Archive for Company News

Marketing Names Explained

Company News, Marketing, Presentationson November 8th, 2011No Comments

We’ve been working on a video to better explain our Marketing Names… what do you think?

Marketing Names – by Left Of The Dot from leftofthedot on Vimeo.

Themes.com coming soon!

Company News, Ramblings, Themes.comon November 4th, 2011No Comments

Normally we don’t like to talk about our projects and sites until they launch, but I had to direct you to our upcoming launch of Themes.com to call attention to the great work done by our lead designer on the “Coming Soon/Splash Page”.

Check it out here before it is gone and is replaced by the “real” site.

Themes.com will be a new marketplace, according to our branding documents “For Designers, By Designers”… so maybe he was just super-excited to play in his playground.

This splash page highlights our manifesto that we created, describing the vision we have for the domain.

When we start on any new Domain Name, we spend the first while truly understanding the space. After all, we are not building mini-sites or mass developed parked pages. Every name we tackle can become a category-defining brand and business unto itself.

Enjoy!

Themes Design

 

Left of the Dot Media Adds Two Industry Leaders to Board of Directors – Xavier Buck and Slavik Viner

Company Newson November 2nd, 2011No Comments

MAPLE RIDGE, BC, CANADA – November 2, 2011 – Left of the Dot Media Inc. announced today the appointment of Xavier Buck and Slavik Viner to the company’s Board of Directors. Both are well known in the Domain Industry and have extremely successful track records.

Xavier Buck is the Founder, Executive Director, and CEO of the DCL Group, which is the umbrella organization of EuroDNS, voipGATE and the Datacenter Luxembourg. His current Directorships also include AsiaDNS, DomainTools, and eBrandServices. In 2008 he co-founded Domain Invest SA, a company which owns over 100,000 premium domains and has the support of several high profile investment firms.

Slavik Viner has been involved in many areas of the Domain industry since the 1990’s and is widely regarded as one of the most successful Domainers of his generation.

Chris Jensen, Co-Founder stated: “Left of the Dot has been incredibly well supported by the Domainer community, and we are thrilled that two such influential and well respected individuals have agreed to become part of our team. The experience and practical advice that Xavier and Slavik bring to the table makes us a better company and this is already helping to shape our strategic objectives for 2012.”

Left of the Dot has recently launched authority sites on the generic domain names Villa.com, Oahu.com, Importers.com, and HomeStaging.com, where each site is a growing, thriving business.

 

About Left of the Dot Media

Left of the Dot provides an alternative to domain parking and changes the way domains are monetized.  The company enables leasing of sub-domains off a premium domain name to substantially increase the traffic, search engine relevance (SEO), and inherent value to the overall site, resulting in sustainable income for its clients.

Not only does the company focus on client satisfaction, the end-results of Left of the Dot’s many projects also benefit the end-consumer. The company creates industry go-to destinations, aggregates quality content, and allows small business owners to get online, get found and conduct business. For more information visit: www.LeftOfTheDot.com

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Left of the Dot Media Launches HomeStaging.com to Consolidate the Lucrative Real Estate Staging Industry

Company News, HomeStaging.com, Villa.comon October 17th, 2011No Comments

MAPLE RIDGE, BC, CANADA – October 17, 2011 – Left of the Dot Media Inc. announced today the

launch of HomeStaging.com; the latest site to be deployed on the Left of the Dot platform. The new site allows the rapidly growing number of real estate home stagers across North America to successfully take and market their business online. Marketing Names are now available to dominate a geographic region (e.g., Vancouver.HomeStaging.com) or a particular specialty (e.g., Virtual.HomeStaging.com).

The Left of the Dot platform combines the development of an authority website, sub-domain pointing, and sales and marketing tools to support the transformation of a generic domain name into a stand-alone business. The new HomeStaging.com website features the largest directory of professional home stagers in North America and provides these same stagers with access to Left of the Dot’s innovative Marketing Name platform. In addition, value-added services for lead generation as well as a service targeted towards real estate agents have been integrated onto the website. Real Estate Agents now have the ability to order ‘virtual home staging’, whereby photos of vacant rooms are digitally staged by 3D artists.

