debate Are you in the "com" business?....Or

[ThatNameGuy]

Are you in the the loan, consulting, golf, online, banking, credit, fitness, tattoo, pizza, travel, limo, restaurant, home, boat, diamond, jewelry .Business?

What I find hard to believe is the debate rages on between the "old time" dot commers, and the neuvo domainers. I've been in the domain business for less than a year, but I understand business, and the psychology of business owners far better than than domainers who have been in this industry for 20 years.

Maybe it's because I've been in the credit.business, broker.business the consulting.business, the healthcare.business, the rental.business, the realty.business the golf.business and now the domain.business that I get it

Sure, about 20% of my 1,800 domains are .com's, but many of them compliment my new nTLD's wherever possible. Much to the chagrin of "old time" dot commers, new domain extensions are here to stay as long as I make it my.Business

 

[bmugford]

I've been in the domain business for less than a year, but I understand business, and the psychology of business owners far better than than domainers who have been in this industry for 20 years.

Awesome. Another thread about how great you are. People who are smart, successful, and creative generally show it with their actions. They don't need to keep telling people how great they are.

As far as the original question I am in the business of making money. I own and have sold several different extensions, so I am not just some .COM snob.

However, since the vast majority of money in the field goes to .COM it would make sense that is where most domain investors focus.

Just to illustrate this fact. NameBio shows the following numbers -

All extensions -

605.1K Total Sales
$1.6B Dollar Volume

.COM Only -

460.9K Total Sales
$1.3B Dollar Volume

NameBio.com reports only a fraction of the total domain sales, but you can see proportionately how dominant .COM is vs. the field.

All new gTLD sales show 4,490 sales for $18.9M total. That is hardly anything spread over 1000+ extensions.

Brad

 

[jmcc]

The problem with new gTLDs is that most people, especially domainers with only .COM experience, do not understand them. The good ones essentially have the same characteristics as ccTLDs (low, slow growth and growing usage). The bad ones are far worse than some of the legacy gTLDs in terms of usage. The rubbish about new gTLDs having 25% web usage is purely based on cargo-cult "methodology" by people who don't understand how to measure usage in TLDs.

You have to look at new gTLDs individually rather than as a single TLD. Some new gTLDs are doing quite well and have healthy renewals and good usage. Others have been reduced to the status of sub-prime by repeated "offers" of heavily discounted domain names. This discounting brings in all sorts of toxic registrations (webspam, malware, affiliate landers, spam domains etc) that are used and then dropped without renewal. The effect of these toxic registrations is that they kill the TLD for genuine registrants and real websites start disappearing. After a year or so of this discounting as a business model, the genuine registrants begin to abandon the TLD. The registries overusing discounting to grow their TLD effectively lock their gTLDs into a Boom and Bust model.

Without usage, there is no market and no secondary market. The use of the number of domain names in the zone file is not a reliable metric due to some registries engaging in discounting as a business model. That said, some new gTLDs are actually developing well and do not make a business out of discounting. Apart from high value keywords in those NGTs (most of which were reserved as premiums by the registries), many of the sales will be low value as the NGTs are still being adopted by the market.

Regards...jmcc

 

[garptrader]

Many members of this forum who encounter resistance from end users to buy clearly superior domains at reasonable prices would agree that domains are an underappreciated asset class. As a financial professional who sees how much companies spend on all sorts of other normal operating expenses, it is frustrating to see how a company will not question spending well into six figures on an IT project but will resist spending $1500 on a relevant domain name. However years of experience in this industry have taught me that most alternate extensions are a waste of money -occasional sales will be reported but the carrying costs of renewals outweighs the random outlier sale.

 

[hawkeye]

In this instance the first word "Priority" is every bit as relevant as the extension. I've only worked in and around this industry for most of my life, but what do I know?

You're so adamant about 'what you do know' compared to others here, and how you're so experienced, and that you 'know' how business works and how to apply domains to/with those experiences and know hows, why don't you chime in to these two postings and share them with others instead of just the domainers here at NP. I'm sure a greater public would love to hear from you and your visions for domains that we are all missing or not seeing here. And as you've noted that you follow the pros in this biz, that would be insightful too.

https://www.thedomains.com/2018/07/01/some-new-domainers-feel-they-know-more-than-the-veterans/

http://www.ricksblog.com/2018/07/cl...ings-think-they-know-everything/#.Wzk1ktJKjIU

 

[anantj]

Having Linkedup with the likes of the Domain King, Rick Schwartz, Rob Monster of Epik, Mike Cyger, formerly of Domain Sherpa, Jothan Frakes, Frank Schilling of Uniregistry, the Donuts crowd, and a few others, I know now my approach and my strategy are spot on

Wow! I'd read that, and it just proves to me the height of arrogance. This guy may be your hero, but I have just one hero that I'd put up against him any day of the week I guess you can tell.....I'm

NOT IMPRESSED!!!!

Whoops. I thought @Rick Schwartz was one of your linkedup's.

