Allen’s E-Commerce Blog

The big buzz in the domain name industry

Posted by Kevin under Humor, Marketing Resources & Tools

Reposted from DNJournal : Ron Jackson

The big buzz in the domain industry over the past 24 hours has centered on Google’s announcement yesterday that they have opened up their AdSense for domains program to all North American publishers (domain owners), with other regions soon to follow. That means that

anyone can now park their domain names directly with Google. In addition to potentially siphoning customers away from parking companies, this, for the first time, opens the PPC door to those who did not have a large enough portfolio, or domains of high enough quality, to get an account with one of the parking companies that have traditionally served as the middlemen between Google and individual domain owners.

Many are declaring the move is a death sentence for Google’s parking company partners, like DomainSponsor, Sedo and Fabulous, but it is far too early to determine what impact this will have on PPC providers who offer the Google feed. It will all boil down to one question - can those who go direct to Google make more money than they can make using one of the parking companies? We won’t know the answer to that until those who make the switch start reporting on whether their revenues are going up, down or staying the same.

On the surface it looks like a no brainer - if you cut out the middle man and go direct you are bound to collect more money, right? Not necessarily and in this case probably not even likely. I have used AdSense in the past and (like many others I have spoken with) have found the payouts to be underwhelming to say the least. In addition, there are a lot of problems with Google’s offering, starting with an archaic system for implementing their parking program.

You can’t just change nameservers like you do with the PPC companies - for each domain you have to setup CNAME and A records (and more than a few people will have no idea what that even means). Their landers look like “throwback jerseys” - pages from a time long ago - just a list of links with no graphics and no way to do critical keyword optimization. In another major drawback, those who want to let visitors know the domain is for sale have no way to do that either and that could mean forfeiting the ultimate payoff - sale of the domain itself.

Below is an example of a Google AdSense for domains landing page.

The ability to optimize pages, add relevant graphics and custom content, utilize cutting age management and reporting features are all value added services the parking companies have provided. Google is going to have to pay individuals a nice premium to get them to forgo all of those things or they are going to have to match those services point by point with something just as good or better.

Over time maybe they will do that. In the short term maybe they will pony up and pay more to get people to switch now - or maybe they won’t. For now they may be content just to pick up some of the stragglers who can’t get parking company accounts. Google has never been one to nibble around the edges though - they only think big - so I’m sure they have something more in mind as time goes on. There is no doubt the PPC companies need to accelerate planning (that most already have underway) for a day when Google (and probably Yahoo too) decide to cut them out of the picture all together.

This episode has featured quite an ironic twist. At the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Orlando last spring there was a lot of hubbub about rumors Google was going to pull the plug on the entire domain channel (in other words not monetize domain traffic at all). Instead they have just embraced the channel and possibly taken the first step toward pulling the plug on their parking company partners instead.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder Rick Schwartz has been a parking company critic in the past. He is currently out of the country on a vacation cruise ship, but I managed to track him down this morning to see what he thought about Google’s move.

“I think the numbers will tell the real story,” Schwartz said. “The interface each PPC company uses and how well they filter the traffic (to eliminate junk traffic) will be what determines the future of PPC companies. This may be more complicated than it might appear.

I think the question really is “What is the motive for Google in this decision?” Was the motivation to cut out the middleman or is their decision based on economics and the economic turbulence we are about to enter or is it a

Rick Schwartz
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder

future house cleaning to have more control and identify those with trademark and other questionable traffic? It may end up being a mixed bag but for now it seems like a positive development and maybe trying to insure their hold on the space from a serious challenge by Microsoft or others in 2009,” Schwartz said.

“Hopefully this will open up new opportunities to maximize the value of our traffic. We’ll know in the upcoming months. May be good for some, disaster for others and may have several phases as it plays out. Parking companies may or may not survive as they have been bleeding all year and now this is like a giant blood vessel that just exploded. The weak are going to fold. The strong are going to fight for their very survival, growth is gone,” Schwartz concluded.

In times like these, you had
better have an ace in the hole.

However this plays out my personal opinion is that for real control of their own destiny, domain owners must find an alternative to relying on Google and Yahoo for their primary revenue streams. That is way too much power to give anyone over your life.

The current best solution I see is to get serious about development. It is true that development cannot be done on the massive scale that parking accommodates, but if you can develop just one site on a subject you are truly passionate about, one appealing enough to attract direct advertiser relationships, that one site could produce more revenue than thousands of parked domains put together. It will also give you a revenue stream that Google and Yahoo have no influence over, so if your parking revenue completely evaporates, you will still have an ace in the hole.

The ability to create multiple revenue streams is what makes the domain business such a beautiful thing. You can make money parking, make it selling or leasing domains, or make it by building a business or media property on the domain. Those who are smart do it all. You never want to be dependent on any one of those streams. The path to freedom is there. Don’t let a new wrinkle in the parking game distract you from it. Get on that path so that you are the one who has control of your future.

