HUGE STORY ON DOMAINS - Business 2.0 on Kevin Ham

[melmunch]

It's also a pretty good scoop, if even John Berryhill didn't know who had struck the cm deal. He usually knows everything.

 

[dotNetKing]

Didn't I read in the article that Ham is helping these countries monetize their domains.

Will they not be earning a decent amount of income for the benefit of the country by working with Ham, which they wouldn't otherwise have?

 

[petrosc]

The way i read it, you can still register .cm domains.

It is only un-registered .cm domains that are re-directed

you cannot register .cm names. Last year, I sent an inquiry to camtel asking if I could register a .cm name. Obviously I wanted to register a few. They replied that anyone in the world can register a .cm name. I did not rush it much and for a few months the issue was pending. After a few months I tried to register a .cm name and I got a response that they cannot be registwered unless you are a cameroonian citizen or run a business there. I have even heard of domainers who failed to get a .cm name, even after recruiting cameroonians to register the names for them.


Now regarding the article...... My first reaction was :

I had no idea who Kevin Ham is, that he owned Hitfarm and that he is behind the .cm scheme! Did people know that he is behind this scheme or was this revealed recently? He is in serious trouble now I would suppose...

 

[GAMEFINEST]

Great article

 

[SuccessClick]

Stephen, it's right that the article will be read by many investors from outside the domain industry. But wouldn't you agree that the article is rather negative? It portraits domaining as a get-rich-quick scheme and talks in length about how one can make millions of dollars from typos. The CNBC On The Money clip is even more negative for the domain industry, talking about nothing but typosquatting.

Yes, you have a good point, but you know the old adage "say what you want about me, but spell my name right."

Even though the article and the CNBC piece like to take subtle jabs at domainers, you can see their human frailties through the mist of their tears, caused by an overwhelming emotion called "jealousy". The point really is this:

The value of domains is unmistakenable, and any marketing director wishing to enhance the value of their company's online presence should understand by now and pursue domain purchases, or quit their job. From the viewpoint of being a writer for an Madison Ave Ad agency, I've said this for years to any company or person not "getting it" about domains:

There is NO other advertising or marketing medium, dollar for dollar, that can beat and OUTLAST an investment in a good keyword domain name that has traffic, and generically represents the company's product or service. Ad agencies will spend their client's money by the millions in TV, magazine, newspaper, radio advertising, and marketing events and gimmickry, and the company's investment fades after the ads and commercials disappear. The company again pays their ad agency millions to come up with ANOTHER ad campaign, hopefully with some sticky power for branding "Where's the Beef?" (does everyone still remember this was a popular Wendy's commercial?) But nailing that perfect branding slogan that the consumer will remember after they've turned the page in their Newsweek magazine is rare and extremely expensive.

Compare that with spending $2 million for a domain that brings in a million or more visitors to their website the first year, then spending $10 to renew the domain for the next year for the same or better returns, and the next year and on and on. The domain continues to bring in dividends as long as typein traffic exists. What other advertising or marketing effort or medium can compete with a good domain name based on PRICE and LONGEVITY of ROI? There aren't any.

If the news agencies are reporting snidely about this power and ability for domainers to make money by just being smart enough to understand what kinds of domains to buy, it's not because they hate domainers, it's because they wish they "got it" 10 years ago, too. :yes:

But ultimately, this type of coverage is geared towards projecting the incredulous fact that a huge amount of the business community still "don't get it" about domains. There's more discussion about the "common thinking" by marketing directors today, but I'll talk about that later. To a domainer who wants to sell their domains to the "end user", a marketing director (or VP of BD) is their most important contact for high end sales.

I'm surprised by all the positive comments this article is getting.

If you ask me, I don't think Kevin Ham is a great poster boy for the domain industry.

He's an admitted domain taster, .cm squatter and typosquatter. Not that this is really anything wrong with any of those but it does get into the sleazy side of the business.

And, this makes the cover of the magazine.

NOT a great day in domain history if you ask me.

The point is that the business industry wants to make money, and sees opportunities to do anything LEGAL to accomplish their success. Offshore bank accounts by major corporations attempting to bypass paying taxes isn't nice, either, but tens of thousands of companies do it. Healthcare ripoffs are common, even your cellphone company is ripping you off for a few nickels every month. These are all reported stories on business.

Kevin Ham did something that put him where none of us are sitting, and he didn't do it by doing anything illegal, just crafty and smart. I know I sure couldn't have thought of the things he's figured out. Good or bad, the overlying strength of the article is "DOMAINS ARE VALUABLE!"

And that's a good thing for us.

But I share your concern about domainer's image, and I'm on record for that. So I created a topic session at the DRT 2007 in August that addresses this very issue, how to present a reputable image for the domain industry. Audience feedback and suggestions, live surveys to find some good answers to that question. I think your point is a very important one and something all of the domain industry has to consider as we move forward into the future.

 

[BostonDomainer]

Very well said Steven.... very well said... the second the business world really gets it... alot of domainers will be sitting pretty

 

[thevirtual]

Here is an interesting followup, from the Business 2.0 blog, which includes a response from a "Cameroonian IT professional"

http://blogs.business2.com/sloan/2007/05/yahoo_outsmarts.html

According to this blog, someone recently registered Google.cm and a few others after this article was published. Probably not a smart move...

I had no idea who Kevin Ham is, that he owned Hitfarm and that he is behind the .cm scheme! Did people know that he is behind this scheme or was this revealed recently? He is in serious trouble now I would suppose...

As it says in the article, there is not likely to be any legal trouble for Ham, as he hasn't claimed ownership of these domains, he is only using a wildcard etc...

