Rick Schwartz's thoughts on .mobi

dag · 11-02-2006, 08:14 PM

I thought the following from the Domain Name Journal's T.R.A.F.F.I.C. report was interesting:

Quote:

Schwartz has always championed .com and has had strong reservations about other extensions so he would seem to be an unlikely buyer for this domain. He had this to say about it. “First of all before we are "Domainers" we are "Investors." At least that is how I would describe myself. I decided that buying a few premium .mobi's would possibly be a good investment. Time will tell. I sure am not going to pitch anyone on the extension. I know what you know. In time we will all find out if flowers.mobi was a steal or a bad investment. The downside is it goes down in value or becomes worthless. The upside is that a domain like this can be life changing. I don't see that many opportunities that cross my path that fit into the "life changing" category and I don't gamble much and don't buy lottery tickets. I am willing to take the risk and give it the time needed. Also take in to account that 4 people in the room bid over 6 figures for this domain. I knew all the bidders. They were all qualified. All I can say is stay tuned and we'll all learn together."

cfguru360 · 11-02-2006, 08:22 PM

In my honest opinion, I think that was a bad investment. I think he could have invested 200k in traffic domains instead and made a bigger return. TLDs such as .us/.info took 2-3 years to gain some value. It would take .mobi IMO 3-5 years to have some presence. On top of this, I still don't see flowers.mobi to have any substantial value.

And let's say you buy 200k worth of traffic domains based on 12 months revenue which is the norm, in 5 years you would have made back 1 million dollars, and on top of that, still had 200k worth of domains, so total 1.2 million. I don't see flowers.mobi going for that much or anything close to that.

Not trying to be negative, but usually I only post when I disagree with something.

FathomJH · 11-02-2006, 08:30 PM

flowers.mobi - order flowers from a mobile device, flowers is a gigantic market. It's obvious to anyone w/ a brain that the mobile market is increasing. It's the next gen. internet. Are mobi's going to be there? We'll see.

gamehouse · 11-02-2006, 08:33 PM

I love the way he puts it "The upside is that a domain like this can be life changing"

Thats very interesting to hear. Life changing, give me a break here. I send flowers to my GF on a regular basis. If I have to type in my address in my mobile to send the flowers (unless the program can take my address, my GF's address and then my credit card details automatically in some magical way) I would rather make a call right away say to 1-800-flowers and get it done. Well, I guess I am short sighted. We will see, how many folks will buy flowers on the go and most importantly how many times. Since only the number of times you would choose is what that is going to dictate the retuns. Of course all this is only if flowers.mobi going to be developed one day.

Oh, by the way, I would normally look at the image of flowers and the vase few times before making the purchase. I hope it would be possible to do the same on flowers.mobi

Time will tell,

GH

cfguru360 · 11-02-2006, 08:34 PM

I think he could've gotten a better deal on Flowers.com.

dentalpro · 11-02-2006, 09:27 PM

I can see risking on a great generic but I see so many peeps already buying questionable .mobi...I have "rethunk" my .mobi already after thinking today, many domains make $ from the adsense program...we all agree .mobi is made for those small screens...it will be impossible to put adsense ads on a .mobi page imo...the content alone will be hard to read much less reading ads in the column...my 2 cents

Tim

nrmillions · 11-02-2006, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dentalpro

I can see risking on a great generic but I see so many peeps already buying questionable .mobi...I have "rethunk" my .mobi already after thinking today, many domains make $ from the adsense program...we all agree .mobi is made for those small screens...it will be impossible to put adsense ads on a .mobi page imo...the content alone will be hard to read much less reading ads in the column...my 2 cents

Tim

advertising on mobile phones is definitely going to be the next big step in the advertisement world. cellphones are the only thing they dont advertise on and billions of people use them. it is going to be huge. there are billions of dollars to be made from it. there have been many articles lately about it.

snoop · 11-02-2006, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfguru360

And let's say you buy 200k worth of traffic domains based on 12 months revenue which is the norm, in 5 years you would have made back 1 million dollars, and on top of that, still had 200k worth of domains, so total 1.2 million. I don't see flowers.mobi going for that much or anything close to that.

