.tv Business models and Partnerships for .tv's

[[email protected]]

Hello My name is Dave Lalande and I own a small startup called Impel.TV

This is my first thread in many many years. I would like to attempt to start some talk about business models and partnerships with .tv domain names. What else can we do with .tv domain names besides sell them to each other or sell them to an occasional end user? How about parking... That's not really doing anything with the great name. We ALL need people making markets with .tv's, making the domain extension popular. Watch what happens to the value of you .tv's when someone sells one or more to the Google machine for a billion dollars.

I believe that .tv actually means something to people. I think we all do. It's really the only one other than .com that really makes people think of something.

Years ago, via a Public company, I filed patent on a domain name system addition called, Simplified Domains. The concept is that SD would allow for any domain name extension, 3-back. That is micros.oft or ap.ple or taxi.cab. You would just type in the word(s) and hit enter, the browser would test for the domain "3-back" and if it didn't resolve it would kick it over to the current domain name system to check for the silly "categorized" ones we now use. It worked great and we had $50K in domain registrations in the first 2 days. I didn't allow this company to actually charge anyone, but it was an interesting test of the concept. I was actually asked to speak at an ICANN meeting in LA about Simplified Domains and did just that. You can read more about SD of course, now that I have told you this much.

I told about Simplified Domains to show a little history I have had with domain names and also to impress the fact that the naming categorization model, that is .biz, .info and the rest, are garbage. They don't REALLY mean anything. It's goofy to roll out more, quite frankly. If they roll out .sex, churches will buy them up to protect themselves and that just runs the cost of doing business up for everyone.

Having said that, IF a domain extension did actually mean something (.tv) theeeeeeeeen we would have something of value. That's us folks. .tv does actually mean something. Congrats to all the .tv'ers, you are in the right place a good time, a little early, but great timing never-the-less. That is, if you can find an "end user" to buy your name OR, you figure out a "legitimate" revenue stream with it. Parking is not legit, we all have figured that out. Only a handful of people make any real money this way, it's in the numbers and paying $40+ for the domain names makes it tougher.

The television industry is in turmoil. I recently read that 30% of the ad revenue had been ripped out and handed over to the Internet. Disruption... Other industries are seeing this Internet disruption, we are all reading about it. The travel industry, real estate, gambling, music, government, software/OS, nothing is immune to what the Internet is doing. It's clearing the playing field and saying "start over".

It's the television industry's turn and .tv is where it's going to happen. Did you ever wonder how someone comes to own an NBC affiliate? Well, this is it, your chance. If someone could have slapped down a chance to own a television channel waaaaaaaay back when the Television Industry 1.0 was taking place and then said, "THIS IS YOUR CHANCE", would you have jumped? Seriously, sell your domain name for 3-4 times the cost, park it for pennies or use it. Try something... What? We don't know, if we did, it would be too late or too much money to get into for most of us. That's the cool thing about the only other potentially commercial domain name extension besides .com that means anything. .TV It makes me smile when I write .tv.

So here is the deal, let's talk about business models that we know of, the good, bad and the ugly. Although, ugly is okay if the content is good, on the Internet. How do we make money with these names? Impel.TV believes that the Internet will break the television viewers/business into little chucks, islands of interest. CBS has a broad range of programming for instance, whereas you would assume that tampabay.tv is going to be about Tampa, FL., before you land there. Well this is an advertisers dream. Target marketing. Everything about a topic of interest in one place. Now marketeers are hunting with a rifle.tv not a shotgun.tv. If what you want to sell is in Tampa, you can pretty much count on the audience's interest in tampabay.tv, tampa.tv or tampaguide.tv. (I was doing so well )

Before I go on any further and explain about what Impel.TV does and some partnership ideas, I want to ask if there is a genuine interest from this crowd about doing something with your names, not just sitting on them? If you want to keep you "for sale" options open, well that's just part of the model that needs to be there for you to participate? Take it from a guy that has bought and sold a number companies/businesses, including to a public entity, your domain name is worth more if there is revenue attached. WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more. Try marketing your name with $5K monthly revenue attached and a market started. Your negotiating position now becomes mathematical. Not, "because I think it's a great name". You now can say, "I am going to lose $60K a year selling you this name, what's that worth?"

Are you interested in figuring this out? I am starting to meet a few that are, right here on namepros.com That is what this thread is about, let's talk business models and partnerships.

 

[virtuali]

Dave - Good Post.

