Is the term “Domainer” hurting domain investors?

Domainer

As many of you know, I made a shirt a couple of years ago, yeah this one you see above that I unveiled at NamesCon a few years ago. I love the shirt, but I’ve been thinking lately more and more about the term Domainer and what it means outside of the industry.

Most people in this world who invest in things invest in either the stock market or real estate. Sure, there are lots of other things you could invest in (I know the crypto crowd is here!), but these two options easily capture 90% of the global investment community.

What do stock market investors call themselves? Investors. How about real estate investors? Investors. Domain investors? Domainers.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a proud Domainer, but at the same time, when I hear friends in the startup world talk about “Domainers” they often are thinking of squatters, not investors, and while they don’t know the difference between the two, they also don’t differentiate between the words.

All that being said, I’ll be honest, I don’t care. I don’t live my life trying to fit a specific mold, and I actually like that domain investing is a totally different world, a niche completely unknown to most real estate and stock market investors. So I’m proud to say I’m a Domainer and fine correcting people when they say, “you mean squatter!?!”

But I do sometimes wonder if calling our community Domainers vs. investors does hurt us sometimes. What do you think? 🤷‍♂️

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton