So you’ve written a blog post. Do you sit back and wait for people to come?

Well, you could if you’re willing to wait for search engines to find it. And even then, unless you are already considered by search engines as A Very Important Website, your post is not likely to be found in the first few pages of search results as there is too much competition.

What this translates into is no traffic.

Doing a bit of self-promotion in a way that is human and adds value to others, is a great idea to increase eyeballs on your blog.

So we’ll deal with 5 ways to do this, but first let’s focus on getting the content portion right. And I only mention that because so many bloggers fail at it. But the consequence of not getting the content bit right means you’ll probably just waste your time promoting it.

Get the Content Bit Right First

What do I mean by “getting the content bit” right first?

Well, your content needs to be written for the right audience - those who will eventually buy something from you, and the content also needs to be optimized. For instance, the usual stock images won’t attract attention, so you’d need to do some customization.

I am not going to expand on the subject of content here, but Neil Patel, Internet Marketing Guru, has written a post about how to create a blog properly, and the steps about content are thorough.

4 Solid Blog Promotion Ideas

There are many ways you can promote your blog and posts, but the following four methods are some of the most potent ways to bring in more traffic, when they are done properly.

To avoid repetition in each method, every one of these points, bar paid search, requires two specific elements, the first one of which is this: all blog promoting you do needs to provide value to others. Never, ever blatantly market your wares.

The key with online marketing is:

a) to be human, and

b) to promote links in a way that’s natural; woven with grace and dignity into value-add content.

The second specific element that makes these ideas work - all four of ‘em, is that they all need to be centered around your target audience. If they are not, you will get traffic, but it won’t be the right kind of traffic. The right kind of traffic are the people that will eventually buy from you.

Traffic for the sake of traffic is, well, just plain stoopid.

#1: Link from Q and A forums

Find niche forums where you know your target audience waffle around, so that you get their eyeballs on your content.

There’s no shortage of forums online; here are four of the most popular:

1. Quora
2. Mosaichub
3. Yahoo Answers
4. Askville

When you register, make sure you complete your profile, so that people who may be interested to get in touch will know how to find you, or get more information about you.

Then go ahead and find questions you can answer, that your target audience are searching for. Provide answers that are sincere and value-add. Some answers may require brevity, while others can be mini blog posts.

Here’s an example of a value-add answer on Quora. You can see the writer has included a link to content, but has done so in a natural way that is not blatant promotion:

Skills requirements to make it work:

• You’ve got to be a good writer

#2: Link from social media

Link to your blog posts or other value-add pages from your social media accounts. But again, only use accounts where your target audience hang out.

This method can be used at no cost, or depending on the account (some offer this function while other’s don’t) give it a boost by paying a small amount.

Because it’s such a popular method of promotion, many social media tools have been developed to make tasks easier.

The important thing with linking from social media to your blog is that you use images and/or video. Images attract attention, but they can’t just be stock images like this one:

A stock photo image can do more harm than good.

Whereas the next image has been customized. Canva is a versatile tool that can be used by people who aren’t graphic designers:

This image has been customized and will attract more attention
than stock photos on social media

Quicksprout offers a full-on social media and blogging guide as to how to do this, so I won’t go into more detail here.

Skills requirements to make it work:

• Basic graphic design
• Social media knowledge

#3: Link from paid search

Paid search is the only promotional method listed here that requires some financial outlay, but it’s minimal compared to offline paid advertising, so you still win, as long as your target audience is searching for stuff online.

Paid search methods include:

• Google Adwords
• Bing Ads
• Yahoo Search Ads

The most difficult part of paid search is choosing keywords that people use to find whatever you’re offering.

Use paid search to send people to a blog post, or if you’re having a promotion for instance, you’d need to set up a landing page to send traffic to. A landing page is a dedicated, standalone page that contains no distractions and is very focused on getting the reader to perform one action. You’d use a landing page if you wanted higher conversions.

