Bob and Danica Should Split Up Already

I’m not following the logic.

Danica Patrick is not that hot or sexy – she’s a mildly attractive girl who drives a race car. And maybe that is what I’m missing. But still, at this point, the Bob and Danica relationship is about as fresh as a 1:00AM Skinamax movie.

For her continued usage and overusage and the GD car and the races, it all leads me to a singular conclusion: Bob Parson’s just loves hot girls and racing.

Why? Well, it’s either that or racing fans love to register domain names. I’m betting it is the former.

Regardless, it has grown tired and old and the most recent Super Bowl ads were no different.  Is sex the only way to sell domain names? I mean, do horny fifteen year old boys really register that many domains?

Because in the end it is the only demographic they really hit with their “too hot for TV” nonsense that I’m sure spikes their server but does little to nothing for domains, the industry, the perceptions of us – now people think we love frickin’ Nascar, soft porn and dudish-looking race car drivers.

And of course, like bad literature, at the top sits a grubby old dude who has obviously forked over enough to make Danica do the commercials – but by the look on her face – she certainly doesn’t like doing them. Looks like someone is sticking chopsticks between her toes when she talks.

So please, Bob, take a moment to reassess your relationship, the focus of the campaign and the message it is sending out over the airwaves.

Top Ten Things Overheard at DFG by G.Mansion

Senior DNN Entertainment Analyst, G.Mansion, reports from the shores of Santa Monica, where he spent time undercover as a local hobo during the DomainFest Global event held at the end of January. He reported the following and then disappeared into the Canadian Rockies.

10. “The man is human Restasis. His mere presence makes my eyes water.”

9. “Feel like I’m in a giant urinal” ~ at the Getty Center

8. “That’s the second time I’ve seen Triple G in a black thong.”

7. “Spike your hair any higher and you’ll be on Jersey Shore.”

6. “TheBestPrice.com is up for auction…for eighteen million” (insert irony/wisecrack here)

5. “First time I’ve ever seen anyone win a domain name for one dollar.”

4. “Trust me, you can’t smoke in here.” ~ The Penthouse, right before two guards tossed him out and one snuffed the heater on his hand.

3. “iThink the iPad iSucks.”

2. “No, he’s not a magician, he’s just happy to see you.”

1. “Would you like a hit, Monkey Lady?”  ~ At the Mansion, by the monkey cage.

Development Hell…How to Avoid

One of the most common questions I got in LA was about ‘developing’ domains – something for which I have extensive experience.

I’ve been designing sites since 1997 and spent a good chunk of time as the head designer for a very large public Internet firm, creating designs in the process for 3M, Motorola, Nabisco and more. I designed and programmed all the original MLB stores and was the main force behind NatGeo’s first shop as well. First time people voted for MLB All-Stars online was because of the work I did. I too am responsible for the TRAFFIC logo so well used in this biz, you’re welcome King!

So ‘bona-fides’ hopefully aside, I can give domainers some advice on development:

1. Develop or Develop
There are two types of ‘development’ we need to discuss here. The first is the ‘mini-site’ type development and the second is TRUE development, the source of innovation or compliment of a niche market.

The first type of development will only take you so far, the second is costly and difficult and long term – something domainers generally avoid.

Point is that all the investors that came in with dreams of large networks of sites were eaten up by their own lack of innovation. Mere ‘presence’ is no longer sufficient, you have to provide something of value.

2. The right domain CAN make all the difference
The moment HappyBirthday.com opened, it grabbed market share. If you are serious about the idea and the strategy behind it, then the value of the name grows exponentially in your mind’s eye.

But here lies the rub for domainers – they have a great idea for every domain they buy!

Again, you need to decide if you want to “develop or develop.” And then think again - I really want domainers to come to grips with the difficulty and expense as they seem to underestimate the impact of both on any given project.

I would recommend developing and working the idea a bit first, before spending great sums on a domain simply because of all the sugarplums dancing in your head.

3. Instant Gratification
From day one, the best thing to sell online has been anything that leads to instant results like adult or software or ebooks. Stay away from products and ideas that require additional outside labor, stick to “e-goods”.

4. Start Simple
I have a friend who spent nearly $250,000 just in the development of the site. It lasted less than a year. Start slow and small and expand from there.

5. Automate!
Every site I ever built was designed with automation in mind. Offer products and services and sites that run themselves, stay away from ideas that require heavy staffing.

6. K.I.S.S.

7. Focus on Quality

For one of my properties, I have simply focused from the first day on creating the best possible site I could, with the hope that simply doing so would make it stand out. And this may be the most important lesson of all.

It worked, it is a top 5,000 site in the US that got there organically and virally, is profitable, is loved by the search engines and has grown in brand and value. And all because the sole focus, and no other, was to build the best possible offering…period.

