Of a Top Level Domain Fanboy — The Lifecyle

Here’s what happens in the domain investment world whenever a fresh top level domain name is released.

Every time a fresh top level domain name comes out — be it .mobi or .tel — I see a similar cycle of “fanboys”. I think of “fanboys” like those Apple fans who think the firm can do not wrong. Like Apple fanboys, domain fanboys blindly drink the kool-aid, only to be disseminated later.

It follows a similar trend every time, regardless of the domain.

Phase 1: Quiet buyout of domain names – during this period, the fanboy pays attention to buzz regarding the fresh domain name on forums. They particularly look for any “big name” domainers that might be buying domains in the TLD. The fanboy starts to hand register and perhaps acquire some domains in the TLD, but keeps quiet regarding it. He’s amazed at the good keywords available; keywords that would cost six figures in .com.

Phase 2: Gloating – during this phase, thefan boy goes around to a number of forums talking regarding how they got some great domains — such as money.tld, england.tld, etc.

Phase 3: Pumping – now that the fanboy has spent lots of money on the tld, (s)he makes sure to promote it and make other people feel like they missed the boat, and they must buy now. The fanboy realizes he isn’t making anything from domain parking, of course, and will need to sell the domain names to make money. He will make numerous comments on forums and blogs regarding how everyone else “missed the boat”. Of course, he’s willing to let you in on the action if you want to buy some of his names. The pumping phase is particularly long, since the fan boy has nothing else to do with the domains other than to promote them.

Phase 4: Quiet worry – not having sold many of the fresh domains, the fanboy starts to wonder if he has lost his investment. Maybe development is an option? What happened to the secondary market? Where are all of the big buyers? Ought to I look at history to understand what happens to the value of these fresh TLDs? The Fanboy is disappointed that major auction firms reject his domains for auction, buyers are few and far between, and Esitbot doesn’t understand the potential value of these domains.

Phase 5: Blame – realizing the fresh TLD won’t create quick riches, the fanboy starts to blame the registry. “The registry isn’t promoting the TLD enough!” they yell.

Phase 6: Disillusion and the “give up” period – those same fanboys who left dozens of comments regarding how this TLD was the next great thing suddenly return to leave dozens of comments regarding how “this TLD will never amount to anything”. This phase can overlap with phase 5. Following all, there’s plenty of blame to spread around, and certainly none of it ought to be pointed at the domainer who invested in the TLD with hopes of quickly flipping his way to millions.

Phase 7: There’s a fresh TLD coming out! It’s going to be awesome! Rinse and repeat phases 1-6.