Small County Woman? Yes, but I Hit the Front Page !

It all started when I was online with a friend. I had just read about the "domain name industry" and I was toying with the idea of purchasing "some profitable" domain name. My friend, who was on my chat messenger told me, " Try Ninoy Aquino dot com". I had no idea who Ninoy Aquino was, until much later. I did ask my chat friend and she said, "Just buy it". And I did for about 7 dollars.

I wanted to try my luck on ebay. After all, there was islam.com which was purchased for a million dollars and I was hoping that my new domain name would sell for "even a few hundred". Thus, I posted it for auction on ebay. The very same day, I got an email from the Philippine Daily Inquirer asking me if I could be interviewed by phone. I asked how they got my number and why, wondering if there was anything I did "wrong". The reporter, Joey Alarilla, said, "No, nothing, it will be just a story on why you are selling the Ninoy Aquino domains. I saw it at ebay and I got your email." I never liked telephone interviews so I asked him to email me the questions and I would reply by email.

The questions were simple - - Where I got the idea? Why I purchased the domain name? What do I know about Ninoy Aquino? To be frank about it, I did not know anything about Ninoy Aquino, but I did a google search and found out he was a hero who fought against Marcos. He went into exile in the United States and when he finally returned to the Philippines he was murdered on the tarmac at the Manila Airport in 1983. He was like the equivalent of the Asian Ghandi.

The next day, I received an email saying "Hey, you are famous, you hit the front page". I checked to see if this was true. I searched for the Philippine Daily Inquirer online and found out that the "interview" was on the front page plus a photo of my domain name listing at ebay was also there. I didn't know until later that the Philippine Daily Inquirer was a top read English paper, with the most circulation in Manila and was known in all of Asia. I received other emails saying that my name was on the Japanese news cable for owning the Ninoy Aquino domain name. My inbox was full of inquiries and my listing at ebay had hundreds of views and interest. My Filipina friend called me to say "You're all over the news!".

There were so many bids on my ebay and I wanted someone who was "in the business of domain names" to purchase NinoyAquino.com. After all, it was in the news and even the Japanese were asking about it. My friend advised me, "Give it to the person bidding $2,500 at ebay...give it to someone who wants it, don't wait for a higher bid." Instead, there was a $5,000 bid from a well known Canadian businessman "who is reputed to be a domain guru". My friend was right, I should have given it to the first bidder who wanted it at $2,500 and no more - it turned out to be a more honest bid. The Canadian "domain biggie" never paid.

Still, I managed to hit the front page. And I am still known as "that domain businesswoman". I can't say I am a virtual obscure small county woman anymore.