For several years, the TRAFFIC ballot has been a method of gauging popularity of blogs, venues and businesses of the domain industry.
Without getting on the popular game of ego-clashing, I have one simple question to ask: Why is Domaining.com being left out?
The single most important herald of the domain industry, it has been providing domainers with a centralized – and often, entertaining – sandbox to stay informed. It’s the brainchild of Francois Carrillo, the French entrepreneur who often communicates in not-so-perfect English but who does so with a passion that many other domainers should be striving to match.
So why is Domaining.com left out of receiving a TRAFFIC nomination?
I would hope that it’s out of pure negligence and lack of remembering all that matters in the domain industry. While alternatives like Namebee.com and quality newcomers such as Domainsville.com do exist, the footprint and importance of Domaining.com should not be disrespected like this.
After all, that’s where you most likely found a link to this article.
very well said Acro. You are spot on the money.
Excellent point, Acro. This industry would be worse off without Domaining.com and Francois.
I too agree. A few others have been overlooked as well. But Howard and I just count what comes in.
When a workshop about RSS in TRAFFIC?
Alan and David, it’s good to see others voice their opinion for the contribution of Francois to the industry.
Rick, I fully understand; not saying TRAFFIC is to blame, but how about a special award then? 😀
Frank – I appreciate Spanish humor 🙂
I agree Acro he should be up there
Agreed. Francois has worked very hard to provide us with this EXCELLENT resource for industry news and information. I visit it several times per day, and suffer withdrawal symptoms when it’s down or slow. This is the #1 news site for all domainers, and it should get credit for it at the show (or at least a favorable mention).
Acro,
Just wanted to pen my support for this article.
When Francois learns to be less greedy, and have some respect for every domainer, then you can talk. For now, his whole thing is all for himself alone. That’s my opinion. Francois is ok, but he should NOT clutter the arbitrage site with stupid self serving ads… and so forth.
Francois should certainly be recognized. The only reason he isn’t is his lack of English causes him to come across as rude. I truly believe he is not being rude but rather that his French does not translate well. He is a key to my success as a blogger and he recognizes the value of a win win situation in a business relationship. And I don’t think he really cares what TRAFFIC thinks
I was hoping that there is a way for TRAFFIC and SCHWARZ could come up with a a neutral non-profit “aggregator” for the domain industry. An individual should NOT be in charge of this thing, it should be a trade industry function.
I wanted to make one last point:
Francois, because he aggregates the blogs has been pushing hard to replace the following business with this advantage:
Estibot with Validate
Sedo with CAX
Escrow.com with eCops
TRAFFIC with some crap
I don’t care what kind of business you come up, or technology, he tried to covet it, and we are just suckers for it? We need a neutral industry aggregator.
Uzoma – I let all your comments through so that you can get an “aggregated” response: if you’re not happy with Domaining.com as a FREE service (ads support Domaining.com – you don’t) then make your own aggregator.
Shane – I often poke fun at Francois at DomainGang and even my parody posts of him don’t come forth as being rude 😉
Domaining.com has been a great success to spread the word about domain name investing and for many blogs like mine and others to be found and heard!
Great resource, hard working and smart guy that does need to be recognized for sure.
A special thanks to Theo for this unexpected post, and another to all the supporters for their kind comments which warmed my heart.
THANKS!!!
To respond to Uzoma regarding my motivation on develop domain services:
a) Like anyone I need to make a living, I did not know the domain industry was so small when I spend a fortune buying Domaining.com, nor I did not know domain advertising will be so low. So I needed to find alternate ways to generate money because I own a small domain portfolio so like most of domainers my domain parking is insignificant. Yes, I own few premium domains but to sell them at the good price I must hold, which means it’s like the lottery, wait and pray!
2) I am a developper, it’s what I love to do since I am 14. So naturally when time to make money comes I try to develop new services.
3) When I develop something it’s often because I estimate the market does not entirely offer the service I would like to have or don’t implement these features I find critical. That’s what happened with most of these services you comment.
And trust me, I contacted them for years asking for these improvements before take the step of development.
Except for Valuate.com where is a bit more complicated… I only wrap Estibot appraisals under a catchy domain and interface. It’s not a competitor but more more a source of new clients. I think I have largely contributed through all my services on place Estibot appraisals as the reference. And work with Luc and Esa on this these past years have been a pleasure.
…
I did not find any category in the TRAFFIC awards where Domaining.com could fit. Certainly sites like Estibot, DomainTools, DNForum, NamePros, DNJournal … also deserve an award for been for years the essential tools/services used daily by domainers.
