Hundreds of new domain extensions have been introduced over the past year with most of them scooped up by well-funded corporate entities. Donuts.co alone operates more than 150 new gTLDs and plans to add dozens more. Still, if you look closely enough you can spot an occasional David among the Goliaths like Donuts, Uniregistry, Minds+Machines, Rightside, Radix and even bigger behemoths like Google and Amazon.

One of those Davids who operates just one new TLD registry is actually a Bill - a self-described Arkansas born and bred country boy named Bill Doshier to be exact. Already hailed as one of the nicest guys in the business, Doshier has a daunting task ahead - 

.Buzz Founder Bill Doshier 

making his .buzz TLD as popular with the general public as he is among his fellow domain entrepreneurs. 

So just who is this new kid on the block that is going head to head with a lot of guys who have been in this industry before it was even an industry? And why does he think he can weave his way through the highly competitive new gTLD minefield, armed with just a single TLD, without getting squashed in the battle for attention by the big boys and their blitzkrieg of new names to the right of the dot?

Well, any good entrepreneur has to believe they can beat the odds and it turns out that spirit is deeply embedded in Doshier's bloodline. Yes, Bill is a down home guy (born in Harrison, Arkansas, a small town near the Missouri border, 53 years ago), who was always outdoors hunting and fishing with family and friends or rooting for his beloved University of Arkansas Razorbacks - but the Doshier clan knew more than a little about business too.

"I noticed early on all the men in my family were self-starters and self-employed," Doshier said. "One grandfather owned the local hardware store, another grandfather was a carpenter.  One uncle operated his own machine shop, another uncle was a farmer.  My father himself was a small town attorney working by himself out of a small local office. These men never worked for anyone but themselves, for themselves.  As I get older I recognize more  the influence they’ve had on me.  Each a risk taker in their own right, they created their own opportunities."  

A Family Tradition for 25 years: (L to R) Bill Doshier, his dad Bill Sr. and brother Bob 
 on one of their annual pheasant hunting trips to South Dakota in 2013.

"Now independence and the ability to create and innovate are so important to me.  It’s clearly my bloodline.  Today, with .buzz, I  operate my own business of running a registry and selling domain names. These men I grew up around - perhaps unknowingly  - mentored me to work toward this goal of self employment and independence."

There were several twists and turns in Doshier's path to the domain business and we were surprised to learn that his journey started in the same field as our own - journalism. It makes sense - if you love words the way journalists do, domains are a natural fit. "I loved writing and photography and worked through high school as a photographer for the local newspaper covering sports and local events," Doshier recalled. "In 1979 I graduated from Harrison High School and enrolled at the University of Arkansas pursuing a journalism degree and becoming a newspaperman."

"My own disposition as a risk taker developed quickly during college.  I wasn’t a very serious student.  I made B’s, enjoyed playing poker, shooting pool, road tripping to the horse races and of course following the Razorbacks. These activities all funded by numerous photography jobs.  My junior year an increased interest in making money and the stock market ensued.  I began focusing more on business courses, taken as electives, than I did my core journalism degree courses.  In 1983 I graduated from Arkansas with a journalism degree, immediately married Ms. Nita Williams, and started my first job in Little Rock as a stockbroker. Crazy!," Doshier laughed.

(L to R): Bill's wife Nita, Bill, son Michael and daughter Abby at home in Arkansas.

"So while I never fully understood the domain game, I kept a distant eye on it as the Internet developed into this amazing convenience. I started paying more attention as the new TLD program progressed slowly.  I remember thinking what a great business running a registry appeared to be; minimal labor expense, no inventory costs, no collections required, your store was always open with an incredible distribution channel aggressively selling your domains around the world twenty four hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year."

"To me, this was the perfect business model.  I made numerous cold calls to people in the registry business.  Introducing myself and gathering all the information I could on registry operations.  I specifically  wanted to confirm operating a registry could be a small business opportunity for somebody from outside the domain name industry," Doshier said.

"In early 2011, Ken joined me in Houston for a board of directors meeting. We presented TLDs together to the board and to my disappointment,  nobody got it – nobody agreed with me.  I was later told this was not part of the company’s strategic plan," Doshier ruefully recalled.    

"It became very clear on that day if I was going to operate a registry, a leap of faith was required and I would have to go out on my own. Shortly afterwards, I resigned from a rewarding sales career of 19 years and formed my company, dotStrategy, specifically  for the purpose of applying for and operating a new TLD.  I immediately called Ken and signed on with Neustar for application and backend support.  The application process started in earnest early 2012." 

Now the $64,000 Question (actually the $185,000 question as that's what it costs just to apply for each new TLD). How did Doshier settle on .buzz as the extension he would go into battle with?  

"I understood early on, during the application process, that in order to avoid a ‘contention set’ (Editor's note: if more than one party wants the same extension it is put up for auction, favoring those with the deepest pockets) I must search out and apply for keyword strings that were a bit under the radar. I still have the list of hundreds of words I considered applying for.  Picking just a couple of TLD names was a grueling selection process. I actually changed my application paper work with Neustar three times before finalizing my  selections," Doshier said.   

While Doshier applied for .fun he doesn't expect to win the contention set for that one after discovering that the competitors include Google and a Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett) company. That being the case Doshier said, "I have no plans now  to seriously look at additional TLDs until perhaps ICANN offers another application round."   

(Left to Right): Go Daddy's Rich Merdinger, Doshier advisor Pinky Brand and Bill Doshier in 
New York City on the day .buzz signed their registrar agreement with Go Daddy in March 2014. 

