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advice How Domaining Has Changed – Michael Castello

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Michael: When I started in 1994 the industry was non-existent. Most people believed the internet was a fad. There were some that believed the internet was going to be a virtual place for everyone to dwell in. With that thought, there had to be some insight into future technologies that were not available at the time. 23 years later, virtual reality has advanced along with the broadband that would be needed to deliver it. We now have far greater access to mechanical and electrical devices that are cost effective. With a greater public need, comes innovation and the money and investment needed to make those realities for the masses available.
I feel there is no way around the fact that when you produce a lot of something, it devalues it. For the new gTLDs to produce a similar phenomenon as .com, ICANN would have to allow for every word to become an extension, and further, each of those extensions would have to be developed and advertised to the tune of trillions of dollars. Most people, when they hear or see the .com extension, understand that its definition means “on the internet”. That is truly revolutionary and linguistic in its global banding and marketing. Any method that tries to reteach the masses that .com is something else, and a new (dot)something is better, is just not going to work and will be very confusing. The money, development and infrastructure of that logic, is just not there, nor it will be.
I still believe that today. Building a website that you enjoy with a source of income is still attainable. Create unique content daily, and offer what others can’t. That usually entails putting your time and energy into creating something of value. Your time, thought and energy are valuable and you have an endless amount of it. Convert it into something that is yours, and control your destiny...
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
At one of the conferences, I had a gentleman come to me as asked me for domain advice. He had paid $40k on the new extensions and his renewals were coming up. He couldn’t afford another $40k. He had not sold one domain name. He was in his 70s and all I could think of is why he was spending so much so late in life. Much of the business is not only investing in quality but also in being able to afford to hold on for many years. I didn’t like having to give him the advice I did. It was painful but was also a lesson-learned on the reality of risk in this business.
 
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Here was my comment on that article/interview:
Excellent article/interview! My only concern with it, is that advising new investors to mortgage their homes to buy a premium one word .com before they truly understand what a premium is, might be too risky for them. Most new investors don’t know what a premium is and may fall prey to a sales listing including the word “Premium” for something like “Amassable.com”. Granted, this domain could easily be worth 4 digits today (I sold it in 2011 for $15 on NamePros), It’s not a $100,000+ resale investment to mortgage a house on. Be safe out there folks!
 
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Eric, that was an advice he gave back in 20006 when things were different...
 
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Eric, that was an advice he gave back in 20006 when things were different...
That's worse since the example I gave would have been worth even less then.
 
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That's even worse since the example I gave would have been worth even less then.

If I understand correctly , this is what you are referring to :

Michael: In 2006, I wrote this.

“The domain name market is still a gold mine! Get a second mortgage, sell the family jewelry! If you can find a premium name that relates to your business for less than $100,000, buy it! With an hour’s work a day you could have an imprint on that market in two years. Be the master of your own universe.”

Michael Castello refers to a premium 1-worder of commercial value, not just any 1-worder. Although I can see your point ;)
 
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If I understand correctly , this is what you are referring to :

Michael: In 2006, I wrote this.

“The domain name market is still a gold mine! Get a second mortgage, sell the family jewelry! If you can find a premium name that relates to your business for less than $100,000, buy it! With an hour’s work a day you could have an imprint on that market in two years. Be the master of your own universe.”

Michael Castello refers to a premium 1-worder of commercial value, not just any 1-worder. Although I can see your point ;)
That quote does not easily translate to a new investor unfamiliar with such investments. You can get an idea of new investor commercial related investments in the appraisal forum. Without instructions, a new mortgage (in 2006) could result in a foreclosure due to a bad investment.
 
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"...all I could think of is why he was spending so much so late in life."

Couldn't be all these "get rich by domaining" courses floating around, could it?
 
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Michael: When I started in 1994 the industry was non-existent. Most people believed the internet was a fad. There were some that believed the internet was going to be a virtual place for everyone to dwell in. With that thought, there had to be some insight into future technologies that were not available at the time. 23 years later, virtual reality has advanced along with the broadband that would be needed to deliver it. We now have far greater access to mechanical and electrical devices that are cost effective. With a greater public need, comes innovation and the money and investment needed to make those realities for the masses available.
I feel there is no way around the fact that when you produce a lot of something, it devalues it. For the new gTLDs to produce a similar phenomenon as .com, ICANN would have to allow for every word to become an extension, and further, each of those extensions would have to be developed and advertised to the tune of trillions of dollars. Most people, when they hear or see the .com extension, understand that its definition means “on the internet”. That is truly revolutionary and linguistic in its global banding and marketing. Any method that tries to reteach the masses that .com is something else, and a new (dot)something is better, is just not going to work and will be very confusing. The money, development and infrastructure of that logic, is just not there, nor it will be.
I still believe that today. Building a website that you enjoy with a source of income is still attainable. Create unique content daily, and offer what others can’t. That usually entails putting your time and energy into creating something of value. Your time, thought and energy are valuable and you have an endless amount of it. Convert it into something that is yours, and control your destiny...
Read More

The larger websites on the net provide the format that allows the end user to create the content using the website owners simple website format
 
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Here was my comment on that article/interview:
Excellent article/interview! My only concern with it, is that advising new investors to mortgage their homes to buy a premium one word .com before they truly understand what a premium is, might be too risky for them. Most new investors don’t know what a premium is and may fall prey to a sales listing including the word “Premium” for something like “Amassable.com”. Granted, this domain could easily be worth 4 digits today (I sold it in 2011 for $15 on NamePros), It’s not a $100,000+ resale investment to mortgage a house on. Be safe out there folks!

There should be a recognised standard of what a quality domain is as at times I think I wonder what businesses are being told about domains and what a good quality domain name is

I see a domain on a vehicle every so often and think whatever made you think that is a great website address as even now when thinking about it I can't even remember the domain and even looking at it it's difficult to remember etc

And I think I do hope someone did not sell that domain on the pretense that it was a great domain name etc

As domain name investors buying and selling domains etc with different opinions on what is a good domain etc there are many domains that aren't worth reg fee and yet two keyword dot Coms don't even get bids on the likes of flippa etc
 
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"...all I could think of is why he was spending so much so late in life."

Couldn't be all these "get rich by domaining" courses floating around, could it?

Thankfully via YouTube etc no more need for anyone to subscribe to newsletters or pay for courses etc as any such advice is available completely free via vlogs
 
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There should be a recognised standard of what a quality domain is

here we go:

a quality domain is a domain
that you yourself
can resell for
any amount that you feel is
"a lot of money"
 
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Here was my comment on that article/interview:
Excellent article/interview! My only concern with it, is that advising new investors to mortgage their homes to buy a premium one word .com before they truly understand what a premium is, might be too risky for them. Most new investors don’t know what a premium is and may fall prey to a sales listing including the word “Premium” for something like “Amassable.com”. Granted, this domain could easily be worth 4 digits today (I sold it in 2011 for $15 on NamePros), It’s not a $100,000+ resale investment to mortgage a house on. Be safe out there folks!
We need more comments like this, how real things are, not smoke
 
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My thoughts exactly. What a mess that guy buying $40k at advanced age in .whatevers, sorry to hear that story.
 
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I think one of the recent changes is the country specific domain ending for Tokelau. As far as I remember it is used by more than 30 million websites and is the top place across all top-level domains. Especially it makes special when we consider the population of Tokelau which is around 1500. I think it make it special because I would not imagine a few years ago that small, not that rich part of the world could influence the worldwide web
 
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