Quote: "Rupert would even acknowledge that some part of his interest in the WSJ goes beyond economics,"... The value of companies should in theory be equal to the total worth of their future cash flows, Buffett explained. But some businesses, such as sports clubs, movie studios and important national newspapers, have an extra value Buffett called the "B factor." .. The B factor at Dow Jones is huge, probably second only to the New York Times in the whole world," Buffett said.
Ughh .. The New York Times? Come on Mr. B. .. maybe in 1978 when the BeeGee's sang about it in Saturday Night Fever. We can all understand the tenor of what Mr. Buffet is speaking to of course. There is a power, influence, branding and cachet value that transcends the cash-flows the business can bring.
Domain names are the clasic "B Factor" investment of course. Why else pay 140X for a name like snoringcure.com ($8,000+ at Snapnames.com today). It will be a frosty day in Hell when PPC revenues pay for that one, but I now own a great snoring name! I can sell products relating to the malady .. some of them may cure my snoring (much to my wife's relief). It is generic, descriptive, easy to buy traffic for, easy to arbitrage - I could probably live off that one name! Man you gotta love domains. NYT example notwithstanding.. Buffet is right.
Frank - I thought your business revolved around ppc as opposed to developing or selling domains?
If so, you are not likely to develop snoringcure.com to make a profit on your $8000.
Or have I misunderstood?
***FS*** Everything is in development.. it's just happy coincidence that the best names to develop also bring a trickle of PPC revenues. In this case, the intrinsic value of a name as a brandable site, as a tool for buying traffic from search engines far and away eclipses what I can make selling PPC right now.
Posted by: JP | May 07, 2007 at 12:12 AM
Frank,
Domain name newbie from UK here & a regular reader of your blog.
What volume of typed-in traffic would you expect for that domain name? What's so good about that domain name that prompts you to pay 8K? Why not develop a new snoring related domain name and save the 8K? I presume I'm missing something here!
JC
***FS*** Just a trickle John.. its about the intrinsic value of the name.
Posted by: John Cronin | May 07, 2007 at 03:34 PM
$8,000 could really be a fair price if you take the revenue that could come of it in let's say 5 year period.
There are probably a billion if not more people with snoring problems. And I'm sure that cures for this aren't too cheap. A huge potential market and expensive products... I don't think it would take 120 years to earn those $8,000 back.
English isn't my native language, so excuse me if this sounds stupid... but did you buy this name and what was the point you tried to make in the end?
***FS*** No your English is fine.. multiples are maleable
Posted by: Business Card Guru | May 11, 2007 at 03:40 AM
Frank, what are your thoughts about highly-descriptive three-word generic .coms, given that you mentioned lower PPC names often are very developable. Do you own many/any currently?
For Example:
NewWirelessPlan.com
Do you see increasing value in these generics, IYO?
P.S. I was on Grand Cayman recently snorkling Hamburger Reef and thought about you working there. Coffee "on me" next time!
***FS*** I like compound search phrases providing they have a high overture style rank apart.. Reason? If people are searching for the phrase as a part of common vernacular via the engines, then it's possible to harvest those visits from the engines via arbitrage or paid search plays. Also the sitres are more recognizable to the average surfer as a common phrase they are "looking for anyway".. That said.. I also like memorable multi word strings if they are catchy and have resonance: seewhathappens.com <-- recent superbowl commercial.
Posted by: Dean Phillips | May 14, 2007 at 04:44 PM
Same outlook for longer famous phrases?
> reportsofmydeath.com
Posted by: Robert | June 15, 2007 at 12:11 AM
SinusWorld.com is dropping soon... who could've smelled that one coming?
Posted by: Jason | July 09, 2007 at 01:25 PM
Does it not therefore make sense to apply the same rationale to solid IDN names in major languages?
Should these too not be judged merely on the basis of weak traffic, due to poor browser support, but more on the intrinsic value of the names?
Posted by: David Wrixon %2 | July 09, 2007 at 03:23 PM