Get Your Plan Started Now

As we move through the first phase of the holiday season planning on projects for 2010 starts going even harder, I thought I would just throw out a few things I am working on outside of my main business right now (Localtek/Missouri.me/Oklahoma.me all have a much more detailed plan), here is a bit of a brain dump from my little domainer and developer mind:

Backlink.us -What is fun about this one is that I bought it just a few weeks back on Bido and about 2 weeks I threw out an idea to my developer on an idea and within a week we had it up and running. In reality this really will be a function that works alongside EzDevelop as well, look for other "experimental" features on Backlink.us and also you are going to see some enhancements in the pretty near future that keeps people coming back adding more and more links, you might want to start using it now to get yourself on top, that is all I am going to say....

EzDevelop.com - We are a bit behind launching due to some work that sidetracked us for a few days on our state platform that we wanted to complete before the holidays. Well, it is done and now we will be implementing the enhancements to EzDevelop.com very soon, as many know by now it is a service that helps you create free minisites (add content and stir) , you can download the files and take them with you. There will also be a paid version that adds some additional functionality. So far the feedback has been very positive, I can tell you I have tested it with over 30 sites myself and have had zero issues after the initial beta test launched. Just a little side note, what is really fun about this is that it came from something we used internally but realized it could fill a need of many other people as well.

People asked if we are trying to compete with the WhyParks, devhub, etc of the world and the answer is no. After we open up the testing you will see the difference in the tool we are providing and parking services.

Affiliate Conversions - This is more for intellectual learning as much as anything, I do not have a ton of time to devote to affiliate marketing but do find it fun to see if I can increase conversions, etc. I recently picked up Affiliate Theme which is VERY COOL. It is VERY customizable. If you are using Wordpress for your sites I would encourage you to pick it up. If you want to see a sample site or two of mine feel free to contact me.

Affiliate Convention Prepwork - Next week I speak at the Affiliate Convention in LA, my topic is new TLDs and developing alternative extensions (what a surprise). I have a feeling my affiliate work will likely increase after that convention as the schedule looks very good. I will be hanging with Morgan Linton of Domainvestors.tv for a few days which will be a blast.

Seminar Schedule - As I have mentioned too often I have been out doing quite a few seminars to end user business groups, as we head into the start of the next year we are working on ways to increase the number of these. This can be very time consuming and overwhelming but is probably my favorite part out of anything I do everyday. I really like to hear business owners get excited as they learn more about how they can actually use the web to grow their business.

Ask Sponsored Listings - As someone who has used Adbrite and Google Adwords off and on for a few years recently (after seeing the 50 dollar free coupon) I decided to give Ask sponsored listings a try. I must say I was surprised at the ease of use and setup and so far on the keywords I am bidding on I am paying MUCH less than I do on adwords and getting much higher listings (this is not a surprise and actually is the main reason I wanted to try it). If you are wanting to get targeted traffic cheaper Sign up with Ask Sponsored Listings and get a $50 matching credit. Use Coupon Code: aslstart50

Domain Outreach - Well, after my post the other day and a few discussions since it looks like a few people would like to discuss a possible plan a bit further and I am going to try to get a framework of thoughts around that. It is going to take me a few weeks before I can get to it but the idea is in my head somewhere, I have no idea where this is going to go but will say the whole reason of doing a post like that is not to tick people off but to get people to start talking and thinking about what it takes to get our message out.

Anyway, sorry for the brain dump but I always like to see what other people are working on

Buying Domains For Investment Vs Development

Something that has seemed to come up more than normal in conversations this week with various people is the difference in buying domain names for development versus buying domain names for investment. When I look at buying for development I have completely different metrics as well as intangibles that I think about as compared to when I buy a domain name for investment and gain.

I am sure many will say in either case you will always need the .COM, well as is obvious I do not necessarily agree with that. Although there will always be some level of direct type-ins for extremely high value two word or one word generic .COMs for anything below the absolute top in many cases the amount of type in traffic can easily be exceeded through proper SEO and marketing. I am sure people will disagree but I have enough evidence to the the contrary that makes it a simple fact for me. And enough people have talked about their keyword domains, even decent ones, not having traffic and that is why they develop.

The other argument heard frequently is that you will lose type in traffic to the .COM. Well, I have no doubt I lose some type in traffic from people typing in the .COM version of the domain I develop on a non .COM but it is a small amount, the amount of money spent on acquiring the .COM far exceeds the amount, in many cases, needed to brand and market the non .COM to a high enough traffic level to not worry about the traffic leakage. Once again, feel free to tell me I am crazy, does not bother me. When you are developing it is about the business not the name.

Now, all that said there is no way anyone can say that the best value for investing is not keyword generic .COMs and .NETs. But holding a name for something other than development changes the way you look at it. As an investment you look at the marketplace to either find opportunities (native cctlds) or names that inherently have value (.COMs and .NETs). I buy very few names outside of .COM and .NET for investment purposes.

I view buying a domain for development by looking at a business plan, now if I can fit in the acquisition of a high dollar .COM as part of the plan then well, that may be the best option. But if that acquisition would kill the business from the beginning so it can never make it off the ground then does it make sense to never start the business. No it does not, a good business plan is a good business plan, it is not about the name. As domainers sometimes we miss the point, I would venture to say that most who make comments like "I would never start without the .COM"  have never put together a full business plan (although there are people that have done very well, but they had the funds to start with the bigger names, they are the exception not the rule, do not ever forget that.).

I cringe everytime I hear people say that the .COM should of been bought, etc. Well if a company received 500K to start and the .COM would cost them 300K, does it really make sense to go after the .COM if you can show a successful path to growing a brand and traffic. No, once again buying for development is much different than buying a name for investment.

Long story short, if you can afford a large investment in your generic .COM without killing the business plan sure, go for the .COM but do not ever let the name keep you from starting your business.