You are here: Home / Archives for July 2010

If Olney is so much into development why doesn’t he have more sites?

July 11, 2010 By Olney Leave a Comment

I came into GroupM being taught quite a lot of new techniques for marketing. My skill level in online marketing on the global level has really improved & even though it’s been less than a year & a half I’ve already been offered jobs at other digital agencies but the knowledge I get from being at a WPP company is great. One of the first things I remember was the concept of unbiased marketing, & seeing lots of paperwork I had to read & sign before joining & afterwards.

Unbiased marketing is where you do campaign planning without being biased. I fully embraced this concept. Also lots of lines in contracts that state I can’t do business that conflicts with the agency I work for, or compete with clients.

Now we get to the meat & bones of this post.

If Olney is so much into development why doesn’t he have more sites?

At one point I had a lot of sites. I had to take a few down because of conflict with a client. Nothing I need to even consult anyone on. It was too close to my personal clients business. After that I have plenty of domains that directly compete with my companies clients. So for me, development is taking longer. I actually use my personal data to enhance strategies for clients. Yes IDN Domain based strategies. I can’t explain everything so fully but I can’t develop everything I want to the extent I want because of work related conflicts.

Then we get to the next part where most domain investors would say: Why not sell the domains to your clients?
That’s where we look at not competing with the agency, & not being biased. Companies are in IDN testing phase. They need this time to evaluate IDN Domain value. “You get it or You don’t” that phrase is easy to say but the reality is advertising globally took a hit last year, & companies want to realize the strengths & weaknesses of new technology. They are in the testing phase on stuff they can register themselves. Me pushing my portfolio would be biased even if it fit within their business.

So yes I do develop a lot of test sites, you’ll see them throughout my portfolio but sometimes it’s a bit harder to pick what to develop when you work for an Ad Agency. You have to follow guidelines. Also you really need to know the strengths of your portfolio & the associated market. Over the last years I have tons of new discoveries with IDNs & the Japanese market. This only came from development.

This post is just to clear the air. Stay New School guys (& lady folk)

Filed Under: Domain Names

Olney – Interview at IDNBlog.com

July 9, 2010 By Olney Leave a Comment

I was asked to do a Q&A at IDNBlog.com. I think Aaron has been doing a really good job with keeping fresh news on there. I’m glad that the blog has interviewed people like Hatta san, & Steve from Wixi, & Ed from NameDrive. You can see my interview here.

http://idnblog.com/2010/07/08/qa-olney-founder-idnforums/

Hopefully some people who read it will put a bit more effort in development.

Filed Under: Domain Names

My post on Frager Factor Blog

July 6, 2010 By Olney Leave a Comment

After I posted my 100th posts on IDNTalk.com & thought things couldn’t get better. I noticed that Owen Frager picked up one of my posts.
http://fragerfactor.blogspot.com/2010/07/best-posts-ive-read-on-domain-blog-how.html
I really have been meaning to write about the same thing & thought that the words Owen said were just point on. The economy is bad I don’t want people going by stats that aren’t relevant.

Thanks..

Filed Under: Domain Names

IDNTalk.com 100th post

July 6, 2010 By Olney 4 Comments

This is the 100th post from IDNTalk.com

Even though I created the first IDN Forum I did not create the first IDN Blog. IDN Blog began in February 2006 while IDN Talk began in November 2006 (maybe a little earlier). IDN Forums actually had a blog I maintained since November 2005 & those posts have been added here too.

I wanted to do a best post wrappup but looking through this blog it just has too much good stuff you don’t see anywhere else.

Through out my time blogging about IDNs & the Japanese maket there are a few points that I keep repeating.

