Attracting The Attention Of End Users

[websaway]

Quote SDSINC

"I also think that domainers overestimate the potential of the market, it's a tiny market and the demand cannot absorb the demand. Domainers have the best intentions and they are ahead of their times but it does us no favor when the rest of the world is stuck in 20th century thinking. Maybe we are the misfit "


I have to disagree with this view of the market. The market is enormous, it hasn't even been scratched. Domainers are mostly not salesmen by trade and are therefore left with domains that they were inspired to register but are unable to sell. Most domainers are good at doing the easy part, that's registering the names, but become cynical when trying to sell the names or transfer there ideas to end users. Selling is the most difficult of all jobs but is the most financially rewarding, so therefore the skills involved are worth learning.

 

[Edwin]

From long experience, including fairly substantial physical presences at Internet World in 2008 and again in 2009 (including the distribution of 22,000 leaflets) that involved actual costs in excess of £20K, plus mainstream ads placed in some targeted magazines and trade journals, other smaller online/physical ads etc., it's pretty close to impossible to educate the "mainstream" into buying aftermarket domains.

Probably the best you can hope for is to catch a few waverers on the periphery and convert them to the idea, using appropriate sales material, case studies, 3rd party data and the like. But the best sales tool has been and will always remain having domains that people actually WANT TO BUY.

Everything else is secondary - if a name is desirable enough people will find you regardless. And no amount of heavy lifting will shift a dud, regardless of how much banging of the "generic domain name" drum goes on.

 

[Brassneck]

From long experience, including fairly substantial physical presences at Internet World in 2008 and again in 2009 (including the distribution of 22,000 leaflets) that involved actual costs in excess of £20K, plus mainstream ads placed in some targeted magazines and trade journals, other smaller online/physical ads etc., it's pretty close to impossible to educate the "mainstream" into buying aftermarket domains.

Probably the best you can hope for is to catch a few waverers on the periphery and convert them to the idea, using appropriate sales material, case studies, 3rd party data and the like. But the best sales tool has been and will always remain having domains that people actually WANT TO BUY.

Everything else is secondary - if a name is desirable enough people will find you regardless. And no amount of heavy lifting will shift a dud, regardless of how much banging of the "generic domain name" drum goes on.

I fear you are are correct. Question is, where is the boundary between 'dud' and great sellable end-user name. Out of 10 million .uk domain names, of which maybe a quarter (?) are held by domainers, we might be talking about just a few tens of thousands which would attract genuine end-user interest.

Stephen.

 

[domsaleuk]

Best of luck with this. Something that would help - and I thought it was something that the likes of Sedo could have managed with their UK office - is some positive stories in the mainstream printed press, e.g. business pages of Sunday papers, Economist, trade magazines. All I have ever seen is stories about dubious practices / cyber-squatting which over the years has probably made end-user sale prospects for all but the top names worse rather than better. End-user enquiries for my (average but useable generic) domains are at an all-time low.

Stephen.

Thanks for the good wishes. I totally agree with you about the press element and I think the reason end user enquiries are at an all time low for your domains is due to what you say - there is nowhere near enough awareness and the only stories seem to be about "squatting" etc and most lately "gTLD's" ! Whether I can do anything with this site I am about to launch to get press activity is questionable but I do plan to do my best to at least stir up some talk within the marketing community and hopefully the marketing press. If it can go on and do more then great.

The strength I have is that I have an extensive digital marketing / publishing background and I do understand where marketers come from partly because I am one and partly because I have worked alongside brand managers of large well known brands and dealt with many ad agencies etc. I am also a "domainer" and I also have a lot of connections within the domain world and have been involved in it since the early days and hence I try my best to appreciate where domainers are coming from too. Lats but not least I have had quite a lot of involvment with the USA domain industry and closely watched things there.

Who knows - the site could fall flat on its face and not work at all - all I am saying is I want to try to make a difference and I think if we as a community pull together on doing our best to get more positive awareness then we could help tip the balance

 

[domsaleuk]

From long experience, including fairly substantial physical presences at Internet World in 2008 and again in 2009 (including the distribution of 22,000 leaflets) that involved actual costs in excess of £20K, plus mainstream ads placed in some targeted magazines and trade journals, other smaller online/physical ads etc., it's pretty close to impossible to educate the "mainstream" into buying aftermarket domains.

Probably the best you can hope for is to catch a few waverers on the periphery and convert them to the idea, using appropriate sales material, case studies, 3rd party data and the like. But the best sales tool has been and will always remain having domains that people actually WANT TO BUY.

