal on auto pilot. All you have to do is enable it and make sure you have a default payment profile that has up to date credit card information.
Phase 4 -- Darkness looms: The sun has yet to set
Let us align the stars for you. We can help you sync all your expiration dates and, if you’re not set up for auto renewal, we’ll remind you about their expiration. HOWEVER, if your domain comes up for renewal and you totally space it, name.com gives you an additional 25 days called the “Renewal grace period” to renew the domain name. Beyond 25 days your domain names could end up in a...
Phase 5: Supernova of sadness
After the 25-day grace period your success will be eclipsed by the awkward situation of having to buy your domain back. (You’ll feel like a White Dwarf [solar insult].) Domains that expire will be made available on NameJet or other third parties prior to deletion, and then you’ll have to try and retrieve them from the endless ether of the Internet.
Burn bright superstar! We only float around here for so long before it’s lights out. So make the most of your marketing (and your own life cycle) by maintaining your domains!
Your online promo code for COM/NET registration and renewalis DOMAINDEMAYO which roughly translates to "I don't know much Spanish." Still, it's an easy way to declare victory over the French, if the French were high-priced domains instead of the invading forces at Puebla in 1862 (Yah, that's a Cinco de Mayo reference that DOES NOT confuse it with Mexican Independence Day.)
These domain deals go for the entire month of May!Click here for your Domain(s) of May, and use DOMAINDEMAYO for $10.25 COM/NET registration and renewal!
But you don't need no stinking promo code.
No code required for new .MX domain names, previously $44.99, now just $29.99!
For months I've been meaning to capture what it takes to make an office video. So far, at name.com we have three types:
1. small funny
2. tutorial
3. massive funny
I would throw the word "attempt" in there but don't want to at all detract from the talent we have in this building. If something falls flat, it's often because it's a crappy concept. Usually, the bigger and more complicated the more disastrous. So we're often shooting for simple and with easy execution. The most complex we get is using the green screen and a shotgun microphone. And to be honest, using the green screen makes so many crazy ideas much more attainable and it takes so little time that you might as well try it. Here are the tools we used for the below critically acclaimed (our staff really likes it) spot:
Sennheiser shotgun mic
second hand nikon camera
green screen
lights
clip from istockphoto
final cut pro 7
I should add YouTube in there. I'm a self-taught Final Cutter and you really can find a tutorial for everything on YouTube. You just have to get over the fact that it's often a savvy seven year old telling you what to do.
In another example, all we had was our camera. We used only the camera's mic and our amazing pool of talent. Before I get to the example, let me tangent a bit out talent and audio.
Audio - it will kill you and your dreams. You can get great video with an iPhone, but make sure your room is quiet and your people are projecting. Otherwise you will be sorely disappointed. We work in an audio nightmare--a chunk carved out of a concrete parking garage with no insulation and an HVAC system rejected by the Titanic. It's really loud in here but have been able to overcome by getting people to be louder, using our lav mic, shotgun mic and often resorting to using software like Soundsoap, Soundtrack Pro, and Adobe Premier to remove unwanted sound. But you don't need to be that pro. Any expert would tell you to get it right during the production, not hunched over a computer toggling an EQ to fix it.
Talent - There are so many awesome advantages to using your coworkers. When I first got here I was a little timid in pulling a busy support specialist away from his or her work, but then I realized they were thrilled to be untethered from their desk. And that enthusiasm shows in every video. When using your company staff in videos, you:
build morale
show clients and potential clients that you are a great place to work
are able to share with the world your expertise
give everyone an opportunity to drink.
win/win/win/win.
So here's a simple shoot that involved a trip to Goodwill, the one quiet room in our office and some talent more than happy to contribute.
Here's another simple shoot using the camera, tripod and lav mic that establishes a genuine affection for caring.
And using screenflow, an awesome screen capture software, we share our expertise with the web.
This one was used with the nifty online tool called "Sparkol."
And now the bigger shoots. It comes down to ONE THING: preparation. And this is easy when you remember that people want to help, but you just have to show them that their time is not spent in vain.
So several weeks out, I sent out some all-company emails asking people their ideas of the stereotypes of Facebook. People were happy to respond, some venting quite profusely.
Preparation - And from there I built a rapport by going desk to desk and seeing how people wanted to be involved (the former producer in me never asks "if"). And then:
get the damn thing on the calendar
drill it into soul of the routine
send funny self-deprecating reminders
make it a free-pizza-and-beer hodown so people have a reason to be interested and to bring family and friends.
