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]

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]

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.

 

[DomainManagement]

hmmm

Yes grey wing your correct , its the job of this country to put people who have no clue or interest ( beyond collecting money ) into positions of importance +
training , its like the government asking there mates who they went to Eaton , oxford or Cambridge to advice them on how to cut the jobless figures etc etc
when these people have had no ( wait for it a Googlish expression ) relevant experience , or is studying philosophy or art relevant

it is frustrating as so many of us would love to inform business owners of what to do


ps G w did you see i have been rated as a messer and a liar lol

 

[GreyWing]

ps G w did you see i have been rated as a messer and a liar lol

No I didn't Steve, but if I had have done I would have added my views on it. I have dealt with Steve on plenty of occasions and whilst a character as some of us are, he is 100% trustworthy and doesn't bull anyone or anything.

 

[Brassneck]

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?

I think that is an excellent point. I had hoped that companies like Sedo being based in the UK would have done more to help market domains to ordinary people.

The main problem, from what I observe, is that domainers have been able to cover their costs / make a profit too easily in the past without really trying. Now things are tougher, we are realising that we never did really make a terribly convincing case for the worth of purchasing a domain from the secondary market. In fact, many of our sales have probably been to other investors.

Edwin is a notable exception to the above and we should all applaud his efforts and some of the research he has published on his web site.

I also thinking pricing has been a problem. My prices tend to be on the cheap side - when an end-user approaches me about a domain I tend to try to be fair - i.e. £200 for half-decent name rather than quote 4 figures. Result is I still get a lot of sales, and the person acquires a domain at a price he feels is decent value. I know how I would feel if I asked about a domain and was quoted thousands - it just makes us all look like we are pulling a fast one and hence the public don't trust domainers.


Stephen.

 

[doodlebug]

What a load of rubbish that was said at that conference, sorry but if I was there I would have had to grab the mic and get these small business owners properly informed.

 

[retired_member33]

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.

Where is the Like button?

by the way, its not just the UK, same goes for a lot of countries.

My highlight was going to a course about ppc where I had to explain the guy doing it and the people in it about the Keyword Macro haha.

 

[GreyWing]

There was a guy on from Microsoft last week on TV about the way we educate our kids. He said our education system was a joke.....

"How can it be that kids spend their weekend's reconfiguring servers, building their own websites and turn up to class on Monday to receive a course on how to build an excel spreadsheet or do a document in word.

The answer is that it is because that is all the teacher knows and it needs to change.

We should embrace the fact that kids know more about computers than teachers and accept that and be proud of that. It is nothing to be ashamed of for teachers, but in some kind of power struggle they seem to make out they know more and holding kids back.".

He argued for a system that set kids tasks and let worked with the kids to try and find answers to problems, not teach them specifics. Because for teachers to know what is going on in tech land, they'd need to be on courses every day of the week and wouldn't have time to teach.

Personally I think he hit the nail on the head with our education system.

 

[Pred]

spot on Grey

 

[Edwin]

There was a story the other day about how IT teaching in schools is going to change, become more relevant (and not just about using Word/Excel). Great news, except that of the 18,000 teachers that entered the professional last year, only 3 had any formal IT background.

 

[BREWSTERS]

There was a guy on from Microsoft last week on TV about the way we educate our kids. He said our education system was a joke.....

"How can it be that kids spend their weekend's reconfiguring servers, building their own websites and turn up to class on Monday to receive a course on how to build an excel spreadsheet or do a document in word.

The answer is that it is because that is all the teacher knows and it needs to change.

We should embrace the fact that kids know more about computers than teachers and accept that and be proud of that. It is nothing to be ashamed of for teachers, but in some kind of power struggle they seem to make out they know more and holding kids back.".

He argued for a system that set kids tasks and let worked with the kids to try and find answers to problems, not teach them specifics. Because for teachers to know what is going on in tech land, they'd need to be on courses every day of the week and wouldn't have time to teach.

Personally I think he hit the nail on the head with our education system.

Also, why aren't kids taught about money? Everybody needs it, but it never gets a mention in schools. The importance of living within their means; the dangers of debt; the pros and cons of entrepreneurship.

I know that general teachers don't have a clue about those things, but they can be taught it.

Might spark an interest in some and keep them off the streets.

 

[Blossom]

There's also so much pressure to go to university, and very little help for people who aren't sure or have practical skills rather than academic ones. And for those that do go to uni and aren't on vocational courses with clear career paths, there's no help at all. You're generally just being taught by academics to be an academic.

We have a culture that naturally looks down on people without degrees, and a culture of growing numbers of university students and potential students who assume there will be a job waiting for them at the end of their degree.

I'm definitely going to teach my kids the stuff that Brewsters mentions. When I left home, I barely knew how to use a toaster. I had to learn life skills pretty damn fast. Same goes for a lot of other things that should be more widely taught, like nutrition.