Back And Buzzing

Eight days without the distraction of Internet access and I can honestly say that I didn't miss it one bit. In fact, I haven't had a more relaxing holiday in more than 10 years, so I highly recommend switching everything off and forgetting about being online for a short while at least.

Today, as always at the start of each month, I was looking through my domain portfolio renewals for September and noticed that a few names I purchased a couple of years ago require renewing.

They relate to plasterboard recycling. Not an exciting subject is it?

I considered letting them drop, or as I occasionally do, offering them to friends for free.

Before doing either though, I did a quick search to see whether the plasterboard recycling industry is actually going anywhere.

When I first bought the names, it was because (surprise, surprise) of new government legislation (not only UK and EU, but USA too) relating to the disposal of plasterboard, or Gypsum as it's known in some countries).

Having recently been identified as being unsuitable for landfill, regulations have been brought in that mean many contractors now have difficulty in getting their plaserboard waste disposed of.

When I was renovating my own home this year, I experienced at first hand some of the difficulties, when certain waste firms wouldn't take the plasterboard stuff in their skips.

Plasterboard placed in landfill can have an adverse effect on the environment and as I've mentioned previously, anything connected with the word "environment" or "green" at the moment, is a sure-fire winner.

So, not only did I renew my lovely set of plasterboard recycling, disposal, waste and skip names, but I also emailed a few companies who might just be interested in a joint venture or acquisition of some of the names.

That was my distraction for the day and it's out of the way now, allowing me to concentrate on the real side of my business for the rest of the month.

It's nice at renewal time, to go through the list of names being renewed (or not) and seeing whether the names in question can be turned into business opportunities. For the sake of a couple of emails, what's there to lose?

Holiday Time

It's time for my holiday so there will be no new posts from me this week.

Usually when I go away, I take a laptop with me and spend a little time each day online checking emails and tweaking the odd site here and there.

It sounds quite glamourous to be working from a beach front doesn't it? The gurus always tell us that they can work from anywhere and always say that they can make money whilst enjoying themselves on holiday.

It occurred to me, having spent several years doing just that, being able to work from absolutely anywhere isn't that idyllic after all.

Quite the contrary really. It just turns you into a workaholic and takes away all of the relaxation you went away for.

Where's the fun in that?

Total liberation from technology is now a definite aim of mine. If only I could lose the mobile phone too...

Type-In Names vs The Search Engine

An interesting question was asked on a forum I visit today. It was part of a bigger thread, but it went like this:

"Between the type-in visitors and the rest which are more inclined to buy something?

It was such an interesting question that it got me thinking.

For those who don't know, a type-in is when somebody types the domain name directly into their browser, hoping to find the exact product or service they are looking for.

This is the most pure of all traffic and is the absolute backbone of all parking services, since without direct type-ins (some call it Direct Navigation), there would be no revenue, so we know that plenty of people must be typing names directly into their browsers.

It's almost embarrassing to admit therefore, that personally, I have never yet speculatively typed in a domain name when looking for any kind of product or service. Not once.

My kids do. I've watched them. It could be a generation thing.

So for me, the answer was quite simple. Search is the more likely to result in a sale.

Except that it isn't that simple really, because with a great web site, a type-in domain can be just as powerful as a search engine result - providing that the visitor is getting exactly what they expect after typing in the domain name.

The problem though, is that so many premium names that you'd expect to have good information, products or services on them are simply parked, so all the visitor sees is a bunch of links.

Is that a great experience? Does the visitor care? Would the visitor come back again?

For that reason, and partly because only a handful of my domain names could be classed as type-ins, I still stand firmly on the side of search engine results.

Here's an example:

Last week, I took a sales enquiry by telephone from a company I'd never heard of.

As always, I asked where they'd got our details from and was told that both my contact and his colleague had gone on line to search for somebody to do this particular job. One used Google, the other MSN, but they'd both independently chosen us because we were number one in the search results of both engines.

What does this prove? Nothing at all, it just interested me this morning.

