Greetings!

It is Saturday again!! A cold and wet day here in London, but the parties must go on .

Earlier in the week we heard the news of a minisite service provider closing shop. Well I’m not in any celebratory mood, though many of you may think that I would have reasons to be, neither am I in any “I told you so” mood.

I tried my best not to follow the tide by focusing on mini sites this week, but I guess the currents were too strong.

I personally only started reading domain blogs after I launched this one here at eBuinessDomains.com in September last year. And well, thank God I didn’t, because somehow, even till this day, I believe you read more nonsense than anything else. I will leave it up to you to judge my blog. The ignorance surrounding web development is no exception.

Lose the Mini Site Mentality
The domain industry is the industry in which we say “its all in the name”. Sadly when it comes to web development, domainers got it wrong.

With mini sites, the term alone creates a psychological death to the business model. Why “mini”? If we say that content is king, why do we focus on keeping these sites “mini”?

Another mistake that domainers made was to refer to the development of websites as domain development. That again, creates some sort of mental block to whatever success that could be acheived.

I won’t waste time expanding on the above, as most people would still not get it even after 10,000 words.

The Problems With Mini Sites
Mini sites themselves are not the problem. It’s like the Internet. Some people use the Internet to conduct business, stay in touch with friends and do online banking, while some use it to commit fraud, watch porn and incite hatred. The problem is not the thing, but rather how one goes about using it.

Where domainers are concerned, their business concept/model where mini sites are concerned is severely flawed. Well, in my opinion, that’s not even the case, as most domainers developing mini sites don’t even have a business plan as such.

Problem Number One – Mini Sites CANNOT Be A Replacement Model for Domain Parking
Domainers are trying to use mini sites to replace the domain parking model. Over the past three weeks I wrote a series on the domain parking model. You can click to read Parts One, Two and Three.

Domain parking is a numbers game. The more domains you have, the more money you could make, potentially. Domain parking is a set and a forget technology. Simply register the domain, park it and make money.

With web development, it is not a numbers game. It is a game of passion, persistence, determination, resilience, creativity, originality, and the list goes on.

You would not have passion and determination with mini sites. If a domainer makes an attempt at a mini site today and it fails, he would simply move on to the next. where is the passion or determination for success? However, if you were building a brand, you would have a more die-hard attitude to ensure that the one project succeeds, no matter what.

Websites, just like children, need tender loving care. If you wouldn’t be able to raise 10 kids, then you wouldn’t be able to develop and manage 10 websites unless you are running a fully resourced media company.

Problem Number Two – Enslavement to Domain Parking Mentality
Almost all of the problems will stem from the fact that domainers are enslaved to the domain parking mentality (model).

So, problem number two is their addiction to stats. Almost every time you see a domainer discussing mini sites, they spend more time quoting those little useless stats. They will say, oh, the domain is the exact match of X term that gets X amount of searches in Google.

No one is entitled to organic search traffic. No one. And as such, no matter what tricks you try, organic search traffic is never guaranteed. If you are depending on organic search traffic for success, then you have effectively thrown yourself at the mercies of something that you have no control over. Your business plan is flawed, as you have zero control over any form of success.

Problem Number Three – Lack of Business Acumen
Domainers who develop mini sites based on stats are not businesspersons. This is the clearest sign that they have no business acumen.

In business, you need to have control, over everything. You need to have control over the direction your business takes, the revenues, the costs, the growth, etc., etc.

Building a mini site and inserting a few Google Adsense spots is not taking control. If don’t see yourself advertising and actively promoting your business then you are simply trying to feed a dead cat.

Also, If you decide to grow traffic through advertising, what would you be advertising? What would you be selling? Google Adsense? If Google closes your account, the only thing that would be left standing is a bunch of senseless articles. The World Wide Web doesn’t need another mini site. It needs another web destination.

Problem Number Four – Domainers Don’t How To Monetize Websites Beyond PPC
Domainers notoriously have a lack of confidence. I am amazed at how people spend so much time, and money to build websites that will make them an average of $2 per month. Why, why, why? God only knows.

What is so funny is how they go around shouting and dancing when their revenues increase from $1.50 a month to $1.75. I really don’t get it. A typical example would be a blogger writing a post regarding one of their mini sites. If you are lucky he will admit that revenue is jut at $1.75; then you get a whole bunch of idiots saying things like:

”Wow, the site is looking good!”
”Thanks for sharing, you are genius.”
”How did you manage to increase your revenue from $1.50 to $1.75 in just 30 days?”

One word: Pathetic!

Don’t they realise that one single website can earn them as much as $2 million, or even $20 million a month, if it is branded properly? Focus on the big picture.

Problem Number Five  - Content is Not King, Passion is
I read earlier this week where a blogger was criticising a mini site service provider for the “poor content” (article) and the lack of promotion of the mini site after it was created.