Develop – It’s been 5 years & more either I or others have been into IDN domains. Minisite creation was a suggestion by me so IDN Domain holders can get used to the process of development.  Development is a learning process. If you have experience & know what needs to be done you can create teams of multinationals for development. Starting now is basically pretty late.
Commercial Terms – Get commercial terms. If possible get terms that rely on the internet.
Extensions that make sense to the market – Only recently did Japanese domain services even offer IDNs in anything other than .jp, or .com. I have to update a previous posts but before those other extensions were not available generally in Japanese. Never would I advise anyone to get any extension for Japan except .jp, .com, or .net. I dropped other extensions I had.
Set a Budget – invest within your budget. Sell if you like not because you have to. If you are selling because you have too much people are only going to mainly want your best at their prices.

In the future I will be splitting my blogging time between here & my site International Sem

100 posts & almost 5 years later guys (gerls) control your investments. I don’t want to wait for folks to magically come to my domains & click something. It’s more rewarding to develop something that users want to go to & influence buying decisions. Think New School…

You are here: Home / Archives for April 2010

What can you do with my IDN Domains that I can’t?

April 29, 2010 By Olney Comments (0) (Edit)

I think of my IDN investments in terms of quality of the keyword, size of the market of the term, etc.
I personally think for those of us who invested around 2006 when it was a literal free for all we should not be selling these domains for pennies right now.

We have the knowledge to know that many of the domain investors who are selling for high figures now actually have been holding onto their portfolios for more than 10 years. So I looked at the investment in those terms. I don’t believe targeted consumers will automatically attach ” dot com” or “dot anything” to keywords. Browsers did though. This made parking page monitization easier.

Over the last year or two I have got offers through my whois, for some of my domains. Unfortunately it’s almost always offers for the exact same domains. I keep wondering, if I give you the top tier Japanese domains now, what will you do differently that I can’t do? Sit on it & wait another 5 years when the market is better & resell it? I can do that. I feel most of the offers have been really OK for today’s IDN market.

Anyway I want to take my investment steps further & not just limit it to a domain portfolio.
This all just personal thoughts.. Create your own future.

Filed Under: Domain Names

Geo Site #2 Launched LosAngeles.jp – ロサンゼルス.jp

April 27, 2010 By Olney Comments (5) (Edit)

Ok we seem to be meeting our self set deadlines.

The Japan Geo team has finished phase 1 of Our Los Angeles site.

ロサンゼルス.jp is live we kept the designs same for now, as our main focus is fixing technology to work well with IDNs. Then we can concentrate on making the sites a bit more unique. We also emphasize on what content we put in the site that appeals to our target users. We are also choosing destinations that interest ourselves so that we learn a little bit more about the cities we write the content for. Even being a Boston native when I do the Boston site I’m sure to get more familiar with the hometown I left.

Anyway on to the next travel destination. Great work Japan Geo Team.
It’s the team that makes the difference. We are trying to create long term ventures.
I hope that others following the blog take action too.

Filed Under: Domain Names

Japan Geo site 2

April 25, 2010 By Olney Comments (0) (Edit)

We are almost finished with the second site for the Japan Geo project. Actually I shouldn’t use the term finished but more of phase 1 of the site. Development should be continuous. Most of what takes so long is ignored by the average onlooker.

With Goldenweek coming up soon we should be finished this week to complete our goal of launching 1 Geo site per month. Even though we just started the simple data & A/B testing from making the second site already enhanced what we did for NewYorkCity.jp. For site number 3 I am going to incorporate some new technical solutions to see what are the results.

I’ll be quite happy when we are finished with phase 1 of 5 sites. Then we can bring them all to another phase of the project scope. The only setback will be the team has already started to develop other projects spurred by this synergy.

I’ll try to write somethings about development here but truthfully I think most of the stuff I’ve discovered should have been on the net by now. If you decide to sell your IDNs it is most useful if you can easily answer development issues to potential buyers. The Japan Geo network isn’t just a bunch of sites. It’s going to be an example for IDN development in a highly competitive industry. It’s also ongoing.

I have today & tomorrow to finish my part of JG2 (Japan Geo #2) before I start on #3.
We know the designs are too similar but that’s on purpose for now. We’ll change it later.