Love it, now tell me where you can buy 200k worth of domains on 12 months revenue short of buying names that will die out or have the owner sued into the ground well before the 5 years is up?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfguru360

I think he could've gotten a better deal on Flowers.com.

You would say flowers.com is worth less than $200,000?

think · 11-02-2006, 09:56 PM

It only takes a little bit of research to understand the metrics that motivated the sale of Flowers.mobi.

We are talking about a consumer orientated keyword that almost 2 million people searched for last month according to Overture.

The bid per click for advertising on Yahoo (overture) was around $2.85 per click the last time I checked.

If mobi becomes the mobile default as it has a fair probability of becoming, Flowers.mobi stands to become a gold mine.

Obviously this is still to be seen and that is why it is called speculation but there are many signs pointing to the success of this tld.

For your information Flowers.com is owned by 1800Flowers.com and they were at the Traffic auction and were outbid for this domain.........

vcool · 11-02-2006, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by think

For your information Flowers.com is owned by 1800Flowers.com and they were at the Traffic auction and were outbid for this domain.........

I would not be surprised if Rick sells his flowers.mobi for $millions to 1800flowers.com in couple of years.

-db- · 11-02-2006, 10:38 PM

It helps that the buyer in this case (the "domain king"), had plenty of disposable income, and can afford the risk. And it took place at his own event. I don't think I would be called 'too' skeptical if I wondered what impact (if any) that might have had on the sale.

I mean, think about it... you are a domainer, you love domains, you love the game... you have a few drinks, you loosen up with friends, it's YOUR conference, with your name all over the place. You are a self-made millionaire with money to spare. The bidding gets going, the whole domain world is watching.... YEAH, Flowers.mobi, $200,000 right here.

Why not?

The publicity alone has already earned back part of that investment.

Hopefully, he's got developers working on the project already. I don't know what the future holds for .MOBI, but the time to strike is NOW for development. After seeing the results some NP members have achieved in the search engines, a person/company (with a large budget) could get a head start today, that might not ever be overtaken on the mobile web.

Yelo · 11-02-2006, 11:44 PM

Great points DB

He was the man.

MinionDH · 11-02-2006, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by think

For your information Flowers.com is owned by 1800Flowers.com and they were at the Traffic auction and were outbid for this domain.........

OUCH

I didn't know that..

sags · 11-03-2006, 12:10 AM

Maybe he can write the purchase off his taxes anyway.

cursal · 11-03-2006, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamehouse

I love the way he puts it "The upside is that a domain like this can be life changing"

Thats very interesting to hear. Life changing, give me a break here. I send flowers to my GF on a regular basis. If I have to type in my address in my mobile to send the flowers (unless the program can take my address, my GF's address and then my credit card details automatically in some magical way) I would rather make a call right away say to 1-800-flowers and get it done. Well, I guess I am short sighted. We will see, how many folks will buy flowers on the go and most importantly how many times. Since only the number of times you would choose is what that is going to dictate the retuns. Of course all this is only if flowers.mobi going to be developed one day.

Oh, by the way, I would normally look at the image of flowers and the vase few times before making the purchase. I hope it would be possible to do the same on flowers.mobi

Time will tell,

GH

I believe the Magic Way is called voice recoginition. I used to pay my phone bill that way. Only talking to the computer voice. Now I have a cellphone "text message" 3 keys and then send to pay the bill.

About ordering over the phone, let's say for flowers, once they have your account you just say your name or scroll to icon and click. All the rest is on file in there database and the whole transaction can happen in 2 mins or less.

I say .mobi is going to do something in the industry. The question is when...

luxinterior · 11-03-2006, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -db-

It helps that the buyer in this case (the "domain king"), had plenty of disposable income, and can afford the risk. And it took place at his own event. I don't think I would be called 'too' skeptical if I wondered what impact (if any) that might have had on the sale.

I mean, think about it... you are a domainer, you love domains, you love the game... you have a few drinks, you loosen up with friends, it's YOUR conference, with your name all over the place. You are a self-made millionaire with money to spare. The bidding gets going, the whole domain world is watching.... YEAH, Flowers.mobi, $200,000 right here.

