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Welcome to DOMAIN STREET 2.0
... Where you can get your own private parcel of real estate in
cyberspace
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So, here's how the story goes:
The First Generation
The year is 1908 ... that's just about exactly 100 years ago,
you know.
The new Main Street Station in Richmond, Virginia
is 8 years old. Locomotive engineers have found this to be one
of their favorite stops. My grandfather, George, the inquisitive
young one in this picture, is just 9 years old ... but he's already
painted his first painting and it is wonderful! The young boy
has talent ... and plenty of "passion" to go along with
that talent as well. He's on his way to New York City. He's excited.
So, can a bright, yet naive, young boy from Virginia make it in
the big city? Who knows? But as long as you have a talent, a drive,
and a passion to express yourself clearly, and the playing field
is even, you might as well give it a try ... right, George?
This is a new century, you know. The 20th Century. And there's
a brand new communications system in place to help us all communicate
better and make our points, and/or our fortunes, face-to-face,
for the very first time. It's called the railroads.
Well, not exactly "brand new", but you get the picture.
Yep, the transportation super highway now has no limits. You can
make your point, and earn your livelihood if you choose, in Virginia,
or New York ... or even California ... if they ever finish those
final rail connections, that is.
And the cost of real estate is very low. It's a "land grab"
in this new industrial economy. Buy a plot of land, sit on it
for later use, develop it, add new features, like a well, a garden,
a fence, or even a mail box. A personalized mail box. Not only
is this fun, the property is likely to appreciate rapidly over
the years.
But, please be careful. The infrastructure in place to let you
reach your property is new. There could be bumps on the tracks,
greedy outlaws, people from other cultures you can't understand,
folks trying to sell you things in each train car and at each
station ...and maybe even "pirates" (those dreadful
pirates!) along the way ... trying all the while to steal your
hard earned property. Aren't these new "superhighways"
something else ... despite the risks? George thinks so.
And don't forget, George has talent. He is a gifted young man
and his work is protected by copyright laws in his country ...
and even in the new frontiers he's about to explore for the very
first time. He has a new idea that he might be able to use his
talent to sell customized signs to all the folks who are buying
property in this new frontier. He is proud to be a citizen of
the United States. He is thankful to be creative. And he is happy
the Constitution provided him protection for
his original works of art.
So off to New York, it is. Paintbrush, chalk, charcoal, and easel
in hand. George takes along a portfolio of his work as well, but
nobody is really all that interested. He's going to be paid almost
$.85 an hour either way.
George painted many original works of art before
he was even 20. Although he had the fine art talent of few, he
had to rely on commercial art projects, and jobs, to make his
way. He married young and now has a family to support.
The Second Generation
In 1919, George number 2 is born. So, okay, George Foreman didn't
have the original idea. "Name everyone George ... it's far
easier to remember all of their names that way."
Guess what? George 2.0 also has the artistic talent. Only this
young boy wants to live in Virginia. By now they can take a rail
or paved superhighway ... even boats and airplanes ... up and
down the coastline and the trip gets shorter with each passing
year. How cool is this new technology and infrastructure anyway?
But trains are still the most fun.
So ... it's back to Main Street Station ... and Virginia ... they
go.
George #2 has the entrepreneurial spirit and artistic talent of
his father, and a gift for gab as well. After working for a number
of advertising agencies, his star has risen. He has to take a
short break from his chosen career to build a few bridges in France
and Germany, but he draws pictures and sends them back home to
his new bride, Flora, all along the way. Art ... what a wonderful
way to share your views of the world ... and communicate with
people you love. And copyright protection allows someone like
George #2 to make a decent living at what he loves to do as well
... create original works of art. In George's view, the freedoms
of expression and rights into own property in this country were
definitely worth fighting for.
And own property they did. More and more people were staking claim
to their own small private piece of property in this new and exciting
world. And George number two was quite creative as well. He mentioned
to his buddies in France that he could draw up real estate signs
in bulk and then tailor them to each person who purchased a piece
of property or put a new mailbox, or a fence, in their front yard.
At a discounted price, no less. Customizing property was but one
of the many creative ideas young George would come up with along
the way. He loved being an American. And he knew he could use
his unique art talents to make his country and even nicer place
to be.
The war ends and its back to work in Virginia for George. Home,
sweet home.
"I can't believe they pay me to do this 'stuff'", muses
George number 2, somewhere along the way while sitting at his
new drawing board, colored pencils and exacto knife in hand. They
didn't call them keyboards and mouses back then, you know, but
hey took as much, if not more pateince and skill to operate properly.
But it worth it to George. "This is far easier than building
bridges under fire ... and a heck of a lot more fun, as well."
So, as long as someone was willing to pay him a decent wage, and
no one tried to steal his work, he could begin to have a family
and see who else might just have the bug ... art and creativity
often stay in the bloodstream, you know.
The Third Generation
In 1945, the war is over and the first of four children is conceived.
It's a girl this time. "Georgia" ... no, I don't think
so, proclaims grandma emphatically!
Now it's my turn. I'm child number 2 in this new artistic food
chain ... and "yes", they call me George as well. George,
the third.
I started drawing just about the time I started walking from my
memory. I wasn't nearly as good as George the first or second,
but I did inherit the appreciation for fine art and the passion.
So did my sister and two creative brothers.
Thank goodness for copyright laws. They were protecting us long
before we even knew what they were. They allowed us to make a
living at what we loved to do, and be fairly compensated along
the way ... well, most of the time, that is! Our forefathers really
did know what they were doing when they guaranteed the rights
of copyright protection to the creative folks in this country
some two hundred plus years ago. Good job, forefathers! Copyrights
have protected our family income now for almost 100 years.
