Marketing Headhunter

Branding Generic Domains (Part 2)

DALLAS, TX - A Dallas-based reader of my previous post on generic domains posted this follow up:

"I just wish I had read this when I set up my domain name 4 years ago. In a small business, you just have to make things happen without adequate information. Now I hate to replace my domain since I have so much invested in it."

At the considerable risk of educating my competition, I have turned my response to this reader's thoughtful comment into a full-blown post on ...

Domaining and Branding

Gentle reader, it's never too late to rebrand!  Especially if your current domain is unmemorable.

My blog limped along in total obscurity as "Proven Ways to Get New Customers" until I rebranded the entire thing as "Marketing Headhunter.com."  My business took off like a rocket when I did -- and given the lifetime value of an executive search client, the domain has paid for itself several hundred times over (literally).  And counting.

Barring some sort of Google spam penalty, it's unlikely that I would ever lose the top spot in the organic rankings for the phrase marketing headhunter.  And even if that were to happen, my existing backlinks, vcard downloads, and type-in traffic would probably keep me afloat.  Still ...

Organic SEO is Unpredictable

One thing I learned from my undeserved expulsion from Facebook is that these giant internet companies can wipe you out with the flick of a switch.  Permanently.  Without warning.  And t'aint nothin' you can do 'bout it.

Don't let that happen to you.

Great marketers use an integrated, multichannel approach to marketing.  Short, generic category specific domains are clutter busting in that they are easy to promote through print and direct mail.  Plus:

Short Domains Convert Better for PPC

PPC conversions are higher when supported by a short, keyword rich landing page URL.  Consider this example of an Adword ad:  "Got Marketing Problems?  Free Consultation.  MarketingConsultant.com"  PPC conversion studies show that shorter URL's fare better than longer ones.  It's a fact.

"But Harry," you say, "all of the good domains are taken."

Not true.  Good domains are available for a price.  The domain "MarketingConsultant.com" is still available for just $20K.  Type www.MarketingConsultant.com into your browser and scroll to the bottom of the page to see for yourself.  The Adwords alone for that keyword phrase are $4.34/click -- and it gets 34 searches per DAY.  For real.

If I were a marketing consultant, that's the domain I would buy.  I'd put it on my Visa card.  I have done that several times for tens of thousands of dollars.

"But Harry," you say, "$20K is outrageous for a domain that cost some guy ten bucks to register."

Do the Math!  Who cares what the original buyer paid?  Price is what you pay and value is what you get.

If the $20K asking price sounds high, ask yourself "If I had a sales rep whose only job was to generate 3-5 HOT leads per DAY and legitimize my business by virtue of his famous name, how much would I pay for that?"

$100K + bonus?  $150K?  More?  Exactly.

Here's another question:  "Could you sell your business AND that sales rep to a new owner with NO backtalk from the rep whatsoever?"  In this case, the answer is YES.  Which means that your investment in the domain will have a terminal value.  A "terminal value" is the final salvage value of an asset in a series of cash flows.

At the risk of oversimplifying, suppose you paid $20K for the domain at 18% on your Visa card.  Then suppose you netted positive cash flow of $5K per year for 5 years and then sold the domain for $30K in year 6 after making another $5K.

Your IRR would be 29%.  At an exorbitant 18% cost of capital through Visa (assuming you never refinanced the loan), your NPV on the domain would be $8600.

Again, price is what you pay and value is what you get.  Keyword-rich domains with even a little bit of content are assets that can make your business much more findable -- and therefore much more valuable.

At least that's been my experience.

Please:  I'm not trying to impress.  I'm trying to educate.  Every one of my VP of Ecommerce clients tells me that we are still in the second inning of the internet age.  It's still early, and domains are the real estate of this space.  Buy yourjob.com.  Buy yourname.com.  Buy yourniche.com.  Buy the names of some companies you'd like to start dot-com.  Use your imagination.

Now is the time to do it.  You're worth it.
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One reason to own generic domains

PALO ALTO, CA - Great post on Aaron Wall's blog this week, in which the search engine expert notes that according to the Microsoft AdCenter blog, 35% of MSN Live Search's top search queries are brand related.  See Brand Keywords Create Your Long-term Sustainable Profit Margin.