Why not?

The publicity alone has already earned back part of that investment.

Hopefully, he's got developers working on the project already. I don't know what the future holds for .MOBI, but the time to strike is NOW for development. After seeing the results some NP members have achieved in the search engines, a person/company (with a large budget) could get a head start today, that might not ever be overtaken on the mobile web.

Yet again a voice of reason in all this .MOBI hysteria that for the most part it appears is being created by some of the, how shall i put this...err..., 'newer' members of the 'domaining' fraternity.

It would be a real accomplishment if some of the newer members could actually take a second or two and step back from the keyboard, THINK, and give the idea just a second and realise that none of the 'seasoned' members of this board are giving too much credibility to all this .MOBI hype. Why could this be do you think? Could it be...shock, gasp, horror....that we've seen it before...Not just with domains but with numerous other so-called 'next big things'...If you really can't resist the urge then great...go ahead and buy a few but please show a little bit of reserve, style and coolness and keep it to yourself until the TLD actually takes off...I for one, and i'm sure i'm not alone, am quite frankly tired of your (and you know who you are) pompous, arrogant, grandstanding...

I see a couple of guys on the board really pushing and wanting this to be a success and I have to ask myself WHY? Is it because you've invested a chunk of change and would hate to admit you'd backed a loser?

Funny you mentioned 'having a few drinks' DB...that's exactly where I am and want is prompting me to take the time to post when...as you know...I normally keep a tight rein on my lips lest they run away with me like the last time I chirped in on someones ludicrous statements.

Take care and happy '.MOBIYING' !!!!

Lux

namewaiter · 11-03-2006, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by think

For your information Flowers.com is owned by 1800Flowers.com and they were at the Traffic auction and were outbid for this domain.........

All the metrics aside .. this is the most important aspect naysayers overlook.

flowers.com (1800flowers.com) was outbid by Rick ... they were willing to pay $190,000 for it ... they wanted the domain! Think they know their market?

gamehouse · 11-03-2006, 06:30 AM

Do you guys know about how long its been taking for so called voice recognition to reach a level where at least few hundred people use it? Voice recognition is one of those technologies which is working hard to strike a chord with usage but to no avail.

I hear many people saying, lol, soon you can speak off web address into your cell phone and the web will be opened. I hate to say, but that dreaming is going for a long a time now. I would be very happy if my cellphone connects to my buddy at least by voice recognition.

Also, why do you want to confuse common public to speak off the web address but type in anything else going further using that particular web. Or do you expect everything is done by voice recognition. oh la la, thats going to take few more years to achieve acceptable perfection.

Its one thing to say, technology is going to lead the life in few years, which might be true. Its another to KNOW what parts of technologies are actually making ahead at the end of the day. I know on namepros most of the members are domainers, check out howard forums to meet mobile (lol, is that how it is called in my country? I think its called cell, but .mobi is gTLD, kudos to ICANN overlooking the fact that mobile is not called mobile in all the countries in the world) yup, mobile mad people who change phones every three months. I was part of them once.

On the other hand, I wish you folks great returns, after all , you are all my friends on this great Namepros.

GH

Quote:

Originally Posted by cursal

I believe the Magic Way is called voice recoginition. I used to pay my phone bill that way. Only talking to the computer voice. Now I have a cellphone "text message" 3 keys and then send to pay the bill.

About ordering over the phone, let's say for flowers, once they have your account you just say your name or scroll to icon and click. All the rest is on file in there database and the whole transaction can happen in 2 mins or less.

I say .mobi is going to do something in the industry. The question is when...

binaryman · 11-03-2006, 06:47 AM

I want to quote Luxinterior
"It would be a real accomplishment if some of the newer members could actually take a second or two and step back from the keyboard, THINK, and give the idea just a second and realise that NONE of the 'seasoned' members of this board are giving too much credibility to all this .MOBI hype."

