The .PRO Discussion

[InvisionTech]

It seems .PRO is slowly coming out of the cage with cheaper reg prices than they were a year ago and major registrars like netsol taking notice of the extension and promoting it.

Here are some that I picked up in last couple of days:

Alexandria.pro

Anchorage.pro

Arlington.pro

Belfast.pro

Birmingham.pro

Budapest.pro

Durham.pro

Fairfax.pro

Italian.pro

Lisbon.pro

Fire away with your regs after the relaunch on September 8th, 2008.

 

[WordWalker]

.Pro just registered...

earring.pro
barn.pro
bulb.pro
faqs.pro
bakery.pro
yoyo.pro
cold.pro
luck.pro
smog.pro
kabbalah.pro

I think excellent potential for selling retail product online through most of these sites when developed. Others would make good info, affiliate and portal sites. I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

[MasterGuru]

Hi!

For registering .PRO domains with Network Solutions what type of account should be - private or Business(organization)?

 

[InvisionTech]

I don't mean to engage in a game of Deja Vu with you, but as an investor in cities in my own right, I can confirm that each of these registrations represent an excellent long term play. Provo, in particular, is already a hot spot and has recently drawn some most favorable national press. Had my dance card not already been so full, you would have little chance at those domains. (LOL)

Thats right. You've got an excellent GEO portfolio, including major US cities. How many .PROs do you have, if I may ask?

 

[forceoflight]

My plan is to collect some dotPros and hold them 3-5 years. Could some of you professional domainer advise me and say which of my dotPro domains are good for long holding? Check my signature too. Your advises would help me to choose more suitable dotPro domains into my dotPro portfolio.

My latest dotPros:

chili
silk
chemical
furnishing
furnishings
nudist
herbal
effect
domainregister
healthfood

bakery.pro

I wan't that :lala:

 

[InvisionTech]

Someone registered bake.pro last night... its not as good as bakery.pro so I was holding off regging it but oh well. :D

Anyway, since that is gone, I grabbed these:

Accept.pro
Commission.pro
Part.pro
Spray.pro

 

[Ben42]

I like Part.pro a lot...I've had Parts.pro for a couple years and really want to develop it. My thinking was a searchable Junkyard parts directory. The few Junkyards I talked to made me realize this would be very challenging. They are mostly still in the stone age and have only a vague Idea what they have in their yards.

 

[namewaiter]

I like Part.pro a lot...I've had Parts.pro for a couple years and really want to develop it. My thinking was a searchable Junkyard parts directory. The few Junkyards I talked to made me realize this would be very challenging. They are mostly still in the stone age and have only a vague Idea what they have in their yards.

an idea for you or part.pro ... instead of a searchable directory, maybe you could start the service of simply locating parts for a small fee. :gl:

 

[mjs]

I like Part.pro a lot...I've had Parts.pro for a couple years and really want to develop it. My thinking was a searchable Junkyard parts directory. The few Junkyards I talked to made me realize this would be very challenging. They are mostly still in the stone age and have only a vague Idea what they have in their yards.

Ben,
You and I have exchanged a few mails about Parts.pro. I like that you've now adorned it with a website, early modest but tasteful. My guess is that is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that your brain is ahead of the market. I really hope you continue with the site, even if you have to put the project on hold for a while. You seem to be wise enough to only hold what you can reasonably manage. Perhaps you could go into the market, as necessary, and secure a domain that you can apply your talents to in the present. For what its worth....Also, not for nothing, but I have a collection of automotive related domains that are just collecting dust. I'm not really looking to sell them at this time on account that I originally acquired them in the hope of actualizing my dad's obsession with new car technologies and the like. But perhaps we could partner.

Thats right. You've got an excellent GEO portfolio, including major US cities. How many .PROs do you have, if I may ask?

PM to follow.

 

[bocanames]

Man, I can't believe how screwed up things are at DomainPeople.com and probably same at hostway.com.

Funny how little consideration people give to any measure of quality or service when choosing a registrar. Domain investments absolutely depend on those registrars, and yet people will choose differently for a $5 savings. Wait until the service appears to work before placing your bet.

