Oct
29

The Legalities of Buying and Selling Domain Names

The public conception still contains many misunderstandings regarding the legalities of buying and selling domain names. Many people have heard stories of malicious "cybersquatters" who deliberately register company names and then demand outrageous sums as a ransom for their return. Regrettably, these few bad eggs have sufficed to give the entire industry a lingering bad reputation, even though their activities have since been brought under control by more up-to-date legislation. One thing is clear, and that’s that domain name disputes are never as simple as they may appear.

The important thing is to know that buying and selling domain names is perfectly legal, as long as the domain being sold does not infringe on the trademark rights of a third party. Today, the vast majority of domain investors operate within this legally-acceptable territory. However, in some cases a domain owner is unaware of, or chooses to ignore, the legal constraints. Fortunately, in these cases, a trademark holder has numerous channels for addressing their ownership dispute. These resources are described below.

Domain name sellers should be aware that it is their responsibility to ensure that their domain name is free from possible trademark infringements before listing it for sale. Ignorance of the law is no excuse! Use the links and information provided here to inform yourself about your rights and the legalities governing domain name ownership to reduce the risk that you will lose your domain.

Trademark holders should be aware that possessing a trademark for a given term does not automatically mean that you have a legitimate legal claim to a domain name. Possession of a valid trademark is only one of three requirements that you need to meet to win ownership of a domain name via ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), the policy governing ownership disputes for the generic TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .biz, and .info) or the U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (15 U.S.C. sec. 1125).

Just as important are the requirements that (1) the domain registrant have no legitimate interests in the domain and that (2) they evidenced bad faith in registering the domain. Both elements require evidence beyond the mere registration of a domain. Please take the time to inform yourself about the UDRP and other legalities governing domain names using the resources provided below.

Before you make a complaint, make sure that you have consulted a qualified trademark attorney with experience in domain names. Legal disputes should generally be considered a last option: the cost for a UDRP case is $1,500 plus legal expenses, and there is no guarantee that you will win (for a complete schedule of UDRP fees, click here).

If you sue and lose, your chances of then being able to purchase the domain from the current owner is greatly reduced. In addition, frivolous UDRP claims against domain owners can result in a finding of reverse domain hijacking - a practice in which trademark holders engage in a bad-faith attempt to use the UDRP to wrongfully strip the legitimate registrant and user of a desired domain name simply because the complainant holds a trademark in that name or one similar to it.

Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
(the entire UDRP can be found here)

Mandatory Administrative Proceeding.

  1. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (a "complainant") asserts to the applicable Provider, in compliance with the Rules of Procedure, that
    1. your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
    2. you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
    3. your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

    In the administrative proceeding, the complainant must prove that each of these three elements are present.

  2. Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(iii), the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith:
    1. circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
    2. you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
    3. you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
    4. by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant’s mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.
  3. How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate Interests in the Domain Name in Responding to a Complaint. When you receive a complaint, you should refer to Paragraph 5 of the Rules of Procedure in determining how your response should be prepared. Any of the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be proved based on its evaluation of all evidence presented, shall demonstrate your rights or legitimate interests to the domain name for purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(ii):
    1. before any notice to you of the dispute, your use of, or demonstrable preparations to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; or
    2. you (as an inpidual, business, or other organization) have been commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trademark or service mark rights; or
    3. you are making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly pert consumers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue.

Original Source: https://sedo.com/legal/index.php4?tracked=&partnerid=&language=us

This entry was written by Edward Anil Joseph and posted on October 29, 2008 at 3:06 pm and filed under Domain, Tips. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.




Oct
28

Top 20 Tips for Marketing

Customer discounts/incentives
When people fall upon hard times it is important we justify the cost of any purchase, offering special incentives or discounts can really help customers choose to purchase.
If a customer is undecided between two different products it might just be the discount you give them which could swing them one way or another.
Ensure you use the SG ‘credit crunch’ discount code on your site and look out for the Proactol one coming this week.

Push the price benefits over other options
One of the biggest concerns will be the price of the product, it is important that you show why choosing your recommendation will be a cost effective solution.
Compare against other products in the market place or other options. For example: by taking Proactol you will eat less saving you thousands from your shopping bills.

Increasing perceived value
It is even more important than ever that you push the extra value services; ideally you really want to promoted time based bonuses, order today and get $50 off. You should also really market the bonuses like “free shipping”. These could make a real difference when people come to order.