Don't make your reminders pointless--people are busy and don't have time for inanities--but use the emails as an opportunity to share each person's contribution. This also forces you to get more organized--to choreograph, plan props and discover whether it's impossible or not. And then, in preparation for the video below, Sean Baxter the Video Guy and I walked around the room (with office chairs and empty kegs as our stand-ins) trying to figure out how to get everybody in the shot.
As the adage goes, people do business with those they know and trust. Video lets people into your office so you can show off your talented coworkers and employees. Despite 72 hours of video uploaded to youtube EVERY MINTUE, video is just taking off as an important business tool.
As you go you'll learn and get more involved. Shoots will take less time. Prepare.
If you’ve been following new gTLDs through the application process, then you’ve been hearing a lot about "pre-delegation." Maybe you've wondered what this final phase of application entails.
Well, lucky for you, we read the ICANN guidebook for fun -- we take it on vacation, have it downloaded to our tablets to read in bed, and quote it every chance we get. If you don't find the same joy in the 300+ page guidebook, congratulations. You're waaaay cooler than us. Since we've done the legwork for you, here's an easy guide to pre-delegation and what to expect before new TLDs move to the delegation stage (the launch phase).
Pre-Delegation Explained:
After applications make it through the initial evaluation process (more about that here), they’ll need to go through pre-delegation, a series of tests an applicant must pass before being granted delegation into the root zone (the top-level domain name server zone). The testing ensures that each applicant has the technical and operational capabilities and mode of operation in place to provide registry services in a safe and secure manner, according to ICANN’s guidelines.
Although pre-delegation is currently slotted to occur IE pass results and contract signings, ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade may allow pre-delegation testing to occur while ICANN continues to move through IEs, in order to speed the process of delegation. The suggestion to do so was made at the Beijing ICANN summit earlier this month, by Donuts co-founder Jon Nevett, who felt the actual process should better reflect the timeline ICANN seems to be already following.
The Three Phases of Pre-Delegation:
•DNS Infrastructure Testing and Prerequisites: DNS, or the Domain Name System, which is often described as the “phone book for the Internet,” provides a naming system that translates user-friendly domain names into numerical IP addresses. The DNS infrastructure testing done for the pre-delegation phase of application is meant to ensure that applicants have the capability to run DNS functions properly.
• Registry System Testing and Prerequisites: During the registry system testing, applicants submit data proving they can handle the duties of a registry – including registering a large volume of new TLDs, providing WhoIs data on each registered domain, and handling the technical and operational function capacity of a registry.
• Requirement to Provide for Continuity of Basic Registry Operations: For this final test, ICANN requires a financial annualized plan put in place to provide basic registry functions “in case of registry failure.” The financial plan is meant to act as a back-up plan in case the applicant does not succeed in providing a fully operating registry and needs to scale-back to bare-bones operational capabilities until a solution can be reached. It’s a step meant to protect those who own domains within the registry.
The ICANN guidebook goes into more detail about the specific tests of pre-delegation (we lovingly left those details out, but you can download the guidebook off the ICANN website). Most tests are run by the applicants, who then provide data to ICANN, but ICANN runs its own tests, when needed. At the end of pre-delegation, applicants may enter into an agreement with ICANN, after which they may launch their new TLDs.
So how long will it take new gTLD that are passing through Initial Evaluation to launch?
The pace of pre-delegation depends on the readiness of the applicant – if the applicant has all their systems in place, and has made the functionality of their systems clear in application, the pre-delegation phase is merely a formality. For those who need to tweak their proposed systems, or who need to provide more security, the pre-delegation phase may extend longer.
If pre-delegation is allowed to start immediately, before signed contracts, then launches will occur at a faster rate than if applicants are required to wait for IE results before pre-delegation testing, and then will have to wait for testing before delegation.
Keep an eye on your favorite nTLDs, as they move through the application process, by using our nTLD watcher. And keep checking back here. We’ll have up-to-date information on the nTLD application process throughout each phase.
Saved by the Bell. Although he’s a star in his own right, he’ll never be able to shine as bright as he once did, but your domain can. Like a star, your domains are at the center of your online universe. They begin simply, shine brightly, and can end up a smoldering hot giver of the green...as long as you don’t let them burn out!
After the 25-day grace period your success will be eclipsed by the awkward situation of having to buy your domain back. (You’ll feel like a White Dwarf [solar insult].) Domains that expire will be made available on 
