Recently, every blog in the domain industry published an article about Microsoft’s offer to acquire Yahoo!.  None of them discussed how Yahoo! put themselves in this position to even have to consider an acquisition offer.  It was unheard of to think that the infamous Yahoo! would ever be in trouble financially. 

Industry leaders in every market always fail to identify and cover all the revenue streams in their market, this equates to opportunity for someone else to capitalize on.  They become successful with riches and loose sight on consumer needs/wants and fail to annalyze their current business plan for additional and missed streams of revenue.  Afterall, most believe they will always stay the leader in the industry forever and the money will never stop coming in, right?  Are you currently in this state of mind?  Evolution always demands change.   

How did Google.com surpass the giant Yahoo! in the online search industry?  Easy, they focused on niches that Yahoo! overlooked, Small Business Advertising, Keywords and traffic revenue sharing.  They created niches that consumers needed/wanted and were not offered by anyone or underserved.  New niches that evolved, Google embraced and exploited.  They have never been complacent with their business model.  Now, Yahoo! is laying off a 1000 workers and is considering a $44.6 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft. 

While Yahoo! was busy signing big name advertisers, forming strategic partnerships, and developing affiliate programs, Google’s product manager Gokul Rajaram, developed Adsense.  Adsense is what launched Google into the stratussphere.  Gokul focused on a niche and exploited it by giving consumers and small businesses a chance to share advertising revenue in exchange for targeted traffic.  It was ingenius, and became the standard online, in which Yahoo! embraced as well.  But it was too late for Yahoo!, as the Niche was no longer a Niche.  It had been exploited and Google covered every angle on it to keep themselves a leader in that market.  This niche alone has enabled Google to grow into the online leader of the world in almost every major consumer industry. 

Google has become the giant of the Internet because they continue to focus on every niche that relates to the online market.  They use the wealth created from these niches to fund acquistions of main stream technology and companies to grow into a well rounded company.  Niches have built empires since the creation of business and will continue to do so for years to come.  As long as evolution continues, niche opportunities will arise.  

I encourage each of you to find a niche and exploit it.  Relook your business plan to see what hidden niche revenue streams you are missing.   I guarantee you are missing many, no matter how successful you are.  The day you think you are good to go, is the day the guy with XYCity.com grows into a leader of your market, and you find yourself scratching your head, “How did this happen to me, I own city.com”.

The niches you discover in your market may launch you into the stratussphere!  Evolution of consumer behavior online=Mandatory change to your current business plan.  Remember, it is not what you think they want, it is about serving exactly what they want in that niche.   Complacency stunts growth!

I wrote this a few months ago and I think it is appropriate to end this post.    

(via Conceptualist.com) 

November 23 07 

In order to see the future, you must analyze the past. History always repeats itself in different manifestations allowing individuals with foresight opportunity.

My advice to anyone who invests in domains is to diversify your investments to prevent minmal losses in case your domain game plan changes/fails. Do not place all your eggs in one basket. =)

Google and Yahoo may end PPC with new technology to keep all advertiser revenue in the near future. What then? Evolution continues…..

Good luck to all of you with vision and happy domaining.

Technology will change the way we use the internet. Nothing great lasts forever, there is always someone developing something better for an end user. One thing is certain, change is inevitable, embrace it, analyze it, and find ways to profit from it financially or professionally.

The domain industry is a very expensive business to partake in, especially for a beginner.  Over 95% who enter this business, do what I call, Part Time Domaining.  This occurs until the right sale or opportunity comes along to give you financial freedom from your daily life obligations.  There is so much to learn and understand.  During this process of education, the average domainer spends over a $1,000, if not more.  Most will spend 10x more and never become successful no matter how long they stay in the domain industry.

Approximately 3%-5% will ever become successful in this industry.  The majority will fail because they remain unfocused by registering every domain imagineable.  Additionally, they will remain unsuccessful because of their failure to think outside of the box, and embrace niche opportunities in the industry to build wealth.  98% of domainers are followers, and remain in a flooded market, domaining in general, instead of looking for undervalued niches in the domain industry to capitalize on.  The cold truth being that 90% of the domains acquired by unsuccessful domainers are very limited to an enduser, have no typein traffic, and contain no real value.   

(Warren Buffet said:)

“For some reason, people take their cues from price action rather than from values. What doesn’t work is when you start doing things that you don’t understand or because they worked last week for someone else.”

In order to become successful in this industry, every successful domainer will tell you to focus on a niche and stick to it.    

The Geodomain Niche is all about the hot trend of LOCAL and is the answer to success for the small time domain investor.  Geodomains allow a domainer to remain focused and with a little hard work, they are able to build profitable empires.  The difference between domaining in general and the Geodomain niche, is that approximately 90% of geodomains contain real value with many revenue streams waiting to being unlocked.  Geodomains have a variety of end users to select from once developed as well.  This is your opportunity to enter the undervalued Geodomain Niche before values rise like generic domains.  Continue to wait, and you will miss a golden opportunity.  There are thousands of affordable geodomains still available for registration and on the aftermarket.  There will be a few more posts written on this subject.  You can visit the Geo Forum to learn more until then.  