Filed Under: Domain Names

車選び.com puts their IDN in use

April 21, 2010 By Olney Comments (2) (Edit)

車選び.com puts their IDN domain in use finally.
After about a year of contacting them they finally got their domain up.
The site is branded with the Japanese characters & unfortunately when I started in IDNs I registered the IDN cause it came up in overture keyword tool.
Afterwards I realized if I dropped the domain they would never be able to use it.
So I kept conversating with ValueCommerce to put me in contact with someone there so I can give (YES GIVE) them the domain. All I wanted was for them to actively use it.

So right now it seems they have built a site around the IDN.
These are smart folks & 車選び.com has become an example for IDN Developers.

Filed Under: Domain Names

People that could make a difference for IDNs

Filed Under: Domain Names Tagged With: , ,

Agency Night Tokyo July 8th 2010

July 4, 2010 By Olney Leave a Comment

Again I’m having my monthly event Agency Night here in Tokyo. Last event went really well about 40 different people came down from different ad agencies, creators etc in Tokyo. The event is not meant to be a massive huge conference more like a casual meet & greet. I went to a different event on Saturday same concept since I wasn’t producing it I got to talk a little bit about domain marketing.

Anyway the event is July 8th from 8pm @ Canaria Bar in Shibuya.
As I wrote in a previous posts its good if people know who you are…

You can access the event site at
http://www.agencynight.com

I’ve posted pix & video from the last event there.
Since this is an IDN blog I do have the IDN for this Branded event. I just haven’t set it up yet. The event is for Japanese & foreigners so I need it without the IDN initially. Also this event may be duplicated by others in other countries so they need to be able to access the site too. Initially think about what you are making & who you are making it for with domain marketing. Since I’m in Japan a few reading this would say I just need the IDN. I know that Agency Night is an event concept I want to be duplicated by others. Singapore may be next. If I didn’t register the domain AgencyNight.com & others like AgencyNite.com someone else will. Now others may get the ccTLDs & I don’t mind but they will only make my brand concept stronger. One thing I learned about while owning a forum is whatever is written on a domain related site somebody will instantly register it.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With:

Best posts I’ve read on a domain blog

July 4, 2010 By Olney Leave a Comment

I’ll start this post with a link.

http://fragerfactor.blogspot.com/2010/07/before-you-tire-of-rhetoric-dont-quit.html

I’ve wanted to write up that some of the measurements used by domaining is a bit flawed. Unfortunately I feel responsible because I too started the IDN Community using things like Overture International bids as a benchmark. These figures are only to be used in relation to see what the market is willing to pay for keywords. The CPC figures have no direct relation to what you will ever get if you park your domain or use adsense. Affiliate is something else, or direct advertising through banners if you create your own network.

I run PPC ads for clients throughout Asia. Those CPC rates that Google supplies or even Yahoo Search Marketing supplies are for companies advertising to see what they are going to spend on the search network. For the content network (now named the Google Display Network) neither Google or Yahoo provides any search data for estimates. It’s more like if you use the content network advertisers put in what they feel like putting in. Usually a starting CPC in most industries is about 50 cents. High CPC for the content network is about $1.

The Search listings is what makes companies money & conversions. The Content network on both Google & Yahoo are mainly for Branding. So 2000 was about traffic 2005 & on was about Conversions. So if you wonder what CPC you are entitled to for most industries except Finance the max CPC for content is generally around $1. So this is a post to explain to anyone wondering why is CPC looking so high but you get .20 cents.

Yahoo Japan feed is different. It actually pays out higher. I can’t explain how but many of my domains ran on Yahoo’s feed for more than a year. The payout was different. I’m sort of trying to work out something for someone with my peeps from Yahoo. Lets see if it pans out or not.

Filed Under: Domain Names, Google, PPC, Yahoo Japan Tagged With: , , , ,

What I’d love to see in the IDN Community

July 2, 2010 By Olney 3 Comments

I’m involved in many aspects of advertising where each of the areas are different. Take acting for instance. Before coming to Japan I was a union actor since the age of 10. When I came to Tokyo it was easy to get into the acting community & start getting work. One of the things that is important is a simple face. I love comedy, not because I’m in Japan but actually I just love doing comedy.  Most of the TV shows I’ve been on just let me adlib because TV producers & directors have seen me, know what I can do, who I worked with before & are confident in what I can do.