(Bold in first quote by me)

 

[garptrader]

Domain investors with a few years of experience will start to drop the newbie registrations and begin to acquire better quality domains. However even the best portfolios will still have many domains which sit there for years without a buyer. Developers will often register abysmal to so-so quality domains to launch a website. Domain names can be great for branding but oftentimes businesses will manage with an inferior-quality domain. Does it hurt their business? Probably but perhaps in ways they cannot measure. Will a business fail purely because they do not own the best possible domain for their market? Of course not. However most normal businesses do not own hundreds of domains. When you find yourself having to renew a hundred domains a month and needing to evaluate which ones should be dropped and still trying to acquire more domains while promoting an existing portfolio it would seem difficult to find the time to be running separate businesses. There is more money to be made by turning a domain into a successful business but most domain investors do not make that transition.

 

[Ace3coiner]

Hi @Bulloney

May I ask for your sales stats on these non-dot-com extentions to date. How many names have you registered so far and how many of the have you actually sold?

 

[garptrader]

Perhaps using LinkedIn to go straight to the marketing decision maker might help. Going through the IT gatekeeper is probably going to result in the message being blocked. End users are often newbies when it comes to making domain branding decisions.

That is how you see real estate agents using hyphenated .info domains and running AdWords campaigns to generate leads. You can present a relevant geo keyword .Com for their market and they don't get it. Others will operate with mere Facebook or YouTube accounts and see no need to pay for an internet presence.

But how much does a real estate agent make in commissions from one sale? Many of my geo real estate domain leads are filled out by people looking for apartment rentals or homes in the relevant market even though the form is not even in their native language. Trying to sell those domains to real estate agents has not yet produced favorable results. But I have customers in their markets coming directly to me.

So the issue is not just new extensions but getting an end user to understand why a domain can help them gain mindshare in the eyes of potential customers.

 

[smartwebby]

Hi Bulloney,

Maybe you are great with business outside the internet (as disclosed by you) but on the internet there are certain things that play out into the value of domains. All the really great but few NGTLDs are owned/acquired at premium costs but it does not translate to the value of the rest of the domain names in those extensions. That's where the misery lies. Maybe you might have a few nice ones but please don't think your entire portfolio is gold. It's impossible and you have to see it that way if you are serious about domaining. Each of us has had this in variations but this is the same kind of "blind spot" we all start of with, and which if not corrected becomes our undoing in this business. Secondly there are literally millions of successful .COMs and that is the main competition for the NGTLDs, Existing businesses on .COMs that garner the trust factor 99.99% of the time. You have to wrap your head around this fact and we say this as only your concerned friends. No one is getting anything out of this, We all want each other to do well don't we??

Here is one observation I made, in your signature you have a couple of nice .COMs but there is not even one premium (impressive) NGTLD.... I see BeerPong.live and CarWash.Gives. Are these the best that you have?? Usually people put up their best in their signature, or at least the best that they have for sale. Honestly you needn't even reply, just think hard along the lines of what we are all collectively saying.

I can't stop imagining the amount of super premium .COMs you could have owned with all that money

One last note. With all due respect, on a forum of this scale (in front of the many proven industry experts in every facet of the online industry) you need to set your ego aside as I'm sure you have done hundreds of times in the various businesses you have been part of as they succeeded over the years. Wishing you only the best.

- Anita

 

[Kate]

epic.fail

This platinum domain is available for purchase. If you would like to make an offer, please contact [email protected].

 

[garptrader]

premium new TLDs in many cases do make sense but the fear I would have as an investor would be strong resistance to an unfamiliar extension, the typical upfront acquisition cost during early access registration periods and renewals. When .condos was coming out i thought the extension sounded interesting but at $69 annually in renewals that would be a quick recipe for disaster as an investor. Yes, real businesses spend serious money on advertising and IT costs but new domain investors have not faced the challenge of selling domains to end users. Part of it is that web developers despise domainers for taking all the good domains so they sell their five and six figure solutions and criticize the domain "squatter.".

 

[jmcc]

Never was a quote more apt than with the domain name business.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

Regards...jmcc

 

[frank-germany]

In the big scheme of things, a $69 annual renewal means very little to an "end user" To an investor who owns 1,000 domains that renew at $69 it's a big deal. I don't intend to hold domains that don't sell very long, especially after I've put my best foot forward. Until such time I have a web advertising partner, I'll continue to plod along doing domaining my way

Just as an aside...I bought a domain this am similar to Priority.Finance. I paid just 4.99 for the domain, and while it renews for $70, it appraises at GD for $2,405. In this instance the first word "Priority" is every bit as relevant as the extension. I've only worked in and around this industry for most of my life, but what do I know?

I haven't seen many domains
-registered or available-
being valued below $1K USD
by godaddy

 

[Name Trader]

Glad to see you have found another nGTLD beside .Club to rave about I think they are both good, or better, nGTLD's to explore.

 

[NickB]

I have a balanced/mixed portfolio - really do not understand the heated exchanges that surround extensions, everyone has their own opinion and strategies for success.

Just get on with what you think is going to make you a profit, everything else is just noise......

