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DomainSponsor
parties are infamous for causing attendees (and even panelists) to oversleep
and miss opening sessions the
next morning, so organizers
mercifully scheduled the first seminar Friday a little later than
usual – 10am. The delayed start time and the biggest panel I have
ever seen at a domain conference, a dozen speakers including
moderator John Berryhill, helped ensure a full room for a two and a
half hour seminar called “Ask the Experts”. The group included
four attorneys plus specialists in the aftermarket, technology,
venture capital and ad networks category. See the photo below for the full
list of participants.
World's
biggest domain panel - left to right: moderator John
Berryhill, Esq., Aaron Kornblum, Esq. (Microsoft Senior
Attorney), Samantha Frida (Domain Consultant), Bret
Fausett (Cathcart, Collins LLP), Tim Schumacher (Sedo.com),
Eytan Elbaz (Google.com), Ryan Berryman (Oversee.net),
empty seat (soon filled by Dan Warner of Fabulous.com
who was running late after the DomainSponsor party), Russ Goodwin (Tidewinds
Group), David Liu (Jefferies & Co.), S. Brian
Mukherjee (MIVA) and Alex Gardner (Casale Media).
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The
appearance of Aaron Kornblum marked the first time a Microsoft
representative has appeared on stage at a domain event. Kornblum
said Microsoft owns over 20,000 domains and averages 300 new
registrations a month. They also promote the use of domains by
giving them away as part of their Office Live program and they offer
customized domains through Windows Live.
Kornblum is also on the
company’s domain defense team and they are aggressive in combating
unauthorized use of the company name by cybersquatters. They have
filed civil lawsuits in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and
Seattle to
let people know they are serious about protecting their brand.
Much
of the discussion wound up focusing on the issue of trademarks and
how to avoid problems with trademark owners, so the attorneys on the
panel were kept busy with questions from the audience.
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Aaron
Kornblum
Senior Attorney, Microsoft Corp. |
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Bret
Fausett, Attorney
(Cathcart,
Collins LLP) |
Bret Fausett
cautioned domain owners to be very wary of trademark infringement as
it can easily cost $100,000-$200,000 to defend yourself against a
federal court suit. Defense in a UDRP arbitration case is not cheap
either, with atttorney's costs often running $5,000-$6,000. Fausett said it only
costs companies $300 to file a federal court proceeding (as
opposed to $1,500 to file a UDRP), so more are
going that route and that is bad news for domain owners with
infringing names.
On
other topics, Dan Warner said that high quality names in the drop
catching market are disappearing. “Most of the cards have been
dealt and there is not much left that is good,” Warner said.
“Most good .com, .net and .org domains are being kept by their
present owners.” The sheer size and scope of this session was so
wide ranging that you will want to get the show DVD so that you can
fully review it.
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Incidentally,
if you do buy the DVD, think about Marcia Lynn Walker and Warren
Walker when you are watching it as they are the people behind
the cameras! The professional videographers from
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (and veteran domain developers)
volunteered their services to document the event. They will also be posting some
free video clips from the DOMAINfestGlobal social events at DirectNavigationMarket.com as
soon as editing is done.
At
the lunch break, Ron Sheridan handed out a variety of door prizes to
delighted winners, then introduced a big screen video interview he
had recently taped with Name Administration, Inc. leader Frank Schilling
who many believe is the most successful domain investor in the
world. Though he was not there in person, the charismatic Schilling
had the crowd hanging on very word. Schilling, who is originally
from Canada but now lives in the Cayman Islands, described himself
as a value investor who was attracted to the intrinsic value of
domains that could be used for paid search. To get started in this
business, Schilling sold off some rental homes and used the proceeds to
buy domains. It turned out to be a good move. Today it is estimated that his domain
portfolio earns close to $20 million annually.
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Schilling
said he was optimistic about the future of the industry though
growth is getting harder to come by with increasing competition for
domain assets. He also has some concerns about lack of transparency
at ICANN and felt the governing body of the domain name system had
left some very unhealthy holes open in the recent .biz and .info
contracts (that could eventually spread to other registries) that
could be very harmful to all domain registrants. As a result,
Schilling played a key role in founding the new non-profit Internet
Commerce Association that will have a key role in defending domain
owner’s rights going forward.