Hi Dave,

I appreciate what you are saying very much. You have insight into what I beleive is the future of the internet as well. I remember when .tv first came out in 2000 how much it made sense to me.. even back then. It made so much sense to me I thought it would just blow up into this huge boom like the .com did.. but we have come to realize that the boom is taking time the same way it did with .com. I truly beleive that .tv is the future of the inet for a few reasons:

1.) TV - Makes sense to nearly everyone on this planet.

2.) .com is.. and will become saturated. When I look at the aftermarket I am amazed at what some people are buying just because it has .com. Yes, there is money in .com, even the long hypenated term, but the truly big money will come to the owners of great .tv's just like it has with the .com.

3.) as you stated major companies, especially tv companies are trying figure out how to position themselves in this new tech era. Just like in the past they are slow to get into the loop, but once they do they will go all in.

I own a number of premium names like Beer.tv, cerveza.tv and my latest acquisition with my business partner "generic.tv". This is where I think our objectives are similiar. I am a developer by trade.. I am familiar with alot of programming, server admin etc etc.. and I have found that most of the domainers in this forum have the same issue.. How to develope and make money. I beleive that in order for .tv to truly be a success we need as many people as possible to develope in order to get the extension out there, or most of us will be waiting until 2020 before these domains will be worth the kind of money we are all hoping for. This being said that is why we are creating "generic.tv" as an avenure for all of us to get the resources and help we need to do the steps necessary to get great site out there. 1.) get a great domain. 2.) have a plan for that domain. 3.) have access to the tools needed for development. 4.) Develop. 5.) Market. 6.) Continue to market and network.

I am very interested to chat with all parties about the future of this extension and I have already made contact with some of you as time permits. There is big things ahead guys, especially if we all work together.

Cheers.

Jeff

 

[BDM1]

Hi Dave,
Nice post mate.
I personally think many people are developing tv sites, they just do not have the money to market them properly because they are just small time domainers, which includes myself as well. Ive had to develop my idea over the last two years due to work commitments and time in general. It is a lot of work and money to do something really special in this emerging market. If you want to really stand out and be original or re invent the wheel so to speak, you cannot do that me the me.tv tools that many are using. Some of the members here have some of the best names in the .tv extension which led me to this site in the first place. I want to go into this fulltime.
As from next month, I will be fulltime and I have all the resources here in Thailand, from editors, film crew, web designers, marketing, green screens, full production facilities etc... These are available to anyone who is interested and the costs are low compared to the western world. I will make these available for anyone interested.
I am interested to go in the same direction as narrowstep.com (google them, they are making big bucks and growing rapidly), but I just dont have the expertise YET.
This is why I register names that have a good ring for a name of a tv show and thats why I dont buy that many generic key words, as I just dont think that is what the extension is about.
I have a small team in the USA as well and will be moving there next month to get my first project of the ground and would love to meet up with people who are thinking along the same lines. I will be based in Los gatos for about 6 months, but can fly anywhere.
Anyway, would love to hear more like minded people like you on this forum.
We have a chance collectively to change the internet how we want it to be in some regard, all it takes is a bit of vision, money and tenacity.
Count me in.

 

[space101]

well this is my kind of discussion the overall big picture. I definetly believe their is power in numbers and besides like mentioned before .tv or any name for that matter is worth more as a vialble revenue generating business. I just found this great content distribution network located in my area that I plan on giving a call sometime this or next week to discuss licensing fees or a possible JV. who knows we may be able to sell this network of developed revenue generating .tv's to a Viacom, NBC, or the likes. If anyone is interested in developing sports related .tv's or adding sports related .tv's to the overall mix PM me and we can chat.

Take care.
GIO

 

[StargateCapital]

This is getting exciting

While I'm not a developer by trade, I'm an acquisition specialist. I have a portfolio of over 3,000 .com domains and have been a full time domainer for almost 7 years and living off PPC for over half of those years and via domain sales for the 'early years'. Fairly recently I took a serious liking to .tv and have collected a few gems. I look forward to creating alliances and partnerships to build the many valuable generic .tv domains I have. .TV names don't get the type ins of the .com counterparts, but if we build quality sites, the word will get out - its all a matter of time (and a little seo/marketing) and they can overtake the multitude of bland .com PPC sites out there. Jeff - generic.tv sounds like it will be a huge boost for people like myself that don't have much experience with domain development, but have some quality .tv's to build up. Dave - great post! I agree with alot of what you had to say. For me, personally, its .com | .tv | .pro -- all the other extensions really don't mean much. I'm still in 'acquisition' mode, but I'm starting to think more and more about development. I honestly have not been as excited about domains since I first started out with .com. .TV is special allright.

