Morning Folks!!
Great domains will be in demand for as long as we can see and probably much further. Just like a phone number or a physical address the domain name is here to stay. Domains will still be alive when we are all dead!
As for "Domaining", that's an entire different story. If it were not for know-nothing newbies, most companies in the space would have nobody to prey on. Most domainers I know are doing everything they can to liquidate. The pioneers want out. But even with their gems it is simple why demand is down. As I have said repeatedly, the future is about ONE domain, ONE project, ONE need, at a time. The days of mass registrations by existing companies is over!! The only ones buying multiple domains are domainers and most of them are going broke and going broke fast cuz they keep buying pigeon shit.
They don't make an announcement when they disappear. They slither away into the sunset never to be heard again.
I laugh at folks that don't think you can hand register a domain. A business can find a suitable domain name in MINUTES that would pass ALL my tests. I don't care if it is 5 words! The key is being MEMORABLE!! Easy to remember and easy to spell and easy not to be confused when advertised on the radio. Problem is domainers don't understand this.
The big disconnect in domaining is how many folks that call themselves domainers have never had a business before. They don't understand business. They don't understand sales. They don't understand selling. They don't understand marketing. They don't know the difference between a staple and a fad. They are myoptic. They can't see past their own hands or their own needs. They don't have the ability to see the needs of others. They are short-sighted and narrow-minded people that chase what happened yesterday but have no vision for the future.
Domain tradeshows are better for traveling around the world for the discounted business expense than actually going to the shows. The same faces selling the same things at each and every show. When was the last domain trade show that .club was not a speaker at? The answer, 2013. It's all self serving crap!
If I could pick one word to describe the domaining industry and domainers. it would be DESPERATE! Getting worse with every passing day. Soon we may be seeing "Tupperware" style parties as they prey on lower and lower level subjects to sell to. Oh I forgot, many of you never even heard of Tupperware or how they marketed their product.
Just like history has history, business has history. I study business history. I study business trends. I study Sears and Walmart and Kmart and Amazon and you name it. I follow them and I watch them.
When I had my in-home business before domains I copied the biggest companies in the world. I followed their lead. Nobody even knew my "World Headquarters" was in a 10x10 bedroom. I presented myself as a fortune 500 company by copying what they did. Copying how they would make a brochure. Copy their professional newsletter. Copy their marketing tricks. Copy everything of value and make my company look big! That was how I got into 800 vanity numbers. I just copied big business. Same with Domain Names.
The point is domaining 2018, 2019, 2020 and beyond are simply going to be seriously different. Long gone are all the guys boasting about their 250,000 name portfolios. I remember when that was all the rage. I would ask one simple question and it was like "Stump the band". "What is your single best domain?" Followed by a lot of stuttering.
Domain bloggers are down to a tiny handful of about 9-12. A once thriving domain blogging community is GONE! Further evidence of the decline of domaining. Many of those just report auctions or results with no commentary. Don't expect it to get better!
How much is a domain worth? How much would it cost OPEN and OPERATE a physical store in the real world for 1 year? For 3 years? 10 years? How wide an area can you service? That's your basis, not crap like Estibot or any other valuation model. They don't even use a tool like that in Real Estate!!! If they did, it is laughed at. It's a FAKE!! They spend time doing comps! Real research and comparisons.
Would I get into domaining today? Absolutely not! Can you still make money with domains? Absolutely. But when you buy a domain at least realize that the money invested is buried and it will be buried for a very long time. There is no cashier. They are not liquid. You own it and there is less than a 50/50 chance you will sell it in YOUR lifetime.
Rick Schwartz
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