Showing posts with label entrepreneur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneur. Show all posts
Thursday, September 13, 2007
TechShop
This deserves a mention: check out TechShop, a fully equipped shop were you can go and use equipment in the same way you might use fitness equipment at your local gym. Very nifty idea. I'd love to see one of these pop up near me.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Domain Name Expiration
I've already explored the possibilities of the domain name business, it is now time to examine methods and strategies for getting there. This will be a series spanned over several posts, and I will try and keep the content density high to avoid wasting time. Hopefully this will help prospective domainers.
In my previous post, I briefly mentioned the possibility of catching domain names as they expire. This is a popular strategy for nabbing valuable domain names. It is the strategy Yun Ye used in the late '90s, and while it won't be as lucrative now, it is still viable. Here are some convincing reasons for employing this strategy:
How Domains Expire
Domains are not released back to the public right at their expiration date. There are several stages a domain name goes through before getting their. I will outline those stages from active, normal registration right up to deletion.
Active
While the domain is live and within it's registration dates, it will be referred to as being active. The domain name is working as you would normally expect it to.
On-Hold
Let's say you have a domain registered. The expiration date is approaching. If you fail to renew when the expiration date hits, the domain will enter the hold status. Domains on hold will stop functioning as normal (i.e. they won't point to your web site anymore). However, you may still renew the domain for the registrar's regular price during this period. Other parties are blocked from registering the domain. This period varies by registrar and is usually between 30-45 days. A whois query on the domain will list this as ON-HOLD.
Redemption
This is your second chance to renew the domain. You still have exclusive access to renew, but usually at a higher price. I've seen numbers from $100 to $150. Once started, redemption lasts 30 days. The redemption period is a new process. Unlike the holding period which is controlled at the registrar, this a Registry imposed period which must happen.
Deletion
This stage can last up to 5 days. At the end of this period, the domain name is released back to the public. You may not renew while deletion is happening.
This covers the domain cycle from active registration to deletion. For a visual representation of this, view this Life Cycle diagram on DomainsBot.
Obtaining an Expiring Domain
Domain names can be back ordered, and there are many services that will do this for you. There is no guarantee that you will actually get the domain name. Thus, these services usually work on a bidding system. The more you are willing to pay, the better your chances. Since you don't always know how many people you are competing with on a given service, let alone across all services, it is difficult to determine your odds to a high degree of certainty. However, you can increase your odds by utilizing several services at once.
Obtaining an expiring domain will be the topic of my next post. I will detail several services available to you and provide further insight into strategies. After that post, I will probably discuss methods for valuing domains.
Happy hunting, domainers!
Sources
In my previous post, I briefly mentioned the possibility of catching domain names as they expire. This is a popular strategy for nabbing valuable domain names. It is the strategy Yun Ye used in the late '90s, and while it won't be as lucrative now, it is still viable. Here are some convincing reasons for employing this strategy:
- Expiring domain names may have once contained a functioning web site with visitors and search engines may have indexed the web site. This potentially means more traffic.
- The domain is more likely to have a traffic statistics which can be discovered through several methods. I will go into this in a later post.
How Domains Expire
Domains are not released back to the public right at their expiration date. There are several stages a domain name goes through before getting their. I will outline those stages from active, normal registration right up to deletion.
Active
While the domain is live and within it's registration dates, it will be referred to as being active. The domain name is working as you would normally expect it to.
On-Hold
Let's say you have a domain registered. The expiration date is approaching. If you fail to renew when the expiration date hits, the domain will enter the hold status. Domains on hold will stop functioning as normal (i.e. they won't point to your web site anymore). However, you may still renew the domain for the registrar's regular price during this period. Other parties are blocked from registering the domain. This period varies by registrar and is usually between 30-45 days. A whois query on the domain will list this as ON-HOLD.
Redemption
This is your second chance to renew the domain. You still have exclusive access to renew, but usually at a higher price. I've seen numbers from $100 to $150. Once started, redemption lasts 30 days. The redemption period is a new process. Unlike the holding period which is controlled at the registrar, this a Registry imposed period which must happen.
