I had a great conversation with Kevin Fink, where he interviewed me at NamesCon 2016 on behalf of NamePros. I really enjoyed the interaction and look forward to chatting with the NamePros team again next week.

We cover a wide range of topics, from domain traffic monetisation through to sales and the impact the Chinese economy was having on the domain industry.

There’s nothing like a vacation to renew flagging spirits and get you energised for the new year. For the past week, my wife Roselyn and I have been enjoying the many activities that Queenstown, New Zealand has to offer.

I’ve been an entrepreneur all of my life and one of the things that I value the most is taking some time out to assess whether what I’m doing is really what I should continue to do. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily grind that you forget to actually work on your business rather than in it.

When I go on vacation I like to take some time out to think about what I’m doing and if it still makes sense. I’m away from the noise of skype, emails, instant messenger, facebook, twitter etc. It’s just me staring at the horizon and thinking. It typically takes me a few hours to clear my head before I can let my mind drift through all of the things I’m currently doing with my life.

Why drift? I’m not trying to nut out a problem but rather get a sense for what makes me feel the most fulfilled. For me, I find that it’s best just to let my mind almost lazily move from one thought to another.

It never ceases to amaze me that during this process great new ideas form and a revitalisation of my internal drive occurs. Previously invisible links between business activities, clients and new ventures begin to take shape as I really begin to think. I find that many business people are so busy doing stuff that they forget to think……let me assure you that thinking is not an overrated activity.

I’m writing this blog on the return journey from my vacation and I must admit that I’m feeling pretty good. I have a renewed sense of purpose and 2017 is looking to be a great year. So watch out, NamesCon is just over a week away and I’m all fired up!

Have a great weekend!

If I was to describe the current generation of late teens to twenties in one word it would have to be “entitled”. They believe that everything should be served up to them in a pretty box with a bow on top and heaven forbid they actually have to work for it.

This blog is inspired from a recent experience I had speaking with a twenty-one year old that couldn’t understand why they should pay board to their parents. Without even talking to their parents they’d made a series of decisions which meant they would have a reduced (not zero) income. They believed it was their parents responsibility to continue to support their lifestyle. Go figure?

When I quizzed them about this they cried, “It’s just not fair!”

I immediately responded, “Fair to whom?”

The response was a grumbled, muted reply.

During the last ten years, my generation has largely pampered (there are exceptions) this current crop of young adults. We build idiot proof interfaces for apps, provide them with miraculous technology and ensure the little darlings ego is continuously stroked.

I’m not sure what it is like in other countries but in Australia the education system has tried to eliminate all competition because it may adversely impact a child’s development. I’m not a child psychologist but seriously? These same “children” that have been brought up in cotton wool protective environments are now hitting their twenties.

Like children, they throw a temper tantrum when they can’t immediately step into a senior management role. The shock they go through when everyone older looks at them as if they are some sort of bazaar creature doesn’t even register. Throwing a tantrum worked all through school but the real world doesn’t put up with that behaviour.

The same generation wants everything now and they don’t care how much credit they need to use to get it. They don’t have any sense of patience and saving…..why should they when in one person’s case the bank provided a massive credit card to spend up on.

So this blog is a little bit of a rant but here’s the challenge for my generation…..we provide goods and service to these “brats”. There is an opportunity but make sure you get the cash before anything.

Have a great weekend!

At the beginning of every year I like to think about the previous year and did any articles touch upon some interesting concepts that required further investigation. After trawling through my blog I came up with the below list of articles that I believe were some of the highlights of 2016 for me.

How To Conduct a Domain Traffic Test

So many domain owners get incredibly confused by all the different companies that want to monetise their traffic for them. Which one is best? How do I really know if they are better than another? What is the best way to run a test? All of these questions are vital if you wish to get the most out of your domain traffic.

How to Conduct a Domain Traffic Test – Part 1

How to Conduct a Domain Traffic Test – Part 2

Selling Domains

I wrote a lot about how to sell domains in 2016 but there were a couple of stand-out articles that tried to analytically tackle the issue of pricing. The article endeavoured to relate supply/demand curve for keywords to pricing domain names. It was an interesting piece of work that I plan on following up in the future.

How Much Are Your Domains Really Worth? - Part 1

Challenges of Selling Domains – Part 2

Demand Based Domain Pricing Strategy – Part 3

Using Analytics To Price Domains – Part 4

Portfolio Optimisation

I wrote a massive twelve-part series on portfolio optimisation and how to get the most from your assets across the different domain business models of; stock items domains, high value domains, building a business and traffic. Here is the first article in the series to wet your appetite.

Part 1 – Why Domain Portfolio Optimisation Works.

A few other topics that were covered in 2016 include:

• Using domain traffic to predict Google’s quarterly earnings report in advance.
• A financial analysis of Rightside.
• An analytical piece on the state of the Chinese economy.
• A number of video interviews
• And of course…..my regular Saturday Musings about life.

I hope you enjoyed the journey we’ve had together through 2016 and that you are as enthusiastic as I am about 2017. I think 2017 will be known as the year of innovation and when the domain industry finally breaks out with some really great new ideas! More on that in future articles.

I would like to thank everyone that provided their valuable feedback on the 2016 articles and please don’t be shy in commenting/email/skyping me with your thoughts in 2017.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all those readers of Whizzbangsblog a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would also like to say thank you to all those companies that have sponsored my blog over the last twelve months. Your continued support has inspired me to keep on writing about domains and business on the Internet.

In particular, I would like to highlight:

• Escrow.com
• Greenberg & Lieberman
• Epik Domains
• .Club

It’s with a sense of sadness and loss in my heart that I approach Christmas this year. A few days ago, Pepper, my feline friend of 16 years, passed away. She was a great friend that was the subject of many Saturday Musings over the years.

When I was working late at night she would come and curl up on the carpet next to me. At some point she would nudge me with her nose, hoping for a scratch behind the ears and to let me know it was time to stop working.

Whenever I went away on business my wife told me Pepper would sit in my study and look out the window waiting for my return. When I finally arrived back home she would scold me in a very cat-like fashion until she allowed me to give her a bit of a pat again….after all, I didn’t get her permission to leave the house.

We normally wrap a present for Pepper and stick it under the tree….typically, it’s her turkey dinner. Sadly, this year we’re not going to be doing that. Although there is a sense of loss I know she is lazing away in the sun in cat heaven.

So in memory of Pepper I would like to highlight a number of past blogs where she featured:

What a CATastrophe

Saturday Musings – Why My Cat Is a Genius!

Saturday Musings – Why Cats Are Geniuses

Saturday Musings – Being Obedient To Our Masters

Saturday Musings – When Someone Spoils Your Week….

I hope you enjoy reading those articles as much as I did writing them.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Michael Gilmour

PS. I will be taking until the new year off writing.....so see you in 2017.