Really? "NONE" You could have fooled me. I had a look and there are plenty of seasoned members who have invested in .mobi

GoPC · 11-03-2006, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luxinterior

I see a couple of guys on the board really pushing and wanting this to be a success and I have to ask myself WHY? Is it because you've invested a chunk of change and would hate to admit you'd backed a loser?

Or is it that you see a whole lot of people investing in mobl and hate to admit that you missed out?

Some have stayed away, others have joined in. So be it.

Don't feel threatened.

What I think you are hearing is HOPE. Belief in the extension.

And why not? You and 90% of the other folks swarming these forums speak about generic one-word dot common domains that make thouands of dollars a week as if they are still available and if you don't own one, there's something wrong with you. Anyone coming in at this point has missed the boat. In fact, anyone coming in in the past 10 years has pretty much missed the opportunity to hand reg a domain with that kind of potential.

Ah... but not with Mobi

Many a "seasoned" domainer has recalled how much the mobi rush feels like the good old days when you could still find a decent dot common.

So let them speculate. It's not hurting you. You have nothing vested in their failure... if that's where you believe it will end.

Either you will have been right and saved yourself some money. OR you will have been wrong and will be like everyone else, having to pay a premium for a solid .mobi domain.

Roll the dice.

GoPC

dentalpro · 11-03-2006, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoPC

Or is it that you see a whole lot of people investing in mobl and hate to admit that you missed out?

Some have stayed away, others have joined in. So be it.

Don't feel threatened.

What I think you are hearing is HOPE. Belief in the extension.

And why not? You and 90% of the other folks swarming these forums speak about generic one-word dot common domains that make thouands of dollars a week as if they are still available and if you don't own one, there's something wrong with you. Anyone coming in at this point has missed the boat. In fact, anyone coming in in the past 10 years has pretty much missed the opportunity to hand reg a domain with that kind of potential.

Ah... but not with Mobi

Many a "seasoned" domainer has recalled how much the mobi rush feels like the good old days when you could still find a decent dot common.

So let them speculate. It's not hurting you. You have nothing vested in their failure... if that's where you believe it will end.

Either you will have been right and saved yourself some money. OR you will have been wrong and will be like everyone else, having to pay a premium for a solid .mobi domain.

Roll the dice.

GoPC

Super post !!! I think we should all follow the advise I always heard during the peak days of sportscard collecting "buy what you like" ... you'll be happy no matter what else happens...

nrec4mil · 11-03-2006, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamehouse

I would rather make a call right away say to 1-800-flowers and get it done...
...Oh, by the way, I would normally look at the image of flowers and the vase few times before making the purchase. I hope it would be possible to do the same on flowers.mobi

And how would you view the image of flowers and the vase if you're just phoning in the order?

But, it's all still a "wait and see" -- only time will tell. One thing I keep noticing in discussions though... some people are saying one year -- with regfees being due in 2 years, IMHO I think it might take 3 for it to take off so, if you're "gambling" on .mobi, be prepared to renew at least once... or, look for some great names in 2 years that some people let drop. Patience is going to be one of the key players if (when?) this takes off...

gamehouse · 11-03-2006, 09:13 AM

I meant that when I normally make purchase on the pc. And calling 1-800-flowers would be my choice if I have to buy flowers on the go.

GH

Quote:

Originally Posted by nrec4mil

And how would you view the image of flowers and the vase if you're just phoning in the order?

But, it's all still a "wait and see" -- only time will tell. One thing I keep noticing in discussions though... some people are saying one year -- with regfees being due in 2 years, IMHO I think it might take 3 for it to take off so, if you're "gambling" on .mobi, be prepared to renew at least once... or, look for some great names in 2 years that some people let drop. Patience is going to be one of the key players if (when?) this takes off...

dag · 11-03-2006, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nrec4mil

or, look for some great names in 2 years that some people let drop.

I keep hearing that, but I think that IF .mobi has either taken off or is still looking very promising two years down the road, no one is going to (intentionally) drop a "great" name. Of course, it depends what your idea of "great" is...

