3 Long Years, What a Difference to Innocent Eyes
Three years ago tonight, the little island I live on was creamed by the worst hurricane in 100 years.
In the aftermath of the storm, many folks accused local government of covering-up the scale and scope of the damage here (nearly every building on island was damaged or destroyed) .. I like to think that it was impossible to communicate the scale and scope of the damage (said damage was so bad) .. and government was too busy providing relief to it’s people to complain, belly-ache, or talk to the press about what had happened. It’s that "can do" and "get it done" spirit I’ve come to admire so much on this island. I love this place and it’s people.
So three years ago, a younger version of me sat in an office very much like the one I sit in tonight. The room was smaller. The plasma TV’s were much smaller. My desktop was the same unique shape, but it was from IKEA, not custom made triple-bevel marble… There was not as much fancy Italian furniture and fabric draping the room as tonight… but the layout and floor-plan was very much the same.
Even the TV show was the same, only now, Cribs is on MTV2 instead of MTV.. Same with ‘Pimp My Ride’ and ‘Sucker Free Sunday’…
Here’s what I notice that’s different than three years ago. Lots more ads for downloadable ring-tones. Obviously folks are "gettin’ paid" for offering ring-tone downloads. The other big difference I notice (which is great for the domainers reading this) is "lots more domain names on the commercials".
In the past you’d be lucky to see a single URL advertised.. Today you have the manufacturer URL, the core brand (product) URL and a catchy lead-in such as SeeMoreInfoNow.com. Multiple URL’s used to close the same number of sales.. A paradigm shift where the domain has gotten more powerful and more used. I wouldn’t even have noticed were it not for the dichotomy between my last MTV memory 3 years ago and the one tonight. But what a change it is .. Imagine 5 years from now when marketers use hundreds of assorted names per product to sell things.. Starting to sound like the way domainers operate, doesn’t it.
…and since they haven’t invented that many new words and phrases, what a boon to the domain holder. What a great time to be a domain registrant. Little Thursday night (AM) ’slice of life’ for what it’s worth.
Congrats, sounds like a beautiful home. How about sharing a couple of pictures?
This is just the beginning of a revolution in the domain name industry. Once IPTV or the TV to PC technology goes mainstream, every bit of ads will have to show their URLs..imagine what that will do to the value of good, brandable domains.
Al.
I also see a LOT of .tv extentions in both commercials and for TV programs as well. MTV, for example, is using yomamma.tv for their “yo mamma” rap battle show. I also see TNT.tv and Bio.tv.
Very interesting development…
Welcome back!
-Mike
Also noticed same point about commercials last night. One after the other and I was going to write about it tonight. Firms like hotels.com, orbitz and eharmony needing tv spots to differentiate their advantages in highly competitive market and how the simple domain name helps memorability and increases potential for response rates…. you need both strategies to succeed IMO and many domainers thinking a domain with traffic is worth its weight in gold are dismissing the additional advertising value which could be worth a higher sale price once this value is more recognized and quantified
Great post as always. I couldn’t resist, however, posting a good-natured ribbing of your post on my blog http://www.amateurdomainer.com. Thanks for all your help and great advice! And welcome back from your vaction – it was a drag while you were on radio silence.
***FS*** LOL! I had that coming.. You’re a good writer
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-13-2007/0004662015&EDATE=
Would love to hear your thoughts on this, maybe add a contact form here?
“lots more domain names on the commercials”…absolutely. I notice domain names on the back of ordinary cars and trucks more than ever too.
An example of a “catchy lead-in” that I see advertised as much as any URL is “thepowerof.org”. They have a clever marketing approach “…”Ever hear of a .org crash?” the headline says.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/15/technology/adco.php
Hey Frank,
Lately I’ve been traveling a lot and it still amazes me how few people understand domain names.
Slowly but surely the word is getting out. I think it’s just a matter of time when there is mainstream awareness of the power of domains.
On 3 years being a long time, just thought I would post this from Michael Covel’s blog. Not only has 3 years seen the price of the domain he mentions (depends.com) quadruple, but the subject is now getting a bit of discussion in more traditional financial trading circles…even they do describe it as ‘an odd and simple example of a market’. Well it’s a start!
http://www.michaelcovel.com/archives/001348.html