What do tou think? i want to give away 100 free domains to any one that wants one. i am opening my new company and as a Grand Opening Special i would like to give away 100 free domains everyone will be limited to one year. Do you think this is a good idea or do you think i should do it as pay one year get one free or for a lower price for the secound year (pay 20 for the first year get the secound for only $5 or something like that) please let me know what you think. there will be no catch just a free domain on the persons name as a thank you for visiting.:idea:

You talk like the only thing your company is going to do is sell domain names.
Or, did I miss something?
An answer to your question, to me, depends on what type of business you plan on opening.

hosting.

So,

Could I just visit your site, fill out a form, and get a free domain name, without paying for anything or any hosting services?

Jim

Originally posted by jimb
So,

Could I just visit your site, fill out a form, and get a free domain name, without paying for anything or any hosting services?

Jim That's what it looks like he's askin advice about.
Whether that would be a good idea. :rolleyes:

To answer his question NO! (imho)

I think it would be better to offer it as "Pay for one years hosting. Get a free domain name" kinda thing.

why do you think its a bad idea its not like i will be giving a million names out just 100 per month. maybe less at first i was going to give out 1000 but that would cost me something like 10,000. so you think i should give them out with a plan or give it free after someone pays for one year?

Even to the extreme I wouldn't go further than pay for one year and receive the second year free (at the same or lessor value as the year you paid for).

Reasons:

1) Free often equates to free to abuse

2) A lot can happen in one year's time..plan on sites growing beyond what they originally ordered.

3) Have a clue who you are hosting... no payment can easily equal no clue concerning who is on the other end.

4) If this is a "Grand Opening" special then you are not yet sure how well things are going to go. Have _something_ coming in to help ensure you will be able to fulfill a years worth of service prior to giving it away...

Possibly a large discount or as "SoftWareRevue" mentioned a perk...

I think, if you gave away domain names free and clear with no commitment of the recipient, you would end up with a lot of people who would forget your company ever existed.
Or, as Deb said, simple abusers.

its not a year of service its a domain registered for one year at no time will i host the person or anything else, unless they pay for the hosting.

I would suggest something like this:

Get a Free Domain Name (1 year registration) after you pay your hosting set up fee of $20.00 (or whatever). Then, say the first 3 (or whatever) months will be free. After the 3 months, then you can pay by monthly or yearly.

Thats just what Im thinking.

Jim

My bad... I misinterpreted what was being asked....

On that note... I'm even more for SoftWareRevue's suggestion of giving it away --- with an order.

Originally posted by one_web
its not a year of service its a domain registered for one year at no time will i host the person or anything else, unless they pay for the hosting. :eek: Isn't that what I first suggested; and you said I was saying you had a bad idea?:eek2:

You're gettin me confused now.
Not like that's difficult :cartman:


Okay, after more careful study of the above quoted post, I am understanding it to be two seperate statements.
1) It's a domain registered for one year
2) It's a paid hosting service
3) I don't know what you're talking about
4) I have a hard enough time figuring out what I'm talking about.
5) There is no "5"

Isn't that what I first suggested; and you said I was saying you had a bad idea?

you are right the person i was correcting was Deb. ;)

Gawsh...I am such a problem child.... somebody ban me :dunce:

<<MOD NOTE: *Puts finger on ban trigger* :dgrin: >>

Originally posted by one_web
why do you think its a bad idea its not like i will be giving a million names out just 100 per month. maybe less at first i was going to give out 1000 but that would cost me something like 10,000. so you think i should give them out with a plan or give it free after someone pays for one year?

Giving something away for free doesn't work.
Giving free service doesn't work.

Funny thing is that people tend to abuse free service
more than if you are paying for it.

Strange how one's mind work.
If it's free, then, it must not worth penny.
If it's free, then, there must be plenty around.
If it's free, then, one can abuse it and wouldn't
care if lost since didn't pay for it.

Final draw is...
If one is giving away something for free, then, they
must be desperate:(

So...
If you want to give domain names away:
Give it as incentive for yearly contract.
Give it as incentive for higher grade hosting plan.
Give it as incentive for referring people like one free
domain for one referred customer.
Give it as incentive on second months of hosting as
thank you gift for staying with you and not taking 30
day moneyback guarantee.

And..
Well, you get the idea. Just don't give it away.
Use it as to get more cash, more customer and less
refund. And always give some urgency..

It could be "First 100 customers" or "Until month/day/year".

Or, do a drawing if you want maximized return per domain.
Say something like...
All new accounts open until month/day/year will get
one chance per account opened for "free domain" drawing.
100 domain will be given away.

Ah.. You can finish it:D

Good luck with your new hosting venture.

Hey, let us know your URL when you are ready:D

I think it is a bad idea to just give the domain name away for a year free with nothing else in return. Heres why:
I need to register a Domain Name.
I will get a free one from you for a year.
I am a host, so I will never use your hosting services
After a year, I am transfering the domain to 000domains.com

Now what do you get from me? Nothing because I am not using your service and I am not recomending you either because you are competition. I would suggest you give a free Domain name with every Hosting Account or something similar. Thats just my advise on it. It is really nice to have a good heart, but remember, not everyone does.

(NOTE: This is hypethetical, I would not intentionally abuse your service like that, and when I say I will never use your service, it is just because I offer the same, no other reason. I can't spell. I wish you luck in whatever you decide)

Yes... It will get abused... A LOT!

Just look at what happened to DomainZero -- people where just using other email addresses to get more domains... I know of people that gobbled up about 15 domains that way....

Count me in, :)

well that would be a nice, idea but here is how you can make some cash, register domains and give away free redirection with frame and supercloaked <<MOD EDIT>> place ads little popup or something and after 1 year your domain will be for sale, or 5 bucks to renew if you pay 5 bucks there wont be anymore ads... something like that :) if you are interested in a partnership email me i.p@home.com

Originally posted by NetRaw
Count me in, :)

well that would be a nice, idea but here is how you can make some cash, register domains and give away free redirection with frame and supercloaked (http://www.g4r.net) place ads little popup or something and after 1 year your domain will be for sale, or 5 bucks to renew if you pay 5 bucks there wont be anymore ads... something like that :) if you are interested in a partnership email me i.p@home.com

Thats and idea....why dont you call it NameZero!, oh wait, thats already an idea/concept/company.

Jim

Originally posted by jimb


Thats and idea....why dont you call it NameZero!, oh wait, thats already an idea/concept/company.

Jim

Lol. :D

I don't know if anyone here as ever heard of/used namedemo.com, but while they were free they were a better version of namezero. They don't offer free domains anymore though, but it proves that the idea can work.

- Kyle

I'll take away all your problems. I'm surprised nobody has thought about it yet :D

Give away all your free domains to me. End of story. :D

I think if you give something free people will use it and think that it is their right to take it... And there is absolutely no loyalty or gratitude on the web.. better you give a domain at 15$ or so and give 1 year free hosting [10MB/ static html/1 pop3] .. that way you can become very,very popular and it will be a good marketing.. if you give free hosting, people need to depend on you and will therefore will remember you and later recommend you too..if you give a free domain they will take it and walk away!

Just my thoughts!
Good luck anyway
B

Hey, I know if someone was offering me a free domain I would take it and transfer it over to my own servers. Now I'm sure this is something that the average person can't do, but what they would do is either completely forget about the domain, or they would find someone to host it for free (ie freeservers.com, freewebsites.com,etc.).

well do you think that if i do it buy one get one free (year) it will be better? and not only will this help me in selling the domains but in getting people to my site that might then be interested in my plans if i present them right. what do think?;)

Much better ;)

ok thats wha ill think ill do