information .LINK - throwing in the towel, and advice from a friend

[ThatNameGuy]

Just a few days ago I sent the following email to Yoni Belousov, Vaughn Liley, and Jeff Gabriel of Nova Registry, the new owners of the .LINK extension;

"Yoni etal.....what a waste of time and money to have created a portfolio of 1,500 .LINK domains believing I could help make .LINK successful.

One of my greatest strengths are the people I've gotten to know through Linkedin, and a few of them had reached out to me because they own .LINK domains.

Marek Eckhaus from Prague owns Sex.link
and
Jim Haung from Shanghai owns Free.link

Furthermore, a domain friend of mine Joe N. from Canada was able to help me get domains like; Bicycle.link, American.link and Dollar.link listed @ Dan, but to no avail in that I haven't received a single inquiry much less offer.

I guess you've heard me say, "If it's to BE, it's up to ME", but without some backing that isn't going to happen.

I consider myself sort of a .LINK walk on who could have been a star, but Nova Registry just doesn't see it that way......SAD!

Finally, i'm blind copying a pretty well respected industry leader that was quoted as saying, ".LINK is no worse than .XYZ", but personally I believe .LINK is far better than .xyz.

Unfortunately, we'll never know."


In addition i copied a few domain friends I made around the world, and here is the response Alessandro from a friend from Italy....you might note I've not heard anything back from anyone at Nova Registry;

Richard

There’s a lot of emotion in this industry, and it’s easy to get caught up on “one thing” … It is important that as investors we diversify our portfolios, own Names that make Sense !

There’s this idea that you should only invest in .com and 90% of “The Domain Industry Club“ will tell you the same thing over and over again like a broken record, BUT the truth is you should invest in good names ^ and understand that what we are all looking to accomplish takes time, effort, and determination ^

2,000,000,000 sites online, you cannot limit all of them to .com much less .net or 10 other extensions … the formation of new industries and new business’ continues to rise - and thus GOOD names become more valuable, I believe this to be true for both .com and combination keyword GTLD examples that match perfectly the left and right of the DOT

I was offered $25,000 for mortgage.loans in 2021 @ the ROTD auction with Monte and I was offered $11,000 for easy.credit at the recent ROTD 2023 auction w/ Monte, meanwhile TeamBank in Germany offered me $1000 even though they are a multi billion dollar company, I received a mysterious offer of $125,000 on DAN for e.credit and the buyer vanished, I had some guy in Monaco offer me 3.2 BTC when BTC was trading @ $55,000 so that he could develop e.credit into an online crypto casino … I bet he feels pretty dumb given where BTC is @ … what is my point, GOOD names receive some attention, and not all the time is that attention going to be “Execution” … In fact more times then not, you are going to run into people who will waste your time,

I have watched the Blue Man Group turn down owning blue.com … I’ve personally talked on the phone with the board of Smith & Wesson; while walking the streets of Venice at night … guess what, they didn’t buy sw.com and neither did Nvidia buy ai.com … I couldn’t sell 77.com to 77Bank in Japan, and Weight Watchers waited for my contract to expire to purchase ww.com … the domain industry is cruel, the priceless opportunity of selling BIG names is a rare thing, patience is the name of the game … Like golf, rare to hit a par much less a Hole In One … BUT damn it feels good when ya do !

1500 .link names, say 10% of that are true quality names Richard @ $1000 bare minimum, that’s $150,000, good $$$ to invest with at the moment. Outbound, outbound, outbound, even if 95% of those leads won’t contact you back …

There was a time when I allowed my emotions to play into the industry, ya just can’t do it, either it works or it doesn’t, and if someone doesn’t understand the value, there is no sense in trying to persuade them, this goes for all names …

And if you invest in GTLDs, focus on exact match keyword combinations,

free.link

direct.link

Instant.link

sex.link (shit, sex.xxx sold for $3M)

big.link

cash.link

soft.link

nice.link

Explain the value, build an audience, and people will then come to you … because believe it or not, there are people in the world with the same ideas as you …

So continue walking tall, put that Big Brain of yours to use, relinquish some of your grand names at a discount, and invest moving forward … if you have that BIG name, don’t sell it, you may want to, but don’t do it, you can put a large price tag on that one BIG name, but that’s it ^ focus on everything else, diversify, and move forward >>>

Best wishes !