Also note that Encirca has the most kickass DNS services you're going to find in a registrar, not just in the small world of .PRO but in general. Yes, I realize the crowd here doesn't really know much about DNS but you should, since your investment depends on it, and you may be able to profit by using it more effectively. The service is just disguised behind an amazingly bad user interface. None of these new entrants even offers DNS service, and even the requisite "Edit Nameservers" functionality seems to be broken in one edge case (I've had an open ticket to fix this most basic functionality for over a week now at one of these registrars)

Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm employed by Encirca or some kind of fanboy. Their recent behavior around expiring domain names has been disgraceful at the very least. I've seen domains with expiration dates over one week apart moved to expired status within minutes of each other. Their grace deletion policy seems to be completely arbitrary as well.

My scorecard still shows Encirca as the best choice though:
1. Services offered - top of the heap
2. Reliability of registration function (even with that antique MIVA Merchant interface) - dependable
3. Trustworthiness - low

feel free to offer dissenting opinions and contrasting experiences

Don't fall into the "just because it's a generic it will do well" fallacy. At one time, I owned weather.pro, wedding.pro, college.pro, wireless.pro.

<snip>

Will .pro gain traction? I do, but no more than .org or .net. So choose wisely. What I'm going after are .pro domains which clearly describes a product or service that is in demand. Again, products or service...

<snip>

So my recommendation is to limit yourself to how many domains you buy. Then build them out. There is no reason someone couldn't "break through" the advertising clutter with one of their dot pro's. Make it into a "eHarmony" type brand. Like I've said, it's the best "new" domain to come out. I do plan on following the advice here, and begin to develop CreditScores.pro and FantasySports.pro

Aren't you charging for that advice? It's golden and pure and wise, I nominate you for .PRO prophet.

I still think wedding.pro is a classic, and will someday realize the inherent value that you first saw years ago when you registered it. I remember the site you started building when you still believed. I wish I had bought it from you.

I also believe that .pro will eventually be popular, but only make it into the top ten, not really a challenger to .com. It is a perfect fit with some few terms. But it's just foolishness to register keywords with high Google SERPS if they don't match well with the TLD.

People are not choosing wisely, there is a bubble mentality at work. Crtitical thinking has never been the norm, otherwise investing would be too hard! But when I see some of the dictionary words being registered that make no sense in .PRO I have to laugh.

Finally I like to see fantasysports.pro in your capable hands. I let that one drop this year, with fantasy.pro and fantasyfootball.pro. I thought long and hard about keeping the latter, but realized I'm never going to develop it, and the big players in the industry have domains they've invested mightily in already. So how to find the new challenger that needs that domain?

Opportunities are everywhere, so if you can't visualize a plan for success with a domain, let it go and let someone else that does have the vision make it happen.

 

[mjs]

My plan is to collect some dotPros and hold them 3-5 years. Could some of you professional domainer advise me and say which of my dotPro domains are good for long holding? Check my signature too. Your advises would help me to choose more suitable dotPro domains into my dotPro portfolio.

My latest dotPros:

chili
silk
chemical
furnishing
furnishings
nudist
herbal
effect
domainregister
healthfood


I wan't that :lala:

I find your question somewhat curious. Generally, it can be assumed that most domains, especially .PRO domains, will be worth more in time. That said, a few strike me as particularly ripe for development such as herbal and healthfood. I'm not that big on chili or effect, but the balance, excepting nudist, could well be developed today or held for resale. Nudist is a strong adult keyword, but I would shelf until the Registry offers a stronger statement of how it will address this genre.

 

[WordWalker]

More Pro

Latest .PRO Regs:

PayLater.pro ("pay later" financing for the internet looks like it could be huge)
Ecotourism.pro
PriceCheck.pro
PersonalComputer.pro
Barbeque.pro
HeartHealthy.pro
Tone.pro

Just a few thoughts:

I like .PRO for many of the same reasons I like .LA. For certain generic terms the domain keyword(s) combined with the TLD convey a compelling message. I agree that keywords relating to products and services are the best way to go for maximizing potential gains. Especially if you plan on developing as I do.

With .NYC and other cityTLDs looking like they'll be authorized by ICANN in the coming years, I believe .LA has an excellent chance of being caught up in the cityTLD buzz. More expensive than .PRO ($40 at Moniker), but many great keywords are still available. I don't receive any kind of compensation for .LA sales. I mention it only because I think other .PRO buyers might like it for the same reasons I do. Of course, all very speculative, but I wanted to mention it.