Get the lowdown on paid search and how to do it with Wordstream’s helpful “how to”.

Skills requirements to make it work:

• Keyword research
• If using a landing page, you’d need these skills: copywriting, graphic design, technical know-how. Or hire a pro.

#4: Comment on other blog posts

Probably the simplest method of all, is to simply add a comment on other blog posts in the same niche.

At the risk of being repetitive...make sure your comment adds some kind of value, otherwise it won’t attract attention.

Here’s an example of a value-add comment made on Neil Patel’s blog:

Skills requirements to make it work:

• You need to be a decent writer, because your comment represents your brand

In Conclusion

Once you've published a blog post that's been written for the right people, there are ways to get the news "out there" so that search engines index your content faster because of the links from other big sites, and also to get more eyeballs to your blog, but you always need to add value to readers, and add links to your blog in a natural way.

Always focus on your reader so that you provide content that is useful.

Disclaimer: I was compensated by AT&T for this sponsored blog post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

AT&T's "Power of &" campaign emphasizes what modern businesses should know best: business agility. Only the most agile companies are capable of being everywhere at once, communicating locally and globally, and providing the ultimate personalized customer experience. Agility also translates into flexibility, allowing businesses to smoothly handle any sort of trouble the market throws at them.

But how do entrepreneurs maximize agility for their companies? The “Power of &” campaign shares a world of information with business owners; from optimizing IoT device use to taking advantage of premium cyber security, the ways in which entrepreneurs can make their businesses agile are practically limitless. AT&T’s campaign has become a major resource for business owners looking to take their companies to the next level.

But the “Power of &” campaign doesn’t only publish valuable information online. On June 14, AT&T hosted its first “Meeting of the Minds” Small Business Roundtable with Bill Rancic at RPM Steak in Chicago. I was fortunate to speak as an influencer alongside Anita Campbell and Susan Solovic. It was inspiring to meet with members from AT&T’s all-star team, including Cathy Martine, Senior Vice President of Corporate Business Solutions. Between bites of great food, we discussed how agility allows entrepreneurs to make timely business decisions, which help to ensure quick problem solving. Agile businesses strive to integrate automated and aligned systems into their frameworks, reducing busywork and placing emphasis on dynamic productivity. They involve their highly-valued staff, which generates creative input and keeps staff engaged. Finally, agile businesses understand the importance of taking the time to listen and get to know their customers, which will create an environment of understanding and appreciation. The end result? Higher revenue for those companies.

In keeping with the “Power of &” campaign’s major themes, we also partnered with AT&T to give away one Microsoft Lumia 950—the ultimate smartphone for connected entrepreneurs. We’d like to congratulate Jan Warner and thank her for participating in AT&T’s movement in conjunction with Blogtrepreneur. Thanks, Jan, and congratulations!

Our efficiency to respond to nonstop change as small business owners is crucial to our success. Consistent adaptability enables us to be ready for the inevitable changes that come when managing small businesses. Our day-to-day attitudes and practices allow us to run companies that are at once elastic, personable, and evergreen. I'd like to thank AT&T Small Business for the opportunity to speak with an amazing group of dinner guests, including Bill Rancic, Susan Solovic, Anita Campbell, and others.

AT&T’s “Power of &” campaign offers a wealth of resources to both new and seasoned business owners. Learn how to “do it all” by visiting their campaign website and learning about business agility online.

Disclaimer: I was compensated by AT&T for this sponsored blog post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Disclaimer: I was compensated by AT&T for this sponsored blog post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today's businesses have to be able to do it all. They have to engage customers and provide unique, personalized experiences. They must be willing to collaborate both within and outside of their own circles. Above all, businesses should be able to connect with anyone anywhere, no matter what kind of devices they (and their customers) use.

At the same time, businesses need to protect themselves from external threats. Security used to mean installing an alarm system or a camera above the door, but now the ultimate threat is a potential cyber attack. So while startups communicate over high-speed connections, they have to be wary of those who could possibly be lurking on their networks, grabbing at "private" information as it passes through the web.

