As mentioned earlier, Howard Neu co-founded the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Conference, which stands for Targeted Redirects and Financial Fulfillment Internet Conference. Neu, in an interview with DNJournal,  describes the Neu-Schwartz relationship by stating, “My background was as a C.P.A., lawyer and movie, TV, radio and political personality while his was in sales, numbers, knowing the domain industry inside and out and having an uncanny ability to see the future and trends that others could not see.  So together we have been able to bounce things off each other and stay creative and more than one step ahead of anyone else in the domain conference industry.  For that matter, we believe that before the first T.R.A.F.F.I.C., there was no “domain industry,” just a number of individuals doing business with parking companies and affiliates,” Neu said.

Now that T.R.A.F.F.I.C. has been passed down to Rick Latona, it is important that the domain name industry doesn’t forget the hard work and actions of Mr. Neu.

Patrick has never been ashamed to admit that earlier on in life he jumped from job to job, never fully satisfied with what he was doing. It didn’t take long for him to realize the problem was that he was making money for others instead of himself, so he became his own boss. Right before Patrick became a domain investor he was a successful real estate investor who while investing in tangible real estate, used the internet as a marketing strategy. The lessons he learned with that prepared him for a career change, ultimately allowing him to make a smooth transition into virtual real estate.

Presently he has several projects in the works, one of which he recently announced; a partnership with the owner of GoDrops.com where the site will be getting a complete overhaul. Dropping domain names are the golden nuggets of our industry which Patrick will provide with in-depth statistics making GoDrops.com a great resource for the domaining community. In addition to that he’s also working on a geo domain development project for TampaBay.tv. Tampa Bay is a community made up of over 4 million residents and a hot tourist spot in Florida.

In the up coming year he’ll be attending many of the industry’s conferences and reporting on them as they happen. Currently Patrick resides in Orlando, FL with his wife and two young children. When he’s not working he’s spending time with them.

Here are some of the domains in his portfolio:

AdjustableHomeLoans.com

DryRoastedPeanuts.com

RunForum.com

ScubaDivingExcursions.com

SuedeCouches.com

TampaBay.tv

Past award winner and author of DNJournal, Ron Jackson, wrote a  featured story highlighting Aron and his past accomplishments. To read the article and learn more about Aron on DNJournal.com, click here.

Claims to Fame:

• Founder, XF Investments
• Symbolics.com, first domain name ever registered
• TrafficEstimate.com
• HY.com
• Copies.com
• March.com
• iBlog.com
• ImageSharing.com

Most recently Bruce co-founded Localtek, LLC which focuses on helping rural America with their online marketing needs and as part of this has launched Missouri.me which focuses on community portals for all cities and towns within Missouri. Bruce has worked to partner with leading Internet service providers in state to help drive awareness of the need for small business to market their businesses properly on the Internet. This all starts with the selection of their domain name.

Bruce also writes frequently on his blog at BruceMarler.com about a wide range of domain investing topics with much focus on developing an alternative extension such as .ME but also blogs about topics such as marketing your business and general geo domain and minisite tips.

Bruce has a large portfolio of names between his personal investments and his companies, here are a few below:

• iFones.com
• DrugReform.com
• Gaithersburg.net
• MidvaleCity.com
• Missouri.me
• Oklahoma.me
• Arizona.me
• Illinois.me
• Ohio.me
• Arkansas.me

Special thanks to Freshdrop.net for sponsoring the Influential Domainer of September!

Ron began his professional journalism career as News Director of an Ohio radio station before moving on to TV. He spent 17 years as a news and sports anchor/reporter at ABC and CBS television stations in Tampa, Florida. An entrepreneur at heart, Ron decided to open his own business in 1989 when he rolled out the first in a series of successful record stores. His mail order division became known worldwide as a leading source for music memorabilia. During this time he discovered the power of the Internet when he was able to replace his expensive national magazine ads with a website in 1997. Business exploded while his advertising costs dropped to a fraction of what they had been before.

Just a few years later, when file sharing and downloading started causing problems for music retailers, he recognized that the Internet would permanently change his industry and most others forever. Sensing a new opportunity that dwarfed everything he had seen before, Ron walked away from the music business and entered the domain industry in 2002. As he began acquiring domains (the key components of the most important communications medium of all time) he was surprised to find that this vital industry did not have it’s own trade magazine. Ron filled that void by debuting DNJournal.com on New Year’s Day 2003. The unique combination of professional writing with his insider’s perspective resulted in an award-winning* publication that has been embraced by individuals and companies operating in the space. DN Journal is now regarded as one of the “institutions” in this dynamic young industry.