And if the whole thing fizzles

then it's not going to matter much anyway...

think · 11-03-2006, 11:20 AM

Hi Lux,

Were you THINKING of me when you put THINK, in caps?
( I am only joking

)

I do have a great deal invested in Mobi for an investor my size, about 35-40k on around 400 names. The landrush was very good to me.

I intend to work to promote the mobile internet industry including dot mobi to help make my investments in Mobi stronger. I will make no effort to hide the fact that I hope the tld is successful.

I am planning to spend a great deal on the development of Mobi as well if all goes well with my finances.

There are a few reasons why I am going to be very focused on development with this tld.

1. The Mobi registrar requires a focus on development and industry compatability and compliance.

2. I am at a point in my investing where I can access funds to do some development. (I can't design or code for the life of me lol )

3. I really believe in dot Mobi and the emerging mobile internet market. People will utilize this format as the price of surfing on mobile drops and the availability of quality content improves.

4. I aquired many nice keyword domains and I think the best way to monetize them is with having great content and development.

I don't think it is hype to look at metrics like those for flowers.mobi to try and explain a sale of that magnitude so early in the tlds existance.

Sure there will be names bought and sold for prices that may seem unrealistic. It happens with all extensions.

Sometimes the buyer is just inexperienced and overpays.
And sometimes the person buying has just done a great deal of research so the sale does not make sense to onlookers who don't have access to the same information.

I understand that there is a lot of excitement and pure hype surrounding MOBI. Like other extensions there will be a lot of domains that probably shouldn't have been registered as people want to make money and try to rush and buy anything that is available. Many of us myself included have done it at some point in our career.

Hindsite is 20/20 and experience helps you make better investments

I invested fairly heavy in dot biz.
(Not until the first round of drops. I was flat broke and bitter when it first came out.)

I heard many remarks that were similar but not identical to some of the arguments presented here. Many were well founded and hold true today for the overall state of dot biz today.

So be careful MOBI lovers not to dismiss all cautionary and adverse remarks in your zeal to see success for Mobi. There is a grey area in any debate where both sides have valid points.

The biggest things to remember is success takes work and patience. Also, not all keywords are created equally. What makes one name a super premium name does not necessarily apply to another. Also there is speculation and buyer appreciation angle. Call it the art factor where one man's junk is another man's treasure.

I think debate is very healthy this is why forums are a great tool for discussion and learning. Just as one small idea can be the catalyst to rocket a great idea to success so can adversity present itself as an opportunity to explore problems not thought of. It is important to think of the negative aspects and potential problems of any investment.

My investments in dot biz haven't performed as well as I'd like them to but I am still money ahead. Well, I was money ahead but I purchased Austin.biz at Traffic. I bought for development rather than speculation.

Yes, there is hype with Dot Mobi. But some of us are really excited and perhaps a bit too exuberant about this tld.

There will be lulls in the market and hopefully speculation in the domain will be tempered by learning from the mistakes of the past. Compared to dot EU the rollout of dot mobi seems to be slower and a bit more rational overall.

As with all things there are is much about dot mobi that won't be known and understood by the average person and even many domainers. I've done a great deal of research and look for certain factors that might signal the success or failure of Dot Mobi. So far there are many factors that point to the positive side.

There are negatives also. The biggest negative is that some of America's larger internet carriers are not supporters of dot mobi and prefer to keep their "closed loop" internet experience. I don't think these companies can stay outside the larger internet arena forever without damaging their competitive edge for the mobile internet market.

That aside I do agree it's time to focus on development and industry issues and less on the mere speculation of domain purchases . Even if you have strong commercially viable keywords be prepared to hold, develop, and renew.

I was not a mobi fan when it was originally announced. All I thought was that this is a 4 letter ext with limited applications. To top it off they were holding all the premium names for auction is a bunch of crap.

But after I noticed the key investors and the business model involved, coupled with the reality that mobile internet is here I changed my thinking.
The approach to the tld seemed well thought out, fair, and balanced.

At this point I knew that MOBI was already being dismissed by most domainers as I had done also.

I then realized I had found a soft spot in a very promising industry. I spent hours preparing my lists knowing about the premium list but thinking there would be some that were missed.

