Domaining.com no longer free

[internext]

Got my usual daily email, clicked a link and got the domaining sign-in page rather than the story I expected. No problem, I logged in only to find the following:

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Unfortunately the Domaining.com membership is no longer free. We started to charge a low annual fee to help us pay our bills: hosting, data transfer, ... For this reason free accounts have been closed. If you are serious about domaining then we invite you to SIGN UP AGAIN HERE.

 

[godolphin]

I've become a paid member.

 

[gazzip]

I noticed today you have to be logged in to read again?

Yup, just noticed that


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[Chef Patrick]

I could yesterday but NOT today I can only see the news headlines but if I click a link to a blog...say, www.dnkitchen.com :tu: it goes to the login page which apparently you need to sign in to view your blog article.

That's odd, your right I did the same test yesterday and today. From my understanding of Francois explanation you should be able to link through to the articles.

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

The site asks for too much personal info.

I'm not comfortable with that, so I will set up my own feeds.

But I wish Francois best wishes.

*

 

[gazzip]

oh...its working again, no need to log in to view the content !

must be technical issues ??



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[Pound]

oh...its working again, no need to log in to view the content !

must be technical issues ??



.

I'm sure...

 

[bizman4life]

I can not be too surprised because things are really hard this days and it takes lots of courage to suceed. But bro but more effort and try help us keep it free.

 

[Dimester]

I see too much instability in business focus to trust paying. If I pay will it be the same tomorrow. I also don't want to provide all the personal info just to read.

Domaining is using part other blogs content to gain traffic with out providing an open link back to the blog. How is that right? When I click on a link it go to a register page.

 

[MinionDH]

Here's the problem with today's Domaining newsletter (Jan 10th):

Normally the Featured Domains section appears prominently at the very top of the newsletter, which makes sense because domain owners pay $5-$20 for a 3-day listing (Note: Sedo charges $39 for a 30-day listing that appears directly on their front page).

Today's newsletter format is significantly different because the Featured Domains section has now been pushed down "below the fold" so Domaining.com can advertise their domain sales service. Is this fair to the domain owners that paid their listing fees for today's newsletter? No. (For the record, I'm not one of them but I was considering advertising in the future)

I'm curious to see if the format returns back to normal tomorrow. If not, why would anyone pay these high listing fees for their names to appear in the *middle* of a newsletter?

"Below the fold" = Less exposure, which eventually will = less advertisers

 

[cybertonic]

MinonDH:

Sedo featured listings are rotating listings. If you do calculations you'll see you should get less exposure there you get at domaining.com and for a lower cost.

Your suggestion make sense as advertisers aspire to the max exposure and to be honnest we don't care to pass our subscriber's message under the featured domains and sponsored listings.

I just did not realize, a good point.

 

[npcomplete]

MinonDH:

Sedo featured listings are rotating listings. If you do calculations you'll see you should get less exposure there you get at domaining.com and for a lower cost.

Your suggestion make sense as advertisers aspire to the max exposure and to be honnest we don't care to pass our subscriber's message under the featured domains and sponsored listings.

I just did not realize, a good point.

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with that statement, but perhaps you could enlighten us with the mathematics! For example, provide estimates of daily traffic on your front page vs. Sedo, and the rotation rates at Sedo, etc.

I *always* enjoy a good solid mathematical analysis, and am looking forward to your data and analysis thereof. Thanks.

 

[traderJack]

well the newsletter arrived today as before, clicking the blogs takes you to a register/upgrade page, i have unsubscribed, the newsletter is now useless.

I remember seeing somewhere that a member here was going to start the same service free, did this happen? if so, can someone please PM me details.

 

[Premiere]

I am not certain that this is correct, but I have felt a kind of prevailing undertone to all of this.

Clearly there are people willing to provide the same service for free, with the same feeds and authors and even a better layout. However, we are such domainers we can't get out of the automation of using "domaining" as our newsfeed. We are in a way, fighting with the owner over the use of a name he purchased and branded - which in some way represents us and who we are.

With the potential loss of that keyword, I think we all feel a little collateral damage. Not just because of the word, but because perhaps the rest of the world is starting to clue in a little and that's the word they are seeing every day.

Do you think RickLatona.com feels any pain from these changes? No, Rick is his own brand and his sales and following aren't the result of the feeds on domaining. Many other authors are definitely going to feel a pinch with a traffic loss and change in readership. It was easy to get the email and read a blog or two when I had time. Now I've already forgotten the habit and it's disturbing.

