Newbie lesson #1

[Biggie]

i decided to write this post because I see a lot of personal preferences being used to define Premium letters.

there is also quite a bit of "brain-washing" attempts going on by some who either get washed and are spreading the soap with their comments unknowingly, or those who mix the soap with water intentionally,to wash how you perceive domains and the industry as is and in the future.


first, let's talk about premium letters

i know i'll get flack for this, but imo.... there is no such thing!

there is only a preference for certain letters, and since preferences differ from person to person, then there can be no standard.

everybody likes something different, though many may prefer the same.

but do they prefer the same because they have been told so, or would they prefer something different if they could see higher or equal value?

it's hard to see value when you're consistently told what is and what is not.
and you'll never know true value, when others are defining it for you.

next:

brainwashing

comes from reading the same statements repeated over and over.

being quick to believe and perpetuate rumors and non-factual information.


if you keep reading that these are this, and those are that....soon you will come to believe in those separations, distinctions, predictions and discriminations....unless you do the research yourself.

here is one of the latest rumors going around which was either phrased as a question or given as a statement originally to someone.

"SE's penalize domains that are parked."

several resellers have used this line in part or whole, in an attempt to devalue my domains.

Fact:

type-in traffic is not dependant on SE's, so how could they penalize it?

as a note, these are the only category of domains where SE's have no control over.

to be continued....

 

[draggar]

I always thought the newbie rule #1 was always "don't register names because you think they are 'cool'".

You do have some good points, though, especially with SEs and parked pages - of course they are going to be penalized - there's no content in 99% of the parked pages out there! You can have Cars.com but if it is parked you can kiss any search engine traffic good buy, you'll only get type in and back link traffic.

 

[mulligan]

i decided to write this post because I see a lot of personal preferences being used to define Premium letters.

there is also quite a bit of "brain-washing" attempts going on by some who either get washed and are spreading the soap with their comments unknowingly, or those who mix the soap with water intentionally,to wash how you perceive domains and the industry as is and in the future.


first, let's talk about premium letters

i know i'll get flack for this, but imo.... there is no such thing!

there is only a preference for certain letters, and since preferences differ from person to person, then there can be no standard.

everybody likes something different, though many may prefer the same.

but do they prefer the same because they have been told so, or would they prefer something different if they could see higher or equal value?

it's hard to see value when you're consistently told what is and what is not.
and you'll never know true value, when others are defining it for you.

next:

brainwashing

comes from reading the same statements repeated over and over.

being quick to believe and perpetuate rumors and non-factual information.


if you keep reading that these are this, and those are that....soon you will come to believe in those separations, distinctions, predictions and discriminations....unless you do the research yourself.

here is one of the latest rumors going around which was either phrased as a question or given as a statement originally to someone.

"SE's penalize domains that are parked."

several resellers have used this line in part or whole, in an attempt to devalue my domains.

Fact:

type-in traffic is not dependant on SE's, so how could they penalize it?

as a note, these are the only category of domains where SE's have no control over.

to be continued....

Your post has merit insofar as regards the whole community until:

several resellers have used this line in part or whole, in an attempt to devalue my domains.

You are a moderator .. agenda pushing is not what you should be doing .. If you want to do that then resign your position and push all you like. You of all people shouldn't give a shit what people say. If it's worth $xxx.xxx then whats the issue?

 

[dcristo]

Fact:

type-in traffic is not dependant on SE's, so how could they penalize it?

as a note, these are the only category of domains where SE's have no control over.

I don't have enough experience with developing parked domains to agree or disagree, but I can comment on what you have stated.

If the new owner continues to park the domain then there is no issue because they are just relying on parking income.

BUT if the new owner plans to develop then there is potential for issues. In order for the online business to grow it doesn't just rely on type-in traffic. In fact, type-in traffic would make up less then 5% of traffic for a successful website. So if the domain was to be penalized in the search engines, the potential for growth is significantly impacted.

