Mason, thanks for the marketing info, but you did not answer the questions.
:)
"What is the SnapNames "solution?" How does it
work? Why is it efficient, scalable, and the answer to the current dropped
names problems the gTLD Registry is reacting against?"
Rich Shockney
RS Marketing
-----Original Message-----
From: Mason Cole [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 1:36 PM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'; Mason Cole; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: ATTN: Resellers -- input requested on domain name
back-ordering
Thanks for the follow-up mail.
As mentioned before (and outlined in our State of the Domain report, mail
[EMAIL PROTECTED] to subscribe free) the "new name" side of the
business is shrinking, and more and more registrars and resellers are
fighting over this diminishing pie. Access to the growing secondary market
means additional revenue. The current after-market is inefficient --
speculators have a much harder time unloading names than they thought they
would. (Over 90% of domain names are inactive, suggesting that most domain
names are registered for speculative purposes.)
SnapNames has the mechanism for new market efficiency. Next to the text
that says, "Sorry, this name is taken," our partners can put a link saying,
"Back-order it now". Back-ordering service currently costs $49 and on
average results in order sizes of over $80 (These prices are for
comparison's sake only; you would be able to set your own pricing. Some of
our most successful partners bundle SnapNames with other security products
or trademark products to make even more money.) Put differently, some of
our registrar partners earn between $500 and $1100 per 1000 click-throughs
(RPMs), even before they give us their reseller API to register names
through them.
Re: competitors. Scalability is the biggest issue. They compete with us
for names, but not customers, and certainly not the mass markets. As we
continue to add legitimate partners, and build a technology consortium of
all registrars, the competition will continue to fade.
How does the service work? Your webmaster would spend a few minutes placing
"back-order" links at the point of registration failure, when the customer
is most motivated to get the name they came for. A click on the
"back-order" button would, for now, lead the customer to a landing page,
which you could host and co-brand. The landing page carries the name all
the way to our own search results page, where the customer buys SnapBack(tm)
subscriptions. There are two options from there: 1) we will soon have the
ability to allow each TUCOWS reseller to be the only registrar of choice
that back-ordering customers see, or 2) we will simply provide an API for
you to keep everything on your own site -- the API is in development.
There's also a PowerPoint presentation on our site that may be useful for
you. I also invite you to contact SnapNames VP of Bus Dev Cameron Powell
directly:
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 10:40 AM
To: Mason Cole; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: ATTN: Resellers -- input requested on domain name
back-ordering
>>>Additionally, SnapNames is the most efficient and scalable solution to
the
problem the Registry is reacting against -- we have great confidence we'll
be a major part of the long-term solution.<<<
Mason, can you expand on this? What is the SnapNames "solution?" How does it
work? Why is it efficient, scalable, and the answer to the current dropped
names problems the gTLD Registry is reacting against?
Rich Shockney
RS Marketing
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mason Cole
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 11:53 AM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
Subject: ATTN: Resellers -- input requested on domain name back-ordering
Dear TUCOWS Reseller:
Several substantive conversations with TUCOWS' Elliot Noss and Tim Denton,
specifically about the changing nature of registration services demand, have
developed into working ideas about what SnapNames can bring to registrars
and their resellers to increase conversion rates. TUCOWS has asked us to
forward our thinking and seek your input.
As everyone knows, it's very hard to register a .com name because any
sensible word or phrase has been taken. New registrations have fallen from
their all-time high of over 60,000 per day to about 30,000. That's why, on
average, only 3% of customers who came to register a name actually succeed
in doing so. To the other 97% of ready-to-buy customers, credit card in
hand, no sale is made -- everyone is dissatisfied.
Meanwhile, the number of daily deletions has risen from only about 1,000 per
day last spring to nearly 30,000 today. What that says is there's just as a
big a market in connecting customers with about-to-expire names as there is
in registering new names for them. And we've confirmed that customers will
pay substantially more to get an about-to-expire name. By operating at the
customer's point of greatest frustration (the failed WHOIS search results),
SnapNames' partners achieve over 9% conversion (it grows along with
awareness) on a back-ordering service. Next to the text that says, "Sorry,
this name is taken," partners can put a link saying, "Back-order it now". A
lot of customers do. Our partners' revenue per clickthrough often exceeds
US $1 per visitor.
Additionally, SnapNames is the most efficient and scalable solution to the
problem the Registry is reacting against -- we have great confidence we'll
be a major part of the long-term solution.
Our question is this: Would you be interested in OpenSRS offering SnapNames'
back-ordering services to you, and, ultimately, to your customers?
Please let us know your thoughts. We'll answer more specific questions as
they arise and as you wish.
Regards,
Cameron Powell
Vice President -- Business Development
Mason Cole
Director of Corporate Marketing
