The New James Bond Movie: Quantum of Solace

Don’t have a heart attack, this post is about domaining!

Last night I went to London’s prestigious O2 Arena to watch the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which was released here in the UK on Friday October 31st.

The weather was cold and wet, but that is typical of the British weather. Once we got inside, we quickly forgot about the gloomy outdoors and were ready to be thrilled and entertained.

We were not disappointed. Quite often movies are over-rated, but this Bond movie over-delivered. It was like being “entertained to death” in contrast to being “bored to death”.

I don’t know when it will be released in your “neck of the woods”, but you should definitely see it if you are a fan of Bond films. This film has fewer gadgets and does not even have any of the infamous Bond sex scenes. It is full of raw action, but it is the most realistic Bond film yet. The scenes really looked like stuff that could happen in real life, if you know what I mean.

The new Bond film has broken box office records on its opening day in the UK taking £4.9m, beating the record previously held by Harry Potter.

So what is the Quantum of Solace then, or what does it mean? Well, this is what Daniel Craig, the actor who played James Bond in the film said in response to the question in an interview with the BBC:

”It’s that moment in a relationship that if you tried all else, and you tried to save your relationship, and if you have lost the “quantum of solace” then there is nothing left, so you should walk away”.

I wonder how many domainers are having a Quantum of Solace moment now in the domain industry? The atmosphere in the domaining arena is changing daily. Some question the viability of the PPC revenue model and even the domain aftermarket.

Some domainers may have already disappeared off the scene, without even leaving a note behind. The revenue streams in the industry are flowing in a different direction, and the vibrant domainer-to-domainer trading of rubbish domains is loosing steam real fast.

But should we find this surprising?

I get a feeling of disbelief when I read some of the analogies and methods with which some domainers value domains. The most common will be something like: PPC revenue times “X” amount of months, plus a special bonus depending on the domain extension, add another sweetner for the domain age and don’t forget the milk if the domain name is registered till “X” date, etc., etc. and etc.

Such utter rubbish!

Any potential customer who enquires about PPC revenues when seeking to buy one of my domain names will either get a very nasty response or no response at all. It would be a clear sign that the potential buyer is not an end-user, but just another domain loser. Am sure many will disagree. Feel free to post your comments.

What happened to the good old “intrinsic value” and the branding potential of a domain name?

Unless domainers start seeing domains as the foundation for online/offline branding, and not a method of earning easy pennies, we are most likely going to witness an exodus of domainers experiencing the Quantum of Solace.

Sometimes I can’t help thinking that its actually domainers who are either killing the domain industry or hindering it’s growth.

There are hundreds of millions, if not billions of domains registered in every domain extensions. By a very rough, but generous estimate, only 10% of these are brandable or will become brands.

Do you realise who the winners are? The domain registrars and registries. Imagine if domainers had spent less on rubbish domainers and spend more time and money developing brands or selling their skills and/or products/services via a catchy dot COM?

If you have read some of my recent blog posts, you would have by now realised that I am indeed having a Quantum of Solace moment with a lot of domain extensions. It just does not make any sense whatsoever to invest or maintain any interest in some of these domain extensions.

With regards to rubbish domains, it is quite clear that not all domainers get it, by the rubbish domains that they try to sell, and especially by the prices that they trying to sell them for.

Surely, you can create a fancy logo for any domain. Put it on a website and you’ve got something going. But how successful will it be?

To end, there are simply two ways to approach online branding.

Firstly, you could register any domain, regardless of length, extension, spelling or meaning; create a logo, spend loads of money employing SEO experts and PR specialists and then promote the website via every possible advertising channels. Chances are, if you are offering something that people really want, you will be a hit, after the massive and costly promotions.

The second option would be approach the branding from an advantageous perspective, by carefully selecting a domain name that would be an instant hit with search engines and customers. This will cost you upfront to acquire such the premium domain name, but your promotional and advertising costs will be much, much lower over time.

Jackson, Kevin Jackson