What’s Holding You Back From Development? (Part 1)

Posted by Steve under General on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 9:00 am

Domainers are some of the most interesting entrepreneurs in the World. They come from all walks of life, with different levels of education and business/marketing experience. There have been a myriad of individuals who have become successful in the domain industry, with a small, but growing number becoming millionaires due to domain names. The glamor and success stories to obtain wealth and success with no prior experience leads thousands of new entrepreneurs to enter the domain industry each year. With the current state of the economy and so many getting laid off from Corporate America, I envision the domain industry growing 10 fold with new entrepreneurs seeking opportunity to become successful in this industry. The good news is there is still lots of opportunity to become another success story in the domain industry, however, it will not necessarily be done the same way as it was done traditionally.

The domain industry is undergoing a major transformation. This transformation is occurring to cater to the demand for domain development. The tools, services, and platforms that made so many successful are no longer producing the same the results for those old school domainers and those new to the industry. Complacency from those companies that provide services to domainers has resulted in this transformation to generate the same amount of revenue as past performance.

Additionally, Old school domainers can also be held accountable for this transformation, as most have remained stagnant with the streams of revenue that their domains generate. Very little have gone above and beyond to increase the maximum amount of revenue each of their domains can generate. Domain development has been the task that so many have avoided, yet it is proving to be the best answer to generating larger revenue streams based off of announcements from many companies in the industry. When we look back years from now, 2008 is going to be the historical year that changed the future of domaining.

So what has changed? PPC is longer generating the same revenue due to major publishers (Google.com and Yahoo.com) trying to keep as much of the advertising revenue as possible. Domain values have dropped this year and the amount of end users/investors have decreased, due to most tightening their budgets during this recession. Additionally, the amount of advertisers and attendees to industry conferences has dropped and remained stagnant.

So where is everything headed in the domain industry to generate revenue for domains? Based off many of the popular PPC companies and domainer service provider announcements, it seems we are headed to the delvelopment of domains into miniwebsites and full blown websites to generate this revenue. Many of these companies are going to offer this type of development platform with the option to sign-on direct advertisers preventing owners from relying only on PPC revenue. Of course, you do not have to depend on these companies to help you generate revenue for your domain(s), after all they get a large percentage of your revenue for using their platforms. They will always remain an option however.

My question to domainers and readers today is, What’s holding you back from development? Even if you are already successful, in order to sustain that success you have to consistently adapt to the transformation of the industry. What is keeping you from developing a domain name(s)?

Most of the common excuses for failing to develop a domain name into a functional website are listed here:

-Procrastination
-I don’t have time
-I do not know anything about running an online business
-Too hard, I do not know how to build a website
-Its too expensive to develop
-I do not know where to start
-I own too many domains
-I have no clue about SEO
-Where do I get content from

Well the list goes on. However, if you could have it your way, what would help you reach this goal of domain development? Would information products “How To” be helpful? Affordable services to develop domains for you? Webinars? Tutorials? How to hire offshore talent? etc.

What would be useful that companies could provide to assist you in accomplishing getting your domain(s) developed?

What other products or services do you need to assist you with reaching your goals to become successful or sustain success besides domain development?

The future of the industry is transforming to domain development. Now is your chance to express/share your thoughts to service providers, domainers, and PPC companies what you need and/or what is holding you back.

I am interested in your feedback.

23 Responses to “What’s Holding You Back From Development? (Part 1)”

Leonard Britt Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 09:17 am
Development takes time and many domainers don’t necessarily come to the game with HTML, Java, Perl and SEO talent. Development does not guarantee an attractive return on the value of one’s time so inexperience can lead to caution about the payoff. But your list is pretty comprehensive.
Namecake.com Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 09:47 am
Nice post Steve. You’re right – Domainers have to adapt with the times. I think development of a few sites is the way forward. I’ve put up quite a few minisites but they are a pain in the butt to update. So going forward i’ll be building out two main sites and going from there. The other names i’ll put with Whypark, as in January their new platform will offer domainers a good chance to build “unique” sites at a fraction of their normal cost.

James
RegFeeNames.com Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 09:48 am
I dont own a large portfolio of domains but I do have some real gems that gain some nice steady traffic – Im desperate to develop but I dont want to have a mini – site.