I do believe though, that type-in names should be developed if they are to retain their value. The days of PPC look numbered to me.

Bye Bye Bido

Technical issues with the site has seen Bido.com, the new domain auction site, close it's doors today following a disastrous experience when auctioning the name fixedloans.com earlier this week.

I feel sorry for my friend Sahar who has put a lot of effort into making Bido work. He's stuck his neck out and launched something new that had considerable promise.

Whether it's ever going to be a viable model, I couldn't say and to some degree, it's irrelevant anyway.

Whatever you might think of the one auction a day model, it was a unique idea and Sahar and his team had the guts to launch it and promote it against the calls of the naysayers (of which their were and are many).

To do anything online takes a bit of courage. To attempt a big site takes enormous courage.

Think about what's involved.

It's not just a case of throwing up a web page and hoping for the best.

There's the whole design, the business model that needs continual tweaking, the technical elements with databases, traffic generation, promotion, attracting high quality domains and of course, buyers with money to pay for the names.

When all the user sees is the finished site, it all looks very easy.

I know from my own experiences, that large sites take a lot of effort, skill and money.

At the start of the year, I posted that I'm concentrating on the development of two sites this year. They are both launched, but I am unhappy with both. One is going to do ok and will do what I expected of it, though it still needs some wortk and further investment.

The other, was more of a hobby site for me, but now that I've been through a fruitless development programme with such devastatingly disappointing results, I know I have a major decision to make.

That decision will either be, scrap the project and all the work that's gone into it, or just scrap the work that's already gone in and been paid for and redevelop.

Redevelopment looks very enticing, as I had a Eureka moment the other day and have found the exact tools I need to get my site up and running with all of the features I'd initially hoped for, but have so far failed to get.

I think the spend for this hobby site could end up being in the region of $15,000 - and this is just for a novelty hobby site I want to get built!

Yes, I believe there's a great revenue stream to be had from doing it, but with a $15,000 up-front risk, I am not certain.

Like any off-line business, there are always risks involved when you are building a potential income stream. It is not the same as just making a web site.

Personally, I still think that it would cost a lot more to set up an offline business. To put it in perspective, I couldn't get a year's rent on a small shop or industrial unit for $15,000 (£7500) where I live!

That's why focus is still the most important asset you can have if you're a domainer. It's taken me years to understand that.

Bido might not come back, but Sahar will and he'll be a lot stronger for it. I hope.

Good luck to anyone with the balls to have a go, because really, that's all that counts in this and any other industry.

Expensive Domain Error Costs Investment

The BBC Television programme, Dragon's Den has become very popular over the past few years, as entrepreneurs try to secure funding and assistance from the panel of business experts.

Last night's episode featured two guys from Ireland trying to secure investment for their web and phone based food web site, ifoods.tv.

It looked like a good idea. They had superb credentials (Niall, the chef had cooked for Bill Gates) and handled themselves extremely well. I thought that they'd got their investment.

After a very polished and well-rehearsed presentation, the questions started.

They wanted to create a social network based on recipes, whereby users can see professional chefs preparing food. Users can upload their own recipes and their own videos showing how to cook meals too. It looked like a winnning idea. A niche YouTube for foodies.

Initially they performed well. But then one of them dropped the bombshell, "I got to be honest with you guys, there is a competitor out there with a social networking site, with the name ifood.tv".

Their site is called ifoods.tv, very similar of course, but so similar that ifood.tv would most likely take their traffic, or as one of the dragons put it, "there's a competitor on your doorstep who will eat your lunch".

Then another question was asked by the same dragon. "Who owns NiallHarbeson.com"? (The guys name - I don't know if that's the correct spelling).

"It's free" came the reply. His partner chipped in, "He hasn't got that big an ego yet".

The dragon advised him to get it the moment he walked out of the den. "Otherwise you will"? asked Niall. "Yes, I will" came the reply.

Eureka! At last, a high profile business person (Duncan Bannatyne, owns Bannatyne's Gym chain in the UK and several other investments) who gets domain names!

