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.

 

[akcampbell]

I list my domains, click an "N" against a .pro in the Unlock column, that brings up a modify domain box with where you can set an auth code, a drop down box with a Y and N in for locking and unlocking, and WHOIS, and nameserver information. I change the N to a Y so the domain is unlocked, add an auth code, then click Continue.

 

[sky]

I list my domains, click an "N" against a .pro in the Unlock column, that brings up a modify domain box with where you can set an auth code, a drop down box with a Y and N in for locking and unlocking, and WHOIS, and nameserver information. I change the N to a Y so the domain is unlocked, add an auth code, then click Continue.

What did you add for the SMS country, and phone #? The only country choice from the pulldown was U.K. and I'm not sure if they'd recognize the phone number without some international prefix for the USA. I.E. I'm not sure if 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx works.

 

[akcampbell]

I can't remember, I just put in my UK details. Put in what you can, you get an opportunity to overwrite the details if I recall correctly at a later stage.

 

[sky]

Good idea. You might also consider dropping the whole lot and moving to another extension. I'm hearing some good things about .ME and .TEL. IMO.

I may change my focus for domain name investment going forward to other TLDs (which I'm not buying new domains much now), but there's no damned way I'm dropping the .PRO extension,because I have the *perfect* names for some sites I'm developing that will be very very nice and will drive traffic based on content, this I know... the services will be in demand and the name is the perfect business front.

I got into the pro thing before the 2nd landrush and mined hard for some good names. I have 10 names I ain't parting with no matter what. $17/yr to renew... I can afford that.

But I also have GOT2BE.ME Problem with me is that it's picked over pretty good, so I don't know how to profit off of what's left. But I keep my eyes open. I've got some 'good' .COM (not many, and not *fantastic*, but good). I'm totally open to cultivating other domains. But my keeper pro's are perfect the businesses I want to bring up.

I can't remember, I just put in my UK details. Put in what you can, you get an opportunity to overwrite the details if I recall correctly at a later stage.

There's no way past this screen when creating an account, and it doesn't look like it's working right for overseas. There was no one answering the phone there, so I sent them an e-mail.

I'll let you know what the situation is... probably different for you because you're in the UK. The problem is, their system doesn't seem to send the SMS text message that has the code I'm supposed to respond to in order to create the new account.

But I'm not in a rush. Renewal is 6 months away at least for my .PROs

 

[akcampbell]

The December 2008 .pro Registry Operator Report is out. I have updated the stats on Total.pro. I have also added my first blog titled "Cinderella and the Chocolate Teapot".

 

[Kuli]

Just sold a domain

Hi there,

I just sold cool.pro for 1800 Euros. I didn't want to sell it first, but they really wanted it, so we agreed on it.

Just for your information...

Greetings,
Kuli

 

[siga]

Congrats Kuli,
BTW did anyone see the final price for Gulf(dot)pro?
Has anyone come across any .pro s being advertised in the media? Thought I saw one a couple of weeks ago it was a fleeting view at a digital board at a 6 Nations rugby game. Nike.Pro, they own Nikepro.com also so cant substantiate this unfortunately.

Andrew just been checking out Total.Pro great must be the definitive pro resource thanks for providing this. I'd rep you but Not allowed to.

 

[akcampbell]

Andrew just been checking out Total.Pro great must be the definitive pro resource thanks for providing this. I'd rep you but Not allowed to.

Thanks, I don't think it's the definitive .pro resource yet but that's my long term goal.

Kuli, Cool.pro is a very nice sale at 1,800 Euros. Was this through Sedo?

Gulf.pro sold for the initial $8,000 bid as far as I know.

 

[mwzd]

I just sold cool.pro for 1800 Euros.

Exceptional sale.

Well done.

:tu:

 

[Kuli]

Thanks for the congratulations!

Was this through Sedo?

