Domaining v2? Why I think the Dream is Changing

Okay, so is it really Thursday night? This week has flown by, most likely because I’ve been so busy playing catch-up after a week away. Every trip I take, every conference I go to gives me new perspective on my life and the industry. TRAFFIC Dublin and MeetDomainers Manchester were both eye-openers in their own ways. Sitting behind a computer reading Domaining blogs is so different from being there in the action hearing what people are talking about.

This is the first in what I’m sure will be a series of posts that I’ll be writing as I decompress from the conferences. Nothing I say here should be taken as more than a brain dump, a way for me to get what’s in my head out there. I’m not one to make predictions of the future, I haven’t been in this game long enough. What I do know is what I’ve learned so far and what I’m learning every day. However the trip did give me a good idea of what I think is in our future…whether we like it or not and here’s how I think the Domaining Dream is changing.

The Domaining Dream is Changing. There – I said it, although I guess I’ve been saying it since 2007 and now it’s really happening. The Parking world is crumbling and the buzz right now is loud and clear – DEVELOPMENT! Notice I didn’t say Parking is dead…I once thought that but now I’m confident that it’s very much alive, but the space has become too crowded. Domainers needs have changed too – while once the focus was monetizing type-in traffic now Domainers want their pages to show-up in search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Probably the most well-positioned company at this moment is Epik headed by the well-respected Rob Monster. Rob has done a great job of focusing on developing sites rather than simply monetizing domains. Other Parking companies like Domain Advertising have completely revamped their algorithms to focus on new approaches. Why Park has completely stepped-up its platform to include Domain Apps.

So what is going on here? Companies are changing to adapt to a new kind of Domainer. It might be the same Domainer from the 90’s or the early 2000’s that bought a bunch of great names. It could also be the Domainer that started late but had the capital to buy great names. Or it could be the Domainer starting now, the fact are the same – the dream is changing.

Let’s face it, the dream started-out with the idea of buying domains, changing the nameservers and watching the money come in. As more and more parking services came-out the dream evolved into trying-out different services, heck there’s even a service that automates the process – Above.com! Now as PPC revenues have declined and search volume has become undeniably huge compared to direct navigation traffic the name of the game is Development.

That’s why I said “whether we like it or not” the dream is changing – it’s a new game. I see the first step here being a collaboration between three industries Domaining, Affiliate Marketing, and Development. Conferences could have tens of thousands of people. Web developers, Domainers, Super-Affiliates, Serial Entrepreneurs, Real Estate Investors, all together sharing ideas and working together.

The first big step towards this reality has already happened, just about every Domainer out there now knows that Development is the key to growth in this industry moving forward. You can try all the parking services you want but building a business on your domain means being able to sell that business later on, and that my friends is the new model…that is if you aren’t already doing it.

Now it’s your turn! What do you think? Do you agree? Totally disagree and want to yell at me on my blog? Comment and let your voice be heard. Good or bad I publish all my comments and I want to hear from you!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton