Tag: michael cyger

My Question on the DomainSherpa After Show

I submitted a question for the DomainSherpa show last week.  To my surprise the host, Michael Cyger, accepted the question and it was asked on the DomainSherpa After Show this week.

For those are not aware or have not heard about DomainSherpa it is a great resource for domain names and those looking to learn about buying, selling, and acquiring them.  Michael Cyger, the publisher and host, has interviews with top domain name investors, people within the domain industry, and web entrepreneurs.  People that he refers to as “Domain Sherpas” because of their knowledge and skill with domain names and the internet in general.

Recently they just started doing portfolio reviews with several Domain Sherpas.  They analyze portfolios and decide whether a domain is great, good, or needs to be dropped.  It's quite interesting to listen to the shows and hear what these pros have to say about certain domains.  In the After Show they discuss domain industry news and take questions from the audience.

In last week's DomainSherpa After Show they had discussed the fact that PC.org was up for auction and what value it had.  Since PC obviously stands for “Personal Computer” it can be used for many different things but the fact it is an ORG domain, what does that help or hurt it for a potential buyer?

This was the question I asked;

What are the Sherpas opinions on 2 letter and 3 letter .NET and .ORG domains?”

domainsherpa after show

What the Domain Sherpas said

There was talk about the 2 letter .NET domains sell in the past week.  According to DNJournal for the week of October 7th – 13 for domain sales there were the two .NET sales he was referring to I believe;

  • FN.net – $15,050
  • OC.net – $14,500

With regards to 2 letter .ORG he thought they could go for in the same ballpark.  They also mentioned for 3 letter domains he thought they could sell for a couple hundred unless they have a particular meaning.

It was mentioned that Public Interest Registry (PIR), the domain registry for .ORG, recently tried to auction off 1 letter ORG domains with extremely high reserve prices.  However all those domains failed to find buyers.

“The gap, to be honest with you, doesn't seem like it's shirking it actually seems like it is getting further away.” said Rich Schwartz regarding the price disparity between the .COM domains when compared to .NET and .ORG domains that are the same.

Michael Cyger was pretty perceptive since he asked the Domain Sherpas whether the values of .NET and .ORG 2 and 3 letter domains will go up or down with the new generic top level domains (gTLDS) that will be rolling out soon.  This is kind of why I asked the question.

After Cyger threw this additional question out there for the Sherpas, Rich Schwartz did say, “I think they will go up.”  Additional Schwartz said the thought that .NET could become the “Black Horse” in the domain and internet world as he referred to it as an “Orphaned extension.”  Of course when you have all these new gTLDs joining the party, that .NET doesn't look so bad.

“I'd love to see the values fall to where we could buy some.” commented Page Howe.  He also thinks there are a lot of functional benefits to owning and using 2 letter domains, which I agree with.  In addition he mentioned, “You are borrowing some prestige from every other person that's had one.” about .NET and .ORG domains.

“There are only 676 combinations of .NET and .ORGs… but then you add all the new gTLDs and you've got 676 of those.” said Adam Dicker.  “Personally I think they are going to go down.  I'd much rather have a 2 letter from one of the other gTLDs than .NET or .ORG, that's just me.”

UPDATE – I don't agree with Adam Dicker and apparently he is a criminal.

My Thoughts

Mulling over what the Sherpas said and from what I've seen over the past few months it seems like NET and ORG prices have fallen. I've seen many quality domains fail to find the right buyers.  Whether this is due to startups using .IO domains or people waiting for the new gTLDs, I'm not sure.  Since Google said .IO domains are good for global use startups seem be to flocking to them even faster now.  Personally I don't get it but if you want to find a good .IO domain I would checkout Short Domain Search.

With regards to .NET being an “Orphaned extension” I don't agree with Rick Schwartz.  I use NET for Singing Dogs and feel comfortable using the domain for email.  Like Page Howe said you borrow prestige from the millions of people and companies already using the NET extension.  I kind of see what Schwartz is saying though.  If you choose to use .ORG that usually has meaning that your organization is non-profit and gives them a certain identity.

If I can pickup any 3-letter NET or ORG domains cheaply I probably will.  Honestly though I see a lot of people bid like crazy on these.  What a lot of them don't realize is that they are bidding up to end user prices and wont' get back their money.  I guess I will just have to be patient and smart! 🙂

If any of the Sherpas read this I appreciate the time they took to answer my question.  I also appreciate that Michael Cyger accepted my question for the DomainSherpa After Show.

If you want to watch or listen to the Domain Sherpa show here is the link to show with my question.

Domain Sherpa Portfolio Review – October 17th, 2013

The question gets asked around the 54 minute and 13 second mark in the DomainSherpa After Show if you want to skip ahead to it and listen to what the Sherpas said yourself.  If you have any comments or opinions about my question I'd be glad to hear it.