 

[SuccessClick]

I'm surprised by all the positive comments this article is getting.

If you ask me, I don't think Kevin Ham is a great poster boy for the domain industry.

He's an admitted domain taster, .cm squatter and typosquatter. Not that this is really anything wrong with any of those but it does get into the sleazy side of the business.

And, this makes the cover of the magazine.

NOT a great day in domain history if you ask me.

Very well said Steven.... very well said... the second the business world really gets it... alot of domainers will be sitting pretty

Thanks X. As one bro to the other, though, MAN YOU GOTTA GET OUT OF THE SUN! Your sunscreen IS NOT WORKING!! :lol:

That is one absolutely cool looking avatar you got going. I'm jealous!:upset:

Yep, the real money path for domainers who have keyword generic domains is educating the marketing departments of the businesses that match the domainers niches and categories. Once the domain industry has made inroads towards publicity and acceptance on domain values in this sector -- BAM! Rush on domains, price doesn't matter, competing businesses for certain domains, bidding goes up, domain values shoot up, and I foresee it like a snowballing affect. (I won't use the word "ballooning" or "bubble". LOL).

Meet, greet, and educate the end users en masse.

 

[droplister]

I think history shows us African governments work far differently than US.

 

[snicksnack]

you cannot register .cm names. Last year, I sent an inquiry to camtel asking if I could register a .cm name. Obviously I wanted to register a few. They replied that anyone in the world can register a .cm name. I did not rush it much and for a few months the issue was pending. After a few months I tried to register a .cm name and I got a response that they cannot be registwered unless you are a cameroonian citizen or run a business there. I have even heard of domainers who failed to get a .cm name, even after recruiting cameroonians to register the names for them.


Now regarding the article...... My first reaction was :

I had no idea who Kevin Ham is, that he owned Hitfarm and that he is behind the .cm scheme! Did people know that he is behind this scheme or was this revealed recently? He is in serious trouble now I would suppose...

You can register .cm domain, you just need to know how to do it!

 

[typist]

Did people know that he is behind this scheme or was this revealed recently? He is in serious trouble now I would suppose...

Kevin wasn't exactly unknown. Some even asked him if he was behind the .cm-deal. Apparently he never confirmed it previously, but the IP addresses of the landers gave it away anyway.

He's not doing anything illegal with .cm, and I don't think he's in serious trouble, but he may get more (unwanted) attention. I'm surprised he went public with this - I don't really understand why.

 

[Sarcle]

I actually posted a similar story, from a blog, in the gold section I wanted the newer members to be able to see it.


http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?t=229925

This is what you call a hypocrite!

 

[typist]

This is what you call a hypocrite!

imho 9 out of 10 successful internet entrepreneurs who scorn tm monetization are hypocrites.

 

[Chappy]

The cat is out of the bag....

The competition is about to be more fierce than ever...

 

[SuccessClick]

You can register .cm domain, you just need to know how to do it!

Please tell us how! I'm sure many of us are interested. I heard at this point it wasn't possible because KH has the system locked down. haven't found any path to buying a .cm domain, plus be prepared to pay a LOT of money for one.

:disappointed:

 

[snicksnack]

it was never easy to get .cm domains even before the wildcarding but it was possible and still is.

 

[acronym007]

This article is excellent, it does a great job of defining the terms. Whether negative or positive it's informative. You can actually point someone to this article and without hype they can learn some things about direct navigation. I commend this type of media, this type of reporting. No business is without flaws or marks and ours is none different. We have our bads guys, (true cybersquatters), good guys (Ham) and our gray areas. We may not like that he got .cm wildcard but let's face it, ICANN is the only way to blame they could of done something in the rules to prevent this type of behavior but no one seen it coming so I say congratulations to a very smart, intelligent business man who seen and opportunity and took it. I wish I was in that position, don't you just slap yourself in the head and go duh, why didn't I think of that. LOL

 

[gemsergio]

Tsk I sent a friend of mine in Cameroon we have 4 trademarks he spoke with local authority and we got nothing.
I got scammed a few yrs back by a lawyer in Cameroon.
BY NO INSTANCE INVEST ANY MONEY IN CAMEROON.
They are the worst of all the worst.

 

[acronym007]

Tsk I sent a friend of mine in Cameroon we have 4 trademarks he spoke with local authority and we got nothing.
I got scammed a few yrs back by a lawyer in Cameroon.
BY NO INSTANCE INVEST ANY MONEY IN CAMEROON.
They are the worst of all the worst.

I have found allot of these countries are horrible. I have a great Palastinian domain name (.ps). Renewing the domain was a nightmare. The email addresses, all of them for the company don't even work, I had to contact the registry itself, the registrar doesn't even update my info to say the domain is renewed. It's a joke. That's another reason why .com is so successful and always will be, it's run properly. Buyer Beware for anyone registering in any third world foreign country. I could share some nightmares.

 

[H2FC]

I don't know about the rest of you but my moral convictions tell me that what Ham is doing is a disgrace to all Americans and especially to domainers. There should be laws that would prohibit people from making shady deals with the crooked elements in any government that would deny the common people what is legally theirs. The people of Cameroon are being cheated out of the use of their country name extention by the extremely high registration fees so the vast majority of names will remain unregistered and thus provide more profits to the criminals by the use of Ham's shady scheme. This is very unethical in my opinion and reflects a bad image on the whole domain industry. This is the kind of stuff ICANN should put a stop to immediately.

If you haven't already done so, go to http://blogs.business2.com/sloan/2007/05/yahoo_outsmarts.html and read the article posted by Frank, a Cameroonian IT professional. Thanks to "thevirtual" who gave us that story in post #27.