 

[NYJimbo]

NYJumbo...a lot goes over your head, doesn't it? I don't own a single .business domain, but I did use the .business extension to share with you and others the kinds of businesses I've started, named, bought, sold over the last 50 years....only in America If you don't believe I've been in the financial/credit services industry, the healthcare services industry, the investigations industry, the realestate/rental industry, the tax industry with a company I started in 1987 and is still in business today, or more recently the golf and domain industries, you just don't know me Now if you would care to get to know me, lets talk Somehow I don't think you care for fear of being proven wrong...am I right

You post no facts, just a lot of bragging. I think getting to know you would be wasting my time. Have a nice day.

 

[lambo.com]

Sorry for my loss???, and you call yourself "Marketing Stragegies" Where did you go to school? You should probably start over with SWOT101.edu....I teach the course

What is the total for your annual renewals and what was your revenue last year from these 'faberge egg' domains?

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Glad to see you have found another nGTLD beside .Club to rave about I think they are both good, or better, nGTLD's to explore.

Oh, I agree stub. I've not only explored, but own portfolio's for .loans, .consulting, .online, .golf, .pizza, .today, .live, etc. The reason I own 200+ .club domains is because I've made a pretty good connection with the .club registry folks, and I've been paying just $1 for each of my .club domains. I guess it's because I'm a member of the NoBrainer.Club....seriously, I don't own it now, but I may in a few minutes Anyone want to join?

 

[NickB]

Not really interested in how most people make their money, it's your/their business, the ones I do care about are those at the top of their professions, market movers, opinion former's etc

This site is great for sharing ideas, opinions, news and experiences - it's up to people what they do with all the info on here.......

Good luck with your money ventures...

 

[NYJimbo]

.I bought a domain this am similar to Priority.Finance. I paid just 4.99 for the domain, and while it renews for $70, it appraises at GD for $2,405.

I hope you dont take GD appraisals too seriously. I got 888 . accountants that GD says is worth $2,840, but I doubt anyone would pay a fifth of that.

 

[Ace3coiner]

@Bulloney read this comment from another forum about this thread:
https://www.thedomains.com/2018/07/01/some-new-domainers-feel-they-know-more-than-the-veterans/

1. 
   
   
   Vito says
   
   JULY 1, 2018 AT 8:47 AM
   
   This new guy has been in ALL of these businesses, seriously?
   
   credit.business,
   broker.business
   The consulting.business,
   the healthcare.business,
   The rental.business,
   the realty.business
   the golf.business
   and now the domain.business
   
   What is he, like 100 years old?
   Is he sane?
   Why so many different businesses?
   Has he succeeded in any of these businesses?
   Has he sold any domain names?
   One even?
   
   Sounds way too cocky for me and have never heard of him.
   
   I listen to the veterans often because they have proven themselves in this industry already and have some great tips we may not have thought about ourselves. I do follow some of the newer domainers as well. The domainers that share their wins and losses. Anyone who makes money from domaining i am interested in reading about.
   
   I think this new guy is just self promoting his dot business domains. Not sure i have ever heard of any dot business domains selling before. That extension just seems ridiculously long to me.
   
   Reading this guys excerpt in here i have to laugh. You quoted his username as “Bulloney”
   
   Funny because thats what it actually sounds like to me right now.
   
   REPLY

 

[NYJimbo]

Obviously you haven't been listening or reading what I've been saying about appraisals. I don't take appraisals "too seriously" anymore than I take life too seriously btw, what is the significance of "888" in accounting? Accountants that I know are so stodgy and dry, it's unlikely they have a clue?

You dont take them seriously, yet you point to it as a reason to renew. Also in your first post you say you have only been domaining about a year but later brag "I've only worked in and around this industry for most of my life, but what do I know?". Kinda all over the place in your posts.

Unless you post a couple of verifiable .business sales its hard to believe you are making much money with this tld.

 

[MapleDots]

They are an accounting firm and apparently are continuously losing emails. Seems the end clients just cannot wrap their heads around [email protected]

And that is they biggest issue here, it's not the domains themselves but the public education or lack of education when it comes to them. To be quite honest.... even as a domainer I don't know all of them and it's pretty hard to gamble a companies email address on them if the end user does not understand it.

I truly do follow your logic and it should work..... problem is it took decades to engrain .com and all the country codes. It might take a number of years for the general public to catch on.

 

[lambo.com]

are you in the the loan, consulting, golf, online, banking, credit, fitness, tattoo, pizza, travel, limo, restaurant, home, boat, diamond, jewelry .Business?

What I find hard to believe is the debate rages on between the "old time" dot commers, and the neuvo domainers. I've been in the domain business for less than a year, but I understand business, and the psychology of business owners far better than than domainers who have been in this industry for 20 years.

Maybe it's because I've been in the credit.business, broker.business the consulting.business, the healthcare.business, the rental.business, the realty.business the golf.business and now the domain.business that I get it

Sure, about 20% of my 1,800 domains are .com's, but many of them compliment my new nTLD's wherever possible. Much to the chagrin of "old time" dot commers, new domain extensions are here to stay as long as I make it my.Business

Wow, nearly 1500 ngtld's.

Sorry for your loss.