 

[Biggie]

Your post has merit insofar as regards the whole community until:



You are a moderator .. agenda pushing is not what you should be doing .. If you want to do that then resign your position and push all you like. You of all people shouldn't give a shit what people say. If it's worth $xxx.xxx then whats the issue?

no agenda other than trying to enlighten

just trying to open some eyes...and if yours are already open then why the beef?

also, every post i make is not about me being a moderator, i am also a member, domainer and reseller as well.

feel free to agree, or disagree if you like, but don't try use my position here against me.

 

[Vinnee]

SE's don't penalize directly. It's the algorithm that determines quality score. Of course, parked pages will not obtain quality points due to the fact there's no real content worth scoring. Just wanted to add to this myth that SE's directly penalize parked pages, they're not out to get parked pages...it's part of their revenue stream (and ours).

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Hey Biggie,

DNF has been online since when? They should have printed the domain bible a long time ago to avoid the constant monotonous rifts that goes on over here over which names are valuable and which are not. The forum has been quiet on this for long as I know or perhaps DCG never considered an educational material for newbies and all domainers alike worth its time.

Why is this important? This matters because I have to go extra lengths to educate prospective buyers, who have the cash but little knowledge on domain value other than the noise they hear on forums, industry newsletters and trade shows. And that would be fine by me, but not the rejection they deliver based on what they have heard and read from a few, (Who I won't name) who use the media to solidify their self interests.

Makes me sick to the bone.

If a majority in the domain name industry were knowledgeable, there would be no hyperbole, which we see and hear of those who control the domain media. Case in point - The ever growing hype on CCTLD's. This is done by design to inflate its values artificially within the industry. Whatever happened to the LLLL and L-L-L hype that persisted here for God knows how long?

It is time, domainers get educated on the true merits of domaining instead of running after dreams and especially artificial TRENDS manufactured by the few who simply happened to make some big sales and acquire title of an expert. Privately, I make some big sales too, but that does not qualify me to guide the next generation of domainers into a frenzy to fill my greedy coffers.

You raised an important issue. But where is this headed and what will be its outcome?

I find this topic too important to end up as another mud slinging thread.

 

[draggar]

DNF has been online since when? They should have printed the domain bible a long time ago to avoid the constant monotonous rifts that goes on over here over which names are valuable and which are not. The forum has been quiet on this for long as I know or perhaps DCG never considered an educational material for newbies and all domainers alike worth its time.

There are two reasons why a domain bible won't work.

First, and most important, the industry is constantly changing. What is valuable today is dirt tomorrow and most of the people doing comfortably well with it either got in early enough to be able to get many great generics and short domains.

Even the industry itself changes. At first it was simple buy and sell to end users. Wow. Imagine if it was that easy now? Then, parking came along. Wow, how great is that? Someone else develops the site with ads and you get paid for it! Well, even parking is starting to shy away and more and more people are going towards development (which is easier than ever today).

By the time the bible is created it will be out of date - even if it is an online Wiki.

Second - the domaining industry, for the lack of a better term, is like a confederacy. How many domainers are willing to REALLY help out new domains? No, I'm not talking about those eBooks for $50 that tell you how to go to a registrar (with their own affiliate code) and register a domain, then go to a parking company (again, with their own affiliate code) and park the domain with dreams of seeing parking revenue fly up. IN order to get any real lessons in it someone will have to shell out a bit of cash (yes, time is money, I know).

Sure, they say that there are still many "great" domains out there but I think this is just hype. IMO - great domains are like computers.com, travel.com, mortgages.com, insurance.com - most of these were snagged years ago (and the same with NN, LL, NNN, LLL .com domains).

To be able to get a start today you either need to find a niche which not many domainers are in (hard to find) or quickly jump on a trend (refinance.com, bailouts.com, swineflu.com etc..) - you need to be at your registrar and registering the domain the millisecond you hear about the news, there are thousands of others doing the same thing.