Everything else is secondary - if a name is desirable enough people will find you regardless. And no amount of heavy lifting will shift a dud, regardless of how much banging of the "generic domain name" drum goes on.

Edwin – more often than not I agree with what you say and I am always interested to hear your take on things but in this instance I think you may be slightly wrong. Whilst Internetworld and the like are good places to exhibit the impact that can be made is limited. Similarly an ad is an ad and viewed as such and unfortunately only a very small percentage of leaflets get acted upon. The only way to do this is to create a buzz within “ media land “ and the only way to do that is to kind of let them run with it themselves. i.e. plant the seeds in the right places but let them pick up the ball and make it their own idea as that is when it will get a lot of press coverage – back to what Brassneck said as it is the positive press coverage that is pivotal.

In regard to the most desirable names - yes people will find some of those for themselves but the fact is you yourself own a mass of very good domains most of which are worthy of being bought for decent prices but people don't buy the vast majority of them because there is not enough buyer interest. If the buyers at the top start buying and bragging about it - i.e. the agencies and big brand marketing managers then the stigma of "squatters" will disappear overnight. When that day happens you can bet your bottom dollar you will get a lot more incoming interest to your domains as will every other domainer that owns good one or two word generics on co.uk, .com or .net suffixes as once the media world buys in a mass of small businesses will follow.

 

[Edwin]

All I can say is I've been banging the drum for domains since 1996 and we're nowhere near there yet... but best of luck to you if you have some different angles you can use to tackle the problem.

 

[Bailey]

but not least I have had quite a lot of involvment with the USA domain industry and closely watched things there.

And therefore and in that capacity you will of course be aware of just how diferent the two markets are. Not in just volume but, where the Global (particularly USA) perspective of what makes for a good domain.

If one really studies the global market (via dnjournals sales reports) you may find yourself steering away somewhat from the pure generics. but, in relation to the UK market that area (brandables) hardly exists - yet thrives in the .com extension.

My point being it's a more than slightly skewed comparison to make (US model to UK)

 

[Bailey]

Selling is the most difficult of all jobs but is the most financially rewarding, so therefore the skills involved are worth learning.

Good comment, And I am indeed a competent salesman with 30 odd years under my belt in various industries. and I for one appreciate the difficulty it is getting on to a 'buyers wavelength'

lots of nuances go into completing a good and appreciated transaction - most of which I'm sorry to say tend to pass the generally younger computing/domaing generation by - that will change in-time but it will take a few years

 

[Edwin]

If one really studies the global market (via dnjournals sales reports) you may find yourself steering away somewhat from the pure generics. but, in relation to the UK market that area (brandables) hardly exists - yet thrives in the .com extension.

Agreed. Companies are less likely to choose a "brandable" .co.uk domain because if you're going to have to do the expensive heavy lifting of branding something new from scratch and giving it a specific, distinct meaning in the minds of millions, then why not start with a .com?

However, if you're looking for something with that instantaneous, intuitive recognition factor (a "descriptive generic" in the truest sense) then .co.uk makes the ideal choice.

 

[Bailey]

Agreed. Companies are less likely to choose a "brandable" .co.uk domain because if you're going to have to do the expensive heavy lifting of branding something new from scratch and giving it a specific, distinct meaning in the minds of millions, then why not start with a .com?

However, if you're looking for something with that instantaneous, intuitive recognition factor (a "descriptive generic" in the truest sense) then .co.uk makes the ideal choice.

Agree 100% Edwin. And as much as I admire domainsaleUk's agenda. my point was there isn't a direct transferable comparison/model to be made with the UK an US markets

PS Why is the Asian consumption of RICE 100 x higher than UK sales, answer they eat more rice. ;-)

 

[accelerator]

The reason I asked the OP what his primary aim was, was because if it's to sell his own names, he's better off attempting to make the case to end users domain by domain.

Attempting to raise awareness "in general" is unlikely to help him shift names. However, if he wants to run a site, perhaps for ad revenue, then that's different.

Rgds

 

[accelerator]

Ultimately a domain purchase is a case of "right company, right time, right approach, right market conditions, people that understand", and it's very much a one-off branding choice for a particular business.

Rgds

 

[accelerator]

TBH I think "domainers" had a golden few years when they were absolutely gifted a fantastic market to play in. It's unlikely domains will see such sweet easy picking revenue opportunities again, but that just means you have to be smarter and more thoughtful.

In my own case for various reasons I didn't really jump in heavily in the golden times, and that's a bit of a regret. Mainly I was just watching in disbelief at how easily people were making a killing.

