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Planning to Attend a Conference

Elliot Silver
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As I am preparing to attend the GeoDomain Expo in Chicago in July and the TRAFFIC conference in New York in September, I would like to offer some advice to those who are planning on attending. Most conferences are expensive, and coupled with airfare and hotel registrations, it’s important to take a few things into consideration before attending.
Usually it can save quite a bit of money by registering early, so I recommend reviewing the upcoming conferences far in advance and using the early bird registration option. Most of the big domain and related conference websites have the dates and locations of upcoming conferences many months in advance. If finances are a big issue, try to attend a conference closer to home to avoid paying airfare.
In the past, I’ve used Farecast to find the best prices on airfare. The cool thing about that site is that it gives prices for various airlines, and it recommends whether you should buy the tickets now or wait based on their experiences. I’ve also found that you can save money by booking your hotel using the special conference rate, which is usually less expensive than you can find elsewhere. If the conference is in a big city with good transportation, you can usually save money by booking at a different hotel, but make sure it’s close enough (and safe enough) so that you can get home in the wee hours of the morning. I wouldn’t recommend staying in the Lower East Side during TRAFFIC, for example, because you will spend much more than you saved on cab fare alone.
As most people will tell you, conference attendance is about networking and meeting with old and new friends. Most of the panels offer valuable information and advice, but the primary reason I attend conferences is to meet with friends who I might see only one or two times a year. I would recommend reaching out to people with whom you want to meet to let them know you are planning to attend the conference. It’s likely that the person or people will be more than will to meet and chat with you at some point during the conference. While it’s nice to have a short conversation in passing, it’s even better if you make plans to speak ahead of time.
For the GeoDomain Expo, I am excited to listen to the panels and learn as much as I can. While I’ve received a tremendous amount of advice from the Castello Brothers, Rob Grant, Jessica Bookstaff, and several others, I am not an expert geodomainer yet. I want to learn how I can operate and grow my two geodomains, and I want to meet with the companies that offer products or services to help develop my geodomains. Take some time to scope out who will be in attendance and who will be speaking on the panels. If you make plans to go “off campus,” make sure you aren’t missing a panel of interest. Make appointments with sponsors and other exhibitors if you want to learn about the company or products. It’s usually easy for them to take a few minutes outside of the exhibition hall, but you should ask ahead of time so they can be prepared.
I am getting excited to attend the GeoDomain Expo and TRAFFIC. I’ve only attended a few conferences, but I’ve never, ever been disappointed with them. Each conference is a unique experience, and I think they are well worth the expense if you are serious about the industry or want to get serious about the industry. Almost all of the serious domain investors and developers attend the conferences, and it’s a great opportunity to learn from the professionals in a personal setting.

Evaluating an Offer for a Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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Sometimes deciding to sell a domain name isn’t as easy as receiving a fair market offer for the name. In addition to considering the value of the offer, market conditions, and the buyer’s circumstances, you really need to think about what the loss of the domain name will mean to your domain portfolio and business plan. While being in strong financial position is important, you need to evaluate how the sale of a domain name might be detrimental to your long-term business plan, even if an offer you receive is for the full market value of the domain name.
When I receive a strong offer on a domain name, I do my best to determine the actual value of the name. For instance, I try to figure out whether I could get a higher sales price if I approached certain buyers, end-users or if the name was auctioned and received bidding action. More often than not, I am able to easily determine that the offer is lower than market value, and I negotiate with the person who made an offer in an attempt to reconcile the difference between the offer and what I’ve determined to be the fair market value for the domain name.
On occasion, a legitimate offer that is received is either for fair market value or greater than fair market value. In these rare situations, since you are probably more inclined to sell after receiving the fair (or better than fair offer), it is imperative to think about what the loss of the domain name will mean to your business plan in the long term. I am very fortunate to have received a significant offer for a domain name I own. While most people would think the offer is probably very appropriate, I need to determine how it will impact me if I choose to sell it.
Sure, a domain name could have a fair market value of $200,000, but with my business plan, design template, and execution strategy, the developed website could make this domain name worth a large multiple of this, especially if the developed website is successful. If I sell this domain name, I would be inclined to go out and find a comparable one to fill the hole, and I might not be able to find a comparable domain name to develop in this price range. It might actually cost me more money to find something equally as compelling, which would make the sale very short-sighted.
While it’s usually a good idea to have a strong cash position, with the low interest rates and the weak dollar, holding cash in the bank is almost a losing proposition. Maintaining a cash position is important for the short term, but I don’t personally think it’s smart in the long term, although I did get a D+ in Financial Accounting when I was a sophomore in college (hey, I was pledging my fraternity).
Selling a domain name involves more than evaluating the face value of the name and the market conditions. It’s very important to evaluate how the loss/sale of the name will impact your business strategy and what else you can do with the revenue generated from the sale. It would be ashame to realize what you lost in 5 years by selling a particular domain name.

