If you are the Internet strategiser for a big brand, please consider securing your organisation’s domain name with the ‘…sucks’ word such as companysucks.com before others register it.

I have found out the following domain names are not available:

StreamyxSucks.com
AirAsiaSucks.com
MalaysiaAirlinesSucks.com
AASucks.com (American Airline)
MalaysiaSucks.com
BNsucks.com (Barnes and Noble)
GodaddySucks.com
GoogleSucks.com
YahooSucks.com
FacebookSucks.com
AmazonSucks.com
NokiaSucks.com
SonySucks.com
SamsungSucks.com
DellSucks.com
BMWSucks.com
MercedesSucks.com
ToyotaSucks.com
HondaSucks.com
FordSucks.com
HSBCsucks.com
CitibankSucks.com / CitiSucks.com
SCsucks.com (Standard Chartered)
MicrosoftSucks.com
WhiteHouseSucks.com

Domain name with ‘sucks’ / ‘suck’ word may not be necessary to your organisation and there’s no ROI, but if you found out how your brand name is being damaged, like StreamyxSucks.com then you’ll feel 10 bucks is worth every penny.

Business News: Sucks.com owner wins domain-name case (Bloomberg loses “sucks” domain name case)

Want to check your domain name availability? Please visit http://www.psychicwhois.com/

Information that may help you to save some money while dealing with Godaddy.

Step 1. Before proceed to Godaddy.com payment you will come to a page where you can review your shopping cart items.

Step 1 - Review Your Shopping Cart page

Step 2. On the “Enter your promo or source code±:” field, simply enter the appropriate promotional code and click on the Apply Code button.

Step 2 - Enter the appropriate promotional code and click on the Apply Code button

Step 3. If promotional code is (still) valid, your item’s price will be discounted. Otherwise error message “The promotional code you entered is invalid.” will be prompted.

Step 3 - Price drop instantly after promtional code applied

So, let’s get cheaper deal with Godaddy by using the promotional codes below:

ZINE7: 30% off .com domains and renewals (discounted price is $7.49)

ZINE5: 10% off any purchase (no minimum amount)

ZINE6: $5 off any $30 and above purchase.

Some of other codes that I have used a few times and still valid:

cjc749dom

fan3

gdr0837x

cjcdeal93

cjc20host

cjcdeal96

gd50bbpd5 : $2.00 (25%) off / $7.99 any .COM domain renewals.*** This promo code is still valid as of 27 September 2010 ***

gdbb776 : $2.00 (25%) off / $7.99 any .COM domain renewals. *** This promo code is still valid as of 27 September 2010 ***

BTPS412 : $2.50 (30%) off / $7.49 any .COM domain renewals. *** This promo code is still valid as of 18 December 2010 ***

cjc795dom: $4.04 (33.78%) off / $7.95 any .COM domain renewals. *** This promo code is still valid as of 8 April 2011 ***

IAPt3: $3.00 (10%) off / $26.99 any .CO domain renewals. *** This promo code is still valid as of 8 April 2011 ***

gdz357a: $8.00 (40%) off / $11.99 any .ASIA domain renewals. *** This promo code is still valid as of 8 April 2011 ***

gdbbe994: 30% off any .ME domain renewals. *** This promo code is still valid as of 8 September 2011 ***

Note:

Promotional code has its expiry. You can Google “Godaddy Promotional Codes / Coupons” for the most current list if all above have been expired.

You can share them with friends and share the savings.

I use Psychic Whois to check for any domain name start with "maybank2u". It list out the results without pressing any button. Save time!

Getting a good top-level domain name is never been easy.

As we know domain name is a globally unique identity, more than millions of people in this world looking for good and memorable name for their website.

To shorten your time and have a wider range on domain name lookup, you may try out Psychic Whois (http://www.psychicwhois.com). It may benefit you on domain lookup productivity.

I like to use this tool to search for available domain name without refreshing the page, and it can also provide other relevant domain name information and availability. Another advantage is I can see the popularity about the domain name being used- with the extended characters behind the domain name (see the right image for example).

I believe many domain name experts have been using this tool for years. If you are new to domain name market, I hope this tool can speed up your domain lookup process.

I don’t have any plan on these 2 domain names yet but just to secured it for future investment or personal interest purpose. If you have any suggestions, please share your idea with me.

How much does it cost?

Discounted price USD16.00 for 2 domain names, each with one year registration.

Where did I buy it?

My favourite domain name registrar- Godaddy.com.

Why Cra”2″y?

Ok, the idea came from an advertisement in the newspapers today, it was Nissan’s marketing campaign “I am Nissan Cra2y”. I went online to check out the keyword search results in Google and domain name availability in whois database, surprisingly found more than 100,000 results for keyword ‘cra2y’ on the Internet and the domain name appears to be available.

This is where I got the idea for 'cra2y'.

Investment opportunity

I have registered more than 50 domain names since 1999 and a few of it have been sold, the best price was sold a domain name at USD3,000 to a UK company in 2003. I am an Internet Business opportunity seeker, I am interested in anything that can make money over the Internet regardless it is legal and not ‘ con-man’ business.

