Yes I got his interview. The man behind Namescon & Resume.com Richard Lau :). Named 2004 “Domainer of the Year”, Richard has generated millions of dollars in revenue in the domain industry. As part of his consulting services in domain forensic background checks (for domain purchasers) Richard was asked to investigate alleged hijackings of various domains. Now, having overseen the rescue of many high-value stolen domains such as God.com, Religion.com, Wifi.com, Iraq.com and others, Richard has become an unfortunate expert in the area of domain hijacking recovery.
Described by customers and colleagues as “a true professional”, Richard is recognized for his integrity, creativity and tenacity.
Specialties:
– Domain Name Consulting
– ICANN Registrar Consulting
– Domain Name Hijacking Recovery
– Domain Name Monetization
– Domain Name Consulting
– ICANN Registrar Consulting
– Domain Name Hijacking Recovery
– Domain Name Monetization
Namescon premium domain conference is hitting up in Las Vegas Jan 22-25, 2018 . Dont miss it. Sign up now here Namescon
Hey Richard welcome to BloggersIdeas, can you please introduce yourself and share your jouney in domain industry ?
Richard: Thank you for having me on here. My journey has been a long one but I will try and summarize it here otherwise it would be actually quite a long answer. I started in domain names in 1996. Unfortunately I did not take advantage of reselling domain names until 2002. Prior to that I had been focusing on providing services as a registrar and DNS provider. At the end of 2013, I started NamesCon which is now the world’s largest commercial Internet domain name conference.
Why did you choose Domaining?
Richard: It provides massive leverage of the Internet without having to carry any physical inventory and allows you to work from anywhere!
Apart from domaining any other business you have?
Richard: With partners I have developed some websites on great domains that we have acquired such as Resume.com. But beyond the Internet I do not have any other businesses.
Can you share details about Namescon 2017. Why is this is big event?
Richard: NamesCon is entering its fourth year. Starting with 500 attendees in 2014, we expect approximately 1400 industry professionals to attend in Jan 2017. This is truly a global event with participants coming from dozens of counties from around the globe. With a focus on networking and positive business opportunities, NamesCon is the place to build revenue, gain customers and discover opportunities. We have kept the cost of attending down and hold NamesCon every January in Las Vegas. The majority of domain industry insiders have it on their calendar as a must-attend event.
Do you actively market your domains for sale, or do you take the sit-back-and-wait approach? If you had one (or more) piece(s) of advice to give to new domainers, what would it be?
Richard: Generally, for the few domains I own, I take a sit-and-wait approach. Though I know of others who have success cold calling end users, I’ve never had much luck – at least at the asking prices I am holding out for.
Can you remember a remarkable day when you made a considerable amount of money through domaining? Can you tell us the story and what did you do with that money?
Richard: I went for lunch with someone in the business and we were discussing zero click traffic. Apparently he was earning twice the per visitor rate than I was – on the same advertiser. I purchased his domains, and then asked him to let the advertiser know that I was the new owner. The advertiser called me apologetically since they knew they had been caught low-balling my traffic. My revenues increased substantially. It turned out to be a very profitable lunch! I used the funds to support WaterSchool and also to pay down the mortgage on my home.
What impact do you think the Chinese market has on the Western domain industry?
Richard: There has been a large influx of investment by the Chinese market players which has resulted in higher prices for short domains. When the Chinese market slows or pauses this can have a shake-out in the Western domain industry for people investing for the short term.
What are your favorite domain investing tools and resources?
Richard: I use: DomainTools.com, Whoisology, DN Academy, Estibot, NamePros, Sedo, Afternic, and Uniregistry.
What makes domain names so powerful from an investment standpoint?
Richard: They are, or can be, revenue generating assets. This is the core message of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Don’t spend money on depreciating assets, invest in revenue generating assets.
What is the best domain you regret not purchasing?
Richard: Music.com. But I think I have more regrets on domains that I sold too early. I had a few two letter .com domains that I should have held on to.
Are there any good $20 domain names available right now?
Richard: Yes, but they are buried in and under bad $20 domain names. The art, skill and luck is to find them!
How many ways do you categorize domains?
Richard: Super Premium, generic, brandables, traffic and garbage.
What types of domains are the best from an investment perspective?
Richard: Super Premiums are the best from an investment perspective but it’s an expensive game to play. And you have to be patient to be able to wait to sell it to the best case end user. I’m also liking brandables – the kind that BrandRoot, Namerific and BrandBucket are selling.
As the web gets more competitive, I believe any single sign of quality will likely have less of an overall effect on a website’s position on the web. Do you believe that is true for domain names as well, or will everything being so gamed only increase the value of domain names?
Richard: I believe the value of good, short dot com domains will continue to increase. The new tlds will hold decent value on short domains but it is harder to pick which ones to invest in.
Is this a good time to invest in UK domains ?
Richard: Yes, if Brexit comes to fruition the U.K. market will be more isolated and the online purchasing will be even more concentrated onto “local” sites rather than global or regional sites.
Interesting questions! Hope to see everyone in Las Vegas Jan 22-25, 2018 for NamesCon!
