Last year you may have noticed I published some of my interviews on DSAD.com.  I’ve always enjoyed Shane’s blog and he’s always been one of my favorites to follow.  Quite a few years back, we talked about collaborating on project but I had just gotten involved in another project with a guy that eventually became a good friend and mentor, Brian Null.  I was pretty happy when the opportunity came up to be a part of DSAD last year and jumped at the chance.

I plan to continue being a part of the DSAD team and regularly publish articles interviewing some of the businesses run on the best domains in existence.  I want to talk with the leaders behind the gLTDs and what their strategic plans are.  I will continue to tap into the industry veterans and share their vision, experiences and predictions.

That said, I thought it would be fun to recap what I contributed last year and let you all know that I am setting the bar much, much higher this year.  So consider what follows as a benchmark that I expect to far exceed this year.  Few things bring me as much pleasure as tapping into experts and sharing what they have to teach us all.  I’ll still be posting here, but probably focusing most of my interviews over at DSAD.com.

My first 10 Interviews at DSAD

Macit Tuna of Dofo.com – Domain Info and Branding a Startup

I had been emailing back and forth with Macit for quite a while and the timing seemed right for an interview.   There was a new upgrade at Dofo and I had just joined DSAD.  You might recognize the domain name if you are a long time domainer and a follower of Domaining.com.  Francois owned the name and sold it for $30,000 to its current owners.  It’s fun to watch a familiar domain go through its lifecycle.

Help.com – From HostGator Customer Service to CEO in 3 Years

I’ll be 100% honest.  I loved this interview.  I reached out to the CEO of Help.com for an interview and I was surprised to learn he was the former CEO of HostGator.com.  Not only that but he started as a customer service rep and with in three years was CEO.  There are lessons to be learned her and Adam Farrar is the teacher.  Help.com is a bad-ass four letter generic domain with a business run by an equally bad-ass CEO.

GuitarLessons.org to the tune of 100,000 monthly visitors

I’m not sure why there is this perception that I have a thing for awesome keyword, generic domain names.  Alright, it’s because it’s totally true.  This interview with John Holloway had me pumped!  John has had experience with other great domain name businesses and decided to build an affiliate site on GuitarLessons.org as a side project.  The traffic numbers alone on this dot org name had me in a state of euphoria.  This is the type of domain name that makes. your side project a business.

Parkour.com – Sully gets the jump on Adam Dunlap, Founder

My Parkour days are behind me.  So far behind me that they never existed.  If you are not familiar with Parkour, it is amazing what these guys and girls can do.  It’s like self taught stunt people running around in public.  Read the article with the somewhat controvercial Adam Dunlap, Founder of Parkour.com and then spend the rest of your day following a YouTube maze featuring some of the wildest stuff you have ever seen.

DataRecovery.com – The $1.66 million was worth it

Go Big or Go Home, that’s what I always say.  Actually, I don’t think I ever say that, but that’s what Ben Carmitchel did when he purchase this domain name and decided to rebrand the entire company.  The keyword domain name brought in more direct traffic than a $10,000 monthly AdWords budget.

Why a Brandable Name Over a Keyword Domain for Your Business?

This article was a departure from my normal, generic, keyword domain interviews.  I asked a few brand able domain owners why they chose the names they did over keyword domain names.  Interesting perspectives from these owners and I respect their choices for their businesses.  There are plenty of businesses running on successful brand able names.  I’m still a fan of the keyword domains, though.

If you were looking for legal advice, what would you type in?

Fair question, right?  I spoke with David Reischer, an attorney and CEO at LegalAdvice.com.  His brother actually landed the name and David helped set a new direction for the company by leveraging it.  It’s an interesting story with a great domain name.

Drillers.com – Monthly traffic growth of a few thousand to over 30,000 in 2 Years

Domains know no industry bounds.  Everything from hight-tech to, in this case, the oil and drilling industry. Dave Taylor and Jason Lavis talk about building traffic 10 fold in just a couple of years.  My favorite quote from this interview is when Jason states, “If someone wanted to replicate what we’ve done over the last 20 years from scratch, who know what that would cost?”

Cheekd.com – Doubts have only fueled me to strive even harder for success…

This interview had at least one reader fired up as he made clear in the comments.  Not a fan of brandable domains, the reader gave his perspective.  I think the name is not bad, the app is a great idea but doesn’t seemed to have gotten any traction.  Time will tell if this one will be around in the long run or retooled for anther business.

Acquiring User.com was strategic, the price was a steal

Touted as is an all-in-one marketing automation platform aimed at boosting customers engagement and conversion, User.com is nothing less than a fantastic domain name.  Short, descriptive, a dot come.  Love it.  It provides an easy to use set of tools for marketing, sales and support.  There is a free tier which is something I love to see in any business offering.