Im looking for something that is 100% unique and can make cash virtually from day one.

I know its hard but surly there must be companies out there that could reduce development costs and work in volume instead.

Im interested to know of any. – My first site to develop would be ShoeDepartment.co.uk – An online shoe department for the UK.

Regards,

Robbie
CH Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
It doesn’t take much creativity or effort to register a domain name or park it, but for some people (myself included) you don’t know where to begin. It’s like asking someone, “Why haven’t you learned to play the guitar?”
Steve Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
@Leonard,

The lack of experience can definitely be an expensive mistake.

However, what do you think would help others learn before moving forward? What is keeping you from developing?

@NameCake

Thanks. I understand how whypark.com is creating transformation in this industry, but what is keeping you from developing some of your domains yourself? What can be provided to help you do this in your opinion?

@Robbie

This is the data I am looking for thanks. Do you think informational content would help others take this on? I I know that most people feel the way you do though.
Jamie Zoch Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I always seem to find the “ideas” hard to come by. Most things have been done already and why start something that has been done. Once in a great while you can build something BETTER then what’s already out but that is not always the case. Time and Money spent all could be wasted if it doesn’t take off. Heck, even new ideas.. ExpiringDomains.com as a recent example.

Transition.. from idea to working site. Getting the developers to “understand” your system/idea.

Weeding out the BS developers. They nearly ALL say they can do it… this can lead to Months of wasted time, energy and Cash. In the mean time, your idea could be launched by somebody else!

The “mini site” mistake…. how many mini sites are really all that much better then a parked domain! I personally do not think mini sites are the answer. From a visitor standpoint, nearly all mini sites still leave you feeling empty after your visit. Mini sites are a good Start, but need to be just that… a start!
Jamie Zoch Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Sorry Steve, but I forgot to add Products. Many sites could be rolling but I think Products are hard to come by. So finding Wholesalers and or just products in general to put on a site in a cost effective way.
LittleDevil Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Developing domains is great fun. You can find qualified developers on eLance and other websites – and once you build a good relationship, you can continue to work with the same group. Plus, they’re cheap as hell. Gotta agree with regfeenames — mini sites really isn’t domain development, it’s just a souped up parked page. We’re buidling platforms once, and reusing across each of the properties that we’re developing which definitely saves time and money.
Helder Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 14:19 pm
I had a fitness site before, i had good results with SEO, but getting good ranking and traffic doesn’t mean money, and months went by and all i had were expenses, so i’ve closed the site. Domains have the atraction of simply buying and selling ( i know it’s not simple but you know what i mean)

Now assuming that we all know how to build a website, there are excellent open sources and plug ins etc… assuming we all know SEO to get things going, we have some budget for publicity, what keeps us from developing?

This is what: 1- A lot of domains, no time to develop most of them, so a service like whypark will always be a better option for the majority of one’s portfolio.

2- Are we all specialists in every area? i’m sure we all have domains in many different niches, but do we all know what to do to create a business in many different niches? my guess is no

3- Just because it’s online we have to create something, it can’t be all internet services and displaying ads, so can we really manage so many different businesses all at the same time? or are we going to be simply affiliates giving free traffic to the product owner, and then you know most people won’t buy your product the first time, and most of them will go to the main site the next time they visit, most people also don’t like to buy from affiliates. I think being an affiliate is usually a bad way of making money, unless you’re able to create or own brand, a whitelabel from an existing product, like that you won’t seem affiliate, but it will look like it’s your own business.

4- Content , again we’re back in expertise, can we all update content (fundamental in SEO) are we all experts on all the subjects? Can we keep creating different pages in all the sites, that’s very important, it’s fundamental to create a silo structure in your site ( SEO again)

5- Above all time to do all that, or money a lot of money to pay writers, to pay webdesigners, to pay SEO companies, yes if you have one or two sites you might not need it, but if you have a lot of them you will, because the day has only 24 hours, and you can’t afford to spend hours everyday in social media sites, and you need to be present and activelly participate in so many ones, that are considered to be very important.