Alessandro


Finally, while I still believe in the .LINK extension, without committed support from the Registry and it's owners I just decided to throw in the towel.......VERY SAD!!!

ps. thank you Alessandro

 

[BaileyUK]

The market Harbinger at work

 

[ThatNameGuy]

That’s quite a towel.

it’s not too much to ask, if I send you a small list of mutual funds, could you throw your towel at them too?

Happy to see i'm still under your skin By now you should be able to separate fact from fiction

 

[Grego85]

omg how is this still going?

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Happy to see i'm still under your skin By now you should be able to separate fact from fiction

So you're still following the saga I was just responding to Sir Berryhill's quip about .link's little spike in registrations since partnering with Dynadot. Who knows, it may be the beginning of something good, but I'm on to something bigger and better

 

[MadAboutDomains]

We did say they were a bad buy. I don't wish you any ill will and hope you are able to have success with another idea in the future.

The swee4ther dream of success with .xyz is one that cannot be repeated, at least not with any degree of certainty that the outcome will be positive.

You went on about how successful your ventures were in the past, maybe you should dev a few more names. Domaining is a pretty useless past time in the main, people wanting something for nothing basically. It's not good for the soul.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

We did say they were a bad buy. I don't wish you any ill will and hope you are able to have success with another idea in the future.

The swee4ther dream of success with .xyz is one that cannot be repeated, at least not with any degree of certainty that the outcome will be positive.

You went on about how successful your ventures were in the past, maybe you should dev a few more names. Domaining is a pretty useless past time in the main, people wanting something for nothing basically. It's not good for the

MAD.....i guess you mean I should develop a few more businesses? Anyone who cares to know can check out the businesses I developed in the past and learn which ones are still in business today.

The tagline for a friend of mines business Nationwide Credit is "It Pays to Partner". I've had several partners over the years to include a wife for 53 years

We never had kids.....i was kid enough, but starting businesses became my passion years ago. While I've been successful at most things I've tried, I've had a few failures as well.

Anyway.....like you I'm Mad About Domains, and I'm determinded to add a little cash to all the fun I'm having

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Anyway.....like you I'm Mad About Domains, and I'm determinded to add a little cash to all the fun I'm having

OK, but don't rely on the registry to back you. Why would they care

 

[ThatNameGuy]

OK, but don't rely on the registry to back you. Why would they care

Why would they care? They might care "if" they only knew there was a better/smarter way to grow their registry. Domainers aren't marketers, and neither are DAN, Sedo, Squadhelp or Afternic. Maybe it's the nature of the BEAST, but there has to be a better way

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Why would they care? They might care "if" they only knew there was a better/smarter way to grow their registry. Domainers aren't marketers, and neither are DAN, Sedo, Squadhelp or Afternic. Maybe it's the nature of the BEAST, but there has to be a better way

Why don't you invest in some domains that are worth money

 

[bmugford]

Why don't you invest in some domains that are worth money

Yep. Quality domains don't take technical partners or registry backing to sell.

When your domain investment model requires some other party bringing the skills or financing, then the plan is flawed.

If that was something easy to find, you would not still be looking years later.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Why don't you invest in some domains that are worth money

Oh i have MAD......how do you think I'm still here

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Yep. Quality domains don't take technical partners or registry backing to sell.

When your domain investment model requires some other party bringing the skills or financing, then the plan is flawed.

If that was something easy to find, you would not still be looking years later.

Brad

Ignorance is bliss Brad....few people outside the domain industry have a clue how this industry works. There are tens of thousands of quality domains that NEVER sell for a variety of reasons, but the biggest is due to lack of exposure.

Take for example, I happen to own a domain that is a perfect fit for an industry I'm intimately familiar with, the debt collection industry. The name is Collectrust™. How do I know it's a "perfect fit"? Well, i started, operated and named CreditControl.net 50 years ago in 1973 long before anyone knew what a domain was. The Startup name was "Credit Control Corporation", and everyone in the debt collection industry just knew like me it was a KILLER name. Well, I sold that company 17 years later (1990) for a paltry $250,000 and today it's worth well over 10 million dollars.

