Hyperlocal Dating Gone Guerilla
I’m not one to give you a link, say two sentences and move on. But this evening a domaining article made the front page of Digg, which doesn’t happen very often. And the only reason I’m posting about it is because it involves one of the geodomain ideas I had written about.
The full article can be read here.
The author basically uncovers a massive advertising campaign for online dating using lawn signs littered about towns with their respective geo+dating.com printed on it.
I unwittingly wrote about it back in August, here.
A real fascinating, and well-written article.
How To Research A Keyword Geodomain Before You Buy It
To start, this post isn’t about pure geo domains. Those are no-brainers. This post is intended to help you decide if a geo+keyword.com is worth picking up.
Since I found the new Name.com tools I have been doing a lot of mining for geodomains using my trusty Domain Research Tool. There are so many geo+keyword.coms deleting every day, with countless more waiting to be registered. They are littered all over every single site out there.
So how do you tell if you are looking at a winner?
I’m going to leave out things you check for in every domain, such as pagerank, backlinks, indexes, history, etc. That said, there are four main things I look for, other than price, when deciding whether or not to pick up a geo+keyword.com:
- The size of the city/state/whatever. Not just population, but quantity of businesses. City-Data.com can help you here. This is the most obvious and doesn’t really need any further explanation.
- The relation of the keyword to the geo location. Does it fit? Do you want FloridaSnowblowers.com?
- Has it been registered in the other extensions?
- The number of other similar geos that use that same keyword. This is perhaps the most important and the reason why I’m writing this post.
For example: I have a handful of cities and states in the Name.com notification list of deleted names, including “Texas.” If a domain drops with the word “Texas” in it then an email will be sent to me. Yesterday I received a notification that FuelTexas.com deleted and was available to register. I thought it was a pretty good name. But before I pulled the trigger, I wanted to look a little deeper into it.
- Big state, both in size and population. Win.
- Fuel and Texas are almost synonymous. Win.
- It was registered in .TV but the other extensions were available. Lose.
- And finally I ran all 50 states in the DRT with the keyword “Fuel” in front of them. This was going to be the deciding factor in whether I purchased the domain name or not. Unfortunately I found that just 7 Fuel+State.coms were registered. Ouch.
Finding just 7 registered was quite disappointing. I was fully expecting 40+ to be registered. So few means that this simply can’t be much in demand. Still, these two words fit quite well together and since it’s reg fee, it’s worth picking up in my opinion.
Let’s move on to another example. I received an email notification saying that FlightsMichigan.com had deleted and was waiting to be registered. I thought it was a pretty good keyword, so I put it to the test.
- Again, big state both in size and population.
- Not really touristy like Florida or Nevada, but still a great keyword that can be good in any state.
- Again, the .TV was taken but the rest are available.
- Yet another shock: just 12 state.coms have this prefix!
I really thought such a popular keyword would be taken by now. Personally, I prefer geo+keyword.com over keyword+geo.com. It sounds better to me and feels brandable. MichiganFlights.com. Yea, it sounds better. And I’m not the only one that feels this way: running state+flights.com through the DRT… 100% gone. Not a single one is available.
So I decided to look even further into FlightsMichigan.com using one of my favorites: the Google Keyword Tool. “Flights Michigan” has a search volume of 40,500 with some decent advertiser competition. Even further, “Flights Colorado” has 135,000 searches a month and FlightsColorado.com is available! The list of available names are at the bottom of this post.
This is something you should always do before you pickup a geodomain. It’s helped me make purchases many times. There have been a couple instances where I took a keyword and found just 1 or 2 states, or a couple of the top 50 cities that didn’t have the geo+keyword.com registered. Even though there was a time or two where I wasn’t absolutely thrilled with the domains, there is an obvious demand for them.
And remember, none of these are set in stone. This is a guide to help you make a more informed decision. If your gut feeling says to ignore the rules and go for the domain, then by all means do so. I’ve done it myself.
Have fun with these:
flightsalabama.com
flightsarizona.com
flightsarkansas.com
flightscarolina.com
flightsnorthcarolina.com
flightssouthcarolina.com
flightscolorado.com
flightsconnecticut.com
flightsdakota.com
flightsnorthdakota.com
flightssouthdakota.com
flightsdelaware.com
flightsgeorgia.com
flightsidaho.com
flightsillinois.com
flightsindiana.com
flightsiowa.com
flightskentucky.com
flightslouisiana.com
flightsmaine.com
flightsmaryland.com
flightsmassachusetts.com
flightsmichigan.com
flightsminnesota.com
flightsmississippi.com
flightsmissouri.com
flightsmontana.com
flightsnebraska.com
flightsnewhampshire.com
flightsnewjersey.com
flightsnewmexico.com
flightsohio.com
flightsoklahoma.com
flightsoregon.com
flightsrhodeisland.com
flightstexas.com
flightsutah.com
flightsvermont.com
flightsvirginia.com
flightswestvirginia.com
flightswisconsin.com
flightswyoming.com
Oh, and I left FuelTexas.com for someone to reg.