As described by John Lyotier, CMO & Co-Founder, “Our Marketing Name platform is particularly well suited to the home staging market because many home stagers struggle with their marketing after investing thousands of dollars in their training. The vast majority of home stagers operate 1 or 2 person companies, they are generally not web savvy, and are not familiar with internet marketing—but they realise that they need to find new customers online. When a stagerr leases a name like NewYork.HomeStaging.com it can be pointed at an existing website or to their directory listing on the site itself. As a result, our members get online with a web name that can rank well in search engines and is inherently trusted and remembered by potential customers.”

“Our recent site launches — Importers.com and Oahu.com — were businesses that Left of the Dot developed on behalf of the domain’s owner under a shared revenue model. HomeStaging.com is different in that it is the first web property that is owned by the company. While our focus continues to be on ‘million-dollar domains’, this site illustrates our ability to use a relatively low priced generic domain to consolidate a rapidly growing market where the average sale is worth around $4,000 to the home stager.”

Concurrent to this news, Left of the Dot announced an update and re-launch of www.Villa.com. The new look Villa.com is a villa rental and sales portal targeting over 6 million villa and vacation homes that are presently for rent or sale around the world. Villa.com was one of the first domain names launched on the Left of the Dot platform; it lists more than 13,000 villas and has just opened up the market for agents to showcase villas that are for sale via premium listings or Villa Marketing Names.

 

About Left of the Dot Media

Left of the Dot provides an alternative to domain parking and changes the way domains are monetized.  The company enables leasing of sub-domains off a premium domain name to substantially increase the traffic, search engine relevance (SEO), and inherent value to the overall site, resulting in sustainable income for its clients.

Not only does the company focus on client satisfaction, the end-results of Left of the Dot’s many projects also benefit the end-consumer. The company creates industry go-to destinations, aggregates quality content, and allows small business owners to get online, get found and conduct business. For more information visit: www.LeftOfTheDot.com

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Launch of Oahu.com gives Honolulu Businesses New Marketing Opportunity

Company News, Oahu.comon October 11th, 2011No Comments

Oahu.com set up to help Hawaiian Businesses Obtain $5.5 Billion in Tourist Spend

 HONOLULU, HAWAII and MAPLE RIDGE, BC, CANADA – October 11, 2011 – Left of the Dot Media has announced the launch of Oahu.com; a new authority web site and directory focused exclusively on this Hawaiian island. The site features Left of the Dot’s innovative Marketing Name technology that allows small businesses to lease sub-domains from Oahu.com for use in their own marketing and advertising campaigns.

Oahu.com lists more than 35,000 businesses from across Oahu and caters to both locals and tourists alike who are seeking information and deals from Oahu-based businesses. Oahu is the most populated of the Hawaiian Islands with 953,000 residents, 75% of the state’s population, and in 2010 catered to 4.3 million tourists. Visitors spent more than $5.5 billion in 2010 and Oahu.com will help local businesses attract more of the tourist spend, connecting them with the more than 10 million web users who search for Oahu-related search concepts every year.

“We chose Oahu.com to be the first, geo-based name launched on the Left of the Dot platform,” says Chris Jensen, CEO Left of the Dot Media. “For the first time, businesses can use our brand and lease sub-domains direct from the website, examples of which include Hotels.Oahu.com, Golf.Oahu.com, or Tours.Oahu.com.”

Continued Jensen, “When a business uses one of our Marketing Names, they get an instantly memorable website address that can define an entire category. Marketing Names can boost click-through rates for online advertising, contribute to search engine rankings, be used as a landing or splash page for any marketing campaign, and even used to brand an entire web presence for a small business struggling to find the right domain name to use with their business. We are pleased to be able to help Oahu businesses build more awareness and generate more sales.”