Acro- HEAR HEAR!!! Best post you’ve ever made.
Absolutely an amazing “oversight” by people who like to keep all their old standards as the basis for their glory.
That facts are that Francois has done more for ALL of the blogs in this industry than any other source. So, do we attack him for trying to make a business out of communicating the domain news, and providing services that might compete with ours? Of course not. We’re all doing our game to profit — but Domaining.com is probably the #1 first source most domainers go to in order to get their news. I dare anyone to tell a lie and say they don’t go to Francois’ site or subscribe to his email at the start of their day.
@Uzoma – Oh please dude. The guy is running a business just like the rest of the “nominees” for any awards at TRAFFIC. Don’t dog him because his French doesn’t translate well into English.
If it wasn’t for Francois, most of us domain bloggers would be still scrambling to build our viewer base.
If there was an open vote page for any TRAFFIC awards where we could all nominate who we think changed, updated, promoted, and assisted the progression of our industry, I’m sure Domaining.com would up in the top 3, probably #1 in my book.
It’s ridiculously obvious that the “powers that be” at TRAFFIC intentionally left him out.
BTW – what is the link to nominate or vote for TRAFFIC awards? Acro, it would be great if you could post that.
I can’t speak for others, but being a part of Francois Carillo’s growth with Domaining.com has helped my business become more successful. I would vote for him as #1.
Great post. I’d definitely support the nomination of Domaining.com.
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that there is a perception out there (and I’m not saying that it’s correct) that many conferences are very much US-centric. As such, if you dont “do the conference circuit”, you simply won’t get nominated. That is of course unless you ask someone to nominate you.
There are sooo many great non-US domaining resources that have not been nominated. eg: Park Logic, KeyRPM (now no longer), IDN Tools and DomainerIncome of course ;-).
Perhaps this is a lesson for the community (particularly non-US domainers) to submit these resources to Howard and Rick when the time comes next year? After all, if they don’t know about them, they don’t get reviewed!
Credit should also go to Rick and Howard for doing this in the first place! It’s a business and running conferences is a pretty tough gig!
Simon
Acro,
I think you misunderstood. Francois often accidentally comes across as rude due to the poor choice of words. He really doesn’t mean to. It just took me to realize that what he is trying to say didn’t get translated very well. That and he is French which Americans never really “get” anyway
Acro
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
IMHO, There are a couple of folks who are on the list due to self nomination and ego. Some names are being put on as a joke, others for no reason other than they are someone’s boss. And there are people on there who have no real accomplishment in the area they are known for.
The list is losing cred. Maybe it’s time to turn to a nominating committee for the voting list.
I absolutely agree. Francois is not only one hell of a resource regarding domains, he is absolutely a wonderful person with great character.
It seems that I simply voiced the obvious: that Francois is a great contributor to the domain industry and he deserves a lifetime achievement award by the most prestigious of all domain conferences, TRAFFIC.
Well said Acro, I hope it gets fairer in the very near future, or else loose credibility…
Even for french domainers, François is a NECESSARY source for news. I am totally addict to domaining.com and at the momet it will nominated i will push all my readers to nominate him !
Bernard
NDX.fr
I meant *lose ……
I agree, and that is where I found the article. I read the domaining.com news every day … it’s my single top source for aggregating the best stories around the web regarding domains and should definitely not have been excluded. Way to call em out!
Look, domainers never cease to amaze me. Domaining.com is only valuable because of the great bloggers that provide their services and hard work for free to Francois. These relentless and fine bloggers are the true champions of our industry. So many of them have given up this year due to no income. It is not Francois who provides the content, it’s the domainers and bloggers, and he should realize that. Bloggers such as Shane, Elliot, Domaingang, Theo, DomainSherpa, Acro, RickSchwartz, TheDomains,Frager, DomainNameWire, NameTalent, Fusible, Neu, DannosBlog, DotWeekly, DomainIncite, TheDomains, AccidentalDomainer, Hybrid, AfternicDLS, MorganLinton, Sully, and so many others; these are the heroes that bring us to Domaining.com.
I like Francois, he is a friend of mine, and we communicate a lot privately, but I am totally against his conflict of interest when it comes to our industry. I want him to stop competing against those that are forced to publish on his aggregation site. I want him to reduce the ads he is using to clutter our bloggers message, and present a professional attitude, and the respect required, to give our industry a better outlook. I want him to stop bullying dissenters, and also to reduce the charges forced on “captive” domainers who must advertise on his site, with little results. He must also liberalize the requirements to run ads on his site. He should NOT demand that people put his logo on their sites without compensation from him. If he fails to do these things, he should not be nominated for nothing, and I will press ahead to have Schwartz provide a neutral non-profit American domain arbitrageur.