Deletion
This stage can last up to 5 days. At the end of this period, the domain name is released back to the public. You may not renew while deletion is happening.
This covers the domain cycle from active registration to deletion. For a visual representation of this, view this Life Cycle diagram on DomainsBot.
Obtaining an Expiring Domain
Domain names can be back ordered, and there are many services that will do this for you. There is no guarantee that you will actually get the domain name. Thus, these services usually work on a bidding system. The more you are willing to pay, the better your chances. Since you don't always know how many people you are competing with on a given service, let alone across all services, it is difficult to determine your odds to a high degree of certainty. However, you can increase your odds by utilizing several services at once.
Obtaining an expiring domain will be the topic of my next post. I will detail several services available to you and provide further insight into strategies. After that post, I will probably discuss methods for valuing domains.
Happy hunting, domainers!
Sources
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
The Domain Name Business, Part 2
I must admit, every day I kick myself for missing out on this. I knew domain names were important, but I was just a youngling when this was the rage, what did I really know?
Despite my frustration, my curiosity has been peeked. Where did the figures John provided come from (see my previous post)? If you had the forsight, just how good could you really be doing? Is there anything left? What can be learned from the examples of this business?
My investigation led me to an article authored by Paul Sloan. Featured on CNN, it's entitled Masters of their Domains, published in late 2005. It has many of the same statements John provided. I'm inclined to believe this is where he obtained most of his facts (though I didn't see any citation - tisk tisk).
Before I go further, I provide one quote to shock you:
Schwartz is a domainer, and as you can see, he's made a fortune in the business. Initially I had trouble believing these sorts of figures mentioned in John Chow's blog post, but this CNN piece seems to confirm it. Another confirmed figure comes from a Yahoo rep. "One Yahoo official estimates that type-ins could make up 15 percent of its search business." Well there you have it. John wasn't bullshitting.
John also brought up the case of Yun Ye, on which the CNN article provides much more information. Here it is in the CNN piece:
Marchex did in fact shell out $164 million for his portfolio. Yikes.
Paul also covers the future of this business in his piece. From what I can gather, the future is consolidation. Large entities are taking notice. It's likened to the "billboard industry a decade ago, before Clear Channel and Viacom bought up the small operators."
For instance, take three men, Rabin, Bob Martin, and Marc Ostrofsky, who run the company Internet REIT. They are spending $250 million buying out domain owners. Rabin states, "We've only just begun the roll-up phase. This market will likely be in the billions."
Is there still room for small fish? I know I don't have $250 million. Perhaps. Right now .com addresses are prevailing, but who knows, maybe given enough time it saturates and things like .biz become more viable. The older generations grew up with nothing but .com, it's all they know, that's where the money is. But think of the younger generations, a little more aware of the dearth of top level domains. Perhaps one day a type-in of cellphone.biz will be just as likely as that of cellphone.com. Then again maybe not.
It almost feels like buying property just past the major suburbs of a metropolitan area. Chances are the city will grow and cause growth to spill over into those unsettle areas. However, disasters do happen, so how can you really be sure?
Another option is to snag expiring domains. These domains have a history on the web. Some have been heavily indexed by search engines. As a result, they are more likely to draw hits.
The only conclusion I can draw at this point is that you have three options.
Despite my frustration, my curiosity has been peeked. Where did the figures John provided come from (see my previous post)? If you had the forsight, just how good could you really be doing? Is there anything left? What can be learned from the examples of this business?
My investigation led me to an article authored by Paul Sloan. Featured on CNN, it's entitled Masters of their Domains, published in late 2005. It has many of the same statements John provided. I'm inclined to believe this is where he obtained most of his facts (though I didn't see any citation - tisk tisk).
Before I go further, I provide one quote to shock you:
"I don't like to work," Schwartz says, almost yelling as if to convince everyone within earshot that they're fools if they do. "I figure any moron in the world can generate work for themselves and tie up their time. I have one laptop, no employees, and no product whatsoever--none! This is magic." Magic, he claims, that's earning him $2 million a year.
