Resident Tourist » geo

Finding an Affiliate Program for Travel

Jason — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:48:38 +0000

At the GeoDomain Expo a couple weeks ago, I found myself sitting down with a representative from Booking.com over lunch. They’re big in Europe covering all the large hotels and the smaller independent ones (i.e. the long-tail). I’ve got a solid collection of undeveloped travel names now and it’s time I rolled-up my sleeves and get them built. Yesterday, I applied to their affiliate program and hope to be in contact with them early next week.

I’m still looking for Wordpress magazine and news themes for inspiration, but I’m closing in on a couple. One thing I look for in any travel affliate partner is the availablity of content and the ability to do deep linking in their booking engine. Not only do I want a booking widget to paste into my Wordpress theme, but listings as well that appear under my own domain.

Having that content on your own domain, gets you a little further along than being just a thin affiliate and allows you to get traction with Google with a greater variety of keywords. Also, the deep linking into their site would give me the ability to send users to more targeted areas such as individual and geographically targeted hotel listings and that should increase conversions.

I’m off to watch the daily domain drop over on GoDrops.com… Stay tuned here for more development updates!

Developing My Most Expensive Domain

Jason — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:55:42 +0000

This is going to be the start of a series of posts describing how I go about developing my most expensive domain so far for 2009. The name is ExploreHungary.com and it set me back a cool $25.00 at Snapnames recently.

For me, this is as near premium for geo/travel without having the exact city or generic “travel” keyword domain. Early last year I purchased a related name for over $600, but I think this one is better, not because it cost 25x LESS, but because it’s more catchy and feels more active. The other name is HungaryGuide.com, by the way…

So, to get this site up and running, first you’ll need an HTML template or CMS theme. Since I do everything in Wordpress, what follows is how I find suitable Wordpress themes.

Choosing a Theme

The way I keep track of new themes is by reading ThemeTracker.com daily. This is a site that I run and it helps me keep on top of the latest theme releases by the most popular Wordpress theme authors.

WebLogToolsCollection.com is another place to get more releases, but these vary in quality wildly from day to day. Another way to find themes of course, is to turn to Google. A search for Wordpress themes reveals these recent lists from WpHacks.com, SoothBrush.com, WpZoom.com, another at Wpzoom.com and RiteTurnOnly.com,

From all these sources, I’ve compiled a short-list of FREE themes that I feel are worth testing out for my new travel site, ExploreHungary.com:

Mimbo from Darren Hoyt
Magazine Basic Free from Tinker Priest Media
Indomagz Magazine from MagzNetwork Blog Design
Magazine from RichWP

There are, of course, premium themes and they do look better. But, I’m on a very tight budget. For next installment, I’ll have a working theme up and running with some “travel” content.

Stay Tuned!

Domains Added to the GeoDomains Extended Auction

Jason — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:09:11 +0000

I received an email today that one of my domains submitted to the GeoDomains auction will be a Featured Domain for the next 6 days until auction’s end. BeverlyHillsGifts.com didn’t appear in the original auction, but based on the email from Aftermarket.com, I expect it to be added to their GeoDomain Expo auction list tomorrow.

Elliot just blogged about some other names being added. Anyone else get an email from Aftermarket.com?

BeveryHillsGifts.com will be listed at ZERO reserve. Check the auction list often to see if it’s been included to bid.

GeoDomain Expo Recap

Jason — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:30:50 +0000

Andrew from Domain Name Wire and Elliot from Elliot’s Blog have weighed in on the GeoDomain Expo, now it’s GoDrops’ turn!

This was my first domain conference, so I had really little to go on other than being familiar with a few of the personalities on the various panels. Setting up GeoRevolution.com was a good idea and made a great ice-breaker during the expo.

The first person I met very early before the first breakfast on Lexington.net. He had a novel business card with the question “Lexington.net – Should I Develop?” printed boldly on the front. By the end of the expo, I had met and spoken with owners of City dot Coms, pattern collectors of long-tail GEOs, solutions providers, parking companies, major personalities, and so on. Very positive and friendly atmosphere!

If I could sum it all up in one word, that word would be “Partnerships“. Building a business relies on establishing partnerships, but these times call for being more creative. Partnering with journalists who’ve recently been let go or forced into retirement, partnering with other domainers who happen to have been grabbing the same kinds of domains you’ve been collecting, and how to partner with brick-and-mortar hotels, local businesses and even national advertising channels — just to name a few.

The most important messages delivered by guest speakers and members of the Association were: move out of your comfort zone, be creative, take risks, bet on yourself, in short, if you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit, NOW is the time to engage it. Times of turmoil like these are leaving a lot of people guessing and more receptive to trying new ideas. There was a lot of talk about the current window-of-opportunity and how it won’t last forever. Old media will regroup for a comeback next year…

See You At The GeoDomain Expo!

Jason — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:31:01 +0000

Wish me luck getting down there tomorrow! Don’t worry if I end up on the side of the road, the GoDrops scanners will still be plugging away for drop-time. Maybe I can get a projection screen and have a 10 foot tall Live Chat + Drop tomorrow =)

The Daily Drop will occur during the “Dailies: They’re gone, now what?” session. That’s where I’ll be. I will check in to see how the drop is going, though. On Saturday during Drop Time is “Travel industry Tips and Tricks“. I’ll be sitting firm in on that as well…

See You There!

GeoRevolution is Live!

Jason — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:22:38 +0000

I’ve finally stood up GeoRevolution.com in time for the GeoDomain Expo in San Diego that starts tomorrow. If you’re attending then I encourage you to Sign Up to have your tweets aggregated at the site. Also, during the event, I’ll have a live chat working so people at home and participate in any goings-on.

So, to find out what’s happening at the GeoDomain Expo, check out http://georevolution.com! The festivities start tomorrow evening, but I’ll be getting there just in time for Friday’s breakfast.

Anyone Going to GeoDomains in San Diegeo?

Jason — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:14:42 +0000

I’m seriously thinking about going as it’s literally just down the road from me. Looks like the who’s who will be there and lots of good topics scheduled… Anywho, If anyone is going give a shout-out here… maybe GoDrops.com can have a Birds-of-a-Feather meeting down there over some ale… =D

Resident Tourist » geo

Finding an Affiliate Program for Travel

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Developing My Most Expensive Domain

Choosing a Theme

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Domains Added to the GeoDomains Extended Auction

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GeoDomain Expo Recap

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See You At The GeoDomain Expo!

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GeoRevolution is Live!

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