Comments on: Guest Post: Observations From A First Time T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Attendee”, By Bob DeCecco http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/ Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:32:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: jessiejojames http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-7320 jessiejojames Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:26:29 +0000 http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-7320 Hi Sahar; I just happened upon your site today and must say it is very enlightening.Especially in regards to Human Trafficing, I will surely be back. But my question is about bido.com I went to their site and found it very useful as I have a few domains that I would like to try to sell. But the site (bido) does not have any way to contact anyone at their site. I would have a few questions esp. in regards to the April 8 auction. Do you happen to know how I can contact them or ask some questions to them about how do I try to sell a domain name on their site.??? I was hoping you could help me out. All I could see was places to register to be in on the auctions, but I have a few questions before I sign up for something that I have questions about. Any help would be greatly apprectiated. And once again love your blog and I have gotten alot of helpful information, enough so I will be back. Thanks again jessiejojames ----answer---- Hi there, Thanks. You can submit your domains <a href="http://bido.com/form.php" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Cheers Sahar Hi Sahar; I just happened upon your site today and must say it is very enlightening.Especially in regards to Human Trafficing, I will surely be back.
But my question is about bido.com I went to their site and found it very useful as I have a few domains that I would like to try to sell. But the site (bido) does not have any way to contact anyone at their site. I would have a few questions esp. in regards to the April 8 auction. Do you happen to know how I can contact them or ask some questions to them about how do I try to sell a domain name on their site.??? I was hoping you could help me out. All I could see was places to register to be in on the auctions, but I have a few questions before I sign up for something that I have questions about. Any help would be greatly apprectiated. And once again love your blog and I have gotten alot of helpful information, enough so I will be back. Thanks again jessiejojames

—-answer—-

Hi there,
Thanks. You can submit your domains here.
Cheers
Sahar

]]> By: john andrews http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-6044 john andrews Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:52:24 +0000 http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-6044 @Bob, I am an SEO/search strategist, working for the past 10 years on monetization and traffic issues across many markets. Because so much traffic is targeted by the search funnel process these days, monetization people like me have a strong SEO and search marketing focus. Because there are so many technical aspects of online publishing, and because Google basically eliminates sites to create its search results set, we are also focused on technical platform issues as well. I can usually teach even the best systems and development guys a few tricks, simply because I focus on what matters risk management, not just what's proper. Perhaps you can see how practical competitive web publishing might differ from what gets discussed by CEOs at a domainer conference? You may have met some domainers with a singular focus, but I can assure you that is now how most of the online players consider the web, and there are many serious players represented at TRAFFIC. The high-value online markets are very competitive and virtually all online markets are getting more competitive every day. You may have met people only involved with the domainer aspects, because it was TRAFFIC.. a networking meeting of leaders and CEOs and decision makers. Rick invited a handful of SEO/SEM people to TRAFFIC in Miami last fall. After meeting many of the domainers attending, I catered my brief presentation to increasing understanding of Google's long term approach to search optimization in web publishing, since the first impression people have of SEO is that is is a set of tricks or tactics. In truth, successful search marketing is a strategic endeavor very closely integrated with business operations. My observance was TRAFFIC attracted more CEO types and independent portfolio owners than operations or business development people. BizDev people (and the SEOs who would work with them to achieve business goals) can attest to the significant amount of effort required to make CitynamePlumbers.com a profitable business, even at $100/month per plumber. As an independent SEO I can probably enter that market in a day with an automated site on cityname-plumbers.com or something like TightPipes.com bought at reg fee, with very little overhead (commitment), underselling you while outranking you in the search results. You will have to pay attention to stay profitable, either investing to win or falling back to being a "domainer" happy to earn $4000/year because it's so much better than PPC. You may have been on the receiving end of that sort of advice at TRAFFIC...better to flip it to someone who will invest in one domain as a defensible business. It seems Google is getting very good at dropping the lesser sites these days, creating even more of a problem for casual players. As Michael Castello showed us, hands-on focus and dedication to the local relationships works. That's not low overhead, nor low commitment. If you have 1000 domains, how will you develop them all? And if you're prepared to commit, could you do better with one global plumber directory? These are not simple questions, but ones we deal with everyday. Eric says it well above when he says he meets domainers "Seeking fractional revenues from thousands of names vs. developing a serious portfolio of sites that are worth far more, as a package of media properties." Sounds like two approaches to business to me, at different levels of commitment in different areas. @Bob,

I am an SEO/search strategist, working for the past 10 years on monetization and traffic issues across many markets. Because so much traffic is targeted by the search funnel process these days, monetization people like me have a strong SEO and search marketing focus. Because there are so many technical aspects of online publishing, and because Google basically eliminates sites to create its search results set, we are also focused on technical platform issues as well. I can usually teach even the best systems and development guys a few tricks, simply because I focus on what matters risk management, not just what’s proper. Perhaps you can see how practical competitive web publishing might differ from what gets discussed by CEOs at a domainer conference?

You may have met some domainers with a singular focus, but I can assure you that is now how most of the online players consider the web, and there are many serious players represented at TRAFFIC. The high-value online markets are very competitive and virtually all online markets are getting more competitive every day. You may have met people only involved with the domainer aspects, because it was TRAFFIC.. a networking meeting of leaders and CEOs and decision makers.

Rick invited a handful of SEO/SEM people to TRAFFIC in Miami last fall. After meeting many of the domainers attending, I catered my brief presentation to increasing understanding of Google’s long term approach to search optimization in web publishing, since the first impression people have of SEO is that is is a set of tricks or tactics. In truth, successful search marketing is a strategic endeavor very closely integrated with business operations. My observance was TRAFFIC attracted more CEO types and independent portfolio owners than operations or business development people.