A few of my .LA domains:

Tattoos.LA
Dentists.LA
Printer.LA
Refinancing.LA
Shopper.LA
Discounts.LA
TalkRadio.LA

I think regional appeal is key with .LA. .PRO is not restricted in that way.


http://www.openplans.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/project-home

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-26jun08-en.htm

 

[mjs]

With .NYC and other cityTLDs looking like they'll be authorized by ICANN in the coming years, I believe .LA has an excellent chance of being caught up in the cityTLD buzz.

Although I'm thinking I have probably missed the .LA boat, your argument is fairly compelling...

 

[InvisionTech]

I like Part.pro a lot...I've had Parts.pro for a couple years and really want to develop it. My thinking was a searchable Junkyard parts directory. The few Junkyards I talked to made me realize this would be very challenging. They are mostly still in the stone age and have only a vague Idea what they have in their yards.

I wanted to ask, why didn't you register part.pro along with the plural version of it? Its a great name in both forms, IMO.

Man, I can't believe how screwed up things are at DomainPeople.com and probably same at hostway.com.

Funny how little consideration people give to any measure of quality or service when choosing a registrar. Domain investments absolutely depend on those registrars, and yet people will choose differently for a $5 savings. Wait until the service appears to work before placing your bet.

Also note that Encirca has the most kickass DNS services you're going to find in a registrar, not just in the small world of .PRO but in general. Yes, I realize the crowd here doesn't really know much about DNS but you should, since your investment depends on it, and you may be able to profit by using it more effectively. The service is just disguised behind an amazingly bad user interface. None of these new entrants even offers DNS service, and even the requisite "Edit Nameservers" functionality seems to be broken in one edge case (I've had an open ticket to fix this most basic functionality for over a week now at one of these registrars)

Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm employed by Encirca or some kind of fanboy. Their recent behavior around expiring domain names has been disgraceful at the very least. I've seen domains with expiration dates over one week apart moved to expired status within minutes of each other. Their grace deletion policy seems to be completely arbitrary as well.

My scorecard still shows Encirca as the best choice though:
1. Services offered - top of the heap
2. Reliability of registration function (even with that antique MIVA Merchant interface) - dependable
3. Trustworthiness - low

feel free to offer dissenting opinions and contrasting experiences

I agree. I think you can edit the DNS server information on those other registrars but it gives you error however the change does go through.

In addition to encirca, I think Network solutions is also a good .PRO registrar.

 

[InvisionTech]

Nearing the end of my time regging .PROs, unless something good comes along, these are the last ones:


Accessory.pro
Adapter.pro
Encoder.pro
Therapeutic.pro
Essential.pro
Supplement.pro (plural of this is already taken)
iSEO.pro ( I am not sure about this but it sounds good)

 

[IG72]

Among my list of domains in a zone "PRO", this is an ideal combination of the word and a zone - equipment.pro

 

[billinchina]

I just received an email from RegistryPro.pro that said, "Please note that submitting your professional information is necessary before your domain(s) can become active. If no professional information is submitted by 2008-12-22 03:29:47.00, this A/V will be failed, and any active domains reliant upon this A/V will become inactive after the seven day grace period."

I have two .pro domains that I registered a few years ago at Encirca. When I clicked on the link in the recent email to submit professional info, I couldn't fill in all the blanks because I do not have a professional license (I'm not a lawyer, doctor, etc). So, basically, I expect my two domains to vanish sometime in December 2008.

Are there any tips that you can provide me with? Do some of you have professional licenses to keep this from happening to you?

 

[MasterGuru]

Among my list of domains in a zone "PRO", this is an ideal combination of the word and a zone - equipment.pro

very good domain!

ps: privet, zemlyak! :hi:

 

[Ben42]

Are there any tips that you can provide me with? Do some of you have professional licenses to keep this from happening to you?

Are you incorporated or belong to a small business you can get the info from? This isn't a lock, but what I went with.

Otherwise there is a huge list of professions for my state. This may differ from state to state. In Illinois you can even be a licenced auctioneer!

http://www.idfpr.com/dpr/proflist.asp

 

[IG72]

MasterGuru, privetstvuy....

 

[Terrains]

Are there any tips that you can provide me with? Do some of you have professional licenses to keep this from happening to you?

I am licensed in new york real estate so that's what I use, but I did read on the forums that someone used their driver's license number and their state department of motor vehicles as the licensing authority. Not sure how successful he was though.