No, the buyer phoned me directly and asked for a price. I didn't list it for sale, so I had to think about it first. We then sent us a contract, and the buyer paid me directly.

The funny thing is, the buyer is living here in Berlin as so do I. :gl:

-Kuli

 

[akcampbell]

Hi Kuli, Cool.pro is still in your name in the WHOIS? Let me know when it updates, I'd like to do some email interviews with people who buy .pros for Total.pro, eg. Cool.pro and Gulf.pro, to find out how they found out about .pro, what they like about it, and what plans they have for the domains.

 

[MicroGuy]

I just sold cool.pro for 1800 Euros. I didn't want to sell it first, but they really wanted it, so we agreed on it.

Miraculous sale. Congratulations. :kickass:

 

[akcampbell]

Great article about Cool.com. Tim Lee turned down $8m cash plus $30m of stock options for it.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-106593.html

 

[namewaiter]

Thanks, I don't think it's the definitive .pro resource yet but that's my long term goal.

Kuli, Cool.pro is a very nice sale at 1,800 Euros. Was this through Sedo?

nice work on total.pro ... & kuli - congrats on the sale!

 

[steveteva]

I don't know if my faith in dot pro is gone or the end user trying to trick me.
I send a email to a business owner (end users) about my domain for sale a dot pro. Same name in dot com sold for $100 000, dot net $45 000.

Here is his answer:
No one wants a .Pro domain. That Domain is Useless to any ----- Store or Dealer. It still wouldn't rank high because it isn't a .com.

Did you really think you were going to get serious money for a domain like this? You could get more money from this doman veryverylongdomainname.com just because of the .com.

So it's like everyone have a dot pro worth nothing.

 

[akcampbell]

You tried to sell a kobe steak to Hamburglar. Did you ring that guy up or put a call out on a CB radio?

 

[sky]

I don't know if my faith in dot pro is gone or the end user trying to trick me.
I send a email to a business owner (end users) about my domain for sale a dot pro. Same name in dot com sold for $100 000, dot net $45 000.

Here is his answer:
No one wants a .Pro domain. That Domain is Useless to any ----- Store or Dealer. It still wouldn't rank high because it isn't a .com.

Did you really think you were going to get serious money for a domain like this? You could get more money from this doman veryverylongdomainname.com just because of the .com.

So it's like everyone have a dot pro worth nothing.

How can you say pro isn't worth it? I have some really nice .pro names that are key word based, that sound really classy as a 'store front' for a site for development.
From the standpoint of putting a great domain name in front of a business a good single keyword .PRO is better than a crappy .COM.

For example, I have 'survival.pro', and that's not even one of my best ones (at least from the standpoint of search term relevance and/or topics of interest for the sites I want to develop). But I'd rather have that for parking or a mini-site on survival related things than 'LookingOutForNumberOne.com'

 

[Terrains]

LookingOutForNumberOne.com is taken =]

Love Total.Pro

Congrats on Gulf.Pro and Cool.Pro sales!

 

[Soofi]

Great article about Cool.com. Tim Lee turned down $8m cash plus $30m of stock options for it.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-106593.html

Is he like nuts for turning down an offer worth $38 mil? :sold:

 

[akcampbell]

But I'd rather have that for parking or a mini-site on survival related things than 'LookingOutForNumberOne.com'

Brands are invariably very short;

Intel
Apple
Dell
Pepsi
Nokia
BMW
IBM
Visa
Cisco
Tesco
Yahoo
Google
eBay
Canon
Nike
Orange

Anything longer than YouTube or FaceBook and it starts to hurt. With .com you are combining a keyword with a strong .com brand, effectively trading off another brand, with .pro the extension becomes part of the brand.

As soon as you get beyond type in traffic and with .com that is very close to the tip of the 77m registration iceberg, the only thing that supports a domain is brandability and wow factor.

.me has it for verbs, .tv has it for media related keywords, but .pro has it across multiple keyword types; sport, business, technology, hobbies, software.