information .LINK - throwing in the towel, and advice from a friend

[ThatNameGuy]

Just a few days ago I sent the following email to Yoni Belousov, Vaughn Liley, and Jeff Gabriel of Nova Registry, the new owners of the .LINK extension;

"Yoni etal.....what a waste of time and money to have created a portfolio of 1,500 .LINK domains believing I could help make .LINK successful.

One of my greatest strengths are the people I've gotten to know through Linkedin, and a few of them had reached out to me because they own .LINK domains.

Marek Eckhaus from Prague owns Sex.link
and
Jim Haung from Shanghai owns Free.link

Furthermore, a domain friend of mine Joe N. from Canada was able to help me get domains like; Bicycle.link, American.link and Dollar.link listed @ Dan, but to no avail in that I haven't received a single inquiry much less offer.

I guess you've heard me say, "If it's to BE, it's up to ME", but without some backing that isn't going to happen.

I consider myself sort of a .LINK walk on who could have been a star, but Nova Registry just doesn't see it that way......SAD!

Finally, i'm blind copying a pretty well respected industry leader that was quoted as saying, ".LINK is no worse than .XYZ", but personally I believe .LINK is far better than .xyz.

Unfortunately, we'll never know."


In addition i copied a few domain friends I made around the world, and here is the response Alessandro from a friend from Italy....you might note I've not heard anything back from anyone at Nova Registry;

Richard

There’s a lot of emotion in this industry, and it’s easy to get caught up on “one thing” … It is important that as investors we diversify our portfolios, own Names that make Sense !

There’s this idea that you should only invest in .com and 90% of “The Domain Industry Club“ will tell you the same thing over and over again like a broken record, BUT the truth is you should invest in good names ^ and understand that what we are all looking to accomplish takes time, effort, and determination ^

2,000,000,000 sites online, you cannot limit all of them to .com much less .net or 10 other extensions … the formation of new industries and new business’ continues to rise - and thus GOOD names become more valuable, I believe this to be true for both .com and combination keyword GTLD examples that match perfectly the left and right of the DOT

I was offered $25,000 for mortgage.loans in 2021 @ the ROTD auction with Monte and I was offered $11,000 for easy.credit at the recent ROTD 2023 auction w/ Monte, meanwhile TeamBank in Germany offered me $1000 even though they are a multi billion dollar company, I received a mysterious offer of $125,000 on DAN for e.credit and the buyer vanished, I had some guy in Monaco offer me 3.2 BTC when BTC was trading @ $55,000 so that he could develop e.credit into an online crypto casino … I bet he feels pretty dumb given where BTC is @ … what is my point, GOOD names receive some attention, and not all the time is that attention going to be “Execution” … In fact more times then not, you are going to run into people who will waste your time,

I have watched the Blue Man Group turn down owning blue.com … I’ve personally talked on the phone with the board of Smith & Wesson; while walking the streets of Venice at night … guess what, they didn’t buy sw.com and neither did Nvidia buy ai.com … I couldn’t sell 77.com to 77Bank in Japan, and Weight Watchers waited for my contract to expire to purchase ww.com … the domain industry is cruel, the priceless opportunity of selling BIG names is a rare thing, patience is the name of the game … Like golf, rare to hit a par much less a Hole In One … BUT damn it feels good when ya do !

1500 .link names, say 10% of that are true quality names Richard @ $1000 bare minimum, that’s $150,000, good $$$ to invest with at the moment. Outbound, outbound, outbound, even if 95% of those leads won’t contact you back …

There was a time when I allowed my emotions to play into the industry, ya just can’t do it, either it works or it doesn’t, and if someone doesn’t understand the value, there is no sense in trying to persuade them, this goes for all names …

And if you invest in GTLDs, focus on exact match keyword combinations,

free.link

direct.link

Instant.link

sex.link (shit, sex.xxx sold for $3M)

big.link

cash.link

soft.link

nice.link

Explain the value, build an audience, and people will then come to you … because believe it or not, there are people in the world with the same ideas as you …

So continue walking tall, put that Big Brain of yours to use, relinquish some of your grand names at a discount, and invest moving forward … if you have that BIG name, don’t sell it, you may want to, but don’t do it, you can put a large price tag on that one BIG name, but that’s it ^ focus on everything else, diversify, and move forward >>>

Best wishes !

