Domains

Since the beginning of 2008, I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve made a lot of really good domaining decisions that have resulted in a good amount of generated income.   Add that to my affiliate income, which has at least tripled since the first of the year, and things are really starting to look up!

One thing that came with this success was my decision to form an online business to keep everything under.   This has obvious benefits come tax time and will make it a lot easier for me to calculate earnings vs. expenses, etc.   If things go as planned, this business will eventually become a LLC and be operated completely separately from my personal interests online.  

Anyway, as I’ve begun to make this transition, I quickly realized that I had a VERY important decision to make before I get started.   That is of course selecting the name of the business (and the corresponding domain name).  

Of course, I felt that finding a good name shouldn’t be a problem as I have a huge portfolio of brandable domains that would work great.  The problem I’m running into is that I would like the name to include the word “Media” at the end of it, but that kind of goes against my instincts as a domainer.   An example would be something like using FireballMedia.com instead of Fireball.com. 

Obviously we all know which is better and more valuable, but if you were starting up your own media company, would you rather use the media version?  All input is appreciated.

It is inevitable that every week at some point the question appears on every domain-related message boards.   That question is which is better: dot net or dot org?  

I find this to be a very good question, as it is widely accepted that dot com is king across most of the world, and certainly in any relevant country.   If dot com isn’t the standard in your area, you probably use a ccTLD.  Either way, it still leaves domain investors with a question that needs answered.  Should I invest my money into dot net or dot org domains?

In the long run, this really comes down to a matter of opinion.   You’ll even find some that argue for dot info as the second best TLD you can get.   In my opinion, dot org is the 2nd best, but here are some positive and negative things to think about for each:

Dot Net

• Seems to have the highest resale value on the market. 
• Gives the feeling to users that you couldn’t find the dot com.

Dot Org

• Can  be a first choice extension for many organizations or websites that that are informative by nature.
• Most orgs were registered by endusers that wanted them.   Investors have a tough time reselling them due to lack of demand.

Dot Info

• Many feel this is second best for geo domains.
• Four digit TLD
• Not commonly known among the non-power users of the internet.

In my opinion, if you are investing to flip/resell the domains, dot net will probably get you the best results.   If you are planning to develop or hold for an end-user, dot org is the best way to go and the way I go more often than not.  It just sounds good and is easy to remember.  If it wasn’t for the dollar promotion on info domains I probably wouldn’t own more than just a few.  It is probably just personal preference, but I really dislike four letter TLDs. 

So, as you can see, dot org is my preference.  It also helps that domainers have largely ignored dot org, leaving a bunch of very high quality domains available on the registry.  Just yesterday I picked up GeoDirectory.org which I hope to develop sometime in the next few months.  

Which do you prefer?  Dot net or dot org?

There is no doubt that the world of domain selling is still “underground” in the overall scheme of things. While I think there are a lot of people that know it exists, very few truly know what it is, understand what it is that a domainer does, knows how they make money, etc.

When I try to explain to someone what exactly it is that I do, I often find myself using the common comparison of “Domains are like Real Estate.” I’m not really sure it can be summed up any better or more accurately, and it gives people a good idea of what exactly it is we do. Some real estate owners flip their properties, some develop the property, while others just keep their land and watch it appreciate in value. In my opinion, these are all great comparisons to what a domainer does, and a good domainer practices some form of all three.

So which of these two are a better investment? Domains or Real Estate? Domain Name Wire recently made an argument for domains with their recent post, 5 Ways Domain Names Are Better Than Real Estate.

Among other things, one of the points the article makes is the individuality of each domain. While there are multiple TLD’s, there is only one version of every dot com domain, so if you want/need a domain that someone else owns, you are at their mercy. Just ask the new owners of iReport.com! I think DNW does a great job, so click over to check out the rest of their list!