Things continue to look bad for print newspapers as revenue continues to decline month after month.  The internet has changed print media strategy in the past 2 years.  Many of the companies are putting up local city websites and cancelling publications in circulation.  The number 1 revenue earner for newspapers is classified ads. Sites like Craigslist.org and others keep taking consumers away from print hurting their bottomline.  Consumers are embracing these sites because listings are either free, cheaper, and more effective with the ability to add a photo with your writeup.  

I do not think newspapers will become exstinct, but I do believe they will have to become creative in order to regain consumers that they have lost to the internet.  Somewhere out there, there is a strategy that will combine the internet and newspaper working hand in hand to deliver the consumer an outstanding experience.  If it will ever materialize, I do not know.  One thing certain, the internet will continue to be used for local information.

Publishing revenues have seen the steepest declines for Media General, down more than 15 percent year-over-year in February, similar to numbers experienced in January. Classified fell 28.5 percent from $15.6 million in February 2007 to $11.1 million last month. National advertising was down 16.5 percent to $2.5 million last month.

(via BizJournals.com)

 UPDATE:  The ICA has updated their site and listed Sponsors.  You can view the list of sponsors HERE.

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Why should you join the Internet Commerce Association?  Before we talk about this topic, I would like to state an important fact to the public.  We have not donated to the ICA or are we members as of yet.  We thought it was important to let the industry discover the true value of the ICA by all the discussions throughout the industry on the recent Snowe Bill.  If there was a hidden agenda with ICA, the public would have discovered it by now. 

Even though I wanted to stay clear of this topic, my intentions were to promote the ICA eventually without giving the full details of my last post.  I would like to thank readers for encouraging me to discuss this topic openly without having to hide my true feelings of why we are in this current position in the industry.  I had no idea it would become a popular post.  I honestly thought it would bring alot of negative remarks.     

Our goal with these topics are to encourage everyone to join the ICA collectively.  If we were members already, many of the blog readers may have thought that we had a hidden agenda being apart of the ICA encouraging membership.  This is unfortunately the truth.  That is why we found it very important to promote the ICA as a non member after obtaining all the facts, so we could all collectively move forward and either donate or join the ICA together. People would rather hear and make a decision about an organization from a trusted neighbor, than to hear it from the company sales man/woman.  Hopefully, we will inspire membership after reading the topics and the comments from readers.

There have been alot of people promoting the ICA recently because of the Snowe Bill.  Many have even stressed that it is imperative to join the ICA because of the Snowe Bill.  (I am not going to get into the Snowe Bill, there is already plenty of information available on it.)  This is the wrong message to promote and inspire support for the ICA.  There will be many more bills trying to get passed into laws to come, so to focus on only one to support the ICA is foolish. 

Why should you join the ICA?  I am going to keep this as short as possible and give you my reasons for joining or donating.  If you want more, there is plenty of detailed articles already written in the industry.  The main reasons why you should support the ICA are to keep the industry safe from corporate America, to continue to have the opportunity to build wealth on the internet, and most importantly to establish a unified front of professionals. 

Positive change does not happen on its own.  It takes people to make it happen and for them to put their self interest aside and embrace something that is bigger than themselves.  People bring value to everything, will you become apart of the solution, or remain a part of the problem?  We have already proven that individuals can not protect this industry or create positive growth, regardless of the amount of money they have earned from domain names.  In order to prevent the industry from staying in a reactive state, we must all unite and support ICA and keep this industry growing positively and in a proactive state.  The time has come to unite! Will you stay an individual?           

There are a variety of things you can do to support the ICA. 

Action 1: Write or email your congressman/woman with the letter ICA has prepared to combat the Snowe Bill.
Action 2: Donate a name to be sold and donate proceeds to ICA
Action 3: Make a donation to ICA
Action 4: Join the ICA for $295 as an associate
Action 5: Join the ICA as a Professional Member (I, II, III)
Action 6: Join the ICA as Sponsor (Silver, Gold, Platinum)

I will publish a part 3 to discuss how to protect your assets. It has already been said many times throughout the years.  Development. 