Not only can a business be listed within the Oahu.com directory (including a free 7 day trial listing), businesses can purchase a premium membership which highlights their business to all website visitors, attracting more attention and more sales. Premium Marketing Names are available now to qualifying businesses.

For more information, visit Oahu.com or call 1.808.638.4085.

About Left of the Dot Media

Left of the Dot provides an alternative to domain parking and changes the way domains are monetized.  The company enables leasing of sub-domains off a premium domain name to substantially increase the traffic, search engine relevance (SEO), and inherent value to the overall site—resulting in sustainable income for its clients.

Not only does the company focus on client satisfaction, the end-results of Left of the Dot’s many projects also benefit the end-consumer. The company creates industry go-to destinations, aggregates quality content, and allows SMBs to get online, get found and conduct business online. For more information visit: www.LeftOfTheDot.com

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Left of the Dot Gives New Life to Importers.com B2B Marketplace

Company News, Importers.com, Industry Newson August 23rd, 2011No Comments

After a full year of research and development, the once-abandoned Importers.com has been successfully restored into a thriving business community

MAPLE RIDGE, BC, CANADA – August 23, 2011 – Left of the Dot Media Inc. has announced that it has re-launched Importers.com, as an online B2B marketplace for businesses looking to trade with G20 partners. The project was started in 2003 but day-to-day growth and management of the business was ceased by its previous owners in 2007. Despite a lack of leadership and support, the community continued to expand to over 400,000 members. In cooperation with the new owners, Left of the Dot has created an attractive, well-organized and safe new trading environment and the international business community is responding by signing up at the rate of over 800 per week for the import export marketplace. The site is now able to offer a realistic, North American-centric alternative to online B2B behemoths Alibaba.com and TradeKey.com.

International trade is now hugely dependent on web-based services and Importers.com was one of the first sites that allowed Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) to find international partners. Over the past 9 years the internet has changed dramatically and importers and exporters need a modern service that allows them to promote themselves online, find trade partners and know that they can trust the person they are dealing with. After considerable consultation with SMBs the new Importers.com allows businesses to get online via Marketing Names (e.g., HardWood.Importers.com), get found via search engines (hundreds of this domain’s existing Marketing Names rank in the Top 3 results on Google, Yahoo, and Bing), find customers via Trade Leads, and establish credibility via rigorous Trust Certification.

The domain name Importers.com was purchased in 2010 by an investor strictly for the inherent value of the name itself. The original intent was to switch off the business and replace it with a parked page showing advertising. Perceiving the risk of a missed opportunity, Left of the Dot partnered with the new owner and took the initiative to restore and rebuild the business.

“A memorable generic name like “Importers.com” is equivalent to quality real estate, the Park Places and Boardwalks of the domain industry”, says John Lyotier, Co-Founder at Left of the Dot, “Importers.com represented the virtual equivalent of renovating an entire city centre and giving businesses all the tools they need to grow and prosper – it’s good for each business and good for the community. The key for us is enabling importers and exporters to lease their very own sub-domains (Marketing Names) off the Importers.com brand so that they can become a valuable part of the community.”

“With Alibaba.com currently valued at an estimated $10.8B and TradeKey.com at more than $2B, the market opportunity is huge and Left of the Dot will compete by allowing the SMB community to create its own success stories on the Importers.com brand.”

ABOUT LEFT OF THE DOT MEDIA

Left of the Dot provides an alternative to domain parking and changes the way domains are monetized. The company enables leasing of sub-domains off a premium domain name to substantially increase the traffic, search engine relevance (SEO), and inherent value to the overall site—resulting in sustainable income for its clients.

Not only does the company focus on client satisfaction, the end-results of Left of the Dot’s many projects also benefit the end-consumer. The company creates online industry go-to destinations, aggregates quality content, and allows SMEs to get online, get found, and conduct business online.

www.LeftoftheDot.com

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Website under development

Company Newson June 23rd, 2011No Comments

We had been neglecting our own site while we work on our portfolio sites. Stay tuned… this site is under development.

