Domainer's Gazette-Home

As all these articles surface around the world of domaining, they tend to highlight one small segment of the domaining world - the segment I call the ‘Almighty Domainers’. These are the folks who’ve already “figured it out” so to speak, who entered the domain game years ago, saw tremendous value, and succeeded. In my opinion, though, there are actually 4 segments, or, 4 overall types of domainers. Here’s how I see it:

1. The Aloof Domainer
   This is how domainers tend to start out. The Aloof, at times, don’t even realize a domain is called a domain - Usually referring to it as the URL ‘thing’, or website address. Oftentimes, this crowd will own a handful of domains, and in rare cases, will own a 3 letter, or juicy dictionary term. In most cases, though, the Aloof is detached from the domaining community, and their domains tend to be undeveloped. At times, when the Almighty Domainer, and in some cases the Astute Domainer, look to expand their domain empire on the cheap, they’ll convince the Aloof to sell for well below market price.

   The aloof can be quite cagey though, and forward thinking, registering domains in developing segments well before the active community covers the market.

2. The Apprehensive Domainer
   This is a big step for a domainer. It’s when they realize the true existence of the domaining market/community, and how - if wise steps are taken - a business can be created. They’re quite the nervous lot, though, as they’re oftentimes investing their own cash and facing a somewhat unknown virtual business world. Being somewhat green to the industry, the Apprehensive Domainer faces a few challenges. 1st, how to identify quality domain names - based on name alone, or on potential traffic levels. And 2nd, how to monetize the domain name, either through developing, parking, or re-sale. The Apprehensive Domainer who succeeds, graduates, and becomes an Astute Domainer.
3. The Astute Domainer
   I compare the Astute Domainer to Neo at the end the first The Matrix movie, when he’s face to face with Agent Smith in the hallway, and begins to view the source code of the Matrix all around him. He understands how it all works, how it all fits together. Astute Domainers are like this. They’ve had early success, on a smaller scale, in domain name investments, or domain name monetization, and are slowly building their empire. They understand how it all works. They are, though, somewhat limited by investment capital, and - like Neo - are green in some aspects. Astute domainers typically fund their own acquisitions from revenue they generate each month, and perform rigorous analysis on domains to determine acquisition interest. Astute Domainers, at times, can be thorns in the side of Almighty Domainers, swooping in and acquiring mid-tier domains in an auction environment, identifying potential revenue streams Almighty Domainers might overlook. Astute Domainers also tend to develop their domains, more so than the Almighty crowd, who tend to park.
4. The Almighty Domainer
   These are the gorillas. The acquisition specialists who saw value in this business years ago, and are now reaping the benefits. Flush with cash, either from previous domain sales, or monthly domain parking revenue, they’re who we all strive to be. The domain name game is old hat to them, but they’re still highly addicted. For a domain name they truly covet, price is no consideration. They tend to find the most value in domain name auction houses like snapnames and tdnam, where they actively bid on a daily basis. They’re also a very friendly lot, sharing knowledge about the industry, example Frank Schilling, and helping, encouraging, and educating the Aloof, the Apprehensive, and Astute along their way in the domain name world.

So what level am I, you ask? I’d say I’m an entry level Astute Domainer. I’ve figured out a way to monetize domains and create a monthly revenue stream, but still nervous as my pockets aren’t as deep as some of my competitors. I tread very lightly, but when I do identify a valuable domain at auction, I’ll actively bid what it takes to acquire it.

I wonder how other domainers define themselves …

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 10:38 am and is filed under Domaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.