question "End User" Perceptions

[ThatNameGuy]

BrandPro - invalid - NamePro??? What name resonates most with end users? "Brand", "Domain" or "Name"? I know from my experience many business people don't really know what a domain is, however they know what a brand, and a name are.

I believe this is why most domains, 98 of 100 are hoarded and stay on the shelf. Any way you cut it, that's deplorable

Regardless of the definition of "Brand", and the belief an "end user" relates to it more than "Domain", don't you think a marketplace for domain names would best be identified using the term "Brand" like; BrandableBrands.com

Any other thoughts, views or opinions? Thanks

 

[ThatNameGuy]

The word "Brand" is probably not the right term, as this word is only used in the english language.
The word "Marketing" is used in much more languages.

Not sure I understand your comment? We're talking "Brand" here to attract potential buyers of domains. When you go to BrandBucket.com or BrandPa.com you're essentially there to buy domains. Brand and "Marketing" are two completely different things?

 

[Trinicon Industries]

@MSN-Domains

Nice collection of Bulloney Names!

Totally Reminded me of My Bolgna by weird all.

Coincidentally mybologna.com is only 50 bucks. Might wanna add it to you collection.

 

[branding]

Funny.....think they need to sort their own branding out...

"Join us, branding is a the best way to success!"

Hahaha, true that.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Thanks for elaborating It's a lot like my own chain of though when doing handregs actually.

I've not been doing many handregs lately... for some reason. They've always brought me decent sales so should dedicated some time every day again to catch some of those rough diamonds myself.

I like the excitement of finding those. It's way more satisfactory than the usual backorder or auctions

Dirk...as a professional narcissist I don't sleep much, and I just love the hand reg game. I certainly didn't need any more names with either "Brand(s)" or "Domain(s)", but sometimes you can't help yourself....these two names just popped out from nowhere so I reg'd them;

PopsBrands.com
and
PopsDomains.com

I say nowhere, but I'm not so sure about that After registering these two domains and seeing one had been registered before and the other had not, I started looking to see what more "Pops" domain names might be available. Not so surprising I checked for the name PopsDiner.com and discovered it was not only taken, but someone was asking $29,999 for it at GD. Hmmm...i thought?
I then remember eating at a Pops Diner a couple of years ago, so when I check it out, they're an actual chain of restaurants with a pretty good reputation. Doing a little more research, i see where they don't even own their own domain, rather PopsDinerCo.com.....go figure? I know it's hard to follow a narcissists logic, but I think Pops Brands and Pops Domains may have evolved from my having eaten at Pops Diner years ago?

The only thing I can say is these two domains sure beat the hell out of BrandBucket and BrandPa. I wonder if they might want to re-brand

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Thinking of Brands. I have registered a couple i value at $100k+

GotBulloney.com
GetBulloney.com
MyBulloney.com
Bullonify.com
BrandsByBulloney.com
reBulloney.com
BulloneyCBD.com

@ThatNameGuy Would you like to broker these?

Say...are you as funny as you look You're a pretty creative guy

@MSN-Domains

Nice collection of Bulloney Names!

Totally Reminded me of My Bolgna by weird all.

Coincidentally mybologna.com is only 50 bucks. Might wanna add it to you collection.

You know I'm the original Bulloney who reg'd the name in 2017, but someone else owns it now. I don't know why someone would pick the name up after I dropped it,but maybe they were thinking they might take a ride on my coattails. You all really don't know how famous you made me, just ask Rob at Epik. I guess I should have purchased BulloneyBrands.com and BulloneyDomains.com today instead of PopsBrands.com and PopsDomains.com....what was I thinking

Thanks for all the attention you pay me....it's really appreciated

 

[ThatNameGuy]

but trying to shoehorn it into something it’s not is a mistake.

And building some sort of visual presentation for each domain stating what the domain could be used for could backfire if the usage presented is narrow in scope. Maybe you offer images to illustrate what a great domain this would be to sell washing machines when the potential end user wanted the name for a tech start up, and now you’ve turned him off.

These “visual aids” are more needed for garbage brandables that wouldn’t sell otherwise versus top exact match domains that for the most part speak and stand on their own.

And by the way That Name Guy / Bulloney, you’ve been musing at NP about the need for “visual aids” to help domain sales for years now it seems, and yet I don’t think you even have basic For Sale landing pages with a Contact Us form for your domains let alone any of the complicated build outs you’ve been talking about.