My point, I've owned Collectrust™ for almost three years now, and I've not had a single inquiry Why do you suppose that is Brad?.......this is NOT a trick question.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Oh i have MAD......how do you think I'm still here

Cause you're bored.

 

[DrJacoby]

Oh i have MAD......how do you think I'm still here

Your wife is bailing you out over and over again, because you're flushing money down the toilet year after year.

 

[MediaCode]

Ignorance is bliss Brad....few people outside the domain industry have a clue how this industry works. There are tens of thousands of quality domains that NEVER sell for a variety of reasons, but the biggest is due to lack of exposure.

Take for example, I happen to own a domain that is a perfect fit for an industry I'm intimately familiar with, the debt collection industry. The name is Collectrust™. How do I know it's a "perfect fit"? Well, i started, operated and named CreditControl.net 50 years ago in 1973 long before anyone knew what a domain was. The Startup name was "Credit Control Corporation", and everyone in the debt collection industry just knew like me it was a KILLER name. Well, I sold that company 17 years later (1990) for a paltry $250,000 and today it's worth well over 10 million dollars.

My point, I've owned Collectrust™ for almost three years now, and I've not had a single inquiry Why do you suppose that is Brad?.......this is NOT a trick question.

Because it sucks?

 

[bmugford]

My point, I've owned Collectrust™ for almost three years now, and I've not had a single inquiry Why do you suppose that is Brad?.......this is NOT a trick question.

Collect rust?

Brad

 

[Joe N]

Collect rust?

Brad

I have to agree, that's how I first read the name as well. I see what you were going for, Rich (collect + trust), but some names lose a lot of value due to unintended word combos. See the classic example of "Yourtherapist" (is it Your Therapist? or Your The Rapist?)

@ThatNameGuy - I'm actually interested to hear more about why you insist that lack of exposure is the primary reason that domain sell-through rates are so low. I know you rely on your experience for that view, but I wonder if there's any data to back it. I personally think that lack of demand for aftermarket names is the real "issue".

 

[BaileyUK]

Most experienced domainers understand the criteria for dropping letters in domains. So, slightly off-track, but relevant

Only very short words that retain an obvious meaning even if the new spelling conjures-up a whole new association.
Two word single letter dropping is never a good idea, unless it stands out as a meaningful combo, again you don't want multiple syllables creating unrecognised patterns
The intention is to Hoodwink the brain into thinking it sees the word that is incomplete. but, remain obvious
Avoid anything that just looks like a misspell and a cheap-shot at a conventional word/ domain.
The idea is to make a better shorter presentation of the word. you want it to be seen as clever and memorable. In fact a new better more cohesive spelling than the original

One of the best uses of dropped lettering I've seen in recent years is Motorola and its use of RAZR for its foldable phone. A great letter drop that has stood the test of quite a few years for marketing.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I have to agree, that's how I first read the name as well. I see what you were going for, Rich (collect + trust), but some names lose a lot of value due to unintended word combos. See the classic example of "Yourtherapist" (is it Your Therapist? or Your The Rapist?)

@ThatNameGuy - I'm actually interested to hear more about why you insist that lack of exposure is the primary reason that domain sell-through rates are so low. I know you rely on your experience for that view, but I wonder if there's any data to back it. I personally think that lack of demand for aftermarket names is the real "issue".

With regards to CollecTrust™.....ironically a buddy of mine owns Skunkrust.com (this is an actual business and you might want to check it out). Rarely have I heard him say people get it confused with Skun Krust My point is, the industry my name is meant for would never get this confused with Collect Rust.

Regardless, knowing the industry as I do, if I were to start another business serving the debt recovery industry I'd name it CollecTrust™ in a heartbeat for reasons you wouldn't understand.

Moving on Joe....i remember you saying you liked one of my hand regs from a few years ago, FreshOvernight.com. Just today I had a meeting with another friend who owns BoBo's Chicken here in Virginia Beach. I won't go into why I bought for him BoBoWings.com and BoBosWngs.com, but Bo who is all of 32 years old could see the potential especially "if" his wings were sold strictly via drive through. Why you might ask? Bo was making more money via his drive through business during Covid than he's making now with his dining room open

Joe, i don't now how Covid had impacted the restaurant industry in Canada, but it's had a dramatic impact on restaurants here in the US. Bo who has a business degree from UVA and trained at Chic Fil A immediately saw the potential "Fresh Overnight". Poor Bo is working harder now since Covid, and is making less money. Go figure.

