New Domain Extensions .JOBS & .MOBI = Branding Opportunity?
Are There Branding Opportunites with .JOBS & .MOBI Domain Extensions?Recently, the new domain extensions
.jobs and
.mobi were made available to purchase. When these first alternative domain extensions like .net, .
tv, .us and others were created, it looked like the leper of domain extensions (primarily .com, .org, .
edu, and .gov).
But that has changed over the years, and in particular, in the last few years, these extensions have become far more accepted.
While .com remains the most popular, most "good" .com names are already claimed. As a result, some .
coms are getting longer and longer. Long .com names, however, maybe difficult to remember and worse yet, frustrating to type in. Just think about how mad you'd be to type in www.compuglobalmegahypernet.com (Simpson's reference...!).
Increasingly companies are using .net as their main web address in place of .com. Some, however, have gotten creative in using the other domains available.
Take for instance the popular social bookmarking site
del.icio.us. It spells the word "delicious". The site has nothing to do with cooking. But everything about the site and the company's branding is "del.icio.us".
What's the Opportunity?True entrepreneurs know how to look for opportunities in every situation. I think with a little creativity, you can figure out how to use .
tv, .jobs, .
mobi, .biz and other domain extensions.
Take for instance .jobs. Maybe you are a recruiter for the nursing industry. You may want to create "nursing. jobs" to attract prospects.
Or for .
mobi - even though it is intended for mobile sites - the "
mobi" sounds kinda cute. So maybe you decide to create a cute sounding site like
gobi.
mobi.
The key is that these domains, instead of being "domain
leprosy", can actually be very useful for your branding. With a little creativity, you can make the domain extension a part of your branding.
Labels: advertising, marketing
Fail to Plan = Plan to Fail: Breakthrough Marketing & Advertising
Plan Your Marketing to Breakthrough Advertising ClutterI normally hate cliches, proverbs, and basically, overused phrases. But in the case of this phrase, it is really does hold true:
"Failing to plan is planning to fail!"In marketing and advertising this is absolutely true!
I frequently teach clients that there is so much advertising and marketing clutter out there that in order to be effective, you have to PLAN!
I ask simple questions that lead to an outline of a campaign:
- What is the purpose or desired action from this campaign?
- Who is your target audience?
- What is your advertising or marketing medium?
These are deceptively simple, but once the answers are drilled down, a lot can be revealed!
Planning your marketing and advertising campaign ahead of time using those questions above is a lot of front-end work, but highly necessary. Planning let's you strategize your plan of attack - attack through your competition's clutter that is.
Planning is nothing more than preparing to attack through the clutter of your competition.
Breakthrough your competition's marketing and advertising clutter by clearly defining what you want your prospects to do. Then define who you are targeting and what medium you are advertising on. For example, an email campaign will be different from a print campaign. A magazine campaign will be different from a magazine campaign.
Answer these questions first and your answers will show you how to plan your attack and break through your competition's clutter!
Labels: advertising, marketing, marketing plan
New Law Firm Blog, "White & Harper LegalWire"
My personal friend, Ti Harper, recently entered into a partnership to form her own legal firm
White & Harper.
She launched her firm's blog
White & Harper LegalWire recently to help provide valuable insight into legal news that affects the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.
She also recently launched
Style & Grace Events, an event planning and consulting firm!
I am thrilled to see her move so quickly in business and entrepreneurship! It is always good to see a friend and fellow entrepreneur out there just doing what drives us all. A nice little post about her new ventures is just a small token of my support for her and all her ventures!
Labels: blog, cool businesses, legal
"The Island" & Future of Search Engine As Physical Search Kiosks
I recently watched The Island - and since I have HBO, it's been repeating frequently. A scene caught my attention that made me wonder about the future.
The scene is when the two main characters, on the run from their pursuers, are at an "information directory". In the movie, it's a glorified phone booth. But on the side it said "MSN Search".
This got me thinking - how close are we to seeing something like that?
Imagine, an information kiosk that is a phone booth, a search engine/local directory booth, and mobile information/search interface - branded by a major search engine.
So in other words, this booth would have a public phone, an online search that serves up local directory information, and a mobile interface so that anyone with a mobile phone can download content pertinent to the local area.
Picture this: Google builds a phone-search directory booth in NYC. It has a phone and online touch screen. The keyboard is a touch screen for easy typing. The head up screen is a touch screen.
Someone looking for directory information searches this online directory, get's served results along with ads. In fact ads can be displayed throughout the interior of the booth. The searcher can make the calls in the phone booth.
But, Google pushes the features more and lets mobile phone users use the booth as a local search directory - and 1 quick click lets the mobile user download the directory listing onto their cell or PDA. This is already being done in Yahoo Local's results where you can actually send information to your cell.
The funny thing is, this reality is not far away.
The engines simply need to find a way where they can set up the physical infrastructure. They already can make alliances with Yellow Book, Yellow Pages, SuperPages, and more. They can already make alliances with celluar providers to provide mobile phone support.
The only question is the physical structure, how to work with utilities and the complexities involved there, and how to build the infrastructure to connect each booth online.
I think everything can be tested out in one place: the Airport!
The airport is the perfect place to build this pilot program. Airport travellers are going to want information quickly and are more likely to have the latest mobile gadgets with them (PDAs, cell phones, iPods, laptops, smartphones, etc.).
Once these tests are concluded - it's a matter of time before we see every city corner with a branded Google Kiosk, Yahoo! Kiosk, MSN Search Kiosk, and more.
A Brave New World!
Re-Launching AK Works Blog
It's been a while since the last post in July of 2006. It is now October of 2006!
A lot has changed and progressed for Servaunt and for the content of this blog as well. More marketing information to come - more blogs, and soon, links to marketing articles written by me for Servaunt.
And as always, there's new things to learn in Marketing - of which it will be shared with you on this blog!
Stay tuned - new material, new knowledge, and new intelligence to be shared and exposed soon!