I also waited anxiously for companies to allow pre-registrations. I remained very quiet in the beginning so I didn't clue in competition for the landrush.

As the landrush approached I noticed that not many were looking into MOBI and I did start dropping hints that I thought this tld would be big.

I was hoping to land 5-7% of my pre-orders. I ended up landing around 23%.
I did a lot of planning and luckily had lined up more financing than for my predicted outcome.

Now it is time to get to work and see if our investments will pan out.

I am selling off some of my domains but I am counting on the development side to truly make a profit from this tld.

I am exited about dot Mobi and I am just as excited about other opportunities for the emerging mobile internet market.

I wish the best to all in the forums no matter your feelings on a new tld that still has a long way to go before it can truly be called a contender.

That said I hope even classic dot com domainers will realize that people will be looking for mobile content very soon and now is the time to prepare to meet this up and coming need.

I hope the ppc companies are working hard to prepare for this. Even if you doubt the need for dot Mobi the need for traditional tlds to be mobile friendly is rapidly approaching.

Best wishes and happy domaining,

C.T. Kirkpatrick
aka: Think

11-02-2006, 08:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
gamehouse Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,409 16.00 NP$ (Donate)	I love the way he puts it "The upside is that a domain like this can be life changing" Thats very interesting to hear. Life changing, give me a break here. I send flowers to my GF on a regular basis. If I have to type in my address in my mobile to send the flowers (unless the program can take my address, my GF's address and then my credit card details automatically in some magical way) I would rather make a call right away say to 1-800-flowers and get it done. Well, I guess I am short sighted. We will see, how many folks will buy flowers on the go and most importantly how many times. Since only the number of times you would choose is what that is going to dictate the retuns. Of course all this is only if flowers.mobi going to be developed one day. Oh, by the way, I would normally look at the image of flowers and the vase few times before making the purchase. I hope it would be possible to do the same on flowers.mobi Time will tell, GH __________________ Live Media -TV- Fresh & Latest Videos :: Addiction Warning PRIMARIES.TV - Right Name for Election Times - PM Offers Website Templates, Flash Templates, Logos, and Themes ClickMedia.TV - Coming Soon

11-02-2006, 09:27 PM	#6 (permalink)
dentalpro Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Near Chicago Posts: 2,217 69.20 NP$ (Donate)	I can see risking on a great generic but I see so many peeps already buying questionable .mobi...I have "rethunk" my .mobi already after thinking today, many domains make $ from the adsense program...we all agree .mobi is made for those small screens...it will be impossible to put adsense ads on a .mobi page imo...the content alone will be hard to read much less reading ads in the column...my 2 cents Tim __________________ ChicagoMeetup.org

11-02-2006, 10:38 PM	#11 (permalink)
-db- NamePros Inc. Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: .US of America Posts: 5,570 107.00 NP$ (Donate)	It helps that the buyer in this case (the "domain king"), had plenty of disposable income, and can afford the risk. And it took place at his own event. I don't think I would be called 'too' skeptical if I wondered what impact (if any) that might have had on the sale. I mean, think about it... you are a domainer, you love domains, you love the game... you have a few drinks, you loosen up with friends, it's YOUR conference, with your name all over the place. You are a self-made millionaire with money to spare. The bidding gets going, the whole domain world is watching.... YEAH, Flowers.mobi, $200,000 right here. Why not? The publicity alone has already earned back part of that investment. Hopefully, he's got developers working on the project already. I don't know what the future holds for .MOBI, but the time to strike is NOW for development. After seeing the results some NP members have achieved in the search engines, a person/company (with a large budget) could get a head start today, that might not ever be overtaken on the mobile web. __________________ I support Children: Wish.org \| MissingKids.com I support Animals: SPCA.org \| SPCA.com Jeff \| Armstrong \| Grrilla - First 3 inductees into NamePro's Hall-Of-Fame. Last edited by -db-; 11-02-2006 at 10:57 PM.

