.us Finding end-users for your .US domains

[oldtimer]

Finding end-users for your .US domains

Have you had much success in selling .US domains directly to end-users, please share some of the methods that you have used that have given you good results.

When you approach end-user directly do you feel the need to have to educate them about the potentials of .US domains, how far do you go to convince them that they are better off getting a .US domain, please share a sample email that you have sent to end-users that has produced the best results (exclude the name of the end-user and the domain name).

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[oldtimer]

Lacking tact I see what you're saying, but at the same time a lot sounds like BS. I think you'd be doing yourself a favor if you traded that name I've been after. My plan with that name would have more of an impact, aka help YOU (and others) sell more of their .US names, than creating another organization / another marketing vehicle. It would be far less expensive as well.

A few people here know of this. That would be my contribution. From previous conversations though it appears we are on entirely different pages.

Amenzl, I have already made it clear to you that I am not interested in trading for any of my top domains, please don’t bring this subject up anymore as making such deals are not within any of my plans.

------

Now, I understand that the idea of having a .US Domain Owners Association might not be within everyone’s grasp, but I don’t think that its fair to categorize it as BS, it was you yourself that said earlier in this thread:

“I'm not sure if this will make much sense to anyone else, but I was thinking about the oil situation. People that are normally divided (Republicans/Democrats, Environmentalist/Industrialist, etc) have united. Someone else will have to articulate (fill in the blanks) as I cannot.”

Even though I have brought up the idea of creating a .US Domain Owners Association several times in the past, but every time it was forgotten soon afterwards since most domainers were just thinking of their own separate ways and did not show much interest in becoming united under an Association. I hope that there will be enough consensus among .US domainers to do something about it this time around.

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[Jaco]

A .us owners association is fine, but such an entity would face a few hurdles that I belive would be insurmountable; hurdles that would severely challenge the entire reason of such an organization existing in the first place.

Still, if you believe this is something that we should do, then articulate what goals such an organization would have and how we might go about achieving them. If Parts A and B are realistic and it just happens to be that you are seeing some effective strategy that I absolutely, positively cannot see, then I'm on board.

 

[oldtimer]

You are entitled to have your own opinion about what is best for .US in general, but when it comes to me and my domains, I don’t have any desire to engage in any further discussions with you, I am going to do what is in my best interest and nothing that you can say is going to sway my mind.

I like to get back to the original topic of this thread and l like to hear what other .US domainers have to say about promoting and marketing .US domains to end-users.

Regarding you quoting me in bold, I was actually referring to something more personal, like previous beefs with others (they know who they are), and finding something where we share a common interest.

As far as the name that shall not be named, whatever. As far as I'm concerned, this thread shows where your thinking is as far as asking for some kind of hand out from Neustar and suggesting some kind of price control. There is a very big difference between those of us with a couple 100 or less of .US names and those such as yourself. That's what is BS to me and sounds more manipulative than anything.

And as long as my crystal ball remains broken and you don't give me a price I will be asking about the name. I got a lot more to say about this, like how the dialog went in the appraisal thread, but I won't except to say you are missing an opportunity and/or what was said above while repeating what you have said for years.

Anyway, good luck with your club.

Adrian Menzl

 

[bmugford]

If you want to make .US end user sales here is the easiest way -

Find similar but worse terms that are developed sites already using .US. If they are already using a .US you don't have to pitch the extension itself just the keyword and SEO benefits.

Brad

 

[oldtimer]

A .us owners association is fine, but such an entity would face a few hurdles that I belive would be insurmountable; hurdles that would severely challenge the entire reason of such an organization existing in the first place.

Still, if you believe this is something that we should do, then articulate what goals such an organization would have and how we might go about achieving them. If Parts A and B are realistic and it just happens to be that you are seeing some effective strategy that I absolutely, positively cannot see, then I'm on board.

Jacko, as I mentioned before I don’t have all the answers and I can’t articulate beyond what I have said already, I brought the idea of having an Association forward so that we all can brainstorm together and find the best strategy for going forward. I don’t have a monopoly on this idea and I welcome all positive and constructive input from other .US domainers, all I know is that before we approach NeuStar with any new ideas its probably best for .US domainers to come to some kind of a consensus among themselves. Once we agree that having an Association is beneficial to us then we can work together to come up with the bylaws and agendas that serve our interest the best.