Of course, there are tools that help startups achieve all these things. As serial entrepreneurs, we're constantly testing programs and apps that help those on our team communicate with one another—right now, we're trying Slack, ToDoist, and Trello. We use Dropbox to safely store information via the cloud, and Sucuri to protect our websites from hackers. Most importantly, however, we work to keep our businesses agile.

AT&T's "Power of &" campaign knows business agility best. Everyone has their own definition of business agility, but "Power of &" frames it as a way in which businesses can "do it all." With "Power of &," businesses can be open and secure, here and everywhere, flexible and reliable, and remote and collaborative all at once. For us, agility is our capacity to be immediately adaptable. It is the ability to have efficient systems in place which will always enable us to respond to inevitable waves. It's a requirement when working within our companies that our staff and contractors understand that if something isn't going as we've planned, we make rapid adjustments. We always look for staff that share our flexibility and problem solving abilities. Everyone needs to appreciate the importance of making the right decisions at the right time. This has been crucial for the success and growth of our companies.

Agility is an integral part of how we run our businesses. As a result, I’ll be speaking as an AT&T Small Business Influencer at the company’s first “Meeting of the Minds” Small Business Roundtable with Bill Rancic in Chicago. Here we’ll discuss business agility and adaptability for demand over great food, networking, and professional development. Other attending influencers include Anita Campbell and Susan Solovic.

To maintain agility, some startups use Internet of things (IoT) devices to track customers’ preferences and provide individualized service experiences. Others use comprehensive security dashboards to monitor the safety of their servers in case of a cyber attack. Still more send well-timed ad campaigns to customers’ mobile devices—because businesses aren’t the only ones who are constantly trying to be everywhere at once. These intuitive solutions, provided by AT&T, help companies be exactly what they need to be: agile.

This day and age requires businesses big and small to stay on their toes. Entrepreneurs interested in staying up-to-date on the latest business strategies can read AT&T’s “Power of &” solutions and real stories for inspiration. Articles on business agility, customer satisfaction, cyber protection, and more can be found on the “Power of &” website, also. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar entrepreneur or the owner of an online startup, you’ll find invaluable information through the “Power of &.”

Those who are struggling to stay connected have an equally great opportunity at their fingertips. In partnership with AT&T, we’re giving away one Microsoft Lumia 950 smartphone. The Lumia 950 is the perfect device for the busy professional or multitasker. It helps to increase productivity and ease of reading with the new Microsoft Edge Internet browser, which allows you to save and organize reads for convenient access later on. This smartphone is a great complement to your PC—and it’ll help you further engage employees, customers, and clients on the go. The giveaway is open to US residents ages 18 and over, and does not include shipping to PO boxes. It ends June 30^th, at 11:59 PM PST, so hurry and enter below!

To learn more about business agility and flexible optimization, visit AT&T’s small business website and immerse yourself in the “Power of &.”

Disclaimer: I was compensated by AT&T for this sponsored blog post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can receive a total of 3 entries right away, with the option to receive 2 additional entries per day by coming back to this page and using the "tweet this giveaway" entry daily until the giveaway ends!

As you can see, there were some that were extremely good deals!

Here is the complete, unofficial list of the domains that sold:

Rio.com $450,000
Whiskey.com $185,000
SchoolLoans.com $137,500
iAuction.com $50,000
Boy.com $45,000
Porn.co.za $45,000
Megan.com $42,500
900.com $40,000
Kasino.com $35,000
Hookahs.com $26,000
PapuaNewGuinea.com $25,000
PopStars.com $21,000
PinkDiamond.com $18,000
Hackensack.com $17,500

