This week was the first of many busy weeks to come for me in the plant selling world but as I sit down this evening I have a few questions. Questions I am too lazy to seek the answers so I’ll just release them to the world and hope somebody chimes in and answers.
1. What happened to Morgan Linton? During the winter he was everywhere. Every other day he was introducing some new site and being added to some consortium of domain investment professionals. Was he kidnapped? Did his employer tell him to get back to work? I know there’s a vault with 200 hours of interviews somewhere in California and my wife misses hearing “the voice” on his weekly video show. I can’t keep watching the past episodes. I’ve seen them 50 times each.
2. Why do people think it’s Ok to promote themselves or their domains in the comments of other people’s blog or site? Not only is it rude but it’s lazy. People pay good money to advertise on these sites and yet so many people feel comfortable saying. “by the way, I have abcdoioj.com for sale” Everyone once in a while it’s OK if it’s relative to the topic, but there are so many people that want to make it in this business yet are just too damn lazy to be successful. Either buck up and pay to promote your domains or start your own site. (advertising space still available on my site)
3. Is it just me or are dot orgs rising in value and dot nets falling? They seem to be converging. When somebody asked Michael Berkens how he valued the “big three” he said dot com, dot org, dot net. I have agreed ever since. And yes, there are exceptions based on domain.
4. Is anyone else noticing that Sedo’s daily auctions are looking more like Bido’s every day? They are still selling a ton of great domains through their private offers but they hardly ever come through the auction side. Either I am getting pickier or the names are getting worse. I’ve also decided to call it SEE DOUGH regardless of how it’s supposed to be pronounced. If everyone I talk to would please pronounce it that way to make me feel comfortable , I would appreciate it.
5. Do I have this order correct? Build a business plan…..find a domain that gives your company the most bang for your buck. Too many domainers seem to buy a domain and then build a business around it. Businesses they have no damn clue about. Backasswords.
6. Why do BullS and Big Lie Society torment the domain investing community with their mindless babble and worthless commentary? I have been blogging for 10 years and I have yet to see two lurkers shit all over industry blogs as much as those two. Someone please write a program that will block every comment those two write at every site I visit.
7. Anyone else shudder every time you see a company advertisement, flyer, or business card that has this? Visit johnshomebuilder.com or email us at [email protected]. They already own the domain, somebody set these poor people up with their email. It’s like taking a hot girl hot girl home from the bar, getting her naked, and then painting her nails. They’re so close.
8. Are articles written that have no comments like a hitting a hole in one by yourself? It’s a great event that you care about but since nobody is there, it’s meaningless. Granted, if you write a lot there are bound to be some articles that don’t have any commentary. The value of a blog is reflected in the commentary not the visits. I’ll take two visitors that care enough to comment over 100 that come and go. And no, 5 retweets doesn’t equal a comment.
9. Why is domain investing such a sausagefest? Sure the guys have beautiful girlfriends and wives but we need more ladies. It was nice to see the ladies get together at DomainFest and they were an intelligent and beautiful group. I’d like to see more. I guess trading was the same way but I must admit the women traders were hot. I’m not sure if they were necessarily physically hot but there is nothing sexier than watching a women make big money.
10. I’m short a player for my All-Star domaining basketball team. Any suggestions on my last pick up? I’m thinking Ron Wells (super power forward and brother played pro ball if I remember correctly) , David Reiff (center) , Jason Thompson (point guard) , me (shooting guard).
I have answer to one of your questions.
Question 7: They need to be educated. Period.
Shane – All good questions. I have one for you. Being that this was posted very early in the morning and being that this post covers many meandering topics, my question is, could you not get to sleep last night so you stayed up pondering and writing these questions? 🙂
Nobody call Shane after 8PM tonight. He’ll already be asleep.
Braden,
🙂 Actually I was in bed last night before 10 because I had a 12 mile run at 5:30 am but either way call me after 9 and I’ll be asleep. I go to bed at 9, 9:30 like an 8 year old because I get up so early (4:15 most days) You talked to me at Domainfest. You know my mind is always filled with thoughts. I wrote that post in 15 minutes. I can concentrate when I need to concentrate and open up the floodgates when I need to be creative. Of course when tired enters into the mix I can do neither and all I can think about is sleeping.
When I saw Big Lie Society’s comments on Michael Berken’s blog I figured its automated spam, if it isnt it sure looks like it. What I couldnt understand is why he approved all those comments? I think there are some commenting plugins where people can only post comments without approval as long as they had previous comments approved by the author. This kind of system makes a lot of sense to me.
