Wow! The last day of 2009! What a great year this has been!

At the time of writing countries such as New Zealand and Australia have already entered 2010!

Today is the end of a year, a decade, and an era. Tonight, a new year, a new decade, a new era and a new season begins.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to give a proper review of 2009 or the last decade, or even to make any predictions for the new year and decade. All I will say is that once 2010 kicks in, unbelievable changes will happen at unbelievable paces.

I remember that 10 years a go, we were just losing bulky analogue mobile phones to embrace heavy digital handsets with monochrome screens. I used to struggle to find space on my desk after the bulky computer monitor took up all the space, and the desktop then sat beneath the monitor. Internet connection was a mere 56kbps.

Fast forward to 2009, we hold the power of the Internet in our hands. We can do video calls, take pictures (color), send text and multimedia messages and browse the internet at well over 10mbps from hand-held devices than can fit in the palm of our hands.

I am one of those people that judge our technological advancements by the innovations in mobile technology. After all, mobile phones will dictate the future in a lot of ways. Internet surfing will be completely different from what it is today in a few years time, thanks to mobile technology.

Businesses had to wake up to the idea of doing business on the Internet (ebusiness) or at least having an Internet presence. Going forward, businesses will have to grasp and embrace the concept of social networking and mobile browsing.

As for the domain industry, I don’t know how it will pan out. Lots of changes are already slated for 2010. However, I believe the domain name industry will have to decisively take care of a few problems before it can progress. It has to clean up its practices, most importantly, its image and reputation.

But, saying that, the domain industry needs to be properly defined. Domain parking seems to be on the decline. The question is, can there be a domain industry without domain parking? How will domain parking evolve in the next 10 years?

Will mobile browsing kill the need for a domain name? Will there be a new Internet? Will improvement and further widespread usage of mobile browsers spell the end of the domain parking, AND the domain industry?

There are just too many questions. We all just have to be proactive and stand ready to be flexible to adapt to the new realities coming our way.

Nonetheless, there are some that believe that the world will end in 2012. As a Christian, I do believe that we are in the end of days. The signs are all around. But as they say, plan as if you will live forever, live as if there is no tomorrow.

I believe though, that for people who are proactive, hardworking and smart, 2010 and beyond will be very prosperous. There are loads of opportunities out there. I will surely waste no time in grabbing as many as I can!!

So, let me thank everyone for a great 2009 here at eBusinessDomains.com. I wish for you and your family a fantastic and prosperous 2010.

Happy New Year!!!

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Online social networking sites such as Twitter seems to be catching on like wildfire these days. We see recently where Twitter was used to effectively cover the protests in Iran, and even break the news about Michael Jackson’s death to many.

It would appear that everyone that can click a mouse is on Twitter.

However, a recent Harris Poll reports that only 5 percent of Americans are using Twitter so far. That means that there is only is 1 in every 20 Americans using Twitter.

The question is, where are the other 95%?  The 2008 population estimate for the United States is 304,059,724. That means that there are approximately 289 million American who are not using Twitter.

The Harris Poll also finds that although recent high-profile media coverage suggests that a large percentage of the US population participates in online social networking and microblogging, more than half of Americans (51%) do not use Twitter or participate in either of the two largest social networking sites - MySpace and Facebook.

The survey finds that just under half (48%) of US adults have either a MySpace or Facebook account, and that only 16% update their page at least once a day.

If, on the other hand, you prefer good news, this means that the upside for Twitter, the fastest-growing service in our time, hasn’t even begun to be realized.

Now lets compare this to the domain industry. I am not aware of any poll that researches the number of people who are aware of the domain industry, or the domain aftermarket in particular.

Judging by the number of members on the most popular forums, and by even adding an extra person for each member to represent the persons who are aware of the domain industry but chose not to participate in any domain forum, I would say that even 500,000 (half a million) people would be a generous figure.

Correct me if I’m wrong, as these are just wild estimates.

So, worldwide, less than a million people are unaware of the domain industry. Hey, there are 6 billion people in the world!

How do you view this? If you are a pessimist, then you would say that domaining is a complete waste of time.

If you are optimistic, and you should have all the rights to be if you are intelligent, then you would see nothing but pure opportunities.

We are the founders of what will be one of the greatest industries on planet earth!

I discovered the domain industry and domain aftermarket after reading an article, in which the author stated that, the buying and selling of domains is one of the very best ways to make money online.

It is not as easy as it sounds, but once you get the right formula and strategies, you may have the licence to print money, almost.

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We have been having some good news within the industry over the past few days.

Toys.com was recently sold for $5.1 million, and I believe the transaction was completed over the weekend. This sale is covered globally in the mainstream press such as ABC News and the BBC. The Toys.com sale is like our own little stimulus package. It sent a strong signal that despite a deepening recession, domain names are still valuable and tradable assets. This sale should help to turn some well-needed spotlight on the domain industry. Every domainer should cease the moment and take advantage of this extra publicity.

There are also reports that Sedo is reporting a $1.25 million in domain sales within the last week. Recession, what recession?

Domainers are going where no man have gone before.

Mark Fulton of DotSauce.com has launched @DNMarket on Twitter, where verified sellers can tweet domains for sale.