Alessandro


Finally, while I still believe in the .LINK extension, without committed support from the Registry and it's owners I just decided to throw in the towel.......VERY SAD!!!

ps. thank you Alessandro

 

[Joe N]

"This would probably work if Linkedin took control of the whole extension from the beginning and envisaged an additional directory based service"

I totally agree Bailey.....why do you suppose Linkedin was part of my plan/vision for .link? Yet when I told Vaughn Liley (GM for .link) about it, he told me he was working on something with Linkedin In hindsight this probably has something to do with Joe N's statement, "Remember that registries generally don't like domainers", proving Verisign's observations about domainers

I wouldn't say that my comment proves anything that Verisign stated. I was just noting what I have personally observed and read about registries.

 

[BaileyUK]

why do you suppose Linkedin was part of my plan/vision for .link?

Which for most of the experienced members here would say 'your not thinking straight' I'm sure that is exactly what has been said before by others. Once the .Link extension was available to the public, then the whole idea falls flat. I'm surprised you didn't model (look-ahead) to the inevitable failure of such a domain investment strategy from the outset.

Nobody in their right mind is going to launch a business idea (or add-on) with 'Dilution of control' already going overboard. You should have seen that. None of us have Rights in purely conceptual thoughts and I'm sure these businesses are way ahead in their strategy, than you imagine, anyway.

Yes members, I do feel I'm just restating all the obvious

 

[BaileyUK]

Just to finalise, I don't imagine you've been mislead by those at the .link registry (or linkedin) More likely you've just misread and decided to believe an imaginary scenario. A sort of insider information privilege that was never there. Given your business background I would have thought you would have had the foresight to see the unworkability of your 'Specific' model. Not that it can't be done but not without full control of the extension.

As always, just calling it the way I see it

 

[branding]

For f*s sake...

 

[JB Lions]

Just a few days ago I sent the following email to Yoni Belousov, Vaughn Liley, and Jeff Gabriel of Nova Registry, the new owners of the .LINK extension;

"Yoni etal.....what a waste of time and money to have created a portfolio of 1,500 .LINK domains believing I could help make .LINK successful.

One of my greatest strengths are the people I've gotten to know through Linkedin, and a few of them had reached out to me because they own .LINK domains.

Marek Eckhaus from Prague owns Sex.link
and
Jim Haung from Shanghai owns Free.link

Furthermore, a domain friend of mine Joe N. from Canada was able to help me get domains like; Bicycle.link, American.link and Dollar.link listed @ Dan, but to no avail in that I haven't received a single inquiry much less offer.

I guess you've heard me say, "If it's to BE, it's up to ME", but without some backing that isn't going to happen.

I consider myself sort of a .LINK walk on who could have been a star, but Nova Registry just doesn't see it that way......SAD!

Finally, i'm blind copying a pretty well respected industry leader that was quoted as saying, ".LINK is no worse than .XYZ", but personally I believe .LINK is far better than .xyz.

Unfortunately, we'll never know."


In addition i copied a few domain friends I made around the world, and here is the response Alessandro from a friend from Italy....you might note I've not heard anything back from anyone at Nova Registry;

Richard

There’s a lot of emotion in this industry, and it’s easy to get caught up on “one thing” … It is important that as investors we diversify our portfolios, own Names that make Sense !