Uzoma – I’ve a simple question to make: why should an entrepreneur be forced to do anything against their vision?
Sure, I write content here and on DomainGang.com for which I choose to either provide it for free or compensate via the placement of ads.
But it’s a capitalist world and so far the Domaining.com model works: traffic speaks for itself.
As I mentioned, one can use Namebee or Domainsville if all they want is to aggregate news. What Francois has done goes beyond pure aggregation, it’s a fellowship.
For that alone, he should be congratulated because it’s an achievement based on pure numbers; and as Rick Schwartz says, numbers don’t lie.
Uzoma:
We are not and never will be friends.
And remember you are under the radar, so double check what you write publicly…
Thanks again for your support.
Francois, keep up the good work even if they dont recognize you well enough for your efforts. You know you are one of the best few out there in domaining industry 😉
Well said Acro and highly needed. Uzoma appears to have voted for Obama and if he can make a better platform with a better domain name than Francois’ then he should do it so he can force the rules he is wanting implied. I have learned a lot from Francois both indirectly and via personal emails. He is a strong core in the industry that should be recognised in which I can depend on everyday to get the news that he deems important in which I generally concur with 90% of the time.
@Uzoma – Whether or not Francois uses Domaining.com for “charity” to the industry or to make a profit is beside the point. Francois did not have a great social start with Domaining.com but he has come a LONG WAY throughout the years, in my opinion, ultimately earning mine and other’s respect. The Domaining.com/Blogger dynamic is not dependent solely on one or the other; it is a relationship. To make it seem that everyone else in the domain industry has the right to earn a profit off their investment beside Domaining.com is wrong, in my opinion.
The fact is public domain news and opinion WAS hard to come by before Domaining.com. Domaining.com helped bring that to the forefront of our every day lives and ultimately to people who never even heard of the domain industry. Before that we had to weed through forums or visit 20 different websites.
“Domaining.com is only valuable because of the great bloggers that provide their services and hard work for free to Francois.”
I don’t see it this way. Domaining.com forwards content to the website (without opening a new window, without putting it in a frame and without republishing our content on his site) therefore it acts more like a stage. It is a mutually benefiting relationship that I for one appreciate.
Francois,
This is not about personalities and ego. There’s no need for your threats. That is exactly one of my complains about you.
After all I paid you for life membership a few months ago, and because I criticized you here, you unilaterally canceled my membership, and did NOT refund my money. In the USA here, that is a tortuous act, and because you are in France, you feel you can bully me. I have news for, we are Americans here, we are fair and do not fear bullies like you. All I did was criticize your conflict of interests, I didn’t even mention the fact that you took money from me, and refuse to render the service. Thanks for your threats. I knew it’s not easy to criticize you because you monopolize much of the data in the industry, however, I’m willing to suffer to get to the truth. That’s my nature. I will never say anything false about you, don’t worry.
Uzoma is it a hobby of yours to attack anyone and everyone ?
That rant on elliots blog is something i still remember.. So Elliot does some digging looks ahead and hand regs a few domains. And you make a dozen comments how Elliot is not spilling the beans while every domainer knows to anticipate..
You call Francois a friend and you flame on. And this anti american thing you pull here isn’t gonna fly.
Seems to me you got some shitty domains and thought you get rich real quick and now that is not the case you lash out.
Francois has some usefull products doesn’t mean he holds the holy grail. Neither does Elliot but any info they release is just info how you use it or not use it is up to you… Everyone and anyone has their own strategy. Be glad this all this info is available.. Simple as that.
I read the information, i draw my own plan. So far it is working for me. To me domaining and EB and all these other blogs provide me with info on how they work. Often i disagree , sometimes i pickup usefull info …. info that is for free…. You don’t like it tough luck.
For the record, I’m not that Theo above 😀
“It’s ridiculously obvious that the “powers that be” at TRAFFIC intentionally left him out.”
Stephen Douglas, Shove it up your ASS. With all the comments, why did YOU not nominate him?? Or anyone here? We just LIST folks and it has NOTHING to do with who we like. PERIOD!
So stop being a LIAR and making things up and then spreading your LIES around. And NO, I don’t want to connect with YOU in Linked in or anywhere else! EVER!
Francois DESERVES to be nominated imo. But that is not the JOB that Howard and I do. That is YOUR job BIG MOUTH! But you FAILED and then tried to pin it in us?? Go fuck yourself and stop telling folks you are a friend of mine. I would not give you the time of day before this let alone after.