Today, November 2, domain name powerhouse NameMedia Inc. announced it filed for an initial public offering worth up to US$173 Million. Shares of NameMedia will be listed on the NASDAQ market under the ticker ‘NAME.’ This is big news for the domain name industry, as NameMedia is one of the largest players with BuyDomains as well as recent announcements of their launch of Gardens.com and acquisition of Photo.net.

It is also big news for the Boston area technology market, as NameMedia is located in Waltham, Mass., the home of many technology giants over the years, including Polaroid and Lycos. Waltham for centuries has been a center for pioneering advances in industry, including the Waltham watch, Metz automobile and bicycle, the invention of the microwave oven at Raytheon. In recent decades Waltham and the entire Route 128 corridor that cuts through it was called America’s Technology Highway, only second to the Silicon Valley. After the dot-com bust many biotech firms replaced the offices of tech companies.

Good luck to NameMedia on their IPO filing, the next generation of innovators to line the highway immortalized in “Roadrunner” by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers!

Business • Domain Names • (2) Comments • Permalink

I have about a dozen outstanding invitations for people to join my LinkedIn circle. Each time I invite someone new to join the social networking Web site, I usually get asked what it is and why they should join. Rather than re-forward that information every time, I will present it here. I also welcome your feedback and suggestions for this personal frequently asked questions, or FAQ, for LinkedIn.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a Web-based application in the category of a social network. Members can create and maintain a profile as detailed or minimal as they wish, and it can be said the more detailed it is, the more it resembles a resume or CV. You can invite people to be linked into your circle, and as a result you are indirectly linked to people in their circle, similar to the concept of six-degrees of separation (or Kevin Bacon). You can search for these connections and request to contact them, post to and answer questions from the community of members, and write recommendations of members.

What is a social network, and aren’t all networks social?

All networks should be social! Here is a definition of social networking from WikiPedia, and I will leave it to you to read it and make your own conclusion.

How do you use LinkedIn?

I have a rather detailed professional profile on myself, as my LinkedIn profile returns a result high on the list for a search on my name and my business in the search engines. I have reconnected with many people over the years of using it. But primarily I use it to keep people at “arm’s length” to see where they are and what they are doing. When logged in, the home page is a great resource as it shows people in your circle who have changed their profile or added new people to their own circles.

What do you see as the strengths of LinkedIn?

Its strengths are in its home page (as mentioned above), a professional format and layout and the number of people using it.

What do you see as the drawbacks of LinkedIn?

As compared to other social networks, LinkedIn is a little stuffy. Just recently they allowed people to add an 80 pixel square photo of themselves, where photos are the hallmark of all social networks. If you want to connect with someone in someone else’s circle, the request has to be passed along from person-to-person. Why not just let people choose if they want to receive these connections directly, as I myself have always passed along a request. It is also limiting in how you can reference other non-work activities and Web links.

There is a paid version of LinkedIn, do you use it?

No. It only allows you to contact more people, and since I don’t contact many people indirectly it is not worth it to me.

How many people are in your LinkedIn circle?

As of October 23, 2007 I have 236 contacts.

I already belong to enough services and have too many logins, why should I sign up for this?

LinkedIn is currently the primary networking service for business – if you want to network for business, you should create a free account. By doing so you can claim your name, as they allow you to create a custom URL to your profile page, such as my own, http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemaddaloni. Plus more and more people are joining LinkedIn daily.

Can I join your LinkedIn circle?

Sure, just ask!

Business • Technology • (5) Comments • Permalink

I just saw registration for TECH cocktail 6 (or TC6) has opened. It will be held on Thursday, November 15 from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm at John Barleycorn Wrigleyville in Chicago.

As this free event usually "sells" out, RSVP now! And I will see you there.