There’s this idea that you should only invest in .com and 90% of “The Domain Industry Club“ will tell you the same thing over and over again like a broken record, BUT the truth is you should invest in good names ^ and understand that what we are all looking to accomplish takes time, effort, and determination ^

2,000,000,000 sites online, you cannot limit all of them to .com much less .net or 10 other extensions … the formation of new industries and new business’ continues to rise - and thus GOOD names become more valuable, I believe this to be true for both .com and combination keyword GTLD examples that match perfectly the left and right of the DOT

I was offered $25,000 for mortgage.loans in 2021 @ the ROTD auction with Monte and I was offered $11,000 for easy.credit at the recent ROTD 2023 auction w/ Monte, meanwhile TeamBank in Germany offered me $1000 even though they are a multi billion dollar company, I received a mysterious offer of $125,000 on DAN for e.credit and the buyer vanished, I had some guy in Monaco offer me 3.2 BTC when BTC was trading @ $55,000 so that he could develop e.credit into an online crypto casino … I bet he feels pretty dumb given where BTC is @ … what is my point, GOOD names receive some attention, and not all the time is that attention going to be “Execution” … In fact more times then not, you are going to run into people who will waste your time,

I have watched the Blue Man Group turn down owning blue.com … I’ve personally talked on the phone with the board of Smith & Wesson; while walking the streets of Venice at night … guess what, they didn’t buy sw.com and neither did Nvidia buy ai.com … I couldn’t sell 77.com to 77Bank in Japan, and Weight Watchers waited for my contract to expire to purchase ww.com … the domain industry is cruel, the priceless opportunity of selling BIG names is a rare thing, patience is the name of the game … Like golf, rare to hit a par much less a Hole In One … BUT damn it feels good when ya do !

1500 .link names, say 10% of that are true quality names Richard @ $1000 bare minimum, that’s $150,000, good $$$ to invest with at the moment. Outbound, outbound, outbound, even if 95% of those leads won’t contact you back …

There was a time when I allowed my emotions to play into the industry, ya just can’t do it, either it works or it doesn’t, and if someone doesn’t understand the value, there is no sense in trying to persuade them, this goes for all names …

And if you invest in GTLDs, focus on exact match keyword combinations,

free.link

direct.link

Instant.link

sex.link (shit, sex.xxx sold for $3M)

big.link

cash.link

soft.link

nice.link

Explain the value, build an audience, and people will then come to you … because believe it or not, there are people in the world with the same ideas as you …

So continue walking tall, put that Big Brain of yours to use, relinquish some of your grand names at a discount, and invest moving forward … if you have that BIG name, don’t sell it, you may want to, but don’t do it, you can put a large price tag on that one BIG name, but that’s it ^ focus on everything else, diversify, and move forward >>>

Best wishes !

Alessandro


Finally, while I still believe in the .LINK extension, without committed support from the Registry and it's owners I just decided to throw in the towel.......VERY SAD!!!

ps. thank you Alessandro

Just a rough estimate if you could share:

How much would you say you've spent on new gtlds total, any hand regs, premiums, renewals =

How much have you sold, amount total =

 

[E-Promote]

E-Promote....thanks for this sage advice. Probably the biggest mistake I've made is thinking i could find an audience for my domains. Obviously no one is looking for them, but that's mostly because they don't even know they exist. While I still own some decent .com names in industries that I know, exposure for these names is still very limited due to the Nature Of The Beast Thanks again.

I hear you...as for mistakes, they are the path to success, provided we learn from them.

Probably the biggest mistake I've made is thinking i could find an audience

Find your audience before you find your domains.

 

[ItsCalled]

I don't find .LINK an investment tool like many other extensions.

But as a web developer, I find it useful to get the name I want where LINK makes sense.

I doubt there is much money to be made here. But I'm sure some where LINK compliments the name.
Just not many of them.

 

[VadimK]

I'd say that the scenario of buying many hundreds names of only one extension that is not .com is doomed. It's wrong on many levels.

