by Brian Null
[Brian Null has built and sold a number of successful businesses on category-killer domain names. His latest venture is MO.com, where you can learn from other successful entrepreneurs. In this post, Brian talks about a couple phrases that make him cringe. -Andrew]
If I wielded the kind of influence that Andrew Allemann can throw around, I would invoke a moratorium on the phrases:
“When will they get it?!â€
or
“They just don’t get it!â€
In lieu of that, I can only implore folks to ‘modify’ the phrase to something like:
“The Internet strategy of that Fortune 500 Company with 55,000 employees does not align with my own entrepreneurial vision to use killer domain names to increase market share online.â€
Some of the Fortune 500 companies may have been started by entrepreneurs but there is a crossover point where they go from being that speed boat that can turn on a dime to the behemoth that needs tug boats to guide them into port.
The 100 vice presidents (and 500 junior vice presidents) of the company are typically judged on their quarterly numbers… what have you done for us lately. It’s going to take some courage, incredible persuasive skills, and a world-class ability to teach in 30 minutes or less to get that $2 million acquisition cost of a domain name run through committee.
Even when we think a company ‘gets it’… do they really?
See: Loans.com
An entrepreneur sees huge opportunity to build that property out and parlay it into an additional means for customer acquisition.
Bank of America seems to view it merely as a means to block anyone else from owning it, as it is simply a redirect to their main banking website.
Sure, there are exceptions.
See: Toys.com
Toys-r-us gets i… um… I mean… “The Internet strategy of Toys-r-us aligns with my own entrepreneurial vision to use killer domain names to increase market share online.â€
But don’t get used to that.
For the most part, end user acquisition of killer domains will be done by small to mid sized companies, with entrepreneurial leadership still in place… entrepreneurs that can still steer the ship without ‘going through committee’
Aron - XF.com says
Spot on.
Perchboy says
Upon seeing your title ‘Domain Industry Phrases That Make Me Cringe,’ I thought you were going to include the term ‘category killer.’
Brian Null says
heh heh… i hear ya perchboy… that could be a good add on 🙂
Nic says
The only name that has ever made me cringe is “domainer’.
Dreadful.
Who dreamed that one up I wonder? And what on earth was wrong with the industry term “domain pro”?
Jamie says
I thought “Premium” was going to be in the cringe list as well. 🙂
Uzoma says
I agree wholeheartedly.
The big guys scored a knock-out once they were able to relegate the DN Industry to “GENERICS”.
In the beginning, you could register any name you find on the internet, and it’s up to the slow moving “behemoths” to buy it back from you. If it were left like that, they would be moving much faster. The Giant companies have been busy killing off this industry via the courts, and whatever is left of it is being destroyed by Google’s monopolistic tendencies. Why should people base their selection of names on “GENERICS” and Search Words? Only to satisfy Google. I suggest that search engines should be forced to get more sophisticated; Google must not be allowed to be so big and powerful as to pick winners and loosers as they are doing now, paying pennies and keeping billions to themselves. Google is too big.
Brian Null says
hmmm… maybe i should have done a “Top 10” list 🙂
M. Menius says
Excellent insight from Brian. The small to medium sized companies are often more active in “staying alive” (small fish in big pond), or finding ways to take the company to the next level.
Meyer says
If I can’t say any of words and phrases mentioned, I won’t have anything to say.
I’m going to need a completely new vocabulary.
Brian Null says
🙂 @Meyer
Adam says
I thought the term domainer would have made the list.
Brian Null says
@Adam… it wasn’t meant to be a comprehensive “list”… i was only writing about these specific phrases 🙂
But Nic mentioned the term “Domainer” in a comment above
Marg says
Brian, yes please, let’s see a Top ten list!
arty says
btw that steamroller approach by Fortune 500 is why they’ll get their own TLDs..
it wasnt .com they were investing in, it was their name.
Andy says
Brian, I think you are right in that domain sales will continue to disproportionately be won in the small to mid-size business markets. In addition to the entrepreneurship still often alive there, it is also likely that as owners or deeply attached players in a smaller company, there exists an intangible pride in acquiring a market-leading name – a pride that may not exist among successful, ever-skeptical Fortune 500 execs. They won’t experience that same “wow” of having their name linked to the industry leading keyword, for example, whereas the entrepreneur will, even separately from the pure monetary long-term value. Principles of psychology still remain subtly linked to business in so many ways. Thanks for the post.
Brian Null says
very interesting insight Andy and i think it’s a very real thing… see it often and can relate from my own experiences