Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of our unique “cost plus” billing model is that we get registry discounts that we can extend right through to you. Because our gTLD pricing model is totally transparent, we extend as many of those registry pricing promotions as possible, directly to our resellers.
For example, we are currently offering various discounts on .MOBI, .CN, .US and .INFO domain names as a result of promotions offered by those registries. You can view a list of our current domain promotions here.
Domain name pricing promotions are a fantastic opportunity to drum up new business and solidify existing customer relationships. Among the things we’ve seen from our customers when they extend our pricing promotions to their customers:
Sales go up: We thought that might get your attention. In some cases — for those reseller who have popular websites — simply mentioning the promotion drives great sales volumes. And every additional name sold is another opportunity to sell ancillary services like web hosting and email. By the way, giving names away for free won’t drive revenues unless they’re bundled with paid services like hosting. Those free names are much less likely to be renewed.
Looks can be deceiving: Sometimes, resellers don’t realize they have customers in China, or customers who might be interested in the mobile Internet, until they introduce a discount for .CN or .MOBI names. The bottom line: offer as many products and discounts as possible!
If more sales sound good to you, here are some hints to get you started, based on our experience:
Market the discount on the front page of your website: It should be noticeable to both existing and potential customers.
Advertise the promotion in any newsletters or blogs you might have.: The more people that know about a promotion, the more people might take advantage of it.
Keep the promotion active for a limited amount of time: In order to remain transparent, we extend discounts for their full length. So, for example, .CN has been discounted for several months now, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Limiting a discount to a month-long period should generate some urgency among your customers. Just be sure to remember to send a “hurry – time is running out!” message before the end of the promotion.
As we head into the summer, we’ve got some new discounts to be rolled out starting July 1st. Among the new discounts: a super $0 registry fee for certain .INFO domain names and lowered registry fees for .COM and .NET Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).
Next week, several of us will be in Paris for the 32nd Annual International Public ICANN meeting. As I’ve mentioned before, ICANN meetings afford us a unique opportunity to meet registries, vendors, customers and other registrars, all in one central location. A great deal of policy discussion also takes place, as does a meeting of the ICANN Registrar Constituency, of which Tucows is a member and is heavily involved.
Among the “hot-button” topics that are sure to be discussed in detail at the meeting:
IPv6: As the number of available IP addresses under IPv4 continues to shrink, the importance of IPv6 adoption worldwide will continue to grow.
New TLDs: Although details are still fuzzy, it is widely expected that a number of new TLDs will be introduced in the coming years. What types of TLDs are introduced and the process by which they are chosen will be discussed in detail at this meeting.
Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs): IDNs allow international users to use web addresses in their native script, but adoption and standards thus far have been spotty and inconsistent. The need for greater adoption and standards will be discussed.
The future of ICANN: ICANN’s role in the management of the domain name system is sure to be a major topic of discussion as its current agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce nears its conclusion in 2009.
All signs point to the meeting being very well-attended, which will allow me to connect with even more partners, customers and vendors (particularly those based in Europe) than most conferences. In fact, my schedule from Monday through Friday is already booked solid with meetings, sessions and workshops—a telltale sign that I’m in for an extremely busy week!
You can visit the ICANN Paris Public Participation website for more information on the upcoming meeting. If you plan to be in Paris and would like to say hello, please be sure to let us know.
Tucows has just announced that it is collaborating with Afternic to auction Tucows’ large daily inventory of expired domain names. You can read the full news release with further details or visit our Reseller services site for further information.
To answer some of the questions our Resellers may have about expired domain name auctions, we’ve prepared a video with Bill Sweetman, General Manager, Domain Portfolio, Tucows.
For example, as of today, a WHOIS lookup on a personal .ca domain reveals only the Registrar and name servers, in addition to the creation and renewal dates. Yesterday, full information, including home address, phone number and email address was returned.
Back when the policy was announced, the general consensus was that CIRA had thrust itself to a leadership position in the area of WHOIS privacy. The Policy was lauded for the balance it struck between the rights of the Registrant and the rights of the public to access Registrant information.
