There are two ways to get liquidity from domain names.. If you have a good search-term style domain with type-in traffic, you can sell that traffic (like owning a cow and selling the milk) or you can sell the name itself (sell the cow).
In the final analysis all investors want to know they have the ability to liquidate their investment. If the ongoing credit market crisis has shown us anything, it’s that there is no reason to invest money in an instrument (CDO, repackaged mortgage etc) or domain name if there is no way to sell it for a profit in a timely fashion; or to sell the revenue producing stream that the investment produces.
I was noodling around on the net this morning thinking about how to get a better stream of return visitors to my network of sites.. My first thought was to strike a partnership with an existing media house like Viacom or Fox..
Years ago I remember some UK domainers who secured a news-feed with “Moreover” streaming relevant news to each domain name. So I thought about how cool it would be if FOX or Viacom could supply some sort of all encompassing media feed.. Type in TravelChina.comand get info from NewsCorp media outlets, Magazines, the NewYork Post, Myspace etc etc all relating to the keyword “travel” “China” or both.. as well as links to relevant movies and columns relating to the travel genre… Newscorp would get a steady stream of traffic coming through to their network, I get some flat rate payment for each visitor and the ability to expand return visitors as the positive experience reinforces user behavior. That visitors have found a site worthy of their attention.
Then I got to thinking about ultimate liquidity.. What is the best way to sell domain names? Lots of folks sell domains on the Internet but does the quest for a great name really begin there? Years ago when I was in my 20′s I worked for a video game accessory manufacturer.. I traveled to all the electronic retailer corporate offices around America trying to get them to allocate shelf space to our little line of products. I would visit individual retail stores in cities all across the US and was struck by the amount of physical space these items took up, the amount of energy required to ship/unpack boxes and the mechanics involved in getting inventory to the shelf ..all for such a little amount of profit. Making 50 bucks on a boxed video-game joystick is nothing compared to making thousands of dollars on a domain name.. and there are no products to ship with a name.. Print a piece of paper for the customer and they’ve got their name.
So this morning I had to wonder why no domain-registrar (Register.com, Godaddy, Network Solutions) or secondary-marketplace (Fabulous, Name Media, SEDO) has tried to place Domain Sales Kiosks in the Staples, Office Depots or Fedex/Kinkos of America? People looking to start a business invariably make a pit-stop at one of these locations. Imagine a small computer terminal kiosk with a printer (that prints fancy name ownership certificates) …and sales reps trained to sell secondary market domain registrations to explain the value proposition of buying a name for a few thousand dollars as opposed to registration price.
I think each store could sell several registrations a day.. and with the right margin/bonus structures, could generate thousands of dollars per store each month.. all while providing instant liquidity to longtail (lower traffic) domain portfolios.
I put the idea out there to see if somebody runs with it. If nobody does, this is one I’d consider trying myself.
Nice idea. All the more exciting if your portfolio has premium visibility in these kiosks, compared with other possible domains.
I could see some arguments against this working…but then again, every time I see the dish direct salesman trying to sell his satellite tv service at a home depot kiosks, I think the same thing. If they can sell tv subscriptions at home depot, then maybe the domain kiosks at staples could work. It would be all the more attractive if the kiosk was truly self-serve and didnt require a salesperson. If u ever do anything with this, I want to help.
[...] Frank’s SevenMile.com: So this morning I had to wonder why no domain-registrar (Register.com, Godaddy, Network Solutions) [...]
Great thoughts Frank!
I’ve been thinking about something similar to your content partnership concept and have started putting some wheels in motion…
Basically, each domain name is mated to an aggregation engine containing content, resources and tools related to each specific keyword or phrase…
Such an engine already exists in the form of Netvibes Universes (http://eco.netvibes.com/universes/)… To me, this is the perfect platform for domain owners to generate value for site visitors while also providing multiple revenue streams – ie. affiliate sales through shopping widgets, traffic generated to content sites, exposure for another related brand, etc.