(Something tells me I’ll regret not registering all of these)
Baby Boomers Will Trigger Many Trends
Boomer companions/caregivers where chosen as one of the top jobs of the near future, as chosen by MSNBC. They’re absolutely right. In fact, the Boomers will trigger several huge trends that have already begun to reveal themselves and will be in full swing just 2 years from now.
There are 78 million Boomers, and in the next couple years many of them will be turning 65, making them eligible for Medicare. 78 million! To give you an idea of how many people that is, it is the same amount that live in our three most populated states:
The Baby Boomers are going to begin retiring and hitting up that Medicare. Expect a surge in age-related illness/treatments such as Alzheimer’s and Diabetes in the next couple years. But is that really all that 78 million people can give us?
Hell no. You see, these people will be retiring and that will set in motion oodles of trends.
To start, someone must fill their positions at the workplace as Baby Boomers are one third of America’s workforce. This is something I pointed out in a post about Generation X. Gen X is set to take over. Know their tendencies, likes, dislikes, whatever.
Second, these people may be retiring from their careers, but some (actually, I think most… and so does CNN) will move on to an every-day job… either by necessity to pay the bills, by choice to fill the time, or to fulfill their lifelong dream of starting a business. You should see a boom in the following industries due to retired Boomers:
- Senior job placement and training services. To help them find a job they’ll be happy with.
- Volunteer and non-profit (especially the Peace Corps). Now that they have the time, many will volunteer it.
- Consultants. Many of these seniors will become consultants for the very field they retired from.
- Temp Agencies. Many people turn to them, and Boomers like them because it’s most likely how they started.
- Houseboats. Both sales and rentals. Boomers love them and can now actually spend time in them.
- RV’s. Oh this will be big. You heard it here first: I don’t care about the gas crisis, Boomers LOVE their RV’s. Boomers love to travel, and they’ll do it in an RV.
Third, Boomers are going to want to live in their dream home. The key is WHERE their dream home is located. Like I said: they love to travel, so Boomers have timeshares, second homes and favorite vacation spots all across the U.S. These are the places they will want to move to. So where are these?
In no particular order:
- Flagstaff, AZ
- Tucson, AZ
- Sedona, AZ
- Palm Springs, CA
- San Diego, CA
- Lake Tahoe, CA
- Aspen, CO
- Boulder, CO
- Tampa, FL
- Port St. Lucie, FL
- Sarasota, FL
- Key West, FL
- Orlando, FL
- Boca Raton, FL
- Fort Myers, FL
- Cape Cod, MA
- Santa Fe, NM
- Las Vegas, NV
- Reno, NV
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- Hilton Head Island, SC
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Anywhere Hawaii
- OK, anywhere Florida
- The Caribbean
Boomers already own timeshares or second homes in these cities. I feel there will be a significant surge in population in most, if not all, of these cities/places over the next couple years as the Boomers move in permanently. They are already familiar with them and will want to spend their remaining days, and money, in the place that most makes them happy. Expect healthy real estate markets in these cities.
I’m sure there are plenty more trends as 78 million people are bound to produce many. Are there any you can see the Boomers setting off?
Olympics Provide Some Obvious, Some Not-So-Obvious Domaining Opportunities
The Olympics are trodding along, complete with heroes, villains and controversy. As you know, the location for the Olympics is chosen many years in advance. For instance, the 2016 summer Olympics may be held in Chicago (it’s a finalist). Domain Name Wire has reported on a domain name dispute related to Chicago’s Olympics.
I wanted to talk about trends related to the Olympics and how you can take advantage of them. There are plenty of domaining opportunities here while still avoiding the trademarks. The most obvious and easy way to find domains is to find out where the Olympics are being hosted.
- 2010 Vancouver, Canada
- 2012 London, England
- 2014 Sochi, Russia
The 2016 Olympics has not been awarded yet, but Chicago is the U.S.’s official nomination for the games and is considered one of the top candidates.
Though it’s not entirely too late to cash in on these, it’s much easier looking even farther ahead. The best time to register the names is REAL early on when there are whispers and rumors. Cities like Sion, Salzburg and PyeongChang have tried for many years to get awarded an Olympics, and have actually come real close on several occasions. It’s safe to say they will be chosen to host an Olympics in the (relative) near future.
