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.

 

[webdomain]

I'll try and promote a little. This was interesting flippa auction on reboot.pro, hasn't hit the reserve but somebody offered 10K for it.

No real revenue reported, but the traffic stats are impressive which is why it probably got the good starting offer.

 

[JoeBiz]

That is an urban legend, dot pro works for SEO exactly as any other gTLD (com, net, org, biz, travel, etc) or ccgTLD (cc, tv, ws, etc).

Absolutely.

As far as I'm concerned the problems are lack of patience on our part and the lack of promotion and marketing by Registry.pro and now by Afilias. So far marketing has been non-existent. If you scan back a page or so you'll see a post I made that outlined Afilias' marketing plan. Considering that's what Afilias does ... rejuvenate extensions ... I feel pretty good about it.

I believe now's the time to ease off of selling efforts (nothing but frustration) and keep a close eye on Afilias for the rest of the year.


8^X

---------- Post added at 11:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 AM ----------

I do not understand why many of us are spending good money on Pros at auctions before checking out the Pro portfolios right here under our noses. I cringe every time I see people post about winning a Pro for $2000.

Everyone benefits if you check to see what's in the neighborhood before you head off for the Big City auctions.

:P

 

[PNW]

---------- Post added at 11:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 AM ----------

I do not understand why many of us are spending good money on Pros at auctions before checking out the Pro portfolios right here under our noses. I cringe every time I see people post about winning a Pro for $2000.

Everyone benefits if you check to see what's in the neighborhood before you head off for the Big City auctions.

:P

Maybe the many = many of the few involved here with this extension.

There have been only two significant .PRO neighborhood sales I can remember and these were 3+ years ago:
http://www.namepros.com/domains-for-sale-fixed-price/526048-pro_forsale-king-pro-forsale-pro.html and http://www.namepros.com/540042-33-pro-on-auction-6.html

There are very few (if any and few is the keyword here) members spending any amount on the .PRO extension in the neighborhood. Now, if someone values their time at pennies per hour, prices their names at or below regfee or even slightly above and their names are considered good/decent then there might be a sale.

I'm not sure how to articulate my beef w/ the idea of "everyone benefits" when x and/or y happens. If there is a decent return on investment and time at least one person benefits besides the registrar.

As far as I'm concerned the problems are lack of patience on our part and the lack of promotion and marketing by Registry.pro and now by Afilias. So far marketing has been non-existent. If you scan back a page or so you'll see a post I made that outlined Afilias' marketing plan. Considering that's what Afilias does ... rejuvenate extensions ... I feel pretty good about it.

I believe now's the time to ease off of selling efforts (nothing but frustration) and keep a close eye on Afilias for the rest of the year.


8^X

If there is true confidence in the extension there should be no waiting game / no need to be dependent on what Afilias does or does not do.

 

[JoeBiz]

If there is true confidence in the extension there should be no waiting game / no need to be dependent on what Afilias does or does not do.

Really. Pro is going to grow without any promotion by Afilias. It's just a matter of confidence, like dot CO. They would have sold millions with or without the marketing. ......... Well you got me. April Fools back at ya!!

If the rest of your portfolio looks anything like the Pros in your signature, that's a problem. But if you have true confidence in the extension, what are you waiting for? Why are you holding onto those Pros? The only possible answer is that you invested in an extension in which you have no true confidence. Why did you do that?

8^X

 

[PNW]

Really. Pro is going to grow without any promotion by Afilias. It's just a matter of confidence, like dot CO. They would have sold millions with or without the marketing. ......... Well you got me. April Fools back at ya!!

If the rest of your portfolio looks anything like the Pros in your signature, that's a problem. But if you have true confidence in the extension, what are you waiting for? Why are you holding onto those Pros? The only possible answer is that you invested in an extension in which you have no true confidence. Why did you do that?

8^X

"As far as I'm concerned the problems are lack of patience on our part and the lack of promotion and marketing by Registry.pro and now by Afilias."..."I believe now's the time to ease off of selling efforts (nothing but frustration) and keep a close eye on Afilias for the rest of the year." That is a contradiction to me and I stand by what I said.

I'm having less and less tolerance for this kind of BS. When you only have one possible answer you have blinders on.