I sense the birth of a ".TV Development Group".



Roy

 

[TheWatcher]

Count me in.

Cheers,
Em

 

[RPK]

Trust me, I know about development costs. I am an entrepreneur, not a programmer, and have been working on launching Qoof for more than a year and a half now. We have many products in mind including one that can benefit all .tv owners. We currently have 9 employees and 5 of them are developers.

We launched our first product, Usermercials, at the “Video On The Net Show” in March in San Jose. This market is so hot that someone at the show actually handed me a check for $200k. I turned it down as we got a much better offer for more money the very next day.

I was asked to join a panel discussion on the topic “Making Money in The Video Ecosystem” (http://www.videoonthenet.com/2007/boston/web/confSchedule.htm) at the next Video on the Net Show in October in Boston, so this is a topic I am studying closely.

I will of course keep this board updated as we move forward.

For now, I can tell you that the most important thing for .tv and also the hardest thing to get is good content. Where content is king, video content is the king of kings.

As filming and editing of videos costs come down, it will allow better content to be created, but as of now it is still a big expense for most companies.

We do have a studio in Los Angeles (Qoof Studios) where we film commercials for our clients. We are always looking for other studios we can partner with so that when we start to market our products we will be able to meet the demand of our clients.

Having the coolest or best developed .tv site won't be successful in my opinion without unique or compelling content. Until this riddle is solved it is hard to put so much money into development costs.

I would put 50% of funds/effort into development and the other 50% into content. If you have just a plan for development without content I think you will be in trouble.

Also if you can put 100% effort into creating content, you will have a much greater chance of success then by just developing one channel.

The best (low cost) business model in my opinion is to give a reason for users to create and upload videos to your channel. Niche and grow rich as they say. I would say that getting traffic and eyeballs is more important than revenue at this point if you are looking to sell your site in the next year or two. Great creative! Have fun! We are at the beginning of a huge wave and there is still plenty of opportunity.

In the next 4 – 6 weeks our new site and video commerce platform will be ready. At that time we will be looking for great entrepreneurs and visionaries to partner with. I have spoken to a few people on this board already and we are close to closing a deal with one of them. We have over 500 .tv names that we will be looking to develop or partner with other entrepreneurs and visionaries out there, so if you fit that bill, please be in touch with me.

Go .TV!!!

 

[[email protected]]

Wow... Okay. I guess I struck a cord. I always say that as smart as we feel, there are 50 other people around the Internet trying/thinking the same exact thing. This is a little proof of that concept. I can tell you this. There are rooms full of "fairly" smart people (they would have been "REALLY" smart if they could have predicted this) at CBS and other networks, trying to figure this out.

Couple of good points here I will attempt to collect in one post. At least a couple/few that I see.

When they show up (the networks, CBS and the rest, CBS is already investing) they will come to compete. They have money, know how, contacts and more importantly they have content)

Importance of Content... I agree with SearchingTV to some degree about content. I say to some degree, because a year and a half ago, you would have had to have alot of money, infrastructure, contacts and a cousin that knew a board member to play/show NBA videos. Now they are giving it away, just to get to the ad dollars. We are seeing old content holders starting to give their videos away, in hopes to have it seen (along with commercials). Smart people. This is Sam Walton's dream (the founder of Walmart) He is probably looking down from heaven saying, "My time to rule retail could have been compressed by 40-50 years if I could have had a million qualified outlets selling my products (ads) without spending any of my own money".

CashCowDomains says, I sense the birth of a ".TV Development Group". Now that is the spirit. We are better off pooling our brains, software, servers, contacts and domain names. Pooling... More on this idea later.

Marketing... BDM and someone else mentioned marketing. This is the stuff. Once you have a site and content, if the site has the ability to off constant fresh content, marketing takes over as the biggest deal. Viewers/traffic is what people buy. That takes marketing. The best marketing in the World, doesn't cost anything. It is the Press. Get them to write about something we create and here comes the masses.

Yes, you/we need a comprehensive marketing strategy, but let's face it, only in Silicon Valley do they hand you $200K checks at the end of a speech and you give it back. For many of the rest of us, we don't meet VC's and have a chance at the kinds of dollars backing our startups to market them alone to the masses. We have to figure out creative ways to do this.