Well it hasn't been years XYNames, but you're right in that I haven't developed or outsourced my domains YET for showcasing to the public. I know now I'm pretty good at the name side of this business...all I need is a technical partner who can compliment the strengths I bring to the table. Unfortunately Mr/Ms right hasn't showed up yet, but I have the staying power to wait 'til it happens.

I'd be willing to give away names like ArkBrands.com and/or PopsBrands and PopsDomains to a startup or anyone interested in partnering with a humble narcissist like me. I can afford to be patient 'tll the right partner comes around. In the mean time, I have plenty to keep me busy developing 9Time™, re-branding Hampton Roads and keeping up appearances

 

[branding]

The only thing I can say is these two domains sure beat the hell out of BrandBucket and BrandPa. I wonder if they might want to re-brand

All things aside, you're serious about that?

I like 'pops brands' (not necessarily the domain). They convey an authentic message.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

All things aside, you're serious about that?

I like 'pops brands' (not necessarily the domain). They convey an authentic message.

Thank you...i only purchased PopsDomains in order to "add value" to PopsBrands. I see it adding value in a few ways, and since it was just hand reg'd for $8.50, i thought why not?

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Out of curiosity (being honest here) what kind of technical partner are you looking for? There are plenty of affordable devs available these days.

Being honest as well, i would be looking at "partnering" in some capacity with a developer type who sees value in my brands/domains, and value in me personally. I've been close a couple of times, but neither time have we consummated our relationship Also, i don't have the excess $$$ to invest in a developer, but I'm happy to share the proceeds that come out of such a relationship. Does this make sense?

Thanks

 

[branding]

Thank you...i only purchased PopsDomains in order to "add value" to PopsBrands. I see it adding value in a few ways, and since it was just hand reg'd for $8.50, i thought why not?

Yeah why not. Since you can obviously spare the cash. Good for you.

I was actually referring to you stating these names are better than brandbucket/brandpa. Maybe I should've been more clear but the pops names come nowhere near that.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

my EYESS!!!

Just not sure what you meant by "my EYESS!!!" when looking at Brandonomics website? Personally I thought the site was rather crappy, but what do I know, I reg'd Brandenomics.com

 

[lock]

I deleted my brand keyword domains years ago missed out poor speculation had lost faith in some ideas.
I have FreeRebrand
PhantomBranding ( white label products )

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I deleted my brand keyword domains years ago missed out poor speculation had lost faith in some ideas.
I have FreeRebrand
PhantomBranding ( white label products )

Thanks for sharing....i have about a dozen domains with the keyword "brand", two of which I intend to develop for "outbound" marketing/sales of domains to the millions of businesses worldwide. And since I bought these domains from Go Daddy, I intend to use their name strategically in my marketing to add to my credibility. Make sense?

BrandWik.com

and

RebrandPros.com

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Rich, if you stopped registering names for a week or two, I think you'd probably save enough money to just pay someone to do the administrative work of listing your names for sale on a few marketplaces.

Honestly Joe...i don't know why you care so much You needn't worry about me...there's a techie/developer type with experience just waiting for an opportunity like I have to offer. I'm looking for someone to help me turn this industry on it's head

 

[ThatNameGuy]

This post was timely. I just registered OnlineBusinessBrands.com yesterday for future use and I couldn't agree with you more. Presenting domains as "brands" seems to be an easier way for end users to relate as many of them won't see the inherent value of a domain name as is.

The approach I take is to add value to the domain name ie. logo + mockup + social accounts then present to end users the "brand" for sale. Of course the added time it takes to do this for each domain has to make sense and the ROI needs to be there.

But in my experience it's an easier way to increase the value perception of your domains for sale. I'm currently working on a system to streamline these processes, including outreach so hopefully I can share more in the near future.

On the chance we're both right, your post inspired me to reg;

BrandOriginator.com - with GD valuing the keyword "originator" at $1,888, this domain may be a real sleeper? As a domain savant of sorts, I've been feeling pretty brandish lately even though I'm known as a DomainSavant.com in some circles

Thanks for contributing my friend

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I've found that the term "internet domain name" always translates quickest when talking about domains with normal folk. Saying it this way requires much less explanation in most cases. Also, I see many using the term "Brand" but what they are trying to sell is just a domain name and not a brand. A brand needs to have at least a logo to go with it and a real pre-made brand should come with even more, as it really is the entire business identity as a whole.