Z6.com, Z6.net &
Z6.org $15,000

ChildPsychologists.com $11,500
247Live.com $10,000
Schizophrenic.com $10,000
UTN.com $10,000
Stimulant.com $9,000
QDC.com $7,000
ChargingStations.com $6,000
Bulldoze.com $5,000
TheBronx.net $5,000
UZS.com $5,000
DumbAsses.com $3,500
SandyBeaches.com $2,600
FiletMignons.com $2,500
minister.net $2,500
Nudged.com $2,500
OutOfState.com $2,500
ExecutiveSalesJobs.com $2,100
Altercation.com $2,000
AntiDepressants.net $2,000
Collapsed.com $2,000
Cultivating.com $2,000
DrugMoney.com $2,000
Frustrate.com $2,000
Halp.com $2,000
Odes.com $2,000
SaddamHussein.com $2,000
SenseOfHumor.com $2,000
Ciders.com $1,750
AntiWrinkleLotion.com $1,500
Infringing.com $1,500

Skidders.com &
Skidders.net $1,500

Pears.net $1,300
Carts.net $1,100
DryMartinis.com $1,100
WrinkleLotion.com $1,100
Dabbled.com $1,000

Ignoring.com $1,000

Overridden.com $1,000

2009 T.R.A.F.F.I.C New York Domain Auction Results

Overtaking.com $900
Aunt.net $800
Figuratively.com $750
Disappointments.com $700
Satisfier.com $700
UsedSmartPhones.com $650
BackInjuryAttorneys.com $600
HairStudios.com $600
Laggard.com $600
LasikSurgeons.net $600
PreownedExoticCars.com $600
Clemson.net $500
Decorators.us $500
CommercialBonds.com $400
HeavyweightBoxer.com $400
StockInvestments.net $360
AortaSurgery.com $300
BusinessNetbooks.com $300
CommemorativePlate.com $300
DearbornHeights.net $300
NeckInjuryAttorneys.com $300
ProductCycles.com $300
WeddingProverbs.com $300

List courtesy of TheDomains.com

Do any of you buy/sell domains? What have been some of your latest domain purchases or sales?

Designers can now upload 3D designs to the Shapeways marketplace to have their designs printed and shipped anywhere in the world. You don’t even need any experience with 3D design software. They offer multiple simplified tools that anyone can use to bring your ideas to life. If you have a more complicated design, you can jump on their forum to meet a designer who would be able to model your idea for you!

Take a look at the infographic below to learn about some of the most common 3D printing techniques. These techniques are used by many different types of printers, from the humble home 3D printer to the industrial printers that are used for rapid prototyping of large scale products, including rocket engines, food, and even organs!

The common misconception is that a blog is based on a multiple of monthly earnings. Technically this is correct. However, a blog is a business that generates revenue and the traditional valuation method of a multiple of yearly earnings is the accepted valuation methodology from buyers when buying a blog. In this article we will explore what yearly multiple your blog might fetch and what factors increase or decrease that valuation.

What makes blogs valuable?

What makes a blog valuable is it’s ability for a buyer to make a return on investment. Buyers are looking for their money back (the amount they bought your blog for) in the shortest time possible. The challenge that we face when valuing blogs is blog owners think that just because they have invested say $50,000 into developing their blog, then it is valued at that amount they invested, aka $50,000.

The true value of that blog is its ability to produce profit. Let’s take the blog that had $50,000 invested into it. That blog in the last 12 months made $10,000 in profit. The value of that blog is a multiple of that profit. All assets (domain, design, traffic, list) combine to generate profit. It is the profit that gets valued, not the assets.

How website buyers perceive value?

The price a buyer pays will come down to the amount of risk in the investment. The higher the risk the lower the price paid and vice versa. The following factors will decrease the risk to a buyer when looking at buying your blog.

• Consistent stable profit
• Growing website
• Operational systems and processes
• Diversified income streams
• Diverse traffic sources
• Unique market positioning
• Great brand and following
• Low reliance on the blog owner as the brand

Who will likely buy my blog?

