.buzz and the University of Central Arkansas have partnered together to offer a Junior / Senior elective marketing class concentrating on the opportunities available to students around the launch of  new top level domains.  TheEcho, UCA’s  Student-Produced News Source, recently published a great story by Ashley Thomas featuring .BUZZ and founder Bill Doshier. You can find the story here…

Abuzz with .buzz: New Domain Names Hit the Web by Ashley Thomas

According to Bill Doshier, UCA adjunct instructor of marketing and president of dotStrategy, the largest change for the internet since its inception is right around the corner — and he’s helping to lead the charge.

The website buzznames.biz states that dotStrategy is an Arkansas-based company, created with the purpose of becoming an accredited registry for the new top level domain .buzz with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN defines a top level domain or TLD as “the right-most label in a domain name,” such as .com or .org.

Doshier said that currently, finding a suitable, meaningful and memorable domain name can pose a problem for many people.

“Since the internet was opened to commercial use almost 20 years ago, the domain namespace has been generally limited to three top level domains: .com, .net and .org,” he said. “There are over 130 million domains registered in these top three TLDs, 112 million in .com alone. Good, short, meaningful domain names are no longer available. Consumers and businesses need new options for domain names specific to their individual needs and online identities. The new TLDs provide [the] opportunity for everybody to secure a relevant domain name.”

According to an interview with ICANN, Doshier feels that the .buzz domain fits anywhere there is current news, though he sees it appealing to a younger demographic such as the blogging community.

“In the domain business, the shorter the word, the better,” Doshier said. “.buzz is short, edgy, fun and globally recognized. The world is abuzz with new events each day, providing ongoing opportunities for new .buzz domain name registration and web page development.”

A list published by ICANN reveals that some of the new TLDs already available include .social, .tattoo, .bike and .today. But .buzz won’t be available to the general public until 9:01 a.m. April 15, after the event Doshier is calling the .buzz “landrush.”

“Think about the California ‘goldrush,’” Doshier said. “Landrush is actually the first point where .buzz virtual property [will be available]. In a sense, this is a rush to obtain valuable .buzz domains early in the launch process. Landrush is [a] fairly short window [from March 20-April 10] during which applications may be submitted for a desired .buzz domain. If there is more than one applicant for the same domain name, there is a bidding process. The highest bidder – in an auction involving all interested parties – will be awarded the domain name.”

Doshier said only people with official trademarks and the desire to register a .buzz domain with that trademark can submit an application right now.

He is also currently bidding on the .fun domain, but he is in negotiation with two other parties at this time and cannot discuss the TLD bidding process.

“I purchased my first domain names in 1996, so I’ve followed the domain name industry for years,” Doshier said. “This leading edge opportunity is [very attractive] with unlimited potential. A product sold globally over the internet and paid for by credit card or PayPal. No inventory costs, no collections and most importantly, no bosses. Is there a better business model than this?”

Cotton Rohrscheib, Conway, Ark. resident and co-founder of the Arkansas-based creative agency Pleth, is the owner of the first live .buzz website, cotton.buzz. Rohrscheib said he chose .buzz partially because he knows Doshier and partially because he wanted to help bring .buzz to market.

“[With TLDs], availability is the biggest part of it,” Rohrscheib said.  “Let’s say you want business.com. Well, that domain has been bought and sold so many times that it’s now worth millions of dollars. But business.buzz is available right now. Availability is what makes .buzz really attractive. A lot of the new TLDs like .law are very niche specific, but .buzz is so generic that you can apply it to any industry.”

Rohrscheib said Pleth will be one of the first re-sellers to offer .buzz. According to Rohrscheib, a .buzz domain can be purchased for a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand.

“Internet usage is expected to double worldwide over the next three years,” Doshier said. “[It’s] hard to believe much of the global population is just now experiencing the world wide web. New top level domains will accommodate this growth. Internet security will be better, internet search will be redefined [and] opportunity for small business and startups will be greatly expanded.”

Doshier won’t know how many people have already preregistered a .buzz domain until March 18.

For more information on dotStrategy and the indegenerique.fr.buzz domain, visit buzznames.biz.