Your best chance is with a rumored city as soon as it has become a rumor. Cities whose names have been thrown around are Sarajevo, Poprad and Jaca. Sure it’s a big risk to register Jaca2016.com, Jaca2018.com (taken!) and Jaca2020.com. I guess you just need to weigh your personal risk versus reward.
So these are the long term investment/risk, but they can really pay off for you if you have the patience. But let’s look a little deeper.
For as long as anyone can remember, the Olympics have been a time of truce and world peace. Some say the main reason the Olympics were started by the Greeks was to give warring clans a breather. Is that true? Who knows. It’s just interesting. The point is that there is an unofficial, but historical, truce between nations during the Olympics.
You may have heard about the recent trouble between Georgia and Russia, amazingly just 25 miles from the 2014 Olympic host city of Sochi. I’m not hear to argue whether who instigated the war or not or who is in the right and who is in the wrong. Many people are quite upset at Russia’s reaction (again, whether it was justified or not isn’t the point here). So much so that there are whispers that Sochi may lose its 2014 Olympics. This is a big deal, and an opportunity for domainers. if this becomes a reality, a new city will need to be chosen. And instead of having to wait until 2020 for your domains to reach peak value, you ‘only’ have to wait six years for 2014.
So who could replace Sochi? The two other cities that were up against Sochi were Salzberg, Austria and PyeongChang, South Korea. If anything, they would be the top two choices to replace Sochi.
But like I said, this would be a huge deal. Real low possibility. High Risk. Huge reward.
Moving onward.
The location of the Olympics isn’t the only source for domaining. Unless you live in a cave, you’ve heard or seen Michael Phelps win a gold medal or two. He now has 13 medals, 11 of which are gold; the most of any Olympian in history. Some are calling him the greatest ever.
Athletes like Michael Phelps come along every once in a while, and they can do miracles for their sports, gender and/or heritage, such as:
- Michael Jordan, for basketball. Sure there were others. But he put it on the map like no other.
- Tiger Woods, for golfers.
- Babe Ruth, for baseball.
- Billie Jean King, for female athletes.
- Secretariat, for horseracing. Yea I know he’s just a horse. But he wasn’t. He inspired a nation.
- Jackie Robinson, for African-Americans and those who saw no barriers.
- Jessie Owens, for ALL Americans and doing it in Hitler’s homeland.
- Lance Armstrong, for bicycling and those who have to overcome illness.
- Pele, for soccer.
- Muhammad Ali, for boxing.
These athletes inspired millions. Kids grew up wanting to slam like the Sultan of Swat, be like Mike and dance on a field like Pele. I don’t care if you hate soccer, pull up some video of Pele and tell me you are not awed and inspired.
These athletes change the sports they play. They change the attitudes of the people. They inspire others to be great, and bring hope to those in need when times are down.
If Michael Phelps is being lumped in with these greats, it bodes well for swimming. Kids that love to swim are watching him in awe right now. They want to be the next Michael Phelps, as will millions of others.
The sport of swimming is being given a gift. All those inspired by Phelps will want to take lessons with their new goggles and swim trunks… or build a pool in their backyard.
Everything related to swimming should increase in popularity over the next few years.
And so should the related domains.
Special atheletes can do this for their sport.
Free Unique Content: Night Clubs
My first Free Unique Content post was Hotels and Resorts. I now have Night Clubs.
TrendHunter has posted 18 of the worlds “hippest” night clubs. Their words, not mine. Regardless of whether these really are the hippest, any one of these would be great to add to your geo site.
Lets take the Qua Bottle Lounge in Austin, TX. It’s claim to fame is that its clear acrylic dance floor has an aquarium underneath it. “So!?” you say? The aquarium doesn’t have clown fish or turtles. It has sharks.
SHARKS!
The blacktip reef shark and leopard shark to be exact.
Sure, it doesn’t have great whites or tiger sharks. But these aren’t tiny by any means. Blacktip reef reaches 6 feet in length. The point is that it’s unique and just about anyone would want to see it at least once.
As you can imagine, there are some who are not thrilled about this, mainly PETA. They have gone after the Qua Bottle Lounge so often and so hard that, it can be argued, THEY are the ones responsible for the popularity of this bar. I don’t know why PETA cares so much about these fish, but not other fish used in other establishments.
The shear uniqueness of these night clubs can provide you a couple pages of unique content as they are often accompanied by an interesting story, such as PETA feeding its popularity.
This stuff is gold for your geo site. If you have a geo site focusing on Austin, you should add an article or two about the Qua Bottle Lounge. Your readers will dig it.