There are two types of buyers that will likely buy your blog if you are looking to sell

• Corporate Joe – This is a buyer that has worked a job most of their life and have a decent amount of savings and are looking to buy their first online business. They generally pay at market value because they are buying the entrepreneurial skillset that you had to develop the blog. They are a little less educated and require more training time after the sale.
• Internet Sam – This is a buyer that already owns other blogs or Internet businesses and wants to add another revenue stream to their income. They generally pay slightly below market value because they are looking for a good deal.

Traditional Valuation Methods

The following methods make up the standard valuation methodologies used by accountants when valuing a business.

• Asset Methodology – What the blog is worth if you sold it without revenue
• Multiple Earnings Methodology – a multiple of the past earnings
• Comparable Sales Methodology – what similar blogs have sold for
• Future Earnings Methodology– a projection of the future earnings of the business

Blog Valuation Methods

The generally accepted valuation method that is used to value blogs is a multiple of earnings (that is net profit of the business which is after expenses and before taxes). How this method works is the net profit of a business is determined for the last 12 months of operations. Then a multiple of earnings is applied to that profit (generally between 1.5 and 3 times) what that multiple is dependent on a number of factors that alter the valuation of the business. Let’s use the example of Jenny below to explain this.

Let’s use Jenny’s Blog as an example

Jenny (hypothetical real world example) has a blog called Healthy Habits Online. The blog is 5 years old and what started out, as a hobby is now a thriving successful business. The following financials are relevant to Jennys blog.

• Year 1– Sales of $12,234 and profit of $1,432
• Year 2– Sales of $29,631 and profit of $2,454
• Year 3– Sales of $105,698 and profit of $33,987
• Year 4– Sales of $150,128 and profit of $98,172

Jenny’s blog is reliant on a combination of traffic sources, namely 13% direct, 37% search, 50% referral websites. She sells advertising space on the website and also makes money from affiliate marketing.

Now because of the growth of the business, the diversification of traffic sources and stability of the revenue the multiple that would be applied to Jenny’s blog comes out at 2.8X. This means that his business is worth $274,881 ($98,172 multiplied by 2.8 = $274,881)

Where does your blog sit?

Figure 1 – past 3 years sales data

Each year we produce a website valuation report that analyses the years publically available transaction data (online businesses that have sold). We define blogs in the advertising category because that is the main monetization strategy that most blogs use. From the data you can see that the average selling multiple for advertising sites is decreasing over time. The sales data from 2014 shows that the average multiple paid was 1.87 times earnings. This data is sourced from 28 blog sales.

What decreases value?

Increased perceived risk generally decreases the valuation of a blog. The following factors buyers perceive to increase the risk of purchasing a blog.

• Traffic – a high reliance on SEO traffic, especially link building using private blog networks or shady link building tactics decreases the value of your site
• Revenue – a high reliance on one revenue source decreases the value of the site. For example if you use Google AdSense as your monetization strategy and you get banned from AdSense it is very hard to recover. Multiple income streams increase the value of your blog.
• Money Collection – one case where a client couldn’t transfer their merchant processor selling digital products on their blog because they chose the wrong solution and couldn’t transfer the account to a new LLC. This is also the case with recurring subscriptions on Paypal, which also can’t be transferred to another account.
• Age – An old website has a high value. Generally a site that is at least 4 years old has a decent enough history to prove stability.

Don’t use automated tools

While all of these valuation methods can be useful in specific circumstances, there are some tools that should never be used in the valuation of a website. Notably, these include automated calculators or other automated valuation tools that are typically free, easy to use, and do not require much, if any, work on your part. The problem with attempting to generate value from automated systems such as these is that these numbers rarely, if ever, correspond to actual value. Instead, they generate what are typically arbitrary numbers that are not useful for you or a potential buyer. Let’s use the following tools to calculate the value of www.facebook.com.

• Webvaluecheck.com – $3.2 B
• Worthofweb.com – $78 B
• Hypestat.com – $109 B

At the date of this report, the true market value of Facebook is $232 billion. A long way away from the automated tools predictions.