Schwartz is a domainer, and as you can see, he's made a fortune in the business. Initially I had trouble believing these sorts of figures mentioned in John Chow's blog post, but this CNN piece seems to confirm it. Another confirmed figure comes from a Yahoo rep. "One Yahoo official estimates that type-ins could make up 15 percent of its search business." Well there you have it. John wasn't bullshitting.
John also brought up the case of Yun Ye, on which the CNN article provides much more information. Here it is in the CNN piece:
Domainers have their heroes, and one of the most mysterious is a man named Yun Ye, a Chinese citizen living in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is credited with boosting the entire market when he sold his portfolio of more than 100,000 domains to Marchex. His names were bringing in more than $20 million a year in revenues--and $19 million in profits--when Marchex paid the equivalent of 8.6 times annual earnings, based on figures provided in SEC documents.
Marchex did in fact shell out $164 million for his portfolio. Yikes.
Paul also covers the future of this business in his piece. From what I can gather, the future is consolidation. Large entities are taking notice. It's likened to the "billboard industry a decade ago, before Clear Channel and Viacom bought up the small operators."
For instance, take three men, Rabin, Bob Martin, and Marc Ostrofsky, who run the company Internet REIT. They are spending $250 million buying out domain owners. Rabin states, "We've only just begun the roll-up phase. This market will likely be in the billions."
Is there still room for small fish? I know I don't have $250 million. Perhaps. Right now .com addresses are prevailing, but who knows, maybe given enough time it saturates and things like .biz become more viable. The older generations grew up with nothing but .com, it's all they know, that's where the money is. But think of the younger generations, a little more aware of the dearth of top level domains. Perhaps one day a type-in of cellphone.biz will be just as likely as that of cellphone.com. Then again maybe not.
It almost feels like buying property just past the major suburbs of a metropolitan area. Chances are the city will grow and cause growth to spill over into those unsettle areas. However, disasters do happen, so how can you really be sure?
Another option is to snag expiring domains. These domains have a history on the web. Some have been heavily indexed by search engines. As a result, they are more likely to draw hits.
The only conclusion I can draw at this point is that you have three options.
- Assemble capital and throw down thousands or millions of dollars of cash to buy proven names and reap the rewards.
- Speculate on something much more long term, like new top level domains such as .biz or .mobi.
- Snatch expiring domains using a clever method.
Monday, October 30, 2006
The Domain Name Business
I found this blog post by John Chow on something referred to as "domainers," people who make money from domain name speculation and ad parking.
It is an interesting read for anyone with entrepreneurial curiosity of the online sort, though I have trouble believing some of his figures. Regardless, you don't have to accept his numbers in order to believe that domain name speculation is, or should I say was, a lucrative business. If you had spent the early '90s grabbing any and every short and sweet domain name and you actually had the foresight to hold on, there is no doubt you would be rolling in money, but that bang is over.
So where do new comers stand? I liken it to the phase after a big name, highly successful IPO (like Google). Getting in on the ground floor is over, now all that is left is buying and selling just like you would with any entrenched equity. This is hard work, and usually requires a large amount of capital and research. Most likely you only stand to make several percent on your investment, and what good does 3% on $5 do you? Even if you did have the sort of capital necessary, you could probably do better elsewhere. If someone can prove me wrong on this, please share.
It is an interesting read for anyone with entrepreneurial curiosity of the online sort, though I have trouble believing some of his figures. Regardless, you don't have to accept his numbers in order to believe that domain name speculation is, or should I say was, a lucrative business. If you had spent the early '90s grabbing any and every short and sweet domain name and you actually had the foresight to hold on, there is no doubt you would be rolling in money, but that bang is over.
So where do new comers stand? I liken it to the phase after a big name, highly successful IPO (like Google). Getting in on the ground floor is over, now all that is left is buying and selling just like you would with any entrenched equity. This is hard work, and usually requires a large amount of capital and research. Most likely you only stand to make several percent on your investment, and what good does 3% on $5 do you? Even if you did have the sort of capital necessary, you could probably do better elsewhere. If someone can prove me wrong on this, please share.
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