There's a lot to branding your business in sync with your domain name and I'm just going to discuss a few key points that begin with the letter A.
Authority and Affinity
Being a brand authority now of days is having a powerful domain name. Powerful domain names are valuable because they are memorable and reflect your business as a leader in your industry. Like it or not we live in the age of information overload, and that's a good thing. As a kid I would ride my bike back and forth to the library trying to juggle a stack of books, knowledge and products from all over the world are now at anyone's finger tips from just about anywhere. How does a customer find, return to, or recommend your business in a sea of 1.7 billion websites all competing for the first page of Google? This is why your domain name matters.
Affinity is the sense of the natural path to your business, a relationship to or the path of the least resistance. If a customer has to remember your domain name or apply a silly extension, not only are they going to have a hard time getting back to you, it's even more difficult for them to refer your company to their contacts. Word of mouth is still a powerful tool in growing your business.
Here's a few great articles on the subject of branding and why your domain name matters: Spend Less on SEO, More on a Memorable Brand by Jamie Zoch and The True Cost of Your Domain Name by Chris Zuiker.
One point I would add to both of these articles is that not acquiring your matching domain name is leaving the door open for your competition to purchase it. Some companies have spent millions just to keep their competition from having them.
By now you have probably gotten an email from every company that you have ever visited on their COVID policy. No need to rehash washing your hands and social distancing here. The point that I want to stress is that we are all in this together, locally and globally, and it's going to take all of us to beat this thing.
I work for the government in my day job, maintaining transmitters along the coast of South Carolina. The government is just people. Some very hard working people that perform jobs that in the private sector usually pays much more for the same work. But, boil it all down, and it's just people helping people.
In times of crisis's past, like the hurricanes we've had, we didn't get extra pay or bonuses, just a good feeling at the end of the day that we made a difference. Getting through this is going to be difficult, but not something we can't do.
There are always two options you have in any situation. One is to do nothing. With COVID doing nothing is actually a good thing. Stay at home and you're not part of the problem. The second option is to try harder. I have to credit my father with that one. He was part of what they now call the greatest generation, but the greatest generation is really yet to come. We are all products of these generations, we are the hybrids. Let's try a little harder and figure this out. Figure out what you can do to help.
Sure it's scary, we see exactly how fragile our world is. And, the big brains say it's going to get worse before it gets better, but we will get through it and come out stronger. Helping others is really the name of the game.
Check on your neighbors, have empathy and employ compassion. We are all going through a lot. I want to be able to reflect back at the End of the Plague party and know I had a hand in making the world a better place. I may not invent a miracle vaccine, but I help keep emergency communications online over here, inspire hope and I lend a helping hand. I am very grateful for the medical, fast food, grocery workers and everyone involved in all these chains that keeping us moving forward.
Do your part and work harder. Patience, courtesy and humor go along way, act like you've been somewhere. Maybe this will spark a spiritual revolution when we finally realize that we are all the same, and that we are all connected.
Want to keep keep up with all that is happening in the domain space? Domaining.com
2020 is off to a quick start and for those that are not active in the industry daily, it can be more than difficult to keep up with all that's going on. NamesCon is taking place in Austin, TX now, Rev.com just sold for 400k, Add.com sold for 800k this week, keep up with the status of the .Org Registry sale and get insight from the movers and shakers.
Domaining.com for the important news and domain industry headlines.
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, but this one I just can't see how the management team didn't see the future of their business. Back in 2000 the internet was more than thriving and Blockbuster could have bought Netflix for a mere 50 million. As of today Netflix is worth over 128 billion, down from and all time high of 180 billion. In the summer of 2000, Blockbuster CEO John Antioco said "The dot-com hysteria is completely overblown". His council went on to state how the business models of Netflix and just about every other online business were not sustainable and would never make any money. That statement couldn't be any more wrong then than it is now. Read the full article here on Inc.com How did these guys not see that by delivering their product online would eliminate all of their overhead, shipping and logistical nightmares. Yes, management and vision are two different things, but they shouldn't be. Doesn't matter what business you are in either, not only do you need a strong online presence, there is an evolution going on of how your customers will interact with you and not just on social media. Developers are building virtual realities to showcase products. Imagine if your customers could experience your products before they buy. This will be very popular with the gaming generation as they become the most powerful purchasers of consumer goods in 10 years. If you haven't read the worst business blunders in tech history I would suggest Googling that phrase and see what you get. Branding blunders are even more common and they happen all the time. Avoid a brand blunder and start with a great domain name. A strong domain name is the foundation for enticing and retaining customers with a memorable name. Your domain name also attracts B2B partners and lays the ground floor for building supplemental income streams. Streams turn into rivers and maybe even into a whole new business model for your companies' survival. Have some vision and get creative.