Based on the famous tenets of: if you built it really, really well…they will come.

Take that to the bank, or better yet, put it in a online savings account.

Is Your Domain Name Famous?

We are in the process of rebooting one of our favorite utilities, DNFame.com – an online tool that gives you a quick and easy snapshot of your site, it’s popularity, social bookmarks, indexing, site speed, name diagnosis, site rankings and graphs and much more.

Currently searches over 60 metrics including just added MySpace and Twitter plus a new SEO graph from SEMrush. We are attempting to include Facebook and StumbleUpon as well. Any and all other tools or data to add is welcome – we want DNFame to the best. Please excuse our dust while we work.

The site also includes our own secret Famous Rank – a formula that uses info from metric results and tabulates a ‘ranking’ from 1 to 10.

Is your domain name famous?

Notes on DomainFest

- The general consensus is that parking/ad spending trends are on the rise for the first time in many ages.

- The ‘older’ parking companies don’t seem to be innovating. Reliant on the old systems.

- Glad I stayed at the Huntley.

- The Getty Center party, while gorgeous and instructional, was very sterile. It should have been a day event. It was frickin’ cold up there too.

- Took me two days to get rid of the hangover I got at the Playboy Mansion. Not kidding.

- Most of the people in this industry are ‘talkers’, very few who actually ‘do’ anything besides talk about doing things. And they are easy to spot, they are more than willing to tell you EVERYTHING about their business. Doers keep their mouth’s shut.

- Santa Monica is a better spot than Hollywood.

- Seriously, if I see Ron Jeremy one more time, I’m gonna kick his disgusting ass.

- There were no new products to go “wow” over.

- .Co will do well but trying to sell it as a ‘brandable’ will be difficult. For one thing, it is TOO MUCH like the “.com.” If anyone tries to brand one, they will inadvertently brand the “.com” as well. Still, there is value there and speculators will likely eat and destroy the extension before it goes anywhere meaningful. As I’ve said before, the greatest advantage .com had is that it was built BEFORE the speculators came along.

Notes on the Auctions

- Feel bad for Rick. Development is VERY difficult.

- My overall feeling on much of the inventory for both auctions is that they really lack what domainers and buyers are looking for: premium and brandable generics. Guavas.com is just not going to excite anyone but perhaps Guava.com would because it is also a brandable.

- Two great deals: losangelespersonals.com and lasvegasinsurance.com both went SUPER cheap.

- Not crazy about names like “catfood.com” anymore.

- In regards to above note on GEO domains, it reminds me of last years GEO auction in San Diego. I have a buddy who is working to build his domain business and he asked me for advice. I said michigancarinsurance.com was going to go for a song and he should make sure to snap it up. He bought it for $750 and sold it in a few months later for 5x that amount.

- Despite the flaws in Latonas inventory, the Moniker catalog is worse. LOTS of names we’ve seen over and over again. It is becoming a reoccuring theme and good sign for domainers holding high quality, low exposure domains.

- I’ve been saying it for years, a successful auction relies on ONE thing: quality of inventory. Yet keep in mind that the definition of ‘quality’ is in constant flux.

- These days access to quality inventory is a matter of trust.

- DDN oversaturated and underpriced the GEO market, leading to sales as mentioned above which are well below what an end-user could afford or is willing to pay.

Domain Names as Investment Hedge – 7/08

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – In the spring of 2001, the Internet address Inbox.com was listed on eBay at $4,000 with no reserve. Now, in a clear sign of the times, the auction ended without any bids or bidders. After the auction, an astute DomainConsultant.com analyst emailed the seller and offered him $2,000 for the name. The buyer accepted the offer.

Sixteen months later, that domain name was sold to an end-user for 150x its initial cost or high six figures – far more than you can fit in a twin-size mattress.

Point is that 2008 is looking, in many ways, like 2001-2002 except this time the crisis is larger, global and based in excessive debt outside the technology spectrum.

In response, DomainConsultant.com, a prominent collective of successful “domainers”, has altered its client recommendations to promote domain names as an alternate hedge against a life-jacket economy, an option for a desperate populace.

People are moving money into no-interest T-Bills or simply holding tight to their cash and hoping their bank stays afloat and, if not, the FDIC doesn’t crumble under the weight of its insurance pledge. Indeed, some are staring at their mattresses as the last bastion of ‘safety’.

So what is an individual investor to do? If money is not safe in banks – where to put it? One possible answer, like in the early decade, is domain names. For several, concrete reasons:

- Domains are a global commodity. The Internet is not a singular institution, country or entity that can fail. It has a growing yet solidified place in a globalized, developing future.

- Domain names are not debt-based, benefitting from economic downturns and instability.