2 Awesome Podcasts to Encourage your Content Creation

Yesterday I wrote an article entitled, “Top 6 Misconceptions about Blogging.”  After the article went up I got an email from a friend of mine asking me about point #6 on the list.  This intrigued my friend since he isn't a particularly good writer but is interested in starting “awesome podcasts” as he put it.

For those that didn't read my article, but you know you should, the #6 misconception about blogging is that “Everyone should start a Blog.”

He then mentioned he had thought about podcasting before but didn't really know where to start.  He then asked what sort of advice I could give him to start a radio or video internet show.

The first thing I suggested to my friend is that he should start listening to a lot of podcasts and watching video shows in topics that interest him.  This will give him a feel for the type of show that he wants to create and what he could possibly do that hasn't been done before.  (Remember you need to find a niche that is Wide Fucking Open.)  This is good to do before you start investing in equipment, hosting, etc.

However I also recommended 2 awesome podcasts that put out content quite frequently.  These podcasts were;

Mike From Maine

awesome podcasts

This is a podcasted and video show hosted by Mike Thomas, who is from Maine, and used to build niche websites.  Like a lot of web entrepreneurs he found himself in a bit of trouble after Google decided to update their search algorithm.  So he decided to switch gears and start interviewing successful internet entrepreneurs about how they make money.   Mike puts out 5 interviews during the weekday and his guests cover a wide range of topics from copywriting, video creation, plugins, solo ads, email list building, social media, and even more.  I've found some of the interviews quite interesting and informative.  The Jayson Benoit interview about solo ads was surprising for me since I didn't even realize people were still making a full time incomes from email lists.  (To me this sounds real old school.)  There was a great interview with Michael Cyger, from DomainSherpa, about monetizing podcasts and about what lead him to start his website.  What is interesting is that Cyger wasn't a domain investor but was interested in the industry and decided he should start a show about it.  Listening to the Mike From Maine has made me realize all the various ways someone can monetize websites and make money online.

While I have gotten a lot out of the show, I would be careful who you listen to.  There are a good number of people that come on the show that “Sell The Dream” (STD). When I say someone has an “STD” that means their successful web business is selling you a product and not actually having done much else besides that.  It doesn't take much to figure out who these people are and I encourage everyone to stay away from anyone with STD's.  😀

Mike even has admitted he's let people though the cracks, so at least he knows and is honest about it.

Entrepreneur on Fire

entrepreneur on fire

This is show that posts excellent interviews with successful entrepreneurs 7-days a week.  That is not a typo but the host of Entrepreneur on Fire, John Lee Dumas, might be slightly nuts. It is a great show with amazing entrepreneurs and John's main goal is to inspire others to pursue their entrepreneurial goals.  Since there are around 230 interviews and growing it might be hard to find a certain interview and show that will be useful for you, so there is a Podcast Match Maker.  You can select what level of entrepreneur you are and what you are trying to accomplish.  The Podcast Match Maker will then give you set of shows it thinks are best for you to listen to.  What's nice about the EOF is that John has the show formatted in the same way so you get familiar with what is going to be asked.  I've gotten a lot out of listening to some of the interviews on EOF and I know you will too.

What's funny, is I believe John is also from Maine and currently lives there as well.  I guess people from Maine are good at podcasting.

Food for Thought

Not only are these awesome podcasts but I recommend “Entrepreneur on Fire” and “Mike from Maine” since both hosts update with new content quite often.  When I first started listening to Mike from Maine I didn't realize he posted new interviews every weekday.  At first I thought, “Hey, is iTunes broken or something?”  There were so many new shows it made it hard to keep up.  The same thing happened when I started listening to EOF.

While the shows can be hard to keep up with for some, I am sure a lot of people love listening to every interview.  Even though I don't listen to either of these shows everyday I know when I visit either site there will always be fresh and relevant content on there.  That is a powerful way to encourage repeat visitors.

Are there other great and awesome podcasts out there?  Sure, but these are the only 2 podcasts that I am aware of that post new shows this often.  That's why I suggested these 2 podcasts specifically to my friend.

There are a number of large media companies and news outlets that put out podcasts daily, but keep in mind these are not large scale operations.  It is not fair to compare Mike Thomas and John Lee Dumas to someone with access to several producers handling tasks for them and resources of a news organization.  (John does have someone help him though.)

Mike is so dedicated to putting out new interviews he still did 3 shows when he got married. How's that for dedication?  (If you are reading this Mike, congrats!)

Seeing both of these guys dedication to their content and sites makes me feel more encouraged.  I hope if you follow them you will get the same push that I did.  I am going to start a podcast with a few other people which I am hoping will go well.  This shows make me realize if they can do I can do it.  Certainly my friend who is not the best writer but quite a boisterous talker could do a great podcast.

If you ask me both of these guys are content freaks and are making others look bad.  Hey, both of you need to slow down! 🙂

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