Veteran's Day falls on November 11 for a good reason many do not know. November 11th is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice, which ended the World War I hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany in 1918. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 an armistice between Germany and the Allied nations came into effect. And, on the following November 11, 1919, Armistice Day was commemorated for the first time. President Wilson proclaimed the day should be “filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory”. Thank a Veteran and help those that are returning from combat. You can get involved at any level, from volunteering at your local VA hospital to helping the family of a Veteran. Do something positive, be a part of the solution for the real heroes.
Escrow for Domain Names and a lot more. I recently sold a domain name to a foreign buyer that wasn't familiar with the escrow process. It's really just as simple as depicted in the image below, but with their unfamiliarity, I can see how they could be skeptical, so I walked them through the whole process.
A couple of items not represented in the images are number one, make sure your buyer chooses the right email address for your transaction. Most people have at least a work and personal email address. It's always good to ask before you start your transaction. The second concern is for the seller. Sometimes when a buyer receives their goods they don't always follow up to verify that they have possession. You can rest assured that Escrow.com can verify the domain name transfer without any action by the buyer, it just takes a few day longer. Escrow.com has been in the business for over 25 years and they began with handling domain name transactions. They truly are the industry leader. They provide services for just about every other transaction as well payment plans.
Summer 2019 Reported Domain Sales For those of you that are not in-tune with the domain industry, here are some recent domain name sales that have been topping this summer's domain charts. Please keep in mind that only a very small fraction of sales ever get reported. Orion.com changed hands, but the price was unreported, rumor has it that it sold above 30m. Prices have been rising for great domain names.
Voice.com 30M Money.com 20M EKO.com 1.5M Room.com 1.5M Nursing.com 950k Links.com 789k Carrot.com 565k BettingOdds.com 486k Cooking.com 402k Casions.org 400k JoyRide.com 300k Money.com.au 279k PFF.com 270k Crystals.com 188k Viajes.es 165k (Travels Esp.)
Visit DNJournal.com for the reported year to date sales chart.
Happy 4th of July everyone. (This is a scheduled post) I'm taking a few days off and I hope you are as well.
Remember the real reason we celebrate the 4th of July and work on you're own independence, financial independence. Always a good time to start your own business or improve upon one. Pay your debts off and start building wealth. Here's to wishing you a great year ahead.
Even with a busy schedule I try and keep an eye on movement in the tech industry. Where money is being placed shows the direction of the market and what the results of all these industry gurus research and decisions are being backed by speculation. Follow the money and you're following the end results of all these great minds. In an article on SIIA.net there's a comparative breakdown of the last three years worth of investments in different sectors of technology that leads in with some analysis on Q1 2018. Out of the gate, 2018 is up 124% compared to 2017 and the money is on tech enabled services up 207%. Marketing, analytics, database and information services have unprecedented increases. With stronger consumer confidence the market outlook for technology related goods and services is very healthy, as a consequence advertising and marketing via tech soars along side. Seems obvious to those involved with technology that this isn't going anywhere but up. Take a read through the numbers, what they mean is a future more interwoven with tech than anyone can imagine. The article is from Matt Kinsman, former vice president at Connectiv now at Accruent.com citing info from JEGI.com.
It's getting harder to tell your kids to put away the video games and get a real job when stories like this are popping up in the news. How video games turn teenagers into millionaires. The point of interest in the article that caught my eye is the statement that these careers weren't available 5 to 10 years ago and that even in this flux that we are now seeing where AI (artificial intelligence) is taking jobs away from people, other career paths are emerging. Let's hope new careers can keep up with the ones being lost to AI. Realistically, it's a lopsided equation in favor of automation. But, learning to be an entrepreneur and riding the trends of a market in flux, you just may be able to make enough to last a lifetime. Take a look through the BBC's Bright Sparks section and see what what the smart kids are doing.