How trying to find a job on a sidewalk can relate to domain names!

Posted by Kevin under Branding, Domain Name News, Domain Names, Entrepreneur, Humor, Marketing Resources & Tools, Money & Finance, My Thoughts On The Internet, News Stories That Interest Me, Online Marketing

An out-of-work banker who became a symbol of the looming financial crisis by trudging Manhattan streets wearing a sign advertising “MIT grad for hire” has landed on his feet - scoring a well-paying job at an accounting firm.

In a more hopeful sign of the times, Joshua Persky got rid of his sandwich board and demonstrated that creative people can bail themselves out without any help from the government.

I came across this news story You can read the full article here

But after reading it a couple things really hit me and how it his basic story applies to the internet, domain names, marketing and so much more. I think the first thing that hit me was having the courage or “balls” as I would say it since I tend to say it how it is rather some “PC” bullshit but anyways this guy had the courage to set aside his pride and take measures into his own hands and do what he needed to do to take care of his needs and his family!

I think a lot of domainers and for the most part entrepreneurs in general sometimes need to check pride and ego at the door and just do what they need to do. Whether that’s taking on a partner because your skill set alone isn’t able develop a web property, running and growing a business properly, marketing efficiently, web programming, cash flow/finances, or whatever it might be that your skill set or situation is missing for your venture to shine. Sometimes making some concessions here and there are needed to get a desired outcome and other times patience is needed for that. This guy did just that… Set up shop on the curb and pimped himself to bankers, accountants, stock traders and anyone in the financial district in downtown new york and had the patience to do it for a couple months.

The second thing that hit me was the simple notion that he “Got it”, You might be asking what it is he got, but us domainers, or real estate investors know this all too well… location location location. This guy parked his unemployed ass on a street exactly where his audience / customers would most likely come through the city streets in the financial district. Now that last sentence said a lot, but I will break it down a little… Location is one piece of the puzzle for businesses, the second thing was traffic which in my eyes was most important. You can have a great location with traffic or without depending on your particular situation/plan and what the location does for you, increases sales? brand awareness, raw materials, talent, etc….

He figured out that in the end it more effective to play the numbers game more effectively than sitting at home pressing the submit button to hundreds of online job applications, mailing and calling with no luck for hours on end. The best analogy would be going duck hunting with a sniper rifle from a long distance or sitting behind some brush by a pond that ducks ALWAYS come to with a automatic shot gun with a 30 round clip, then again shotguns don’t have clips last I checked but you get the point.

Choosing to setup shop in prime location, targeted audience of thousands of bankers, accountants, lawyers, stock traders, investors all walking the streets in the financial district every day who probably know someone who could use a banking / finance guy… How many streets in America or job sites could one find a comparable location and marketing opportunity to expose your talents, products, and or services?

You can’t!

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“In his weeks as a walking classified ad, he got several job interviews.”

“Obviously, I had vigorous interviews, but I think it was [the blog] which sealed the deal,” Persky said.”

——————————–

This is the same thing any Web developer, business owner, or domainer faces. For the developer its finding the right thing to develop at a given location in a specific time period of time. The business owner is very much in the same boat as the developer but he also faces picking the right location, having the right product or bait, and having traffic to feed his business… The domainer or e-real estate investor has to pre emptively forecast where people will want to be in the future for development whether for himself, other real estate investors, or someone else. The other argument a real estate investor can ask himself is can I broker or rent this space / traffic to someone else for a profit.

“The publicity I got from the sandwich board encouraged me to set up a blog to document my experience,” said Persky, 49.

A headhunter spotted the blog and brought it to Weiser’s attention.

“Obviously, I had vigorous interviews, but I think it was [the blog] which sealed the deal,” Persky said.

“It feels so great to be back at work. I went through some frustrating times, but every day I tried to be optimistic.”

He posted the happy news on his blog and got cheers from around the world.

Now the father of five - who declined to discuss his new salary - is looking forward to being reunited with his family.

His wife and youngest kids, 4 and 5, had moved to her parents’ home in Nebraska to save cash. But they’ll be returning to New York after the end of the school year.

“We’re looking forward to being back together,” he said. “It’s hard being a telephone dad.

“There is all this holiday spirit around me, all these holiday parties, and I’ve got such a lot to be grateful for myself. It’s like I’m celebrating twice this year.”

Online entrepreneurs should take note it can be done, you just have to position yourself to be ready when the opportunity presents itself.

Need I say more? Whats a good domain name worth to a legit business…

Posted by Kevin under Domain Names, Humor

NFL’s Gun Safety PSA!

Posted by Kevin under Humor

Search Engine Rap Battle

Posted by Kevin under Humor

I ran across a couple youtube videos while watching my home boy chuck from poplabs and low and behold a gem of a find… check out http://www.searchenginerapbattle.com

A day In The Life Of What Running a Web Hosting Business Is Like

Posted by Kevin under Humor

A day In The Life Of What Running a Web Hosting Business Is Like