However, it seems that some aspects of the new Policy, including backdoors for law enforcement and intellectual property owners, have resulted in some of those laurels being swapped out for darts.
As you would expect, Tucows’ OpenSRS domain name system is fully compliant with the new policy.
I remember when I was a kid going into those touristy shops. Up by the checkout they would have all sorts of personalized items for sale - license plates, mugs, keychains. With a name like James, it was pretty much a given that I could find “myself” in the display. Nevertheless, it was still fun to undertake the hunt and kind of exciting when I did locate my name.
Now, let’s counter that with what is going on these days out on the Internet.
I’ve noticed a real upswing lately in chatter about online identity and personal brand lately. There’s the upcoming launch of the .me domain extension next month, the continuing trend to establishing personal identity online through social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, and the ongoing growth of blogs and other forms of personal micro-publishing platforms like Twitter and Tumblr.
And just this week, it was revealed that computer maker Apple had purchased the domain name me.com and was rumoured to be rolling out a replacement for its .mac hosting and email service under the me.com domain.
But in contrast to the physical world, where that “James’ Mug” is widely available, online, james.com is long gone. Even koole.com was already registered by the time I checked to see if I could snag it a few years back. Imagine how the Smiths and Jones of the world feel.
In the physical world, when it comes to personalization, popularity breeds availability. The chances of finding a mug with an uncommon name on it? Zero. The same mug with Smith? 100%.
In the domain name space, the opposite holds true. The more common your name, the less likely it is that you’ll be able to own it as a domain.
It’s too bad, considering that name-based domains are especially compelling when you start thinking about the idea of rolling up all your various existences online, or building an online personal brand.
With that problem in mind, earlier this year we launched the Tucows Personal Names Service to our resellers through our wholesale channel.
Personal Names is built on the large portfolio of surname-based domain names that we own. Because we have control of that block of names, we can then turn around and offer up subdomains, effectively sharing these desirable surnames amongst many users.
It allows resellers to offer that “personalized mug” that users are after when they seek out a domain name. Imagine the thrill when they put their name in that search box expecting to get a “sorry, not available” message and instead are greeted with the invitation to “Buy it now!”
Yesterday a large webhosting company, Dreamhost, told the world that, while they would continue to provide email, their email service was not that great and suggested their customers should probably use Google’s Gmail instead.
They provided some fascinating data about email and support costs. My two favorite nuggets:
“Just over HALF of all the support requests we get are about email. Everything else we offer, combined, doesn’t add up to the amount of trouble, expense, use, and effort that goes into “simple” old email.”
and:
“If a web server with maybe 750 customer sites on it were to go down for even as long as five hours, we’d probably get two angry messages about it. But if email goes down for the same number of customers for just five minutes we’ll have already received 50!”
And they are clear as to their view of quality:
“(email is) something the big free email providers like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google can do better.”
This post was picked up on Slashdot where the discussion, not surprisingly, swung back and forth between “I am a sysadmin managing 20 domains and use Google Apps and Gmail and love it” and, “You should always run your own mail server for privacy purposes and, well, its just plain fun.”
Both the original Dreamhost blog post and the resulting Slashdot discussion completely missed the point. Luckily the comments on the Dreamhost blog did not. They were very clear.
Overwhelmingly commenters said that they often came to Dreamhost for hosted email, they did not trust or want to use Gmail for their business email and many of them would immediately leave if Dreamhost discontinued offering email.
Whether geeks like it or not, the vast majority of people want and need simple, reliable email that is easy to use AND they want a supplier who will help them use it. That means providing phone support as well as resources to make things simpler. Support data provides golden information for i) how a service can be improved and ii) what your customer’s needs and wants are. Guess what? People are willing to pay for this.
Contrast the Dreamhost view with that of Rackspace. Faced with, I suspect, the same or similar data, Rackspace responded by going out and buying Webmail.us.
It is amazing to me that because most service providers have chosen to give away email they take that as an existence proof that people do not or will not pay for a quality email experience. People will pay over $80/month for a single cup of coffee per day. People paid Geek Squad over $1 billion last year to “set up” their wireless routers. Every geek knows how hard (or not) that is! My ten-year-old son does just that for my mother-in-law. With regards to email specifically, RIM, the Blackberry people, have a market cap of over $75b JUST FROM PROVIDING A PORTION of peoples email needs!