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[oldtimer]

If you want to make .US end user sales here is the easiest way -

Find similar but worse terms that are developed sites already using .US. If they are already using a .US you don't have to pitch the extension itself just the keyword and SEO benefits.

Brad

Brad that's a great idea, have you been able to sell a lot of domains this way and would you care to share a few of the sales pitches that you have used in your emails to end-users.

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[DU]

Once we agree that having an Association is beneficial to us then we can work together to come up with the bylaws and agendas that serve our interest the best.

Take domain church.us, or more specifically so as to not tie this thread to something you own with made up value.....


ADomainerHeldDomain.US
Say it's worth, I don't know $3K

If you create an association and setup bylaws and agendas it will take a lot of effort time and then will eventually die.

At the end, your domain will be worth...about....$3K

Best way to make US visible is to sell them to people who will put them to good use. Even this won't make a dent in any perception for YEARS to come. Even just putting them in a sig line and posting on a forum won't do anything to make that $3K be more than $3K.


:wave:

 

[bmugford]

In general I am not a big proactive seller of .US as I have long term faith in them, but I do flip some of the more average domains I own. Developed sites on worse terms in .US is a good starting point.

It is going to be much easier to sell a domain for a lower price range ($300 - $1000), but those sales add up fast.

It is just easier to sell an end user a better term than the extension itself.

A massive term like "Mortgage" is more of a challenge. While the term would be worth a lot to the right end user, finding that user is the challenge.

Brad

Brad that's a great idea, have you been able to sell a lot of domains this way and would care to share a few of the sales pitches that you have used in your emails to end-users.

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[Jaco]

Jacko, as I mentioned before I don’t have all the answers and I can’t articulate beyond what I have said already, I brought the idea of having an Association forward so that we all can brainstorm together and find the best strategy for going forward. I don’t have a monopoly on this idea and I welcome all positive and constructive input from other .US domainers, all I know is that before we approach NeuStar with any new ideas its probably best for .US domainers to come to some kind of a consensus among themselves. Once we agree that having an Association is beneficial to us then we can work together to come up with the bylaws and agendas that serve our interest the best.

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Lets start simple. Here's the result of 10 minutes of my time and $2.99 at godaddy.

We can start here.

www.usowners.us
(give it a minute for the forwarding to propagate- the domain is literally minutes old)

Congrats, you're the first and only moderator (I hate forum overload, I hate moderator overload so WYSIWYG).

If there's enough interest to sustain a BBS (which I seriously don't think there will be) then there might be enough interest to sustain an association or more formal owners group. Till then, lets crawl before we try to run.

Let me know what name you registered under and I'll upgrade your account. Do with it as you please, save for adding forums, or upgrading accounts (I'll do that, if needed). You're chief operator, I'm the uber-lazy chief executive who doesn't want to be bothered with anything, save for really, really important stuff.

The stated viability objective is 250 members by this time next year, an average of 5 posts per day by this time next year. If you can meet that, the forum stays. If not, it gets flushed. If you come close, we'll discuss it further...

Ready, set, go walk the walk.

 

[snoop]

In my opinion every .US domainer should play the role of a salesperson, everyone of us should take an active part in promoting this extension to end-users, not just by trying to sell a domain, but we should try to sell the whole concept of .US as America’s one and only ccTLD.

If people need to go out and try and convince others of the validitiy of the extension then that doesn't sound like a good situation to me. Generally either someone wants a name or they don't. If you need to actively market something to people who haven't actually expressed interest then you are very unlikely to get a high price for it, they know you are "desperate". Having to convince them of both the extension and then the name is likely to have a low success rate in my view. If a domainers strategy is based on that they may be better off with a regular day job in my view.

---------- Post added at 10:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 PM ----------

I brought the idea of having an Association forward so that we all can brainstorm together and find the best strategy for going forward. .....Once we agree that having an Association is beneficial to us then we can work together to come up with the bylaws and agendas that serve our interest the best.

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It sounds good but who is actually going to put money in to that? Any hands?

 

[oldtimer]

I don’t think so Jaco , if and when we decide to establish a .US Domain Owners Association it has to be with everyone’s prior vote and consent in regards to all matters involving such association.

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Lets start simple. Here's the result of 10 minutes of my time and $2.99 at godaddy.

