The Sex Advisors

Imagine you’re the owner of a successful Web site, but when you logon one day all you get is an error message. Or worse yet, the domain name now points to a site full of advertisements. That’s right. You’re out of business.

This happens every day because of a perfectly legitimate process known as “drop catching,” where people quickly snag the domain names owners have let expire and try to resell them or use the links associated with the names, which could be extensive, to create Web sites loaded with advertisements. You can easily avoid becoming a victim of a drop catcher by better understanding how the domain registration system works to protect your domain name.

Your Web site, with all the content you have so painstakingly added, sits on a computer with a unique address called an IP address, which is simply a series of numbers. A domain name is an address forwarding service that directs visitors to the site using this IP address. Domain names are used instead of numbers because most people find it easier to remember a name rather than a bunch of numbers. It’s as if you could dial your friend’s name into the telephone instead of his phone number.

You can purchase a domain name by registering it with a provider of domain services such as GoDaddy.com , the largest on the Web, or any number of other registrars. The name can be registered for just one year, for about $10, or for as long as ten years, for around $80. Many register for only one year because it’s cheaper, or they only want the site for a limited time.

At the end of the year, the registrar usually sends an email renewal notice to the owner. If the owner doesn’t respond to the renewal notice, the domain name will eventually be made available for purchase by someone else. Roughly 20,000 domain names become available every day because the owners allowed them to expire, or the owners didn’t realize that their domain name was up for renewal

According to the rules established by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN), domain registrars have 45 days after the expiration date to notify the owner that their domain name is going to be dropped from the registry. If the name is dropped, the guidelines then call for a 30-day grace period during which the owner can still claim the name. After this grace period and then another five-day holding period, the name is dropped from the registry and anyone can claim it.

Since 2004, however, a number of domain service providers, starting with SnapName.com, have created an auction process for expired names which bypasses the original drop process and makes the names available in as little as thirty days. GoDaddy.com begins the auction process even before the names have officially expired, although it does warn the auction participants that the owner could still claim their name.

These providers of domain services each have tools on their sites to make it easier to grab expired names. They provide constantly updated lists of expired names, various auction services, search engines, and other free tools for anyone to quickly and easily find available domain names. Some sites also offer software for sale that further simplifies the search for expired and soon to be expired names.

With the surge in online advertising, drop catchers will continue to seek out domain names from sites with good traffic, anxious to exploit the established links. Protect your site and your business by checking the expiration date of your domain name. Relying on the registrar to send a renewal notice that could easily be sent to an old email address or get lost in the spam catcher, could cost you years of hard work.

Dave Starner is a former teacher and coach. Visit www.ebooksnet.com to instantly download great ebooks, and sign up for free bonuses and money making information. Article reprints welcomed as long as all texts and hyperlinks remain unchanged.

The Internet domain market has become more and more lucrative in the past few years. Almost all companies as well as many individual people these days have websites, and most would prefer their websites to be immediately recognizable. Domain names tell people what websites are about, and this can be a big plus when someone is doing a search and looking for something specific. Although almost anyone can have a free website through his or her Internet provider, the addresses of these websites will usually contain the name of the provider first, and then whatever name the user chooses for the website. For example, if your Internet provider is called ABC Internet, and you build a website using the web space that your provider gives you, you may want to name your website “yourshop”. Though you would prefer the website to simply be called yourshop.com.

Businesses, and many people, prefer their website names to be succinct and to the point. This is where domain name buyers and sellers come in. No two people can use the exact same domain name - domain names are registered to owners - therefore, every time someone wants to give a website a certain name, he or she must first do a search to see if that domain name is already taken. If the domain name is taken, then he or she can check to see if it is for sale, and possibly buy it from whoever owns it.

It becomes clear, then, that buying and selling domain names can be quite lucrative if done properly. The more registered domain names you own and are willing to sell, the more money you can make from people who want to use them. If you are interested in buying and selling domains, however, you must first do a little research. If you own several domain names, but they aren’t ones that most people would be interested in using, then you are sitting on inventory that isn’t going to move - and this inventory costs you money. Domain name registrations need to be renewed periodically, and this always involves a fee. To actually make money selling domain names, you need to own names that are popular. If you own a domain name called “JustSomeStuff.com”, there probably isn’t going to be a big market for it. If, however, you own a domain named called “Plumbing.com”, you may find that more people are interested in using this name.

The most popular method that people use to make money from selling domain names is to become a domain name reseller through a domain name registrar. Using this method, you buy and register available domain names from a licensed registrar at wholesale prices, and then you can turn around and sell these domain names for a profit. Licensed registrars usually welcome this type of business transaction, as it drums up more business for them, since the resellers provide most of the advertising. Many large domain name sellers are actually resellers for even larger domain name registrars. This type of business relationship is common.

As a domain name buyer and reseller, you will need to find ways to advertise your business. If your domain name buying and reselling business is small, you can usually just post ads in websites and forums where people advertise domain names for sale. There are many of these types of websites and message boards on the Internet, and you will be able to find of several of them by using an Internet search engine. If you plan on having a large domain name buying and reselling business, then your best bet is to have your own website where people can search through or inquire about the domain names that you have available for sale. Your website should include reliable contact information so that potential buyers can ask any questions that they might have. Spending a little money for advertising can go a long way in ensuring that your domain name buying and selling business will be a success.

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