Business • Technology • (0) Comments • Permalink

It was bad enough for the Dallas Cowboys, the so-called America’s Team, to lose to my beloved New England Patriots 48 to 27 last week at Texas Stadium. When the team loses on the field, it is usually felt throughout the organization. Fast-forward a few days, and this time the front office had the domain name cowboys.com in their grip, and then lost it.

Where many sports teams have the one-word name of their team as their domain name, many do not, as I wrote about previously. One team is the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, whose domain name is dallascowboys.com. The name cowboys.com had been a country and western themed Web site, and was put up for auction this past week by Moniker.

The sports franchise was well aware of the auction, and bid on the domain name. Their bid was for US$275,000.00, which was the winning bid. But the team believed their bid was for only US$275.00, minus a few trailing zeroes, and after realizing this requested their bid be voided. It was, and cowboys.com later sold to a group of investors led by Eric Rice of BulkRegister for US$370,000.00. That is thousands, not hundreds, and nearly US$100,000.00 more than the team’s previous winning bid.

Years ago I recall reading an article about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones where he spent millions on an airplane yet balked on the price of a pair of shoes in the hundreds. It is not known for sure if Jones was involved in the decision making, though in an article in the Dallas Morning News Brett Daniels, the team's director for client services and corporate communications, confirmed the Cowboys had the original winning bid. The thinking may have been that since they already had an established Web site at dallascowboys.com, why would they want cowboys.com, where there was a distinct difference between the two Web sites? As the Morning News' coverage is basic, you can read more about the sale from Sahar on the Conceptualist.

Where letting cowboys.com slip through their fingers won’t cause the Cowboys to not win the Super Bowl, this is like fumbling a football to lose the game. With the rising costs and demand for domain names, the infrequency of a domain name like this coming onto the market and a new billion-dollar stadium to replace Texas Stadium in 2 years, this amount of money is small in comparison to these and other costs in pro sports today.

Or maybe the Cowboys did not realize a domain name could cost this much? If this was the case, Jones should have consulted with Steve Forbes, the Forbes magazine publisher who spoke at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East conference a couple of weeks back, as Jones is ranked number 317 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the world.

Business • Domain Names • (0) Comments • Permalink

After a session of entering receipts and generating invoices in QuickBooks, I will always run financial reports to see how Dunkirk Systems is doing. These reports not only tell me what my revenues are, but the price of doing business in the cost of goods sold and expenses incurred along the way. Though I am very close to every financial decision made, it is good to see it all together in a big-picture format.

Like any good small businessperson, I am never satisfied with the numbers. But what can I do about it? Are my products and services being offered at a fair price that the market can bear? Can I charge more? Should I charge more? And why are my costs what they are? Could I get a better price on services? And who would be offering those services? Then there is the all important question – where am I paying more for a particular service or for a service overall that I do not need, both in its cost and in the people involved in delivering it?

The answers to these questions and others pertaining to pricing and costs do not necessarily come with quick answers, and require thoughtful analysis and sometimes hard decision-making. But I did not start a small business to make things easy, did I? This part of leading a small business is one many people do not realize is required as they venture into it. It is also one they do not like to perform and may struggle with. But as the leader of a small business it is one they must do and do thoroughly. Focusing on solely revenues and not expenses or vice versa can have a negative effect on the vitality of the small business.

Now, if you substitute “small business” for any other entity type, does the above still make sense? What if I swapped in “corporation” or “non-profit organization” or even “government agency” would what I said still apply?

My goal with The Hot Iron is to write about issues impacting small business and technology and in the past have opted against delving into politics. However I do not live in a bubble, rather in the City of Chicago in Cook County in the state of Illinois in the US. Proposed tax increases by the city, county and state could increase varying taxes and fees to some of the highest levels in the US. Where the intent is to fund services, it could make existence in this great city unbearable.

So I ask the leaders of where I live – please swap your title and governing body in the above text and provide detailed answers to the questions. This leadership is the minimum requirement you need to provide to your constituents, many of whom are very accustomed to doing this for themselves.

Business • (3) Comments • Permalink