I get it, going against the grain is fine. Guerilla lean marketing was my thing way before the internet with hand mailing thousands of my inventory lists and fax blasts. I am anxious to see your progress, especially if you take a different path and you are able to get businesses running out of these domains. The new Gtld's, just have so many issues (instability of renewal prices, lack of end user interest, most people don't even know they exist, etc.) hence why this forum is split with the .com and the not com factions.
Actually, I have similar to some extent that background. I've started 4 lean businesses since 1990. 2 very successful so I retired 14 years ago way too early in my 40's. Started domaining last year since I was bored of goofing around, and this hobby business requires no employees and very similar to the buy/sell businesses and auction business I spent quite a few years in- before Ebay and Google came along to f*ck up the niche and make the barrier to entry for anybody able to compete. Sold my obtuse and strange inventory and got into another market segment all physical products sold over phone $3K-20K range, very niche technical products most people have no idea what they do or how they work or who buys them. Then in 08' market crashed, and Chinese knockoffs tore down the low end and into the mid range in pricing. so started an entirely unrelated non tech hospitality business dealing with the general public (which I hated, since I was used to dealing with Bus owners, directors, professionals and engineers), and so later fired the employees and closed. Traveled all over the last 10 years, and last year decided to recalibrate my brain and work hard again. I wake up daily enjoying whatever I do, and have done that all my life, it's a great life and always has been. I don't consider it "work".
Go for it, do something unique and not of the pile, all you have to lose is abit of time since you are probably doing this as a hobby also.
Thanks for sharing your background offthehandle. I just turned 70 (70 is the new 55) in October, and while I've always had fun throughout my life, I'm having more fun now than ever. I'm borderline ADD, but in some ways that's worked to my advantage. How my sweetheart of a wife has stayed with me for 47 years I'll never know....I guess she luvs me? Finally, I have four different projects/businesses on my plate, one of which is this domain gig (note, I got into this purely by accident), the next is a brand/business of sorts called
"FirstCarMemories".com where prizes will be awarded to the best memories, revenue will be generated by selling t-shirts, coffee mugs, beer mugs and commemorative license plates will be sold with pics of customers
"First Cars". The site will be further monetized by selling advertising to he likes of Ford, GM, Toyota, etc., that is if we're generating a ton of traffic to our site. Our goal is to have 100,000 followers. The third project/business I'm involved in is a "non profit" I started earlier this year called "
SavingMinds".org (to serve victims and their caregivers of early onset alzheimers), and finally, the last project I'm involved with is sharing
"The Mike Christian Story" where Mike was a POW from Vietnam, and became a friend from 1978 to 1983 when he died tragically. Here is a 4 minute Youtube with John McCain sharing part of Mikes Story while in prison with Mike,
The
"whole story" of Mikes life has "Hollywood" written all over it...it involves, Patriotism, Sex, Scandal and even the local "mob". My goal is to have someone write a book about Mike that will hopefully lead to a movie. I don't care to make any money from it, but I would like for all proceeds to go to Kiwanis Charities where I met Mike in 1978.
I think I have enough on my plate to last a life time, but I look to accomplish most of this by the time I'm 75...wish me luck!
Bulloney