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TRAFFIC – New York City

Elliot Silver
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Tickets to the New York City TRAFFIC show are now available for purchase. The show will run from September 23-26. Unlike last year where the show was in midtown Manhattan, the show will be held just over the bridge in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott. The early bid special, running through June 15th, is for $1,495, and then it jumps to $1,795 through August 15th, and finally to the full price of $1,995. The special hotel rate is $299/night.
I’ve heard a couple of grumblings that the show will be in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan, but I think that’s silly. I am the one that’s going to have to jump on the C train at who knows what hour (or pay for a car service) to get to Manhattan! This is probably designed as a cost savings move, as the cost of transportation to/from the venue from the airport is much less, hotel rooms are more affordable, restaurants are less expensive, and you are still a stone’s throw from Manhattan in Brooklyn.
If you have been thinking about attending a pure domain conference, this is one you won’t want to miss.

Responding to Geodomain Discussion

Elliot Silver
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I was going to write this response to Sahar on his blog, but I decided to just post it here since it encompasses more than one post. I have a great deal of respect for Sahar and some of the things he has done in the domain industry. Seeing Sahar build some of his domain names into business has helped spark my interest in development, and I believe he has been instrumental in getting domain investors to begin to develop their valuable domain names. However, I disagree and am a bit confused by some of the things he has recently said.
Before I begin, I want to define what I am referencing when I speak of geodomains that are worth a considerable amount of money, and what I blog about (unless previously specified).

1) .com only
2) City with 100,000 population, a large tourism industry, a center of business activity, or a US state
3) Domain name must be the exact spelling of the city

There are plenty of other geodomains, but these are generally what I consider geodomains when I talk about the industry in general.A few weeks ago, Sahar provocatively wrote a blog post entitled “Are Geo Domains Overrated?” He evaluated his thoughts on what to do with geodomains other than PPC, and the answer is either development or resale. The gist of the discussion on development is that it is very difficult (and I agree), and regarding resale, Sahar said, “To me looking for end users is an extremely tough proposition. I would not consider that a viable option.” Ultimately, Sahar’s concludes, “It is my personal opinion that while today Geo domains aren’t an attractive proposition (and we do own a few), in the near future, possibly 2-5 years, they may be.”
To address this topic, I agree that geodomains should be developed to yield their full value. They are expensive to acquire, and if the owner wants to generate revenue, development is the way to go. I do disagree that looking to sell the domain name is difficult, as I have received significant offers on Burbank.com – which I have rejected in favor of development. I know it wouldn’t be difficult to sell this name or Lowell.com, based on the response I’ve received in the Lowell area when speaking about the domain name and website.
A few days ago, Sahar wrote another post about geodomains titled, “The Other Side of Geo.” Sahar cites my blog and Rick Latona’s newsletter as sources of geodomain discussion, in addition to Associated Cities and Castello Cities press. Sahar believes, “majority of the people who promote Geo domains are doing so not because Geo is doing great but because they are invested in Geo.”
I am a bit insulted by this in respect to the reference to my blog. I talk about geodomains because I happen to be developing two of them, not because I need to increase their value or increase recognition. If anything, I would like the value to decrease so I can buy more of them – as I have tried with my $100k offer for a large east coast city .com domain name. I paid what I was comfortable with paying, and I would pay the same price in a heartbeat without so much as a second to contemplate it – as I am sure many others would agree. Also, geodomains are hot and in demand because supply is very limited for decent ones – because most good geo domain owners won’t sell it.
Additionally, Sahar wrote what most people would agree, “In terms of cashflow performance, in comparison to other domain categories, Geo domains are extremely over rated.” Yes, I agree that Lowell.com would only make $2-3/day in Adsense revenue, but I am making more in hotel/job revenue, and the traffic and revenues continues to grow. When I finish with Burbank.com, that will make even more money in hotel revenue, as that is more of a business/tourist center than Lowell, Massachusetts.
Today, Sahar followed all of this up by concluding, “Truth is, after thinking more about it, Geo domains, in term of Domaining, are extremely overrated.” Although I don’t own any parked geodomains to offer a factual assessment, I do agree that geodomains aren’t a great investment vehicle if you plan to only use a PPC model on them. However, saying   that they are overrated in terms of domaining is like saying that undeveloped oceanfront property on A1A in Palm Beach, Florida is overrated.
For those who know the area, this is some of the most exclusive property in the country, and there is barely any undeveloped property on A1A in Palm Beach. The property that is undeveloped is generally not for sale or may be for sale at astronomical prices.   This property is also some of the most resilient property in all of Palm Beach county, and it hasn’t taken much of a hit when other areas of Palm Beach County has.
So in terms of domaining and simply buying a geodomain name for PPC, yes, they may be overrated, but I think most domain sales would be considered overrated if you just looked at them based on the PPC value (numerics, LLL.com, .mobi….etc). However, I would certainly be willing to pay overrated prices for geodomains.   Hopefully when Bido launches, they will be able to offer some great geodomains for sale 🙂