Throughout the years, there has not been much exposure given to the Geodomain niche and the value associated with these names in our industry.  Many have sold names undervalue because of industry leaders and owners failing to acknowledge their hidden revenue streams once developed.  The standard emplaced in this industry has been to assess domain name value based on two factors:  Traffic and Generic wording.

There is so much more that must be used in determining the true value of a geo domain.  The true value of Geo domains is going to become apparent in 2008 as consumers and businesses finally discover how they can reach their targeted markets by simply using a geo domain or the resources located on one.  Development  unlocks these hidden revenue streams and stays a constant stream regardless of the economy, if done correctly.       

Realestate is going to be the industry/vehicle that will exploit the Geo niche in main stream media.  Consumers and realestate developers are selling/promoting their properties on Myspace.com, Blogs, and Craigslist to lure buyers.  This was the trend in realestate for 2007.  They have discovered that it is essential to have a presence on the internet in order to sell their realestate.  It is only a matter of time before they connect the dots and turn to Geodomains for the targeted audience they have been striving for all this time.   

The writing is on the wall: Many more articles/posts on this subject will come to the blog in the near future.

(via the NyTimes.com) 

A lot of people do all their home shopping online, start to finish,” said Kelly Marzullo of Core Marketing Group, which is using the Web to promote various Manhattan buildings and the Peninsula at City Place in Edgewater, N.J.

“People like to know everything about a building before they come in, or at least have a taste and a feel,” Marzullo said. Her Manhattan-based company does advertise properties on craigslist, building in links to Web pages that might include photographs, digital drawings, video, floor plans and the range of asking prices.

Nationally, however, real estate companies are spending 26 percent more on online advertising this year, even as total real estate ad spending declined 3 percent, according to Borrell Associates, a research company.

Some of the top Geopreneurs in the industry make their 2008 forecast. 

(via AssociatedCities.com)

Skip Hoagland: Atlanta.com, HiltonHead.com, BuenosAires.com

It will be all about local as well as being able to run your business like a real business moving forward rather than a site with links. Those days are over.

If you don’t and can’t operate a real business with a real local operation, it will be not only best for you but our entire industry to find someone who can. The good news by owning the city dot-com brand is you have several great options available.

You can sell the name outright, partner with local media or another company in this business under a 50/50 LLC or management agreement based on gross revenue (not net revenue) or lease your name under a long-term license agreement for a flat percentage of gross revenue.

For those of us who have fully developed sites that are primarily geared toward the tourist market, it will be very important to start adding local content to attract and grow your site’s traffic and use. There is so much generic public domain content available to all of us that many of us are simply not using.

All you have to do is look at what’s offered in your local newspaper, local city magazines, the Yellow Pages or on city government sites to see what you’re missing in many categories.

By simply adding this content and categories, you will increase your traffic overnight and create another area for advertising with little work needed to do this. If you have a fully developed site, having local salespeople is a must. Our company will focus on this much more in 2008.

I further predict that tourism city dot-coms and GeoDomains will outperform larger, non-tourism city dot-coms until there is a major shift and effort of those who own these larger city dot-coms and GeoDomains to compete head on with newspapers and other local media companies.

I also predict that at least one local salesperson or representative minimum will be required for each city dot-com owner. Operating remotely will not work well.

Further affiliate programs and linking to other sources will continue to do more harm than good to any brand. The future belongs to those who run real companies with lots of content and are not simply satisfied in taking the easy path.

David J. Castello: Castello Cities Internet Network, Nashville.com, PalmSprings.com

The GeoDomain Industry has never been healthier. I would rank it a solid 10 on a scale of one to 10.

The 2007 GeoDomain Expo was a watershed moment for our industry. It demonstrated not only the extent to which GeoDomains have impacted the domain name business, but also that GeoDomains are the rising stars of local and national media. It is now generally accepted that we own the only intuitive media brand for our cities that is instantly recognizable on a national and international level.

This year will be the wake-up call for traditional media such a local newspapers, radio and television to align themselves and partner with the branding power and non-stop revenue-generation capabilities uniquely inherent only in GeoDomains.

Sara Mannix: Mannix Marketing, Albany.com 

In 2007, our company saw a 31 percent increase in advertising on our GeoDomains. Like all in our industry, we expect greater increases for 2008. We have only reached the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of this valuable real estate.

As both the advertiser becomes savvier in tracking their ROI and we as an industry better track both online and offline conversions through Web and call tracking, we will see significant funds being diverted from traditional media to Internet media.

When Internet media is compared and tracked, it will be very obvious to the advertiser that GeoDomains have the most relevant traffic for local search.

