First Trustwave Incentive Winner! plus 1 more

---

First Trustwave Incentive Winner! Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:43 AM PDT Remember the Trustwave SSL incentive program we have running in August and September? Well, we have our first surprise winner to announce today. Erin Marbut of DesignScopes, LLC sold a Trustwave SSL certificate in August and won a $50 Amazon gift card courtesy Trustwave and OpenSRS. DesignScopes is based in Georgia and provides web design and development services. Congratulations to Erin and good luck to everyone else! We’ll have more winners throughout August and September, and everyone who sells a Trustwave SSL certificate is entered into the drawing for an Apple iPad 2. All the details can be found here.

OpenSRS Video Production Service Posted: 16 Aug 2011 01:47 PM PDT Last week at HostingCon we introduced our new Video Production Service, which allows our resellers to create affordable, professional-quality videos through Tucows’ video production division, Butterscotch. Since 2008, Butterscotch has specialized in video tutorials for everything related to the mobile lifestyle: apps, social media, mobile devices, and more, and has produced video for clients such as eBay, VeriSign, and Hover. The idea for this new service stemmed from several requests from resellers looking for video content solutions for everything from how-to training videos for their hosting control panels, to company branding and promotional videos. With OpenSRS Video Production Service, our resellers are now able to work with Butterscotch to create a series of one-minute videos. This is a cost-effective way to produce a series of how-to tutorials to reduce support costs, or promotional videos to showcase a new service. Video packages include full script development, professional voiceover, visual elements, and more, at just a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay at a traditional production house. Whether you’re interested in a standard video package or a more custom solution, video production doesn’t have to be expensive. Talk to us about your needs and get a quote for your package on the Video Production Service page.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

OpenSRS and Parallels Announce Alliance plus 3 more

---

• OpenSRS and Parallels Announce Alliance
• HC2011: This Mobile Moment
• HC2011: Impact of New TLDs on Hosting Companies
• HostingCon 2011 Starts Today

OpenSRS and Parallels Announce Alliance Posted: 09 Aug 2011 07:27 AM PDT This morning at HostingCon 2011, OpenSRS and Parallels announced a new partnership that will help Parallels and OpenSRS customers better serve their users with the web services and tools they need to effectively compete and grow. Direct Integration in Parallels PBA, PBAS and Parallels Plesk The net result of this new partnership is that OpenSRS will have a direct integration with Parallels Business Automation, Parallels Business Automation Standard and Parallels Plesk Panel billing platforms. The new Parallels integration will incorporate domain names as well as SSL certificates in the first release. We’re working to get all OpenSRS services fully integrated into Parallels, including email and goMobi as soon as possible. If you want to learn more about Parallels and OpenSRS, drop by our booth at HostingCon this week and we’ll be happy to tell you more. You can read the full news release here.

HC2011: This Mobile Moment Posted: 08 Aug 2011 04:29 PM PDT We’re at an inflection point with mobile Internet access right now, and hosters are in a unique position to take advantage of it. That was the key message today from Tucows CEO, Elliot Noss in his session, “This Mobile Moment,” given this afternoon at HostingCon. I won’t go too deeply into the content of the presentation, but Elliot’s point is this: mobile is exploding, current providers aren’t doing a great job serving customers, and customers are just waiting for a someone to come in and do things differently. Elliot suggests that hosters are uniquely positioned to take advantage for a number of reasons, like the fact that hosting companies are really good at customer service and are used working with small margins. Phone to Modem = Feature phone to Smartphone He also says the current situation with mobile access is analogous to the move from using our copper phone lines for telephone calls, to hooking up a modem and starting to use our phone lines for Internet access. He says the switch from feature phones used for voice calls and SMS to smart phones (pocket computers, really) represents a similar shift in technology use. The point is this: hosting companies should be thinking about how they can leverage their expertise in service, support and understanding the needs of their customers to identify and take advantage of the opportunity that this mobile moment provides.