I believe Morgan now has a girlfriend and relationships take time. That’s great for him but does mean perhaps he is posting less than previously. Amazing domaining/development is still only a “part-time” venture for him so also work responsibilities could be a factor as well. Just because people don’t comment about a post doesn’t mean they didn’t read it. Sometimes I will read a good post but just have nothing to add. Yes, domainers tend to not be so good at developing businesses and businesses tend to not be so good at picking good domains. Regarding spam comments, I have some .TV domains on a WordPress-based Theme.tv platform and nearly all the comments I get are spam. So basically I just delete all comments because I don’t have time to waste filtering through the junk. I’m not a big fan of .Orgs as only about 1% of my portfolio is in that extension. Well, there is a statewide track & field meet at a nearby park I want to shoot some photos/videos for so have a great weekend.
I miss Morgan and his show as well. We had good laughs there and an overall good time.
I tried to recruit a coupla’ hot,smart chix into domaining.Not happening.No matter how I tried to explain it…they went into “traditional” mode.That being they’re only too happy to spend the money of the guy who wins big at domains.Just not too keen on taking the risk themselves.
I sincerely hope Morgan will start again to do his shows.
With regards to question #7, I see it all the time (last time it was 4 days ago, a clinical laboratory where I did my blood test) and I always wonder why they are so dumb they spend big bucks for a great looking website, just to appear very unprofessional when you go to the ‘Contact us’ section or you look at their business cards.
1. GF’s are more work than a FT job
2. That’s human nature for some to look for a free advertising like that. I doubt it’s ever lead to sale. Just don’t post them if it’s blatant and consistent.
3. Org’s are rising Net’s are steady .Org’s have greater exposure and advertising in mainstream media I’ve found. Electronic and Tech names still look better on a .net for mine if trust or credibility is a an issue give me a .Org that’s why they bought Mortgage.org recently rather than the .net when given a choice.
4. Sedo could do much better I like them but they have never really tapped into their full potential.
5. They are totally different worlds Trader’s and Business People have two very different skillsets some are very good at one or the other it’s rare when people are exceptional at both.
6. Ego’s
7. It’s a young market the domain market that just means plenty of angles to make $ still it’s all good.
8. I disagree I always read and enjoy your articles and never comment virtually I think the positive effect you have on other domainers is all that matters regardless of how many comments you get.
9. Yes there is something alluring about a female trader agreed.
10. Pass
#9: Tia Woods is every woman to us.
@Uzoma: I know. Sad, right? But hey….sausagefest is good for me! There are a few good looking guys in this industry.
You know, I was thinking about BullS and Big Lie just this week. I was wondering if it was some in-joke that I didn’t get, kinda like when I first saw some of DomainGang’s posts! I always gloss over their comments, no value whatsoever.
Here’s one for you though. What is with the signature of that Contact Group Metal Tiger guy??!!
You know, I was thinking about BullS and Big Lie just this week. I was wondering if it was some in-joke that I didn’t get. I always gloss over their comments, no value whatsoever.
Here’s one for you though. What is with the signature of that Contact Group Metal Tiger guy??!!
Bulls & Big Lie sometimes adds more flavor to the mundane domaining
You are waaaay off on #3. Only .COM’s will survive the coming economic tsunami.
.ORG, .NET, country codes and the new gTLD extensions are all garbage!
Hi Shane! What a confusion post but I appreciate being #1!
You should read my blog, I’ve been posting every day this year and writing longer more detailed posts that last year. Anyone whose been reading my blog for a long time should see the incredible INCREASE in time I’m giving it this year. Rather than writing short posts with things that are on my mind I am planning my posts more and trying to ask questions to get people engaged. I am paying careful attention to which posts get the most reads and interactivity to make sure that I’m writing content that people enjoy reading about. The blog is taking more time every day than last year but I think it’s worth it since I can really put more time and energy into each and every post.
As for my business, my revenue grew 8x 2010 over 2009 and 2011 I’m on-track to have my first six-figure year. As I’ve been sharing on my blog the way to make this leap was to pull away from mini-sites and launching a new site every week and focusing on building brands.
Building brands means not just putting-together a little five page site and announcing it on my blog like it’s a big deal – it’s not and that method of real monetization is dead.
Two weeks ago I announced that the Xelot algorithm is now patent pending. I’ve been talking about Xelot on my blog and all the time and energy that’s gone into this. With this project Daina and I are working together 12+ hours every single weekend and just about every free minute we have after work on the weekdays. Writing an algorithm that is ten of thousands of lines of code is a LOT of work. It is much different than what I did before building small websites and getting them ranked well in search, this is actually creating a revolutionary system that we think people will love.