I was just laughing. That is where the mistake is, where domainers expect a set and forget auto-pilot road to riches from mini site providers. Well, to be fair, some of these mini site service providers are pretending to provide these services in a bid to fleece ignorant domainers out of their monies. So they should take some of the blame. The reality is, there can be no automated roads to riches with web development.

If you are developing a website and you can’t write the content yourself, then you will have serious problems. That is why you should not focus on the volume of content, but rather your passion for the subject or niche. If you are passionate about a topic, it will be only natural for you to write compelling content.

Website visitors are not stupid. They will become your biggest fans when they see that you have a passion for the subject matter.

A web designer or developer should only provide the website. If you are not prepared to maintain the website, add content regular and actively promote the website then you are better off applying for a job at McDonalds.

I could go on, and on, and on. However here are a few other articles that you might find interesting (most recent first):

Domain Development - What Will You Build Today?

Mini Sites - Domains Dressed For Success?

Domain Development: How to Make Money From Your Website

The Art of Domain Development

With that been said, we will be launching our own web development services in the near future. We will share more on that in due course.

Have a great weekend!

Need an affordable premium domain for your eBusiness?
Choose from over 500,000 quality aftermarket domains at eBusinessDomains.com!
Simply enter your keyword and click search in the Domain Search Box.
Instant domain transfer with most domains!

Domains | Domain Auctions | Premium Domains | Domain Newsletter | Domain Forum | Skull

I have worked with loads of designers and web developers over the years. Some were good, some were bad, while some had the skills but didn’t take pride in their work.

We are well underway in our switch from domain parking to launching minisites for the majority of our domains.

While my very competent team is busy at work, it is now time to focus my effort on the bigger fish: development of domains into super brands.

I will commit myself to 2 such projects for the rest of the year. Yes, only 2. I read everyday about domainers claiming to be developing scores of sites weekly. Let’s just say that people view web development differently, and leave it at that.

This week I hope to launch a contest in what will be the first stage of the development of the first domain name.

Morgan Linton over at Domainvestors.tv need not worry about our contest. Our contest will in no way compete with his upcoming one. Only graphic designers will be eligible to enter our contest, and it will be entirely different.

This contest will make it possible to have the very best designs to choose from for the new brand.

If you are a designer you will want to stay tuned, as this brand will be showcased on TV, billboards, online (obviously), on clothing, newspapers, print, and just about everywhere possible.

The brand is not even off the ground yet, but I have started to work my contacts in various industries such as the fashion industry. Saying that, my girlfriend who is a model herself, shouldn’t mind wearing my brands down the catwalk for free. Its all about the advantage, and of course worthwhile exposure. Fashion TV, anyone?

I am done preaching the gospel of domain development. As Sahar said last week, it is time to DO.

Need an affordable premium domain for your eBusiness?
Choose from over 500,000 quality aftermarket domains at eBusinessDomains.com!
Simply enter your keyword and click search in the Domain Search Box.
Instant domain transfer with most domains!

Domains | Domain Auctions | Premium Domains | Domain Newsletter | Domain Forum | Skull

Here in London, when people are looking to buy used cars or get a new place to rent, they use sites like GumTree.com or Loot.co.uk. These sites are extremely popular and are mostly advertised via word of mouth. At least that’s how I learnt about them, and I often tell friends about them.

I have also come across HotFrog.co.uk, which has an Alexa ranking of 10,573 at the time of writing.

These are not senseless directories that no one visits. Although you can post for free to some of these directories, or at least under some categories, they are not like the hideous and useless Free For All (FFA) directories.

These directories are used by millions of people on a daily basis to find cars, rooms, houses, furniture, jobs and just about anything for sale. Yet, the choices of domains are not the kind of domains that are category killer or even keyword-rich domains.

These directories are very rich in their content and user-functionalities. When a directory is useful its users will advertise it via word of mouth. If users believe that they can find what they are looking for via your directory, they will keep coming back.

It is no surprise that the popular directories that cover all categories and wide geographical areas all use concept/brandable domains. Simply, they need domains that will not focus too much on one sector (keyword) and end up making it hard to sell other service/product listings.

So, if you have pronounceable concept domains, you might want to try launching a directory. You can choose to start by covering just one category, such as houses or cars. You can also choose to start with a specific geographical location.

Need an affordable premium domain for your eBusiness?
Choose from over 500,000 quality aftermarket domains at eBusinessDomains.com!
Simply enter your keyword and click search in the Domain Search Box.
Instant domain transfer with most domains!

Domains | Domain Auctions | Premium Domains | Domain Newsletter | Domain Forum | Skull

We have mow launched a series of domaining minisites aimed at educating newcomers to the domain industry and informing the general public about the different aspects of domaining.

