The .TEL Discussion Thread

[brendan52190]

Hi

For this, let's assume that .tel will not be a total flop.

What type of keywords will be most valuable for this extension? Will it be geographical keywords, like newyork.tel, losangeles.tel, etc, or what else?

 

[Blitzpotz]

Have to add
Undercover.tel
to my initial posting. Anonymous phone calls?
While the dot.tel could be the central info/marketing site, my undercover.mobi could be filled with mobile content. Additional solutions possible on the PC mirror site of undercover.mobi.

 

[FathomJH]

LOL, visit google.tel, how useless is that?

:bingo:

 

[Kate]

LOL, visit google.tel, how useless is that?

It's sad that TM holders have to purchase defensive regs that are of no use.

 

[phase111]

I would be very interested in seeing an example of this. How would you monetize it?

RJ, with respect, have you not read much of the .tel thread, lol. Although .tel is not a website hosting tld, people that I have shown the concept to that arent domainers but are in business, have all thought .tel is a really good idea and they would buy one for business or personal use. Another domainer (cannot recall name- please help someone) further back in a .tel thread went door to door contacting relevant business to see if they would be happy to join his directory for a fee per month or per year and an overwhelming majority apparently said they would once they had seen the telnic website explaining the benefits. So basically, the main idea (and there will be others) is to open up relevant domains into subfolder directories- only downside being that the owner of the domain must manage these folders not the renter of the folder. So if I owned plumber.tel, a dedicated subfolder might read jacks.plumbing.tel. Don't forget that telnic will have telpages to help make search function easier, once enough subfolders are introduced into a domain and backlinks are created, google may rank the domain quite well too.
Definitely possibilities to make money with sub folder's here

 

[GeoOwners]

After spending way too much time researching this issue, I believe the only viable monetization model is aftermarket resale (of the domain).

for the shit names yeah...

one guess how I'll monetize these:

DallasRealEstate.tel

ChicagoRealEstate.tel

ChicagoCondos.tel

MyrtleBeachCondos.tel


.

 

[GeoOwners]

LOL, visit google.tel, how useless is that?

would be great if they put the various ways to contact support on that

 

[Sconzo]

I haven't read every post about .tel at NP, so maybe this has been suggested, but instead of selling directory space, has anyone mentioned the possibility of just using affiliate links for relevant products or sites?

Well that's what I thought too.
affiliate links to a useful service or product.

For example - and this is just a question at the moment,
I have a link on penticton.tel that is for an event centre in Penticton
if I had an affiliate account with the "TicketMaster" wouldn't that be a
way to monetize if I can get the traffic?

Sorry to be green here, but how does an affiliate account differ from a paid directory entry when we're in .tel land? They get a whole page to themselves, is that it? It's still a sale to an advertiser, it seems to me. Or am I missing something important here?! Thanks!!

 

[lexisdomains]

HotelsSuites.tel

Working on getting my 1st few clients for http://www.HotelSuites.tel

Just a tip: If you are running a directory, clients prefer month-to-month contract structure as opposed to 3-6 month commitment.

 

[thetruman]

you are already a step ahead with your telfu.com... well done, compliments

 

[Ross]

would be great if they put the various ways to contact support on that

They just assume that you will go to the site. They know the extension is next to worthless....

 

[chader144]

Working on getting my 1st few clients for http://www.HotelSuites.tel

Just a tip: If you are running a directory, clients prefer month-to-month contract structure as opposed to 3-6 month commitment.

Curious, in you sub folders why do you put a webpage and refer it back to that sub page?

 

[Len]

The first .TEL on auction at Sedo: phoneshop.tel

As .tel is not listed under any other sales commission pricing I presume it falls under this: Other domains 10% of the sales price - [minimum $150]
Not much left for the seller on this one if there are no other bidders!

 

[MicroGuy]

Working on getting my 1st few clients for http://www.HotelSuites.tel

Just a tip: If you are running a directory, clients prefer month-to-month contract structure as opposed to 3-6 month commitment.