HC2011: Impact of New TLDs on Hosting Companies Posted: 08 Aug 2011 12:08 PM PDT It’s presentations day for OpenSRS today at HostingCon 2011. We have a pair of speaking slots, and things got started with Adam Eisner’s talk about the impact of new TLDs for hosting companies this morning. Of course, not everyone is at HostingCon 2011 this week, so for the benefit of all of you not in San Diego, here’s a summary of what Adam talked about. If you are at HostingCon, and missed seeing the presentation live, then you missed out on your chance to win a pair of sweet noise cancelling headphones. Jeffrey Cohen of InternetLitigators was at the presentation and walked away with the prize – congrats to you, Jeffrey, and enjoy the prize. New TLDs Were Officially Approved at ICANN Singapore The approval of what are referred to as “New TLDs” was the big news out of the last ICANN meeting in Singapore a few months back. Basically, that decision paved the way for the creation of hundreds of new domain extensions – think .nyc or .eco, and even .apple, .canon and .coke and you get the idea about how far reaching this evolution will be. This profound change in how the domain name system works will have big impacts on hosting companies. If you are in that business, you’ll obviously want to be aware of what’s happening so you can make sure you’ve positioned yourself to take advantage of the opportunities that new TLDs may present. Here’s an overview of what Adam talked about (slides are below in the embedded Slideshare): Right now we have 22 gTLDs (and hundreds of country code TLDs). In the next few years, New TLDs will add as many as 500 new TLDs to the root. ICANN started talking about new TLDs years ago, and approved the start of discussions about adding new TLDs to the root in 2008. It took a long time, and a lot of discussion with various stakeholder groups to get to where we are today (and we’re not quite done yet). In June 2011, at the Singapore ICANN meeting, ICANN approved the Applicant Guidebook and officially launched the New TLDs program. There are three different categories of New TLDs to consider: Brand-based: .coke, .canon Generic: .search, .blog, .cloud Community/Interest Group: .eco, .gay, .toronto Key point: .XXX is not part of the New TLDs program. It’s a separate new extension that is launching this fall (and OpenSRS is accredited). Key dates: January to April 2012: applications accepted April 2012: Cards turned over November: Applications approved Sometime after that: first New TLDs go live in the root Maybe an additional application/approval round after that Opportunity: Improved end-user perception – having a New TLD raises your stature Get your own: no sharing the stage, your name on the right side of the dot, full control! All the good names are available on your own TLD. Costs: $185,000 US Application Fee (if approved) could be more (auctions, multiple groups after the same extension) Marketing, legal fees, etc. How to: Fill out the application, paying special attention to the Guidebook. Get a partner who has technology experience, and knows the their way around the ICANN world. The Other Opportunity: Reach new customers by selling others: hundreds of new TLD extensions to offer. New segments, new markets. .MUSIC, .LONDON, .SKI and more!!! It won’t be easy…look at .com vs. the other, newer gTLDs like .info, tel, etc. What makes a “sellable” extension? Priced smartly (less than $30/year) No wacky rules Follows the standards laid down by current gTLDs Resonates with end-users (or a segment of end-users) How to sell them? Most new TLDS will partner with Registrars Brands won’t offer names to the public Integration should be pretty much the same as current gTLDs. The takeaways: There’s an opportunity to secure a brand or community New TLDs represent new markets and new opportunities Having your own TLD means full control of the namespace and anything is possible. And here’s the full presentation for those who want the slides to go with the summary: HostingCon 2011 – New Top Level Domains View more presentations from opensrs.