Btw, I have bad experience in domain name business too. I used to be the registrant of ‘bmwmail.com’ and received enquiries to let, one day I received an email from the legal department @ BMW Corporation in Germany, to claim for domain name ‘bmwmail.com’ ownership. Because ‘BMW’ is global registered term and a trademark belongs to BMW corporation, I have no choice but let go the domain name to them. However, the compensation was USD300 if I am not mistaken.

Exabytes Merdeka Promotion - EBiz Gold Unlimited hosting plan

Think twice before subscribe the Exabytes EBiz Gold Unlimited hosting plan

Wow, Exabytes’ EBiz Plus Unlimited hosting account at promotion price RM5XX (normal price RM798), sound good!

Well, do you really need unlimited features and are you able to commit RM798 for the subsequence years? (as you know promotion price is a one-time discount, next hosting renewal price will be the original price before discount).

I like unlimited plan too. By the way, what can I do to an unlimited hosting account where it has very strict T&C? Honestly, with my current Exabytes’ hosting account (EBiz Plus Linux normal price RM269) limits-

• 10000MB/10GB Disk Space Usage
• 50000MB/50GB Monthly Bandwidth Transfer
• 10 Addon Domains

I can’t even used up to 50% resources of disk space and bandwidth transfer on 8 hosted domain names websites.

So is it necessary need an unlimited hosting account? It depends on your website’s need. Please ensure your new website plan will not against Exabytes’ legal policies. Exabytes is not stupid, they offering such unlimited hosting accounts of cause they are prepared and ready.

Consider other hosting packages offered by Exabytes

If you really like them, yes the Exabytes. Please try out their cheapest package first (EBiz Plus Web Hosting), you will find it actually sufficient for your requirement. Anyway you can upgrade to unlimited plan anytime.

Other unlimited hosting plan providers

I have an unlimited hosting account (‘Baby’ package) with Hostgater.com and I paid USD214.80/RM800 for 2 years in advanced. Yes, it is the same as what Exabytes offering, but it has more tolerance legal policies and at cheaper price (Exabytes RM798 for 1 year vs Hostgater RM800 for 2 years). With its ‘not-so-tied’ legal policies or at least not bond to Malaysia laws such as Islamic and politic related materials, it give me more flexibility and ‘globalised’ not ‘localised’ on hosting conditions.

I would not said Hostgator.com is the best, but so far I can’t find any cheaper and better review on unlimited hosting accounts from the Internet; Godaddy.com is good but its unlimited plan is more expensive (USD323.76/RM1,200 for 2 years) than Hostgator.com even though it is my favourite.

If you know some, kindly share with me.

Bottom line

Unlimited hosting plan sounds attractive but remember you will have heavier commitment and tons of work to do when transferring/downgrading the account.

One of the most common mistakes in business is using a free email service such as Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, AOL or an email address such as abccompany@streamyx.com from Internet Service Provider (ISP) instead of a business-specific domain name such as name@abccompany.com. A company using free email account can send the wrong signal or negative impression to potential customers simply because the email address looks unprofessional and suspicious.

From customer perspective, they will instantly question your stability and reliability with questions such as:
- Have this company been in business very long?
- Is this company full-time?
- Will this company be there now and in the future?
- How much experience does this company have?
- Company profile, clients and etc

Creating business and making sales is all about trust and relationships. Businesspeople want to know the details who they deal with and that relationships they build are strong. And just like social connections, first impressions mean everything.

Use your own domain name email account

Having your own domain name email account is low-cost and more flexible than a free email account. For approximately USD11 (MYR40) a year, you can register and park your very own ‘.com’ domain name. At the very least, any business should have well-designed and professionally printed business cards, its own domain name with matching email address and a single web page website featuring the company’s business information.

Who are offering domain name registration with email account included?

Godaddy.com is my preferred and favourite domain name registrar and have been engaged with them since year 1999, it is a US based and the world’s largest domain name company. The reason I still stick with them because its attractive domain name or web hosting features and pricing. With its domain name package, you can get one domain name email account hosted on their side (Webmail and POP3). Unlike others, registering a domain name doesn’t come with email account hosting or need to pay additional cost.

Godaddy.com is just my suggestion, I am neither their affiliate nor partner. Links below for your comparison:

Godaddy.com domain name registration:
http://www.godaddy.com/domains/search.aspx

ICANN accredited domain name registrars:
http://www.internic.net/regist.html

A few of Malaysia well-known domain name registrars:
Exabytes: http://www.exabytes.com.my/services/domain/
Shinjiru: http://www.shinjiru.com.my/webHosting/domainName/domainPriceGuide.html
Emerge: http://www.emerge.com.my/domain.html
Acme Commerce: https://billing.webserver.com.my/wcp/domainchecker.php
IP Serverone: http://www.ipserverone.com/services/domain

Others Malaysia based domain name registrars:
.my Domain Registry: http://www.domainregistry.my/reseller.php

Want to hear what other web specialist says? you may visit http://www.webhostingtalk.com/

What’s the bottom line?

Using a domain name that is related to your business may seem unimportant. But, it can easily make the difference when your customer is trying to decide if you are an option for them.

