The Wild-Wild West of the Internet!

by Chuck Kisselburg

Last week I attended the Domain Roundtable Conference in Seattle. The conference focused on the owning and managing of domain names. In attendance were those who own domains, otherwise known as domainers, as well as the organizations who manage the portfolios of the domainers.

In a sense, this is where you meet the true cowboys and cowgirls of the Internet. I have heard people say of domainers that they are all about grabbing as many domains as possible with the goal being profits. Some people I talked with did not like the fact that there may be factors that may limit when they may acquire available domain names. In other words, every person for themselves! Thus should I screem, Yeeeeha!?

Yet as I sat through various sessions, I heard presenters discuss:

Establishing a business plan

Creating LLCs

Developing domain names to create greater value and branding

Apply for patents around developed domains

Domain name financing

Asset evaluation

Understand foreign legal and political structures when acquiring domain names with country code extensions

What is a domain name's ROI?

Valuation metrics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Domain name portfolios

Exit strategies

The more I listened, the more I understood that domainers are not the lawless, wild-west figures some come to believe, but entrepreneurs. Yes, you can follow the link to entrepreneur, but within that post you will find the following:

An entrepreneur is someone who seeks to capitalize on new and profitable endeavors or business; usually with considerable initiative and risk.

There are some domainers who have been wildly successful in acquiring, developing and selling domain names, while others are just starting out have a few domain names, but limited cash that prevents them from developing domains.

There is no doubt domain names equate with money. Just check Jay Westerdal's blog on the auction, held at the end of the Domain Roundtable Conference, to gain a sense of the value of some domain names up for auction.

So is the Wild-Wild-West still alive on the Internet? I believe there is a bit of the Wild-West in every entrepreneurial venture/market. Are the domainers the cowpoke pushing the envelope regarding Internet real estate? I think so. Is this a bad thing? I think not, especially when domainers work to develop a brand/market for domain names owned. This is no different than a typical Mom & Pop shop trying to develop and grow their business. Now, for those out for pure personal greed such as the domain tasters, yes, I see no community value in such practice. However, my perspective is many good things have evolved by pushing the envelope.

What are your thoughts? Do you see domainers as traditional entrepreneurs? I would like to hear from you.