I think I've mentioned this before, but my license plates read "Name Guy". With vanity tags in Virginia being 7 letters or less, I found "Name Guy" is descriptive enough to attract attention. When asked, "what is "Name Guy"...I say, "I name businesses." Most people I know think a domain is a home, land or property. Just look up the definition for "domain" and you'll see why that is.

This said, I find the keyword "brand" combined with "name" as in, "BrandName" or "NameBrand" to be as accurate a description as anything.

Names like Sedo, Uniregistry, Efty, Afternic, and even Epik say/mean absolutely NOTHING. Whereas names like RealtorSue, PlumberBob and TeacherJane are spot on!

Thanks for chiming in Greg

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Agree. In most cases the value proposition is not there. When I was advising my daughter re her book site she, I think correctly, decided she wanted .ca and she wanted her name as site.

Even there, though, I think that the argument of the worth of a better domain name is sometimes there. Like many even tiny businesses advertise with our paper at high $$ to mid $$$ rates depending on size and colour of ad and other factors. Really if having a great name people would remember easily and correctly is say $900, and also makes people view your business with more respect, that is something like $4 per month ongoing expense, a small part of what they are paying for advertising monthly in just a single publication.

I think some of the general ideas of what makes a name good can help even those who end up hand registering (things like how it will look visually, radio test, possible misinterpretation, etc.). I think it is always good to help people make good decisions even when there is no payoff. But agree most local businesses or side-gigs will not, and should not, buy even at $$$.

I think though there is right now a big backlash against big companies owning our data and being able to make decisions in a heartbeat that can bring things down. That may represent an opportunity for domain investors. Those people who opted for Facebook pages, Wix sites without a domain name, other shared sites, etc. could with the right value proposition think about, now that they are a little successful, maybe look at what they could get for low to mid $$$, especially if it was on a payment plan.

Websites for social media influencers (seems like an oxymoron ) may be a good area for similar reasons. Yes, most will probably go with their name, but some may go with a cute phrase that defines their personal brand. Most influencers are young. I really think we need to get the idea of domain names part of educational curricula, although that is even more distinct from domain sales, I know the topic most on NamePros care about and rightly so.

If one could divert 1% of new Wix users to purchase a domain name it would represent almost 4000 domain sales per week.

Bob

Bob...you're actually making my point why I strongly believe the sell through rate of domains is a deplorable 1-2% annually. Regardless, that leaves 98% of domains that remain on the shelf that according to Verisign are "hoarded"....by domainers everywhere. Let me share with you my personal experience why so few "end users" know or ever hear anything about this industry. I was introduced to this industry about 30 months ago now, and despite the fact I'd started, operated and yes NAMED dozens of businesses prior to that, I was absolutely amazed when I learned of the domain industry in 2017. Oh, I had bought domains before for my businesses and actually had a few of my names trademarked, but I had no idea there are tens of thousands around the world who consider themselves domainers Then just a little over a year ago I was having lunch with the former city manager of VirginiaBeach, Jim Spore who was appointed to head up ReInventHR.org, an organization formed to Rebrand Hampton Roads. As an FYI, Virginia Beach just one of the cities that makes up Hampton Roads has a population of 500K, and Hampton Roads that consists of 7 cities has a population of 1.7M. Now here's the kicker, when I told Jim at lunch I was headed to Vegas to Namescon where there would be over 1,200 people from around the world who would be attending the convention, Jim, sort of shocked says to me, "do you mean there are that many people involved in the name business from around the world?" Then he says, "how is it I didn't know you were in this industry before today?" To which my answer was, Jim, I just learned about it myself. Bob, I wasn't born yesterday, and the FACT this industry has been operating behind the main stream business world speaks volumes as to why 98% of domains are "hoarded" or sitting on the shelf. This is where I see opportunity that few "old timers" in this industry see, or don't want to see

I find it real strange the likes of Sedo, Uniregistry, Afternic, Flippa, SquadHelp....the biggest "hoarders" of them all don't come out and defend themselves. My intention is to blow their cover, and while Rob Monster of Epik has been begging me to move my business from Go Daddy to Epik to save a whopping $1.00 a reg, I would be crazy to, if the name "Go Daddy" will be a big part of my "outbound" strategy. That's all Bob, but I'll share a story with you later about my latest idea for HoBo Brands that puts more lipstick on this pig Thanks