Pormotion news to new or existing .my domain name customer:

.my domain registry (aka MYNIC) announcement 50% off on all .my domain names, included for renewal of current domain names! Promotion period from 20th July 2009 to 4th September 2009.

.my Domain Names Promotion Price List:

Terms and Conditions

1. Valid for all domain name categories
2. Valid for new domain name registration during promotion period
3. Valid for renewal of current domain names
- Domain names expiring on 20th July 2009 to 31st December 2009
- Only 1 year renewal is allowed during promotion period
- No advance payment allowed
4. All registrations and renewals must be done during this promotion period to qualify for the discount (20th July 2009 – 4th September 2009)
5. Payment made is non refundable, non transferable

Please click below url for further details:
http://www.domainregistry.my/readnews.php?id=79

In conjunction with .my domain registry’s promotion above, Exabytes and Shinjiru each have pull down the domain pricing to RM38 & RM37.50  for ‘.my’ and RM28 & RM25 for ‘.com.my’ ‘.net.my’ ‘org.my’; ‘.name.my’ registration fee cost only RM0.99 at Exabytes.

Exabytes domain name pricing: http://exabytes.com.my/services/domain/

Shinjiru domain name pricing: http://www.shinjiru.com.my/webHosting/domainName/domainPriceGuide.html

Is it because RHB Bank lack of manpower so chairman needs to do the domain name administration job? Or chairman does not want to handover domain name authority to the head of IT?

One thing I found RHB Bank’s funny that their domain name “rhbbank.com” is actually administrates by the company chairman. Below is the “rhbbank.com” contact details in Domain Name Whois database:

You can check out the domain name "rhbbank.com" information at http://www.who.is/whois/rhbbank.com/

As you can see the Administrative, Technical Contact for the domain name is chairman@rhbbank.com.my. If I am not misunderstood the terms of chairman, it should be the top management and chairing the board meeting. The domain name contact for a bank is usually an IT head or head of risk & compliance. Well, I guess the chairman of RHB- Dato’ Mohamed Khadar Merican, he might be very serious about the domain name hence he wants to personally manage it.

There’s another thought in my mind, RHB Bank management using ‘chairman’ to avoid changing person-in-charge name for the domain name

If RHB Bank has very high turnover rate including chief officers level such as CIO, and the domain name person-in-charge changed very often from one to another one. Then they should use the standard name for it instead of ‘chairman’.

Those standard names like:
- admin
- administrator
- domainreg
- domainadmin
- domain
- domainpic
etc

However, not only RHB bank, many other local banks using personal name (i.e. lee.ah.beng@examplebank.com) as domain name administrative contact, it is actually not recommended. Management should indicate a proper name for it, an email like domainreg@examplebank.com with mailbox contains only domain name registry messages and changes history.

This concept is not new. In order to keep good image for customers, many companies using nick name as the contact person name like Tiffany, Diana, Louis but definitely not Chairman.

Outlook Send/Receive Progress Error Message

One of my personal website hosted on Shinjiru server recently has send / receive email problem (connected via TMnet-Streamyx / Celcom-Wireless Broadband).

Understand that Shinjiru provides cheap hosting package (Linux Shared Hosting – Personal Package @ RM90/year) but with its often email problem, I have changed my recommendation on local web hosting service provider from Shinjiru to Exabytes.

The blog (kenny.my) you are viewing now is currently hosted on Exabytes server, I personally satisfied with their services and so far have no complaints from my clients (yet). Although Exabyates’ EBiz Plus Web Hosting plan (RM269.00/year) is not consider cheap compare to others in Malaysia, but I would rather to pay extra to ensure website / email’s stability. For business, an unreliable email service may caused communication inconvenience, I do not recommend my clients to take this risk.

I have received an enquiry for the information on recommended Web Hosting Companies in Malaysia. FYI, I write this blog is actually for interest and sharing experience. The information is based on personal view and not intentionally to offend any party. I hope reader understand this.

Here is my recommendation list for Web Hosting Companies and Domain Name Registrars in Malaysia (in no particular order):

http://www.emerge.com.my/
http://www.exabytes.com.my/
http://www.ipserverone.com/
http://www.shinjiru.com.my/
http://www.webserver.com.my/

Other Web Hosting Companies in Malaysia:

http://www.aseanhost.com/
http://www.asiapacific.net.my/
http://www.backbone.com.my/
http://www.datakl.com/
http://www.easynet-interactive.com/
http://www.e-globalhosting.com/
http://www.e-hosting.com.my/
http://www.firstonline.net/
http://www.hileytech.com/
http://www.hivehost.net/
http://www.hostingworks.com.my/
http://www.hostrelax.com/
http://www.internet-webhosting.com/
http://www.ipxcess.com/
http://www.irepublics.com/
http://www.justsimple.com.my/
http://www.klhost.com/
http://www.mesrahosting.net/
http://www.multimedia.com.my/
http://www.netonboard.com/
http://www.onnet.com.my/
http://www.registrar.com.my/
http://www.rocksoft.com.my/
http://www.safenames.net/
http://www.surf7.net/
http://www.webvisions.com/
http://www.xantec.com.my/
http://www.zenpipe.com/