Conclusion

In conclusion as a blog owner you want to focus on generating as much profit as possible through your blog to achieve the highest valuation possible.

Resources

Below are a handful of resources that I suggest checking out if you are interested in learning about the valuation of blogs.

• What makes a million dollar ecommerce business
• Case study about selling an ecommerce business
• Tips on choosing a website broker when you sell
• Valuations when buying an ecommerce business
• What is your website worth

The successful crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter has helped fund a variety of projects from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. With the direct support of generous strangers, designers and artists alike can collect the funds to see their projects come to life.

The creator of the IceMule Cooler, James Collie, ran a successful Kickstarter campaign in the fall of 2013. After a year and a half of product development and test marketing, James used the crowdsourcing platform to introduce the IceMule Coolers, a full line of high performance portable coolers, and test the performance of the product on the general market. After Kickstarter, the product line was formally introduced into the market in early 2014.

Stephen de Zordo and Scott Shanks, two San Francisco-based friends and indie game designers learned about Kickstarter in early 2010. The crowdsourcing platform motivated them to rethink a project they had been trying to license to major toy and game companies, and set out on their own. The team used Kickstarter as an opportunity to take their revolutionary KOOBA game to the next level, and more importantly get valuable customer feedback.

From their experience, the founders of both IceMule Coolers and KOOBA were able to explain the steps to a successful Kickstarter campaign and how they achieved their goals.

Looking back, both companies shared that the most challenging element of their Kickstarter campaigns was getting media and blog attention.

“We thought we had everything planned well, but we should have probably worked on media outreach six months before launch”, explained Collie. “We started in mid-September for a late October launch and were lucky to get some good coverage.”

According to Collie, getting coverage in highly followed blogs is the difference between hitting 115% of the funding goal and hitting 1115%.

De Zordo and Shanks also realized their success depended on their ability to drive traffic to the project. “We tapped our email lists, pounded on social media, kept a steady flow of updates on our project and held local events.”

Both teams agree that starting media outreach early is crucial.

Collie also stressed the importance of using Kickstarter as more than just a capital raising exercise.

“Capital is the result, but if you focus only on the money you will never make it,” said Collie who treats Kickstarter as a marketing and operations exercise. “Your Kickstarter site is a pop-up shop – treat it like one. Create an experience for your visitors that will make them want to spend time there, buy, and refer it to friends. Beyond that, this is also a test to see if you can actually produce and delivery your product at your target costs and against a live deadline.”

Both teams spent time looking at other Kickstarter project pages to learn the do’s and don’t’s of successful campaigns, and maximized their efforts to make sure their project was part of the 44% that reach their funding goals.

For de Zordo and Shanks, Kickstarter served as a way to reach their ultimate goal: gaining critical consumer feedback that would direct their design efforts for mass production. They wanted to use the platform as a way to get their product out there, and get feedback from KOOBA players. They set their goal at just $3,000 in an effort to make sure they would hit their goal.

“It was low,” recalled de Zordo, “but the dollar amount had more to do with our capacity to deliver 50 handmade signed and numbered editions that we were offering to supporters. We knew we wanted feedback.”

Despite their different Kickstarter campaign goals, both teams were able to launch their product to the general public with the help of the backers, thus highlighting Kickstarter’s broad appeal. A year after the Kickstarter campaign, IceMule Coolers landed in over 260 stores, including three large national accounts and dozens of independent and regional accounts.

“The IceMule Company is growing at an extremely fast rate, we’re at 300% growth rate compared to 2014” said Collie.

De Zordo and Shanks also owe their continued success to their original campaign.

“With Kickstarter, we hit our goal and then some, and thanks to consumer feedback we were able to direct our design efforts to mass production”.

New $45 million facility will allow students to live, build prototypes and launch companies in the same place

Entrepreneurship is not something that can be fully understood in a classroom. It’s something that must be experienced. It’s more of a mindset than anything, a confidence you can overcome what comes next.

