General Domain Information

My friend from Fox Interactive writes…

“A topic that I would be interested to understand better is .mobi. I see that you mentioned it the other day — but what is the situation with buying these urls? How many people actually know to type in .mobi? Or if you are on a mobile, when you type in a .com are you typically redirected to one? Will those domains eventually become obsolete because the technology in iPhones and such?”

I am going to be out of pocket all day today, but I know there are many people out there with greater knowledge of the .mobi extension. I am going to give my very brief overview of .mobi below, but I am opening this up for others to answer the question above in the comment section. I will approve any respectful comment if you can keep your response to 3 paragraphs or less.

My opinion about .mobi is that it is purely a marketing play. Once consumers know about .mobi, they will know any domain name with the .mobi extension is pre-optimized for mobile phone usage. If companies use and promote their domain name with the .mobi extension, consumers will become accustomed to using .mobi on their mobile devices, and they will know what .mobi means.

Because it was recently introduced, most companies companies have not used .mobi, and most consumers don’t know what .mobi is or does. Many brands who own .mobi names registered them for protective purposes, just as they try to register every other foreign extension. If and when more brands develop their .mobi names, consumers will learn about the extension, and for people who own them, the value will presumably increase. Most of the big purchases seem to be based on speculation that the value will increase rather than companies buying them to develop into mobile websites.

It seems that everyone wants to get into the domain investment business. All it takes is internet access, a good idea and around $8.00 and you can buy yourself a great domain name! Shoot – you don’t even need a great idea to register a domain name. Come on, everyone has a few of those alcohol-induced purchases, right?

The point is that it’s very easy for people to register domain names and become involved in the domain business. One thing I’ve noticed is the diverse backgrounds of people I know in the domain industry. There are marketers, lawyers, doctors, techies, professors, salesmen…etc. The list of professions is deep, to say the least. This is because the domain industry spans every single profession and industry, allowing those with a strong background in a particular field to have an advantage over others.

Take my friend Ben for example. He’s a finance guy who knows that business well. After many discussions about the domain industry, my friend decided to get his feet wet and register a few domain names that jive with his finance background. Although he won’t be able to retire on most of the names he purchased, he did acquire some pretty good names in YuanInvestment.com (Yuan is the Chinese currency), MarginInvesting.com, and YenInvestment.com (BTW, if you are interested in acquiring these, drop me a line!).

Although he may not even realize it until reading this post, I think the most valuable domain name that he owns is his own first/last name in the .com. He is now in control of his name on the Internet, which will be important once he really makes a name for himself. Ben is a smart guy. When the domain industry really comes from under the radar, Ben will probably be managing billions of dollars, and he will have a leg up on everyone else. Shoot, maybe Ben will be the financier that helps propel the domain business forward.

While running on the treadmill last night, I was wearing my TrafficZ shirt with the “I ♥ Domains” graphic on it. I hate running, so I like to think about various things to get my mind off of running to shorten my workout. I looked in the mirror, saw the shirt, and thought about why I ♥ Domains, and I wanted to share a list of some of the reasons:

1) Opportunities to find success no matter what the focus
2) Global industry allows networking with folks throughout the world
3) Develop, Park, Blog, Arbitrage, Hybrid…etc… You name it, you can do it
4) Fun and interactive investment vehicle
5) Industry is under the radar
6) Doesn’t matter how large or small you are
7) Personal background doesn’t matter
8.) Unexplored ideas are waiting to be found
9) No matter the location, you can impact the world
10) Hundreds of ways to prosper

I ♥ that there are so many opportunities in this industry for everyone who is willing to work hard. Whether you are a large or small entity, you can educate yourself about a niche and become successful. You can do so many creative things with domain names, and whether anyone says you are right or wrong, the bottom line is your bottom line.

There aren’t many shortcuts to take, but if you work hard, listen to advice, be creative and think outside the box, you too will ♥ Domains.