Rick Latona is taking ccTLDs to a whole nother level by launching the ccTLDs.com domain forum. You really have to admire the mindset that Rick has when it comes to promoting domaining.

The TRAFFIC ccTLD conferences coming up later this year seem to have an impressive list of speakers. I do hope that a lot of these Registry Representatives will announce the removal of the many barriers surrounding ccTLDs, such as residency requirements. This would truly unleash the full potential of ccTLDs.

For me, Amsterdam is less than an hour away from London City Airport. So, unless I have clashing schedules, I am hoping to make it to the ccTLD conference.

The domain industry is proving to be a viable and sustainable industry. There may be casualties as a result of the economic downturn, but the domain industry will be alive and kicking for the foreseeable future.

You can read the first article in this series by clicking the following link:
Back to Domains - Real Estate VS Domaining Part I

In the first article in this series, I gave a snapshot of the real estate market, and used the United Kingdom’s property market to illustrate various points as necessary. I focused a bit on how one could go about earning an income by investing in residential properties.

The article looked at the residential market from a rental income perspective, and did not include the development of distressed properties by individuals for resale. I will write about property development in a later article, when I make comparisons with domain flipping.

Remember, the aim of this series is not just to draw comparisons with the domain industry and the real estate market, but to also demonstrate how the domain industry could benefit form the fallout of the US housing markets.

There are many ways to earn money in real estate. It is a very huge and diverse industry. What is scary about the real estate industry is that it affects each and every other industry in various ways.

The real estate industry is so important that any failure in one part of the industry could derail growth and confidence in the whole industry, and subsequently the wider economy.

To give you an example, the current economic downturn, credit crunch and recession was triggered by a failure in the US real estate market (Subprime mortgage crisis).

The real estate industry does not only involve bricks and mortar as the houses in your neighbourhood. Here is a brief list of the different players in the real estate industry:

- Banks (Mortgages);
- Estate Agents (sales and rentals);
- Surveyors;
- Solicitors/Lawyers;
- Mortgage Brokers and Financial Advisors;
- Property Developers (Construction companies and individual investors);
- Furniture/Appliance stores;
- Manufacturers of building materials;
- Equipment Rentals and Leasing (building sites).

The list just goes on and on…

Some of the people/companies in the list will be featured in later articles as I draw further comparisons.

In a similar fashion, whatever happens in the domain industry inevitably affects the wider Internet community. One such example is the introduction of new domain extensions.
Valuations
I will focus today on the factors that help to influence the value of a property, and those that are considered when valuing a domain name.

They say that the three most important things in real estate is location, location and location. It is true. The location of a property is just simply the most important factor to consider when valuing properties. A property in Beverley Hills is worth much more than a similar one located in downtown Los Angeles.

London will host the 2012 Olympic Summer games. There is now a mad rush and demand for land and dilapidated properties that are close to the London 2012 Olympic park. The area immediately surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Park is like a giant construction site.

The real estate complex that I live in was just completed last December. The major selling point for the developer was the proximity to the Olympic Park. This gave them the opportunity to overprice the units by over £100,000 more.

View of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium (under construction) from my apartment. The green cranes outline the inner circle, where the athletics track will be.

I will have a very clear view of the Olympic Stadium when it is constructed. I’m so close to the venue, I should be able to naturally hear the fans screaming during the 2012 Olympic games.

In normal economic conditions, the value of properties would have increased by 30-60% by 2012. For properties in my neighbourhood, there will be an even bigger increase when the Olympic park and its various sports facilities are completed. There will also be the Stratford International Rail Station next to the Olympic park, where one can board a train and get to Paris, France in just over 2 hours. There will also be brand new shopping centres, and a vast amount of new constructed properties and apartment complexes.

The face of neighbourhood is changing daily. Although the neighbourhood is like a giant construction site, when all is said and done, I may earn as much as a million dollars in the increased property values. Thanks to location, location, location.

Other factors affecting the value of a property would include the age of the property, state of the property, size, income potential, proximity to top schools, parks, transport links, shopping and recreation.

With regards to domains, the domain extension mirrors the location aspect of real estate. A dot COM is more valuable than a dot NET, BIZ, INFO and so on.

If the domain consists of a word that can be found in the dictionary, then it is even more valuable. Other factors that can positively impact the valuation of a domain name are:

- keywords - most popular search keywords are more valuable;
- length of the domain name (a shorter domain is more valuable, whereas a bigger property is worth more);
- Niche, industry or market sector that the domain name relates to;
- Previous uses of the domain name;
- Current traffic to the domain name;
- Past sales data/trends in the domain industry.

This is just a general overview of factors that help to determine the value of a property, as compared to those that influence the value of domain names.

The real juice of this series will be in the comparison between acquiring a property and the methods of acquiring a domain name. Other comparisons will include revenue streams, expansion of revenue streams, taxes and expenses, diversification and more.

I will aim to publish another article next week.

I have being receiving a few emails regarding the remaining articles in the Real Estate VS Domaining series.

I will be publishing another article later this week. I am just a little bit busy with a few projects involving the development of some of our domains.

Stay tuned.