This silver AIG-branded piggybank is my favorite memento from when I worked at AIG.
Thoughts for GeoDomain Expo Agenda
Now that I am committed to attending the GeoDomain Expo in San Diego next month, I want to make a few suggestions about what I’d like to see on the agenda to get the most out of the conference. There are many changes that have taken place in the geodomain business, and I think this is going to be an important conference.
There are a lot of successful websites doing a variety of things, and I think it will be great to hear about the various tactics that are working and aren’t working.
Here are a few suggestions for discussions:
– Socia Media – How are some of the biggest brands integrating social media tools into their websites? Are sites using discussion forums, Twitter/Digg/Facebook/StumbleUpon icons, comment submission, and/or other tactics? Are their particular companies that geodomain websites can work with cost effectively (such as Pluck)?
– Newpaper Model – Although most geodomains are used for tourism, have any small businesses jumped into the newspaper/media industry to provide relevant news content? Do they use content writers, professional journalists, amateur writers who are readers, or syndicated content?
– Fresh Content – How are geodomain owners keeping their websites updated regularly with relevant content? Who is responsible for creating and adding the content?
– Ad Sales – For non-local geodomain owners, how are advertising sales made locally? What strategies are working and what aren’t working? What is the key to advertising sales if you don’t live in the area?
– Search Engine Strategies – Google/Yahoo can be the key to a site’s thriving or failure. What is the best way to get rankings for your primary city keywords, site links, and long tail keyword results – and ensure that they are kept? Are there good link exchange strategies that I can employ?
– Event sponsorships & Memberships – Where should the geodomain owner spend funds in the local community? Should the geodomain sponsor sporting events, cultural activities, or make contributions to local charities? Is the local Chamber of Commerce or the Rotary Club a necessary membership? How about others?
What else have I missed that should be discussed?
Am I Going to the GeoDomain Expo?
For the last few weeks, well before the questions about the Expo arose, I’ve been trying to figure out if I will attend the GeoDomain Expo. Don’t get me wrong, I had a fantastic time at the GeoDomain Expo in Chicago last year.
The issues I am trying to resolve are multi-faceted. I’ve flown across the country 4 times since January (and I dislike flying), I am trying to preserve cash because my domain sales are down, I will need to be in Burbank for a week soon after the show, and I have three weddings to attend in May. All of this has made me second guess whether I will attend the show I need to attend.
Anyhow, I’ve been exchanging emails with a number of Associated Cities/Geos members as well as a few geodomain owners who are not part of the organization. Just about everyone I know and correspond with in the geodomain business has confirmed with me that they are attending.
It’s not that the panels are a whole lot different than other conferences, it’s the people who attend the show. Most of the most successful private geodomain owners attend the GeoDomain Expo, and almost everyone I spoke with in July was more than willing to sit down and give advice. There was no hollow “here’s my card, call me” BS. There was a lot of “here’s what we did to make it work” type of conversations, and “how can we help you generate revenue?”
While my geo websites aren’t making a ton of money yet, primarily because I haven’t been actively seeking clients in Lowell and Burbank, I have seen traffic grow considerably, as well as interest in the websites from businesses in those cities. I have taken advice from the show and applied it to my sites, and that has helped fuel their growth.
After much internal debating, I’ve made a decision about the show. I have to be there. Flights will be booked today, and I look forward to seeing my friends – I know I have a whole lot to share with them from what I’ve learned this past year.
Associated Cities’ GeoDomain Expo Tickets on Sale
Tickets for Associated Cities’ 2009 GeoDomain Expo, scheduled for April 23-25 in San Diego, California, are now on sale, and the early bird registration fee through March 15 is just $595/person.Registration after March 15 is $695, and registration on site is $995.
I believe this is the best conference for people who own geographic domain names and/or geographic websites. Last year’s conference was held in Chicago, and I found it to be a great learning experience. Most of the successful geodomain owners are engaging individuals who seem happy to share advice and tips with others.
There is much more networking and sharing of information than other conferences, and the price of attendance is less than just about all other domain conferences. If you own a geodomain, this is a conference you should attend.
How .nyc Can Become the Extension for New York City
I am not a native New Yorker. I have only lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for six and a half years, but I feel like a New Yorker. I hate crowds of tourists, I try my hardest not to pass through Times Square, I love running/rollerblading/playing tennis/walking in Central Park, I know I will never make it on time if I need to take the W train, and I keep my elbows out when walking past people meandering on the sidewalk during rush hour. The only way you could tell I am not a native New Yorker is my Sox and Pats gear. I am also a domain investor.
