Sweetmantra: Domain Name Strategy

Domain Names Make Great Holiday Gifts

Struggling what to get that special someone on your holiday shopping list who seems to have everything? Well, here's a crazy suggestion: why not buy them 'TheirName.com' or 'TheirNickname.com'?

At a cost of only about $10 a year (at registrars like GoDaddy), their 'vanity' domain name could be used to configure an alternative email address, point to their current or future blog, or protect their 'brand' identity for years to come.

These vanity domain names aren't just for people, either. Consider their pets, or favourite sayings, or favourite hobbies. Hey, why not?

The only hard part is figuring out how to wrap this gift...

What's a Domain Name Really Worth?

I'm often asked by people who own, or want to own, a domain name to give my opinion on what the "fair market value" of a particular domain name is.

I usually begin my reply by mentioning that the vast majority of domain names sold on the re-sale market go for less than $1,000. This is greeted by sighs of relief from the folks who want to buy a domain name, and gasps of incredulity from the folks who own a domain name: "Well, my domain name is worth much more than that..."

I then outline some (but not all) of the criteria that, in my opinion, make a domain name more valuable than others:

• .com extension (versus .net, .org, .ca)
• seven-letters or less
• no hyphen(s)
• easy to read in all lowercase
• easy to say and hear (passes the radio test)
• easy to type
• consists of word(s) found in the dictionary

While these criteria are helpful in order to gain a rough idea of what a domain name might be worth, I always caution people to take this with a grain of salt.

Why?

Quite frankly, there's really only one accurate way to determine the "fair market value" of a domain name: a domain name is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay for it. Period.

I've seen "$10,000" domain names trade hands for $1,000, and I've seen "$1,000" domain names trade hands for $10,000. In my experience, when it comes to domain names, beauty (and value) really is in the eye of the beholder.

The Importance of Colouring Outside the Lines

I've long believed that everyone has creative abilities regardless of their job title. I've also long suspected that far too many truly creative people realize this because they've had the motivation to exercise their creative skills beaten out of them.

My wife, for example, is one of the most creative people I know, and almost everyone who meets her comments on this. Despite this, she was given a near-failing grade in junior high school art class, effectively killing her interest in pursuing a visual arts career.

I was reminded of this last week when I had the pleasure of hearing Dave Chalk deliver a very inspiring keynote address at the BC AIM DM Day event I was also a speaker at. Dave is also of the opinion that everyone is born with creative abilities, and he shared an amazing tidbit with the audience.

According to Dave, a study was conducted of 10,000 North American families with children. It was revealed that by the time a child has reached the age of 18, they have been discouraged from doing something creative (e.g., drawing, singing, dancing) an average of 150,000 times. That's one hundred and fifty thousand times, on average, per child!

On the other hand, by the time a child has reached the age of 18, they have been encouraged to do something creative a mere 35 times! Yes, just thirty-five times. That's it!

Now I don't know the specific details of the study, and I may in fact be getting the numbers slightly wrong, but what I am sure about is that we, as a society, need to do a better job of encouraging creativity in children and young adults.

The day after I heard Dave speak, I was having dinner at a restaurant with an old friend and his nine year-old daughter. While we waited for our meal to arrive, my friend's daughter began to fill in the colours in the 'colouring book' style children's paper place mat.

As she was working, I told her how much I admired the precision by which she was colouring within the lines. Recalling the numbers in the study cited by Dave, I then told her that she was welcome to colour outside the lines and, in fact, draw her own lines.

The next time you're in a similar situation, literally or figuratively, I encourage you to do the same. We don't need more creative people; we need more people to realize they are creative.

Direct Marketers Could Rule the Search Engine Advertising World

I’ve always enjoyed working with, and learning from, direct marketers since there are so many parallels between their field and Internet marketing. And the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that all Direct Marketers should make search engine advertising a key part of their service offering.

I’m currently working on a presentation on search engine advertising that I am giving at the Canadian Marketing Association’s Direct Marketing Conference later this month. (It’s shaping up to be a lively day of learning and discussion; check it out.) What keeps resonating with me is the fact that Direct Marketers are so well suited to become masters of this relatively new discipline. My concern, however, is that many of them may not realize this.

Just consider what your average Direct Marketer brings to the search engine advertising table:

• They are big believers in measuring the ROI of advertising;
• They already have a test and measure mindset;
• They recognize their craft is both an art and a science; and…
• They have decades of transferable best practices that can be applied to search advertising.

In other words, before they even launch their first ever search advertising campaign, Direct Marketers already possess some of the best ‘marketing DNA’ to make this tactic sing. Do they still have a lot to learn about the intricacies of search engine advertising? Of course they do, but at least they come to it with the right frame of mind to begin with.

Smart Direct Marketers have already embraced, or will soon embrace, search advertising as a key tool in their marketing arsenal. Failing to do so will be a great loss for all concerned.