Make Way For Green Collar Jobs
As the Going Green Train picks up more and more steam, new domaining opportunities are presenting themselves. And today, I have another list for you!
Fast Company magazine has published the best green jobs for the next decade. I’ll post a little comment about each, but you may also want to check the article out for what they have to say about their choices.
- Farmer - They claim that America has just 2 million farmers, and sustainable agriculture will require tens of millions. The new farmers will be small-scale local farmers. Sound familiar? That’s because back in November I claimed that local farming was going to get big. The article offered these related careers: urban gardener; farmers market and CSA coordinator; artisanal cheesemaker (artisinalcheesemaker/s.com are available).
- Forester - The modern forester will be moving away from the mass deforestation of doing things and more towards silviculture; the more efficient and environmentally conscious way of harvesting timber.
- Solar Power Installer - A bit of an obvious choice. This is more along the lines of personal solar power and not commercial. Again, personal solar power is something I blogged about last June. Couldn’t agree more with this choice.
- Energy Efficiency Builder - The article claim that buildings account for 48% of the U.S.’s energy use and greenhouse gas. So this should be one of the primary targets of a carbon cap/trade system. They point out that Passivhaus, which- and sorry for sounding like a broken record- I blogged about just days ago, would be a good standard for the U.S. to adapt.
- Wind Turbine Fabricator - The article claims that wind is the leading and fastest-growing source of alternative energy. They’re not citing any sources for this stuff. But they do make an interesting point: turbines are 90% metal by weight, creating an opportunity for auto workers to adapt.
- Conservation Biologist - Pretty much is what it says it is: biologists whose primary focus is to preserve the integrity of ecosystems.
- Green MBA and Entrepreneur - This time they cite a source and claim that legal, research and consulting account for the majority of green jobs. I think they’re dead on here. 10 or so years ago, companies began hiring their own IT people. Now, you’d be hard pressed to find a successful company that doesn’t have it’s own IT. And now, they’ll begin hiring their own green people.
- Recycler - Again, perhaps one of the more obvious choices. But stop thinking paper and plastic and start thinking steel, clothing, glass and other various construction materials.
- Sustainability Systems Developer - Green code writers!
- Urban Planners - I suppose I see it. I mean, due to the limited number of urban areas that would require persons such as this, this probably won’t be as popular as, say, solar power installers.
I think there is plenty of opportunity here, not just in domain names but also for those looking to develop them. The government threw a good deal of stimulus money at this area.
I’ll throw in a few of my own as well:
- Auto Mechanics - Though the article says that auto workers can adapt their skills to the wind industry, why not get a couple new skills so they can work on the new cars? You know, whatever ends up succeeding the petrol-based cars we have now: electric vehicles, hybrids, whatever. When I worked in the auto field, I personally saw old timey mechanics fade away as the mechanical-based vehicles disappeared off the road. These guys found it hard, and some simply refused, to work on the new cars that had computers and electrical systems. The current set of auto workers can learn from those earlier mistakes. Oh, and being that people have not been buying new cars as of late, that means they are driving more and more used cars. Those will eventually need service. So the auto workers in the service field may start seeing better days sooner rather than later.
- Smart Home and Auto Software Programmers and Interface Designers - I’ve been convinced that our appliances and other home items will be connected on a home network. Your fridge will know when you used your last stick of butter and put it on your grocery list for you. Your home security system will be on the network, allowing you to monitor it from work. I know, those aren’t green. They’re just the most obvious examples of a wired house. For green examples: your house will be able to tell you how much energy you are using in a more friendly way. Your car will give immediate feedback on your gas mileage (not new, but most cars still don’t do it) and your hypermiling techniques (new). These things will need programs to operate, and perhaps more importantly they will need smart, easy and friendly interfaces for the non-tech savvy to be comfortable enough to use them.
- Green Lawyers - Environmental lawyers will be en vogue. Not just those fighting FOR the green, but also against it. Yea, something tells me the oil companies can, and will, afford better lawyers.
Know of any green jobs not listed here? Share your ideas!
Subscribe to TrendDomaining.com using your favorite reader!
A Domainers Long Hard Look At Bail Outs Part 1: The Auto Industry
The auto industry is hurting: it’s down 20% from this time last year. In case you don’t know how auto dealerships work, here it is: dealerships don’t own the new cars on their lot. Who can afford having 100, 200 or 300 new cars at ~$25k a pop? In order to get around this problem, they simply take out a loan for every new car they get shipped to them. They then pay one or two payments before selling the car outright. They pay off the loan and the difference is their profit (plus accessories and anything else they upsold you, otherwise known as gravy; their real money maker).
This is a common business model for companies that have high priced inventories, such as industrial/commercial copy machines.
So if no one is lending, then who will the auto dealerships get money from to put cars on their lot? When you combine an already slow economy; inventories that are truck/SUV heavy; and the lack of lenders, auto dealerships are getting hit hard.
In the past year alone, over 500 GM, Ford and Chrysler dealers have closed shop in the U.S. They are dropping like flies and it’s not just the small dealers: giants like Bill Heard are waving the white flag.