Notice he didn't ask whether he owns his .tv name? He went straight to .com.

That's because .com is still the default extension, no matter how good a product or service, if you're trying to build a web site or business with a global reach.

One of the other dragons explained that he was going to make them an investment offer and asked if they would rebrand. They wouldn't as they said it would be too expensive.

You can't expect everyone to "get" domains. These guys didn't and that was their downfall. The idea was superb, but because of their short-sightedness on the domain name, they lost the chance of investment from the programme.

Personally, I think that they are strong enough ad have a good enough idea to be able to make it work anyway. Maybe they'll rebrand. Maybe they'll buy the .com - which ironically, is parked, but so much stronger and brandable than the .tv name.

If I were one of the dragons, my advice would have been to grab the investment and buy that .com from the current owner and rebrand it ifood.com. It's begging to be developed - and not by the current owners, a grain company according to the whois.

I hope they do well. It was an expensive lesson in domaining and one that all domainers should take heed of.

You can view the episode for the next seven days at www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden - it's episode 5. Fast forward to about half way on the video slider, as that's where it gets interesting.

RyanAir Scrapping Bookings - Why?

I've never flown with RyanAir, one of the cheap UK airlines. I never will.

Yesterday, it was reported that they are to scrap thousands of bookings made via price comparison websites, which they call, "screen scrapers".

The reason, they say, is that these sites slow down their booking systems and cause inconvenience for their customers.

They say that they aim to create chaos for the screen scrapers (could that mean affiliate sites? I think so), by cancelling all tickets from tomorrow and only allowing people who have booked direct to fly with them.

I'm not sure how screen scraping works, as RyanAir say that they aren't giving permission to anyone to use their system. That must be the case, but surely they're being paid for the tickets.

The prospect of thousands of passengers being turned away from the check-in desks isn't a pleasant one and I can't imagine RyanAir would generate much sympathy with such an aggressive move.

What's this got to do with the Internet?

Well, looking more deeply at this issue, I wonder if the motivation is less to do with the customer experience as they claim, or if it's more to do with the back-end sales opportunity they miss when a third party makes a booking.

Think about the last time you booked a flight online.

Once you've booked, you're offered airport parking, car hire at your destination, hotel rooms and an array of other services.

Each one of those services, nicely integrated into the sales process, is not there for your convenience as a passenger, but as an automated revenue generator for the airline - they get a sales commission from the provider and they keep the customer details. I bet the take-up rate is pretty good too.

All of that back end disappears when bookings are made via a third party - RyanAir doesn't receive the customer information, which denies them the opportunity to email special offers and other products to these customers.

Personally, I don't blame them at all for taking a stance against companies that are using their system illegally (if they are).

I don't think cancelling thousands of tickets is the answer though. But then, I'm not a multi millionaire airline owner under extreme pressure from rising fuel costs, shrinking customer base and the rest of the economic pressures at the moment.

Is this the beginning of the end for price comparison sites?

I would imagine that the insurance industry will be next to follow these lines. Direct Line are already advertising heavily on TV that their products cannot be purchased at price comparison sites.

I can see why. Buy house insurance from them and you're bombarded with marketing for their other products.

It's not just online where the money is in the back-end and as business people, we must never forget that!

Cold Calling, But Not As We Know It

Back in the old days, long before the Internet was invented and I was a young and enthusiastic direct salesman (not person, it was long before political correctness as well) selling high value home improvements, I always wondered what it would be like to have customers coming to me, instead of me going to them.

It was the same during my 15+ years spent in the recruitment business too. I used to watch my team come in each morning and start hitting the telephones as they began their day of unwelcome cold-calling.

My question has always been, "How can I turn the situation around so that the whole sales process becomes passive"?

In the past four or five years I think I've perfected it.

I could now take just about any business, whether it sells high value home improvements or high priced services and switch on a new income stream for myself, without me having to have any kind of involvement other than being the introducer and the closer.

