Talent Bank Task Force

[DreamThief]

Hi everyone, Barbara's web publishing site is geniuspress.com . Going with the genius theme, geniusprofiles is available in all extensions. She says we're all a genius at whatever we're gifted at, so it should apply to anyone listing themselves in the database. I tried to incorporate Barbara's name, but I don't think Barbara is famous enough yet for people to hear her name and know it's not spelled Share. (Almost everyone knows who Cher is though!) Sheryourtalent and TalentSher are available, but Shareyourtalent and Talentshare are both taken and our advertising would send people to those other sites. Tricia / DreamThief

[Fastalaskan]

Tricia, Great ideas. I love it. Keep in mind that Barbara stated she wanted it to be separate and we don't know what that means yet. But in my summary, I will put under this column that the task force members strongly feel that they'd like the project to be in line with her "ideals" and that we probably unanimously would like it to use the Sher name. Don't worry, what I'll be sending to Tricia is just a draft and everyone will have a chance to add comments, etc. before we forward it to Barbara. I'll have it done shortly. With that said, our newer team members: Have you made sure that Tricia has your email address? We'll be doing this by email because this forum is so clunky and awkward and I don't think it will clearly show what we want to show on a summary. So if you haven't already done so, please let Tricia (Dreamthief) know your contact info.

[Creative Sage]

Hi everyone, Barbara's web publishing site is geniuspress.com . Going with the genius theme, geniusprofiles is available in all extensions. She says we're all a genius at whatever we're gifted at, so it should apply to anyone listing themselves in the database. I tried to incorporate Barbara's name, but I don't think Barbara is famous enough yet for people to hear her name and know it's not spelled Share. (Almost everyone knows who Cher is though!) Sheryourtalent and TalentSher are available, but Shareyourtalent and Talentshare are both taken and our advertising would send people to those other sites. Tricia / DreamThief

These are good, unless some people would think "geniusprofiles" somehow means you have to be a Mensa member or something. We know better, of course. I also thought of some last night while I was falling asleep, but can't remember them all right now (of course). Two I remember are: Wishcrafters.com and Dreamcrafters.com (haven't checked their availability), assuming Dreamcatchers.com is taken. Then there's Dreamchasers.com, but I like the prior ones better. When I think of the others, I'll post them. This is a fun brainstorming exercise! Tricia, I have already sent you my contact info, right? If not, please send me a PM, or you can go to one of my web sites in the signature below for an email address. Cathryn/Creative Sage TM

[Fastalaskan]

Cathryn, Wishcrafters, dreamcrafters and dreamchasers are all taken as .coms I did not check other extensions yet, like .net, etc. I didn't check dreamcatcher under anything but .com either. I think Tricia wants something completely unique. In other words if it's taken in one extension I think she'd rather use something else. What do others think? Does this have a real effect on things? I remember that I went to irs.com and thought I was at the federal site at irs.org. So it's possible to confuse users. On the other hand, I don't know if it makes too much of a difference. I really liked the wishcrafters idea. There's no site for it, it's just being reserved. But maybe like docsue suggested we can add sher to the front to be sherwishcrafters. In my summary I'll list all the names we've came up with so far and whether or not they're taken in any of the three major extensions. Then when you get it, the ones that aren't taken you can vote for your favorites and add new ideas.

[DreamThief]

Hi everyone, Here's the list of people I have e-mail addresses for. DreamThief - Tricia (me) Fastalaskan - Tonia helper_ham - Jennifer luvadventure - Linda MollyL - Molly docsue - Susan Findthejoyagain - Rudine JustTriIt - Pamela Catheryn, I have you on the list as a member of the team but I don't have your e-mail. Barbara probably didn't get a chance to forward it to me, could you send it to me in a private message? I think there are a few other people who recently offered to help. I haven't received any updates from Barbara, but please send your information to me in a private message and I'll get you officially on board. Thanks! Tricia / DreamThief

[Fastalaskan]

I'm working on the summary right now. Give me another day or two. I'm doing it differently than before. Rather than just cutting and pasting everything everyone has said I'm making it into an easy to read format so it'll be easy first for task force members to comment and then later on for Barbara to read easily. I'm starting out with a Word document and using a table. I'll see how that works.

[Fastalaskan]

During my web design class today I asked the instructor about choosing domain names. His advice: Keep names to less than 12 characters. Regarding using the same domain name as someone else with different extensions, he said that if they are using the same name, they are most likely competitors providing the same type of service. Most people are most familiar with the .com. However, it's increasingly difficult to find ideal domain names with .com anymore. Best strategy in choosing is to make the domain name a keyword. (So where does that leave the dreamcatcher, wishcrafters type of ideas? Are they clear enough? ) For his personal business he has bought several extensions and used applets to redirect to his main site. If affordable, he recommends it. We have high-level techies on our taskforce, so I'm not telling anyone anything new. Just sharing my teacher's answer. Regarding the table that you all should've received, I'm excited about it and this project is getting fun again. It's my favorite thing to do. I just thought of a new change to the web domain table you all just got, so I'll be forwarding the same thing with revisions to Tricia again. Sorry for the repeat, but that's why it's just for us for now. My idea is to add a column at the end of the tables where taskforce members can quickly type in their H-levels for each domain name listed. Then a couple new columns for new domain name ideas on the bottom. Makes it quick and easy for answering and also to read. Hey, he also said adding these - between words might help? Or _ , or 14.dreamcatchers.com, for example. Like it? No?