Nice use of 'www' coupled with multiple hyphens. :bingo:

http://www.bed-and-breakfast.hotelsuites.tel/

 

[phase111]

Reg'd

Manila.tel in landrush..

PM with offers if interested :D

I almost bought in landrush myself so not a bad catch my man...must be others who considered it.

 

[alex_d]

Working on getting my 1st few clients for http://www.HotelSuites.tel

Just a tip: If you are running a directory, clients prefer month-to-month contract structure as opposed to 3-6 month commitment.

I agree that a month-to-moth contract is better for the clients, but for you, is it better ?? Depending on how much you charge, I think a minimum of a 6 month contract should be required.

I am also preparing to work on a hotel directory .tel site, and am in the process of preparing the structure I will use, and also my explanation letter of what .tel is and why a client should have their business listed on the site.

Alex

 

[Sconzo]

I wonder if we could get a quick reality check from some of the pro's here. Many of us are hopeful that we can build profitable specialist directories. It's a very tough sell, of course, particularly in the early days when nobody's heard of a .tel.

1) Is there at present ANY way to prove to an advertiser that their website was visited by a click-through from my .tel? Or that his phone rang through from my .tel? I presume not. (Well, a proxy phone number for each listing....NOT!)

2) Is there even any way to prove to a potential advertiser how many visits my .tel gets?

3) Is there any way to collect a micro-payment from the visitor to my .tel when he clicks a phone number or website? (One of my .tel's has adult aspects...)

4) We're not going to get footsoldiers to pound the streets in each of a couple hundred cities. I'd have thought there were specialist companies who make a business of selling web-directory advertising, but I've googled the heck out of it and can't find a hint of one. (OK, I'm green & stupid, but a few others here might be too, so I ask for all of us!)

Assuming the answers to all the above are negative, is there any dream that some enterprising developer will find work-arounds to these issues, or is the .tel structure such that this would be technologically impossible? No point living with false hopes!

Thanks, mates! You're a fascinating bunch, truly!

 

[bmugford]

I don't really see much use for this extension long term investment wise. Unless it is a true super premium like Hotels.tel or something.

I do see the use for a couple things.

1.) It is nice for a business to have their contact info consolidated in one place.
2.) It is a good way for individuals to have their contact info either with first or last name. It is also is a good way for families to list everyone's contact info in one place under their Name.tel

Just my thoughts.

Brad

 

[alex_d]

I wonder if we could get a quick reality check from some of the pro's here. Many of us are hopeful that we can build profitable specialist directories. It's a very tough sell, of course, particularly in the early days when nobody's heard of a .tel.

1) Is there at present ANY way to prove to an advertiser that their website was visited by a click-through from my .tel? Or that his phone rang through from my .tel? I presume not. (Well, a proxy phone number for each listing....NOT!)

2) Is there even any way to prove to a potential advertiser how many visits my .tel gets?

For the 1st question, you could probably do a redirect with the links, so that you can count the number of clicks to each external link on your site. One script you can use is PHPTrak - ekstreme.com/phplabs/phptrak.php

For the 2nd question, I don't know of a way yet to track the hits to a .tel but I am sure that in the near future there should be a way of tracking visitors.

Not sure for the 3rd and 4th questions just yet.

Alex

 

[phase111]

ok.its a 4 letter word, but I just realised it is a trademark as well.
If they don't contact me I don't have to do nothing right?
I'm new in this world of domaining, and I don't really know how am I supposed to deal with this.

Btw, thanks for the quick answer

I actually dont see any hassles regarding a trademark name providing it is a surname you are maybe turning into a directory or it is a name that has an alternative meaning. If you set up a site promoting the alternative meaning and have a link on your .tel to that site, I think the company trying to get the name from you may lose the case. If you promote something similar to what the trademarked name holder sells as well, then you will lose 99% of the time IMO.

 

[oracle49]

Registered thc.tel a couple hours after general availability started. Was surprised that it was still available.