HostingCon 2011 Starts Today Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:30 AM PDT HostingCon 2011 kicks off today and it promises to be a very busy and exciting week. OpenSRS has a big presence at HostingCon as usual and we’re going to make sure that whether you are in San Diego this week, or anywhere else in the world, that you know what’s going on. Here’s just a taste of what’s happening over the next few days: Speaker Sessions Today we have a pair of awesome presentations that you’ll definately want to attend. First up is Adam Eisner, our Director of OpenSRS Product Management: WHAT DO NEW TLDS MEAN FOR YOUR HOSTING BUSINESS? with Adam Eisner Monday, August 8 at 11:00AM Thanks to ICANN’s New Top Level Domain program, hundreds of new domain name extensions like .WEB, .MUSIC, and your own .BRAND will soon be a reality. Learn how these new extensions will change Internet users’ perceptions of domain extensions and how to ensure your hosting business is prepared to profit. If you attend Adam’s session, you’ll have a chance to win some nifty noise cancelling headphones from OpenSRS. We’ll give them out after the session to one lucky attendee. Grab some lunch and take a breather, but make sure you don’t miss Elliot Noss, Tucows President and CEO in the afternoon: THIS MOBILE MOMENT with Elliot Noss Monday, August 8 at 3:00PM The meteoric rise of mobile computing has hosting companies scrambling to address new customer needs and leverage new market opportunities. Elliot revisits similar moments in the past 20 years looking for clues to how hosting companies can capitalize. If you aren’t in San Diego, or can’t make either of those sessions, we’ll post up a summary of each later today so you can still get the great content that Elliot and Adam are presenting. We’re Just Getting Started! The exhibit floor opens tomorrow morning at 11:00 A.M. and we’ll be all ready to say ‘hi’ to attendees and to tell them all about the many new things we have in store for our resellers in the next little bit. Drop by booth #439 to see us! You can’t miss it – look for waving Service Guy and the brightest, most colourful booth on the show floor. While you’re there, be sure to drop off your business card for a chance to win an Apple iPad 2 from Afternic and OpenSRS. They provide domain listing services for the domain aftermarket and are a key partner for OpenSRS, providing great quality domains for our Premium Domains service. We’d love to talk more about how you can start offering Premium Domains to your customers and help them find their perfect domain. Our good friends at Trustwave have a really cool contest going on at HostingCon. They’ve put together a really fun game for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch called MadLocks. Download it for free starting today and then play for a chance to win a 15″ MacBook Pro from Trustwave. More details on the game are available at their website. Of course, we’d love to chat with you about offering Trustwave SSL products through OpenSRS. And we have a special incentive program going on right now with Trustwave that gives OpenSRS Resellers a chance to win an iPad 2 courtesy Trustwave. But Wait! There’s Even More! Believe it or not, there’s still more to talk about! Stay tuned to the blog over the next three days for extensive coverage of HostingCon and for some more news from OpenSRS. And be sure to follow @OpenSRS on Twitter for more HostingCon news and info. Who knows, there might be some surprise giveaways and other fun stuff for our Twitter followers.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

.XXX Launches in September at OpenSRS

---

.XXX Launches in September at OpenSRS Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:08 AM PDT The new .XXX Sponsored Top-level Domain extension launches on September 7, 2011, and OpenSRS will be fully participating in the launch from Sunrise through General Availability and beyond. There are a couple of different elements to the launch and depending on your customer base, you’ll want to take note of the different requirements in each phase. We’ve put together a launch information page for .XXX where you can get all the information you need – key dates, policies and pricing. You’ll also find useful marketing tools including messaging and graphic elements like the .XXX logo. Our aim is to help you make the most of the introduction of this new domain extension whether you want to help your customers protect their brand, or whether you want to provide .XXX domains to members of the adult community. We’ll have more information about the launch of .XXX in the next few months. Stay tuned!

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Help Shape Canada’s Internet in the Upcoming CIRA Elections