You gotta ask yourself - if domaining is an investment ''for profit'' model for me or I just randomly buy some names that I had a dream last night about? If first - then the portfolio should be diversified - between different tld (with only exception for .com for obvious reason). It also needs to be diversified in keywords, niches, brandables/misspells, etc whatever - to make it the widest possible choice for an end user. This is what I very much dislike about xyz is that by bringing this ''tooth fairy Swedha'', the owners of xyz made people believe there is one special NEXT extension (hey, just like xyz!) that will shoot for no reason. For dreamers of all sorts that was enough. Obviously, it's not xyz fault someone dreamed and bought 1500 .link names, but faking the sales and hyping they contributed to the very idea.

But even then, the crucial mistake was to buy that many names without plan or strategy. You like tld? Fine. Don't want to do research about it? Ok. Not even to look and analyze NameBio trying to forecast future sales, what exactly and for how much? No problem. You want to boldly go where no man has gone before - your choice.

But isn't it obvious that if you buy 50, or ok 100 single-word, top shelf names where in .com GoDaddy appraisal says ''too high to estimate'' and looking good paired with your ''link'' tld - then if your extension shoots - you'll be a multimillionaire? And if not, and no offer and interest - max you'll lose is $1000 after one year? (not sure what was the first year deal for .link, maybe even much less)

And if none of the above, - but 1-2 occasional sales - you can slowly and carefully scale up once you feel so...

 

[bmugford]

I hear you...as for mistakes, they are the path to success, provided we learn from them.

Mistakes are only the path to success if you are willing to learn from them.

It seems that @ThatNameGuy mainly wants to blame the registry for not wanting to work with him, whatever that means.

The fundamental problem is dealing in things that don't have demand.

He is trying to reinvent the wheel.

It could be .homes, .realty, .online, .link, etc. The same thing keeps happening.

Until the actual lesson is learned, the story is likely to have the same ending.

Brad

 

[HotKey]

The problem is you are trying to reinvent the wheel.

Brad

Or maybe just a better ride:

bicycles vs scooters, Segways you get the drift. Some stuff does work and makes sense, others will always be a unicycle.

 

[bmugford]

Some stuff does work and makes sense, others will always be a unicycle.

You probably have a better chance of seeing a unicycle being used than a .link being used.

Brad

 

[E-Promote]

I hear you...as for mistakes, they are the path to success, provided we learn from them.

Mistakes are only the path to success if you are willing to learn from them.

Great minds think alike
BTW, I want to be sure to point out that ThatNameGuy displays some obvious humility in this thread and it will serve him well going forward. When we "fail" we ponder, when we succeed we tend to party.

 

[Grego85]

I'd like to ask, how many of these 1500 were hand regs vs drop caught vs auction bought vs D2D?

After all, this still can be a good learning experience for all readers.

I don't think this should be just another excuse to knock ngtlds. I think the focus should be on the methods of acquisition.

PLENTY of "in king" failures on this forum, in-fact probably the single biggest group you could categorize on the forum would be .com investing people which lose money and don't make regular sales.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I'd like to ask, how many of these 1500 were hand regs vs drop caught vs auction bought vs D2D?

After all, this still can be a good learning experience for all readers.

I don't think this should be just another excuse to knock ngtlds. I think the focus should be on the methods of acquisition.

PLENTY of "in king" failures on this forum, in-fact probably the single biggest group you could categorize on the forum would be .com investing people which lose money and don't make regular sales.

"I'd like to ask, how many of these 1500 were hand regs vs drop caught vs auction bought vs D2D?"

Grego, actually 100% were hand regs vs drop caught vs auction bought vs D2D.

The early (1990's) "binge" .com buyers made an absolute killing, and I suppose there were plenty of critics just like now with .link. However, that was then and this is now.

After learning and reading about the "new owners" plans for .link, and because I agreed, i assumed they would work with me, especially because I was their biggest fan And you know what they say about assumptions.