Universities everywhere are grappling with this problem as they adjust their curricula to keep pace with innovation and respond to how society glamorizes people, like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, who have found success by dropping out of college to start a business.

The University of Utah believes it has found the solution.

The school is investing in its unique approach by building a unique, $45-million dorm called the Lassonde Studios. It will be a place where students can live, build prototypes and work on their companies 24/7.

One of the people behind the effort is Troy D’Ambrosio, executive director of the University of Utah’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a division of the David Eccles School of Business.

“We believe that entrepreneurs need a component of learning outside the classroom,” D’Ambrosio says. “If student can take what they have learned in class that day and apply it immediately to an idea they are passionate about, the compound effect is amazing.”

The University of Utah broke ground on the Lassonde Studios this fall. Students are scheduled to move into the 160,000-square-foot building by fall 2016. The facility will feature a 20,000-square-foot “garage” on the main floor and some of the most unique housing options found anywhere for 400 students – one living option is “moveable living pods.”

The garage will function like a student union for entrepreneurs. Any student on campus will be able to use the space and the tools inside to build prototypes, attend events and launch companies. Tools will include 3D printers, laser cutters and sewing machines.

Mehrdad Yazdani, of Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design, is the lead designer for the Lassonde Studios.

“This building is a new typology for academic living-making buildings on college campus environments. It’s unlike any other campus residence that exists,” Yazdani says. “It is rare to find the same combination of living and making space. There are co-working spaces and interesting residence buildings, but no other campus has fused those programs together like we have done with Lassonde Studios.”

The design team travelled to San Francisco and New York City to visit innovative spaces: They visited six types and pulled elements from each:

• Hacker/maker spaces: hand tools, 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, rule-of-use and training requirements (Lemnos Labs and TechShop, San Francisco; New Lab and Pratt Design Incubator, New York City)

• Startup spaces: individual desks, multiple-person desks, private offices, socializing space, kitchen and resource center, mentoring and venture-capitalist exposure (RockSpace, San Francisco; WeWork, New York City)

• Co-working spaces: flexible space for multiple users during a day, small private meeting rooms, programs to meet and mix (Impact Hub, San Francisco; General Assembly, New York City)

• Live/create spaces: how to mix/separate the living and creative spaces (Headlands Center for the Arts and Rainbow Mansion, San Francisco; Science House, New York City)

• Academic/educational spaces: learning environment, program structures, curriculum integration (Stanford D.School, Stanford, Calif.; New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program and The New School, New York City; University of Waterloo, Ontario)

• Corporate spaces: proximity of teams, use of furniture to create unique spaces (AutoDesk Gallery and IDEO, San Francisco; IBM Design Studio, New York City)

The University of Utah has brought the best of those places to the Lassonde Studios with the goal to give students a deep entrepreneurial experience while also allowing them to graduate with a four-year diploma.

“Some people think being a successful entrepreneur and going to college are separate options,” D’Ambrosio says. “We believe you can do both at the same time. In fact, while you are in college is the absolute best time in your life to start a company. You will never have the same access to people and resources. It’s also the great place to try, fail and do something else with what you learn.”

The University of Utah has emphasized a hands-on approach to entrepreneurship education for more than a decade. And it has grown into a nationally ranked university for entrepreneurship and now engages more than 5,000 students in extracurricular programs that allow students to learn by doing.

A major source of support is the money the school awards to student entrepreneurs. It ranks second in the country for prize money awarded to students. The University of Utah awarded $744,550 in prize money to student entrepreneurs last year.

One of the most unique aspects of the entrepreneurship program at the University of Utah is that it attracts a large number of students for across the campus as well as the business school. Most students are participating in extracurricular programs that allow them to develop their own ideas, and they come from every department on campus.

“We have grown exponentially since we launched our first entrepreneur program in 2002, and now we are ready to take the next step,” D’Ambrosio says. “The Lassonde Studios will allow us to give every student on campus an entrepreneurial experience.”