This leads up to a secret: the auto industry got their own bail out. It was rarely in the news until Congress passed it and Bush signed it into law. Even then, it was a footnote in a period where a $700 billion bail out was being ironed out, a presidential debate was happening, huge companies were being bought, a stock market crash and constant hype for the VP debate. It was genius of them to ask for it, really, as $25 billion is chump change when compared to $700 billion. Not to mention our top three auto states, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri, have struggling economies and are battleground states this fall. They were all but guaranteed on getting this loan.
In 1979, Congress bailed out Chrysler to the tune of $1.2b. This bill is $25b (the most allowed under law), and the auto industry will be pressing for $25b more. Each of the big three will receive about $5b, with the rest going to suppliers. This is different than the $700b bail out in that this is a straight up loan at a cheap 4% or 5% (they are paying 10% to 15% now) rate that they have to begin paying off in 2013.
One of the problems is that the “strings” attached are not really strings at all. This money must go to retooling and updating plants and assembly lines and develop advanced fuel efficient technology. The loophole is that the auto makers already spend billions on this. They can now apply the bail out money to these departments and simply shift the existing money elsewhere. That makes this “string” completely pointless.
Another “string” is that there is language in the bill that says the money can only be used on factories that have been in operation for more than 20 years, leaving out foreign manufacturers that only started building in the past ten. That makes this a Big 3 Bailout.
Whether you agree with this bail out or not is moot. It happened, and only time will tell whether it worked or not. The point is that $25 billion has just been inserted into the Michigan economy and auto industry.
What kind of trends can you expect from the Auto Bail Out?
Dealerships will surely keep dropping due to the struggling economy while failing to get out of the truck/SUV markets in a timely fashion. This will reinforce an existing trend of buying your car on the internet with sites like AutoBuyTel and CarsDirect. I bought my first new car with AutoByTel in 1998 and I can personally say that buying your car on the internet is a breeze. If these online companies keep getting bigger, they may begin to offer kickbacks for referrals. That would be a welcomed addition to a niche considered to be one of the three biggest investments you will make in your life (education, and home are the others).
This will speed up their research and production of fuel efficient vehicles, reinforcing that huge trend.
Another trend the $25 billion auto bail out will start is the actual act of asking for a bail out. The airline industry must be raising an eyebrow to this bill and I’m sure they are piecing together their request as I write this. Who else? Brick and mortar retailers? The rail industry? Manufacturing? Shipping? Construction? Health care? Social Security?
How about actual states in our union? If your state is having a hard time paying its law enforcement, hospitals or teachers, why not ask for a bail out? They will ask. And if they ask, they will receive. Why? How can you say no to paying a teacher, or an officer, or nurse? You can’t. They will guilt trip everyone into saying yes.
The new hot keyword, Bail Out, could be here to stay for a good while.
Subscribe to TrendDomaining.com using your favorite reader!
U.K. Trend Lets People Live Their Dreams For An Hour
Everyone has a dream car. For most people, a dream is all it will ever be. So you can’t afford the $400k price tag on that Bentley Continental GT Convertible, for just 1/400th of the price you can “hire” it for a day!
In the U.K., supercar rentals is big business in 2008. Luxury manufacturers like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche are being rented out to those who want to drive their dream car for a couple hours or even a whole day.
Google Trends shows that “supercar hire” and “supercar rental” have broken through this year in the U.K. Not so much in the U.S., at least not yet. Google either phrase and you’ll find plenty of companies that are doing this.
For this trend, the .co.uk domain would be better than the .com, at least in the short term. I would still keep an eye out and snatch up both if you can.
Subscribe to TrendDomaining.com using your favorite reader!
Domainers Don’t Need Time Machine To Predict Future
It doesn’t matter what generation you belong to, Back to the Future has a soft spot in many childhoods. The trilogy has spawned plenty of trends, both real and myth; who remembers when everyone thought hoverboards were rumored to be real AND in production? The biggest thing to come from the movies is the unmistakable stainless steel DeLorean. It’s an icon of American film history.
DMC filed for bankruptcy in 1982 with it’s namesake getting caught dealing drugs to keep his company afloat. But it never completely disappeared. 9000 cars were originally built, and 25 years later there are an estimated 6500 still out there! Fans of the movie, and the car, kept it alive. This demand allowed companies to continue building replacement parts. One such Houston company actually bought out the remaining official inventory, including 200 of the original engines, and used them to refurbish and sell fully functional vehicles.
The big news? The DeLorean is coming back into production at the end of 2008. This Houston group purchased the rights to DeLorean Motor Company Co. (including website and engineering trademarks) and will be producing about 20 units a year. Sure, it won’t be the classic DMC-12 model that zipped through time in the ’80s, but it will be close.
With a base price of $57,500, it’s not for everyone. But it still carries the name DeLorean. Of course, you should avoid registering any domain names that violate trademarks, but I think you can get creative here and develop some nice mini-sites or even full blown info-sites before this hit gets bigger.
Subscribe to TrendDomaining.com using your favorite reader!