Selling everyday items
It is very important that your surfers do not look at the item as a luxury, often in difficult times people will stop purchasing more luxury items and stick to the necessities.
It is very important that you pass the message across that this is an everyday item which they cannot do without; this is not the purchase of a lifetime but just something else to add to their basket.

It’s quality and will not need replacing / Will last the test of time
Finally it is important that customers feel they are purchasing something of quality, after all this needs to last longer than before as we all have less disposable income. It is important you portray the message that this product is better value for money as it will last twice as long as other products in the market.

Come in under the radar
Building a brand is a roll-out process, not a drop everywhere in the world at one time.
Do you know what the best selling imported beer is in the United States? It’s Corona. Who would expect a beer from Mexico to be popular? The fact is it’s a terrific beer.
But they didn’t just come to the U.S. and put it everywhere. They went to the cities with a Mexican population — Los Angeles, Chicago, New York — and then they put it in restaurants and stores there. The key to brand-building is to have something good that you roll-out in a very intelligent way. Maybe even invisibly for a while because you want to be under the radar screen of competitors.

Know your customer
There are still too many CEOs who identify marketing with selling and advertising. But marketing has evolved to be not only product centered but customer centered. We are saying you’ve got to understand and choose the customers you want to serve. Don’t just go after everyone. Define the target market carefully through segmentation and then really position yourself as different and as superior to that target market. Don’t go into that target market if you’re not superior.
We are trying to make the case that it’s much more important for a company to be customer-centric than product-centric. The same customer you have for product X, may be available for product Y and Z and so on. And you won’t know that if you have separate product managers, each only concerned with selling his or her product.

Own your branding
We are not in a state of competition anymore; we’re in a state of hyper-competition. So people are desperately looking for handles — functional features, emotional appeals — that will draw people to their product. We should think of owning a word or a phrase that helps to build customer retention and loyalty.
Look at how we buy the Mercedes because it’s the best engineered car. We buy a BMW because it’s the best driving performance. We buy the Volvo because it’s the safest automobile. A lot of these companies lose that edge too, but they don’t lose the impression.

Stay ahead of the competition
The worst thing is that if something works, your competitors are going to clone it and before you know it anything that you had as a differentiator is imitated by the others. So you’re in the business of constant innovation. Constantly asking yourself, ‘Three years from now, what will our differentiator be?’
Markets change, so marketing has to change.

Make it an experience
Once in a while we find someone having a whole new approach to a mature market.
Starbucks is a very good example where coffee is coffee but they decided to sell it differently, put a higher price, make it good-tasting and make it an experience rather than just some coffee. In fact, I’ve heard that if Starbucks closed its shops, a lot of people would go crazy. They are in such a habit of going to the Starbucks before work, taking the coffee, and they’d become desperate otherwise.
There’s a big movement to say, ‘we’re not just adding services to our business and our product, we’re actually trying to design an experience.’
You’ll see that language being used. We’re in the experience design business.

Make your advantages easy to understand
For instance, Computer Resources International AS originally sold consulting, for which they used proprietary software. Only when they started selling the software first, and then customization and consulting as extras did their business take off. Buying software was easier to understand than the more intangible consulting.
LifeUSA insurance, and many other businesses, focus on speed in every aspect of their business. They make fun of the slower industry standards and provide a simple advantage clients understand. Other ways to set yourself apart are through great service or association with worthy causes.

Don’t try to be everything to everyone
Just as customers screen you, you should decide who you want to serve.
Printing Resources originally took any printing business that walked in the door. When they realized which kinds of customers they worked with best, they were able to cut down their marketing costs and make more money.
Some computer consulting firms only work with one customer per industry so they will have no conflicts of interest. You can bet they select customers carefully, and that customers are flattered by the partnership approach.
Consider creating a checklist of who shouldn’t hire you! It will help you focus, and may impress the right customers if you share it with them.

Work for referrals
Word of mouth is the least expensive, most effective way to get new business.
Barry Farber has new customers write on the back of their business cards why they bought. These become mini-testimonials.
Bob Brassard calls at least one client a day just to keep in touch. This builds the relationship by showing he doesn’t just care about them when he wants something, allows him to update files, and generates referrals.
One upscale dentist put up a Web page. He got about six extra referrals a month because his clients thought it was "cool" that their dentist had a Web page.