Not only that, the industry is full of greedy backstabbers - why would anyone want to risk having an apprentice only to have them come around and back stab them with a WIPO? We see people hand registering domains today just to file WIPO in an attempt to reverse-hijack high value domains. We all see scams every day and most of us can spot them a mile away but even a highly respectable person can have their account hacked and then take advantage of many people.

Hell, we've already seen people take posts out of this forum and try to sell them as a domaining eBook (anyone remember that one??).

Honestly, I find these points very sad. You don't see this is many other industries. This industry could easily be so much more if it wasn't for the bad element and the majority of the god element being afraid of being taken advantage of by the bad element.

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Drag,
By further explaining, you thrashed my post completely. (I mean in a very good way).

Like Biggie did, there has to be some BODY countering the lies and myths being slapped all across domain land.

 

[draggar]

Someone - definitely, but who?

The big players are sitting comfortably on their millions made and are able to easily defend themselves from most WIPO cases (no offense to any of them here). They rarely get hit with the scams because they've been in the industry long enough to not get hit by them. They have the power but very few, if any, are doing anything about the condition of the industry. I've even tried to see if any in Florida would be willing to run for senate against Mr. Snowe Bill banner carrier, Bill Nelson himself, no responses.

The little guys (and hobby domainers) will get squashed like a bug on an 18-wheeler's windshield. The little guys are having a hard time deciding if they should renew domain A or B counting their finances in $7-$10 increments.

The people in the middle are working hard to keep their own businesses going as strongly as they can.

WIPO is a joke that clearly favors TM holders and complainants (I've seen some very sad ones). The only punishment for abusing WIPO is the fee.

I haven't seen the ICA do much over the past several years (didn't one of the founding members resign from them last year?).

ICANN only wants to bring in more money so their head honchos can buy the newest "things".

Parking companies, even though they rely on us for their revenue streams, generally don't get involved with things like this since they seem to have the mentality that they aren't effected by this.

Registrars won't get involved - they'll still get their renewal fees no matter who they come from and how the domains were acquired.

The sad truth is that many people believe that "I won't make a difference" which isn't true. Just imagine if this community (active members) got involved? You do have some high rollers in the game, Adam (GoDaddy), Donny (Parked.com), Moniker, Sedo, and I'm sure a few others. We have many middle-level players and many lower end players. We'd have the whole spectrum there and I'm sure if THIS community banded together we might get some changes made.

But - we're all busy. I have my full time job, someone else has their business to run, and so on.

 

[tzsxc]

first, let's talk about premium letters

i know i'll get flack for this, but imo.... there is no such thing!

The premium letter is a 1st order filter for a name. The frequency of letter as it appears in the english language is important for acronyms. What i am saying is that there is logic behind the term. Now to truly value a name, one has to go beyond that and check various other factors. But for the acronym domainer, it is too many domains to comb thru. Think of it as a lazy man's filter.

 

[Biggie]

Hey Biggie,

DNF has been online since when? They should have printed the domain bible a long time ago to avoid the constant monotonous rifts that goes on over here over which names are valuable and which are not. The forum has been quiet on this for long as I know or perhaps DCG never considered an educational material for newbies and all domainers alike worth its time.

Why is this important? This matters because I have to go extra lengths to educate prospective buyers, who have the cash but little knowledge on domain value other than the noise they hear on forums, industry newsletters and trade shows. And that would be fine by me, but not the rejection they deliver based on what they have heard and read from a few, (Who I won't name) who use the media to solidify their self interests.

Makes me sick to the bone.

If a majority in the domain name industry were knowledgeable, there would be no hyperbole, which we see and hear of those who control the domain media. Case in point - The ever growing hype on CCTLD's. This is done by design to inflate its values artificially within the industry. Whatever happened to the LLLL and L-L-L hype that persisted here for God knows how long?