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I seem to recall the general press was quite active in reporting 'High dollar' domain sales in the late 90's It probably was due to a 'No interest in that stuff' feedback at the time that it doesn't stir the general populations or press interest 20 years later. And I agree If today even the business publications aren't interested in this, why think there is a way forward in so called 'educating' - I personally love talking about about advances in Science and physics - Which makes me the biggest party-pooper in town if I don't keep a lid on it. Same with domain names. those that think that businesses need educating - really don't understand the priorities of running a business

"those that think that businesses need educating - really don't understand the priorities of running a business" Bailey...you seem to forget, you're talking to a real narcissist here who has run, operated and NAMED more businesses that you've worked for in your entire life. It's not just the business owner who needs to be educated, but the managers, the employees and everyone involved in business for they are the potential owners of the next generation of businesses. I also gave the example of educating graduate students who are headed to jobs in engineering, architecture, real estate, hospitality and entertainment, culinary and even healthcare. This guy who posts here on NP refers to himself as the "common sense domainer" well.......I'm the "common sense businessman", who knows a little bit about business too Are we having fun yet Bailey

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Rich, your anecdotes are always interesting, but I'm still not clear on what concrete actions you're planning to take to improve sell-through rates for the whole industry.

My anecdotes are always true too despite the narcissism claims coming from some of the members. btw Joe...do you believe I'm a narcissist too like your friends. Now to get back to your question, I've already addressed the type of actions I plan to take with regards to sell through rates. Maybe you should go back to some of my previous posts addressing your question.

Now I have a few for you. You and I couldn't disagree more about the domain industry and it's exposure to "end users" and the general public. I think you heard from Bob and others here that very few people know about this industry with the exception of people you seem to know. I'm real curious, do you hang out with just domainers? How would you identify your friends and peers such that they know about the domain industry? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Moving on Joe...what do you know about Rebranding? Do you know or understand anything about that market like, how large it is, how many businesses rebrand each year, how you might tap into a piece of that market? Do you know anyone who has actually rebranded their business? Have you ever rebranded a business yourself? If so, tell us about it.

That's all for now, it's time you shared some of your knowledge in order that we all improve our "outbound" marketing skills. Thanks in advance for your cooperation

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I'm not sure what friends you're referring to, Rich. I consider everyone on the forum to be my peer.

I honestly don't know you well enough to have an opinion. Does it matter to you?

Okay, I went back and read through your posts. Here are all the statements I found that could be interpreted as concrete plans for action:

So I see what you're getting at, but the above only addresses the "what" of your plans, and not the "how". I'm curious to hear about how you're going to:​

• educate the public​
• conduct successful outbound marketing​
• use the GoDaddy name to improve sales​

No, I'm the only person I know who invests in domain names. I do have a few friends who are in IT or run online businesses, but mostly the people I talk with daily work regular office jobs and are your typical internet user.

You misunderstood what I said. Friends I've talked to know what a domain name is; they do not know about the domain name industry.

No, I know nothing about that market except for what I have read. No personal experience with it whatsoever. I'm here to learn. That's why I'm hoping you can provide us with more detail about your plans.

Sure! I'm always happy to help. I've shared my own advice in some of your other threads, which you're welcome to go back and read. And if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to address them.

I've had some moderate success at conducting outbound. My experience has been that the names that sell best are those of exact match products and services like the following (in .com):

• ParkingLotDesign
• CustomBarnDoors
• VisualInterpreter(s)
• ScarlessBreastReduction
• BicyclePacking
• OrnamentStorage

Total sales of these amounted to $9,785, and total purchase cost was $90, so it can definitely be lucrative. But it's also very time-consuming. I usually send out at least a dozen personalized emails per name (some members here send way way more).

I would say that my success ratio has been maybe 1 name sold out of every 5 or 6. And most of those names are either hand registered or bought at GD closeouts. So technically, the real cost of making the above sales was more like $630 plus hours and hours of emailing.

Additionally, it's very important to pick the right kinds of names. Hundreds (or more) of dollars can easily be wasted on names that seem like viable outbound options, but are difficult to find buyers for. I have lots of tips I could share about that as well, but I don't want to ramble on too much!