Use online marketing
You don’t have to have a Web site like Eastern Mortgage Services to do business online.
You can send personalized e-mail like Michael Swartz of DNA Software.
You can pay only for the leads generated for you by advertising on many sites.
You can research potential clients for better presentations.
You can gather customer input inexpensively as Ritchey Design does. Or you can post free ads in discussion groups.

Don’t sell, help people buy
When you truly put the client’s interests above your own, you will become a consultant, a team member, and a partner for your client. When you’ve earned trusted advisor status, doing business is no problem.
For instance, computer consultant, Amadaeus Consulting Group, helps its customers make more money by using computers to help their clients sell more. Of course, the extra business comes around as the client grows.
A small accountant’s client felt they needed a "Big 5" firm to handle their audit because they wanted to go public. Instead of resisting, the accountant helped the client select a Big 5 firm, thus maintaining and extending the relationship with the client.
Conrad International added warehousing services near overseas clients so they could afford to buy in bulk for a lower price.
When you put the customer first, you earn long-term loyalty that is more profitable than a larger quick sale.

Partner with other companies reaching your market
This might be neighborhood merchants cooperating on a sidewalk sale, or Digital Equipment partnering with Infinite Technologies to better serve the Bank of New York. Or it could be you partnering with a charity to create a fund raising event that brings attention to both of you, like Service Merchandise and Goodwill did.

Shift the risk to yourself and you will profit
A believable guarantee makes it safe for prospects to give you a try. Very few people will exploit a generous guarantee compared to the extra business it generates.
YoyoDine is one of many companies that guarantee you results from their online advertising. Even Kaiser, the big HMO, found a money-back guarantee to be successful.

Be personal
To build relationships you have to build a personal connection.
A handwritten invitation pulled great for Frank Candy, president of the American Speakers Bureau and for restaurateur Murray Raphael.
Internet consultant Dan Janal gives clients links from his page.
One nursing home created a waiting list through great referrals by greeting visiting relatives by name and filling them in on their loved ones at the start of each visit.

Create free publicity
Construction Computer Applications Newsletter had a hard time finding reviewers for computer programs of interest to readers. The reviewers not only got publicity from their reviews, but the firm gave them referrals.
A large CPA firm specializes in citrus growers. Every year they do a survey of their clients’ costs of operations. The survey data helps their clients benchmark their operations, positions the CPAs as the experts, and gets the CPA firm publicized in trade articles.
Inquiry Handling Services gets regular publicity from newsletters and articles, as well as a book they wrote for their industry.
And Luxury Limo received major coverage about a special rate created to allow three "regular" women to share the commute in a limo at about the cost of carpooling.

Integrate your marketing
This means that everything you do should convey the same message and represent what you stand for. Putnam Investments manages $150 billion in assets.
All their literature, and even their office, conveys the same message.
Viva Knight, a script consultant, rents mailing lists from the same magazine he advertises in. If he also wrote articles for the same magazine, it would add to the integrated approach.

Original Source:
http://netsell.blogspot.com/2008/10/tips-for-marketing.html

This entry was written by Edward Anil Joseph and posted on October 28, 2008 at 4:36 pm and filed under General Information, Tips. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.




Oct
11

10 Most Useful Free Google Marketing Tools

Google has become the dominant search engine on the Internet. It would be hard to imagine a web without Google. For that matter, it would now be hard to imagine a world without Google. As frightening as that may seem to many people, it is none the less true.

For better or worse, Google has permeated into almost every aspect of our everyday life. Being Googled is now a common expression and an act carried out by millions of users around the world each day. New Google products and services are coming on stream at a staggering pace, further increasing Google’s impact on our lives.

Despite this dominating presence, many people still don’t realize Google offers some excellent free marketing tools for marketers and webmasters. Marketing tools which can prove extremely valuable to any webmaster or marketer trying to promote their sites or products online. Useful tools that will make your promotions easier and much more profitable.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘free’ label, these marketing tools might be free but they are also valuable. One even wonders why Google would be giving away these tools and services for free? It probably makes good business sense in the long run. By providing these free tools Google is fostering a lot of company good-will and building up the Google brand name in the process. Good PR is good business.