This is way i believe domainers don’t develop, i like simply to sell, there’s a lot of work to do, create connections with other domainers, with costumers, study the market, paying atention to new things, to new possibilities, anyone who takes domaining seriously will have all its time consumed, and you also need free time, family , friends, your hobbies, girlfriends or boyfriends for the Ladies. There’s a lot to do being purely a domainer.

Developing one or two sites on something you Love and know about it’s ok, but more than that you better have a good budget to hire people.

Just my thoughts

Kind regards everyone
Steve Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 14:45 pm
@Jamie.

Thanks for providing this information. You are aboslutely correct about minisites. They are short sighted moves and will do great initially to make additional revenue over straight PPC, however, the traffic dies out rapidly from search engines because no new content is updated. I just talked to a SEO expert yesterday for about 2 hours on a variety of topics and he said that minisites will do poorly over time because google algorythms track everything a visitor does on a site and ads clicked on. In the end it comes down to updated content. This is what all search engines strive for.

There has to be balance, between a full blown site and minisite. This is what many in the domain industry are trying to create privately for their portfolios and publicly as well.

Good data you listed.
Steve Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 14:54 pm
@Helder,

Great input and thank you for taking the time to list all of this useful information. There is a common misunderstanding in the domain industry that when we talk about development, we refer to an individuals complete portfolio.

This is simply not the focus. The focus is on developing a few domain gems out of an individuals portfolio into businesses to generate revenue to fund other developments. It is very possible to do this strategically where it does not consume all of your time.

Now, for those new to the industry, I would encourage them to make development a priority after learning from all of the resources on the internet. This can be very rewarding, if done correctly with a great domain.

Somewhere down during this transformation, Development is going to become part of domaining. We have to break traditional practices of only buying/selling and ppc if collectively we are to advance the Domain Industry to more than what it is today. Of course this is all my opinion, but I feel we are headed in this direction mainstream in 2009.

Thanks again for great content.
Helder Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 17:41 pm
Hi Steve

I agree, developing only a few good domains is a good way to make more revenue, but i would avoid most affiliate programs.

I’ve mentioned whypark because they’re different, they add content, and that can help to increase value to domains that aren’t so valuable, but personally i don’t like parked pages

Right now i want to buy and sell, soon i’ll put some domains at whypark too, and in a near future i might develop one or two sites, but that’s something that’s just on my mind for now

Kind regards
namecake.com Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 18:25 pm
Steve,

To be honest ther is very little that i need. The two sites i will be focusing on will take up most of my spare time and the other sites will most likely sit around. I think we all need to be realistic as well, because just shoving up a small minisite or even a 50 page site isn’t going to do much. It needs to be marketed, fresh content added, links built up, and a myriad of other things.
Still if someone does come up with a quality link building system i’d be all for it.

James
Geo Domain Developer Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 06:09 am
I’ve been registering names for several years, many around cities and communities.

I made a script for realtors that works very well to develop a domain with (particularly a city name). Its hosted, it’s got directories, blogs, forums, listings and more and it installs in minutes with just a signup.

You can see a video here that is geared at realtors, but the info is good for a domaineer also, you’ll get the “ethos” of what we’ve built.

You can install a trial by choosing the “TRIBEXL” template when you sign up a free trial on http://xlsuite.com
furkat Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 07:06 am
Thank you guys for such useful info. This is exactly what I have in mind for 2009. We should make development as a priority for next year. I am fed up with all ppc. Development of a good domain can increase your profit by 10 folds, depending on the quality.
Dr Singh Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 07:36 am
Some mini sites with resonable content can do well (around 20 pages of contents) but should be unique. But traffic doesnt mean money, outsmarting is another issue. Only those sites do well where there is a niche market. There is absoultely no point having articles from ezines directories. Original thinking is required.
randomo Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 08:42 am
Good discussion. I’ve been a high-volume domain flipper for years, but am gradually sticking my toe into development. Have about 10 sites now (made with XSite Pro); trying to increase that number, but not so much that I can’t keep adding fresh content.

I agree with Jamie – a minisite (especially thrown together once & never updated) is little improvement over parking. Besides, if you have the 1,000th most useful site about some topic, is that really helping anyone? Better to find a small number of topics that you care about and make useful sites about them.