How I Determine Whether to Develop or Flip

Elliot Silver
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When I buy a domain name, the most significant quality I evaluate is the likelihood of it being used commercially. Using common sense, my marketing background and my consumer-savvy mind, I analyze whether a company would be willing to spend money building, marketing and branding a particular domain name as an online business. If I believe the answer is “yes,” and the price is right, I will usually buy the domain name. Since is not a tangible quality, I think this is where a huge disparity lies between people who have been financially successful and people who haven’t been as successful.
Once I purchase a domain name, I determine whether I will develop the domain name into a commercially viable business or sell it to someone else with that inclination. My first step after purchase is to try and determine the value of the domain name on the market – both to other domain investors and to an end user. If the value is worth considerably more than I paid and it’s not a project I’ve dreamed about working on, I will usually sell it. When I can quickly profit and/or upgrade easily by selling, it’s usually a no-brainer.
If the profit margin would be somewhat slim, I think about how I can develop the website on my own (with my developer) to increase the value and generate a passive revenue. Determining the type of site it would be best as is important, as there can be considerably more work depending whether it’s an informational website, offers a service or a commercial endeavor offering products for sale. I need to then figure out if I have the ability, capacity, and drive to operate and manage such a site. Additionally, I need to determine how long it would take to be profitable.
If I don’t particularly have an interest in the industry but I can build an easily manageable informational site, I might develop it with the intention of selling down the road. I have been doing this with some mini-sites, and I hope to share the results in a few weeks/months.. If I have little interest in the industry, and the site would take time and a considerable amount of money to develop, I will look to sell – even at a slim profit margin.
For me, development is equal parts enjoyment and equal parts profit. I am a history buff, and I like direct marketing (I was a History & Business major in college and have a Master’s Degree in Direct Marketing). This is just one reason why geodomains (such as Lowell.com and Burbank.com) are perfect for my business. My goal is to make a comfortable living – to enjoy life without many worries about money. I earn hotel and job revenue, and I am going to begin soliciting local businesses very soon. In fact, I received this nice submission on Lowell.com while in New Orleans:

subject : Lowell Form Submission
redirect : thanks.html
Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Company : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Email : xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
Phone : please email
Website : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Comments : Could you please send me a rate package to advertise on your website, it would be a small 125/125 button preferably on your main page for a small business I own
submit1 : Submit

Personally, I would prefer a solid geodomain over almost any other type of domain name for several reasons.

  • The branding is already accomplished (assuming it’s the exact name of the city/town)
  • Many people type-in the domain name directly (57% for Lowell.com)
  • Can be informational or service oriented with ad sales depending on how much involvement owner wants to have
  • Huge opportunity to grow via search engine optimization
  • Almost all large US city .com names are currently developed (largest 250 cities in the US), so they don’t come on the market often I would still pay up to $100,000 for an east coast US city .com (I didn’t receive a single offer meeting my requirements.

It’s important to note that I am still generating most of my revenue by selling domain names. I am a “one man show” here and it wouldn’t make sense to overwhelm myself with development projects as there aren’t enough hours in the day.   I love my fiancee and my friends enough not to become a slave to this business, although they all know how much I love this business. I will slowly develop some of my domain names into revenue-producing websites while I continue to sell other domain names. As my websites continue to grow and generate more revenue, I will be able to scale down my selling to develop other websites.
This is the first business I have run entirely on my own, and it’s a learning process. Just like learning which domain names to buy is important, it’s equally important to learn which domain names to keep and develop and which names to sell.

I Love Nola

Elliot Silver
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Just returned from my trip to New Orleans. While I think three days is long enough to be down there (especially the French Quarter), I had a great time. Dinner last night at Arnaud’s was amazing, and it was fantastic being down there with great friends and my Dad.
I need a bit more time to recover from the Hurricanes, bourbon, tequila, Purple Haze and other unmentionables, but I will be back to normal tomorrow. I even wrote a blog post on the flight, so it will be easier to get back to the groove.
Thanks to everyone who wrote emails and posted comments. See you tomorrow!

SHOW ME YOUR……. Domains!

Elliot Silver
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I won’t be blogging, moderating comments, or responding to emails for the next few days, as I am headed down to New Orleans for my bachelor party. I will be back on Sunday night, and I should be back to normal by Monday.
In the meantime, feel free to use the links on the right hand side while I am out of town.

Coffee.org Sold for $100,000

Elliot Silver
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According to an article I just read on Reve News, it looks like Coffee.org was recently acquired for $100,000 by Bill McClure, former Chairman of Traffic Strategies. McClure intends to build a coffee distribution website, and Coffee.org is certainly a great domain name to do that.
I’ve said in the past, there is a certain trust factor with the .org extension. While this may slightly work against McClure with a commercial enterprise, it would be easy to overcome if he also makes it a valuable informational resource all about coffee.
According to a quote from McClure in the Reve News post,

“Coffee is the second largest traded commodity, next to oil and has grown from $8 billion in sales in 2001 to over $ 13 billion today.” says McClure. “Studies show that throughout the world, people consume more than 330 million cups of coffee each and every day. This makes black coffee the most popular drink after water and even beats tea as people’s favorite drink.”

Thanks to Brad for sending the link to me!

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