I’ve been in touch with Greg Cohn at Netvibes about setting the system up with some of our domains and expect to launch several sites using Netvibes in early 2008. I don’t know if they’re aware of the potential yet, but I think it will end up being their biggest source of revenue and a great way to add value to their service. It could prove to be a major boon for domain owners…
I tried doing something similar myself in 2004 with http://www.startster.com, but didn’t have the resources to launch a second Ajaxified version that could compete with their offering. Being able to setup customized versions of a start page/aggregator around a certain topic or type of visitor is where the concept really creates value.
The kiosk idea is simply brilliant – especially doing it in places where business owners already congregate… Staples/Kinkos is a natural fit and the perfect way to generate revenue for both the retailer/kiosk location and domain owner… It is also a great way to educate small business owners (the target market for the majority of domain resales) about the importance and value of domains…
If no one moves on this concept up in Canada, we’ll definitely tie it into our http://www.shopdirectories.com project, which will eventually see franchises with physical offline locations in each of the communities served by our sites to complement our online system… I’ll make sure you get a royalty cheque if we’re the ones who end up pulling it off in the Great White North…
Have a great weekend!
Colin
>My first thought was to strike a partnership with an existing
>media house like Viacom or Fox..
“Come To The Dark Side, Luke”
very cool idea indeed. . . .godaddyesque if you asks me.
Having the neccesary domain knowledge, sale experience and kiosk management experience, I volunteer for the first Beta test of your concept in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, test marketing capital of the USA.
Stock options available??
Cheers!
WineGuy
Frank,
I think your ideas is cool except that we need to create an atmosphere for it by educating the business people on the street about the value of generic domain names. Until then, they ALL will think we ALL are cybersquatters imo. They simply can’t digest the idea of paying more than the registration fee for a domain..With the same idea of educating the businesses, I started a campaign few days ago which you might have noticed..
Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/prnewswire/feeds/prnewswire/2007/10/23/prnewswire200710231353PR_NEWS_USPR_____LATU150..html
Yahoo Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071023/latu150.html?.v=19
MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/everything-sells-online-even-duck/story.aspx?guid=%7B8AE249C5%2DF985%2D4543%2DA096%2DD04A7BEBBEF1%7D
BTW, the campaign’s page is here:
http://www.duckeggs.com/domains
I LOVE the kiosk idea. And right next to the kiosk is a small domain aftermarket section, listed by category. “Finance” “Sports” “Geographical Names” with take away brochures listing the top 500 names in each category and their prices (need to have hard prices on them). Suddenly the average joe understands he can get a better name for his business for $700, $2000 or $20,000.
Has buydomains ever printed out hard copy catalogs to distribute to non-domainers? I bet this could be very profitable for them.
this has legs, somebody run with it….
Superb idea, Frank.
Relatedly, the astute Snapnames/ Oversee, Buydomains/ NameMedia, and Fabulous folks could partner with these companies’ website/ divisions as well…what a great way to push the sale inventory to the end users…
Frank: Private msg: Since it was your idea; you may want to quickly register DomainKiosk/s.com (I don’t want to even check if they’re available in case they get “highjacked” as a result).
***FS*** Gone in 2000.. somebody had vision .. Thanks tho
Sorry to be the negative one on this but I think this idea has NO legs and would be a waste of time and energy. The costs for each kiosk would be an obstacle. Additionally, finding educated domain sales people would be extremely difficult and expensive.
However, the concept is not a bad one IMO. The idea could be implemented with a slight modification of what is already out there. It could be done more efficient, cheaper, and with much greater long term success
You mention the following points:
1.Business Startups visit these (Fedex, OfficeMax)
2. There is a reasonable need for business owners to acquire quality domain names.
3. Potential to educate and make sales
All 3 of those are valid points and important variables when trying to make a sale, especially a domain sale.
If I was a company like buydomains or a company that made a little cheese on each name sale I would be doing it a little differently.
1. Market to an end user from a consultative perspective. Educate as Sai’s site tries to do. Invite the prospective client to reach out to you and learn why it’s in their best interest to own XYZ domain. Educate and demonstrate to them why they must have XYZ to be successful. Once you have educated them on why, the name should sell itself. However, once the client sees the “potential” with the name, they will need someone who can help them “use” the name. That might be design, SEO, Hosting….the possibilities are endless but it starts with educating them on the power.
