Writing short e-book about new gTLD investment in 2017 - What information would you want in it?

[Brands.International]

Hi friends,

seems like I will have now 2-3 more relaxed month, so I am planning to write shorter e-book about new gTLD investments, describing what are the opportunities but also problems for domain investors 3 years after their launch in 2014.

My question to you is : as investors, what information would you want in it mostly? If you are new to this, what is not clear, or what you do not understand most when investing in new gTLDs?

From my experience new gTLD investors are working pretty badly with renewals - registering names with high premium renewals, and them letting them go after 1 year. Not even able to check whether name is premium or not, and what the renewal is. Also ignoring various promotions, therefore not able to sustain their portfolios. Or registering nonsense names just because there is a promotion, and then letting it go after 1 year. AND very narrow end user pools for their names. So financial aspect of this whole exercise is what I want to focus on mostly, because it is much more complex then in .com (where it is USD 10/name/year roughly, no matter what)

What else? Any ideas or wishes? Thank you.

 

[hullswingerscom]

information on the people behind the ngtlds....how much there willing to spend on promoting there Ngtlds.

good luck with your Ebook buddy....

 

[Brands.International]

information on the people behind the ngtlds....how much there willing to spend on promoting there Ngtlds.

good luck with your Ebook buddy....

Thanks mate..well I guess chapter about people behind new gTLDs really massively promoting their new gTLDs..that will be pretty short chapter for 2017..there is something, but.. Hopefully for us that will improve in future..hopefully.

 

[DnFolk]

I would like to know selling strategies of ngtlds that dont have premium renewals, best and most popular ngtld and also which are overhyped, scope of outbouding, range of targetted end users, best marketplaces to sell, your sales through rate and details of your or others domains sold like domain name when did your reg, how much time you held, for how much you sold etc all this and anything more that you can add regarding your experience from acquiring name to its sale.

above all i wish you the best with your ebook. cheers.

 

[Internet.Domains]

If your goal is to educate, your going to have to go into detail about many "RENEWAL" issues....One issue is "grandfathering". This is not talked about, but there are two types of grandfathering.

A - Only the original registrant is protected from the increases. Once transferred, buyer pays increased fees.

B - The entire domain is grandfathered. Transfers don't have increased renewals.

Obviously, option B is much better, but it's best to know this before investing, or rather gambling, with the New G's....

 

[Brands.International]

I would like to know selling strategies of ngtlds that dont have premium renewals, best and most popular ngtld and also which are overhyped, scope of outbouding, range of targetted end users, best marketplaces to sell, your sales through rate and details of your or others domains sold like domain name when did your reg, how much time you held, for how much you sold etc all this and anything more that you can add regarding your experience from acquiring name to its sale.

above all i wish you the best with your ebook. cheers.

Thank you. I think I can cover all of that, maybe except "which extensions are overhyped"....as investor I would wish someone indeed overhype domain extensions I hold (from obvious reasons), but that is not very much happening (even making hype requires lot of time, money and energy from people making this hype and somehow we do not see that, yet).
Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[Brands.International]

If your goal is to educate, your going to have to go into detail about many "RENEWAL" issues....One issue is "grandfathering". This is not talked about, but there are two types of grandfathering.

A - Only the original registrant is protected from the increases. Once transferred, buyer pays increased fees.

B - The entire domain is grandfathered. Transfers don't have increased renewals.

Obviously, option B is much better, but it's best to know this before investing, or rather gambling, with the New G's....

Very good point! Believe or not, I am still investigating that in greater detail, and not all is clear yet. There are now around 500 active new extensions we can invest using major registrars, and at least 7 major players - registries, and lot of minor players - lot of different TOS there.So this is very important - when selling domains and presenting them to buyers, we need to be really sure it is option B) to avoid unwanted surprises. So far, and I did lot of tests with various extensions, I always encountered option B). I honestly do not want to even think there is somewhere option A)! Btw, have you seen some examples of A)? If so, please write me privately if you could, I would be very thankful to learn about them! Thank you.

 

[Internet.Domains]

Very good point! Believe or not, I am still investigating that in greater detail, and not all is clear yet. There are now around 500 active new extensions we can invest using major registrars, and at least 7 major players - registries, and lot of minor players - lot of different TOS there.So this is very important - when selling domains and presenting them to buyers, we need to be really sure it is option B) to avoid unwanted surprises. So far, and I did lot of tests with various extensions, I always encountered option B). I honestly do not want to even think there is somewhere option A)! Btw, have you seen some examples of A)? If so, please write me privately if you could, I would be very thankful to learn about them! Thank you.

Examples of option A are .edu and .tv.......
I have gotten mixed information from my registrar and corresponding registries. There is no consistency on this issue. This subject is confusing to some of the most seasoned veterans so it's only natural to be confused....Hence the gambling refererence.

 

[jmcc]

Explain clearly that new gTLDs are not like .COM. Some are domain name hacks and only a few are generic. Also cover the geographical breakdown of new gTLDs. Some large new gTLDs might appear like a good investment target but they may be completely Chinese dominated so English language keyword domains may not be worth as much as Chinese keyword domains.

Regards...jmcc

 

[Brands.International]

Explain clearly that new gTLDs are not like .COM. Some are domain name hacks and only a few are generic. Also cover the geographical breakdown of new gTLDs. Some large new gTLDs might appear like a good investment target but they may be completely Chinese dominated so English language keyword domains may not be worth as much as Chinese keyword domains.

Regards...jmcc

Thank you for great hints! Exactly - very important to distinguish between "narrow extensions" (what you called domain hacks - extensions where only few names are are really meaningful and of investment grade) and "broad extensions" (where you can register any keyword and it will be basically ok, as extension does not limit choice of keyword). .Com is totally generic, but new gTLDs are mostly very narrow (with few exceptions).

Geographical breakdown - important too - not good idea to register English keywords in Chinese dominated extensions (or German dominated extensions for that matter) - and lot of people are doing exactly that, basically wasting their money, as there is no liquidity to flip even for small amount of money for those names.

 

[atinc]

Wish you luck, let us know when it is ready

 

[Bob Hawkes]

A great idea for the book, lolwarrior, and I wish you well.

I would echo the importance of jmcc's comment that the n gTLDs are different from com, and expand on that in the ways they are used.

Here are a few suggestions I have:
(a) I've seen references to the fact public don't yet know and trust the new TLDs. Would love to see the specific research results on that, and if it is improving, and if some of the new TLDs are more public recognized than others.
(b) Is there a good automated tool for valuations of new TLD domain names that really has any validity?
(c) I would like to see a chapter on some success stories of either startups or businesses that rebranded to a new TLD and how it worked for them.
(d) I am partial to domain expressions/phrases, and clearly the new TLDs are ideally suited to that. Perhaps room for both discussion in general, and mention some great expressions that are already in use.
(e) Is there anywhere that is good or best for after market sales of new TLDs?
(f) A table with some of the top prices obtained by TLDs.

It would be wonderful if the book was published in a format such that updates could be easily incoporated (like the LeanPub model). I am not sure if this is realistic, though.

Best wishes, and we look forward to the product of your work.

 

[garptrader]

To assess new TLDs as investments, try to make some reasonable estimates of the total amount of money spent on new TLD acquisitions (considering premiums) and renewals vs. domainer to end user sales (domainer to domainer sales such as Travel.agency do not count and registry sales must be excluded because investors normally don't have access to the most logical combinations). Follow up on some published sales a year later and see how they were really used. Then gauge how the typical new TLD investor is doing in 2017.

 

[DnEbook]

LOL ...... just don't call it DnEbook, good luck!

 

[offthehandle]

To add some humor into it, write about who bought .horse extensions, how they are developed and used. Their traffic. Same with .accountants, .lawyer, etc. how many have been actually been developed and their traffic and consumer market acceptance. The end user market adoption is really the only valid research imho, flipping to other domainers isn't the market. Use the zone files, HosterStats data and Alexa, Quantcast to determine rankings and usage. X no. of accountants, X no. Of lawyers. .art dealers or artists who actually have their name being used. Wtf is .Fun being used for? I'd like to know that which extensions like .club are being a stand alone developed site and how many. Are they just "clubs"?, speculative only? As you know, I am strictly .com and cctld but would buy it to read what the end user adoption and real market data examples are of companies using the new extensions. Especially If it does not concentrate on wholesale markets, but end user markets. And how many percentage of sold and developed are stand alone and not purchased solely pointing to a .com, and their consumer actual customers usage and customer adapting and not confused about sending an email to JoeBroke@ accountant.com. Good luck with your project.

 

[imrankhan]

The renewal rates with New gtlds are not bad. Many extension renewals are in lines with .com.

I have written a book on sales for pharmaceuticals. It took me 1 year to complete with 48 hours a week effort.

A list of few points that you can cover in the ebook.
What is new Gtld? a) Public New gtld, b)Brand New gtld
Why was the new gtld program started?
How much brands invested for the extension. How are the brands using new domains?
Trademark clearing House?
What is registry and registrar?
Pros and Cons of New - Gtld - Refer this link www(.)linkedin(.)com/pulse/new-gtld-business-pros-cons-imran-khan
New gtld domain investment strategy -

a) Picking the right extension,
b) Domain Hacks,
c) one word domains,
d) Good domain extension pairing e.g. fashion.shopping, doctors.clinic, lingerie.sexy, etc.
e) Portfolio of mix of new extensions and .com,
f) New gtld are more of futuristic investments as compared to .coms
g) Financial planning for renewals,
h) Using domains by developing site, parking them or showing domains sales page.
i) Setting right price for domain sales
j)And more...​

Other Domain tools - www(.)sold(.)domains

Examples of how people have used new domain extensions.
Reserved Domains, Premium Domains
How to list domains for sale? e.g.undeveloped.com, sedo.com

If I keep adding more points, the book will be ready

 

[ivsprasad]

This image alone shows, how crazy i am about newgtlds. Only thing I feel is needed to be included is busting the myths.

ngtlds are not SEO friendly................many websites are ranking better than their .com counter parts
people get confused..........................every change brings greatest opportunities and world has to change ultimately.
No demand for ngtld..........................This is quite chicken and egg situation, if people promote, it will gain momentum
people cannot remember...................Rather these will become a natural way of naming websites, into natural phrases, with a dot before the last word. It would not take much time.
Traffic goes to .com counterpart.........Definitely, it is true, but what part, quite insignificant, because the content you provide, makes huge difference, if dot com is best, be the second best not a problem at all.
It is much better than compromising for a crooked domain for the sake of a dot com domain.
and so on... we need to give these wonderful domains a place they truly deserve on internet.

 

[Brands.International]

A great idea for the book, lolwarrior, and I wish you well.

I would echo the importance of jmcc's comment that the n gTLDs are different from com, and expand on that in the ways they are used.

Here are a few suggestions I have:
(a) I've seen references to the fact public don't yet know and trust the new TLDs. Would love to see the specific research results on that, and if it is improving, and if some of the new TLDs are more public recognized than others.
(b) Is there a good automated tool for valuations of new TLD domain names that really has any validity?
(c) I would like to see a chapter on some success stories of either startups or businesses that rebranded to a new TLD and how it worked for them.
(d) I am partial to domain expressions/phrases, and clearly the new TLDs are ideally suited to that. Perhaps room for both discussion in general, and mention some great expressions that are already in use.
(e) Is there anywhere that is good or best for after market sales of new TLDs?
(f) A table with some of the top prices obtained by TLDs.

It would be wonderful if the book was published in a format such that updates could be easily incoporated (like the LeanPub model). I am not sure if this is realistic, though.

Best wishes, and we look forward to the product of your work.

Thanks, mate, I really appreciate this! Very good idea to speak about automated tools - I am going to cover that, although I can tell now in short, that so far, I have run few thousands of new gTLDs through various automated tools, and I am very sure their output in form of numeric figure can be safely ignored in many cases, if not in the most of the cases, in 2017. I stopped to use them totally. The reason is, I noticed in a lot of cases they "spit" out a very low valuation to obviously very valuable domains which make fantastic commercial sense to a large pool of end users. At the same time, they gave XX XXX valuation to domains in form of (just an imaginary example as I do not wish to touch feelings of no one by chance) pizza.diamonds, which makes no sense whatsoever, just because (I suppose, as I can not explain it) both words are generally strong keywords. I think, because of large complexity of valuation of new gTLDs (the fact is no one really knows 100% at the moment how to valuate these, we have just some hints) it might take few years to make those algorithms more sensible

 

[Brands.International]

To add some humor into it, write about who bought .horse extensions, how they are developed and used. Their traffic. Same with .accountants, .lawyer, etc. how many have been actually been developed and their traffic and consumer market acceptance. The end user market adoption is really the only valid research imho, flipping to other domainers isn't the market. Use the zone files, HosterStats data and Alexa, Quantcast to determine rankings and usage. X no. of accountants, X no. Of lawyers. .art dealers or artists who actually have their name being used. Wtf is .Fun being used for? I'd like to know that which extensions like .club are being a stand alone developed site and how many. Are they just "clubs"?, speculative only? As you know, I am strictly .com and cctld but would buy it to read what the end user adoption and real market data examples are of companies using the new extensions. Especially If it does not concentrate on wholesale markets, but end user markets. And how many percentage of sold and developed are stand alone and not purchased solely pointing to a .com, and their consumer actual customers usage and customer adapting and not confused about sending an email to JoeBroke@ accountant.com. Good luck with your project.

I think this is a very good point. To be profitable, sales to end users need to exist. The larger the adoption of certain gTLD by end users, the larger is the probability of domain investor to make a great sale to such end users. For me personally, it is probably one of the most important indicators. When I see that certain extension is getting a quicker adoption than the rest and number of developed sites is growing, it is good indication that it might be an investment worth. The situation in new gTLDs is unfortunately complicated by several facts: 1st, some of them had rolled out in 2014, some went out in 2015, 2016, some in 2017, etc. Some are broad extensions, some are very narrow, so we can not expect numbers of narrow ones to be close to a number of broad ones and just to mechanically compare them. Also, the quality and geographics location of developed sites very much differ...so that all need to be taken into account. But there are definitely extensions which are doing better than others, and seems pretty solid at the moment. So I am going to point them out, but mainly I would like to write about how to check the facts, (as the situation will for sure be changing as time will pass).

 

[dsant]

Statistic on the best aftermarket platform to sale ngtlds, relationship on the typo of domains sold: (brand able/ vs LIquid vs exact match and relationships from acquisition and development by geo location