When it Comes To Marketing New gTLDs – It’s Not What You Say But How You Say It

You need to have different marketing messages for different prospects, cheesy and misleading does not work when it comes to marketing to domain investors. Neither does over the top hypebolic statements about the merits of something that is no longer rare or special. I am not anti new gtld, but I am anti nonsense. There is no sense in  using car salesman type marketing to domain investors as this only brings back animosity, ridicule and a handful of people who will really look to mess with you and try to bring about harm to your business. No new business endeavor needs to senselessly make enemies.

The reality is the majority of domain investors are negative on the new gtlds vs positive. Now I am not saying that means close up shop and go home, but the domain investors that are  interested in new gtlds are already going to seek out new opportunities. Present fair, transparent pricing, don’t make them have to search TOS for little peculiarities within a given new gtld. Attend conferences and discuss your plans for the success of all participants. Not all registries are the same and some look like they are in for the long term while others look like it is a smash and grab.

The new gtld program is a long term bet on younger generations growing up where .com doesn’t mean much to them and they will adopt other extensions as well. There is a lot that comes with this long term bet.

1) These new generations don’t much like paying for anything online. They want music for free, movies for free and what college kid is paying for porn ? You can try to stop it but they are just as determined to find a way. The thought of them paying five figures for a .xyz for example seems a bit far fetched. Again I can see them using the extension but at reg fee, so good for registry, no good for domain investor.

2) These new generations are already interacting online, through Tumblr (free), Twitter (free), Snapchat (free), What’sApp (free), etc… So for domain investors these generations of new Internet users are not going to be too keen on paying up for that great new gtld name in 2022. You will have 8 years of renewals in, and now the marketing scheme works against you. If they grew up in a world where .com means nothing, neither will the extension you are trying to sell past a certain price point.

So it comes down to the point of how much can you charge before someone moves on ? There is another bus coming in 15 minutes .Com at least  has the inherent mind share that is not going away, billions of dollars in branding collectively worldwide. Even if diminished it will still be greater than the new gtld you are selling.

This is not to say you cannot make any money but you need to have realistic selling prices in mind, especially if you are buying because of this hype of marketing to new generations.

3) There is the risk that the naming system or the Internet changes in someway, this might not do away with addresses but it may mean no one pays a great deal of money for a new domain. The current round of new gtlds is going to need years to mature where there is an active aftermarket. Now I think it is clear that ICANN has an agenda to make as much money as they can, who knows what the next round may be from a cost structure ?  What if it is $50,000 for an application ? What about $10,000 ?
You also have to look at what ICANN could look like down the road and who is calling the shots directly or indirectly.

I understand some will read the last paragraph and say, “Of course there is risk moron” I talk to so many newer domainers in email or read others on blogs and forum posts that don’t understand. I have had emails that read exactly, “Sir, please tell me that domain names will always be needed, I have a lot of money invested.” I don’t believe domains are going away anytime soon, and more than likely they will be here in some form for as far as the eye can see, you need an address, people need to know how to find you on the Internet, and shy of some Sci-Fi fantasy this will remain in place. The key point is just because there are domains in 2050 does not mean you will get $x,xxx- $x,xxx,xxx for your domain name.

So for a domain investor with a long term approach, there are many variables that no one can predict what is going to happen, this makes these much more risky in my opinion than what someone in 1996 was doing with .com.

The whole key is doing the research and finding the opportunities where the pricing allows for a profitable resale. If you are paying $13,000 EAP for a great name, you more than likely don’t have much upside.

I had a friend refer someone who wanted to purchase a new gtld, not from me, just hand reg and could I give the person some information to help them with the process. Eventually the guy asks me, “Why am I paying 5 times the cost of a .com for an inferior product ?” I jokingly said because new is better than old. I went on to explain why but I thought there was a bit of truth to my joke. I have always looked at many things in life with the new vs old paradigm.  Take a room full of 100 strangers and place a puppy on one side and a 12 year old dog on the other, more people are gravitating to the side of the puppy with no affinity for either prior to entering the room.

The new vs old paradigm is what registry operators have to be concerned with, because I stopped getting emails telling me I would make an awesome Guru and now my registrar thinks I would be one hell of a Ninja. When .Idiot comes out I can’t wait for that email.

Now I want to be clear I am speaking from a purely domain investor perspective, if a small business with a five word .com wants to move to a one word new gtld that fits their business, that makes sense for them. There are a lot of layers to this new gtld onion, domain investors have to focus on what they do with laser like precision. This is about sales, can I buy a product at a price point that allows me to make a profit ? Additionally can I rinse and repeat where this becomes a profitable strategy, or is it a once a year event ? As Google comes to be a registry owner we have no idea if they will give their tlds a boost in the serps, most likely not as the backlash would be strong from the SEO community, but you never know.

I look at the new gtld game from a short term trader perspective, I want to get in and get out, sure I may miss out on an outlier sale that is substantial, but I would rather just keep hitting singles.

Finally it is no longer  the right domain can change your life, it is the right idea for a website or an app can change your life.