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About this talk:
Performer, web-toymaker and philosopher-comic Ze Frank offers his signature blend of comedy, technology and social theory, with hilarious takes on Google, video games, and haiku, to name but a few. All the while, he makes brilliant use of the screen to twist the meaning of his spoken words.
Enjoy,
Few good friends in an Australian publication. Via The Age:
What’s in a name? A lot of money if you choose wisely.
AUSTRALIAN internet entrepreneurs are raking in millions of dollars a year by spotting the true value of what’s in a name.
The practice of buying up unused names, known as “domain parking”, is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion worldwide - and Australia is seen as a growing market for those with an eye for a dollar.
The Australian Domain Name Administrator (AUDA), the governing body for “dot au” domains, is set to loosen regulations restricting the practice within months, sparking a likely buying boom as a result.
Domainers, as they call themselves, spot generic or popular names that have not been turned into websites and register them for as little as $US7 ($A7.50). They cram them with advertisements and watch as they earn a few cents per hit - big bucks when you have a portfolio of tens of thousands of domains.
Unlike cyber-squatting, where people infringe trademarks and fraudulently obtain internet traffic, domainers say they are supplying people with information.
Michael Gilmour bought his first domain five years ago and, from his home in Dingley, has expanded his portfolio to 10,000 domains, all of which contain advertisements.With two partners, he has built a business around names such as geekwatch.com and bingonight.co.uk - names that receive hundreds of hits through the sheer weight of the billion or so people who use the internet daily.
He now works full-time as a domainer and is auctioning one of his most prized sites, progolfer.com, which he hopes will fetch him $75,000.
“Enormous money can be made out of parking still in Australia with dot au space, where a lot less penetration has been made than in America,” he said. “It’s as easy as seeing how many times a particular word is indexed on Google then seeing if it is taken or not.”
A couple of years ago I invested in a Golf company (since then sold my interest) and at the time, we used to have some of the best domains in the business. If I was to start today and try to cater to golf professionals, I would ask what other domains may be better then ProGolfer.com out there? Of course there’s Golf.com, GolfShop.com, GolfEquipment.com, ProGolf.com, GolfPlayer.com, and few others. Where is ProGolfer.com? My guess, if catering to golf professionals (training, equipment, publication) would be in the top 15-30 golf domains in the world. In a multi billion dollar industry, paying less then a family sedan to get into an industry with such a natural term, in my book, is an extremely attractive offering.
As for parking, I fully agree it is about picking the right domains. Teaching few good friends over the years how to get into the domain space, at times I spent literally weeks going into the very fundamentals of domaining, teaching “what makes sense“.
Happy domaining!
Sahar
Frank Schilling, commenting on this domain few days ago on his blog, had this to say:
I bought LastNames.com for five figures over the last few days.. That wasn’t cheap. In fact the cheapest name anyone has offered me all year was Autograph.com and they already had an offer of $55,000. Again, that’s not cheap, it’s just the cheapest name I’ve been offered.
What is your take on it? How would you appraise it? Would you base your numbers on traffic, keyword advertising rates, industry potential, domain sales history, a combination possibly?
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on this.
Sahar
Contrary to what many domainers believe, the next big opportunity isn’t in developing sites and services, not because there isn’t money there (there definitely is a lot of money there!) but because it takes a different kind of skill-set than acquiring domains and quite frankly, just as being a medical doctor or a test pilot is not for everyone, running a full scale business operation isn’t either. What does it take to develop a business? here are few posts written by RMG associates to read from the archive:
Recall Media Group CEO Darren Cleveland On Development
From Voodoo To Real Science, By Allen Gabriel (Recall Media Group)
Creating and Maintaining a Residual Revenue Stream, By Jerry Poole (Recall Media Group)
Tom Keesee “The Art Of Rapport”?
So what is the next big thing? Familiar with the sentence “If you can’t beat them, join them”? So let me adjust it a little to fit here:
- If you can’t do it, invest or partner with those who can.
I believe the next big thing is finding those who can execute, those who know how to build businesses, driven, unstoppable, “change the world” and “take over the world” attitude, and invest or partner with them. You as a domain owner may have two things going for you:
1. Domains
2. Cash flow
1. Domains: Some of you may have domains that may fit someone’s business model (In RMG’s case, top notch directory-type domain names such as FuneralHomes.com). If you do, it is worth exploring partnership opportunities with the right company. Before you do that though, focus on finding the right partner. The right partner is more important then the right business plan, as business plan is bound to change, as the true measure of a business isn’t a business plan, but adaptation to market conditions, persistence, and execution skills (to name a few).
2. Cash flow: Many of you have cash flow from your parked domain names. Reinvesting in domains isn’t always as lucrative as it used to be. If thinking in terms of ROI or in terms of diversification, there may be better (or other) places to invest your money. Your job: Investigate with who.
How to find the right partner? How to find who to invest with? That my friend is for another post.
Happy domaining, or should I say, happy investing?
Cheers
Sahar
Subject: Advisory: Notice of Fee Change
March 27, 2008
VIA Email and Express Delivery
Re: Notice of Fee Change
To All Registrars,
VeriSign, Inc. and it’s wholly owned subsidiaries (”VNDS”) is hereby notifying all registrars of a fee change for .com and/or .net domain names effective October 1, 2008. In accordance with our contract, ICANN has already been notified. Details as follows:
1. VNDS’ fee for each annual increment of a new and renewal .com domain name registration and for each transfer of a .com domain name registration from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another will be US $6.86, exclusive of any ICANN Variable Registry-Level Fee (as defined in the .com Registry Agreement) or any other ICANN fee; and
2. VNDS’ fee for each annual increment of a new and renewal .net domain name registration and for each transfer of a .net domain name registration from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another will be US $4.23, exclusive of any ICANN Variable Registry-Level Fee (as defined in the .net Registry Agreement) or any other ICANN fee.
Except for the above-described fee changes, all other terms of the relevant agreements (.com and .net Registry Agreements and Registry-Registrar Agreements) remain unchanged.
Please contact Customer Affairs Office at cao@verisign-grs.com if you have specific questions regarding this notice.
Best regards,
PJ Bolanos
Vice President, Customer Support
VeriSign, Inc.
info@verisign-grs.com
Expect another price increase to come 2009, 2010, and 2011, and 2012. I believe it was all part of their arrangement with ICANN last year which the domain industry did not do enough to stand against, and now paying dearly.
Sahar
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