Buying and selling valuable domain names can be a great business if you know how to do it right. Just like buying and selling real estate, you have to know the tricks of the trade to get the right domains at the right price, and then be strategic about selling. You might think that the days of making a profit from securing domain names are long gone now that the internet has become such an integral part of daily life but if you do, you’re missing out on a profitable practice that could earn you some great returns. You just have to be willing to do the research and learn some of the moves the pros make.

Here are four super stealth moves to secure valuable domain names for cheaper than you think.

Back Ordering

Online hosting services will offer some form of domain back ordering you can utilize to try to win expired domain names. How do domains expire? Every single day there are people who have registered for a domain URL that either forget to renew or intentionally allow their domain registrations to expire. There are lots of reasons why domains expire, like a person’s business fails, they ignore billing requests to re-register the url or any other variety of reasons. When a person’s account registration lapses and their registration expires, the domain opens back up for registration.

How to do it: Most online hosting companies have a back ordering service as part of their platform. For example, if you’re using GoDaddy you can use their Domain Backorders service which allows you to create a list and bid limit for domains you’d like to be on the back order list for in case they expire. There are rules and restrictions to each hosting companies back ordering services, so make sure you read the terms of service and fine print before you start creating your own back ordering list with your hosting company.

Online Auctions

Sometimes a domain name will simply expire and because you’ve created a back order for it, you’ll be lucky enough to nab it. However, the more desirable a domain name is, the more likely there will be competition for it and in that case it usually goes on to a private of public auction. Most back order domain services will try to access your desired URLs through online auctions, or you can go directly to the source and try to get the domain names you want directly through the online auction sites.

How to do it: Most importantly you’ll want to do some research on how valuable a domain name really is. A few rules of thumb are the shorter the URL the more valuable because that usually means an easier search term for a business and a simpler and more in demand name. Once you have a good sense of whether or not the term has some value, and you’ve decided on a budget, there are numerous online auction houses to consider. Most will require some form of membership so you should factor in the cost of an annual membership to these sites into your budget considerations overall. A few to scope out for more information and cost of membership are Freshdrop.com, GreatDomains.com, Afternic.com, Bido.com, Domaintools.com, Sedo.com and Namejet.com. Those are a great place to start for any initial research and to step into the domain bidding marketplace. You’ll be able to list URLs you’re interest in purchasing and name your price in the bidding.

Reach Out Direct

One surprisingly overlooked but very viable option is to reach out to a domain registered owner directly and simple ask them if it’s for sale. Many people don’t do this because they think that if there’s no price listed on it, it must be too expensive to consider but that’s a mistake to assume. It doesn’t cost anything to ask and you never know what the owner might say or offer.

How to do it: If you know some domains you’d like to consider purchasing, start researching them one by one. All website domain registrations are required to keep a current registered owner on file that’s open to the public. Go to Register.com to look up a URL and their public registration information will be displayed. One hurdle in this process is that users are able to register their domain as private and only list their hosting company’s contact information. However there are still many people who have their registration to their personal information. Once you have that information, simple do the work to email or call them and explain who you are and ask if they’re interested in selling the URL. If they say yes, you’ll want to get a legal agreement drawn to outline and record the sale to protect your investment, but this is a guerilla way to get domains you want from people who may be willing to part with them.

Research Alternate Domain Extensions

It used to be that the only domain extensions available to us were .com, .net and .org, with the .edu and .gov extensions being another off limit but usable variation. However, with the fresh crop of domain extensions that are sprouting up, the field of options has opened up for domains. 

How to do it: Do some research on all the valuable domain name extensions that exist. For example, .ly and .me are new options instead of ending in .com, so if you can find valuable domains that end in .me or .ly you’ve got a lot of options for success. Not all domain extensions will be available through your web hosting provider, so if you can’t get these or other new ones through your hosting company you’ll have to get them direct form the registration site. For example, .me extensions can be purchased through the Domain.me website.