Becoming the master of your wine domain (name).

Posted by Tom Wark on Apr 25, 2006

I’ve seen people use a number of methods to get into the wine industry, to get their winery up and running. However, this particular method is, well, inspired.

Over at Acme Winery Startup Blog, Chris Campbell is bartering away his impressive collection of wine-related domain names in exchange for the various services and goods he’ll be needing in order to get his winery up and running.

First of all the collection of domain names Chris has acquired is truly impressive.

Are you a wine attorney? Chris will need one and is willing to barter your services for either Winelawyer.com, Wineattorney.com or winelaw.com.

Label Designer who wants a very useful domain name? Chris can get you "Winelabel.com" in exchange for some packaging design services.

Are you a winemaking consultant or a budding publisher? Chris has "ratewine.com" available and I’m sure he’d find a way to get it to you in exchange for consulting services or possibly for some long term advertising.

Is anyone out there thinking of creating a clearinghouse for wine blogs? Chris owns "wineblog.net", a URL that might truly come in handy if the growth of wine blogs continues at it’s present rate. Got anything he’d be able to use to help start up his winery?

Chris’ story is fun and it’s a great idea. I suspect he’ll be getting some good publicity as soon as a member of the Mainstream Media or well traveled web site points to his efforts. However, what I find really fascinating is the way his efforts point to the myriad ways the Internet can be used to help dreams become reality. Entrepreneurs have always been people who caught our attention. But it seems that the Internet continues to offer new ways for smart people to get things done and off the ground.

Chris is originally from Sonoma, but currently living in Wisconsin. The idea is to get Acme Winery off the ground then get back to Sonoma. If you have services you think a new, start up winery might need, and if you see any domain names that Chris owns….you might want to go down the barter road.