I have generated good returns with .PRO names. The keywords were relevant and the end users found value enough to justify acquiring them. Since my sales volume is much lower than other extensions my confidence is not nearly as high. For instance I'd never come close to paying what I paid for your Aircraft name in .PRO. Which btw is the last name I buy from you.

The names in my sig are great keywords for certain businesses. That is the extent of my .pro holdings at this point. FYI I traded one of those keywords in .biz for $2000 worth of product; they were not interested at all in the .PRO.

I feel the same here:

...mainly been kept alive by nitro, defibrillators and BS sales reports. Oh, and denial which some of you know can be a real MFr to accept.

 

[JoeBiz]

I think that I said earlier that if you look back at my posts on this page and beyond you'll find nothing but positive comments. And I didn't pull those comments out of thin air or disinterest. I spend a great deal of time following Pro news and blogs. I also spend a Fortune on renewals because I own just a tad more than you seem to. And I purchased ProSites in an effort to promote Pros. I lived Pros 24/7 for at least two years. Now I have to make some steady money to prepare for retirement. I'm guessing that you're not in that situation.

If you're going to let the opinions of other Pro owners put you in Red Alert mode, you're not going to live very long. That's been a problem for me to this point. Sorry if I didn't address some of your comments above but I just skimmed your post. No offense but I've been reading Pro opinions for so long now that I usually just ignore them.

Have a good week Mr. A. :loveyou:

 

[mwzd]

Thanks for all the info and assistance people have provided by pm.

I've sent table.pro to auction at sedo, closes in 5 days or so.

It's worth many multiples of the current offer, but bills need to be paid, so...

 

[webdomain]

table.pro

great 2K initial offer!! congrats and hope it heads higher.

 

[mwzd]

The initial offer was $1k, this is the final offer.

I think the domain is worth $10k at the very least, the .com sold for $260,000 in 2007.

It's one of my top 5 .pros.

 

[JoeBiz]

Good luck with it. It's a great name. Sure would be nice to stir up a second bidder. Need to hunt up a Table convention!!

 

[Ben42]

Wow and Sail.pro is going for only $220 with under an hour to go. I guess I just choose poorly! lol

11-09-2011 Purchased for $75
Site Design: $500
Hosting for 18 months $100
Featured Auction: $70
Complete auction fee: $11
Time invested: Lots.
Total: $756
=============
Sold for $220
Ad Revenue: $20

Profit: -$516

GOOD RIDDANCE

Where's Microguy!? lol

 

[PolishGuy]

Sorry that I don't read all the 146 pages. How come you are able to register all those generic .pro domains? I thought the extension was available only for licensed professionals - that's what the registry website says. Can I just register a random name without any papers stating that I belong to a licensed profession?

 

[gkjunior]

phonemarket.com 180,000 USD


Sail.pro 220 USD

is it just me or does the above just not make sense ?

 

[mwzd]

I'd never put a domain of that quality (sail) up for auction without a reserve, too risky with an extension like .pro - though I've sent one to auction much lower than what I'd expect too.

.COM is the undisputed king, but alternative tlds are getting there and .pro is among the best in a brand sense, at least imho.

Just need a few to break into the first page of google for an important terms, then see the prices going north, fast.

 

[webdomain]

mwzd, I agree with you that a first page rank on a .pro under a major keyword would be killer promotion and good for the site owner I might add. It certainly can be done.

 

[terol]

Good luck with Table.pro, mwzd! :wave:

 

[Ben42]

Best of luck to the buyer of sail (Has posted here a few times), he got a great deal!

 

[webdomain]

The market has to really heat up to get competitive bidding on .pro domains outside of the 3 letter auctions that attract enough .pro buyers to start some good bidding wars. I think the extension is certainly headed towards becoming a popular well known extension which really is the good news for current holders..

 

[PolishGuy]

I think the extension is certainly headed towards becoming a popular well known extension

It certainly doesn't help when you read that you need to be licensed professional to buy .pro.

 

[Edward Smeu]

PolishGuy, there is already a helpful talk regarding this issue a few pages earlier,please read.

I just practically stole Broadband and WebHost in the professional extension . Can't believe names like these sell for peanuts.