11-02-2006, 11:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
Yelo Love God Love Life Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: mIlkCaNDY.name Posts: 1,052 80.00 NP$ (Donate)	I agree Great points DB He was the man. __________________ Hi, I may be found [MOD EDIT: LINK TO COMPETING DOMAIN FORUM REMOVED]here[/URL] and possibly here, soon.. "Yesterday's Dream"

11-02-2006, 08:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
cfguru360 Bodis.com Join Date: May 2005 Location: New York Posts: 2,138 599.00 NP$ (Donate)	In my honest opinion, I think that was a bad investment. I think he could have invested 200k in traffic domains instead and made a bigger return. TLDs such as .us/.info took 2-3 years to gain some value. It would take .mobi IMO 3-5 years to have some presence. On top of this, I still don't see flowers.mobi to have any substantial value. And let's say you buy 200k worth of traffic domains based on 12 months revenue which is the norm, in 5 years you would have made back 1 million dollars, and on top of that, still had 200k worth of domains, so total 1.2 million. I don't see flowers.mobi going for that much or anything close to that. Not trying to be negative, but usually I only post when I disagree with something.

11-02-2006, 08:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
FathomJH NamePros Regular Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: U.S. Posts: 378 55.45 NP$ (Donate)	flowers.mobi - order flowers from a mobile device, flowers is a gigantic market. It's obvious to anyone w/ a brain that the mobile market is increasing. It's the next gen. internet. Are mobi's going to be there? We'll see.

11-02-2006, 08:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
cfguru360 Bodis.com Join Date: May 2005 Location: New York Posts: 2,138 599.00 NP$ (Donate)	I think he could've gotten a better deal on Flowers.com.

11-02-2006, 09:56 PM	#9 (permalink)
think NamePros Regular Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Austin Texas Posts: 432 499.00 NP$ (Donate)	It only takes a little bit of research to understand the metrics that motivated the sale of Flowers.mobi. We are talking about a consumer orientated keyword that almost 2 million people searched for last month according to Overture. The bid per click for advertising on Yahoo (overture) was around $2.85 per click the last time I checked. If mobi becomes the mobile default as it has a fair probability of becoming, Flowers.mobi stands to become a gold mine. Obviously this is still to be seen and that is why it is called speculation but there are many signs pointing to the success of this tld. For your information Flowers.com is owned by 1800Flowers.com and they were at the Traffic auction and were outbid for this domain.........

11-03-2006, 12:10 AM	#14 (permalink)
sags NamePros Regular Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 274 302.00 NP$ (Donate)	Maybe he can write the purchase off his taxes anyway.

11-03-2006, 06:47 AM	#19 (permalink)
binaryman Account Closed Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,110 100.00 NP$ (Donate)	I want to quote Luxinterior "It would be a real accomplishment if some of the newer members could actually take a second or two and step back from the keyboard, THINK, and give the idea just a second and realise that NONE of the 'seasoned' members of this board are giving too much credibility to all this .MOBI hype." Really? "NONE" You could have fooled me. I had a look and there are plenty of seasoned members who have invested in .mobi