---

Help Shape Canada’s Internet in the Upcoming CIRA Elections Posted: 03 Aug 2011 02:14 PM PDT Are you a professional Canadian with Board experience and an interest in technology and the Internet? The Canadian Internet Registry Association is looking for interested candidates with expertise in accounting, law, marketing and communications or technology to apply to become a member of the CIRA Board of Directors in the upcoming election. What is the role of CIRA's Board? CIRA's Board of Directors has a unique role to play in setting policy and strategy to help CIRA continue to be a leading-edge organization that strives for excellence as a registry and supports Canadians in building their presence in the global digital economy. Why should this interest me or someone I nominate? Becoming a CIRA Board Member is a unique opportunity to work with Canada's Internet leaders as they develop strategy and policy that positions .CA for operational excellence. You will gain valuable insight and experience around technical innovation, Canadian and international Internet policy, and organizational governance. How do I apply? .CA Members can nominate themselves or another individual by completing the online Nomination Form from August 2 – 15. Once nominated, Nominees will receive an email with a link to complete an online Nominee Application Form. The Nominee must complete and submit the form before 8 p.m. ET on August 15, 2011. To be included on the Final Members' Slate, Member Nominees must then receive the endorsement of at least 20 CIRA Members during the Show of Support stage. About CIRA The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the member-driven organization that manages Canada's .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally. To learn more, visit www.cira.ca.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

OpenSRS Welcomes EPAG to the Family!

---

OpenSRS Welcomes EPAG to the Family! Posted: 02 Aug 2011 04:08 AM PDT Over the past several years, we've watched many of our resellers branch out into new markets and regions very successfully. At the same time, we have also welcomed new resellers from a wide range of countries and industries. These trends have resulted in increased demand from our customers to offer more TLDs. Thus, we're really pleased and excited to announce the acquisition of EPAG Domainservices GmbH, a registrar based in Bonn, Germany. We were immediately drawn to EPAG not only because of their offerings (they currently offer more than 280 domain extensions), but because of their expertise and reputation as well. EPAG is known for its fantastic amount of international domain name experience, and we think their knowledge and skills will help greatly as we continue to grow our own domain name business here at OpenSRS. So, what does this mean for OpenSRS resellers? Well, bringing EPAG on board with OpenSRS will allow us to offer many more domain extensions quickly, backed by a knowledgeable, experienced team with insight into all of them. Over the next several weeks, you'll begin to see details of our plans to significantly expand the portfolio of domain names we make available through OpenSRS. While we can't reveal specific details just yet, it's safe to say you will see significant gTLD and ccTLD coverage improvements, with a particular focus on regions like Europe, South America and Asia. By the end of the year, we expect to have 200 extensions available to ensure your customers have the best chance of finding their perfect domain name. We are also really excited to welcome EPAG customers to OpenSRS. Going forward, there will be little in the way of change; EPAG systems will continue to operate and EPAG customers and suppliers will continue to deal with the same people, systems and interfaces they are familiar with today. We look forward to working with you, and to providing additional features and services that can help you grow your business. This is a very exciting day at OpenSRS, and we're proud to welcome EPAG. Make sure to watch this space in the coming weeks as we announce plans to bolster our roster of domain names offered. You can read more about this acquisition on Tucows.com.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Holiday Hours: Civic Holiday, August 1st, 2011

---

Holiday Hours: Civic Holiday, August 1st, 2011 Posted: 28 Jul 2011 01:46 PM PDT This coming Monday our offices will be closed for a Canadian civic holiday. But to all of our non-Canadian friends around the world there’s no reason to be jealous. The August long weekend is often the worst traffic day of the year for cottage goers as make their way out of the steamy city via congested highways, toward their comfy cold beer, Adirondack chairs and docks on the water. Sure, eventually they’ll arrive and when they do the chairs are comfy and the lake water is a perfect 78 degrees Fahrenheit. But a short two days later, and they’re back on the road, battling traffic once again. Heck, there’s even some rain in the forecast. Lame. See? Almost no reason to be jealous at all. In fact, they deserve our sympathy… wading through the biggest traffic jam of the year, only to enjoy a cold beer on a dock with some deer flies and mosquitos? No thank you. Now, on to official business: Our Technical Support team continues to be available 24/7 to assist you. Please note that during this closure, there will be: No orders or requests processed for the following TLD’s: .at, .fr, .ch, .li, .dk, .com.mx No special processing for .ca (registrant transfers, conflicting and municipal registrations) or .eu/.be (redemptions). Here are the hours by department: Department Dates and Hours Technical Support Regular hours Payments Email support: payments@opensrs.org Compliance Closed Aug 1st (Monday) Service Bureau Closed Aug 1st (Monday)