It is time, domainers get educated on the true merits of domaining instead of running after dreams and especially artificial TRENDS manufactured by the few who simply happened to make some big sales and acquire title of an expert. Privately, I make some big sales too, but that does not qualify me to guide the next generation of domainers into a frenzy to fill my greedy coffers.

You raised an important issue. But where is this headed and what will be its outcome?

I find this topic too important to end up as another mud slinging thread.

Thanks for your imput


if someone did write a dn bible, could they do it without putting their own spin on it?

most people like to talk about the good parts...the big sales, revenues etc
and leaving the other points for you find out on your own.


those points you mentioned about what ever happened to "L-L-L.com" hype and other cctld media marketing frenzies are some of the scenerios i had in mind for starting this thread..

these are all designed to rotate the money from one pocket to another.
they can also serve to divert you from your current path of success.

you could be doing your thing in your own niche', then you start seeing "L-L-L.com" countdown threads and "only 657 NNNNN.com domains available to reg" threads.

so you go and invest some money in those markets.
next thing you know...the publicity dies and you're stuck with some very "hard to move" domains.

sure the lucky few who got in first and helped "blow-up" the "perceived demand" will always make some profits.

the "johnnie come lately's" again will be stuck holding the bag.

i personally don't read ALL of the dn news sites and newsletters, simply because there is too much distraction there.

everybody seems to have a blog, newsletter or dn news reporting website.
those who read and post links to them, help to persuade others to read the same articles.

nothing wrong with that, as it's good that individual domainers strike out on their own and develop these entities.

many of them can be quite influential with the predictions and observations, and some people hang on every word that some of these publications write about.

though when you've been doing what you do for a while with some success, the news stories about what name sold for what price, become more of an expectation than a news item.


i do concede that there is too much info for a newbie to soak in, no matter how fast or motivated they are to learn or experience it.

they just have to resist the urge or tendency to put all their faith in one source or a few sources of information.


imo...

 

[Gerry]

For the record:

I agree 110% with biggies's statement;

several resellers have used this line in part or whole, in an attempt to devalue my domains.

I hardly think any one can disagree.

The simple fact that he inserted the word "my" has some people claiming that this is a personalized agenda is poppycock.

If that is the sticking point, the perhaps biggie needs to remove that word from the sentence.

Then, you can focus entirely on the point being made and find disagreement with that.

 

[Biggie]

For the record:

I agree 110% with biggies's statement;

several resellers have used this line in part or whole, in an attempt to devalue my domains.

I hardly think any one can disagree.

The simple fact that he inserted the word "my" has some people claiming that this is a personalized agenda is poppycock.

If that is the sticking point, the perhaps biggie needs to remove that word from the sentence.

Then, you can focus entirely on the point being made and find disagreement with that.

Thanks Doc!

i glad you could see past the "kill the messenger" attempt

as i couldn't write it without saying "my" domains, unless someone else showed me example or concurred that the same thing or similar tactics were used on them.

but i'm not mad because people try things like that, i know it's all part of the domain game.

 

[Gerry]

I just find it ludicrous that out of all that content someone wants to take issue with on word - the word my.

To focus on one single word is non-sense, especially when you started out by saying...

i decided to write -

 

[mjnels]

You are a moderator .. agenda pushing is not what you should be doing .. If you want to do that then resign your position and push all you like. You of all people shouldn't give a shit what people say. If it's worth $xxx.xxx then whats the issue?

moderator? so what.

im not sure why people always say this on forums... moderators are members too. this is not a political office dude.. welcome to the internet, we all have opinions here.

 

[David G]

moderator? so what.

im not sure why people always say this on forums... moderators are members too. this is not a political office dude.. welcome to the internet, we all have opinions here.

ditto.

 

[RANGER]

tritto.

 

[furca]

Right now it's all about the 2 word combinations that make sense and get monthly searches. I am going after these like hotcakes now!

 

[Gerry]

hotcakes now!

HotCakes.com taken, regged since '98.