namewise. blog.

One last post before Christmas. I am a little bit sad since yesterday. I put Find.net to the auction block. Find.net was and is and will be an ultra rare gem. I bet you see it from the start on. This domain fulfills every criteria of what I call a passion name. But whats a passion name? Read on my friend …

The basic idea - when I acquired this domain in 2005 - was: Everybody talks about search. But they want to find something! This is not only a new way of seeing an entire industry, it is one of the most important factors of success in my opinion. Winner focus on their goals. Search is just the problem. Focus to find!

The more nerds and online marketers around the globe focus to solve the problems of search the more they lose to focus on the really important thing: the goal of the user. It is to Find!

Which domain name could better serve for an outstanding project as Find.net?

Ultra short, massive amounts of natural type in Traffic and already trusted with a PageRank3. The .net TLD matches perfect, as you can build a “Find Network” … different from the Internet - the Serach Network.

You can feel now clearly what I mean with passion names. Domains that get you gooseflesh! Domains that reflect a passion and wake your emotions to excess. Domain names can have the largest leverage for your business. Even if your business is still an idea. The first and single most important decision is the name.

So name wise and enjoy your passion! I wish the bidders all the best with this passion name!

Cheers,

Namewise

It was an awesome year in this industry. Time to rest a bit and celebrate with my family. I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year.

Today, i want to look a little bit back. The last weeks have kept me busy finishing unfinished projects and planning ahead. Since planning is a task where you look forward, now I want to take a rest from that, have a cup of delicious herbal tea and look a little bit back. Are you ready?

My journey into domains started already twelve years back. It was the year 1997. Back then I registered my first domain. Sure you might think it was a great generic .com. No! It was our family name in a ccTLD. But already at that time, domains had this special fascination for me. Only one year later I got a five figure offer for the first domain I have ever registered. Even if I did not get the concept of generic domains at that time, I got to understand domains.

Back then in 1998 I was involved in a little - lets call it - internet revolution here in Germany. Already at that time, I took a generic name and yes, we had success. Even a TV Station showed up in my little apartment at that time.

Then I got distracted and started this and that project with brand domains, not generic names. Only to come back in 2004 to the successful trait to register, buy and build on great generic domains. A trait that I never stopped since then.

During that great journey I learned a lot. I learned the secrets of Type in Traffic. I learned that generic domains rank great in the Google Serps. I learned, that when you have a great domain and you cold-call others, it is the best door opener and people listen to you. I learned, that with a great domain the so important Click-through-Rate in any SEM Campaign is significantly higher than with just a fantasy name. I got to know ultra-smart domainer that understood the beauty of domains way before and way better. I learned that the conversion rate of a project skyrockets when you choose a great generic domain. I learned that I regret nearly all of the handful of domains that I ever sold. And I learned that a great domain combined with a great project can have unlimited power.

I saw the rise and fall of a lot of online empires. But: through all the years, the value of generic domains just knew one direction: up!

So when I look back, I just can come up with: I love domains!

Cheers,

Namewise

BREAKING News: With effect from 23 October 2009 DENIC will abolish most of the restrictions currently applicable. So one-letter and two-letter Domains will be available. An estimated 50 Million in value, will be released. A great decision!

See further details:

DENIC eG Eases Domain Guidelines.

Cheers,

Namewise

The last weeks have been really busy. So I could not find the time to read that much books. Most of the time I enjoy reading five books or so parallel. Whatever topic is important to me. Last week was than again the time to go to Amazon and buy all the books i collected in my wish over the last weeks. I collect book suggestions while reading blogs or watching videos. Since my earliest childhood, books have always been one of my biggest passions and nowadays still serve as an inspiration for my work and live. Ok. A day later the books arrived and hours later i was i the process of scanning through them. One book i bought is Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self.

The book is just great and inspiring. It is a collection of 52 rules that Alan learnd in his life that help to look at life and business in a fresh and challenging way. I started to read and after minutes i already discovered one great rule:

Rule # 6: If you want to see with fresh eyes, re-frame the picture.

This rule is really, really fascinating. From a lot of perspectives! Read on my friend …

Alan points out that it is the decades old question, that is THE question the smartest business leader ask themselves. But more - in times like this - where chance is so pervasive, it is not enough. It is important to discover the IDEA that is behind the business you are in. You can discover the idea when asking new questions about your business and changing the perspective.

How can this insight now help you in your online business?

A couple of month ago I had a conversation with a good friend of mine. He is in the real estate business. Employs a couple of real estate agents and focuses on our local region. We where discussing the typical behavior of people looking for a new place and their typical decission strategy. I was in the same situation a couple of month ago. The point is, when you look for a new place, your are making a big decision in your life and to hear from a pro in the real estate business, that my way of finding a new home was not so much different then from most others was fascinating. It became so clear to me that my friend was not in the real estate business. My friend was in the consulting business more precise in the lifestyle consulting business.

It was not that he just showed people houses. Its is more that he helps them make a decision: How far from the place i work can wee live? 2 or 3 bedroom? Is it possible to get this or that feature in this or that area? A lot of mini questions leading to the big decision.

Imagine now an application that helps people make this decision. Based on a piece of elegant software. Maybe with social features, so that the searchers can share experiences. Maybe with a timeline, so that the agent knows at which point in the path the client is. That would be something where my real estate friend could stand out. Where he could innovate. People could use it as a freemium model and pay for certain features.

Ok, but again how can this example now help you in your online business?