When Registering New Names, Price them Smartly

Elliot Silver
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I wanted to share some advice to people who are new to the industry, and perhaps others who make the same beginner mistakes. If you just registered a domain name in the past month or two, and you are looking to sell it for thousands of dollars, it makes you look pretty silly. Unless you registered a domain name for a term that was just coined or some other very hot trend, chances are good that the reason it was unregistered was that others didn’t believe it was worth the registration fee, let alone the thousands of dollars you are trying to get for the name.
One of the keys to my success when I started out was that I priced my new registrations pretty well. I saw people were trying to sell new registrations for several hundred dollars, and I was very happy to sell the names I just registered for $30-100/each. Sure, it took longer to make a large profit than it would have if I sold just one name for several thousand dollars; however, the likelihood of selling a new registration for thousands of dollars is slim to none (and slim just left the building). Yes, I’ve seen it done a couple of times, but I’ve seen more people get chastised for trying to do this than for actually selling them.
If you are trying to break into the business and do well financially, it looks pretty unprofessional to expect a gigantic return on your very short-term investment. Don’t be greedy, and you will be rewarded over time. For some examples of this, search the term “domain” on Ebay and sort from highest prices to lowest, and you will see plenty.

Revenue Sharing Model in the Domain Space

Elliot Silver
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I’ve mentioned this a few times on my blog in passing, but I want to briefly discuss the Revenue Sharing model of doing business. When I was at AIG, we frequently used this model for various projects where we didn’t necessarily have the expertise or the ability to commit the necessary time to perfect a project. We would go out and seek the best companies in the space and work with them on specific projects, and in return for taking less up front revenue, they would receive a nice revenue share percentage that would have a very long tail. This would yield much greater revenue for the partners in the long run, and those who put skin in the game were rewarded.
While this might not work for everyone or every project, there are certain instances where this model fits perfectly. As mentioned yesterday, I am going to work with a Lowell-based sales representative to sell advertising space on Lowell.com for a commission rather than pay him hourly or hire him full/part time. As a result of earning a percentage for each sale, he will be incentivized to generate more sales and build strong relationships with local businesses. It will also be in his best interest to give me feedback to improve the site. The better the site is, the easier it will be for him to sell advertising space.
One thing to keep in mind is that the partners you work with need to have the same ethics and morals that I (or you) have when conducting business. When a person is working for straight commission, they may tell prospects anything to close a deal. Ultimately, what they promise a potential client will be the responsibility of the business owner. It’s always important to check your references when you are working with someone who will represent your business.
This model might not work for small business owners dealing with large businesses, but you won’t find out until you ask. Some companies can justify taking a risk by losing upfront sale dollars with the promise of a long tail revenue share. If you have a good business plan, it can’t hurt to pitch this model instead of paying for everything up front. The prospect of earning passive revenue for a long time is enticing to many companies, and as long as the idea is backed by a solid business plan, there is usually mostly upside for doing this.
While I haven’t done this yet in the domain or development business, I have experienced this in my former career. This is a great way to keep upfront costs down, and it’s also a great way to mitigate some risks when you are working on a new project. Sure, you lower the potential profit margin down the road, but if the companies you work with have skin in the game, they are more likely to work harder for you, assuming they see you working hard and buy into your vision.