(For example, I provide graphs of NFL standings at TeamCharts.com; instead of competing with a bazillion other sites that provide NFL news, I found one tiny unique niche in that area and made a site that gives people something they don’t find anywhere else.)
Brian Clough Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 09:32 am
Excellent post Steve!

An alternative to WhyPark is VentureNames.com, they have templates which let you add any content you like text, images, videos etc. including ads from other ad networks not just AdSense, along with auto articles which are dependent on your keywords. I have over 600 domains parked there “almost my whole portfolio”.

The service is great and the support is impeccable, can’t fault them. On the other hand I have taken time and resources to develop my best domains and I do agree that development is a must if you have some gems in your portfolio. Do not overlook the chance to develop because somewhere down the line if that project is successful – you probably won’t look back!

Regards
Brian
Charlotte G Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Content, content, content. And relative products from affiliate sources or lease space to a partner network with products to sell. Best part would be to have all the research done and lists of the resources made available in one convenient place. (in a perfect world)

Charlotte
Daniel Sanchez Says:
December 5th, 2008 at 09:22 am
Nice post Steve. I must say, I am very disappointed to read how domainers have this misconception about domain development where they automatically rule out a content based website.

Developing a domain name is obviously not an easy task, especially when you have more than 10 domain names in your portfolio, and I think that is everyone except my grandmother who still doesn’t know what those are!

This assumption I speak of, has to do with the fact that (most) all comments above say a content based website should not be considered development. A 60 page mini-site (or 5 lol) is obviously not what you intended to do with that domain when you registered it or purchased it.

Every domain we own, has a plan or idea behind it. Maybe you (me) have no clue what to do with it. My point is, when developing a domain name, you have to look at what you eventually want to do with it. Throwing up a site with 30 unique and relevant articles is by no means a development, BUT it is a step forward!

When you have a domain, do you want it indexed with traffic already flowing through? Of course you do! Then why not spend $250 on a good looking site with enough content to feed the G monster? Then have an updated plan where we post new relevant articles every week? Keep the flow of content moving, then when you decide to develop the domain to it’s real potential, to YOUR vision, you will have (most likely) a PR2 domain with lots of indexed pages and a nice steady flow of visitors. Then you can “re-launch” the site with a HUGE advantage over a domain that was simply parked or pointed to a “copy & paste” site.

If you ask me, this is a better option than paying someone $99 to copy syndicated content. It’s undermining your arguments 100% and adds absolutely NO value to a prospect or visitor.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great Friday.

Sincerely,

Daniel Sanchez
dDevelop.com
Dan Vonderheide Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:52 am
With the number of open-source CMS systems available, development can be really quick and easy and fun. Content is the tough nut. Aggregating modules and user generated content can provide a bunch of this and if you have a few friends who like you that can write, you’re up and running. PLEASE don’t sit on prime geodomains and do nothing. Find a partner who can help you and cut some sort of deal. Most of you are lucky enough to have a niche geodomain dedicated to one industry so your focus is easy and narrow. Some REALLY lucky ones with the city.com sites have a much tougher rope to tow when it comes to focus. I know from experience.

Either way, technology makes it too easy to develop for these properties to be click farms.
Virginia Beach Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 00:28 am
I agree with Dan. Getting a good CMS online is the first step. Without it, it was a real chore for me to add content. If anyone needs help with that, drop me a line. I’ll make some recommendations on what is now working for me. I’ve been running a geodomain and can take you through the evolution of the site, from affiliate programs to working and doing direct marketing.

Steve
Pensacola Beach Says:
January 9th, 2009 at 23:14 pm
I would say that a mini-site is a better idea for a Geo site than a parked page it is really quite simply to start and expanded development with the tools available today, wordpress is a few clicks to install on many hosting providers and there are themes (revolution theme) that look for like real sites than you would think with a blog engine.

I have several Geos going through various steps of development and have been pleasantly surprised with the traffic even in the inbetween stages between minisite and fully developed.

About

Welcome to the Official Geo Domain Industry Blog. My name is Steve Morales and I am the Founder and CEO of the SimplyGeo.com LLC Network. Our goal is to develop a premier Geo Network for professionals to learn and build their geo domain assets into profitable platforms.