MMX eliminates premium renewal prices for all domains sold from January 2017

MMX (formerly known as Minds + Machines), a top-level domain name registry, today announced the company’s rebooted Premium Domain Program. Central to the Program is the complete elimination of premium renewal prices for all premium domains sold from January 6, 2017.

So all the premium domain names in the MMX portfolio that were not sold until January 6th, 2017 will now be sold for a premium upfront fee and will then have the standard renewal price depending on the extension. Previously, premium MMX domains had the same premium price for both the registrations and renewals.

All of the MMX TLDs are currently covered under this revised pricing, except for thes geos – ie .london, .bayern, .nrw and .miami.

For a full list of the launched MMX wholly-owned domains, please see below:

.abogado
.beer
.casa
.cooking
.fashion
.fishing
.fit
.garden
.horse
.law
.rodeo
.surf
.vip
.vodka
.wedding
.work
.yoga

Toby Hall, MMX’s CEO announced the Program with Solomon Amoako, MMX’s newly-appointed VP Channel Management and Michael Salazar, MMX’s COO & CFO, at the NamesCon domain name industry conference in Las Vegas today.

Mr Hall said, “MMX is committed to delivering the most domain-investor-friendly premium name programs in the industry. We started the process of rebooting our strategy in July last year, when we alerted our many registrar partners that 100% of our premium names sold after January 6^th 2017 would have standard, GA renewal prices. As an added incentive to strengthening our existing partnerships and building new ones, we are likewise revisiting the price tiering of all our premium inventory across the portfolio. The upshot of our new Premium Program is that all registrants will ultimately have access to much more affordable purchase opportunities with sharply reduced carrying costs.”

Michael Salazar, MMX’s COO & CFO, said, “We were able to successfully pilot the concept of premium inventory renewing at standard prices through the launch of our .VIP extension in May last year. The support was exceptional and provided the validation to implement the strategy across our wider portfolio. We look forward to seeing how this Program develops in 2017.”

Solomon Amoako, VP of Channel Management, said, “The ultimate goal of the Program and the wider initiatives MMX is putting in place is simple: we want to demonstrate we are great partners to have in your corner. If you’re a domain investor, a registrar, an aftermarket platform, a broker, or an affiliate, we’re here to structure deals that can provide excellent profit potential both for yourselves and your end-customers.”

The MMX Premium Domain Program applies to all MMX wholly-owned TLDs in general availability, and will apply to all TLDs in the MMX portfolio still to launch – notably .boston which is expected to launch later this year.

Industry Veteran Solomon Amoako Joins MMX

MMX also announced the appointment of domain industry veteran Solomon Amoako to the company’s senior leadership team.

Taking up the newly-created role of Vice President Channel Management, Mr Amoako is responsible for MMX’s sales operations in the Americas and Europe, with a special focus on accelerating the company’s commitment to partnership-building and premium sales activity.

MMX CEO Toby Hall said, “Solomon brings a broad and valuable perspective to the MMX team. More importantly, he shares the same vision for the Group as our entire team does – that we succeed when our partners succeed.”

Prior to joining MMX, Mr Amoako was Chief Sales Officer and SVP, Americas at leading domain name marketplace Sedo, where he led business development, account management and brokerage teams.  He also served as Vice President of Business Development for the Rightside Group, and Director of Global Sales & Account Management at the wholesale Internet services company, Tucows.

“I’ve been an admirer of MMX since the company’s 2016 restructure,” said Mr Amoako. “MMX has repeatedly demonstrated to the industry that it is serious about partnering, and over recent weeks I’ve seen that the entire MMX organization is singularly focused on partnering for success. In particular, the solid work MMX is putting into end-user education is exemplary. The approach MMX is taking is the best I’ve seen at any domain registry, and I’m enormously proud to join the team.”

Mr Amoako’s specific remit is to lead sales initiatives for the Americas and Europe, to drive adoption and distribution through the registrar ecosystem, to support the domain investor community, and further grow TLD-based vertical marketplaces. He will improve operational efficiencies in the company’s sales team and accelerate communication with partners. As part of this activity MMX expects to be making further business development hires in both the US and Europe in the coming months.