Archive for February, 2010

Random Thoughts

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Below are a few random thoughts I have had recently in regards to the Online space. These thoughts were written in no special order and carry no particular weight…they are just…as the title implies…random thoughts. Sometimes my brain works in interesting ways…enjoy!

1) SPAM SPAM, where have you gone – Is it just me or has SPAM gone away for the most part? I still do get Spammed…don’t get me wrong… but the volume seems to have gone down significantly. Sad to be reminiscing about the days of unwanted emails but somehow I miss those messages of weight loss, Viagra, and winning the lottery from a distant relative in Kenya. The truth is, however, that unsolicited email may be finally on it’s way out of the Internet Marketing mix.

2) The day of the online expert is here – Seems like everyone these days is an Online expert. From the person who just went to their first Internet marketing seminar to your neighbor’s 16 year old step-son who apparently chalked up their experience designing a few websites for a school project. The problem here is that our space is becoming extremely crowded and customers who cut corners are getting frustrated in the process. I recently had a prospect cry in a meeting because she was so frustrated. Yes, she cried at our meeting. I got her frustration, as her concept was still not off the ground two years after she went live, but this tale is becoming commonplace. Becoming an expert takes time, experience, education, and instinct. You cannot teach someone how to be a marketer, designer, or programmer and in the case of most things with digital marketing…you get what you pay for…

3) Pay per click grows up – Recent advances in paid search are making it one of my favored online strategies once again. Google, for example, gives e-commerce providers the ability to display products in their ads as long as they have a Google Merchant account. Same for local business owners who can now display their address and phone numbers in their ads as long as they have a Google Business Listing. All cool additions that give advertisers a better chance for a sale. We love it and commend all of these new updates to the platform.

4) Social media woes? – True, Social Media is still hot. Way hot. But if our youth is any indication burn out may be forthcoming. A recent survey stated that 13-24 year old people think that Twitter is lame. They’ve obviously never used it for business but they may be on to something and the trending here may be clear. Sure, Social will never go away and as long as there are people there will always be a need to connect. Still, we are keeping our eyes wide open here.

5) Technology amazes -the iPad, the smartbook, the netbook. Apple MacBook Pro, iPhone, Blackberry Smartphones, DVR’s, Blue-Ray Players, Video Games, Sirius Satellite Radio – the world is changing very quickly and the gadgets we use are evolving at a torrid pace. It’s often hard to believe we once used dial-up to access the Internet and now we get what we want when we want it through our phones. Perhaps the Jetson’s were not that far off…

Guess I’m starting to sound a little like Andy Rooney here but honestly there is so much going on in our world and our space that it’s hard not to feel jumbled, confused, and a bit awed by what’s happening these days. My random thoughts are a way for me to organize some of the chaos and put them into print.

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After Domainfest 2010

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Having attended last week’s Domainfest in Santa Monica, I was left with a strange sensation. Domainers, long having been in their “own world’, have seem to come to the realization that they need to treat each one of their domains as unique and individual assets that should be built out on their own merits. In previous years past, domainers could live off the traditional “parking sites” and make a mint. These days, even domainer’s profits are being squeezed and now they are somewhat forced to build out their Internet property with the same care and love that most people with only one or two domains have done for years. Below are a few interesting things I took from this year’s conference:

  • Every domain is unique – Instead of lumping all of their domains together, the thought that a domain should existing and thrive based on how well it serves it’s target market was unique and something I hadn’t heard before from the domaining community.
  • Search and social are critical – Now that their profits are being squeezed, domainers are turning to both search engine optimization and social media for traffic…and for profit.
  • Dot com still rules – With the advent of many new top level domains (TLD’s) and the shrinking of available dot coms, the question was whether or not the dot com era was over. However, the resounding response was no. Dot coms have and always will rule the Internet experience. However. we are truly in the web’s infancy and over time we could definitely see the rise of other TLD’s. But for now, dot coms are the best way to the top
  • Parking improves – Many of the exhibitors at the event, from Parked.com and RapidDomainBuilder.com, have improved their technology to the point where their sites do NOT feel like parking sites any more. Their technologies were impressive and demonstrated a true understanding of the domain owner’s needs. Even giant Sedo.com has improved their offerings and provide all domain owners with a great platform for easily building out their own websites.
  • One site at a time – Finally, it is not possible to fool the search engines any more. So, if you want to build value on your domain, you must build out your website. One site at a time. Provide content, value, and a great user experience and the traffic and monetization of your site will follow.

This was my first trip to Domainfest and as strange as it often was (try talking to self-made entrepreneurs who made their livings solely by buying the right domains at the right time for three days) , the event was spectacular. I look forward to next year’s event and hope the lessons taught and learned this year will make for an even livelier debate/discussion/event next year.

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