Unusual TLDs with significance in usage

[plaggypig]

Hello Namepro's,

My first post, won't be my last - looks like a great community here. I'm trying to absorb as much from you all as I can. So here goes my first question:

Do the lesser known TLDs have any value particularly when they are of some significance to the name as a whole - a good example would be whatson.tv. Please note that I am not talking about domain hacks as such (del.icio.us), but rather a naming technique that references the TLD in its noun form.

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Andy.

 

[accent]

Perhaps if you were going to develop and the name really fits your idea. I doubt there would be too much domainer interest. I have disquieting(dot)info and there has been little interest in it. It usually is better to have search engine friendly key words in the name unless you have money to promote it.

Welcome to Namepros!!

 

[filter]

[...]I have disquieting(dot)info and there has been little interest in it.[...]
Welcome to Namepros!!

hello plaggypig, welcome :wave:

good question. Seconding accentnepal's general sentiment about low level of domainer business interest in hacks (or whatever you want to call tld referencing domains such as "whatson.tv")

I'm fond of them but just for personal amusement / possible development ... not expecting to much beyond a chuckle and a pat on the back for my own "forgetable.info" or "unforgetable.name" ... not sure what I'll ever do with "regfee.name" but will probably renew it anyway as long as I can afford to, if just to remind myself of the cost of gratuitous cleverness.

The one counter-example that jumps to mind is npcomplete's IMO "perfect" neural.net (for which I'm still working up the courage to offer him a hopefully staggering sum of money that I don't yet actually have). Most appraisals for that one in a thread a few months back were (IMO) surprisingly low, though I guess maybe not too surprising in view of "reseller" pricing groupthink / tunnel vision syndrome.

(But what do I know, I've never bought or sold any domain over $100 - though have recently turned down an offer for a bit more than that for an abandoned LNLL.com that I picked just for laughs ... for whatever that's worth ... well, like I said, what do I know!)

Three of the most important "dimensions" for valuing a domain in terms of bottom-line utility are memorability, brevity, and "meaning" - and IMO a good "referential hack" fits the bill nicely for all of the above - but since this is apparently not immediately obvious to most resellers, it's probably up to you to try to deliver some "proof in the pudding" via successful development.

(Flip side of this is that if good hacks are undervalued assets, then that's an opportunity to scoop them up and do great things with them.)

Honorable mention might also go to a distant cousin of the "referential hack" - the "mnemonic echo" extension - best (maybe only) example I can think of would be FastMail.fm ... Seems like a break-even at best - an obscure or otherwise meaningless extension is salvaged / made memorable by echoing the initials of the brand name.

I've used this one in my own (as yet undeveloped) WeatherService.ws ...

I think "WhatsOn.tv" is decent, "brandable" etc - but appraisals from domainer point of view are going to be colored by a few other factors probably not helpful to getting any significant "reseller" bids for the domain by itself ...

 

[npcomplete]

Hello Namepro's,

My first post, won't be my last - looks like a great community here. I'm trying to absorb as much from you all as I can. So here goes my first question:

Do the lesser known TLDs have any value particularly when they are of some significance to the name as a whole - a good example would be whatson.tv. Please note that I am not talking about domain hacks as such (del.icio.us), but rather a naming technique that references the TLD in its noun form.

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Andy.

I have a few of these types of domains. It is just part of the trade to pick up things that have a good ring. I have big long lists of these "cute" types of domains that have some trick involved in the interpretation. They are still lists (available). A few are ok, but the overall problem with brandables is that there are *zillions* of them. You might find a customer, or might not, it is just hard to say. I have a brandable "DescriptiveWordon.tld" with a non-com tld that is actually one of my better earning ppc pages. Surprised me too. It is catchy and makes money... so is not listed for sale. Since it is paying the way for itself and many of its friends, I will probably keep it around for awhile. So yes... depending on how you work the domain, and on whether it is workable, these "trick" type of domains like "DescriptiveWordOn.tld" can be valuable from a ppc perspective. I don't know about the sales history though. As long as the domains pay their way plus a profit I am fine with that. A couple years of strong earnings plus memorability can say a lot in sales.

I find it hard not to buy these kinds of things (trick domains, domains that depend on tld in specific way, etc.), which can be a fault if not properly buffered with reason and budget. The reason I say it can be a fault is that it appeals to the poetic part of my brain. That is important with domains, but you also need to address the points best addressed in the analytical parts of the brain... like will it monetize? Assuming there are keywords in an important and well funded market, then these types of domains can certainly be profitably monetized. So in the case of some of my DescriptiveWordOn.tld domains, I know for a fact that I will just keep them, and not market them for a few years. Why not? They are cute brandable names that earn good income, pay for their poorer cousins, and are memorable. Over the years I have found that left brain + right brain thinking is the most effective, combining the artistic components of a domain plus the analytic components from the nerd dimensions.

Marc

 

[raredn.com]

Hello, Marc,

Since you seem to acquire foreign extensions, I assume you would know a lot about them and seo procedure

I was wondering what further lengths you need to go to seo them for the US market, as I believe .com will always get priority seo in the US and the US has the biggest dollars in pockets to spend on what ever you promote, compared to smaller populations or large populations under oppressive government 'cough cough' China

Anyhow, back on track, I have Art.mu, Law.GP and savings.vg and as for seo for the US, hmmmm, hmmmm and hmmm is my answer

Same goes for .tv and all those extensions and as for .in (India, big population), 'but' the majoriy of the population is starving except for the richer burbs

Thankyou

Josh

____

 

[Gerrit]

Only a few extentions are really useful for this:

.BE (to.be, wantsto.be, can.be, ...)
.US (needs.us, wants.us, loves.us, ...)
.IS (he.is, she.is, this.is, what.is, ...)
.AM (I.am, ...)
.AT
.ES (in Spanish it means "is")
.NU (in Dutch and Swedish it means "now" or "new")

and that is pretty much it I'm afraid. Also, most of those useful domains that would form a sentence when combined with the ccTLD, are long registered.