You see, unlike the gurus, I still like selling and closing deals. That's because I did spend 2 years totally working from home. During that time, I virtually lost my communication skills and became a slave to my PC.

Now each day, I spend less time online. My phone rings and people call. They usually start the conversation like this; "I've just been on your web site..."

Well, I have 200 of them and they all do something different.

In the end, it's usually a call from one of the sites where I am offering services, so I am often able to turn it into cash. Other times, I just try and help somebody with a particular question - it's still selling really.

The point is that an Internet business or work from home scheme doesn't have to be 100% automated and it doesn't have to be all about affiliate programs, eBay, eBooks, Adsense or MLM.

It can still be about real work, real people, real services and products.

If you know how, you can turn a $5 domain name into a very lucrative income stream.

You can turn a few domain names into multiple income streams.

Some earn nothing for a year. Some bring in calls by the bucket load.

Personally, I build them and forget them until the phone rings.

My phone rings every day. Sometimes, those calls are worth several thousand Pounds. Sometimes they are worth nothing other than the fact that I was able to help somebody, which, when there is already money bank, is reward in itself.

My business model is just like an affiliate program, except that the people I work with have no idea how to build a web site - they just run their businesses. I simply bring in more sales.

How hard is that?

Help, I'm Desperate!

I've been visiting a few forums that I wouldn't normally visit lately. They are the ones where people are looking for online riches.

It started when somebody asked me what I thought of the Rich Jerk. To be honest, I've seen the ads, but have always disregarded it. The style of the ads just isn't me.

So I decided to take a look and give this person my honest opinion.

First I bought the eBook. For $10 it was hardly a risk.

I didn't like it. The eBook is full of straight-to-the-point advice, but it's terribly outdated and absolutely crammed full of affiliate links at every turn. It's obvious where the revenue for this publication really comes from!

The approach is old and outdated, but this publication keeps on selling, as it's promoted by commission-hungry affiliates all over the world.

Type rich jerk into Google and you'll see tons of paid links - from affiliates. They are usually "reviewing" the program - which is what RJ is all about by the way.

A few days after buying the eBook and giving it away immediately, I received a call. It was from somebody at Rich Jerk offering an extremely rare opportunity to get some one to one coaching from a member of the RJ team.

Wow! One to one training. Imagine that.

In order to qualify, I'd have needed to sit through a 30 minute telephone "interview", followed by another 1-2 hour interview by a senior member of the team to see if I qualified.

Their motivation for calling me and offering me the chance for one to one training, was simply so they can get my testimonial.

I can smell a scam a mile away and this has all of the hallmarks, so I Googled the course.

It didn't take long to find the answers. The "interviews" are really just high pressure sales pitches using reverse psychology - the old pull-away technique used in direct selling for many years. You could have this.... if you qualify. Tell me how you qualify.

Tell somebody they can't have something and they want it more.

I used that myself in direct selling more than 20 years ago. It was used to sell the concept of "show houses" for various products like replacement windows, stone cladding, driveways and central heating systems.

The interview also provides an ideal opportunity for price conditioning. Depending on your answers, the one to one training can cost anything from $2000 to $5000 according to the forum posts I read.

The reason I bring this up is because these Internet Marketing gurus are all offering very similar products, revamped to their own particular style.

Each has a back-end sting in the tail that will cost thousands - sometimes with additional product offerings and sometimes as ongoing membership fees.

I continued reading the many forums I visited and got completely depressed.

It seems to me that the Internet is full of people seeking immediate online riches. They bounce from program to program in desperate hope of finding the one killer course that will set them on the way.

People on the forums ask questions like, "does this really work"?, "Can I really make money"?, "Is this any good for newbies"?

It's clear where the money is online!

No wonder these guys can keep on cleaning up with outdated products. There is a never-ending source of people gagging to part with their money.

If I thought a new eBook would help, I'd write it. Seriously.

But the fact is, that it doesn't really matter if you spell out a magic formula showing somebody how to make money online - the majority wouldn't do anything about it anyway.