BizDev people (and the SEOs who would work with them to achieve business goals) can attest to the significant amount of effort required to make CitynamePlumbers.com a profitable business, even at $100/month per plumber.

As an independent SEO I can probably enter that market in a day with an automated site on cityname-plumbers.com or something like TightPipes.com bought at reg fee, with very little overhead (commitment), underselling you while outranking you in the search results. You will have to pay attention to stay profitable, either investing to win or falling back to being a “domainer” happy to earn $4000/year because it’s so much better than PPC. You may have been on the receiving end of that sort of advice at TRAFFIC…better to flip it to someone who will invest in one domain as a defensible business. It seems Google is getting very good at dropping the lesser sites these days, creating even more of a problem for casual players.

As Michael Castello showed us, hands-on focus and dedication to the local relationships works. That’s not low overhead, nor low commitment. If you have 1000 domains, how will you develop them all? And if you’re prepared to commit, could you do better with one global plumber directory? These are not simple questions, but ones we deal with everyday. Eric says it well above when he says he meets domainers “Seeking fractional revenues from thousands of names vs. developing a serious portfolio of sites that are worth far more, as a package of media properties.” Sounds like two approaches to business to me, at different levels of commitment in different areas.

]]> By: Bob DeCecco http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-5996 Bob DeCecco Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:58:04 +0000 http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-5996 Dan, Glad to see you visiting my recent guest blog. Seems as though it has caused a lot of stir. Sorry we didn't get more of a chance to connect at TRAFFIC. Maybe next time! By the way, I think Jonathan Boswell might take issue with your leaving off a 4th way to make money with our internet real estate ;-) #4 - leasing domains to existing SMBs or larger enterprises :) Best, Bob DeCecco Dan,

Glad to see you visiting my recent guest blog. Seems as though it has caused a lot of stir.

Sorry we didn’t get more of a chance to connect at TRAFFIC. Maybe next time!

By the way, I think Jonathan Boswell might take issue with your leaving off a 4th way to make money with our internet real estate ;-)

#4 - leasing domains to existing SMBs or larger enterprises :)

Best,
Bob DeCecco

]]> By: Dan Warner http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-5987 Dan Warner Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:51:40 +0000 http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-5987 Hello All - Dan Warner here ;-) There are three main ways to make money as a domain owner: Development, Traffic and Sales. What should we all be doing? Everything ... with a concentration on some things. Buy some, Develop some, Sell some. Be opportunistic. Don't always look for the brass ring but shoot for the stars..... Balance. Take money off the table ..... reinvest most of it in growth. Selling Traffic? Try and do all of it: CPC, CPA, CPM, CCC, CPL, ... anything. Selling Domains? Legacy sales portals, human processes, automated processes, auctions, registrar distribution, domain brokers ......try everything, concentrate on what works. Fabulous have tried almost everything that is available, we innovate to create things which have never been tried, we concentrate on what has been proven to work and be profitable. Return on Investment (ROI), Risk Aversion, Liability, Legal Issues - think of everything - ignore or gloss over nothing. Be strategic, buy, sell, develop, move traffic around and auction it off - try everything, do anything, don't ignore facts, innovate. Concentrate on what makes money today, take some money off the table and grow your business. The ying and yang of business is about balance of simultaneous actions and projects which may seem in conflict but are in harmony. Sell domains - does not mean sell all your domains Buy domains - does not mean buy at any price Develop - doesn't mean that cost is not a consideration Park - does not mean part everything Strategy - is not just a buzz word ......do everything. Hello All - Dan Warner here ;-)
There are three main ways to make money as a domain owner: Development, Traffic and Sales.

What should we all be doing? Everything … with a concentration on some things.

Buy some, Develop some, Sell some. Be opportunistic. Don’t always look for the brass ring but shoot for the stars….. Balance.

Take money off the table ….. reinvest most of it in growth.

Selling Traffic? Try and do all of it: CPC, CPA, CPM, CCC, CPL, … anything.

Selling Domains? Legacy sales portals, human processes, automated processes, auctions, registrar distribution, domain brokers ……try everything, concentrate on what works.

Fabulous have tried almost everything that is available, we innovate to create things which have never been tried, we concentrate on what has been proven to work and be profitable.

Return on Investment (ROI), Risk Aversion, Liability, Legal Issues - think of everything - ignore or gloss over nothing.

Be strategic, buy, sell, develop, move traffic around and auction it off - try everything, do anything, don’t ignore facts, innovate.

Concentrate on what makes money today, take some money off the table and grow your business.

The ying and yang of business is about balance of simultaneous actions and projects which may seem in conflict but are in harmony.

Sell domains - does not mean sell all your domains

Buy domains - does not mean buy at any price

Develop - doesn’t mean that cost is not a consideration

Park - does not mean part everything

Strategy - is not just a buzz word

……do everything.

]]> By: Bob DeCecco http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-5944 Bob DeCecco Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:55:29 +0000 http://www.conceptualist.com/2008/02/27/guest-post-observations-from-a-first-time-traffic-attendee%e2%80%a6-by-bob-dececco/#comment-5944 Martin, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET AT! "I don't think of ourselves as domainers per se but as media owners"¦" EXACTLY - we need to think of ourselves as a MEDIA play rather than limiting it to 'domain' play - that will drive our asset value and make it easier to deal with other constituencies! Bob Martin,

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET AT!

“I don’t think of ourselves as domainers per se but as media owners”¦”

EXACTLY - we need to think of ourselves as a MEDIA play rather than limiting it to ‘domain’ play - that will drive our asset value and make it easier to deal with other constituencies!

Bob

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