See! Clearly see! Reframe your view. Ask questions! Observe your customers! Precisely. Do NOT GET trapped with categories and wording from competitors. What is the real aim of my customers? How would an anthropologist describe my business? How would someone from Mars would see my business? How will people in 50 years think about my business. What is the IDEA behind your business model?

Food for thought! Have fun!

Cheers,

Namewise

Bido: Down for month. Now up again, but not really running.
Sedo: Cuts 60 Euro Auctions.
TRAFFIC Auctions: Amsterdam was a nightmare … They sold uebernachtung.de for 1k, was resold later for 8k
Domainvermarkter Auction: Total disaster for seller

This list could go on and on … How come that domain auctions are doing so bad?

The answer is simple. But this time i have to delay my opinion. This time i will SHOW you my answer. Hope to code it within the next weeks. Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Namewise

I get bored really quick. Maybe that was the reason i stayed down two years in school, cause when we had to learn math, i was bored and read books under my table about economy. So I was quite happy to find a way to handle my get-bored-quickness: find a lot of different possibilities and ways to achieve one goal. Or like good old Epictus has put it: The same, but different. So how does that fit now with the aim of a domainer, to squeeze as much cash out of his domain inventory as possible? Read on, my friend …

When you call meaningful, generic domain names with with natural type in traffic your own, you can call yourself a lucky guy. Why? Parking is down, domain renewals are up! I hear you say. That’s true and current circumstances are tough. But the real advantage of domains is: you have endless possibilities.

So what can you do with your domain inventory? Lets take one of your gems, that has 20 type ins a day:

You can park … takes 2 seconds and makes you round about 500 bugs a year.

You can mini develop with a small word press blog and little link juice … takes 2 hours and makes then 1.800 bugs a year.

You can rent out the traffic … takes 2 days and makes 5.700 bugs a year.

You can rent out the traffic … takes 2 weeks and makes 9.600 bugs a year.

You can build a real business on this gem … takes 2 years and the potential is endless.

So ask yourself, what good old Peter Drucker would advise you to ask: what is my personal strength and weakness? And then develop your possibilities!

What else can you do with domains?

Happy to hear from you!

Cheers,

Namewise

As always Monday night was entertaining, inspiring and hot. Why?

As always I found my way to the first and only Domainers Pub on planet earth where each Monday German Domainer gather and discuss, supported by the first Domainer Radio on Planet Earth. The best place to be. If that would not have been enough innovation, Pub Host engel invites domainer and representatives of Domain Companies to his radio show domainers.fm. Yesterday it was Sedo’s Marc and Forsaken from DomainPortal.

It was a really hot discussion and it was already after midnight. The topic was, that the auction at DVF in Cologne was disaster - for the seller, as lately all live domain auctions. Engel put up the question: What could have Sedo done to prevent this disaster? And in the following hour it again was a really great insight to see, Sedo does not get it as most domainer do not get it. Only some. The ones that still buy. Congrats to Nico and Adblogger and the Vipex Posse, who bought more than 80% of the inventory.

But now back to engels question: What could have Sedo or the Organizer of the forum done to prevent the disaster? First of all it is Sedos direction of supporting domainers and choosing domains that may be interesting for Domainers. They do not care about the end user and marketing the vale of generic domains. One idea that came to my mind, would be a slogan associated with a campaign to help end users gain insight which enormous values offer. “Type in to find. Kredit.de, Autos.de, …” [that means loans, cars, ...].

There are lots of ideas: The organizer of the Forum sent out more than 1.000 Print Magazines to relevant Domain Contacts.

I all negotiations I am involved I understand that enduser DO NOT GET DOMAINS. After a enthusiastic 20 minute monologue I see a sparkling in their eyes. They do not get Typeins, the value of Typeins, SEO and Domains, SEM and Domains, Social Media and Domains and and and. Thats what it takes.

The most important aspect of all is: listen to the user. That’s why I ask YOU the question. What could Sedo do?

i was very bearish on facebook. they burned and maybe burn lots of cash. BUT … they move fast and each move is sooo brilliant. i recently watched an interview with randi zuckerberg where she found great words: “facebook makes communication so natural.” within facebook it really feels like talking to your friends: real names, transparent communication and relative privacy. they simply follow peter druckers advice: “efficiency is doing better what is already being done.”

facebooks reach is already amazing. 40% of norways population is on facebook. 250 million are on the network now. they are aiming one billion users, which feels possible to me.

the thing is: they are a true platform. you can build your business on this platform. like candystand. they prefer to use facebook connect instead of building their own social network.

now facebook test its own facebook currency. the next big thing. people talk, play and live on facebook. people pay for ringtones and they will pay for virtual items.

so what is it exactly that make facebook so successful?

sure, lots of ingredients: great idea that fills a need from a great entrepreneur at the right time in the right environment. the most influential aspect imho is mark zuckerberg. see this video to see his passion and geeky genius.

whats your opinion! WHAT makes facebook so successful?

cheers. namewise!

Hey all out there!

You may have wondered whats up with this crazy guy namewise! The last few month have been a blast of change. Business and private. Not that i want to excuse myself of not blogging but blogging the last month was not the perfect medium for me, even if i have consumed tons and tons of great blog posts.

As the time for work was really limited i preferred twitter and for sure skype chat.

Blogging was often on my mind, but as the projects i am involved took lots of time i did not find the time to share my thoughts and progress with you.

Last week we achieved a really important milestone in one of our most important projects so far. All in all, it seems that there is more time now to share. But that can change fast

So long for today. So stay tuned .. for hopefully more frequently updates in this theater!

Cheers

Namewise