Creating Wealth from A Sub Domain

[optiwizer]

Our site has taken some critical comments on the boards about using a subdomain in the branding.

Our thought logic was to be creative with a 4 letter domain using the de.lirio.us and the del.icoi.us concept. Buy a domain for $10 and build value around it, as opposed to paying $50k for the 7 letter version.

Could use some feedback from domain name experts out there.

 

[Sam]

Hard to brand, easily prone to typos. I do not recommend.

 

[Spade]

Using sub domains is a tough way to brand, especially if your using a "hack" method, like del.icoi.us. Personally, I would only use a hack as a last option alternative. It might've also been easier if you had used a different hack, like:

Start.up.biz - people who are trying to access your site, might forget where the <.> is, and would make for a tough user experience if they cant find your site again from memory.

Justin

 

[shockie]

"building value" can easily rack up costs. marketing, advertising, branding fees, etc.

 

[RegFee]

del.icoi.us was able to capitalize on the "domain hack" concept because they were really one of the first to pour a ton of money into building a site that would be linked to by a ton of people. I imagine a majority of their traffic comes from links, and then people bookmark their site and they don't have to worry as much about typos. Notice, however, what happens when you type "Delicious.com". I don't know the story behind that, but if the purchase of delicious.com was made after del.icio.us had already become popular, the buyers most likely had to pay much much more than they would have had they just bought the generic ahead of time.

Many of the "top" domain bloggers have expressed the value of starting a company with a generic, rather than relying on getting the generic later on. If you have to spend $1.00 a click on adwords to get traffic, then 1000 visitors will cost you $1000. If a generic is getting 1000 hits a day, then it's worth $1000/day for you. How long would you be willing to operate paying for advertising that you could essentially get for free?

Sorry for the kind of random thoughts there, if you just do a few forum searches for things like "generic" and "domain hacks" you'll see some good discussions.

Good luck no matter which route you choose!

 

[brianlai]

The place of the dot in your domain is really awful

I think Start.up.biz is the most memorable name that you can get in a domain hack, using like sta.rtup.biz makes confusion

if you make a domain hack there is a lot of option in one word, like beginne.rs starte.rs exchange.rs is a very good option , there is still a lot available on the web that you can pick. No need a relative ugly domain hack right now :wave:

del.icio.us also picks delicio.us to make people easier enter their site :bah:

 

[Kate]

Hard to brand, easily prone to typos. I do not recommend.

del.icoi.us was able to capitalize on the "domain hack" concept because they were really one of the first to pour a ton of money into building a site that would be linked to by a ton of people...

So true.

IMHO not a good strategy to build a business on a domain hack, especially if you are ambitious. Of course there are exceptions but in the long run it will cost you a lot of money on branding (think how hard it will be to 'instil' your brand).
Rest assured that even the well-known hacks like flickr are still sending free traffic to flicker etc...

delicio.us whatever is an example of an awful name as I can't really remember where to put the dots. On the other hand if you had a ONE dot only domain hack then it would be more viable.

Last but not least... does that look professional ? :gl:

IMO if you want to be creative reconsider your plans and find a good brandable and stick to .com preferably.

PS: if you like the .biz extension have you considered buying startup.biz ? :talk:
It does not seem to be in use really I don't like .biz but I have to say the keyword fits perfectly here :tu:

 

[-REECE-]

Have to agree. Have you considered approaching the owner of Startup.biz? Your site is absolutely beautiful by the way -- well done

del.icoi.us was able to capitalize on the "domain hack" concept because they were really one of the first to pour a ton of money into building a site that would be linked to by a ton of people. I imagine a majority of their traffic comes from links, and then people bookmark their site and they don't have to worry as much about typos. Notice, however, what happens when you type "Delicious.com". I don't know the story behind that, but if the purchase of delicious.com was made after del.icio.us had already become popular, the buyers most likely had to pay much much more than they would have had they just bought the generic ahead of time.