Every marketer and webmaster should be taking advantage of Google’s good-will and snapping up these professionally run services and marketing tools. Here’s a quick run-down of the 10 most valuable free Google Internet marketing tools:

1. Google Analytics
Perhaps the premier marketing tool offered by Google. It will prove helpful to both the marketer and the webmaster. Google Analytics gives you a daily snapshot of your web site. Google Analytics analyzes your traffic, where it comes from and what it does once it enters your site. You can monitor up to three sites for free.

Google Analytics is extremely valuable in analyzing your marketing funnel. It tracks all the steps leading up to your sales or checkout page. Vital information for raising your conversion rate and ROI. You may be placed on a waiting list for this highly in demand service from Google.

2. Google Sitemaps
Webmasters can use Google Sitemaps to almost instantly place newly created pages on their site into the Google Search Index. This is a XML file that is uploaded to Google as new pages are added on your site. Needless to say this can be a valuable service for any webmaster or marketer who wants to get their information on the web quickly.

3. Google Alerts
Be notified when someone or another site lists your site or mentions your name. Great way to keep track of all your online activities. Great way to monitor all your online business interests and products.

4. Google Froogle
Froogle is Google’s price directory! It simply lists all the cheapest prices for different products on the web. For marketers and webmasters who are promoting products, it should be studied and analyzed. Optimizing your site’s content for Froogle may prove to be very beneficial.

Follow Froogle or Google directions exactly on how to list or display products on your site. Froogle will spider your site and display your prices and products to thousands of targeted customers. That, as they say, is priceless.

5. Google Checkout
Not exactly free but for those marketers who use AdWords - for every $1 spent on AdWords you can process $10 for free. You can also place the shopping cart logo on your AdWords ad and take advantage of the prestige and trust the Google brand name has built up.
Over time marketers may find this tool to be very effective and valuable.

6. Google eBlogger
Blogging has become vitally important to the health and functioning of your web site. No site should be without at least one blog and RSS feed. Creating a blog (online journal) on the topic of your web site or product will bring in extra traffic and targeted customers. eBlogger is a simple free blogging service that even lets you publish or post your blog files to your web site server. Keep in mind, each blog has that all important Google Blog Search bar.

7. Google Toolbar - Enterprise Version
Try the new enterprise version of the Google Toolbar for your company or business. Integrates countless features with all your employees or corporate network. These could include a common customer database, company calendar, financial news…

Keep in mind, Google also ranks every page it indexes on a scale of 0-10. While it is important to know the Page Rank of your pages, it is even more important to know the PR of your competitor’s pages. You can use the toolbar to get the PR of each page you’re visiting. Extremely helpful information for webmasters and marketers to know when forming online linking or business arrangements.

8. Google Groups
Every marketer knows the important of having a large contact list of people with a similar interest. Social networking will play an ever increasing role in your success on the web. Just look at the growing popularity of sites like MySpace and LiveJournal.

Google Groups is another form of social and business networking that every marketer should be aware of and pursuing.

9. Google Adsense
One simple way to monetize your web content is to use Google Adsense. Just place the Adsense code on your site and receive a check from Google each month. For webmasters who are not really into online marketing (do such creatures exist?) Adsense can be a painless way to earn extra income from your site.

For professional marketers, using the Adsense system can supply a tremendous amount of marketing information on the keywords in their particular niche. It keeps the marketer informed on what keywords are being bid on and how much advertisers are willing to pay.

Adsense also has an excellent real-time tracking system you can use to keep track of all your important web pages.

10. Google Docs
A recent addition to Google’s stable of free products. Google Docs (Writely.com) is a full featured online writing editor with spell-check and great collaborating features. It also lets you publish your content directly to your blogs. One feature that may be of interest to marketers, is that it lets you save files in the popular download format of PDF.

Let’s face it, until video takes over the web in four or five years time - the written word is still king on the net. It is the medium that markets, promotes and sells your content or products. Writely will help you write better.

Google Trends
This Google program will let you search popular trends, important for marketers searching for the latest hot product to promote. You can also break down these trends by different regions.

Please take note that signing up for a Google account will usually help you in obtaining most of these free services or programs. Some of these programs may have to be applied for individually. But be assured, all these free Google marketing tools are well worth your time and effort. They will make your marketing easier and they will help any webmaster or marketer run their online business more efficiently.

About The Author
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: BizwareMagic.com . If you liked the SEO tips above, why not try this Free 7 Day Traffic Course

This entry was written by Edward Anil Joseph and posted on October 11, 2008 at 2:55 pm and filed under General Information. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.


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