Rgds

 

[Bailey]

The reason I asked the OP what his primary aim was, was because if it's to sell his own names, he's better off attempting to make the case to end users domain by domain.

Attempting to raise awareness "in general" is unlikely to help him shift names. However, if he wants to run a site, perhaps for ad revenue, then that's different.

Rgds

I'm with you on that accelerator, I also tend to look at the portfolios of 'ideas men' when it comes to domains - not for any slur - just that it's a question worth asking.

unless your going to be selective in listing, all that you've done is create another reason for Joe public to press the exit button.

domainsalesUK awareness agenda is very worthwhile but, it wouldn't, as you state, make for any increase in his own sales necessarily It would just have to be atopical piece, once it contains any sort of listing we're back to square one

 

[domsaleuk]

All I can say is I've been banging the drum for domains since 1996 and we're nowhere near there yet... but best of luck to you if you have some different angles you can use to tackle the problem.

Thanks Edwin. I know you have been banging the drum on this subject for years and I think you are extremely knowledgeable and make some really good points. I wouldn't be bold enough to suggest that I could make any change although I would like to. However what I think I might be able to do given my background, is perhaps create some sort of platform to enable me to get positive information about domains in front of some of the right people and then hope that they may start spreading the word themselves. That is my objective. Whether or not it will work is yet to be seen.

 

[Bailey]

domsaleuk - first of all apologies for misquoting your user name.

If your intention is a general piece of writing - I for one would like to help. I do think, if i've read your proposal correctly, that any link to non-academic or business minded publications to be a dangerous, and possibly leading to a disregard of your work. ie a sales list of any description

 

[domsaleuk]

The reason I asked the OP what his primary aim was, was because if it's to sell his own names, he's better off attempting to make the case to end users domain by domain.

Attempting to raise awareness "in general" is unlikely to help him shift names. However, if he wants to run a site, perhaps for ad revenue, then that's different.

Rgds

In response to the points discussed about utilising the site make sales of my domains - that is not the objective of this domain news / info site and I agree with you that would not be the fastest way to do things.

I will however be very active in approaching marketing departments etc directly to sell domains shortly and hence it is all interlinked which seemed like a good strategy. When I come across a marketing director, media buyer or planner etc that gives objections about buying domains I can direct them to the site to read up on it - hopefully they then may join Twitter or whatever and follow the discussions. My view is that it does not take too many marketing directors to get interested for word to spread and the advantage that I may have over some others is that I do speak their language and that may be the missing link that could just possibly capture their attention.

The site will of course have some links to the domains I am selling but similarly as time goes on if the site gains traction and starts generating traffic and other domainers want to promote domains then I will probably introduce some sort of advertising option for people or may even work out some other plan.

 

[domsaleuk]

domsaleuk - first of all apologies for misquoting your user name.

If your intention is a general piece of writing - I for one would like to help. I do think, if i've read your proposal correctly, that any link to non-academic or business minded publications to be a dangerous, and possibly leading to a disregard of your work. ie a sales list of any description

Hi Bailey, no worries re misquoting the name . Firstly re your point about the USA - I do realise that there are big differences between the two markets but I think there are things the UK could learn from too and I don't think many marketing people have any idea what names sell for and/or how valuable they are and bringing more awareness of the big USA sales can only help. However the purpose of the site I am launching is to specifically generate interest within the UK marketing world as part of the problem I see is that all the sites that do provide news information etc are very USA focused and the UK marketing departments will instantly turn off.

In terms of links to domains I am selling etc - you will have to see the site to decide for yourself but primarily the site is content rich and the links will be like advertising links on any site so I don't think this will put the marketers off reading the content. Selling the domains I have for sale is a key part of my strategy going forward and something I will be spending a lot of time focusing on but I will be doing this via a direct approach in the main and via another site and if people happen to click on an advertising link on the news site that will be a bonus. It would not make business sense not to include links as I will be spending money and time promoting the site

One of the big things I wish to do on the promotional side is get the content of the news site distributed via Twitter and online press releases etc on an ongoing basis and this "social" element is where I hope to utilise my knowledge and contacts etc to get things going.

In the future, once the site is launched, any help members of the domain community want to give would be great and well written articles on particular subjects could be a way to go. At the end of the day I genuinely believe if we work together as a community that we can change things in a positive way.

When the site launches I will tell you all and then you can decide whether or not you think it has any hope of making any progress and we can discuss it more then. It is nearly ready now (famous last words when launching a website!!) ... but hopefully it should be good to go in approx a week.