Geo Domains are the only domains in general that can service a variety of services for locals in their area.  This allows those with vision to create additional streams of revenue.  This morning, I saw a few campaign ads and it got me to thinking.  Candidates running for city offices could benefit greatly by advertising on these targetted geo domains.  Whether it be Denver.com or DenverRealestate.com, it provides candidates targetted local exposure insuring maximum value for their spending dollar.  There are hundreds of hidden revenue streams availble on good geo domains.  Have you become Complacent? 

 What are some other hidden streams of revenue?

Every domain is a goldmine, it is how you mine it that will determine if you come out on top with gold or fools gold.

What are your thoughts,
Steve

Here is an article of interest in a lawsuit against Internet REIT. 

Verizon, Internet REIT settle cybersquatting suit
“NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc said on Friday it has settled its lawsuit against Internet REIT, a seller of Internet domain addresses.

The agreement bars Internet REIT from registering or using names that are identical or “confusingly similar” to Verizon’s trademark. Internet REIT will also pay Verizon an undisclosed sum.”

With so many corporations finally realizing the value of targetted traffic a domain delivers, will they finally try and bombard the domain industry with lawsuits as they did in late 1999, 2000, and 2001? I think there is a storm a brewing , if you own direct violations of trademarked companies in your domain portfolio, my advice is to download them asap, or you may find yourself in a bad position legally. Dell is setting the standard with their lawsuit against 3 registrars for corporate America. The amount of companies that provide services to protect a companies trademarks is growing rapidly each year and they are focused on domain names.  Stick to generic geo domains, and with the gray area domains you own, be prepared to hire an attorney.  I am interested to see what other opinions readers have on legal actions in 2008 against domain owners.

Godspeed,
Steve

This is a great post by Michael that was listed under Complacency Stunts Growth.

“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 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.”

Steve

Came across this article on another blog of a flower business in denver (DenverFlowers.com) that almost went bankrupt because of google.com mapping glitches.  This should serve as a lesson for all domainers not to put all your eggs in one basket.  Diversify the methods your geo domain receives traffic, as well as your investments. An educational read, but feel sorry for the DenverFlowers.com owners.

“We own Denver Flowers, Inc. in Denver, Colorado. We have 2 retail locations in Denver, Colorado. Our url is www.denverflowers.com. We have been listed on Google for approx. 3 years. We have the #1 natural position in Denver Flowers. We have the #2 natural position in Denver Florist. We have spent $118,000 in adwords advertising for
the past 3 years.

When performing a natural search for Denver Flowers you solely get a local map for Lehrer’s Flowers: Denver, not Denver Flowers. When searching for Denver Flowers Denver, you get a map of one of our locations. When you search Lehrer’s Flowers, you get no map at all.

When searching any metropolitan area in the US, this type of mapping result NEVER occurs outside of Seattle, Washington. When performing the natural search for Seattle Flowers, the search result is a map for Seattle Flowers in Seattle. Every other metropolitan area returns multiple results for “flowers in xxxxx city”.

Lehrer’s is our largest competitor in Denver and this has basically shutdown our business overnight. This update was done to the maps 36 hours ago and there was an immediate, massive reduction in our volume. Approx. 95% of our business is internet based volume. ”

Read More Here

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   

I think it is always a good thing  to have fun and enjoy life while working.  I have created the weekly Internet Humor post.  It’s always good to have a good laugh from time to time.  Here is a video of names that you do not want to register.  Made me laugh.  I am sure it will make you laugh too.  Please submit any funny videos you come across that blog readers would enjoy. 

Thanks! 

Join the profitable Geo Niche!  There is still plenty of opportunity to secure affordable domains on the aftermarket and at registration costs.  Local content and advertising is hotter than ever before, and newcomers have an opportunity to profit from it. This is the new internet trend that will continue to grow.

Here are a few tips you will need to consider if you decide to jump in at this stage of the game. These are not the only things you should consider before purchasing a geo name, but are the most important in my opinion.  

Over All General Rules:

-Think local! and not global. If you secure a good local domain, it will grow into a global presence.

-Name must be discriptive of the area and short.

-Secure a name of the location you live near or know the area very well.  Your motivation to develop will increase rapidly because you are able to see the possibilities of your name and how it can impact the area.  Additionally, it allows for you to communicate with business advertisers face to face.   
 
-Purchase only dot com names.  There are several of profitable opportunities registering different extentions, but if you are to build a geo business, you must stick to dot com names. Your chances of selling your geo domains for great ROI to end users increases imensely if you own the dot com.     

-The name must have commercial value.  Commercial value can be described as a place with several of businesses that consumers know and use often or a name that covers an industry, such as AustinHomes.com.  

-The name must be known by consumers. It must be in the vocabulary of locals and those outside of the area.  To see if the name is used, Google It.  You want to secure a name with a minimum of 200,000 google results.  This will give you an idea if the name will receive type-in traffic. The endstate is to secure names with type-in traffic.       

I am sure I missed a few general rules somewhere.  Please provide your input in the comments section if I missed something of importance.

Godspeed,
Steve