DNJournal’s Ron Jackson made the mainstream press again, this time in an interview with ABC News regarding the Toys.com sale to Toys R Us in last week’s bankruptcy auction. It’s good to see mainstream coverage of the domain business, and I am glad news outlets continue to seek out Ron Jackson for his expert opinion.
This morning, Future Media Architects announced the launch of Jackass.com and Jogging.com, two of its hundreds of generic domain names. As you may recall, Jackass.com was involved in a UDRP dispute last month, and FMA prevailed over the complainant, Viacom, parent company of MTV.
Jackass.com has been developed into a resource site about donkeys. In addition, there is a search functionality on the site allowing visitors to search the web for information about donkeys, mules and other jackass-related topics.
Personally, I am most eagerly looking forward to FMA’s launch of Ibiza.com, which is expected to happen later this year.
I’ve seen several Internet blogs, articles, and forums where people refer to my friend Thunayan as a “cybersquatter.” From my own personal experience in launching several websites, each one takes a lot of time, effort, and energy, and it’s no easy task. I know Thunayan is involved with many projects other than domain investing, so it’s not fair to label him simply because his company owns so many great domain names and is taking its time in launching websites.
It’s always easy to criticize others from a far, but timing is everything when it comes to web development.
I’ve received a few “partnership” offers, and I know that domain owners who have premium domain names receive development partnership requests often. I am sure Rick has received dozens of email requests from people who want to help him open a candy store on Candy.com. When it comes to partnership requests, it’s unlikely that the requester will be taken seriously.
It seems that most people want the domain owner to trust that they know what they are doing, and many times, they might, but they can’t prove it. Why would a domain owner be willing to risk his reputation (and domain name) on someone that randomly pops in with an idea? There are plenty of great ideas out there, but execution is what’s important. If you want to partner with me or another domainer, come to us with case studies of your successful businesses. Show us how much revenue you’ve generated by applying your idea elsewhere, and perhaps we can talk.
The problem is that most people have good ideas but no clue about the execution side of things. It’s very easy to tell someone else how they should run their business, but when it comes down to it, the execution is the most difficult part. Toys.com may look like a great $5,000,000 domain name, but a new company would probably have to spend double or triple that on the inventory, overhead, and fulfillment in order to set up a system that will drive a strong return on the investment.
If you do have the ability and a track record of successful web launches, you need to be willing to put in the time, effort, and finances with the hopes of sharing profits on a finished site. If you achieve agreed upon goals, you should get a percentage of the business, but not until that happens. If you are willing to do all of this, then perhaps we will entrust you with our premium domain names. If not, it’s probably best to find someone else for your experiment.
The other option is to do something on your own, start generating revenue, and then pitch the domain owner on integrating the successful business model with the industry defining domain name he owns. The key to all of this is that you must be able to build and manage a successful business, otherwise you will just waste your time and the domain owner’s time.
I don’t need to share any recent sales data to show that the economy is impacting domain values. I think the bottom line is that good domain names still sell for high prices, and average to below-average domain names are difficult to sell these days.
One thing is certain though. No matter how difficult the economy is, nor what happens to currency valuations and/or fluctuations, domain name assets are stronger than many other assets, and they are very similar to land and precious metals, all of which are limited and have intrinsic value.
Regardless of what happens with the economy, precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum will still have value. They can be used as bartering tools (if necessary) and they can be used just about anywhere in the world. Likewise, the best real estate is the world will still remain valuable. You won’t be able to make a ridiculously low offer for a piece of land on the water in Palm Beach any time soon or ever because there will always be someone there with a better offer – be it cash or cash equivalents.
Domain names can’t be lost (unless you forget to renew them), they are difficult to steal if you are careful, and good ones are valuable just about anywhere in the world you go. The Internet is one thing that binds just about the entire world, and it isn’t going anywhere.
Sure, people may be struggling to survive financially and things may appear to be getting worse, but as far as I can see, the impact is somewhat isolated. I think some people need to spend less time watching the news and more time focusing on how to improve their own economic conditions.
Fear is as dangerous as what is feared.