Finally, and I know I've said this before, but the average "end user" for domains knows very little about this industry mostly due to it's lack of exposure. However, not one but two people today when they heard about "Fresh Overnight" commented to me, "maybe Amazon would want it"....so why didn't I think of that....Duh!

 

[Joe N]

With regards to CollecTrust™.....ironically a buddy of mine owns Skunkrust.com (this is an actual business and you might want to check it out). Rarely have I heard him say people get it confused with Skun Krust My point is, the industry my name is meant for would never get this confused with Collect Rust.

Regardless, knowing the industry as I do, if I were to start another business serving the debt recovery industry I'd name it CollecTrust™ in a heartbeat for reasons you wouldn't understand.

Moving on Joe....i remember you saying you liked one of my hand regs from a few years ago, FreshOvernight.com. Just today I had a meeting with another friend who owns BoBo's Chicken here in Virginia Beach. I won't go into why I bought for him BoBoWings.com and BoBosWngs.com, but Bo who is all of 32 years old could see the potential especially "if" his wings were sold strictly via drive through. Why you might ask? Bo was making more money via his drive through business during Covid than he's making now with his dining room open

Joe, i don't now how Covid had impacted the restaurant industry in Canada, but it's had a dramatic impact on restaurants here in the US. Bo who has a business degree from UVA and trained at Chic Fil A immediately saw the potential "Fresh Overnight". Poor Bo is working harder now since Covid, and is making less money. Go figure.

Finally, and I know I've said this before, but the average "end user" for domains knows very little about this industry mostly due to it's lack of exposure. However, not one but two people today when they heard about "Fresh Overnight" commented to me, "maybe Amazon would want it"....so why didn't I think of that....Duh!

Ha ha. I'm not sure what a Skun Krust is, but it doesn't sound pleasant!

Sometimes people say things just to be nice, Rich. Or to get people to stop talking to them about boring topics, like domain names.

Outside opinions on names are good; I just like to keep them in perspective. The people giving the opinions don't have to invest in the names, nor do they like them enough to pay you a worthwhile markup. So in the end... the only opinion of any real value is that of the buyer.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

You're buying domains for other people's businesses??

What would it even mean to "collect trust" even if it was spelt correctly, there's no use in arguing over the fact looks like collect rust - it's just meaningless in general. One does not collect trust. A company wouldn't use that name apart from for a laugh. The conversation would go as it has done here, they'll notice it looks like collect rust and that would be that. The correct spelling is taken in ONE extension... .com. Nobody's interested in that either.

No, fresh overnight dot com isn't good, it yields 100k results for the phrase on Google, marginally better than "fart juice" which is what I searched for comparison purposes and it was similar. Taken in ONE extension again. Nobody wants it in any other extension and there's only one example of another domain containing the phrase.

Also, make sure when you're trying to sell something that you don't put a TM after it. I assume you're trying to sell it, not to build a brand out of it. That could be a reason in itself that someone doesn't want to buy it, have you been using it to trade already/registering trademarks? There's nothing online that I can find that suggests it's being used or a TM apart from an abandoned TM application I found by typing the exact phrase. Drawing attention to failed TM registrations isn't a plus, but an untainted, unregistered brand name is though.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

You're buying domains for other people's businesses??

What would it even mean to "collect trust" even if it was spelt correctly, there's no use in arguing over the fact looks like collect rust - it's just meaningless in general. One does not collect trust. A company wouldn't use that name apart from for a laugh. The conversation would go as it has done here, they'll notice it looks like collect rust and that would be that. The correct spelling is taken in ONE extension... .com. Nobody's interested in that either.

No, fresh overnight dot com isn't good, it yields 100k results for the phrase on Google, marginally better than "fart juice" which is what I searched for comparison purposes and it was similar. Taken in ONE extension again. Nobody wants it in any other extension and there's only one example of another domain containing the phrase.

