As you probably read on TechCrunch or the same article in the Washington Post, Apple recently won a UDRP filing for 16 domain names owned by Daniel Bijan.  The domain names that they were awarded include: blueipod.com, iphonecheap.com, iphonetoys.com, ipodaccessories.info, ipodkits.com, ipodsbaratos.com, macbookpro.biz, macbookpro.com, macbookpro.net, macbookpro.org, macfriend.com, and redipods.com. Clearly these domain names incorporated trademarks owned by Apple.

In a video posted today on YouTube (embedded below), Bijan doesn’t dispute the fact that Apple has rights to these domain names. In the video’s description, Bijan writes, “Apple hurts me, my wife and 3 kids. Not once did they contact me or send a cease and decist letter. I would have gladly gave them the names. Instead, they just start the arbitration process. This is what is wrong with corporations today. Just pick up the phone and call me.” Bijan continues, “What is wrong with this world. Did we forget to treat people like human beings? I will not buy any Apple products.”

Although I can empathize with Bijan a bit because I would be horrified to see my name in a similar article, I have to say that it comes with the territory when you buy domain names like this. Sure it sucks to be called out publicly, especially because anyone who searches for this guy’s name will probably forever see these two articles, however, one needs to be mindful of one’s domain registrations.

When I worked in the corporate world, there was always a saying that went something like “never send out an email that you would be embarrassed to see on the front page of the New York Times.” Likewise, I would advise people to be cautious about what domain names to which they may forever be linked.

Do you feel badly for the guy, or did he get what he deserved?

I want to offer you two separate development tips today, although they aren’t exactly related to each other. I have had very good luck with DogWalker.com, a site which now boasts somewhere around 80 paid/paying customers. As more and more companies signed up, I began to seek ways to scale this model.  $10-20k/annually is great revenue for a website like this, but it’s not exactly enough for someone to do full time – even if it grows at a 15% clip.

I thought about different ways to scale, and one idea I had was to acquire another domain name in a similar vertical. I wouldn’t want to cannibalize my listings by marketing a product that was too similar, yet I would want to offer something that was different, enabling me to have a cross-marketing opportunity. I sought out quite a number of names, and most owners were asking for more than I would be willing to pay – even knowing that the model would work. I finally came across CatSitter.com, and made the acquisition.

CatSitter.com will be a great complementary website, and it is going to make money. Not only does it get traffic (had 19 visits yesterday), but many companies that offer dog walking also offer cat sitting services and/or cat boarding. I also paid much less for CatSitter.com, and I can use the same platform as DogWalker.com, lowering my development costs. I can then pass the savings along to customers, in the form of a cross-marketing discount.

One of the smartest things I did after launching DogWalker.com was contact several large organizations and franchises to seek their assistance marketing to members/franchisees, and the largest pet care company agreed to do so. The result of this was that I have about 18 listings from one company’s franchisees throughout the US, and more franchisees sign up each day.  Many of these franchisees offer cat sitting services, and I already have commitments from paying customers on DogWalker.com who are waiting to pay for a CatSitter.com listing when the site goes live.

The second development tip I have today is somewhat unrelated, but it’s important. Despite the fact that CatSitter.com is making a bit of money at Parked, I have taken the parked page down and put a search engine optimized coming soon page up. I anticipate launching the site very soon, but I want the visitors to know there is something better coming. I stupidly forgot to do this several days ago, but it will be going up shortly.

Not only will this be used for lead generation in the meantime, it will also be used to show Google/Bing that something is coming after being parked for 8 years. When I did this with DogWalker.com for 3 weeks, I had 3 inquiries (plus 3 or 4 sale inquiries), and the site launched as a PR1.  Although there will be less time in between the coming soon page and the site for CatSitter.com than there was for DogWalker.com, it’s still something I am going to do and would advise you to do.

Well, that’s it for me for today. Hope these tips were helpful!

I am headed down to Park Slope, Brooklyn today to meet with the buyer of ParkSlope.com. He suggested a sushi restaurant, and I have no idea how to get there, but fortunately there’s a handy website that will map my voyage using New York City’s public transportation.

HopStop.com is a great tool for people who use the subway system in New York City, and it looks like the website is expanding to other metropolitan areas. There’s only one problem – I can never remember if the website is called HopStop.com or StopHop.com. Judging by the traffic the typo parked page receives (Compete says over 1,000 visitors/month), I am not alone with this problem.

There are a lot of factors to consider when buying a domain name on which you plan to build a brand. Consumer confusion is one of those things. Buying spelling typo domain names may not be enough. Think about all of the ways people may butcher your domain name, and buy those potential typos as well.

1,000 lost visitors a month might not be much when your site receives close to half a million visits, but I am sure the 12,000 visitors a year are well worth the $8.00 annual renewal fee.