Anyway, I'm starting to move away from the outbound model, because with a full-time job and a couple active kids, time is a bit of a premium. I'm trying to focus on acquiring better quality names that "sell themselves" so to speak. The trick here is acquiring them at good prices (I'm generally aiming in the $100 to $1,000 cost range, depending on quality). It takes a lot of work and research, but over time my goal is to build a modestly sized portfolio of names that can be sold in the mid $X,XXX to mid-high $XX,XXX range. I scale slowly, but like you I enjoy hunting for (and catching) good names.

Joe....obviously we're headed in two different directions. I feel like the pioneer who just know's there's gold in them there hills The thing I do know is the opportunity exists to increase domain sales via targeted "outbound" strategies. Verisign told us last year it exists, and that's all the confirmation I need to keep moving toward the goal Thanks and Good Luck!

 

[wwwweb]

Joe....obviously we're headed in two different directions. I feel like the pioneer who just know's there's gold in them there hills The thing I do know is the opportunity exists to increase domain sales via targeted "outbound" strategies. Verisign told us last year it exists, and that's all the confirmation I need to keep moving toward the goal Thanks and Good Luck!

Pioneers get slaughtered, and the settlers prosper.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Rich, I feel like you're brushing me off after I took the time to provide detailed answers to all your questions. I was hoping for a give and take here...

I get the big picture of what you're saying. I like it. I'm on board. I would love to increase the public's general awareness and acceptance of domain name value if it means we all get to sell more! That would be amazing. So how do we do it? Let's talk details. What's your plan?

No Joe...you said; "Anyway, I'm starting to move away from the outbound model" You really needn't waste anymore time with me....you do your thing Joe and I'll do mine....Have a nice life!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Could you please quote the part that of the blog post you are referring to? To me it said that the aftermarket added nothing essentially and they were promoting the idea that end users should be registering direct. I don''t see that they were any fonder of outbound to inbound. But maybe I overlooked something so just asking if you could please post the segment where you think they said that. Thanks.
Bob

Bob...i read "opportunity" into this. Sorry if you don't.

https://blog.verisign.com/domain-na...om-price-caps-were-passed-along-to-consumers/

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Did you possibly miss seeing this superb argument from @Zak Muscovitch, legal representative for ICA. I think he does a superb job and would ask you to please give the article a read, even though it is long.

For reference, this site will show you the membership of ICA - many of the businesses you note are members.

Did you miss attending the panel session on the proposed .com increases and related issues around the Verisign contract at NamesCon? Many points were well expressed. I do realize it was unfortunately scheduled in parallel with a very popular other session and many did not attend.

I think that there was indeed, on multiple fronts, a logical and sound counter-argument to the Verisign bog post made. The fact that they never followed up with the promised second posting, and that responsibility for the blog changed shortly thereafter, is I believe partly due to the fact that they recognized that the post had gone too far.

Bob

Actually Bob...the blog post by Verisign only confirmed what I knew all along.

1. Domains are being "hoarded", evidenced by 98% of second market domains don't see the light of day.
2. "End User" consumers/businesses haven't a clue this treasure chest of domains exists

I think we confirmed that very few businesses or consumers know about the domain industry. That's sort of like you inventing Tesla, and only you and your engineer buddies know about it. Do you understand the analogy?

Bob...i know I'm known for "crappy" domains, but the reason I started this thread was to bring attention to the need to break up the hoard. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the fact that 98% of domains stay in the barn each year is deplorable, and I intend to do my best to do something about it.

Here is a domain I hand reg'd this am...ever hear of a bare bones budget? Where I come from businesses and consumers alike work on bare bones budgets regularly. Well guess what Bob, for $8.50 I'm the proud owner of BareBonesBudget.com. Sure it's 15 letters and three words, but what accounting firms or accountants of which there are thousands would like to own a "catchy" domain like this. The fact that it's been reg'd for 7 of the last 13 years and not sold speaks volumes to me Bob.....99 and 9/10 of the accountants the world don't know it exists

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Rich, these exchanges are far from a waste of time. They benefit all members whether they're actively engaged in outbound marketing or not; but the benefit only arises from constructive discussions and clear explanations of ideas and experiences.

I do still conduct outbound marketing at times, and I enjoy discussing its merits. There are a host of challenges that come with doing it well (many of which I myself have yet to learn), and newer members who are considering using outbound strategies can benefit from these kinds of details.

"Rich, these exchanges are far from a waste of time"???? For crying out loud Joe, I NEVER SAID they were. Am I speaking Chinese? Mandarin? Russian?