We can start here.

www.usowners.us
(give it a minute for the forwarding to propagate- the domain is literally minutes old)

Congrats, you're the first and only moderator (I hate forum overload, I hate moderator overload so WYSIWYG).

If there's enough interest to sustain a BBS (which I seriously don't think there will be) then there might be enough interest to sustain an association or more formal owners group. Till then, lets crawl before we try to run.

Let me know what name you registered under and I'll upgrade your account. Do with it as you please, save for adding forums, or upgrading accounts (I'll do that, if needed). You're chief operator, I'm the uber-lazy chief executive who doesn't want to be bothered with anything, save for really, really important stuff.

The stated viability objective is 250 members by this time next year, an average of 5 posts per day by this time next year. If you can meet that, the forum stays. If not, it gets flushed. If you come close, we'll discuss it further...

Ready, set, go walk the walk.

 

[snoop]

Starting up a .us forum has been done before, with a fair amount of effort put into it. It isn't the same as starting up an industry association. That need to be carefully planned to avoid any potential conflicts (eg like one person controlling it). I still don't see what is is going to achieve or what motivation people would really have to put funds into it though.

 

[Jaco]

I don’t think so Jaco , if and when we decide to establish a .US Domain Owners Association it has to be with everyone’s prior vote and consent in regards to all matters involving such association.

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Who is "everyone"?
Everyone who owns a .us name?
Everyone in this thread?

Face it. If a .US specific domain owners association is to be viable (beyond just a handful of guys sitting around theorizing about stuff), then a pretty damn good barometer of that would be to first see if a dedicated .us forum can work.

If something is substantive enough to warrant it's own association, then surely it deserves it's own forum.

 

[snoop]

Who is "everyone"?
Everyone who owns a .us name?
Everyone in this thread?

Face it. If a .US specific domain owners association is to be viable (beyond just a handful of guys sitting around theorizing about stuff), then a pretty damn good barometer of that would be to first see if a dedicated .us forum can work.

If something is substantive enough to warrant it's own association, then surely it deserves it's own forum.

I would suggest having a look at usforum.us. Alot of work went into it and was run by perhaps the biggest .us domainer, still it didn't really catch on.

 

[oldtimer]

If people need to go out and try and convince others of the validitiy of the extension then that doesn't sound like a good situation to me. Generally either someone wants a name or they don't. If you need to actively market something to people who haven't actually expressed interest then you are very unlikely to get a high price for it, they know you are "desperate". Having to convince them of both the extension and then the name is likely to have a low success rate in my view. If a domainers strategy is based on that they may be better off with a regular day job in my view.

---------- Post added at 10:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 PM ----------



It sounds good but who is actually going to put money in to that? Any hands?

In general you are right, but we are talking about the official ccTLD for the United States that many Americans are not aware of, so in this case a little educating and salesmanship might be necessary to get this extension off the ground, the only question is whether we do that on our own as individual domainers or whether we decide to do it through some kind of an Association.

Once the .US domainers come to some kind of a consensus in regards to establishing an Association then we can ask NeuStar for technical and financial support to get things started.

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[DU]

If something is substantive enough to warrant it's own association, then surely it deserves it's own forum.

Or at a Trophy Case to show off your really nice domains until you sell them and move on.

Surely item 1 on the agenda will be ... who has the best domains and deserves the most prominent showcase. All domains in the throes of extensive $$ development, of course, will be exempted from such savage voyeurism.
:lala:

P.S. I will accept the tag of troll on this post.

 

[snoop]

In general you are right, but we are talking about the official ccTLD for the United States that many Americans are not aware of, so in this case a little educating and salesmanship might be necessary to get this extension off the ground, the only question is whether we do that on our own as individual domainers or whether we decide to do it through some kind of Association.

There is a "but" argument for just about every tld. At the end of the day domainers trying to promote an extension isn't going to do anything for it. Even the registry promoting it with a multi million dollar budget isn't likely to do much. An extension needs to grow through actual usage, not promotion. Yes I know...chicken and egg - look for the chickens.

Once the .US domainers come to some kind of consensus in regards to establishing an Association then we can ask NeuStar for technical and financial support to get things started.

Best of luck on both those points.

 

[DU]

Have you had much success in selling .US domains directly to end-users, please share some of the methods that you have used that have given you good results.
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You found one end user for Church.US on Namepros and you're not selling. Actually, it seems you won't even put up a BIN or respond to the request for a fair price.

