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Tanning.com, LLC and Domain Strategies, Inc. announced today the launch of a new marketing and information portal designed to educate consumers and generate leads for tanning salon owners at www.Tanning.com. The new site was developed to help people make moderate and responsible choices about sun exposure while helping new customers find the tanning salon that best meets their needs.

“After speaking with dozens of tanning salon owners, it was clear that they wanted help using the internet to get the word out about their products and services.” Explained Joe Snell, CEO of Tanning.com. “We paired the best domain name in the space, Tanning.com, with a site that contains objective information about tanning, a national directory of tanning salons and an innovative model for sending new customers to the salons. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved.”

Some of the advantages salon owners will enjoy by partnering with Tanning.com include:

• A customizable profile page to highlight the unique aspects of their products & services at the individual store level. Especially important for tanning franchises
• Inclusion in the most comprehensive directory of tanning salons in North America
• New customers due to the search engine marketing and brand building planned for the Tanning.com domain.
• Assocation with an objective source of tanning information which will drive both visitors and new customers for reputable salons.

Domain Strategies partnered with Q3 Capital to create Tanning.com, LLC with Q3 Capital contributing the domain name and Domain Strategies contributing startup capital, executive leadership, business planning, hosting and business development relationships. Joe Snell, a seasoned internet entrepreneur with four previous companies under his belt, came on board to research the industry, define the business and build a site that will grow in features, depth and revenue over the coming years.

Domain Strategies was founded by Rob Monster of Monster Venture Partners. Mr. Monster founded GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) and is winner of the 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in Technology and Software (Pacific Northwest).

http://www.dnforum.com/f557/domainers-start-mistakes-thread-323531.html

In this thread on DNForum.com titled “Domainers start with mistakes?” a forum member asks if he was the only one who registered rubbish domains when he started buying domain names or if others have made the same mistakes when having been new to the glittering business of investing in domains.

I can tell you this, everybody makes mistakes. No matter how long you’ve been to the game, you will always do something wrong, be it buying above value or selling too cheaply. I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all, but I’ve made countless mistakes myself, so take it from someone who has quite some experience in getting things wrong.

The first domain name I bought with the intent to resell at a profit was totally worthless! Its actual value has been negative in many ways: I wasted both money and time registering it. I had made the mistake of believing an automatic domain appraisal tool I had found somewhere on the Internet. The tool wanted to convince me that the domain in question was worth some $10,000+. Of course, I believed it, hurried over to my registrar and bought the domain. It has been such a bad name that I don’t even want to post it here. It would be too embarrassing, as I’ve said on DNF already.

Really, don’t let such things bring you down. Especially when being new to this, like in any other business, you’ll go through a learning process and you will do the one or other mistake along the way. Just make sure to not lose too much money in the process.

I wrote a popular article about getting started as a domain investor in late 2007. I’m going to update that article some time in the future, but most points still hold true today. For example, if you’re new to domaining, it might be a good idea to set yourself a monthly budget that you can afford to lose. This way you won’t lose too much money if your investments don’t pan out as planned.

Every time you make a mistake, that’s a lesson you learn and the next time you’ll do better. Reading and learning from others is very important, too, but learning by doing is what lets you gain valuable hands-on experience.

Listen to the domain veterans, participate in discussions on domain forums and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Most people I was lucky enough to get to know in the domain industry have been very helpful and willing to share their knowledge. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the various domain blogs that have come up over the past 24 months. You can find my favorites on my blog’s right sidebar. They’re true treasure chests full of domaining wisdom. Enjoy!

There have been some very strong end user domain sales that were reported during the past week, which proves that domains continue to increase in value despite the slowdown in the economy.

First, TopModel.com sold for $117,650 at SnapNames. Then, news came in that Rick Schwartz sold the category-defining domain RoomDividers.com for $75,000 to OrientalFurniture.com. Rick Schwartz also announced on his private board that he has a huge deal in the making that might even surpass the value of his widely reported Property.com sale. Today, the EroticShop.com auction at Sedo ended with a winning bid of €30,000 (~$43,000). And there have been some other solid sales of generic domain names lately.

These sales should offer a brighter outlook for the domain industry after a short time of falling prices and uncertainty, because they show that keyword domains will always have value and that they will be bought by end users with a vision increasingly often - end users who “get it” as domainers like to say.

In fact, I see a growing number of end user sales especially for good two- and three-word .com domain names like RoomDividers.com or EroticShop.com. Many have thought that RoomDividers.com was overpriced at $75,000, but considering that an antique room divider can sell for more than $1,000 apiece and taking into account that the domain buyer is used to spending money on online keyword advertising, I would say the price does not seem high at all.

Quite the contrary is the case, in my opinion. Generic domains will continue to increase in value and there will always be strong benefits of owning a high-quality domain name, ranging from positive effects on your company’s brand to a sustainable increase in your web site’s traffic resulting in a boost in sales.

This being said, I predict that we will be seeing a lot more deals for domains in the range between $10,000 and $100,000. There will also be high-dollar sales with prices above $500,000, of course, but I believe the market for mid-value generic domains will be growing the fastest in the months ahead.

Via FunnyOrDie.com: