Today at 8am PST, a new phase in domain name branding begins as General Availability for seven New gTLD’s will now be available to the general public for registration:  .bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles, and .ventures.  After all of the debates and arguments for those for and against introducing new extensions to the domain market, the new gTLDs are finally here.  But is the general public ready for them?  Do they even know they exist?  The people behind these New gTLD’s are certainly banking that they are and do, and that these extensions will be attractive to businesses and people for their branding potential.

The emphasis on branding is becoming very key to any business or individual on the internet these days, and in life.  Everywhere you look it’s all about branding – you or your company.  The New gTLDs with their descriptive extensions will do just that.  Another advantage is for those that weren’t able to obtain their desired domain name in the ever faithful .com, then now is their chance to purchase a domain name in a new gTLD that may be even better suited to their needs and services.  If you already have a .com or one of the other extensions that have been out there, then a New gTLD is just another way to help you in your marketing efforts.

So congratulations to all the people behind the New gTLDs.  You had a dream and you made it come true.  As entrepreneurs, we should all admire their vision and tenacity.  We should all want each other to succeed.

And for anyone out there thinking of purchasing a domain name with either a New gTLD or Whatever other type of extension, remember the internet is your domain!  Stand up and get noticed.