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Help Your Customers Find the Perfect Domain plus 1 more

---

Help Your Customers Find the Perfect Domain Posted: 27 Jul 2011 07:35 AM PDT Are you missing out on sales by not helping your customers find the perfect domain name? Offering Premium Domains from OpenSRS is one great way to help customer rind the right name, and complete the sale. Implementing Premium Names is easier than you might think. Here's a couple of different ways to get started with Premium Domains: Offer a "domain search consultancy" service to help customers find the right domain Implement Premium Domains results into your search results using the OpenSRS API Look through existing customer domains for domains with dashes and add-on words and cross-reference for better options from the Premium Domains database Lots More Help to Get You Started To help you out with both customer education pre-sale, and to help you or your staff when they are making the sale, we've put together some information about Premium Domains, including why you should consider offering them as part of your suite of services. You’ll also find a new Premium Domains end-user FAQ in our Marketing Resource section that’s ready for you to grab and use to help make the case with your customers that they should be willing to pay a bit more for a Premium Domain rather than settling for something that isn’t quite as good. We answer questions like “Why are these Premium Domains more expensive than 'regular' domains?” and “Why should I consider spending more on this Premium Domain vs. an available domain?” Those new materials are in addition to the existing Premium Domains video (found on that same page).

Free Marketing Content: Why Business Needs a Professional Email Address Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:18 AM PDT A short while ago, Michael wrote a plea from Marketing inviting our Resellers to tell us what they need from us that would help them be more successful. One of the requests was for us to craft some content around the positioning of free vs paid email accounts using domain names for end users. We took a couple of stabs at it, and along with input from you, we’ve produced this one pager you can use however you like. It’s available in our email marketing resources section. Go ahead and customize it for your own brand, copy and paste into you website, whatever you like. And don’t forget we’re always here for you… tell us what you need and we’ll get on it! Professional Email Addresses A lack of trust and perceived professionalism can directly translate to lost revenue. There are lots of ways you've worked to build positive brand and inspire trust with your clients. Pleasant phone greetings when client calls in, a professional sign over the office entrance, even stationary on a nice paper stock are important to let your clients know that you're serious about your business. But what about having your own domain name for email? How does it look after a great conversation with a potential customer when you hand them your card and your email address you expect to have important business conversations with belongs to one of the big email providers offering free service? Put another way, imagine a lawyer with an email address of consultantpat@hotmail.com. Do you think Pat's clients would be comfortable knowing that private correspondence with their consultant was being transmitted through a free email service? How would their perception change if Pat's email were pat@robinsonconsulting.com? Professional branding aside, there are some great reasons to have your email at your own domain name for business email: Who's going to help? Delete an important email? Can't log in to your account? Have a question about the number of email you can send from your account? The free email service providers have self-service tools to help you figure out your problem, but what can you do if you still have a problem? Who will you talk to and how long will you have to wait for help? Will your emails be delivered? "I didn't receive your email". Does this sound familiar? Free email accounts are very popular with spammers. Did you know that some mail services started blocking mass mail delivery from free email accounts with these domain names? The switching cost to a domain-based email address later is higher. There's a strong benefit to having people know where to find you. Changing your email address can be a lot like a retailer relocating. All the business built over the years could disappear, as customers can no longer find you at the address. Unintended communication could be embarrassing, even damaging. Jon Smith is our hypothetical accountant with a free GMail account at jon.smith@gmail.com. Can you guess the number of times his clients have emailed their sensitive financial documents (even tax returns) to john.smith@gmail.com? Sure, it's the client's fault for the mistake, but could this have been prevented if he were Jon@ReliableAccountants.com? Free email accounts are very popular these days. But if you're serious about your business and your brand, it might be time to consider how current and potential clients are judging you by a simple email address. Call and talk to us. We'll be more than happy to tell you how our services can help your business be more professional, starting today.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610