[Creative Sage]

Personally, I don't like hyphens in web names ( - ) when they can be avoided. When doing a search, I think most people will use the version without the hyphen and will land on a competing site. I'm surprised "Wishcrafters" is taken by anyone other than Barbara or her company. I would think "Wishcraft" is a trademarked name, or part of the copyright of her book, so "Wishcrafters" is close enough that one would think she could challenge its use--if she wants to go through that. It's also surprising to see that "Geniusprofiles" has not been taken--maybe we should keep that one high on our list, even though some people may not find it "user friendly" for everyone. In addition to searching domain name availability, we should also search business and trademark names, I think, if we come up with a catchy title. It's one thing to reserve the domain, but we wouldn't want some other organization using the same business name, either. It seems that if .com is taken, maybe we should avoid .net or .biz versions of the same name, but that's my opinion. It just seems like most people will search for the .com version. To add "Sher" to the beginning may or may not be confusing for searching, depending on the other words, but the main point is--does Barbara want her name used for the talent bank, or any other of her branded titles? Cathryn/Creative Sage TM

[Fastalaskan]

Personally, I don't like hyphens in web names ( - ) when they can be avoided. When doing a search, I think most people will use the version without the hyphen and will land on a competing site.

Me either. I just threw it out there, in case anyone got attached to a name such as your dreamcatchers idea, which is taken in all of the popular extensions

I'm surprised "Wishcrafters" is taken by anyone other than Barbara or her company. I would think "Wishcraft" is a trademarked name, or part of the copyright of her book, so "Wishcrafters" is close enough that one would think she could challenge its use--if she wants to go through that.

It's just taken, but not being used currently by anyone. But .net, .org., .us are available for this name.

It's also surprising to see that "Geniusprofiles" has not been taken--maybe we should keep that one high on our list, even though some people may not find it "user friendly" for everyone.

I just sent Tricia a newer version of the webdomain table so everyone can post their h-levels and then return it. I like geniusprofiles. That and wishcrafters.

In addition to searching domain name availability, we should also search business and trademark names, I think, if we come up with a catchy title. It's one thing to reserve the domain, but we wouldn't want some other organization using the same business name, either.

Good point. I'll add a new category: tasks to complete before publishing database and site. This will be on it.

[docsue]

Love the chart. I got the idea of using the or your or original from an online marketing seminar. The guy teaching it has over 100 domain names and makes very nice money selling his ebooks online. He also suggested buying as many obvious misspellings as possible, but that gets a tad pricey. My site has a hyphen and it seems to work out ok, but I agree this is something to avoid when possible. I like any of the names with talent, job or hire in them, with fillyourjob and dreamhire possibly being my favorites (I'm hoping that this isn't because I suggested them but don't have time to check back now). I like geniusprofiles as well, but am also vaguely suspicious. I will try to squeeze a little time into an insane week to check out genius as a key word to see what kind of traffic it generates. I think that the clearer the name is, the more likely we are to have accurate hits. I've heard that it's best to stick to .com because folks still don't know/use the other extensions, although .net seems to be ok.

[DreamThief]

I really would like to come up with a unique and catchy .com name. I've just spent some more time at network solutions trying out names but the only thing I found available was a suggestion someone made to me to use instead of DreamThief. DreamChief.com is available, does it describe what we're doing? Tricia/ DreamThief

[Fastalaskan]

Hi everyone, I've had the flue for the last couple of days. But I really want to crank this summary out so we can get it over to Barbara. The idea is quick and easy to read, quick and easy to answer. I started with the web domain names because it was easier, so I could see if anyone had any ideas on how to improve it while I was in the process of getting it done. I think this format will help us to see exactly what is going on and help to organize it. I'm hoping that any further comments on the domain name will be added to the table that you've all received. If you're reading this and haven't received anything, let Tricia know. If you are unable to read it, let Tricia know. I have a Mac also, so I can format it for you to read. So the point is, yes, let's keep narrowing down our decisions on the web domain name, but let's use the table that you have in your email. I'll update it and also look to see if it's taken. So any domain comments, please add it to the table and reply to Tricia, and we'll tally it all, re-do it once more or maybe more if necessary. But use the email table. Docsue, you can research the popularity of keywords? That would be great. If you are too busy, I can too. But I don't want to take on too much. This summary, though it's quick and to the point, takes a lot longer than the previous ones. Because the goal is to make it quick and easy for the reviewers (you) to read and respond so we can submit it to Barbara once we're done. Tricia, Dreamchief. I don't know. I wouldn't know what that was about if I didn't already know. But it is a catchy name. Hmmmm............I don't know. Add it to the table and let the task force list their H-levels.

[Just Tri It]

Can someone tell me in which of Barbara's books I'll find the definition of "H-Levels"? Or maybe someone can give me a quickie explanation? Please pardon my ignorance. I've only read "I Could Do Anything..." and am currently working through "Wishcraft", so I guess I'm still catching up with all of you.

[Fastalaskan]

Hi Pam, Sorry about that. H-level is just short for happiness level. It's on a scale of 1-10 and one means it's awful, ten means you're in heaven. Barbara says to use that as a tool when you come up with ideas of what you want to do, and don't waste too much time on anything under 7. I just thought that was a better way to structure the chart instead of a simple yes or no response. I should've explained.

[Fastalaskan]

Progress report: I'm up to page 8 of our 15 pages of responses. The reason for the summary is to make it easy for us to comment and respond easily, then update the tables once after everyone has a chance to respond, then forward to Barbara -----letting her know we need answers to go further. I'll finish it by tonight, won't go to bed until I do. Thanks for your patience. It's harder to do it this way rather than just cut and paste comments as I've done before. I volunteer for HOH to help Hatice and what might help for all of us to know is she already told us her schedule even with book complete, may not free up until March! Well, the summary should make it easy to get feedback from us first then her. So the owners of the ideas and full comments won't be posted on the tables. Feel free to critique the table if you have ways to improve it, in addition to adding your H-levels to each item on the table.