All the blogs in the domain industry have written articles on the ICA and the current threat of the industry with the introduction of the Snowe Bill. I really have done my best to stay away from discussing this topic. My personal feelings surrounding this topic might not be what people want to hear. We are in this position because domainers have failed to evolve throughout the years to protect their assets as a unified front.

Because I have received several of emails and some blog posts recommending I cover this topic, I will.  It will be published in two articles. The first will discuss the domain industry and domainer habits, and the second will focus on how you can make a difference and protect your assets. This post will probably be controversial, but in order to understand why things are in the current state in the industry, we must look to the past for answers.

The domain industry started gaining momentum in 1998. Of course back then, people did not consider it an industry. It was considered an opportunity, and many people figured out how to take advantage of this opportunity and generate revenue with domain names. Sure there were names registered before 1998, but the market did not start evolving until 1998. The domain industry was born internationally over night with the sale of business.com in November 1999 for $7.5 million by Marc Ostrofsky and the rest is history.

“Our industry is at risk” is the tagline you will find on almost every blog discussing the ICA.  Join the ICA now because of the Snowe Bill is definitely the wrong message to promote to form a unified front.  I find this a little frustrating when I read this throughout the blogs, as many use these key phrases because it is the hot topic. History always repeats itself in different manifestations, if you stay around long enough. For many of the old school domainers who started in 1999 and earlier, these words are nothing new. They have been preached since November 1999.

The domain industry has been under attack since November 1999 when Congress added a new cause of action to the Lanham Act (15 USC S.1125(d)) ["Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act"] expressly designed to prevent cybersquatting. This is when the cease and desist letters flooded everyone’s mail box. Am I right domainers? ICANN and WIPO became mainstream in the industry once this law was passed.

What did domainers do? Absolutely nothing. As time went on, they continued to take care of “Number 1″ and focus on building their portfolios. Many of them were sued and taken to WIPO only to lose their valuable names. There were hundreds of factual stories going around every month on people loosing names to companies because of the new law and WIPO decisions. Again, domainers did not nothing. They focused on themselves and faced issues individually. The industry was very divided back then and secretive. It was all about hording information to advance your self interests and everyone could care less who they screwed over building their portfolio. Trust me when I tell you, that many of the leaders in the industry today, were not about helping anyone but themselves back then, or if they did help, they had a hidden agenda.  This is how the domain industry evolved. There was no sharing of information like the transformation of the industry in 2007 where industry leaders decided to share insight and useless secrets. Unfortunately, I see this same type of behavior occurring in the new generation of domainers. This all must end and a unified front must be established. This is why I took the bull by horns and chose the geo domain industry to build a unified front.

Domainers have had many opportunities to unite and form an organization to combat laws aimed at the industry since November 1999, and they refused to unite. It was not until late 2006 that the ICA was established by big players in the industry to protect “their assets”, I mean the industry.

They have the most to lose and the writing was on the wall of new laws coming to fruition against domain owners. The only way to protect their assets and their way of life was to form ICA and get the small guys to pay for the funding after the initial investment thru membership and donations. It was the cheapest way to protect their assets. That is how things have been done for thousands of years by big corporations and elections, if you take the time to research historical events. The great thing about forming the ICA regardless of the hidden agendas, it will also protect everyone in the industry and form a unified front for the first time ever in the industry.

You see, it is not hard to predict what is coming in any industry if you analyze market history across different platforms. Domainers look at individuals as visionaries when they say something and then it happens, but they are simply repeating something that has already happened in another market and it is inevitable of occurring in the domain industry. The real estate market closely resembles the domain industry. Historically, you can see the trends by starting back in the wild wild west days when the rail road wanted everyone’s land in its path and it has evolved from that point, much like our industry.

I am done talking about the past, it is time to focus on the future. The future demands a unified front in order for everyone to continue their hobby, part-time business, business, or livelihood in the domain industry. I felt it was important to outline the characteristics of domainers throughout the years, to see why the industry has not evolved into a unified front. This is why it is so hard to get domainers to support the ICA, or anything they can not directly profit from, they are simply used to doing things on their own. It is a hard habit to break and it is the reason some people have stopped blogging, you simply can’t force change, just inspire it.  In my next post, I will do my part to break this habit and educate individuals on how to protect their assets.  The information will not be forced and will simply be placed on the table for you to digest when you are ready.  I am sure I have offended some people, however the statements I have made are factual. The truth is always in the pudding!

I will post part 2 later today. Thanks.

The number one goal of SimplyGeo.com is to promote the geo domain industry as a unified front and provide affordable services where everyone can become successful if only they put their self interest aside.  A far fetched dream? Perhaps, but if you never strive for excellence, you will never reach it.  You miss 100 shots at the bullseye everytime you chose not to take a shot.  I would rather try to do the impossible with the chances of being successful at it, than settle for the standard and never make a difference.  

The number one thing I am asked since launching this blog and geo network is “What geo names do I own?”  For some reason, many people in this industry want validation of your leadership, experience, and professionalism by the domain names you own, instead of life experience, business experience, and expert knowledge of the industry.  All you need is one great domain and all the above and you can build all the validation in the world.  Nothing else matters to these individuals, other than what you have in your domain portfolio.  Maybe it is a lack of maturity or maybe this is just how they have been educated in the domain industry.  I have outlined the common perceptions of individuals in this industry.  It is pretty foolish when you truly look at how people think in this industry.

1.  If I owned all 50 US states.com or 50 of biggest cities.com in the US, I would be a genious, an expert, a visionary, a mentor, a leader, advice guru, etc. Anything I said would be law, regardless if I was smart, an expert, etc.  I could be a bag of rocks, but I would be labeled a professional and expert. 

2.  If I start owning secondary names, I would be a good guy, another person in the crowd trying to make it, no one to take serious, a dreamer, a fruitcake, an insightful blog, someone wanting to be a leader, an unexperienced guy, unproven etc. Any statement made would have to be validated, and perhaps others might look at you as a professional, but it would depend on how well you spoke. Regardless of your experience.  Would not escalate much further than this, unless validated by other professionals. Then you would move in the middle of 1 and 2.   

But what if someone starts with nothing, and ends up with everything? 

If someone starts with minimal names, makes other people successful, builds an empire, leads by example, lives great core values, buys great geo domains for years to come, makes a difference in someones life, and helps unite the industry, What will this make them then? I will leave that for you to decide.

Finding true leadership in individuals who do not have hidden agendas and who are willing to make a difference without asking for anything in return is a rare thing to find.  I speak with 14 years of experience in an organization that demands leadership from every member in its ranks.  97% of the time it has to be instilled through alot of mentorship, coaching and training by a human being who has learned from life experiences.  Approximately 3% of the earth’s population are born leaders and contain the attributes of accomplishing greatness and possess the skill sets to communicate effectively.  This type of true leadership is hard to find in the domain industry, but it exists.  I can spot true leadership instantly.  These people are true leaders who have evolved over the years:      

Michael Castello
David Castello
Frank Schilling
Skip Hoagland
Ron Jackson
Michael Gilmour
Sahar Sarid 

Sometimes people are placed in leadership positions by chance, and not neccessarily thru their merit or actions.  Perhaps, they were the first to talk about things openly, and became labeled as a leader.  Just because an individual owns a large portfolio, owns an elite domain service, first to discuss topics openly, or makes a living off of domain names, it does not qualify them as a true leader.  

A true leader is not measured by what he or she owns or how much money they possess, true leadership is measured by the unselfish actions to make others successful, without asking nothing in return.  They bring opportunity and knowledge to those who are willing to listen and embrace their way of thinking.  True leaders inspire growth in individuals, live life with the right core values, and are true role models from start to finish, and make change.  They respect the opinion and disagreements of individuals opposed to their way of thinking, and do not label them as an enemy.  They do not force their opinion or knowledge down your throat, but lay it on the table for you to digest it when ready.  As I stated, there are few in the domain industry.   

