When i first started out buying domain names (before the “how long did it take you to invent that collective noun” term “domainers” was invented) my sole focus was on the acquisition of domains and other digital stock. I must have spent the best part of 4 years in the late 90’s / early 00’s making offers, searching endless lists of names at places like Pool.com (before, when every name they caught was yours and didn’t go to auction) and hand registering domains.
That was then.
I was having a conversation over instant messenger the other night with a group of experienced domain buyers and all to a man couldn’t remember the last time anyone carried out any similar behavior the likes of which I’ve mentioned above. Nowadays [they said], any domains they wanted they almost stalked, singled out and the acquisition of same was drawn out over lengthy negotiations. Ok, so these are experienced domains, the point?
Well, the general point to this post is about following the money. Like money investors, by the time the mainstream press are raving about how much money there is to be made in any particular sector, the “money” and by this i mean “the players” are already in there and have been in for some time. I was told by one VC recently that the time to bail from any market is when the time the TV start making pseudo fly-on-the-wall documentaries showing how effortless it is to make this “easy money”.
Back to domaining. If the original domainers had done with their time harvesting all the low hanging fruit, where and what are they doing now if they aren’t “domaining” anymore? It was interesting, I asked this question of the group and, again all to a [wo]man, the response was “developing”. I have to say, myself included. I was surprised however being that I hadn’t really seen too many of these prime generic domains come to market as rich and compelling websites yet. Most were, like myself, still being developed.
And, almost like it was “back in the day” when everyone was out hunting domains, the details of what was in development and what that development was going to end up being was, yet again, a closely guarded secret.
I recently joined facebook on the suggestion of the guy who probably owns the No1 domain name on the planet and im pleased to say that since i’ve taken him up on his suggestion Im also now friends with several other domainers, one of them being Sahar. Im sure he wont mind me reporting this, but recently he sent out a mail to his facebook network which gave a short synopsis about Recall Media and how they employ over 70 programmers who are busy building out their domains. Take a moment to digest that information, 70 programmers.
With all the talk recently about the demise of domain parking you have to ask yourself about the real players in this marketplace, what they are all seemingly doing now and how, through some sort of sixth sense / entrepreneurial strength (call it what you will), they naturally felt this impending domain parking storm approaching and so quietly went out and did something about it. You have to admire visionary people sometimes, dont you agree??
**nb** for all those facebook members interested in joining a cool domainers network, go here. You’ll find me here
[...] it looks like Sahar is no longer just a property owner. Julia writes: [R]ecently [Sahar] sent out a mail to his facebook network which gave a short synopsis about [his [...]
[...] be down around 50% for many people from last year, I see more and more domainers are developing and Julia mentioned as much on her excellent blog. There really is a turning of the tide and I think this will really ramp up overall domain and [...]
Good read! Came in via SMM and will subscribe to your RSS for sure!
Any examples of semi heavy developed domains sold would be very interesting.
Anders
Great any informative post – Thanks – Take Care
Thank you, Julia.
I enjoy and learn from your posts.
I started “domaining” in ‘97 and have only recently begun interacting with others in the business. You have pointed out the 85-90 “rule.” Like most things in life, I find that 85-90% of “domainers” are really hobbyists and about 10-15% are serious entrepreneurs in this field.
This 85-15 rule holds in most things: Churches usually get 85% of their contributions from 15% of their members. But the 85% may out-shout the 15%.
It stands to reason that some of the hobbyists and marginally successful “domainers” may out-shout the 15%.
And it may be that the decision-makers at places like Google may be part of the 85% when we hope they are in the 15%.
Pity, that.
If Sahar employs 70 programmers how come they aren’t even able to keep Bido online? I smell a puff.
Julia,
Great article! Parking will have its ups and downs.
There will be many more feeds in the future, everyone wants their share. I’m surprised facebook or myspace haven’t created their own feed service.
Domainers are inventive, they will be forced to develop, but the developement tools are still in their infancy.
Also, one thing that hasn’t been mentioned to often is the potential for huge revenues from international traffic.
I see international language ads as the next big thing in the domain and domain parking industries.
Jeff
Hi from Germany.
This blog has over time proven to be one of the most useful domaining sources for people outside the US, like me. Time to give something back;-)
Developing generic domains has been going on for quite some time in Germany by now. There is a strong market demand from existing media outlets and lecturing houses to buy such projects and pretty much getting their teeth in to the online business (as usual, they are about 2 years behind in the pickup of such approaches, compared to the US). While the sums are mainly “only” 6- and 7-figure sales for developed projects with a certified user base and traffic, it is still great return on investment considering that the required domains were picked up for low 5-figures at most.
Also, selling “international language ads” as the next big thing looks pretty weird from where I stand. Non-US centered Parking services such as NameDrive and Sedo (actually, these two are the only non-US centered I could name) have been doing this for ages. They have not only built the original core of their business on “international language ads”, but actually even deliver them in the proper IDN languages (I think NameDrive started this in 2006). Amidst the current outcry over at your side of the Atlantic about sinking Parking earnings or even withheld payouts, you hear very little from these “international” Parking companies about diminishing PPC. I can verify for my NameDrive account that it is as stable as ever, and hear little to no complaints from friends being parked at Sedo. Maybe it’s because these companies have focussed on catering to international (but real) traffic, instead of running all this arbitrage and rerouting crap that is now being tackled by Google.