I don’t know about you but I’m getting really tired of some new gTLD registries treating domain investors as second-class citizens. So how are investors treated in this manner?

It starts with language. There will be statements from registries such as, “We want to see real usage of our extension.” This suggests that domain investors who park a domain or use it for some other purpose aren’t doing so for legitimate business reasons. This is the height of arrogance by the registries!

I want to put registries that speak in this manner on notice that domain monetisation in any form (traffic, selling domains etc.) IS a legitimate business model and to change their disparaging language. In fact, if it wasn’t for the domain investment community many of the registries would be drowning in a bath of red ink……so don’t bite the hand that’s feeding you!

I was recently speaking with a registry and they proudly espoused the fact they had such a large “actual” use of their extension compared to others. When you really think about it what they were saying was that domain investors don’t use their domains. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

Domain investors have the right use their domains in any manner they wish. Because a domain doesn’t have a fancy website doesn’t mean the domain isn’t important for the investor. It could be they are in the middle of a negotiation to sell the domain for a premium, monetising the domain traffic, using it for an email address or plan on building it into a profitable business. That’s the owners prerogative and their own business.

Many people have come to the conclusion that investing in domains is dead and yet from my perspective the industry appears to be flourishing. The first distinction we need to make is whether you are part of the industry or a customer of the industry.

Over the last few years many new gTLD registries have been stomping the pavement and doing whatever they can to convince investors to buy domains with their extensions. When investors purchase the domains, they are the customers of both their registrar and ultimately the registry.

The registrar and the registry have done their job…..they just convinced you to register a domain name. The ball is now in your court to decide what you’re going to do with it to provide a return on your investment.

It is NOT the registries responsibility to support the reason why you registered the domain. I know this may seem like bad news but the registries do not have a responsibility to ensure you get a return on your investment….that’s your job.

The only time a registry will possibly be concerned is if the net position of new registrations and renewals goes into a negative trend. If this is the case, they will attempt to stimulate demand through advertising efforts, but they are very unlikely to try and rescue your investments.

As many readers already know I’ve been relating my efforts of attracting birds to my yard to starting a new business. In the last article in the series I wrote about trying to develop a new market vertical for my burgeoning bird business. So how’s it going?

Like any good entrepreneur I tried a number of different techniques to attract clients to my offering. Applying the marketing principles of product, price, placement and promotion I began testing the market and then evaluating the results.

My wife had given me some bird seed (ie. the product) for Christmas as a present and I scattered these liberally across the lawn and in the feeder. The result, pigeons. I have nothing against pigeons but they weren’t the market I was trying to reach and to be frank with you….they are complete pigs and ate all of the seeds.

This is similar to a new business taking a scatter gun approach to marketing to see if there are any bites on their product or service. More often than not, you get a lot of tyre kickers that talk a lot, don’t buy and waste your time.

Time is often viewed as the ultimate commodity but is it? Other than our last day on this planet we all have exactly the same minutes in the day as each other. It’s my birthday today and I find myself thinking about what I’m doing with my allotted minutes and whether I’m doing the right things with them.

Iin an interview at NamesCon I passed on a number of things that I do before and after the conference to maximise the use of my time. I have a mental image of it costing me about $100 per hour whether I’m asleep or awake to attend a conference. This means I’d better be very careful with how I allocate my time.

I like to have a mixture of meetings at an event like NamesCon. Some will be with existing partners and clients while others will be with people I’ve never met before and potential relationships. The goal is to have a meaningful conversation with each person and to make the best use of my time.

In the end I averaged 18 scheduled meetings each day and had countless other spontaneous discussions during the evening or walking up and down the lonnnnnggggg hallway. The conference was a huge success for my company, ParkLogic, with many more people coming onto the new Next platform.

This is great for a conference but what about now I’m back home? What do I do with my time and how do I keep a sense of balance?

Eric Lyon from NamePros just sent through an interview that I did with Edward Zeiden at NamesCon 2017. It was great revisiting the 2017 interview to see what is still relevant in 2018 and whether any of the predictions came true.

The video also reminded me that in 2018 domain investors need to continue to focus on the outcomes for their investments. Before you buy a domain you should already know which of the four primary business models will be providing the return.

Is the investment a stock item, high value domain, development opportunity or are you going to earn money from the traffic.

I should say that Edward interviewed me again in 2018 and I look forward to seeing that video....I'll post it hear as soon as it's finished being produced. Many thanks to the great NamePros team for all the work they are doing in creating a historical video archive of our great industry.