Also, make sure when you're trying to sell something that you don't put a TM after it. I assume you're trying to sell it, not to build a brand out of it. That could be a reason in itself that someone doesn't want to buy it, have you been using it to trade already/registering trademarks? There's nothing online that I can find that suggests it's being used or a TM apart from an abandoned TM application I found by typing the exact phrase. Drawing attention to failed TM registrations isn't a plus, but an untainted, unregistered brand name is though.

Thanks MAD.....i believe we're making some headway. Your comment about FreshOvernight, "No, fresh overnight dot com isn't good" and Joe N's comment on FreshOvernight, "FreshOvernight is a neat hand reg, and I agree that businesses built on those names could have wonderful potential."

I respect both your opinions as domainers and there are times we'll agree and times we won't. However Joe's comment, "So in the end... the only opinion of any real value is that of the buyer."

I'll agree with you too about the use of the "TM" mark. It's because I've actually trademarked several domains in the past, I wanted to make the point that some domain names are brandable......actually most are.

Anyway MAD, this is good stuff. Thanks!

 

[MadAboutDomains]

"So in the end... the only opinion of any real value is that of the buyer."

But you can say that about any domain. That's the point we were making about .link.

Any old sh1t can be classed as good if you want it to be in your own head.

I thought you wanted to sell some domains, sorry that I misunderstood. You instead want to register some domains and then have to force yourself to explain to others why they are worth buying instead.

Carry on.

 

[bmugford]

With regards to CollecTrust™.....ironically a buddy of mine owns Skunkrust.com (this is an actual business and you might want to check it out). Rarely have I heard him say people get it confused with Skun Krust My point is, the industry my name is meant for would never get this confused with Collect Rust.

That comparison makes no sense.

You read from the beginning to the end, so the first word will be the first thing to be recognized.

skunkrust = Skunk + Rust. People will see it as that.

Why would someone see it as Skun Krust? Neither are recognizable words.

collectrust = Collect + Rust.

People will see it as that as that, since "Collec" is not a word. "Collect" is the recognizable word.

Moving on Joe....i remember you saying you liked one of my hand regs from a few years ago, FreshOvernight.com. Just today I had a meeting with another friend who owns BoBo's Chicken here in Virginia Beach. I won't go into why I bought for him BoBoWings.com and BoBosWngs.com, but Bo who is all of 32 years old could see the potential especially "if" his wings were sold strictly via drive through. Why you might ask? Bo was making more money via his drive through business during Covid than he's making now with his dining room open

I am not sure you even want to be a domain investor. It seems like you see yourself as an expert on business development or something, because of some companies you created decades ago before domains were really even a thing.

Finally, and I know I've said this before, but the average "end user" for domains knows very little about this industry mostly due to it's lack of exposure. However, not one but two people today when they heard about "Fresh Overnight" commented to me, "maybe Amazon would want it"....so why didn't I think of that....Duh!

Past experience is kind of irrelevant if it is not yielding results.

Again, I know many people who were successful in other ventures and failed in domain investing.

The difference is they eventually move on. You are still here.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

That comparison makes no sense.

You read from the beginning to the end, so the first word will be the first thing to be recognized.

skunkrust = Skunk + Rust. People will see it as that.

Why would someone see it as Skun Krust? Neither are recognizable words.

collectrust = Collect + Rust.

People will see it as that as that, since "Collec" is not a word. "Collect" is the recognizable word.


I am not sure you even want to be a domain investor. It seems like you see yourself as an expert on business development or something, because of some companies you created decades ago before domains were really even a thing.


Past experience is kind of irrelevant if it is not yielding results.

Again, I know many people who were successful in other ventures and failed in domain investing.

The difference is they eventually move on. You are still here.

Brad

Brad....the reason other people you know who were successful in other businesses but failed at domain investing is because they GAVE UP! You are one of the reasons I don't give up, but the main reason involves the Fuked Up nature of the domain industry itself. A domain name and it's extension is nothing more than a means to an end.....like driving a used Honda to New York or a new Bentley.

With regards to being a domain investor vs. an expert on business development? FreshOvernight.com is just one example of a domain combined with a business plan that i could turn into a multi million dollar business overnight. This is why I'm still here Brad