By the time I decided to get into this business and graphics game,
digital artwork had come onto the scene. I led a team that developed
a graphical computer-based presentation and training tool for
IBM back in the late 70s. It was called AIM, for Automated
Instructional Marketing. It was very popular and widely
accepted throughout IBM everywhere. I got to travel to all parts
of the world. Graphic pictures really do, indeed, tell a thousand
words each ... even in their crudest form. Can anyone say "green
stick figures"?
In 1980, I left IBM and started the first of many entrepreneurial
ventures out on my own. All had one thing in common. They relied
on creativity, graphic arts, audio, and video development, as
well as adequate copyright protection, to succeed ... no, make
that "to survive".
Imageline was formed in the mid 80s. If you read about our
history, we were the original pioneer of electronic graphic
arts content (clipart illustrations, design templates, logos,
cartoons, and animations) in the new IBM PC world. A small company
in California, T/Maker, saw the same opportunity on the new Apple
personal computer platform at about he same time. Imageline has
been around ever since ... some years better than others ... as
I'm sure is true for most companies in the graphic arts and technology
games.
The Next Generation
As we enter 2008, and the celebrate the 100th year anniversary
of that first trip to the Main Street Station
here in Richmond by my grandfather, Imageline, and our sister
company, Islandview Technologies, are proud to introduce yet another
industry first in our long history of creativity and innovation.
In many ways, this new business venture reminds me of the pioneering
spirits that have staked claim to real estate properties in this
country for the past 100 years.
Who knows. Maybe some members of our Fourth and Fifth Generations
will decide to get involved.
We are calling our new venture, 'Domain Street 2.0',
or just 'Domain Street' for short. It provides products and services
in the growing field of domain name marketing and branding. It
establishes a home base for all of the top quality domain name
services and advice you need under one roof ... just like the
Main Street Station did for its transportation customers here
in Richmond a hundred years ago.
Domain Street 2.0 buys, modifies, designs, builds,
parks, develops, and sells unique domain name properties. Think
of them as "parcels of undeveloped land", only every
one can be individually customized and developed as you choose
... kept as an investment or money making "rental" property
... or even headed out in its own direction if you choose to do
so ... as the Internet has no boundaries like the railroad tracks
and locomotives used to.
With Domain Street, you can place an
order or put in a bid for the exact
identity that matches your style and your intended audience. We
call these premium domain names "waterfront property"
since it appears that domain names are the true real estate of
the 21st Century. You can develop your property, or we can develop
it for you, and you can landscape it just as you choose with easy
to use design tools. It's not only potentially very profitable,
it's a whole lot of fun!
We have domain solutions for everyone. We also sell residential
properties, commercial properties, properties related to politics,
secluded properties, urban properties, rural properties, properties
that are part of a social network or community, faith-based properties,
second-income properties, entertainment properties, sports franchises
and properties, vacation properties, and much, much more. Your
choices are limitless with Domain Street 2.0.
Just let us do the creative work and the branding ... or do it
all yourself with our help is you so choose.
You can also sit on your property ... or even grow fruits and
vegetables on it ... if you choose, as it is likely to appreciate
in value many times over in time if history over the past few
years repeats itself. Most of the most popular ".com"
domain names are already taken by now, you know ... and some are
worth millions! Others are already worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars, but we still have a few very special ones reserved
just for you.
If you do decide you want to conduct business on your new property,
we'll also show you exactly how to draw advertisers, and potential
customers, to your site. This is like rental income ... and, with
the proper planning and expertise, many new domain owners make
a profit with rarely ever even visiting their site. How great
is that?! "Domainlords" with no plumbing bills to pay.
Don't you just love this new Web 2.0? We do.
Your Participation ... Our Advice
This is truly a wonderful time to have passion ... to be creative
... and to express yourself in your own unique
way ... whether it's in business, politics, sports, faith, community,
family, or any other important aspect of your personal life. This
new Internet real estate is truly affordable and the upside potential
for appreciation dwarfs the downside, regardless of what you decide
to do with it, in our view. And we're not biased, you know.
And finally, if you would like to try your hand at selling your
new domain name, we'll show you exactly how to best accomplish
that goal as well. Domain Street either has,
or will refer you to, all the professional tools
you'll ever need. And we've spent several years researching this
changing market, so our recommendations are usually pretty good
and up to date. Cyberspace changes very rapidly these days ...
generally in a good way for the owners of good domain name properties.
Domain Street 2.0 domains provide you the perfect
blend of small business addiction (aka "entrepreneurialism"),
creative expression (Web 2.0 gives everyone a chance to stake
out their own unique and personal piece of property in cyberspace),
and unique branding for business or personal identity (our premium
branded domain names come along with an unique logo or emblem
illustrating the service you provide, as well as an entire set
of professionally produced creative tools to help you, and your
message, stand out in a crowd ... and deliver results ... whatever
your goals might be).
Domain Street will also assist you in forming
an LLC, corporation, or other kind of entity (always recommended
for both legal and business protection of your original ideas
and expressions), provide you with design ideas and other publishing
tools and services, help you register your copyrighted works and
other trademarks properly, and seek professional legal guidance
and assistance if you should run into any rough waters along the
way. And, believe me, we all do! We are not lawyers, but we know
some mighty fine and fair minded folks who are.
Welcome to Domain Street 2.0 ... get onboard
now for the ride of your life! Hopefully, we'll be able to help
you express yourself more clearly and effectively ... and enjoy
yiur new neighbors along the way!
Thanks for stopping by.
George
George P. Riddick, III
Chairman/CEO
Domain Street 2.0, LLC*
*part of the proud Imageline and Islandview Technologies family
of companies
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