Is it any wonder people don't understand domain names?

[Blossom]

I went to one of the Web Fuelled Business conferences (hi Web Fuelled Business people reading this via Google Reader/Alerts), and whilst some parts were very good, some parts...well, let's just say there was a bit of room for improvement.

The conferences are aimed as small business people looking to get their business online, or develop their online presence further. And are sponsored by the government.

A few snippets from audience questions:

'Where do I buy my domain name?'

Answer: I don't know, google it.

They recommended buying your country of origin (.co.uk), .com and .net extensions for your business name. This question followed:

'Should I buy a .co domain name? I heard Google are making them recognised outside Colombia.' [cue lots of laughs from the audience]

Answer: I don't know. Maybe.

Why do I want to buy a generic domain name if I already have my business name?

Answer: To capture type-in traffic.
[Ok, fair enough, but not a complete answer really].

Other gems included:

- Your domain name doesn't matter for SEO or SERPs.
- What I believe was a cloaked, undisclosed affiliate link in the presentation slides (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
- Only choose business names if the domains are free to reg.

Anyone else go to this? Would be interested to hear your thoughts, because, as I said, some parts were excellent. This kind of thing needs to be done, no doubt about that, but perhaps a bit differently (or by different people).

[GreyWing]

There is something in this country about the blind leading the sighted and getting paid to do it. As a country we seem to have an amazing ability to listen to people that have no idea, no history, no real world practicable knowledge of what they are preaching.

It isn't just domains though blossom, this happens in most industries.

The Government fund these people to run these seminars because they can't get jobs elsewhere.

[Alien]

Makes you wonder what the event organisers' fees were doesn't it? Something daft no doubt!

[Blossom]

Well, it was Doug Richard (of Dragon's Den fame) and 'School for Startups' running it (and doing the talks with the questions I mentioned above). According to him he had a £10,000 budget, although the sponsorship costs were in the region of £15k I think and there were a couple of sponsors who I assume actually paid that.

Also, there are 12-15 odd conferences of at least a few hundred, and free lunch as well as 2 coffee breaks. So I don't know if he was talking about £10k for marketing, £10k per conference or whatever.

[Edwin]

Clearly clueless, from your summary. It doesn't matter how "famous" the person organising it is, that can't be used as an excuse to paper over gaping gaps in what they're "teaching" people!

[foz]

schoolforstartups_co_uk/how-to-control-your-identity-online

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by foz

schoolforstartups_co_uk/how-to-control-your-identity-online

!!!!

Actually, that article sums the conference up perfectly. Sensible ideas mixed up with stuff that's simply not true.

I forgot to mention the tip for 10 minute blog entries, which is to copy and paste a paragraph from someone else's blog entry and write your own paragraph underneath it. No mention of asking first or providing a link back.

[Sussexite]

This is the sort of thing that UK domainers should collectively be getting in on as the most relevant point to sell our message (and products) to.

It's hard to sell into the "we already have a website, thanks" people.

Getting into the body of accepted wisdom about how to start up a business online is the thing we need to crack.

Anyone got any good ideas about how to do this?

[Aegean]

Originally Posted by GreyWing

There is something in this country about the blind leading the sighted and getting paid to do it. As a country we seem to have an amazing ability to listen to people that have no idea, no history, no real world practicable knowledge of what they are preaching.

I couldn't agree more with these words from Greywing, and believe me I run into it all the time, particularly in the programming industry. It's absolutely full of people who have no idea what they are talking about and even on a small scale, I have personally seen local "courses" in the north of Scotland where I am from, which have often been funded by Highlands & Islands Enterprise (a government agency), where the local 'web design company' doing the course and advising small businesses actually have no idea what they are doing and often pass on completely incorrect information. Basically bedroom "web designers" as I call them.

Businesses who genuinely don't know and need help follow the instructions of these people and later find themselves paying a much more expensive company to try and undo the damage.

I've often said the best thing these folk could do is go and work for a large corporation, as I did for AT&T in the States, because if you don't know what you're talking about it becomes obvious very quickly. Sorry for the rant but it's a pet peeve of mine - unqualified people advising businesses who really need help.

[GreyWing]

There is a general rule mate, those who can, do!, those who can't, teach!

Some exceptions of course but as a rule it is obvious to me.