• Christmas.tv for $32,000
• Business.tv for $100,999
• Shows.tv for $20,500
• Learn.tv for $41,000
• Vacation.tv $14,000
• Fantasy.tv for $10,600

The .TV domain extension has been limited in its adoption for many years due to its registry not being clear enough with registrants on the exact plan for future renewal fees. The up front cost for acquiring premium .TV domains was relatively high and the renewal fees sometimes in the thousands of dollars per year.

This was largely rectified by Verisign with these newly purchased premium domains now being subject to only a nominal annual registration fee ($20 – $30 per year).

My favorite from the Sedo auction was Business.TV although all of the above keyword domain names qualify as premium choices in any top level domain extension. Business.com became one of the most impressive and interesting sales in domaining history, and inspired legions of domain investors to stake their claim in the new domain name frontier.

Robert DeMartinis (from Philadelphia) acquired the ultra premium domain name, Business.US, some years ago. This is a multi-million dollar internet domain name by any definition, and will one day make a tremendous asset acquisition for a U.S. based corporation.

Similarly, Business.TV has great potential for branding as a business-centric media portal. Currently, the domain’s whois is not yet reflecting the new registrant owner so it’s not possible to determine if the buyer is a private individual, a group of investors, or a single corporate level end-user.

The Sedo .TV auction was successful, and attracted a considerable number of buyers offering them a new opportunity to enter the field of domain name investing and development.

Everything imaginable is being channeled to the internet. And this tidal wave of information is accessed through logical, intuitive web addresses otherwise known as premium domains. 

From an investing perspective, domain names are demonstrating not only unprecedented price appreciation and return on investment, but an ability to hold value through time while other investment vehicles experience decline. Premium domains possess a rare combination of attributes which increase their business application & value … especially to those companies who are looking to distinguish themselves on the internet world stage.

Domain marketplace, Sedo, reported last month that for select tld’s the sales growth of domains in 2008 was as much as 57% higher over the preceding year, and that …

The secondary domain market is one of the few industries withstanding the economic downturn of 2008.

Sedo also reported that “Marketers are seeing better returns in acquiring domain names as opposed to search marketing in their efforts to drive traffic to their businesses”.

Domain name sales for 2009 have been projected to increase over 2008. It appears thus far that this calculation is going to be proven true. In the early days of the internet, companies were either not aware of the importance of domain names in driving their business, or they were skeptical that the internet would become a long-lasting, robust medium for furthering their growth.

Fast forward 10 years from 1999 and we now see the future is here. Company stocks are a risky venture. Real estate has declined, but is consequently now offering good buying opportunities in select markets. And domain names have taken a seat alongside every other major investment category. In fact,  the rate of return on many premium domains has surpassed any other investment in history.

Investing in anything requires due diligence. It also requires intelligent speculation and an ability to look forward toward evolving trends. Today’s internet entrepreneurs looked forward at a time when everyone else was looking backward.

Capturing high return investments is the end result of: persistent learning, open-mindedness, an ability to weigh alternatives, and the will to act while a window of opportunity remains open. Enjoy your day.

Think big

Sound a little like hype? Depends on your perspective, or lack of one. Newspaper, radio, television, global commerce, healthcare, university instruction, on and on, are being digitized and delivered to the world via a variety of high-technology devices. So advanced are these devices that they make the internet simple, and more readily accessible with every passing day to billions around the world. From a pure business perspective, this equals multiple revenue streams. From a human evolutionary standpoint, it’s a continuing advancement with no end in sight.

As you can tell, I’m an optimist. But also, proudly … a realist. If one evaluates what the internet has achieved thus far, that in itself is incredible. The world wide web has dramatically changed global business on an unprecedented scale. The wheel, electricity, and maybe the auto are its only peers. The exciting part, for me, is that the juice hasn’t even been squeezed yet from the fruit. We have witnessed thus far only a trickle, or glimpse, of greater things to come. Many have commented that the internet is in its infancy. True and correct in the extreme.

So what about domain names?

They’re about one thing only … language, and the power of a word. The internet has been constructed, for all of the correct reasons, around the simplest and most direct form of communication that we know. The …

word: a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning.

Beautiful in its simplicity, the domain name is the concise unit of language which has no parallel (or substitute) for connecting a person with their internet destination. Like an accurate street address, it’s all you really need to get you there. Naysayers and chicken little’s like to pontificate that somehow language will be replaced by some abstract technology (a series of grunts perhaps?) that will render domain names, or “web addresses”, obsolete. For that to happen, domain names would have to stop serving their purpose. All the more improbable since domains function perfectly for billions of internet users day in and day out.

The domain market has a bright future?

What we have witnessed over the last decade is universal acknowledgement of domain name value. No one had to pump it because it sold itself. You read much in forums about clear, descriptive domain names that are easily conveyed both in writing and in verbal communication. We call these great domains, premium domains, high-quality web addresses. These all mean the same thing: They’re the Best!

Just below “the best” is a multitude of excellent two and three word domain names each of which also describe a unique business, service, or product that internet users aim to find. Whether a single word, or a highly targeted three word phrase, domain names transport the user to their desired destination like no other technology or concept. Why is this? Because domain names (words) are: the simplest unit of language that function as a principal carrier of meaning. No getting around that. And therein lies their eternal value and universal importance.

So, the answer is self-evident. The domain market, like all markets, will ebb and flow, peak and valley. But within that cycle … is incredible opportunity. Domain values will continue to appreciate over longer time horizons. One is encouraged to ignore snapshots of time (which reveal little), and focus more on spans of time which are more accurate predictors of domain trends and future growth. From my perspective, the trend is both excellent and promising.

Domaining, as a relatively new business and investment vehicle, is widening out to catch the attention of corporations, venture capital investors, entrepreneurs, and the everyday person. It’s not about riding a wave that’s here today and gone tomorrow. The Domain Industry is a real market that is maturing and taking shape, and which will sustain over time. Because underneath the hoopla and the excitement on any given day, there is true relevancy and ongoing necessity for quality domain names. The evidence is everywhere. The evidence is all around us.