DevCon – An ‘Epik’ Event Not To Be Missed
As most all of you are well aware – all 5 of you that will read this - Epik is hosting their 1st Annual Domain Development Conference September 15 – 17 in Seattle. Successful Monetization Through Domain Name Development is the tile and focus. We – and you – must be there.
The Agenda is full of exciting and informative speakers, but with plenty of time for all-important networking to occur. As with other conferences, much of what will be gained will occur outside the sessions – but these are sessions not to be missed.
Rob Monster & Team
Rob and his entire team have a vision of what the web will look like as it evolves. They have taken that vision, created a plan of attack to be successful in that new reality, and implemented the plan with gusto.
While they may have had some hiccups along the way – and likely will have more as they push forward – they have handled all with class and grace. They have gone above and beyond with their efforts and have exceeded my expectations to date. This is NOT to blow smoke or idolize anybody but simply to state that customer service is an important part of success – and Rob and his Team excel at it.
Results
In addition, the platform appears to be working. It has certainly turned my domains – as poor as they may be – into income generators. They’ve only just begun but here is a sample (as of 9/1/2010):
InkjetMultifunction.com:
- Live for just over 2 weeks
- 1st page Google, #5 on the page
- Around $2 per week so far
BlackFlipFlops.com:
- Live for about 1 month
- 1st page of Google, #4 on the page
- About $4 per week so far
AmethystEarrings.net:
- Live for about 2 months
- Nowhere to be found on Google BUT
- Luke (another great Epik guy) is auditing to see what they can do to help this AND
- Still spits off over $1 per week not even showing in the rankings
Jeansskirt.net:
- Just live this week so nothing to report yet.
Reasons to Attend
I could go into the many reasons that attending conferences is a key to success – but others have covered that topic well over the past few weeks. I could go into why developing your domains into viable businesses is very important in today’s environment – but others have certainly covered that with more facts and with better language than I could put together. And the articles and postings supporting this approach seem to be increasing exponentially lately.
All of the reasons are important, of course, but for me it comes down to one thing and one thing only. When do we stop thinking, wishing, dreaming, and hoping – but not doing? When do we take the time to realize who we are and who we are meant to be – and then DO SOMETHING about it? When do we say enough with the world and what others think? When do we stop listening to our fear and that voice in our head telling us we can’t do it?
My Reason To Attend
I state the time is now. No matter what is occurring around us – moving 2 hours away within 30 days, capital raise for day job, building a business, weather, or holidays – NOW is the time to Stop Collecting and Start Investing (thanks Morgan Linton for the use of the phrase). Success doesn’t come to those who wait but to those that search for it and work for it constantly.
Sometimes, in life and in business, we must make the sacrifices necessary to move forward on that continuous journey of success. I believe this is one of those times – it is in my business at least. My wife and I will be there to learn how to take our business to the next level. We look forward to meeting you there while we learn.
DomainFest Auction – Fail? Updated
Let’s be brutally honest, shall we? If you disagree, say so. If you agree, please comment so I know I’m not alone in my thinking and totally whacked. First let me state that I certainly do NOT mean to imply here that the Moniker team failed. As always, they did a great job running the auction. Moniker is reporting a total of $1.8 million in sales from the DomainFest Auction. BUT, let’s remove the Tshirts.com package from that number. (Special props to the new guy there Chef Patrick & Howard Koop with the brokering of Tshirts.com package for over $1.2 million.) Tshirts.com did not sell because of the auction but because a two hard-working Moniker guys hustled and connected a willing seller with a smart and willing buyer.
I just believe that we, as an industry, failed a bit yesterday. We see in the morning a PC World report that “The New Way to Make Fast Money Is To Invest in Domain Names”. And we read/hear of an excellent talk from Jeff Kupietzky of Oversee.net (both on CNBC in the middle of the business day and yesterday during the event). The marketing was in place for much of the outside world to see the value, the possibilities of investing in this space. And then the auction occured and only $537k sold?
I think most of us agree that the list of names on auction yesterday was quite possibly the best assembled list to date. While I had none at auction (I’m not at that playing level yet) I was disappointed to see so many great names – correction, possible businesses – not get interest at even less than reserve in most cases. It will be interesting to read today the various articles, if any, that appear about the auction. And it will be interesting to see how the Latona’s TRAFFIC auction goes – it’s a pretty amazing list itself. And don’t forget the Epik/Moniker event in September with a focus on developed websites. The results there – good or bad – will give us additional insight from a different view.
I believe in this business. I believe in the power of domain names as the cornerstones of businesses. I believe in Moniker and DomainFest. Just think we didn’t quite take full advantage of a stage/opportunity yesterday. Let me know your thoughts. And please, if I’m wrong then tell me.
Politicians and Domain Names – Fail
Full disclosure to start: I own SuzanneKosmas.com (sortof, I did and now it’s pending delete). I bought it last year during the health care debate. I was going to use it as a political soapbox because of my disagreement with the stance that Suzanne Kosmas, a rep from central Florida, was taking. Mainly, that she just wasn’t sharing her thoughts and wasn’t willing to conduct town hall meetings to hear our thoughts. But I digress.
I ended up too busy to ever get the site going and suddenly renewal time arrives. I’ve emailed the folks with the KosmasForCongress campaign several times. I wanted to sell them the name – AT COST – so that she could protect her name. I’ve made it clear that somebody could grab it that would either try to profit by selling her the name OR put up a nasty counter-site. (I’m not a saint or a even a good guy necessarily, I just believe in karma and try not to piss her off too much or too often.)
You tell me: You can have your name as your main site (or redirected to your existing site) OR you could have KosmasForCongress.com. What happens when she runs for Senate or state office? Just doesn’t make sense to me.
Love to hear your thoughts. Am I missing something here? Feel free to differ or criticize. I have thick skin and look forward to all comments.