Still,
when Sheridan asked him if it was possible for someone else to
become another Frank
Schilling in this business, Schilling immediately said “Yes!” Schilling
said there are still big opportunities for buying in the secondary
market, reselling domains and developing them. He rarely sells a
domain himself, saying “My names are like my children – I love
my names!”
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Frank
Schilling
Name Administration, Inc.
spoke to attendees via prerecorded video |
Schilling
said he likes ccTLDs (country code domains) and his preference in
order is for .coms, the ccTLD of your country (if it is a major
country), .net and then .org. “Really good names in .info and .mobi
will also have some value,” Schilling said. He added that the next
phase in his business plan will be to start developing his domains.
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DOMAINfest Global program officially concluded with a two-hour
afternoon seminar on “Building a Business from a Domain”
moderated by Jothan Frakes.The five-man panel included Brian Benko (NoParking.com),
Adam Smadja (Horoscope.com), Michael Gilmour (Australian Internet
Industry Association), Nick Jordan (LookSmart) and Scott Beber (Oversee.net
principal analyst).
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Moderator
Jothan Frakes (left)
and Brian Benko of NoParking.com |
Benko’s
company will develop and manage a website on a quality domain name
for a 50% stake in the domain and ensuing enterprise. He said the
development process starts with a site featuring seven or more pages
of original content. He said you must also make it easy for people
to reach you by email or phone. In the second stage, you begin
developing direct advertiser relationships and communicating with
potential partners. You also need to have an active search engine
optimization program, refresh original content and work on upgrades
for the site. Benko cited the ability to earn more revenue than
through PPC and increasing the value of the domain as primary
reasons to develop.
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Smadja,
whose properties attract four million visitors a month, said you can
produce multiple revenue streams through development. At
Horoscope.com he takes advantage of PPC and CPM advertising and also
sells products and services and licenses out the original content on his
site. Smadja said it is critical that when developing you pick a
topic that you enjoy, otherwise you will quit before you get
anywhere.
With
the rest of the panel in favor of developing, Gilmour decided to swim
upstream and make a case for parking instead. “I can’t develop
6,000 domains!” Gilmour said. “It’s not scalable as you are
building a business not just a website.” Gilmour said he did want
to see much greater transparency from the PPC companies though,
including auditing by a major accounting firm like Price Waterhouse
Cooper.
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Adam
Smadja
Horoscope.com |
Jordan
emphasized the importance of developing an audience for your site
which in turn allows you to make money from that audience. He said
you need to convey what is on your site and what makes it different
so people will come back and tell their friends about it. He also
recommends incorporating site tools that allow visitors to do more
when they come to your site. Beber explained how search
marketing can be used to effectively build traffic to your site and
the advantages of buying secondary keywords rather than more
expensive primary terms that other advertisers are competing for.
After
that final session, Sheridan closed conference business by thanking
attendees for coming and announcing the the 2008 DOMAINfest Global
Conference has already been scheduled for March 19-21, 2008
at the
Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Those staying overnight in Los Angeles
were invited to a dinner at the hotel that evening as well as a
Saturday morning brunch, both compliments of the conference.
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most gratifying thing I take away from every conference is the new
friendships made and existing relationships made stronger.
DOMAINfest Global gets very high marks on both counts. With respect
to this particular show, the thing that stands out most in my mind is
what an astounding dollar value it was for registrants. |
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You can
thank Oversee/DomainSponsor for that. I
doubt that the registration and sponsorship fees could possibly have
covered the full cost of providing the first class product they
delivered at DOMAINfest Global. However, one of this company’s greatest
strengths is that they have taken a long term view of their business
relationships.
For years now they have been planting seeds by
supporting virtually every endeavor and program that could be of
value to the domain community. Those early seeds have already
flowered into well deserved good will that I think has played a
major role in the company’s success. To their credit, they
have not been content to rest on their laurels. They are still
planting seeds and standing shoulder to shoulder with domain owners
in the industry garden as we all work to keep the astonishing
momentum in this business going full speed ahead.
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