Claims to Fame:

• Influential Domainer of August 2009 – Domainers.US
• 2008 Name Intelligence Award – Best Industry Coverage
• 2008 Domainers Choice Award – Best Domain Publication
• 2007 Name Intelligence Award – Best Industry Coverage
• 2006 Name Intelligence Award – Best Industry Coverage
• 2006 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Hall of Fame (one of the first two inductees)
• 2005 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Public Awareness of Domains Award

This month’s Influential Domainer was sponsored by InForum.in.

In a 30-year career as an agency owner, marketing executive, top-producing salesman and Internet entrepreneur, Owen Frager has helped global brand leaders champion technology revolutions and accelerate growth. He’s been a  domainer since 1998 and was one of the first domain bloggers who inspired others to follow.

By day job, he is Chief Innovation Officer at The Frager Creative Group, an outsourced marketing agency serving Fortune 100 brands.

Frager is also the founder of end-user focused domain broker, GrandNames.com, where every name is available for under a $1000.

He is the creator and producer of DomainSuccess.com, a private-membership club showcasing some of the iconic leaders of the Internet who blazed trails for others and inspire all of us. Among the speakers appeared have been Leland Hardy, Mike Mann, Rick Schwartz, Mike Berkens, The Castellos, Zappy, Jay Berkowitz, David Carter, Jeffrey Reynolds and more.

Though Frager’s own domain portfolio has been pruned from the 10s of thousands of names he owned in the mid-nineties, he still holds high-trafficked and profitable names like ShoeDepartment.com, HigherPowers.com, EarthChamps.com, IdeaExpo.com, TimeForFriends.com, EyewitnessChange.com and hundreds more. Among the names he’s sold direct to end-users for 5-figures or more are ChestPains.com, JustChairs.com, EndPrintWaste, Your2Cents.com, CopyTalk.com, SuperSuppers.com, SuperPowers.com and CoatFactory.com. Names he’s sold for 4-figures or more include PenthouseProperties.com, ProstateCancerSurgeon.com, FabulousWedding.com, BeachTube.com and more as listed on his GrandNames.com site.

In addition to operating his own creative services agency and domain marketing firms, Frager’s blogs and online communities attract tens of thousands of visitors a day, and he social media sites include THOUSANDS of daily followers. His work has been featured on NBC and CBS; in Print Magazine, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Rick Schwartz is amongst the most well-known domainers in the world. Rick is the self-proclaimed “Domain King” and is known for his domaining passion. Rick owns and operates eRealEstate.com and owns a rather large number of premium quality domain names. In mid-2009, Rick closed his biggest sale by selling Candy.com to the Melville Candy Company of Massachusetts for $3.1 million +.

Rick is known for his hardball attitude when it comes to selling domain names. As a veteran in the industry, Rick often gives advice and insights on his main blog, DomainKing.com. Using the contacts he has made throughout his domaining career, Rick co-founded the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference, a now-flourishing domaining networking conference.

Claims to fame:

• Candy.com
• Property.com
• eRealEstate.com
• Widgets.com
• A founder of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Conference
• Influential Domainer of June 2009 – Domainers.US

“Domain Name Firm is a firm specializing in providing a marketplace for aged and fine quality generic domain names. We pride ourselves as being amongst the most personable and sincere domain development firms on the internet. We have had the opportunity to work with business entities of every kind, from sole proprietors to multi-million dollar companies. We see opportunity where others don’t and cater our generic domain names to businesses that could profit from them.

We have been acquiring domain names for years with the intent of developing them into self-sustaining businesses. Unfortunately, after acquiring such a large number of names, we haven’t had the opportunity to develop these names to their full potential. Fortunately for you, we are now offering our currently unused domain names for prices well below what other development companies would charge.

We practice domaining with a high regard for ethics and professionalism. We do NOT register domain names that infringe upon the registered trademarks of others. If you feel as though we are violating our own rules, feel free to contact us.”

Domains of Fame:

• YouCompete.com
• HarveyDent.com
• AboutPHP.com
• VisualRank.com
• CTRLD.com