sdsinc said:
Fortunately the old fossilized dinosaurs like me can benefit from your sound advice and wisdom... for free :tu:
I may not predict the future with 100% accuracy but I know the past. It really helps.
And I can .tel the possible from the unlikely
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Physical age has little to do with anything.
I'm a baby boomer, and I always try to think ahead and not look back at what was or the way I wish life were.
I had a blast during the 1960's (no regrets), but this is now, and I'm having fun now.
I distinctly remember (late 1980's, early 1990's) how conventional business people stuck their noses up at this new-fangled internet, and this "Dot-what"? attitude.
"No one will make money there," they whined.
We kinda know how that turned out.
In 1990 or 1991, I attended an internet workshop at (of all places) our college library, just before Mosaic (later Netscape) was developed. I remember that you had to log off in a very specific manner (Q-something, I can't remember exactly); otherwise, you would be leaving the whole internet wide open for hackers (or so we were told). Anyway, I didn't really go back to it until about 1996-1997. Even then, I knew that the internet would make lots of money for some people, and I knew it would be in domains and ad revenues. With a kid in college and living overseas on a limited budget, I just didn't have the money.
I registered my first domain in 2001 (my full name) and set up a site using Yahoo's Page Builder; it cost me $70.00 for two years and $14.95 a month for hosting. I still have that first domain (although I have ditched Yahoo!), which is now directed to my home page.
Over the years, I regged a few more domains, but it wasn't until May 2007 when I stumbled upon the DomainTools Blog, which was very active at that time; I was hooked, and I have been educating myself ever since.
Before embarking on any kind of investment, I do my research, reading both pro and con viewpoints; I have been keeping up with .tel since Fall 2007.
Even now, I lurk on the .tel naysayer thread, although (other than one post) I don't participate. I just listen. I think that there's something to be learned from naysayers, and sometimes they are right.
I did my research with .me and I have done it before deciding to invest in .tel. I have also set a budget and will have to give something up to do it, like go to Atlantic City or go on a trip. But that's okay. Life is full of compromises.
One reason I have decided to invest in .tel is because you
can't build a website on it.
That's right.
I already have a passel of domains that are undeveloped. Moreover, parking is lame--feeding at the tit of places like Sedo instills an unhealthy dependence on people you don't know (and who often place their own self interests head of yours), and developing mini-sites can be time consuming and/or expensive. And then with Google, you have to worry about having your adsense cut off because some jerk click-bombed you. Yes, this happened to me. Luckily with much begging and numerous grovelling emails, I got my account back.
.Tel offers a different kind of monetization opportunity, one where you could sell space for links on a platform that is both simple and uniform.
We often forget that there are people out there who really aren't interested in building their own websites or joining social networks, but who might be interested in having a simple way of storing their contact information on the internet.
As a domainer, I like the idea of being able to buy a domain that I can set up in a few minutes. I also like that I have an opportunity to make money in a different way, not in the same old, same old "dependent on others" model.
I missed the dot-com frenzy, where a lot of people half my age made a lot of money, but that's okay.
Move forward and onward.
I just want people to know that being older does not automatically relegate one to the old folks' home, nor are we all looking backwards. We, too, are willing to take calculated risks.
We may spend more time considering our options, but if we feel good about an opportunity, we'll often take it.
And I feel good about .tel. I also respect those who do not; to invest or not invest is a very personal decision.
Peace!
:]
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