Doshier continued, "Most exciting was the meteoric rise of  .buzz toward delegation. Being a single applicant for a TLD did have significant advantages.  Due to the number of contention sets, .buzz moved from an initial ICANN prioritization of #746, to becoming one of the first 50 new strings launched. I signed my ICANN contract in October 2013, Pinky Brand advised me on my  Registrar agreement, and we began contracting with Registrar partners immediately.  .buzz Sunrise began February 2014,  Landrush in March and finally we went  live in General Availability, April 15th, 2014.  Easy to remember our anniversary, tax day!", Doshier laughed.

"You go through so many events during the launch process that your ‘go live’  day turns into just another day in the process. I do remember being on edge, but very proud of the accomplishment of  taking .buzz  live.  I remember being elated with the first registration totals that Neustar reported, then disappointed as the totals slowed down later that day,' Doshier recalled.

"That afternoon, we threw a big party at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) where I work as an instructor in the marketing department.  Marketing students planned the party and called it Buzz Bash.  Buzz Bash served as the official launch event for the .buzz registry, as well as a celebration of the UCA startup community.  We had a great turnout from the University and local business community.  The students start-up businesses were on display.  We served hot dogs, gave away t-shirts and gave free buzz haircuts all afternoon on the UCA campus. By the way, I did get a buzz cut and will do so again this April 15th!", Doshier promised.

Party bee image from Bigstock

Bill Doshier getting his buzzcut at the Buzz Bash - the launch day party for .Buzz

In a final reflection on that special day, Doshier noted, "I wish now I had taken notes on the feel of that day.  So much has happened in this first year since .buzz launched - it’s truly tough to remember all the emotions of launch day."

Doshier has gotten another big break since being awarded .buzz. Widely heralded entrepreneur Howard Lefkowitz (the former CEO of Vegas.com who is now Founder and CEO at One Degree World) decided to use .buzz domains as a foundation for his ambitious new global travel and entertainment network that has already featured .buzz domains on national TV and in leading newspapers. Lefkowitz announced his new venture involving hundreds of new gTLD domain including Vegas.buzz and Vegas.club at the 2015 NamesCon conference in Las Vegas in January. 

(L to R at the 2015 NamesCon conference, between the Las Vegas showgirls): Bill Doshier and Lance Wolak from .buzz, Sue Schuster (Neustar) and and a new .buzz band leader Howard Lefkowitz (Founder & CEO at One Degree World, Inc.).  

NamesCon Co-Founder Jothan Frakes had first introduced Doshier to Lefkowitz and the two quickly hit it off. "I met this larger than life personality like I’ve never encountered before," Doshier said. "Howard is pure Vegas, I’m pure Arkansas. There’s probably not two more different personalities partnering together than the two of us, but it works.  We’ve become good business associates, talking once or twice a week about everything .buzz.  Howard has given .buzz a look and branding in the travel and entertainment segment.  He has great marketing knowledge and an incredible group of creative people working with him. In February, his TV ad for the travel.buzz  platform reached 110 million viewers tuned in to watch Wheel of Fortune."

"For two weeks on Wheel,  travel.buzz promoted its global destinations’ .buzz websites.  This was a very large marketing investment to spur visibility and demand for Howard’s new travel and entertainment platform. To this date it's the largest single effort by far to present and promote the acceptance of the new TLD program to the general public.  Howard is to be commended for this effort," Doshier added.        

•   More than 300 cities covered
•   More than 500,000 hotels
•   Nearly 900 airlines presented
•   26,000 tours and attractions
•   Concert, sports, theme parks and event venues globally
•   A myriad of restaurants that number in the thousands
•   Accessibility in 58 different languages and 93 currencies

We do what each of us does best;  I supply him names, he builds his brand. I truly believe Howard takes over the travel and entertainment space in very short order. He’s a visionary and his track record speaks for itself," Doshier declared.

"In just a few short months, .buzz has become recognized as the new TLD home for travel and tourism sites, the legalized cannabis movement, as well as the beekeeping or apiculture industry. I’m looking for communities that value the word buzz whether it has a dot beside it or not," Doshier noted. "Generally, .buzz is ideal for evangelists and thought leaders who fuel community interest, excitement and new experiences.  My day is centered on locating these evangelists and having conversations around the value of this strange looking little word.  Conversations around how I can make the registry work better for them."

There have been reports that new TLD registrations have been lower than expected for many operators. .Buzz will end its first year with just over 10,000 domains registered. More than 70 new registries have higher totals but .buzz's premium registration price has brought in more total revenue than that of many registries that have far more domains on the books. We asked Doshier if registration results were meeting his expectations. 

•  47% of .buzz names are parked domains, and the number continues to go down. Relative to other new gTLDs launched in early 2014 along with .buzz, this is a low percentage.
•  70 registrars are contracted to sell .buzz domains.
•  “buzz” is a common term across many countries and languages. .buzz  is currently registered in 90 different countries  

Communities with the largest .buzz domain registrations (through Q4-2014) were:
•  Local/Tourism
•  Lifestyle
•  Sports/Recreation
•  Legalized Cannabis
•  Bee/Apiculture

Despite his enthusiasm, Doshier is fully aware that  there are major differences in opinion as to how the new gTLD program will play out as time goes on. Many in the .com camp believe the extension is in an unassailable position and that it will always be the top choice for businesses and major corporations. We asked Doshier what he thought the landscape will look like 5 to 10 years from now.

And what if things don't go the way Dosher expects? "I remember while struggling to make it as a trader in Chicago having a conversation with an old pro, and me telling this fellow how tough it was to make it on the floor of the exchange.  He looked me straight in the eyes and asks, “Have you gone broke yet?” I said, “no”. He concluded,  “Oh well, you have to go broke first before you’ll ever make it here.”  And I did. There’s nothing wrong with failing.  It’s going to happen.  Understand this and go for it!, the natural born risk taker from Arkansas concluded.