Our main aim is to draw attention to the advantage that can be earned by owning premium domain names, whether as part of domain portfolio collection or to be used as your business domain.

What I love about the sites is that each and every one of them has a degree of scalability. Each of the websites can be further developed into powerful Internet brands and could evolve into their own respective ebusinesses.

We will be adding content to these websites on a continuous and consistent basis. We will monitor them closely, and use them as guinea pigs for other development projects that we have in the pipeline.

Here are the sites:

BrandingSuccess.com - This site aims to reaffirm the importance of domain branding, and the need to establish a brand identity for your online business.

DomainConferences.com - A brief introduction to domain conferences.

Aftermarket-Domains.com - An explanation of the Domain Aftermarket

eBusinessBrands.com - Another look at eBusiness Branding and the advantages to be gained by establishing an online brand.

DomainNameCapitalists.com - A look at Domain Investing and some of the biggest domain sales in the domain industry.

SmallBusinessDomain.com - Importance of domains to small businesses.

BusinessDomains.net - Self-explanatory. The power of having keyword-rich domains for business.

PremiumDomains.net - Self-explanatory. Premium domains are what you need to invest in for your domain portfolio and business. (eBusinessDomains.com is a premium domains marketplace).

PremiumDomain.net - has reached page 1 of Google search results (from obscurity) within days even without any promotion. Keyword: Premium Domain.

DomainersPortfolio.com - an interesting look at domain investments and domain portfolios.

These websites are merely for research purposes only. With web development, you could read every book that is out there and nothing will come close to learning through experience.

This development experiment does not come cheap though. All of these domains, except for eBusinessBrands.com were premium domain purchases. We spent over $20,000 to acquire these domain names. Of course we spent extra to develop them.

We have received countless offers since we acquire these domains. We even got offers while they were being developed in the past few weeks, and some after development. Some were pretty good offers while some were a few low-ball offers.

For those people who insist on wasting their time making ridiculously low offers for our domains (which we obviously have been ignoring), please take your nonsense somewhere else. We may offer domains at very low deals in our domain newsletter, but we can assure you that we are not desperate.

We have been buying and selling domains now for nearly 10 years and do know the value of each and every domain that we own. We respect business people who attempt to conduct business in a dignified way. Coming to the table with a business-like approach will do you a lot more favours than trying to pass off as some whining third-world student.

Hope you enjoy the new domain resources.

Domain parking has spoilt the whole domain industry. Get everything for nothing. Just register a domain name, change the name servers and bingo! You have a great looking site (parking page/template).

You sit back, and at then end of the month you have a checks rolling in. Who would live a different life if they didn’t have to?

Well parking is dying a very painful death. When I did in-depth research into domain parking I established in my mind that this was a system only to use while you can. The lack of transparency left the doors wide open for abuse by ALL parties, top to bottom. Period.

However parking had its very fruitful days, and some made a fortune. Myself included. Can’t complain.
Now the tides have changed. How do we switch to domain development? It will be hard. Domainers are not accustomed to thinking out of the box when it comes to domain name monetization. The hardest work some of us had ever done in our domaining careers was to change a few name servers or quote a few stats or browse a few lengthy expiring lists.

Although it would have helped with our domaining strategies, we didn’t have need for business plans and marketing campaigns and sales funnels and target markets and blah, blah, blah.

Now there are simply 2 ways to go about development. Go all out with one or two major brands or develop a series of mini brands.

The first option is risky, not because it involves more work, or takes more time, but it is the kind of thing that you will have to swear allegiance to. You would have to gain a “failure is not an option” attitude.

With the latter, you can try this today, get bored and try something else tomorrow. You can’t have that kind of attitude with a domain like the Toys.com or Camera.com. You have to be serious about business. Not about domains, but about business.

Minisite development is for domainers. Brand development is for business-minded entrepreneurs.
People who think mini sites are mostly domainers who still haven’t graduated from the domaining world. These are the people who think, well if I build a website and it does not monetize well, I will simply sell the domain name.

A businessperson thinks of a building a brand that he could sell one day for anything between 15 and 800 million dollars.

However, let me be clear here. You can make a lot of money with minisites. I heard an Internet marketing expert saying one day that you don’t need a fancy website to make money. You would be surprised to see that the ugliest-looking websites are the ones making the real money. It is all about the sales pitch and the marketing.

So, if you know what you are doing, get the sales pitch and marketing right, and sell products and services in the right niche, you could make boat loads of cash.

Think about it. Almost every ebook you have ever bought was purchased from a minisite. Most of them really are just one very long web page.

If you build minisites hoping to profit from Google Adsense in substitution for domain parking then you will not make money.

You will need to think and build ebusinesses! Sell products and services. What are you good at? How could you roll it up into a minisite and sell it like hot bread? Think, think, think!