11-03-2006, 11:20 AM	#25 (permalink)
think NamePros Regular Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Austin Texas Posts: 432 499.00 NP$ (Donate)	Hi Lux, Were you THINKING of me when you put THINK, in caps? ( I am only joking ) I do have a great deal invested in Mobi for an investor my size, about 35-40k on around 400 names. The landrush was very good to me. I intend to work to promote the mobile internet industry including dot mobi to help make my investments in Mobi stronger. I will make no effort to hide the fact that I hope the tld is successful. I am planning to spend a great deal on the development of Mobi as well if all goes well with my finances. There are a few reasons why I am going to be very focused on development with this tld. 1. The Mobi registrar requires a focus on development and industry compatability and compliance. 2. I am at a point in my investing where I can access funds to do some development. (I can't design or code for the life of me lol ) 3. I really believe in dot Mobi and the emerging mobile internet market. People will utilize this format as the price of surfing on mobile drops and the availability of quality content improves. 4. I aquired many nice keyword domains and I think the best way to monetize them is with having great content and development. I don't think it is hype to look at metrics like those for flowers.mobi to try and explain a sale of that magnitude so early in the tlds existance. Sure there will be names bought and sold for prices that may seem unrealistic. It happens with all extensions. Sometimes the buyer is just inexperienced and overpays. And sometimes the person buying has just done a great deal of research so the sale does not make sense to onlookers who don't have access to the same information. I understand that there is a lot of excitement and pure hype surrounding MOBI. Like other extensions there will be a lot of domains that probably shouldn't have been registered as people want to make money and try to rush and buy anything that is available. Many of us myself included have done it at some point in our career. Hindsite is 20/20 and experience helps you make better investments I invested fairly heavy in dot biz. (Not until the first round of drops. I was flat broke and bitter when it first came out.) I heard many remarks that were similar but not identical to some of the arguments presented here. Many were well founded and hold true today for the overall state of dot biz today. So be careful MOBI lovers not to dismiss all cautionary and adverse remarks in your zeal to see success for Mobi. There is a grey area in any debate where both sides have valid points. The biggest things to remember is success takes work and patience. Also, not all keywords are created equally. What makes one name a super premium name does not necessarily apply to another. Also there is speculation and buyer appreciation angle. Call it the art factor where one man's junk is another man's treasure. I think debate is very healthy this is why forums are a great tool for discussion and learning. Just as one small idea can be the catalyst to rocket a great idea to success so can adversity present itself as an opportunity to explore problems not thought of. It is important to think of the negative aspects and potential problems of any investment. My investments in dot biz haven't performed as well as I'd like them to but I am still money ahead. Well, I was money ahead but I purchased Austin.biz at Traffic. I bought for development rather than speculation. Yes, there is hype with Dot Mobi. But some of us are really excited and perhaps a bit too exuberant about this tld. There will be lulls in the market and hopefully speculation in the domain will be tempered by learning from the mistakes of the past. Compared to dot EU the rollout of dot mobi seems to be slower and a bit more rational overall. As with all things there are is much about dot mobi that won't be known and understood by the average person and even many domainers. I've done a great deal of research and look for certain factors that might signal the success or failure of Dot Mobi. So far there are many factors that point to the positive side. There are negatives also. The biggest negative is that some of America's larger internet carriers are not supporters of dot mobi and prefer to keep their "closed loop" internet experience. I don't think these companies can stay outside the larger internet arena forever without damaging their competitive edge for the mobile internet market. That aside I do agree it's time to focus on development and industry issues and less on the mere speculation of domain purchases . Even if you have strong commercially viable keywords be prepared to hold, develop, and renew. I was not a mobi fan when it was originally announced. All I thought was that this is a 4 letter ext with limited applications. To top it off they were holding all the premium names for auction is a bunch of crap. But after I noticed the key investors and the business model involved, coupled with the reality that mobile internet is here I changed my thinking. The approach to the tld seemed well thought out, fair, and balanced. At this point I knew that MOBI was already being dismissed by most domainers as I had done also. I then realized I had found a soft spot in a very promising industry. I spent hours preparing my lists knowing about the premium list but thinking there would be some that were missed. I also waited anxiously for companies to allow pre-registrations. I remained very quiet in the beginning so I didn't clue in competition for the landrush. As the landrush approached I noticed that not many were looking into MOBI and I did start dropping hints that I thought this tld would be big. I was hoping to land 5-7% of my pre-orders. I ended up landing around 23%. I did a lot of planning and luckily had lined up more financing than for my predicted outcome. Now it is time to get to work and see if our investments will pan out. I am selling off some of my domains but I am counting on the development side to truly make a profit from this tld. I am exited about dot Mobi and I am just as excited about other opportunities for the emerging mobile internet market. I wish the best to all in the forums no matter your feelings on a new tld that still has a long way to go before it can truly be called a contender. That said I hope even classic dot com domainers will realize that people will be looking for mobile content very soon and now is the time to prepare to meet this up and coming need. I hope the ppc companies are working hard to prepare for this. Even if you doubt the need for dot Mobi the need for traditional tlds to be mobile friendly is rapidly approaching. Best wishes and happy domaining, C.T. Kirkpatrick aka: Think

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