Gamble on Yourself – Not Blackjack

Elliot Silver
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Of course I didn’t follow the advice I am about to give, but I suppose that is the reason I am giving it! Next time you are thinking about hitting Vegas or Atlantic City (or Mohegan Sun in my case), you might want to consider spending the money on domain registrations rather than blackjack. When you play blackjack, your chances of coming out ahead are pretty slim. When you smartly gamble on a domain name, the prospects can be much greater. Sure, blackjack offers a faster (but shorter lived) thrill, but selling a domain name you just registered for $400 is an even bigger thrill.
Instead of going to the casino and playing blackjack, you are much better off betting on yourself!

Building a Network

Elliot Silver
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A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Rob Grant who has been following the development of Lowell.com on my blog. Having read about Rob and his accomplishments, I was excited to speak with him. After a brief email exchange, Rob and I spoke via telephone and had a great discussion about geodomain strategy. One strategic initiative I learned about was using targeted keyword domain names to build a Lowell.com network, all of which would support the main Lowell.com site.
An example of this can be seen in Rob’s network of websites. In addition to Adirondacks.com, Rob and his team have built a huge network of supporting sites such as AdirondackHotels.com and AdirondackSkiing.com. This network of sites helps expand the reach of the main brand and can also help the search engine optimization of the main site, since each site has its own unique content. Needless to say, I purchased many Lowell-related keyword domain names, and am in the process of slowly building each. An example of a mini-site I just started can be found at LowellPharmacies.com. It’s going to take me a while to build each site, but Rome wasn’t built over night!
During my conversation with Rob, I mentioned that a well-known Lowell resident contacted me via the Lowell.com contact form asking me if I needed a sales representative on the ground in Lowell. While I declined this offer at first, after speaking with Rob, I will get back in touch with him later this week. Not only does he have many business contacts in the city of Lowell, he will also be able to give me invaluable information about the city. While I wanted to do all of the sales myself, it doesn’t necessarily make sense since I am in New York, and I don’t have a ton of local contacts yet (although I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce!)
As I learned in my 2 years as a Direct Marketing Manager at AIG, when you might not have the ability to do something as professionally as it needs to be done (or should spend the time focusing on other things), you should hire the best of breed to do it for you. In this case, it would make sense to work with someone who is known in the city and can close deals. I can worry about the development of the site (and my other business interests), and he can worry about generating revenue. Even though it will cost me a % of each sale, I would rather pay a percentage of a large number than no percentage of a smaller number. The sales rep will also be able to give me feedback about what improvements are needed on the site to make it more beneficial for the advertisers.
This post was going to be entirely about building the Lowell.com network of sites, and as I was writing it and thinking it out, the post began to change shape, and there is a double meaning to “building a network.” Having a support network is advantageous in both the literal and figurative senses. Just as the main website can benefit from well-built supporting websites, I have been building a network of friends and colleagues in all areas of development.
I have been lucky enough to receive great advice from people like Rob Grant, David and Michael Castello, Jessica Bookstaff, Brad Epstein, Richard Douglas, Dan Pulcrano, Gordon Brott, and many others who have been down the path of development, marketing, hosting, and search engine optimization, and they know how difficult it is. There are literally thousands of ways to build a successful business on a website, and I have been lucky enough to receive advice from many people who have already been down the path I am traveling.
While Lowell.com is taking a while to build, I am not in any rush to generate revenue. I am fortunate to have done well enough in the domain industry over the past few years to slowly build Lowell.com and it’s supporting network without having to worry about the small revenue it is currently generating in its infancy. When I start selling the Lowell.com product to potential advertisers, I want to make sure everything works as I vision it to work. Lowell.com and it’s supporting network of websites are going to be as strong as possible.   Along the way to developing Lowell.com, I have been building an even stronger network of friends and colleagues, all of whom are supporting me.

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