- Domains are inexpensive, intangible assets requiring little to no maintenance or overhead. Annual renewals have dropped to under $10.

- Unlike Lehman Brothers or Mac and Mae, the Internet is not going anywhere but up – especially with the next item as consideration.

- Energy issues/prices and depleted discretionary income will drive usage of the Internet as entertainment, news source, global connective, energy-savings source.

- The normal ‘hedge’ in these times is ‘gold’ but at nearly $900 per ounce, it is a prohibitive investment vehicle. And note, during the Great Depression, the government seized precious metals from its citizenry.

That is not to say that drops in domain value will not continue for a time – it is a natural devaluation based on economic conditions outside the industry. Nor is it without risk – cyber terrorism, fraud, spam and more conspire to define the ‘web’ in WWW.

No, it is to say that once and if this all shakes out, people will notice how the Internet weathered the storm and the idea of domains as ‘investment hedge,’ a place to put your money for tough times, may grow.

Now the key, of course, is to buy on the “low” side like inbox.com. In down cycle times like 2002, the opportunities and deals appear all around. After all, those who survived the ‘dot-com crash’, at present, make up a big chunk of the upper echelon of the domain industry and largely because they took advantage of the last, most recent ‘crash’.

DomainConsultant.com recently updated its market recommendation to clientele from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’. The change was made for many of the above reasons and based in no small part in current crisis events. Unless it all collapses, domains and the Internet are viewed as one of the most reliable and secure ‘safe harbors’ – if the name is quality, acquired at a proper price.

Is the timing right? Like actual real estate, inventory lists have shown a distinct rise in quality combined with a drop in pricing. If one could conjure a symphony of elements to produce deals in the marketplace, this would be the result, exemplified by offerings great and small. In short, time to buy.

Besides, the only other real and viable alternative may be to stick it under your Serta, until the waters calm and the storm, hopefully, passes without sweeping it away.

Best Films of the Decade

Here are the Top Ten best films of the decade as compiled by our resident film buff (and graduate!):

10. Murderball
9. Maria Full of Grace
8. Mememto
7. There Will Be Blood
6. No Country for Old Men
5. Children of Men
4. City of God
3. Lord of the Rings trilogy
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
1. Pan’s Labrynth

Welcome Back

DomainConsultant has taken a long hiatus but is now back for 2010 with a new site, layout and focus.

This site will be devoted to bringing you the latest and greatest from domainers that make up our firm. With dozens of years of experience and millions under our belts, we hope you’ll find the info here useful in your own domaining adventures. If not, contact us for custom services.

We are in the process of archiving all of our old articles and information, please note the original publication date.

Help Save a Life

This is a fellow domainer who is asking for help to help save his daughter.

All he is asking for is that you read this and spread the word and VOTE for this charity.

Take a couple of minutes out of your day and do this!!!

Dear Friends:

Please take two minutes to read this. Our charity is currently closing in on 5th place, with more than 30,000 votes, out of more than 500,000 organizations to win a $1 Million grant from Chase and we need your help to keep the momentum up through the end of final round voting on Friday, January 22.

I’ll try to make this as short as possible. Many of you know that my two-year-old daughter, Gwendolyn, has a terminal genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is the leading genetic killer of young children and at the ripe old age of 2, Gwendolyn is considered an outlier living with this cruel disease. Gwendolyn is awesome — in every way — plain and simple. But this degenerative disease has left my precious little girl completely paralyzed and dependent on machines to eat, swallow, cough, and breathe — while her mind remains untouched. In short, SMA is a brutal disease and we’re fighting to help cure it, hopefully in time to save Gwendolyn’s life.

Our nonprofit, the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, has a unique opportunity to win a $1 Million grant in the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook. How did that happen? Well, our supporters voted us to one of the top 100 organizations out of more than 500,000 charities in the first round and we’re now in 6th place with more than 30,000 votes in the final round. We’ve pledged 100% of anything we receive from Chase to SMA awareness and research programs and this amount of funding, which is extremely material to SMA programs, WILL help accelerate that CURE for SMA — no doubt about that.

So, please take a few minutes out of your day to help us out:

VOTE – Go to http://VoteForSMA.com to vote

POST LINK – Post the voting link – http://VoteForSMA.com – to your Facebook profile every day of this week

POST VIDEO – Post our campaign YouTube video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQkUwDEou7Q – to your Facebook profile

EMAIL – Forward the voting link – http://VoteForSMA.com – to at least 20 contacts and ask that they do the same

TWITTER – Use our creative http://VoteForACure.com Twitter app to spread the word

For more information on the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, please visit http://GwendolynStrongFoundation.org.

Thank you for your help. We can’t do this alone, but together we can make this $1 Million MIRACLE an SMA reality — for all of those impacted by this horrible disease!