I often get asked by friends or people that I meet, “what do you do?” This is a very simply question, but can be hard to answer depending on who you are speaking with.

As I do a lot of things, including real estate investing, stock market, foreign currency, affiliate marketing, domaining and being an accountant, it can be hard to answer this question.

As my main profession is in accounting, and I have been trained and working in the accounting profession since I was 16, I just normally tend to simply say that I’m an accountant. It’s not my favourite pastime or my main income steam, but rather my most recognisable profession.

Some weeks ago, at a party being held in a wine bar, I thought I would try something else. I responded saying that I’m an Internet Marketer. Wrong answer! I ended up spending the next 30 minutes trying to explain how affiliate marketing works. The average age of the people I was speaking to was about 30, not 75.

How hard can it be, to understand that you market other people’s products and services, and if you are successful in making a sale, you get a commission, which is simply a percentage of the sale or a fixed payment.

Now I have never told anyone that I’m a domainer. I simply don’t have time for that warfare. If people can’t understand the simple logic of affiliate marketing, then why should I give myself a headache trying to let them understand what domaining is?

I came across a blog post recently that gave me some quiet reassurance that I am indeed saving myself from wasting time. Even “experts” don’t seem to understand what domaining is.

In a blog post on InternetBusiness.co.uk, the author, Brian Turner writes:
” domaining is the process of buying nice sounding domain names, slapping a landing page filled with ads on, and then waiting to generate revenues from people clicking on the ads after typing the sites URL – or else from selling the domain at an inflated price when someone actually wants to develop a useful website on it.”

I left a comment to the article a few days ago, stating that I find the definition of domaining to be quite misleading. I copied the Wikipedia’s definition of domaining in the comment and suggested to the author that he attends one of the many domain conferences so that he may be properly educated about domaining. The comment is still not published, but I’m not surprised.

The domain name InternetBusiness.co.uk is a superb domain name, and the website has some well-written articles. The site is well maintained and gets a large amount of traffic. Brian Turner writes most, if not all of the posts. So I’m a bit disappointed that Brian would rather define domaining in such a negative way.

Now, in a nutshell, his definition is actually right. What I have a problem with, is how it could be misinterpreted.

Domaining, in general, as seen by the general public has more negatives than positive. Domaining squatting, trademark infringement, click fraud, domain theft, appraisal scams, domain tasting, unethical practices surround expired domains etc are just a few of the things that leave a bad taste in the mouth when it comes to domaining.

It would seem as if Brian Turner does not know or understand that domain parking and monetization is big business that is legitimately conducted by reputable companies that are traded on stock exchanges.

He also does not seem to have any respect or appreciation for the domain name aftermarket.

Now, I may be wrong or may have misinterpreted his post. I would love to hear what he thinks, and what you think.

Buying and selling domain names, despite the many malpractices undertaken by a few, is a very legitimate business activity. Domain parking, though currently under severe threat, is responsible for putting millions of dollars on the balance sheet of companies such as Google and Yahoo.

So then, how can we explain domaining to our friends, families and other contacts in a positive and dignified way?