I enjoyed this game so much I'v already carved out a "new niche" for .com domains that involve a spelling variation of the word "town", however it's spelled "towne" as in TowneBank.com which happens to be one of the largest regional banks in America.

I may fail at this too, but knowing intimately the "Towne Bank" success story gives me somewhat of an advantage imo

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Great minds think alike
BTW, I want to be sure to point out that ThatNameGuy displays some obvious humility in this thread and it will serve him well going forward. When we "fail" we ponder, when we succeed we tend to party.

Thanks E-Promote.....you definitely have me pondering, however at 75 years young I can't waste much time pondering. As a matter of fact....i'm already headed for a new domain party

 

[biggie]

Hi

as a fun site, to tell of your ordeal...

throwinginthetowel.link
throwinginthetowel.com are both available to register.

better be quick



imo...

 

[BaileyUK]

I'v already carved out a "new niche" for .com domains that involve a spelling variation of the word "town", however it's spelled "towne"

Oh no, Please say your just joking.

 

[Grego85]

Grego, actually 100% were hand regs vs drop caught vs auction bought vs D2D.

Welp, that explains it.

 

[bmugford]

I enjoyed this game so much I'v already carved out a "new niche" for .com domains that involve a spelling variation of the word "town", however it's spelled "towne" as in TowneBank.com which happens to be one of the largest regional banks in America.

I may fail at this too, but knowing intimately the "Towne Bank" success story gives me somewhat of an advantage imo

Probably, because you keep going on registration binges without any actual business model.

1.) Register lots of domains.
2.) ?
3.) Make money.

You are only missing step 2.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Probably, because you keep going on registration binges without any actual business model.

1.) Register lots of domains.
2.) ?
3.) Make money.

You are only missing step 2.

Brad

Brad, ever hear the expression "If you build it, they will come" Actually I've already built a portfolio of some pretty decent domain names, some of which are over 20 years old but have cured under my umbrella for the last five years. Granted, not a lot but I own over 200 domains (mostly .com's). Having started and named dozens of businesses over the last 50+ years I know many of these names are more than appropriate for the average "startup"........ all they need is EXPOSURE

 

[bmugford]

Brad, ever hear the expression "If you build it, they will come" Actually I've already built a portfolio of some pretty decent domain names, some of which are over 20 years old but have cured under my umbrella for the last five years. Granted, not a lot but I own over 200 domains (mostly .com's). Having started and named dozens of businesses over the last 50+ years I know many of these names are more than appropriate for the average "startup"........ all they need is EXPOSURE

What are you building though?

You have spent years jumping from extension to extension... Realty, Homes, Online, Link, etc.

Registering domains is the easy part. Selling domains is the hard part.

Your entire problem is you think you can create demand. That is not how the domain market works.

Decent .COM always have a shot, because the demand already exists.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

What are you building though?

You have spent years jumping from extension to extension... Realty, Homes, Online, Link, etc.

Registering domains is the easy part. Selling domains is the hard part.

Your entire problem is you think you can create demand. That is not how the domain market works.

Decent .COM always have a shot, because the demand already exists.

Brad

The first thing i need to do is build a website similar to DataCube.com followed by a once weekly podcast similar to the one I hope to get financing for; MarksProShop.com and MarksPodcast.com

I do agree with registering domains being the easy part....i'm living proof of that. And YES, selling domains is the "hard part".....i'm living proof of that.......there, shows you i can laugh at myself

One last thing, i own several decent domain names for a marketplace like Domain Gourmet, but I'm looking at also registering NameThatStartUp.com because I've been naming startups all my life. If this comes to fruition, maybe you'll want to tune into my podcast about naming startups.

Thanks Brad....you and Joe are dragging out the best in me. I know it's hard, but i do appreciate it

 

[DrJacoby]

Brad, ever hear the expression "If you build it, they will come" Actually I've already built a portfolio of some pretty decent domain names, some of which are over 20 years old but have cured under my umbrella for the last five years. Granted, not a lot but I own over 200 domains (mostly .com's). Having started and named dozens of businesses over the last 50+ years I know many of these names are more than appropriate for the average "startup"........ all they need is EXPOSURE

If you could just find a partner.

Or if the registrar would "work with you".

THEN, you would have the chance to make your very first end-user sale. Wouldn't that be something?

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

Greetings @ThatNameGuy!

Your thread was interesting and insightful to say the least. Most of the comments you've received suggest you're rather familiar with many of Namepro's tenured and decorated users. With this stated, it's fair to assume you were likely aware the thread would elicit the reactions it has thus far. It's for this reason I'd like to commend you. It takes courage to express belief in something other than the status quo; and it takes even more to share when things don't work out. Kudos to you for the transparency.

By now, we understand .com is the proverbial "box" many choose not to think outside of. At this point, it doesn't seem to be about which extension is "better" for most folks; but more about keeping with the culture of resisting any type of evolution in the domain investment space. We must remember domain investing has some unnecessarily complex dynamics by design. These dynamics ensure the future is kept in tow for the sake of the past being infinitely relevant.

When you consider how some here feel about alternative extensions, it's worth asking "Why has no petition to ban the release of any new extensions been drafted?". Surely some people hate alternative extensions enough to push for ICANN and other parties to run the internet solely on .com. This hasn't occurred because alternative extensions add value and diversity to the internet's landscape. Even if only a handful of folks choose to openly acknowledge it

You referenced that domainers are like "poets"; which is something I wholeheartedly agree with. However, this applies to those who prioritize words, language and culture just as much as narrative control and turning a profit. As the manager of .com names and names with other extensions, I believe there's room for all extensions to have their turn in the spotlight. They merely need to be connected with their target audience and best utility case.

Even if this requires foresight and creativity to realize the possibilities.

Mel
QUAD Domains

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Greetings @ThatNameGuy!

Your thread was interesting and insightful to say the least. Most of the comments you've received suggest you're rather familiar with many of Namepro's tenured and decorated users. With this stated, it's fair to assume you were likely aware the thread would elicit the reactions it has thus far. It's for this reason I'd like to commend you. It takes courage to express belief in something other than the status quo; and it takes even more to share when things don't work out. Kudos to you for the transparency.

By now, we understand .com is the proverbial "box" many choose not to think outside of. At this point, it doesn't seem to be about which extension is "better" for most folks; but more about keeping with the culture of resisting any type of evolution in the domain investment space. We must remember domain investing has some unnecessarily complex dynamics by design. These dynamics ensure the future is kept in tow for the sake of the past being infinitely relevant.

When you consider how some here feel about alternative extensions, it's worth asking "Why has no petition to ban the release of any new extensions been drafted?". Surely some people hate alternative extensions enough to push for ICANN and other parties to run the internet solely on .com. This hasn't occurred because alternative extensions add value and diversity to the internet's landscape. Even if only a handful of folks choose to openly acknowledge it

You referenced that domainers are like "poets"; which is something I wholeheartedly agree with. However, this applies to those who prioritize words, language and culture just as much as narrative control and turning a profit. As the manager of .com names and names with other extensions, I believe there's room for all extensions to have their turn in the spotlight. They merely need to be connected with their target audience and best utility case.

Even if this requires foresight and creativity to realize the possibilities.

Mel
QUAD Domains

Thanks Mel.....you sound a little like a Name Pro yourself. It was Bob Hawkes that referred to Kate Buckley of Buckley Media as sort of a "Domain Poet", and while I don't approach her talent, I did win an all expense trip for two to Paradise Island for a New Years Resolution poem I wrote back in the eighties.

I'd like to learn a little more about Mel and Quad Domains if you wouldn't mind sharing. Two minds are always better than one, especially if they're amenable and friendly.

Thanks again