Grand Names Kicks it Up A Notch With New Advisors

Grand Names, the Web’s original alternative domain brokerage and marketplace, announces the appointment of three new members to its Advisory Board, replacing other advisors who have recently left the organization. Joining the Board immediately will be Leland Hardy, Bruce Turkel and Jay Berkowitz.

“These heavy hitters from the worlds of geo advertising, SEO and sports have come to our Board to help elevate Grand Names’ stature in the market,” said Grand Names founder Owen Frager. “In particular, their presence, advice and counsel will help us to rise above the silly politics and domainer-to-domainer antics that pollute the industry’s image in the eyes of our actual prospective customers: people who want to take control of their personal financial destinies by developing intelligent domain names into profitable online businesses.”

All three of the new board members are already actively engaged with Grand Names VIPs, in GEO domain projects exceeding the $1,000 Grand Names site threshold; another benefit of membership in the Domain Success premium marketing services component.

Here are brief backgrounds on the three new Advisory Board members:

Bruce Turkel (BruceTurkel.com)
As CEO of the successful brand management firm, TURKEL, Bruce has been creating and working with valuable brands for over 25 years.

He helped create some of the world’s most compelling brands including HBO, Discovery Networks Latin America, and Miami. Bruce has also worked with American Express, Charles Schwab, Citicorp, Hasbro, LanChile Airline, Nike, Peabody Hotel Group, Sol Meliá Hotels, Radisson Seven Seas Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises.

A captivating speaker and author, Bruce has published several books including Building Brand Value, Brain Darts, and New Design: Miami. He has been a featured speaker at MIT, Harvard, The University of Miami, ProMax, NSA, FSA and Travel + Leisure Magazine’s International Market Watch. He has served on the editorial board of HOW Magazine and the boards of The Miami Ad School, The University of Florida Advertising Advisory Council, OurKids and RMS. Bruce has been featured in The New York Times, Communication Arts, Advertising Age, AdWeek, USA Today and Graphic Design USA and he has appeared on CNN, ABC, CBS and NPR.

An accomplished and enthusiastic musician, Bruce can also be seen fronting the Miami blues and rock band BlackStar. Bruce is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Now specializing in travel and tourism advertising, Turkel represents the convention and visitors bureaus of key geo destination such as Miami, Coconut Grove and Kissimmee, Florida, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Canyon Ranch, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises and the ACLU.

Jay Berkowitz (Ten GoldenRules.com)
Jay Berkowitz is a senior online marketing professional with over twenty years of marketing experience. He has managed marketing departments for Fortune 500 brands: Coca-Cola, Sprint and McDonald's Restaurants, and has developed online and offline strategies for AT&T and leading health and fitness website eDiets.com.

Mr. Berkowitz is the author of The Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing Workbook, the Founder and CEO of www.TenGoldenRules.com, a strategic online marketing consulting business based in Boca Raton, Florida, and the host of the Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing Podcast.

Mr. Berkowitz is a popular presenter at conferences and events such as Ad-Tech, Affiliate Summit, Webmaster World, The Direct Marketing Association, The American Marketing Association and The CEO Executive Forum. He is the Research Co-Chairman for SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization, a Founding Board Member of The South Florida Interactive Marketing Association a Past President of the South Florida Chapter of The American Marketing Association, the Gold Medal winner at the Association of Women in Communications PR Olympics and the recipient of two SOFIE Award nominations.

Leland Hardy (NewYork.Com)
Former professional boxer and talent agent for Venus and Serena Williams, Leland Hardy is the founder and original registrant of www.NEWYORK.com, considered one of the most valuable domain names in the world.

Hardy successfully negotiated what is described as “the single most innovative individual athlete endorsement deal in history” when signed then tennis prodigy, Serena Williams to the apparel and footwear industry’s first ever global, multimedia apparel and footwear endorsement agreement with Puma. For his work with music impresario, Percy “Master P” Miller and his No Limit

Enterprises operation, Hardy was selected by Advertising Age Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Marketers in the World.”
In the field of finance, Hardy has developed an innovative, patent pending funding method for non-profit organizations to raise funds from the general public through NEWYORK.COM. In addition, he provides global hedge fund advisory services through an exclusive agreement with Hennessee Group LLC, one of Wall Street’s most quoted hedge fund experts and publishers of the benchmark Hennessee Hedge Fund Index.

Hardy is a Co-Founder of the Providenciales, TCI based Turks & Caicos Islands Development Group Ltd. which specializes in Five Star resort property development and high end residential real estate in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

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