Yup, it’s the second week of the month and you know what time it is, right? That’s right! It’s time for Verisign’s Top Trending Keywords Report.

Moments ago, Verisign published to its blog September’s trending keywords registered for .com and .net domains.

Whether a domain buyer or seller, one of the most challenging questions to answer realistically is how much a given domain is worth?

While one person could think their domain should be valued at 6-7 figures, another person would scoff at such a valuation, rendering the domain’s value as a few hundred dollars on the best day, or simply worthless.

Per release statements from Apple and Windows, more than 70 new emoji are soon to hit devices worldwide in their latest software updates starting October 2018, spanning the next month or so.

As most of you all know, I attended and participated in the 2nd Annual MERGE! Conference in Orlando, Florida this year.

Having attended its inaugural debut last year, I was honored to Moderate two sessions this year:

• Secrets of Domain Leasing
• Domain Name Solutions for Blockchain Challenges

Both sessions were attended, received and engaged quite well by attendees and industry professionals.

In addition, one of the most anticipated and talked about segments of MERGE! was Appraisals, Comps, & Aftermarket — How do we know that our domains are worth?

While there are only a few new top-level domain extensions that have captured my attention and a few investment dollars, there aren’t many likely to stand the test of time.

While there are thousands of new top-level domain extensions to choose from, there are only a handful of industry professionals I’d be willing to put my money on being and building a profitable success.

It’s been one week since I boarded a plane from Orlando heading back to good ole’ Austin, Texas.

I thought I’d take a moment to share a few thoughts and interactions from my MERGE! 2018 experience.

As the 2nd Annual MERGE! comes to a conclusion in it’s final day, there were many sessions, keynotes and connections to be had and made from Day One, Day Two and Day Three.

Conferences like MERGE! tend to move at a lightening speed in person while it can be perceived as a long time when seeing the outlay of time on paper.

Nevertheless, the final day of MERGE! kicked off with a pasties breakfast bar and keynote from Stefan Pretty, CEO Subbly.co, entitled “Bootstrappers do it better”.

Although many points were about about bootstrapping, one of the key takeaways from Stefan’s presentation was how bootstrappers should constantly ask the following 4 questions at every twist and turn in their journey: