$100 million for the tabloid. Zero dollars to upgrade the domain name!

[bayou]

The non-sale saga of a premium domain name.
​

BACKGROUND
American Media Inc., owner of numerous tabloids (National Enquirer, inTouch, Men’s Journal, etc.) purchased UsWeekly for a reported $100 million in 2017. Unfortunately, AMI does not own the UsWeekly.com domain name. Here is why that is important and what they can do about it…

The internet continues to dominate traditional print media as consumers increasingly go online for their media outlet of choice. They are no longer willing to wait monthly, or even a weekly, for a subscription to access their entertainment and news. As readers overwhelmingly turn to the Internet, so do advertisers, taking publishers’ revenue streams with them. Publishers that successfully adopt the internet and new technology fare far better than those that do not.


THEIR PROBLEM(S)

UsWeekly sales declined by double digits in both units sold on the newsstand and in revenue per the second half of 2016 and second half of 2017. Additionally, newsstand-dependent celebrity publications declined by nearly 25 percent in units sold on the newsstand.

Statista expects e-magazine readers in the US to increase from 18 million (2015) to 40 million by 2021. A Media Outlook report predicts digital magazine revenues to grow to 30% of total consumer magazine revenues by 2020 (from only 15% in 2015). Print magazine revenues are expected to decline 15% in the same time frame.

As previously mentioned, UsWeekly does not own the domain name usweekly.com nor is it for sale. Us.com is not a solution either unless AMI is willing to pony up to the 8-figure range. As things stand, UsWeekly’s current domain name, usmagazine.com, is a 13-letter nightmare to input. It invites typos and fatigue factor. Plus, usmagazine is not even the name of their publication.

BTW, which had you rather input:

eUs.com
or
usmagazine.com​

THEIR SOLUTION

UsWeekly’s future is online, not print. And, UsWeekly’s ideal domain solution is to acquire a short, premium domain name e.g. eUs.com. As the owner of eUs.com these are the actions I took…

1. Calls targeted to key people within AMI.
2. Letters (with attachments) were mailed to key executives.
3. Even tee shirts were provided!

Price? Infinitesimally inexpensive relative to their initial print cost. And, the targeted ROI would pay for eUs.com within two years! The “e” advantages were elucidated ref: eBet.com; eTrade.com; eFlowers.com; eBags.com; eSurance.com; etc. Numerous advantages were listed in the accompanying attachment…

- eUs.com provides the shortest route to UsWeekly’s online presence. (The shorter the domain name the more likely people will go to your site.)
- eUs.com provides top-of-mind awareness (stickiness).
- eUs.com is easy to pronounce, spell, read and type.
- eUs.com has broad applicability with high brandability.
- eUs.com is highly cost effective.
- eUs.com is not only easy to input (no typos) and remember but is directly descriptive of UsWeekly’s online presence. (Memory and retention of a brand is critically important.)
- eUs.om is an appreciating investment that you own in perpetuity, not “dead” advertising costs.
- eUs.com increases support for advertiser’s goals and objectives. (Your advertisers will note your ease of online access.).
- eUs.com can strengthen online ad rates.
- An “e” prefixed Us.com will enhance UsWeekly’s ability for future financing/investments and possible IPO.
- eUs.com could not only enable UsWeekly to pull away from People.com, but also challenge TMZ.com in monthly traffic.
- Given the importance of mobiles, it’s imperative to have a short domain name such as eUs.com that is easy to type on a small screen

But, unfortunately for them, all these overwhelming advantages proved to no avail.


CONCLUSION

So, what did I learn from this? One can lead the proverbial corporate horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. The saying “penny wise, pound foolish” also comes to mind. If one has a short, premium, highly brandable domain name there are many companies and startups in need of such premium digital real estate. As domain name expert Josh Reason said, “e + keyword (domain names) continue to sell like hotcakes in 2019”.

 

[bayou]

Hi

i think your domain is very good.

but, If you believe that there are many other companies and startups who could potentially use the domain, then there will be other opportunities in the future.

though you can't make the horse drink when you lead them to water....
many times they will drink, when they get there on their own.

by that I mean,
if.... they had contacted you, instead of you contacting them and trying to persuade them to buy,
then maybe it would be different.
cuz, no matter how good the name, your leverage is weak when you solicit.



even if it isn't the name of their publication,
still, i can think of several domans that are as long or longer than usmagazine.com, within the domain community and apparently they aren't worried about those factors you mentioned.

ie: domainnamesales, domaininvesting, domainnamewire, etc

you've got a tier name, just maybe not right buyer.

Good Luck!

imo...

EUs.com - another interpretation.

EUs.com - another interpretation.

A thread made because a domain seller is mad that their sales pitch was denied?

you used the word online 6 times in your schpeel. UsWeekly.Online is $1.99 to register. There are always alternatives to paying a high amount for a domain.

The word "mad" was not said nor intimated by me. That is a figment of your imagination.

 

[bayou]

You need a comedy show, because that's funny.

USweekly.com is a well entrenched website. I would be surprised if the tabloid owners have not tried to purchase that domain name. Thanks for the laughs.

 

[FolioTeam]

To those of us who value euphonic, sensical, and concise names....eUS simply draws absolutely no parallel to US Weekly. It's what we call a stretch.

Now, if the media company was named eUS Weekly....then you'd be onto something. The fact that you have to lay out a doctoral dissertation on the subject speaks otherwise.

Still a good name, though.

Exactly

 

[frostify]

You literally just made an article to try to stealth promote your own domain name, classy.

 

[Name Trader]

If they can't buy USWeekly.com, I would change the name of the magazine to something else which they can buy. More appropriate for the future. Which means online.

 

[garptrader]

Face it - generally speaking most people outside the domain industry could care less about domains. It is only when they are looking for one they may get a little frustrated but eventually settle for some inferior combo of keywords, extra characters or alternative extensions. They do not see the logic of paying a premium price for a higher-quality domain.

Probably few people in this forum do regular sprint interval training even though it is one of the best forms of exercise. Some of the Facebook track forums will complain about lack of tv coverage, lack of local meets, lack of promotion by the national association, how to garner more interest in the sport, etc. In each masters age group there are theoretically about ten million males yet only about 200 participants in each age group (US) annually at 100 meters. Why? Some people see the benefit while the vast majority do not. Obesity in the US is now approaching 40% with a strong correlation to other health problems. Should we go to local doughnut and ice cream shops to promote the sport? How worthwhile would that effort be? Ditto with domains.

 

[dande]

Face it - generally speaking most people outside the domain industry could care less about domains. It is only when they are looking for one they may get a little frustrated but eventually settle for some inferior combo of keywords, extra characters or alternative extensions. They do not see the logic of paying a premium price for a higher-quality domain.

Web developers are not helping matters too. They usually advice their clients to pick anything cheap at registration fees. Most times, discouraging clients from paying for premium, even making it look like scam.

 

[topdom]

They can get
USweekly.news
or
usweek.ly

Just like fake domains sales, business sales may be fake too.
I remember WBuffet donated all his wealth to BillGates foundation, but he is still in Forbes top 3 list.

 

[DomainRecap]

3. Even tee shirts were provided!

This is rather cleaver.

Ah, what a cutting remark.

 

[DomainRecap]

Web developers are not helping matters too. They usually advice their clients to pick anything cheap at registration fees. Most times, discouraging clients from paying for premium, even making it look like scam.

Exactly, and these are Marketing/Business Development questions and have absolutely nothing to do with IT.

What's next, are you going to ask Marketing what brand and size of server you need for the site?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Ah, what a cutting remark.

Indeed.