Many of the "top" domain bloggers have expressed the value of starting a company with a generic, rather than relying on getting the generic later on. If you have to spend $1.00 a click on adwords to get traffic, then 1000 visitors will cost you $1000. If a generic is getting 1000 hits a day, then it's worth $1000/day for you. How long would you be willing to operate paying for advertising that you could essentially get for free?

Sorry for the kind of random thoughts there, if you just do a few forum searches for things like "generic" and "domain hacks" you'll see some good discussions.

Good luck no matter which route you choose!

 

[deleted984054565403]

Hard to brand, easily prone to typos. I do not recommend.

To capitalize on that, two of five people have spelled "del.icio.us" correctly so far in this thread.

 

[gazzip]

To capitalize on that, two of five people have spelled "del.icio.us" correctly so far in this thread.

LOL, not surprising is it, I would stay away from hacks and use tried and tested methods, get a Brandable or Generic !

Brandables also allow you to expand to other areas if needed at a later date, generics are great if they are targeted to something specific.


JMO



.

 

[brianlai]

To capitalize on that, two of five people have spelled "del.icio.us" correctly so far in this thread.

It is the same as you type delicious.com :hehe:

 

[Kate]

In short there are too many weaknesses in the name:

1. 2-dot domain hack
2. not memorable
3. .biz extension

Imagine if you had to spell it on the radio.

The issue is similar for domains with multiple keywords/hyphens - you have to depend on SEO and backlinks because the domains are not prone to type-in.

One test you can do it show the name to relatives/random people.
If people can't remember the name 5 minutes after seeing it it's a good bet it's not advertising-grade.

 

[optiwizer]

what is the best way to approach the owner of startup.biz?

when i type it in it shows asian characters.

 

[Spade]

Looks like you may need to learn Korean and make a long distance phone call to Seoul. You can always try email though. Odds are, you may not get a response, or you may have to fork over some serious change.

 

[chenzen]

The owner could be from Afghanistan. Or someone stole the domain or the the domain owner is a scammer. Seoul is not supposed to be in Afghanistan

Domain Name: STARTUP.BIZ
Domain ID: D2680739-BIZ
Sponsoring Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC. D/B/A CHINA-CHANNEL.COM
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 82
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registrant ID: RDNA-0001308055
Registrant Name: Postel Services, Inc
Registrant Address1: Yoksam 702-10, AnamTower 2018
Registrant City: Seoul, Kangnam-gu
Registrant State/Province: Seoul
Registrant Postal Code: 135080
Registrant Country: Afghanistan
Registrant Country Code: AF

Google translation of Startup.biz site http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://startup.biz/&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=ko&tl=en

 

[soggyindo]

nice site! i agree, i'd like to use your site, but it's hard to get the name to stick in your head.

there's lots of knowledge here about how to do hacks successfully. placing dots at the start of words - or at worst syllables - is just one point i've heard raised here. but i'm sure we'll hear more on the subject in this thread

 

[DnEbook]

I have never developed a site , so i can only offer opinions , i think hacks are a sleeping giant ? although i dont like the dot in your one , lets hope you get the best name for your site , but i think well done for going outside the circle , if you printed your hack name on a t-shirt and gave a few away ...... how many people would then know about your site ????? i have worldne.ws , so i like hacks , i also have realestater.tv I imagine that to be like american.realestater.tv or asian.realestater.tv and so on ....... even down to city nyc.realestater.tv , anything is possible !!!!!

 

[RegFee]

Hard to brand, easily prone to typos. I do not recommend.

To capitalize on that, two of five people have spelled "del.icio.us" correctly so far in this thread.

DOH!

 

[Aceredbaron]

Nice site. As traffic picks up a subdomain shouldn't be a worry generally speaking. But the dot placement here is quite tricky and not easily typed like say start.up.biz or even
star.tup.biz

Would look out for other dot com domains and and redirect traffic. IMHO.

 

[lzy]

Wow, nice site! What CMS is the site on? :o

I'd try getting startup.biz or startupbiz.com if I were you. :imho: