.tv What is your definition of a vertical?

[Dr. Mindwrecker]

I have not been on here much the past few months, but with Ray talking about this forum not moving forward, lets try another thread on internet marketing and developing your niche.

If you watch the video I posted on Demand Media, you will hear Richard talk a lot about "long tail marketing" and "verticals"

I have my own idea what a vertical is and how to leverage it, do you?

Much of this ties back to the concept of instead of regging 20-30 .tv names, you should reg 1 or 2 and develop real nice, and I think understanding the vertical concept and the long tail is important.

So what is your definition of a vertical?

 

[localexperts]

For me, a vertical is a collection of categories/sites that are closely related

For LocalExperts, we focus on five verticals

Wedding
Home Improvement
Landscaping
Health/Fitness
Pets

For the programmers in the crowd - think High Cohesion, Low Coupling.

I believe in total vertical domination for your portfolio.

 

[TheBulldog]

I agree with Local......

But somewhat differently.....pick things you know or can manage to your expectations. Since I am more of a dabbler, I like the niches I have, and am running a one man show right now. I develop what I like, and for now, it just needs to pay for itself and a bit more.

I expect to ramp up what I am doing, but am realistically looking at 6 months to 1-2 years before it is self sustaining enough for me to stop doing work outside of this. I also am slowly diversifying what those niche tld's are as well. I can see well enough that not all of my little toys belong in the tv market, so I have a sort of freedom feeling knowing that I tend to cover a few different tld's, but still tie them all together by branding and linking. People with my interests tend to have some of the same interests outside of the main ones, and they tend to be similar.

Think of it more like regular joe book reader. Joe likes mysteries, but Joe also likes a little science fiction, and dabbles in horror novels from time to time. So basically, I want Joe to find me on one of his hunts through the library, and pick one of his favorite authors. Joe will then turn to the page that shows what else I have written, and takes a chance by checking out something else I wrote, that isn't in the same genre, but he is willing to take a shot.

 

[RogueWriter]

Keeping me focussed on one project is exactly, precisely like herding a cat. Only, the cat is hungry, thirsty, excited and curious all at the same time. And, the cat is in a room with food, a live mouse, a bird, and this little shiny bouncy thing that dangles in front of him.

I have a fairly hefty number of sites that are always in need of unexpected maintenance, so it is hard to estimate accurately when the next site will get completed and SEO'd/marketed properly. But, the smaller the site, the more likely I can get to it.

So for me, I tend to focus on small niche sites, 10-50 pages in size, but once I find a merchant that I like, I will build several small niche sites around different aspects of their program.

My goal is to find a merchant that converts, then soak the program from as many different angles and approaches as possible. The smaller my sites, the better.

Translating this to .TV is difficult, because many of the domains that I own require extensive development. Giving a domain like Instructor.tv the time it needs to be truly developed would require me to give up a lot of other projects.

Now some, not so bad. Fortunately, I have some extremely focussed product.tv domains I can develop, but they are scattered across the spectrum of products. So, I don't really have a product vertical, like every singles woodworking related product.tv, etc.

But that's okay, because the traffic I want to go to my various sites will be looking for a demonstration of that specific product, that is also attached to a 'BUY NOW' button they can press for immediate purchase. I am not looking for feel good massive sites where people wander aimlessly among thousands of pages of content. No sunday drivers, just guys pulling into the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant. Arrive. Buy. Leave.

So my definition of vertical? A group of small focussed affiliate sites that maximizes the potential affiliate revenue from one specific merchant at a time.

But it is also a large group of small, focussed, unrelated product sites that maintain a common interface.

 

[localexperts]

Here is a perfect example of a verticall killer portfolio IMHO

Contractor.TV
Landscaper.TV
Remodeling.TV
Decorator.TV
PestControl.TV

That portfolio covers the gambit of home improvement, meshes well, and is comprised on many top search terms in that space. If I was focused on a vertical, I would try to get 3-4 domains that overlap and promote cross sell with advertisers.

 

[MillersCrossing]

Here is a perfect example of a verticall killer portfolio IMHO

Contractor.TV
Landscaper.TV
Remodeling.TV
Decorator.TV
PestControl.TV

That portfolio covers the gambit of home improvement, meshes well, and is comprised on many top search terms in that space. If I was focused on a vertical, I would try to get 3-4 domains that overlap and promote cross sell with advertisers.

george,

im interested why you never bid on diy.tv which went for 5k....surely that would have been the ultimate compliment to the above mentioned vertical.........if u find this question to be intrusive i can understand that - do not feel pressured to answer

 

[localexperts]

because DIY traffic doesn't lend itself to generating leads for local contractors. That might be a short sided view - I don't disagree. If I was only focused on home improvement, I would have bought it. However, with our expanded scope - I have to remain in the general direction of our "core"

 

[MillersCrossing]

ok i think i understand - it is too general a term and people searching diy are looking to do diy , not look for service providers.....

makes perfect sense......

 

[equity78]

What is the Vertical for Farts Jack ? Just kidding you, you need to get wrestle.tv built and dominate the net.

 

[localexperts]

Farts.TV == Natural Gas Vertical

 

[Dr. Mindwrecker]

I believe in total vertical domination for your portfolio.

When you talk of vertical domination for portfolio, do you mean getting as many domains in your vertical as possible, or do you mean beating your competition in that vertical?

The reason I ask, is because I remember the conversation we have about defensive name regging being slightly neurotic and out of control, if one is not careful.

What is the Vertical for Farts Jack ? Just kidding you, you need to get wrestle.tv built and dominate the net.

Actually Ray Wrestle.TV skin will be done shortly, like should be all fresh by Oct 1st!

 

[localexperts]

I look at Overture Search results and related areas (cross sell opportunities).

I won't go defensive in .TV. For example, I have Landscaper.TV and Landscapers.TV. No reason to get LandscapeContractors.TV or some other variant.

 

[Dr. Mindwrecker]

I look at Overture Search results and related areas (cross sell opportunities).

I won't go defensive in .TV. For example, I have Landscaper.TV and Landscapers.TV. No reason to get LandscapeContractors.TV or some other variant.

Local, I know you said you were leaving and good luck, but I would have to agree with you, that going defensive on a vertical in .tv can be a slippery slope or tangent of time wasted.

Thank you everyone for participating, I think looking at the Verticals you are involved in is an important part of your long term growth.