According to Mr. Wall, "Brand keywords are easy to own because of their resonance. ... If others outrank you for your own brand, then your public relations stinks or you have major SEO issues.  If others out monetize you for your own brand, then your business model needs to be improved."  Either way, the problem is fixable.

But beyond Mr. Wall's point, if you own the targeted, generic descriptor URL for your niche (such as  NonprofitRecruiter.com or EcommerceConsulting.com), then brand awareness is 100x easier to create because you are merely co-opting what already exists in the mind of the customer and simply tacking on the phrase "dot com."  As in, "I'm a Miami dentist, and I'm on the web at MiamiDentist.com."  Nothing could be easier -- and more instantly credibleizing.  And the beauty of this strategy is that you don't have to pay a fortune dislodge a competitor to occupy the top spot on the customer's mind.

Concludes Mr. Wall, "Investing brand related profits into awareness related marketing helps reinforce your market position.  Even if the ad return is at a break even point it still helps you by building additional attention that leads to additional citations."  Yep.

For Part 2 of this post, click here.
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... and I quote:

Regarding career site, TheLadders, the October 2007 issue of Fast Company says

"... 1.4 million workers pay $30 a month to access 70,000 weekly job listings, all with salaries of at least $100K.  The company is on track for a fourth straight year of 100% membership and revenue growth."

I had no idea they were grossing that much.  That's a $500 million a year business!  I can see why FastCo gives TheLadders 15-1 odds to either IPO or get acquired for big bucks at some point in the next couple of years.

I guess they'll really be raking in the cash when they start to charge for job listings this November.
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My Favorite Posts of Week 35

Here are my top five favorite posts of last week.  Occasionally, candidates and hiring managers ask me what blogs I'm reading, so I'm going to add this as a regular feature.

Let me know whatcha think.

1. The Internet is Still Dead and Boring - When everyone is looking for gold in the same river, the best opportunities are somewhere else.
2. Domain Names for Bootstrappers - A domain name overview for newbies.  Sure, 99.5% of the low hanging fruit has been picked, but opportunities remain for those who stretch.  To whit: Yesterday I bought SEMRoundtable.com on Godaddy for $8.00.  I know.  I was surprised, too.  I imagine that of the 625 recruiting domains I own, 87% of them will be worthless, 10% will subsidize the rest of the portfolio, and the remaining 3% will become the basis of a meaningful business.
3. Conferences and Community - Thinking of speaking at an event?  Read this first.
4. Why Microsoft Should Buy Facebook - Pity about my recent Facebook flap.  That's going to be an interesting recruiting environment, and I hate to be sidelined.  And permanently, no less.  Boy, that seems excessive.  Hopefully, while everyone is looking for gold in the same river, the best opportunities will lie somewhere else.  Onward.
5. The Promise & Reality Of Mixing The Social Graph With Search Engines - Danny Sullivan squares off with Robert Scoble on the future of search.  A very useful post.

My take on the SEO "man-vs-machine which-is-better?" debate:  Search algorithms are like the tax code, and SEOs are like CPAs.  Google is like the federal government.  SEOs simply want to know what Google's rules are, and then push the limits of what's "legal" in order to get the best results for their clients.  Just like a CPA.  Tax evasion is illegal.  Tax avoidance is legal, ethical, and expected.

Black hat, white hat, and gray hat tactics will remain in the SEO's playbook, regardless of how the Google taxcode evolves.  If you predicate Google's organic results on social graph, then that's what SEOs will deal with.  If not, no problem.  It's an SEO's job to figure it out.

People are always going to follow the money.
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POLL: Your Vote Counts

Despite the wonders of internet technology, highly-specialized candidates remain hard to find.  So I'm thinking of starting a recruiting research practice within my executive search firm.  We would provide complete and accurate contact lists of qualified candidates.  The recruiting would be handled by the client -- or my team could do it for a fee.  The target market would be small- to mid-sized businesses who can't source specialized candidates cost-effectively.

QUESTION:  Assuming all you had to go on was a Yellow Pages listing, which of these companies would you call FIRST for such a service?  Don't think about it -- just gimme your first impression ...