More about content. Impel.TV started a couple of test channels. One is www.westernheritage.tv (about the Old West and Western Lifestyles) The other a Geo domain about Sarasota, Florida. What we have built, ALREADY is the largest concentration of videos on the Internet about these two topics. Oh yes the aggregators have more, but they are mixed up with other topics. The World needs packaging. If your interest is modeling, you could go to YouTube and searching for modeling, or your could (hopefully go to at some point model.tv, modeling.tv or even one we launched, modelguide.tv) As a viewer, I would MUCH rather go to a channel that has EXACTLY what I am looking for, skip the middle people.

Impel.TV's engine has hooks to the BIG services API's. We are able to pull in mass numbers of videos about a single niche an hours. Virtuali given the right tools could/should certainly end up being the biggest television channel on the planet that has to do with beer. CBS will have to compete with a supplier of ads that is "dead on" the topic. SearchingTV said "niche and grow rich". Yesssssss. That is what I believe too. Do we need a schtick beyond that, maybe? Do we or should we wait to figure out what that is, noooooooooo. The time is right now.

I am positive that the people at the networks are losing some sleep about now. When I get time to post more tonight, hopefully, I will tell you about Impel.TV and what we have built. Let's gather the owners of the names, right here and figure it out together. I have some ideas on how to do this.

I will leave you with this today. space101 said, "who knows we may be able to sell this network of developed revenue generating .tv's to a Viacom, NBC, or the likes." Yes... I can tell you that these large fish want to regain control of this thing we call Web TV. As this content moves to our televisions and TV remotes, they don't want to compete with a million new competitors and their industry is being broken into tiny niches. Beer.tv is one. Come on, if you want to watch shows about recipes, micro breweries, hops, new beers, bottling plants and beer festivals, where you going to go in the future, CBS or Beer.TV?

More later... God Love you guys for supporting this forum, on the first day. We could very well be writing the next chapter of the Television industry. Let's call it TV 2.0.

Dave Lalande
Impel.TV

P.S. CBS and a number of BIG media, software, search engines, telecoms corporate networks are showing up in our logs. We have their attention. What are we going to show them?

 

[Makis.TV]

Everybody knows that developmnet will bring more attention to our domains and tv domains in general.
But not all of us have the ability to develope them in a way they can stand out from the rest developed webistes, tv or not.
In that way of developing i m really interested and ready to here further details.

 

[virtuali]

Makis77

Hey Makis77...

this is exactly my point.. this is the hurdle we are all trying to get over.. the thing we have to do is develop ways to engage the user to create and upload there own videos. It is a hard process to think of these things but with all of us pooling our resources etc I think we will all come up with something in the coming months that can really help everybody involved with .tv. We are going to launch generic.tv in a couple of months to do just this and hopefully it will continue to grow and answer the needs of the potential .tv developer.

Their are many people in this forum that have great ideas and plans, its just a matter of putting it all together. And this thread is the beginning of that.

Cheers.

 

[BDM1]

I think we need to work out a way to create a closed forum, so only members who have sent their list and what they can offer can see it. A log in membership, given out by a members vote. We need to keep a few ideas away from prying eyes...
I have 400 names now and there are many here with more and many with a few but total golden names. Web conferencing is also another way..... need more thought on this, but it definately cannot be on an open forum IMHO.

thoughts? better way?

I am spending 20K on two names next week, so I can compete (Join) with you lot!

 

[virtuali]

BDM1 - Agreed

I Agree with this. I think we all have some significant ideas and plans and in order to make these plans effective I think we should consider this.

I can set something up on my server and give all players involved a login once it is verified who they are.

How does this sound guys..??

 

[BDM1]

Im not sure how big the members are talking, but we will need money for development... not sure everyones position on that, but I think it needs to be talked about. For the guys/gals without funds, but have great names = "our group" to make a long term valuation on a great name and we work alongside that person to the value of the name....... Im not sure just thinking out loud really.

Another way is we get programmers (members) etc to work in kind, work out a value..

???? sorry its late here now.

virtuali, I like that idea by the way, its just the vetting process to get in will have to be worked out.

 

[virtuali]

Bdm1

I agree.. just putting it out there to see what everybody thinks.. I can try and through something up this weekend and give you guys a url and login to try and see how it works.. I can set up a forum and chat... and maybe webcam and audio app..??

Just a thought...