When I was in graduate school at NYU, the reason I moved to New York, the director of the program challenged us to think like marketers and like consumers. It was critical that if we were going to develop direct marketing strategies for brands, we couldn’t just think about ways to market products. We had to put ourselves in the minds of the consumers who would buy our products, and we needed to think about whether our marketing efforts would appeal to them.
In the case of the .nyc extension, I am able to think like a domain investor and like a consumer, and I have a pretty good idea about how the .nyc extension will be successful. I can also imagine how it could struggle.
Several years ago, the city of New York rolled out its 311 phone line. This is the number you can call for just about anything and everything related to New York that isn’t an emergency. If you need information about paying taxes, call 311. If there’s a car alarm going off at 2am outside of your building, call 311. If you see a rodent in a restaurant, call 311. This is the phone number to connect you with the city, and most people who live hear know about it through a variety of television, subway, billboard, and other advertising efforts.
For consumers to adopt .nyc as they adopted 311, I think a few things need to happen:
I think every government organization, entity, office and program will need to use .nyc for their website. Whether this is forwarded to the existing .gov or not, we, the people of New York, need to know that .nyc means connecting to New York City, it’s government, businesses and everything else related to the city.
Every city marketing effort needs to be branded .nyc. Mayor.nyc should go to to the mayor’s office, FDNY.nyc should go to the Fire Department, 311.nyc should go to the 311 system, CentralPark.nyc should go to the Central Park Conservancy, and Weiner.nyc should not go to Gray’s Papaya, but should go to State Representative Anthony Weiner who represents the city.
If the city adopts .nyc as their extension, consumers will begin to adjust to it, and they will adopt it as well. However, it can’t just end at the city government. The .nyc extension will not be commercially viable if the businesses in New York don’t buy their domain names, which is where the revenue generation steps in to the picture. I am all for capitalism, but the people running the .nyc extension need to do something to ensure legitimate New York City business get their domain names so New Yorkers use the extension to find their favorite businesses.
If AtlanticGrill.nyc, PerSe.nyc, Bloomingdales.nyc, and MenuPages.nyc end up with PPC links on them or go to a Sedo for sale page, I will probably never type in a .nyc domain name to find a local business. When I am on my Blackberry, I never type in a .mobi, because I know the chance is good that the brands I want to find don’t even own their .mobi name! Two immediate cases in point are JetBlue.mobi and YouTube.mobi. In my own humble opinion, I would say that the consumer marketing effort of .mobi has not been good, and I the registrations of .mobi domain names have stalled (846,994 registered as of February 1, 2009 vs. 956,412 on October 1, 2008 – source: 2009 and 2008). Out of the 14 extensions on that list, .mobi is the only one to have lost registrations between October and February.
The .nyc extension isn’t a new technology that stands out from other extensions and would give it a unique selling point. The extension is a marketing effort that needs to be branded and sold to consumers in addition to businesses. I think it will take a big effort to make it work, but I certainly think it is possible.
I should also add that I think this will be a boon for the owners of NYC.com. No matter how much effort is done people will still add the .com after .nyc, which will take them to a NYC.com subdomain.
Lots of (Good) Hand Registrations Still Available
With domain tasting nearly dead, there seems to be a lot of opportunities today to register some decent new domain names as the tasters aren’t keeping everything. In the past several months, this hasn’t really been the case. I’d find decent names, but not really at the volume as I am now. Perhaps this has to do with people trimming down their portfolios and not renewing domain names, but whatever the case is, there seems to be more good unregistered names than before.
When you search for domain names to register by hand, always keep in mind two questions:
How can this be used commercially?
Would a person or a company legitimately spend hundreds or thousands of dollars building a website on this domain name?
If the answer to either one of these questions is “no” I recommend not registering it. I will use two recent registrations I made as examples:
1) Fireproofers.com – Although this isn’t a commonly used term, there are a considerable number of companies in the fireproofing business. They are paid to make sure newly constructed buildings are built with fireproof materials. It’s not a huge industry, but it is lucrative. Individually, each company/person is a fireproofers, and collectively they are fireproofers. This could be used as an industry site.
CigarEnthusiasts.com. I could easily see a cigar lover buying this name and building a cigar directory site. I wouldn’t sell it for thousands of dollars because nobody would pay that, but for a few hundred dollars, a person could buy a meaning full name that has cache.
There are tons of names like these out there available to register for under $10/each that can be flipped for a tidy profit. In a difficult market, it’s tough to acquire $5,000 domain names and hope to flip them. It’s much easier to buy a $7 name and sell it for $30 – $500 though.