To that end Daina and I have been reading a ton of books and article about product launches, setting-up beta teams, PR, etc. in preparation for the launch of our first major brand. Beta testing begins this week with 30 people!
Also last week on my blog I discussed my new book which I’ve been working on since last year – it’s been a lot of work and I keep extending the release date, but the time has come. I have put more work into this book than any piece of writing I have ever produced, I am very proud of what I put-together and think it will be a great asset to the community.
Kayaking.org is quickly becoming the #1 site Kayakers use to find kayaking tour and adventure companies. We have close to 1,000 locations in our database and are ranking for over 30 kayaking-related terms we’ve been targeting.
HotelCritic.org has been taken to the next level with a brand new design, new logo, and dedicated staff member adding videos and photos to the site.
Along with MorganLinton.com I have put ccTLDInvestors.com back in action and am starting to post on it more frequently. I also run a travel blog that I started last year http://www.CivilizedTravel.net and Daina and I write a wine blog at BlogAboutWine.com and just started a wine TV show at http://www.WineLovers.tv
I just finished my first Travel book and it is available for free from CivilizedTravel.net!
I’ve gone to five conferences so far this year and covered all of them on my blog including extensive video coverage from Domain RoundTable in the Bahamas.
I filmed 10 interviews at DOMAINfest 2011 for DomainInvesting.tv and we are getting closer every day to release the first episode. This has been a wildly expensive project and I’m not making anything here, it’s just a lot of fun and I think the results will be spectacular!
As for MorganLinton.tv – as you can tell by everything that’s going on this year there just hasn’t been the time. Launching a full scale business like Xelot, growing a brand like Kayaking.org, writing two books, writing four blogs, attending five conferences – these things take time!
I appreciate all the support for MorganLinton.tv – it IS coming back this year and in a major way. However…it’s not going to happen until Xelot, the book, and DomainInvesting.tv are out – it’s all about quality this year, not quantity. It’s about building businesses, engaging people and creating what is hopefully a truly enchanting company.
I am getting less sleep than last year, working longer hours, and working entire weekends from Saturday morning until Sunday night to do it all. It’s worth it 100% – surprising though that you haven’t noticed!
Morgan,
You seem a little hurt. Wasn’t meant to say you aren’t working hard. Obviously you are. There is no reason to get defensive nor explain how hard you work. Keep up the good work and I apologize for not noticing. I am still glad I am not your employer as there is absolutely no way you can concentrate on your “regular job” with all those people and businesses going on. If you can still give them full attention and do those things you are a better than any man I’ve met. (and I still think you’re better than most I’ve met to this point anyway)
Oh, also I think someone said that I just got a girlfriend???
Come on, anyone who knows me should know Daina who I have been together for 4.5 years. I starting going-out with Daina 1.5 years before I started my business and wrote my first blog post. She is the love of my life and this year has actually become part of the business!
Also I forgot to add above but our company had our first Partnership this year with Domain Advisors which was announced in January!
Hi Shane!
Not hurt at all my friend! Just didn’t want people on your blog to get confused since not everyone that reads your blog reads mine. For those reading your blog who don’t read mine they may think that I have stopped Domaining when in fact I’m putting more work into this than I ever have!
As for my full-time job they still get at least 10 hours of my time each day. I am very proud of the work I do and travel 2-3 weeks each month and am working very very hard for them. It’s been an incredible journey watching a company grow and over the last 6.5 years I’ve really been a part of something truly incredible.
Just like you put your heart and soul into your tree business every day I put my heart and soul into the work that I do! We both have day jobs, and we both LOVE our day jobs. However both of us also put time into Domaining which is a passion and a business for both of us.
As for working 16 hour days and weekends…it’s not for everyone but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
@Morgan
I love ‘Domaining’ with the capital D in your last post 🙂
Ponder this: What if there’s more potential in your own plant business than anything you could do on the web?
http://searchengineland.com/spring-search-fever-how-users-look-up-garden-center-products-services-70461
Its April 15, 2011 and today I woke up around lets say 8:45. Took a shower hopped into the car at around 9:20. Got to work at about 10:05 and I’m still here. My point in saying this is my day job is not exciting at all. Do I love what I do for a living? No
Do I love what I do as a domainer? Yes! Does it pay the bills? No Do I work to pay the bills? Yes
In short, we are all on our grind and I must commend everyone who is capable of holding a full time job and still have time for domaining. This industry is not easy, but it is quite fun. Where else can you flip a domain name that you have registered for $10 and make a 500% – 1,000% profit.
Excuse me, while I leave my cubicle desk to go to the office kitchen to make some green tea. 🙂