Cheers.

 

[lzy]

I love this idea, but I only just started my foray into .tv...hmm.

 

[smashfactory]

you have to remember that .tv does not have to be all about uploading hoards of videos either- several ideas i have for some tvs have nothing to do with huge storage space needed, yet i know they would be extremely popular and a much used sites-

 

[virtuali]

Hi Smash,

I agree totally and that is the exact kind of input we need for development ideas.. We can all benefit from these kinds of plans...

 

[Len]

I, (like many others on this forum I suspect) don't have the funds or time needed to develop the .tv's that I have. I believe that most of my .tv's are marketable but due to the above restrictions I am a small fish in a big pond! My only viable role at this time is that of a re-seller in the .tv market.
Where would those in my position fit into this enterprise? Would we be welcome to participate?

 

[equity78]

First off glad that this thread has gotten development discussion moving.

Secondly there are many different models, from User Generated Content, to running your own niche channel with proprietary content, to building a niche site that aggregates content on one specific topic like modeling as previously mentioned. You really have to define your business model. I mean You Tube is the biggest UGC there is really does not make much money so I was never excited over that model from a profit standpoint. Its great for Buzz and eyeballs but IMO I don't know about making any kind of a profit. I like creating a channel that is your own proprietary content because the site can become "authoritative" on the subject.

Partnership is a great word at the start but can get very cloudy once you get going. Things need to be defined from the get go. With a checklist or survey form at the start.

How much capital do you have for this partnership ?
What technical skills do you have ?
What sales and marketing skills do you have ?
How much time per week can you put into this project ?
If more money is needed later can you come up with your share ?
How much time are you will ing to afford this project to become established?
Who do you think shuld lead the project ?

Everyone will have different answers so then you can go voer the data and say look based on everyones answers here is what the % of ownership will be for this venture.

Secondly you cannot have a lot of partners on a one off project. You need to see who fits each project best. Then move to the next project with a different bunch of partners.

IMO the checklist is important so everyone knows where they are and what everyone can bring to the table and for what percentage.

Dave are you looking to be a 50 % owner of each project as the technology provider ?

What does Impel provide technology wise ?

 

[[email protected]]

Ladies and Gentlemen. Please give me till midnight to explain about Impel.TV. There is no need to code a channel, we spend a TON of money (weighed in $20's) on our engine. We can partner for free, the investment is done. Let me explain what we are and what we built, BEFORE you run off and start a new organization to code something new. It's taken us a year. We are a year ahead. We don't code slow. It's alot. We have 6 revenue streams, built in already.

I will come back later tonight and explain. It might help? Len, we have the model you need or at least the tools to build a model and they are free, you don't need money or ANY/ZERO/ZIP code/hosting knowledge. Please be patient with me folks. Really, I will try to make it worth your wait.

Thanks for your consideration...

Dave Lalande
Impel.TV

 

[smashfactory]

this is true- i am mostly a flipper- i may want to develop one or two- but i ran many sites years ago- and just wasnt up to that kind of commitment again-
but that does not mean that there are not fruitful ideas that cant be shared, problems that can help be solved-

 

[RPK]

You make an excellent point Equity and it is something to keep in mind when joning partnerships. I am very close with closing a deal with someone on this board and we spoke by phone and then I emailed him the details of who is required for what in our partnership. In a nutshell I am providing the technology, the .tv name, the hosting of the site and videos, and the design. We are splitting development/design costs and 3 months of marketing capital. He will be responsible for the advertising and marketing of the site as well as going after content and clients. We are giving him everything he needs to be a success and he is bringing experience and the drive.

 

[Len]

Thanks for your encouraging reply Dave. I am look forward to reading your explanation.

Len.

 

[mckennaronnie]

Some very interesting discussion, i look forward to witnessing where this goes.

From my point of view i own around 25 decent .tv which i have development plans for them all but will probably only get round to working on 2,3 each year. I am currently working on a niche sector (The Crane Business) where i will build a .tv channel for the Uk Crane business (i know it sounds a slightly strange idea/sector but i have knowledge & contacts in this business & know advertising budgets in Crane companies are massive!)

I own the domains, have the development plans & will get the design/planning done but would really like a partner who would like to be involved in sales, marketing & to help find sources to provide some video content without paying sky high prices Video companies ask for.

Exciting times for .tv

 

[TheBulldog]

Dave, pm sent with a list of names. Would like to know if you are interested in partnering with me.