There is one important lesson in life that I have learned that I would like to share with you from my experience.  It may take a lifetime for some of you to figure this out, and perhaps some will never figure it out.  The best investment in the world is not stocks, bonds, realestate, or domain names, it is people.  It is people that make all these commodities have value.  

If you focus on making others successful, you will become successful.  When they reach the stars, you reach the stars.  The best investment in life is people.  Help them to accomplish success and riches, and your investment in them will multiply 10 fold.  You never know how that individual that started out with so little and became big time, will be able to help you in the future. 

We invest in people, and that is why the geo network is being developed and why we have spent over $100,000 so far to get it going.  There are no hidden agendas, and we will always remain transparent. People are the greatest resource in the world, not commodities.    

Next time you are looking for me to validate myself, take a look at what has been placed on the table for people to digest when they are ready, that has taken alot of hard work to deliver.  

Thank you for your continued support,
Steve  

UPDATED:  Apparently, the geodomains.org blog is now down based on emails I have received.  It is probally being updated with content.  How many of you had the opportunity to check it out while it was up?  It looks very promising and I think the podcast/radio is a neat tool. 

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The geo domain industry is maturing and with growth, comes knowledge and opportunity.  SimplyGeo.com is a key player for exploiting the geo domain industry to its current level and was the first blog to cover the industry.  It was lonely being the only blog in the industry. :)  We now welcome two blogs into the ranks. 

They have recently been launched and being tweaked.  Tim from GeoOwners.com forum, will be launching a blog with Tia Wood thru his forum site.  AssociatedCities.com has launched a blog at Geodomains.org.  This was launched in the last couple of days. 

It is always great to see the industry grow and others spend time to deliver useful information to geopreneurs.  If you are thinking about starting a blog on the geo domain industry, I encourage you to do so.  We can not have enough information on the industry.  I only ask that you represent the industry well and articulate, if you do chose to blog.

Congrats to GeoOwners.com and AssociatedCities.com for deciding to embrace the industry by blogging.

These are exciting times, there is much more to come.  The social network site is still under development and might be delayed a little.  I will be able to give you a status next week.  Continue to work hard and do your best to promote the industry!

The Kelsey Group will be launching the “Drilling Down on Local 08″ conference on 30 April-2 May 08 in Seattle, Washington.  The Kelsey Group is the leading provider of research, data and strategic analysis on directories, small-business advertising, online local media, vertical market advertising and mobile advertising.   This will be an outstanding conference to attend if you have the opportunity.  Here is the link to sign-up.

In a recent report released by the Kelsey Group, it is forecasted that interactive advertising revenues will grow from US$45 billion in 2007 to US$147 billion globally by 2012.  This is a great market to embrace that has exponential growth in the years to come. 

There are many domainers that are not fans of the geo domain industry, and do not believe it will amount to anything.  Many feel it is only a small niche of the domain industry.  I forecast that it will become the domain industry in the near future as the market evolves.  Nothing stays the same, especially on the internet.  $147 billion by 2012 should paint a clear picture of this evolution that is occuring on the internet.  Even the most generic name wants to be local.  It is now mandatory that you deliver local information on generic domains.  Consumers expect nothing less, and the online market validates this statement.  

For you non-believers out there who do not believe in the geo domain industy, read the topic highlight the Kelsey Group will be discussing.   Leveraging Geodomains.  The proof is always in the pudding.

Drilling Down on Local ‘08 is The Kelsey Group’s 14th conference since 1997 devoted to interactive local media and local online commerce. Session highlights include:

    –  Remaking of the Los Angeles Times (Online)
    –  The Revolution in Classifieds
    –  Microsoft in Local
    –  Localizing National Verticals
    –  Leveraging Geolocation: Phone, Wi-Fi and GPS
    –  Vertical Breakout Sessions: Real Estate, Travel, Auto, Events
    –  The Online City: Close Up on Seattle
    –  Leveraging Geodomains

(via PRnewswire.com)

It was a very slow week in the aftermarket for the Geo domain industry.  No big sales reported this week, with only a total of $26,171 worth of geo domain sales.