Dec 21 2007
The Game Plan (Complacency Stunts Growth)
Com·pla·cen·cy: A feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.
It is normal human behavior to embrace the characteristics described in this definition. Most domainers who are very successful often become complacement because they have reached a sense of self-satisfaction and security. This happens in every industry (Except Google.com). Microsoft.com could have kept google.com from being who they are today, if only complacency wouldn’t have over taken them in focusing on only software platforms and the Xbox. Imagine if they had continuously strived to exploit every avenue on the internet into revenue streams. They would be where google is today 10 times fold.
Realestate, Cars, and Recruitment are the top 3 advertising categories in 2008 businesses will be spending on local search online. Some $5 billion will be spent on local search alone. Most geo domains fall right dab in the middle of these hot categories. If you are not promoting one of these top 3 on your developed applicable domains, then you need to make it a priority. If you do not own any, go out and acquire some. If you own some and they are not developed, develop them. If you own a city.com name, and are not focused in these areas thoroughly, now is the time to prepare a game plan for early 2008 to do so. All 3 should be exploited on your city.com domains to ensure you are maximizing your revenue stream possibilities. PPC is the thief of time for domainers and the number one culprit for most complacency in the domain industry.
Complacency stunts growth in any organization, the moment we become complacent in the domain industry, is the moment the guy with ChicagointheSky.com takes away a large volume of business advertisers from Chicago.com, ChicagoHomes.com and ChicagoJobs.com for example. Don’t be that person that settles for a $1.00 when you can make $100 getting involved in your domain with current trends!
Sieze the opportunity and never settle for the bare minimum. When you can do this consistently, ”You will win the race before it even begins!” This is my number one goal for 2008.
Have a great day,
Steve
Steve, you hit the nail right on the proverbial head. The reason Google is so powerful is that they mostly control one of the five basic tenants of the internet. That being gopher. That would be like one company running email or http://WWW. The reason they have become too powerful. Many domain owners have given market share to them by not developing good names into viable sites. The GeoDomains have an advantage being that we can all help each other through a group like Associated Cities and we don’t compete in our respective markets. We actually encourage each other to use proven marketing strategies that each of us has learned over the years.
If the public starts using the URL more to find good content then we will see Google and Yahoo diminish in their power. When good domains are used for PPC we are giving that name to Google or Yahoo because their PPC links are resolved by their advertisers not ours. When we develop we become the masters of our own universe. The customer bypasses the middleman and empowers themselves right to the businesses.
The .mobi registrar makes it mandatory that a .mobi name be developed within six months. They understand that a name with content makes that brand powerful. I wish them luck in trying to get every one of those registrations to develop. It is not something that happens overnight.
What provides the internet its “flavor” are individuals that create content that the greater public can appreciate. We do not want a handful of major corporations supplying the internet with homogenized content. We want the local businesses to be able to reach out to the millions of potential customers that we direct to them. That is what we as domain owners can accomplish making ourselves wealthy and successful in the process. Taking money from the search engines through PPC can only slow down the inevitable. We need to develop the internet to be a colorful, creative, effective and successful virtual world that exemplifies those great characteristics that make this world so interesting. Sooner or later we’ll get there and hopefully have fun and make lots of money in the process.