If you could give reasons for why this end-user is deficient for your needs we could help you avoid those people in the future.

 

[Jaco]

I would suggest having a look at usforum.us. Alot of work went into it and was run by perhaps the biggest .us domainer, still it didn't really catch on.

Makes sense- although if it was run as a private forum, there's a large part of the problem. Those aren't exactly conducive to achieving 'user critical mass' for a number of reasons.

Still, I think the entire idea of an "owners association" is grandiose, impractical and ill-conceived.

I believe the concept of wireframing can apply as a general business process; in this case, a very simple, very straightforward, very relevant and very applicable test to see if a .us owners association would be viable is to first see if the niche can support it's own open forum. If it cannot, then a bona-fide association with bylaws and officers isn't remotely feasible.

 

[oldtimer]

NeuStar welfare system...Bad idea. You're not getting anything. You're not getting any lasting support. Typical bureaucratic BS thinking. You are off the team regardless of what you own. You have failed to see a bigger picture.

I'll add that you can't even "sacrifice" one of your names to support any of your own goals. Why should anyone take your seriously? Form an organization, committee, group, association...on WHOSE DIME.

Lets leave what I own out of this discussion, do you have any constructive ideas that you can contribute to this thread without bashing others.

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[DU]

Lets leave what I own out of this discussion, do you have any constructive ideas that you can contribute to this thread without bashing others.

Perhaps a new sig line would help keep what you own out of the discussion. You've sent mixed messages about what you're doing/wanting.


So far I have:
Holding my good .us names.
Considering selling them on Sedo.
Listing them on Sedo.
Considering professional development

Now:
Want to setup a .US special interest group.
Won't start with a forum (the smallest special interest group going)

What am I missing?

Are you looking for someone to do something? The general concensus is that the idea is non-feasible and a non-started; however, a small forum would provide a better view to support that notion... This you don't want any part of despite it being setup by Jaco and advice provided by Snoop.

I'll try and sell your domains for you if you give me your RESERVES and a 25% commission.

 

[oldtimer]

I don't think so. I am a contributor. I share. I give back to my community. You are grasping at straws in my opinion. Wake up and receive or keep doing what you are doing and not contribute to your own thread by sharing some of your own methods of success which have yet to be determined.

Well when you have something constructive to say I will pay attention, but until then I really can’t waste my time playing games here.

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[Jaco]

What is all this hostility between you and him?
Is it because he won't sell you Church.us? Make him a cash offer and if he declines it, move on...

You could've bought jesus-christ.us out of the GD trash bin during the landrush drop; if anyone can forgive a hyphen, it's Jesus... If not that, JesusHChrist.us is still available to hand reg.

When I was a kid, "church" alone wasn't enough to inspire me to go, however, the phrase "If You Don't Get Your Ass Up Right Now So We Can Go To Church, You're Getting The Belt" was regularly heard, and is available in .com.

 

[oldtimer]

What is all this hostility between you and him?

The Hostility seems to be coming only from his side, I have already indicated to him that he is welcomed to participate in this thread if he has anything constructive to contribute about finding end-users and promoting the .US namespace in general, but I have asked him repeatedly to leave me and my domains out of the discussion as I have no desire to engage in making any deals with him. I did not respond to his email or PM because he came across as being somewhat forceful in trying to get me to trade one of my top domains for a bunch of his, although when he brought up the subject of trading domains again in this and my recent appraisal thread I made it very clear to him that I was not interested in making any such deals. I am entitled to employ my own strategy when it comes to my domains and I don’t own anyone here any explanation as to how I want to promote, use, or sell any of my domains, currently I am exploring the end-user market for some of my top domains and that is why I have listed them on Sedo, I am not going to set a BIN for these domains at the present time, if and when I get a serious offer through Sedo I will probably send the domains to auction, if I don’t get offers that are acceptable to me at the present time I am going to hold on to my domains until the market for .US domains becomes more mature. I reserve all rights when it comes to my domains including but not limited to developing any and all of them myself. This is the last time that I am going to talk about this so lets move on to discussing the original subject of this thread.

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[snoop]

Makes sense- although if it was run as a private forum, there's a large part of the problem. Those aren't exactly conducive to achieving 'user critical mass' for a number of reasons.

It was originally public, for quite a few years.