2. Market domain names like credit card processing companies do. Send out / Contact people who filed for new DBA’s or filed for new Corporations. Those lists alone would generate 1000′s of leads weekly to targeted business owners. Most probably haven’t even registered their company domain name yet. The key is selling them not on a name but the idea and power of generic names. Once they get the idea and see the potential, the name should sell itself.
3. Target magazines and websites for people who want to be successful or show a willingness to be “coached”. Those people will be more willing to explore ways to become more successful. This should could be done without a capital outlay by trading ad space between the different ad platforms if their was enough inventory on both sides.
IMO, I have shown different, more efficient ways to achieve the same goal with less money, quicker implementation, and higher profitability.
Frank,
The kiosk idea is great. I think the availability of the kiosk would be better served at places where people actually go to register company/business names such as local registrar’s office, office building where accountants and business attorney’s are located. Or how about those websites that allow people to register for business and corporate names?
***FS*** That’s a ‘great’ idea.
Ideas like this could work well or go flat. The only way to to really find out is to try.
Imo, testing this idea would not be overly expensive.
Try 10 kiosks to start in well researched locations, and see if it’s worth rolling out more.
I’d add additional services to this. Buy a domain name, sign up for hosting, multiple email addresses, SEO submissions, web design, listings in local directories. Not saying the person would necessarily or have to sign up for additional services at the get go, but give them a clear path to do so after they sign up for one of the services.
The hook might be, Free domain name for your business,.. when you sign up for our package A, B or C.
People like free things.
Thanks Steven for the comments. I too believe there is no point in simply getting excited. Unless we educate the business people, it may even ‘backfire’ if I may add, because there is so much negative talk on domainers out there in the news everyday. Have you seen anyone (non-domainers) talking positive about domaining?? I am so much concerned because I want to see this Frank’s idea really succeed. It can happen only if we do it right imo.
thanks,
Sorry Frank, but I have to completely disagree on this one and here’s why! Firstly, establishing domain kiosks will be going backwards in conventionally, it will be like trying to open franchises or outlets in a declining brick’s and mortar environment. Surely you will get a few novice registrants but that will not solve the problem of liquidity. I’m going to challenge the intellectual thinking of a lot of the domainers I greatly admire here. What this industry needs in order to create sustainable liquidity is a “Domain Stock Exchange” pure and simple! the only reason it hasn’t happened in my view is because domainers while respectively are quite clever, simply lack the experience of developing something like a real NASDAQ for domains because it appears complex. It actually isn’t! if you take a look at the online “Betting” market, there are real betting exchanges trading just like stock markets that do exist and provide extreme liquidity. No kidding guy’s I’ve looked into this myself and have consulted with an American IT consultancy in London that can enable a real share exchange platform for domain trading. The only problem is I don’t have the initial start up capital myself. I’m talking about an exchange that will seek the essential Financial Securities approval and licensing in europe, allow domains to be traded like stocks online and most importantly, allow any novice to raise money on the DSE to turn respective domains into real business with earnings!!! It’s important we realize that Wall Street started under a walnut tree in the 1800′s by a few people just like us who are pioneering domainers today. I honestly believe people will see the domain market as a 21st century innovation to raise capital to start real online businesses, small or large leading to universal ubiquity, end liquidity problems currently lacking hereof and simply provide an exchange that is designed for the future of the internet economy as a whole. This guys should be the vision we all share, to create a disruptive technology market that rattles wall street. C’mon lets do it! If anyone wants to learn more about DSE then hook me up please! Frank I’d really love to hear from you on this one..it can really be done and it will also have a derivates component to! now thats very sexy and will get wall street very ruffled indeed. Just imagine if tomorrow’s google or facebook raised seed capital on the Domain Stock Exchange!
They are doing this but on MySpace:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-media-summit-fox-myspace.html?ex=1353819600&en=368ab2a59b30f952&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss