.tv classmates.tv

[jwdomain]

I own a non-premium "Classmates.TV". It is parked on the channelme.tv platform now with just some filler videos from the U of Florida (I live in Gainesville FL). This is not really what i want to do with the domain; just messing around with it till i decide what to do with it.

Any advice on whether I should develop it or sell it? Or develop to sell? Any ideas on what to develop it around (many possibilities but I can never seem to settle on just one)?

Thx to anyone/everyone who takes the time to respond.

 

[mckennaronnie]

Could be a site for old school mates to post a video where they tell everyone how they are, what they have become & which old classmate they are really interested in tracing again for a catch up.

Hard sector to compete in if you were going down that route though as many large companies do similar things well.

I'm sure there is many other creative ideas you could come up with but finding something original is the hard part.

 

[jeffoverman]

I love the name.

Ronnie said it perfectly. I was thinking of the same. Classmates.com is successful and running a video for each member would be quit amazing. Offer free service and then have a yearly membership fee for the hard core loyal members you gain and a nice revenue stream.

The free service could have have pictures of person. The priced plan could have a video streaming option, chat area like Justin

Now the downside. Running video is expensive and your intial investment will be expensive.

But with name, revenue ideas could be huge and private advertising on site if you gain enough members. Play around with classmates and see what you like and don't like.

Welcome to .tv forum and please keep us posted on future plans.

 

[MicroGuy]

I really like this domain for a social network style website.

Each community member will have an introductory video of the person reminiscing or telling a story about their glory days back at Small Town High. You will need search function and a database of schools, etc., etc.

This will take some huge resources to develop. But either way, you have a winner in your registrar account.

 

[equity78]

I will take the opposite view and that anything close to resembling the feel of the highly popular Classmates.com will either result in spending a lot of money that will still fall short of competing competently. OR spending a lot of money defending the name in a dispute with the owners of Classmates.com

Classmates Media Corporation operates leading online social networking and online loyalty marketing services under the Classmates and MyPoints brands. The company's success is driven by its expertise in growing and monetizing large audiences in a cost effective manner and enabling advertisers to reach online consumers effectively. Large membership bases and rich databases of member information provide Classmates Media with a significant competitive advantage.

Online Social Networking Services
The company's online social networking Web sites enable users to locate and interact with acquaintances from high school, college, work and the military. Led by its flagship Classmates Web site in the United States (www.classmates.com), the company serves more than 40 million registered accounts, including 3.5 million pay accounts as of March 31, 2008. Members have contributed to the company's social networking Web sites a substantial amount of distinct, relevant pieces of content that helps attract new social networking members and returning Web site visits from existing members.

The company operates three international social networking services with a focus on reconnecting school acquaintances, including StayFriends in Germany (www.stayfriends.de), StayFriends in Sweden (www.stayfriends.se) and Trombi in France (www.trombi.com).

About United Online
United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNTD) is a leading provider of consumer Internet and media services. The company's Content & Media services include online social networking (Classmates) and online loyalty marketing (MyPoints).
Its Communications services include Internet access (NetZero, Juno) and email. United Online is headquartered in Woodland Hills,CA, with offices in: New York, NY; Fort Lee, NJ; Renton, WA; San Francisco, CA; Schaumburg, IL; Orem, UT; Erlangen, Germany; and Hyderabad, India. For more information about United Online, please visit www.unitedonline.com.

I would use the name for an online entertainment show.

 

[MicroGuy]

Good point Ray. I looked at classmates.com before making my initial post here and thought it was a parked page.

 

[mckennaronnie]

I will take the opposite view and that anything close to resembling the feel of the highly popular Classmates.com will either result in spending a lot of money that will still fall short of competing competently. OR spending a lot of money defending the name in a dispute with the owners of Classmates.com

Classmates Media Corporation operates leading online social networking and online loyalty marketing services under the Classmates and MyPoints brands. The company's success is driven by its expertise in growing and monetizing large audiences in a cost effective manner and enabling advertisers to reach online consumers effectively. Large membership bases and rich databases of member information provide Classmates Media with a significant competitive advantage.

Online Social Networking Services
The company's online social networking Web sites enable users to locate and interact with acquaintances from high school, college, work and the military. Led by its flagship Classmates Web site in the United States (www.classmates.com), the company serves more than 40 million registered accounts, including 3.5 million pay accounts as of March 31, 2008. Members have contributed to the company's social networking Web sites a substantial amount of distinct, relevant pieces of content that helps attract new social networking members and returning Web site visits from existing members.

The company operates three international social networking services with a focus on reconnecting school acquaintances, including StayFriends in Germany (www.stayfriends.de), StayFriends in Sweden (www.stayfriends.se) and Trombi in France (www.trombi.com).

About United Online
United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNTD) is a leading provider of consumer Internet and media services. The company's Content & Media services include online social networking (Classmates) and online loyalty marketing (MyPoints).
Its Communications services include Internet access (NetZero, Juno) and email. United Online is headquartered in Woodland Hills,CA, with offices in: New York, NY; Fort Lee, NJ; Renton, WA; San Francisco, CA; Schaumburg, IL; Orem, UT; Erlangen, Germany; and Hyderabad, India. For more information about United Online, please visit www.unitedonline.com.

I would use the name for an online entertainment show.

With that info i would definetley alter the dev plan to try something original, should still be plety of ways to do something with this domain though.

Up until now i had never heard of Classmates.com (not sure if it is in UK, www.friendsreunited.co.uk is the firm over here who rule that market thru massive advertising)

No matter what development plan you go for, i would try be as realistic as possible to work out what you can do & if you can compete when going down a similar route to massive companies/sites.
I'd try think of a original, unique twist & also focus on your local area only to begin with then you can build things up with local advertising/word of mouth, this would be possible on a smaller budget. IMHO

 

[Ctack]

Can auto.com sue auto.tv for making a site about cars? I don't think so. I am pretty sure you can build a site about classmates at classmates.tv.
Don't take my word for it though, I'm not certified in web-law. .

 

[jeffoverman]

I am sticking to my answer and reply. Its a killer name and has a lot of potential

Anything has competition imo. Yes does it make it harder. You bet. Your competing against a company with deep pockets.

Its like geo .tv city names vs geo .com names. Heavily competitive and your also competing against old media companies, tv and news.

Again this is just my thinking and I haven't had the successes in .tv that some of you had. Some are developing.

The downside to this classmates can use there scare tactics and claim they have the rights to this name. Most people would give in and be scared of this. That would worry me some and they have tons of lawyers.

I would also like to stress this

To do the site right you need some cash to back this up and I can only imagine how much this would run and bandwith expense. I am not a web designer so just something to ponder your mind with a cup of coffee this morning.

 

[GoneWalkabout]

If yiu really want to be different from Classmates.com and therefore avoid any possible legal problems then why not use the name for one of three purposes...

1. A site where classes of today in one area/country could 'twin' with a class in another area through film. For example, a class in Florida could video its work, teachers, teahhing, etc and share that via a 'closed site' that is only visible to another class in, say, France. This would be of great benefit to both classes in learnibng about each others language, culture, etc.

2. A brand name for a new internet TV gameshow where the classmates of the rich and famous explain their time growing up with the 'celeb' and the viewer has to guess who that celeb actually is.

3. A simple site showing just films that relate to school days.

I'm sure there are hundreds of pther alternative uses for the name.

Oh, welcome to Namepros - hopefully you will stay here and help contribute over the next few weeks and months.

 

[jwdomain]

You are right jimbo.

Note to mckennaronnie and others not seeing the classmates.com banner advertising saturation that we see in the U.S. : the classmates.com brand is huge in the U.S. It is in the top 4 social media sites, just below facebook, myspace, linkedin. You see their banner ads absolutely everyone across all categories and channels except of course gambling, porn, and other such non-family-friendly cats. Classmates.com does as much or more banner ads across the U.S. facing web as any other company. I think that they are in the top 10 on banner ad spend of all companies advertising on the web.

So, if i were to move ahead using classmates.tv for anything resembling a social media site for scholastic "classmates" (like the filler i have uploaded at classmates.tv right now), United Online would ask for a cease-and-desist because I would be "passing off" (this is the legal term) on their classmates.com brand. Even though the word 'classmates' itself is generic, United Online has sole right to its use as a ccTLD for the school chums category at this point. But I have every right to make classmates.tv a how-to vlog for something like home improvement or personal investing (random examples).

I think that what I am realizing in this thread (thx everyone!) is that I should not sell this domain. I can probably build it into a successful site that would be worth more than what could sell it for and might provide revenue from advertisers if i can build enough traffic. Or I might place affiliate ads on the site... links to home depot and toolbarn.com and local contractors if i could do geotargeting, etc for the home improvement example.

The big upside i am hoping for is that if I do pay-per-click ads on google for an educational video site with the name 'classmates.tv', say "fun learn at home videos for kids and parent to watch" (another random example), I may get a high curiosity click-through-rate on google adwords because the classmates.com brand is so saturated on so many major U.S. facing websites that people will be like "what's this?!?, I'm going to click and see".

I will add social media to whatever I build at classmates.tv because that is well proven as the way to get exponential growth in traffic and traffic monetization potential for any website; United Online cant stop that. I will use some aspects of the youtube social media model.

I am a newbie here so i have what i guess is a newbie question: The fact that this is a non-premium ($50/year renewal with enom) - how much more does that make classmates.tv worth?