I feel as if we have lost one of our words to someone who kind of doesn't 'get it' as far as the rest of us are concerned. It was strange, almost around the time we all started to feel like this was such a great resource, and "maybe let's advertise here" or "let's get our blog syndicated here" - everything changed. That's a very disappointing change, but so many companies have made these changes over the years and they are usually not for the benefit of people who aren't willing to follow.

So you and I and everyone we know won't be reading this blog, and I think we need to just give up on that and either create or find the next big resource for domainers and their followers. I don't have that solution but I can tell you that the name, and our feelings about how we were represented, are gone. This niche now remains open for someone else to create their own brand and readership.

 

[traderJack]

Thanks Wire, very well said.

it is a shame that this as happened and that it as come to this.

Francois as demonstrated continuously the he "doesn't get it" and continuing in the same vain makes it obvious he as not taken professional advice.

your post also brings another point to the forefront, domainers identifying with a domain or site that is run by one person for profit is inevitably going to cause similar problems or dangers.

I feel the only real solution is a site run by perhaps a collection of domainers maybe 10 or 12
run by domainers for the benefit of domainers and the domaining industry.

I have registered DomainingGuild.com
Guild
if anyone is interested in getting involved with this please PM me.

at this stage its just an idea, open for discussion and ideas

 

[Coopey]

Anyone found how to opt out of the email?
I have to go and 'update my account' so I thought I would be able to cancel. But it asks for a lot of personal info before allowing me to proceed.

 

[traderJack]

Anyone found how to opt out of the email?
I have to go and 'update my account' so I thought I would be able to cancel. But it asks for a lot of personal info before allowing me to proceed.

the link is at the bottom, click the update account and select unsubscribe, thats what i did.

unless the link as been removed? try it and if you have any prblems PM me and ill get it from my history

 

[Coopey]

click the update account and select unsubscribe

Guessed as much. Having to put more personal information in to unsubscribe seems counter-intuitive. It'll take a lot less effort to hit the 'Mark as Spam' button.

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

I also have two domains that might work for a feed service: MsDomain.com (currently used for a portal to my blog, in temporary hiatus) and DomainTitans.com.

However, I lack the knowledge to develop feeds. Is this difficult to do?

*

 

[theuniverse]

if Domaining.com is free,it will be better for many people and many people will join.it is better to get money in any other ways other than paid membership,this will be better for both owner and user like namepros.com.

 

[gazzip]

I've become a paid member.

..it appears I've become an ex member :D

I remember seeing somewhere that a member here was going to start the same service free, did this happen? if so, can someone please PM me details.

Not sure if its a Namepros member or not but this one is good
http://domain-name.alltop.com/



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[allroundguy]

Although I don't agree with a number of comments, I understand most viewpoints.
But why is $25 for a full year such a burden for all these friendly successful domain business people?
They almost all have at least one domain and one blog/forum etc.
For sure, we all make at least $1,000.00/month ...

Let's face it:
This is not about just another online presence:
It is about Domaining dot com!

It has been paid big money for 1-worder domains like Domaining.com.
Without website etc.!
Imho, who wants to share advantages from a community, should also add value to that community. Money must roll ...

As other projects, Domaining.com can fail or succeed.
But, whatever the reason to introduce the fee, I paid for my Domaining com membership.
Because it is Domaining.com ...

 

[acronym007]

Paid membership is the key to failure long term.

It will only work for some business models, it will not work for this one.

I like Francios and domaining.com but other revenue streams are needed for one.

 

[Ms Domainer]

Although I don't agree with a number of comments, I understand most viewpoints.
But why is $25 for a full year such a burden for all these friendly successful domain business people?
They almost all have at least one domain and one blog/forum etc.
For sure, we all make at least $1,000.00/month ...

Let's face it:
This is not about just another online presence:
It is about Domaining dot com!

It has been paid big money for 1-worder domains like Domaining.com.
Without website etc.!
Imho, who wants to share advantages from a community, should also add value to that community. Money must roll ...

As other projects, Domaining.com can fail or succeed.
But, whatever the reason to introduce the fee, I paid for my Domaining com membership.
Because it is Domaining.com ...

*

For me, the fee wasn't the major issue; I simply did not want to hand over my financial information.

*

 

[acronym007]

*

For me, the fee wasn't the major issue; I simply did not want to hand over my financial information.

*

Yeah I think we/most can afford the fee but what it is the fee for, free information? Doesn't make much sense.

 

[staffjam]

I'm now a paid member