NamePros.com is back up and working again. The domain forum was down for almost 2 days and has been having database issues for a pretty long time now. The recent downtime was due to data center problems according to Rachel.

I did try and contact Ron James the owner of NP earlier today to find out what the problem was or if I could assist in anyway but I did not hear back. Ron’s wife just posted on her Facebook page that the site is back up and working again.

On a domain forum side note, the other day I was comparing traffic to both the popular forum sites DnForum.com and NamePros.com

Since they both have a steady drop in traffic according to these charts from Compete.com, I found that pretty interesting. Clearly this drop could be from several factors like the economy but I also think domain blogs like DotWeekly.com and Domaining.com etc could also have created a decline at domain forums. It will be interesting to see if these number gain or continue to decline with the state of the economy and or the growth of domain related blogs.

I think the information being provided by domain blogger’s blows the info you can obtain on the majority of domain forums but I still drop in from time to time to offer up some help at forums and I do find some interesting conversations going on from time to time.

The Miracle On The Hudson Plane that crash landed in the Hudson River after a bird strike to both engines with all passengers and crew surviving, is for sale! You can see the actual airbus a-320 aircraft’s listing page here.

Not that this plane could fit in the average garage or living room for display, but it would be a pretty cool thing to have! Sadly, the engines are not included in the sale.

No price is listed but they are taking sealed bids until March 27, 2010. The plane is being offered for sale by ChartisInsurance.com and the actual listing page is on AIGAviation.com . The actual listing page for the plane pictured above is here.

The page also states " Please contact Dan Akers at 404-249-1894 or at daniel.akers@chartisinsurance.com should you wish to attend the inspection or view the airframe records. The aircraft was treated with a corrosion inhibitor in the Summer of 2009."

I figured the insurance companies sell salvaged planes but I guess I didn’t think a high profile plane like this would sell at public auction. I’m sure it will fetch a pretty high price and for sure would be a pretty cool thing to own. From my understanding, you get everything pictured and it’s only be sold as a lot. Maybe it’s time for me to sell a couple domains and place a bid!

image source

OK, so the title is simply a spoof of a "Make Money" system that I saw while browsing Alexa.com’s Hot URL’s this morning. Since the site was in the "Hot URL’s" means it’s getting traffic but I can tell you it’s not from Direct Navigation!

The title or purpose of the site is 17 Ways To Make an Extra $17K writing and the domain name… well, pretty much takes the cake for matching it.

17ways2make17k.com

Now if you simply and solely plan on using your website marketing ONLINE, I guess the domain name itself doesn’t 100% matter. Links are links online and all people really have to do is click. They do not need to "remember" the domain to type it in, so traffic coming in from these links are simply clicks. One thing your domain name does though, is build trust by simply seeing it.

It’s one of those gut feelings. Seeing Pizza.com makes me want to trust the domain just by seeing it. Seeing Pizza-Pan-Party-Tonight.com makes me question if I trust the domain and I wouldn’t personally click.

Now how you get those clicks is mainly from marketing when you use a domain name that will not get direct navigation. It’s either Paid, via online advertising like Google Adsense, link trading with other sites, creating a buzz around social networking sites, paid press release, email list etc. That kind of marketing is fine but is often short lived and once the PR stops, so does the traffic.

I also think that using a domain name like 17ways2make17k.com is totally unprofessional. It looks scammy!

So even if you become "sold" on the sales pitch page, just the domain itself drives me away, that is if you even clicked in seeing the domain in the first place to see the pitch! Numbers in domain names are restrictive and confusing. What if I want to make $17,500? I guess this system just isn’t right for me then!!!

Was it 2 or Two? or was it To? Maybe it was TOO?

What if your idea takes off? You want to expand your site and start doing print advertising, radio advertising…. talk about scratching your head hearing a radio ad for 17 ways 2 make 17 K writing online…. Just visit Seventeen Ways To Make Seventeen K dot com, or was that SeventeenWays2MakeSeventeenK.com .

You get my point, do not use a domain name like 17ways2make17k.com

• Unprofessional
• Scammy feel and look
• Hard to remember
• Restrictive

What if the person used a domain name like WritersParadise.com ? Sound much more professional, looks much more professional, easy to remember and easy to expand your advertising efforts to print, radio or TV if you wish!

Have a budget in place before you purchase a domain name! Hand registering a domain name is nice because it’s going to cost about $10, but spending $10 also often shows and it can hurt you in many ways you may not of even thought about!