Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Last week we featured JohnMcKenzie.tel as a One Vancouver .TEL of the Day. As some of you may have seen back in April, John was the first realtor we know to start featuring his .TEL name in his print ads. For those of you who missed it, here’s a reminder, reproduced with permission of Webnames.ca:

A community newspaper publishes the first known print ad to prominently feature the dot-TEL name of a local small business a little more than a week into general registration.

The print ad features the easy to remember JohnMcKenzie.tel alongside colour photos of his current listings. Specializing in home sales on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, realtor John McKenzie’s ad in the April 3, 2009 edition of The Coast Reporter is a perfect example of how dot-TEL will increasingly be used by small businesses.

“We have seen strong adoption by real estate agents and other professionals who traditionally use business cards to pass contact information,” reports Stephen Smith, the CEO of Webnames.ca and registrar of JohnMcKenzie.tel. “It suggests that dot-TEL will soon become an integral part of business advertising and promotion activities.”

Easy to remember and simple to share, a dot-TEL name is the perfect solution for passing layered contact information. In sharp contrast to a traditional 1-800 number, JohnMcKenzie.tel funnels potential customers directly to the information they want – Mr. McKenzie’s multiple phone numbers, email address, website and most importantly, his complete property listings.

By publishing a dot-TEL name in print ads, on signage or online, small business owners and consultants give potential customers the ability to contact them instantly through any internet enabled device. Dot-Tel owners can also publish a location record that pulls directions to a storefront, or property listing when clicked. It enables independent professionals to create long lasting relationships with clients because the information contained in a dot-TEL name is always current.

Things continue to be very busy for the One Vancouver team but we thought it would be a good idea to take a short break and give everyone a quick update.

First of all, what’s it all about?

One Vancouver is a growing group of local partners, interested parties and enthusiasts who share a common vision of the potential of the new .TEL names. Many of us believe .TEL is one of the most important developments in the past 20 years – on a par with e-mail, the cell phone, even the World Wide Web – in terms of the impact it will have on our day to day lives.

Just as with any major innovation, change doesn’t happen over night. It starts with a few dedicated enthusiasts who continue to spread the word – and in Vancouver, we’re it! Ultimately, we hope to build a thriving community of .TEL users, but right now the name of the game is raising awareness and providing information so each person can make an informed choice about .TEL.

To that end, we’ve been busy getting the foundations of the web site ready, gathering our first Twitter followers, promoting some of the many current .tel owners in the Lower Mainland and lining up advertising, sponsorship and promotional opportunities.

It’s been a busy few months and we’re looking foward to our official launch at the start of August. In the meantime, add us to Twitter follows so we can keep you up to date – and do check in regularly as we’ll be updating the site often.

If you’re already a .TEL fan, do reach out and say hello. There are a lot of us around and we hope One Vancouver will give us a real focus for our efforts and energies.