I was chatting to a friend a couple of weeks ago. He's a talented guy who works for himself in the building trade. Sadly, he's not getting much work at the moment and is really struggling.

He was so desperate for money that one of his ideas was to walk the local canals and see if he could fish out any old shopping trolleys that he could then weigh in for their scrap value, as the price of scrap metal is sky-high at present.

In times when money is tight, people look anywhere for the answers.

They are now flooding to net as times get hard. Someone's going to get rich. Sadly, it won't be any of these newbies.

If you're online searching for new ways to make money, steer clear of these jerks, even the rich ones.

Are You Sitting On A Fortune?

It's every domainer's dream - you buy a name and within a few months, somebody comes along and offers you a small fortune for it because they have an idea to turn it into even more money.

That rarely happens though, at least not to a Mr Average like me.

That's why I tend to develop my names into web sites, usually something that will promote a specific service for which I can get paid loads of money, or I'll put up a site that offers free classified advertising, like on PrivateVilla.co.uk that I mentioned in my earlier post this morning.

Those sites will have Google ads and/or very relevant affiliate programs aimed at the particular audience I'm targeting for the site in question.

They don't earn a fortune (at least not in my case), but they more than pay their way.

Something Interesting Is Happening!

As you know from recent posts here, I've begun to get enquiries (some genuine, some not so) lately, from marketing companies.

The marketing companies are now actively seeking paid links on smaller web sites.

What's promoted me to write this, is an email I have just received from a company representing yet another household name company.

This time, they are asking me to help promote a price comparison engine by advertising on some of my sites in return for money.

They already advertise extensively on prime-time television, in the national press and on bill boards throughout the country, so it's interesting to see that they are now looking to advertise with the little guys too!

Of course, some big name companies have been doing this for years via affiliate networks, but the significant thing here is that they are now shifting towards a direct payment model.

This has to be great news for domainers, particularly those who develop their names.

What it means is that we're no longer reliant solely on Google or Yahoo, who tell us how much we can earn.

It means that we, as web site owners, can keep 100% of the money, instead of an unknown, mystery percentage offered by the search engines.

I don't know what the potential earnings could be, but I welcome the change and hope that more companies begin to realise that domainers really do have a lot to offer.

What I would love to see more of (and what I requested from the company who contacted me today) is white-label affiliate programs with a recurring commission payable on sales.

The adult sites have been doing that for years. In fact, this week, one was good enough to talk me through setting up a CNAME record on one of my sites, so that visitors clicking on their link stay on my site, even though what they are seeing, is actually on someone else's.

When mainstream companies introduce white label versions of their sites, we will really will be in the money.

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

I love reading the emails that make it past my rather aggressive Spam filter each morning.

This morning, I received one addressed to my free holiday property rental site PrivateVilla.co.uk that reads as follows:

Good day :) I'll cut the chase and be straight forward to save you time. I
am working on behalf of a leading mobile phone network provider looking to
promote and source traffic from reliable sites such as yours. I've noticed
that you are running several links in your website and was wondering if
you'd be interested in allowing us to sponsor a simple two-word text link
within your website.

I hope that you're interested and do feel free to contact me anytime
regarding your terms :)

Company Name
Marketing Manager

I did what I always do (being a curious sceptic) and clicked on the email address of the sender to find the domain it was sent from, as I like to know how companies involved in link marketing present themselves to their clients (if they are genuine of course).

In this case, there was no web site, just a root directory telling me that the cgi-bin was only created yesterday.

So I did a whois on the domain and found it was only registered in March. Not to a company, but to an individual.

This email, I assume then, is nothing more than a Spam operator looking to confirm email addresses. I guess that if I'd responded to the email, this particular email address would end up on everyone else's Spamming list and I'd have to start buying all of those enlargement patchs all over again!

Online, you can be anyone you want to be and hide behind a web site, claiming expertise that you don't have. There's a world of opportunity out there for the less than honest.

The great news is that there's a bigger world of opportunity out there for the honest, hard working individuals like you and I.