Now comes to the other side of advertising, SEM, SEO communities the ones online. SEO, Google put a face on one of the SEO team members for them Matt Cutts. Most of you guys know the guy & probably have seen his face. For those of us in digital advertising there are plenty of publications that always show who are the big guys & important players. With domains think about it who are the guys you trust a bit? Or actually know? Ron Jackson, Rick Schwartz, maybe even Frank Schilling (Frank’s Chilling’), you guys all know the faces & are more likely to listen to them, or what they have to say. I even remember when I owned IDNForums, members seem like they hated Rick Schwartz but the thing is you already know him, & he has no idea who people in the IDN Community are or what they are experts in.

More & more IDN related services are going to pop up. There is a vast variety of faces that are attached to IDNs. Multicultural variety that’s just hidden. I’m pretty open about who I am, what I do. As of now I write this blog for self documentation & for those who wish to read it. I wish there were faces. I think the concept of IDNs has been embraced. These domainers, guys who have blogs under their name, with profiles about who they are pix etc, they just seem more credible to the average person. I might be wrong… but these are my thoughts…

Filed Under: Domain Names Tagged With: , , , ,

What do Domains have for competition?

July 1, 2010 By Olney Leave a Comment

2010 is not the dot com bubble era. I wanted to show what are the areas where domains compete with other marketing tactics. Since I work in advertising I can see where the money is spent by companies. Ten years ago there was money spent on TV, Newspaper, banners, magazines, radio, affiliate, search ads, & outside advertising. 2010 is a new ballpark for advertising. With a lot of the traditional ad a domain would be used differently then than it would be used now.

In 2010 advertisings are going more & more digital: Search Engine Ads, Banner ads, retargeted campaigns, affiliate, social media marketing, blog marketing, online video marketing, analytics, SEO, LPO, and our favorite behavioral targeting.

With a lot of these new online technologies becoming available & needed the marketing people have to try out a lot of techniques to see what works for their company needs. The end result is always one thing Success. How you measure Success is different for every company but that is the goal.

With domains we must leverage what that company or industry needs to gain success. How big is that industry? How competitive is that market? How web savvy is that market?

Marketing budget needs to be looked at. Social Media does not rely a great domain. Your twitter account has a URL, so does facebook. These things impact the decision to buy domains at $500,000. I would be more willing to say it would be good to make a service using the domain & attach like 40,000 people interested in that theme. Or even more. I’m not a disbeliever in domains but I’d just like to open the door to let people see where the money is going. A million dollars can connect directly with many users directly using search & social media. If it’s a huge budget then yes buying a domain is a great option. As before it is not the “only” option. (If you quote me please remember I stated “only” option).

Anyway I with those who are investing in  IDNs to please stick with generic commercial terms. Domains where you can clearly see how they can be used. It7S a fight…

Filed Under: Domain Names Tagged With: , ,

Domain Pairing 2010 with ccTLDs

July 1, 2010 By Olney 2 Comments

One of the reasons why I really like .jp is there is actually space for me to get the domains I actually really like & want to develop. Recently is a new first for me. I have 3 domains for one online service I want to make. All .jp & all make sense.

The first two were registered by me long ago.
The IDN & Latin Letters
Atlanta.jp & アトランタ.jp, I’ve yet to figure out which will be main.
Then I got the ultimate abbreviation ATL.jp in a drop. I couldn’t believe I could be so lucky.
This domain can be used as a shortner or even addition to branding.
Or used as a redirect for users, or an additional email address.

We have to remember domains are best if they can be developed. This is why I do pairing. I want to make sure I control the brand. I have quite a few domains in JP that I bought just to pair them together for development.

Filed Under: Domain Names Tagged With: , , ,
« Previous Page