Good interview between Left of the Dot and Sully’s Blog

Company Newson January 29th, 2011No Comments

Mike Sullivan has posted an interview with Left of the Dot co-founder Chris Jensen. A good read and describes what we are doing pretty clearly. Good job Chris!

“It has become increasingly clear that great domain names need to be turned into profitable business units if they are to realize their true potential and value, you can’t rely on parking any more. Experience shows that Domainers are hardly ever the best people to build out these sites because they are not subject matter experts and they do not live and breathe that business vertical. What Domainers really want is a low resource, low risk, high return business that has multiple sources of reliable revenue and which increases the value of their domain name. In a nutshell that is Left of the Dot.”

Read the full interview here.

Frank Michlick Joins Left of the Dot Media Inc. as Chief Technology Officer

Company Newson January 19th, 20111 Comment

- NEWS RELEASE -
Domain Evangelist to Help “Drive the Bus” for New, Premium Domain Name Service

VANCOUVER, BC, JANUARY 19, 2011 – Left of the Dot is pleased to announce that Frank Michlick has joined the company’s executive team to help build and grow the technology behind the new domain name monetization service that enhances premium, multi-million dollar domain names.

Left of the Dot has developed a platform to enable premium domain name holders to lease sub-domain inventory to small businesses, creating significant new, recurring, revenue streams for the domain holder. The monetization service leases these “Marketing Names” along with a fully-equipped, ecommerce-ready website to small businesses giving them a highly-brandable web presence. An early example of such an implementation is the generic domain name www.Villa.com that is presently under development by the company. At this website, villa owners and agents can lease premium sub-domains, such as Tuscany.Villa.com, Bali.Villa.com, or Luxury.Villa.com. For many of its domains under management, Left of the Dot builds out the entire website for the generic domain name, converting the once parked page into a real and sustainable web business.

Said Left of the Dot co-founder, Chris Jensen: “I am delighted that Frank has agreed to become our CTO. We were looking for someone to drive our technology hand in hand with our rapidly growing business; Frank brings a skill set and business understanding that few people in the world can match. Not only does he possess a great technology mind, strong character, and immense passion, but his knowledge of Domaining, domain registrars, and the entire domain ecosystem is second to none.”

Frank Michlick, best known within the domain name industry as one of the founders and lead contributors for Domain Name News, began to work with Internet technology in 1993 and registered his first domain name in 1995. His company, CyberTeam, helped many big European brands build their first internet presence. From 1997 to 2000 he worked to shape one of the biggest German Internet Service/eBusiness providers. During his 5 years at the largest wholesale registrar (Tucows/OpenSRS) he enabled many domain name portfolio owners, registrars, hosting companies and resellers to better manage, monetize and grow their domain names. Most recently, Frank’s entrepreneurial pursuits led him to found DomainCocoon, which provides services in the areas of domain name management, custom registrar creation, and ICANN & ccTLD accreditation consulting.

“Like many Domainers, I learned about Left of the Dot when the company was pitched successfully during the Test Track event at the June 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Vancouver. When I learned that the company was seeking a CTO and technology evangelist and spoke in detail with them, I knew that the company was the right fit. Together, we have an opportunity to create something special and unique for the domain industry while building something of lasting value. I look forward to the adventure and journey ahead.”

**About Left of the Dot **
Left of the Dot is combining successful website building technology with advanced SEO practices and high-profile multimillion dollar domain names to change the rules for businesses that need to be online. The Left of the Dot platform appeals to owners of generic domain names, seeking recurring revenue for selected assets. To learn more visit: www.leftofthedot.com.

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Media Contact
John Lyotier
Email:  john [at] leftofthedot.com
Phone: +1.604.454.7935

DOMAINFest… here we come!

Company News, Ramblingson January 15th, 2011No Comments

Tickets were booked today for our leadership team to head to DOMAINFest.  We will be in the Los Angeles  area for the entire week (Jan 31 – Feb 4). So if you are planning on attending the conference (or live nearby), chase one of us down and we would love the opportunity to share what we have been up to.