People, especially small businesses, use email more than anything else on the Internet—much more than they use or need web hosting. Service providers are in the business of making the Internet easier and more effective—whether they like it or not.
Geeks who run service providers may find Gmail great. Human beings, not so much.
Monday, May 19th, 2008 is Victoria Day in Canada (and some parts of Scotland as well as the Cayman Islands). Canadians traditionally celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria by spending the weekend opening up summer cottages, going camping, or doing some gardening. Monday is usually capped with fireworks displays.
As a result, Tucows headquarters in Toronto will be operating with reduced staffing:
Technical Support will operate as usual, with regular hours.
Platypus Support will be available from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. ET
Compliance, Payments, Service Bureau and Special Processing departments will all be closed Monday.
To those celebrating, we hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday!
ISPCON Spring 2008 is underway in Chicago. This morning, Elliot Noss, CEO and President, Tucows, took to the stage to deliver his keynote address titled, “Why You and Lowfat Lattes are Google’s Worst Nightmare.”
Snead writes, “What Elliot talked about, that strikes me as true, based on those of my clients who are successful, is that successful Internet businesses are high touch, and that people will pay to have their problems go away.”
For the benefit of those not in Chicago for ISPCON, or for those at the show who want to have another listen, we recorded the keynote it in its entirety.
Recently, ISP-Planet’s Alex Goldman had a chat with Rohan Jayasekera, Director, Tucows Email Service.
In the article, posted today, Rohan explains our philosophy in creating and running the Tucows Email Service. He also points to some of the features and benefits that make our hosted email solution a sensible choice for service providers.
If you’re in Chicago this week for ISPCON Spring 2008, drop by booth 114 for a chat and to see the Tucows Email Service first hand. And you can hear more of what Rohan and other industry experts think about the future of email on Wednesday, May 14th, at 8:45 AM in Room 9. Rohan will be participating in a panel discussion, “Who Should Be Running Your Email?”
ISPCON Spring ‘08 kicks off next week. What’s billed as “The Internet Industry Event” runs Tuesday, May 13th, through Thursday, May 15th. We’re getting ready to make the trip and we hope to see you at Chicago’s Donald E. Stephen’s (Rosemont) Convention Centre.
Wednesday, May 14th, is “our day” with three Tucows-related events on the ISPCON schedule:
The day starts early with a panel discussion, “Who Should Be Running Your Email,” scheduled for 8:45 AM in Room 9. Rohan Jayasekera, Director, Tucows Email Service, will participate as a panelist.
Then, at 10 AM, Elliot Noss, our President and CEO, will present, “Why YOU and lowfat lattes are Google’s Worst Nightmare.”
And be sure to join us between 1:45 PM and 2:45 PM in Room 11 for “In Conversation with Tucows.” You’ll be able to meet some of our key people, ask questions, and find out more about our products and services and where things are headed.
We’re gearing up for the show, and we’re looking forward to getting the chance to meet potential new, and current customers face-to-face. We’ll be in booth 114 as you can see on the map. See you there!
Next week, several of us will be in Paris for the 32nd Annual International Public ICANN meeting. As I’ve mentioned before, ICANN meetings afford us a unique opportunity to meet registries, vendors, customers and other registrars, all in one central location. A great deal of policy discussion also takes place, as does a meeting of the 
The new 
I remember when I was a kid going into those touristy shops. Up by the checkout they would have all sorts of personalized items for sale - license plates, mugs, keychains. With a name like James, it was pretty much a given that I could find “myself” in the display. Nevertheless, it was still fun to undertake the hunt and kind of exciting when I did locate my name.
In the domain name space, the opposite holds true. The more common your name, the less likely it is that you’ll be able to own it as a domain.
Monday, May 19th, 2008 is 
ISPCON Spring 2008 is underway in Chicago. This morning, Elliot Noss, CEO and President, Tucows, took to the stage to deliver his keynote address titled, “Why You and Lowfat Lattes are Google’s Worst Nightmare.”