Furthermore, as Internet usage grows through the proliferation of mobile, GeoDomains will see an even greater surge in traffic as we develop mobile versions of our sites. The health of the GeoDomain industry is an 11 on a scale of one to 10.

Here are four more predictions on the lighter side:

1. GeoDomainer Jessica Bookstaff is discovered by Hollywood and becomes the surprise hit on the talk-show circuit with ratings surpassing Oprah. The show is syndicated on PigeonForge.com.
2. The Tribune’s Sam Zell makes the best move of his career and fulfills his promise to unite TV, Internet and news under one brand: Chicago.com. Chicago.com goes down as the highest price ever paid for a domain.
3. Castro dies, the trade embargo ends, capitalism flourishes in Cuba and Cuba.com makes Skip Hoagland the fifth-richest man in the world.
4. Al Gore’s predictions come true and global warming brings New York City under water. Anticipating this, Sean Miller already sells NYC.com and buys Yonkers.com.

(MORE)

I have gathered a list of the top 20 geo sales for 2007.  Keep in mind that the names listed may not be used as a geo platform, but are geo domains at the core.  Hopefully this year, we will have an abundance of great geo sales.  It seems the average geo domain sale in 2007 was approximately $2,800, not including the big sales.

geo-pre-neur(s)   an individual who earns revenue or makes a living thru the use of a developed  geographical (Geo) domain, such as PalmSprings.com or DallasHomes.com.  Additionally, one who purchases and sells geo domains in the aftermarket.  Also referrered to as a domainer. (General discription, more to be added)

In today’s society of the “ME” trend, it is essential to meet an individuals wants and needs to be different and belong to something.  You have Youtube.com, IPOD, and Myspace.com that fill this need daily.  Almost everyone in the domain industry who owns 5 or more names is called a domainer.  A domainer is a general word used to identify an individual who purchases and sells domains. In addition, an individual who earns revenue utilizing their portfolio of domains thru PPC. That is the general overview of the term anyway. 

AssociatedCities.com and city.com owners exploited the geo niche with the GeoDomain Expo over the past 2 years.  This niche will continue to grow and it is essential for a term to be created to distinguish an individuals passion in the domain industry whether part time or full time from the general term domainer.  

Please add your definition of what the term should mean in the comments section. How often do you get a chance to be apart of branding a term for an industry? I will complile all the data and create a variety of definitions. Then I will set up a poll for readers to vote on.  The winning definition will be submitted to wikipedia and other internet outlets to brand the term geopreneur on the internet.

Take part in your industry Geopreneurs!   

Thank you for your help,
Steve

I play alot of live and internet Texas Holdem poker.  There are many different types of poker games that are designed to appeal to an individuals character and mind set.  You have RAZZ, 7 Card Stud, Omaha, and Texas Holdem to name a few.  Texas Holdem is the most popular of them all with the highest payouts and most recognition for winners.   RAZZ is not so main stream and appeals to only a small field of poker players, yet several of people make a fortune at it, out of the limelight.  

The domain industry can be compared to the poker industry when you think about all the personalities there are in this industry and the path they chose take.  Most domainers prefer to invest in generic dot com names because of their high payout possibilities.  Additionally, most domainers in this category build large portfolios to monetize their ROI thru PPC.  In between, there are other types/categories that appeal to individuals such as different domain extentions, branding domains, targetted service domains etc…All are profitable.

Then there is the RAZZ niche, Geo domains.  Geo domainers in general do not own large portfolios of domains.  They focus on a fixed amount of geo domains (An Area) to develop into useful websites for visitors and advertising hubs for local businesses. Professional geo domainers make a fortune out of the limelight by maximizing their time on a few outstanding geo domains.  Geo domains are commonly described as cities, countrys, and states.  But there is alot more to geo domains than just these categories.  Other categories include popular locations in a city, beaches, neighborhoods, regions, popular streets, and domains that cover large business industries locally, such as AustinHomes.com, DenverCars.com, and AtlantaRealestate.com as examples.  Geo domains are the perfect solution for local business advertising because they are targetted in what consumers are searching for on the internet locally.  Generally, any good geo domain will generate targetted type-in traffic from consumers.  This is valuable traffic that local businesses are willing to pay for to expose the services they offer.  

Development is essential for any geo domain in order to increase traffic and maximize advertising profits.  If done correctly, your site’s traffic will grow from consumer word of mouth advertising, to include search engine traffic.  There are no other domain niches in my opinion that have the opportunity to grow traffic 10 times fold simply thru word of mouth advertising. That is free traffic to your site! The majority of people who visit a general geo domain are from the area and will do word of mouth advertising about the site to other LOCALS if they had a positive experience while visiting.  The great geo domains have the best of both worlds, visitors from all over the world seeking information and locals.    

The value of these domains will continue to rise as more people find ways to unlock their hidden streams of revenue.  This is really a no brainer niche (Cash Cow) for domainers who are willing to get involved in their domain(s) to maximize profits. 

Godspeed,
Steve