What Impresses Me The Most About Domainers

When I started learning about this industry and interacting with other domainers via Twitter, DNForum, and Namepros, I wasn’t sure what to expect. They might not look like it from the outside, but most musicians are cynical, socially inept, and for the most part, miserable creatures. They’re fiercely competitive and often don’t enjoy talking about anything outside of music—or at least it seems that way. So I thought I might encounter the same tunnel vision with domainers—after all, both professions involve a fair amount of isolation, in the sense that they require a lot of time spent alone, staring at a computer screen, or practicing four to five hours a day in a practice room.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. Domainers, at least the ones I’ve met thus far, are incredibly generous and nice people.

I’m not saying that egos don’t occasionally get in the way. Sometimes there are misunderstandings that have to be ironed out. And every one of us has a competitive streak, or else we wouldn’t be doing this. But what I’ve seen from the domaining community so far is a collective willingness to share knowledge, welcome newcomers, and do it all with a level of transparency and creativity that is unparalled. They are always looking for ways to grow and evolve the industry, expand its reach, and think “out of the box.” They even manage to poke fun at themselves from time to time. How awesome is that? Oh, and we have a guy who runs a CONFERENCE on a CRUISE. Beat that.

I was a Twitter skeptic for a long time and put off joining until earlier this year, but by my third day, I had somebody approaching me to help publicize and sell some of my names. This person who had never met me or talked to me before was saying, “I’m going to help you find end users!” I was blown away. I’ve also received invaluable advice from veterans on the message boards, through blog comments, and over email.

I’m also continually impressed with how much the veteran domainers give of their time. Elliot Silver, Morgan Linton, Mark Fulton, Mike Sullivan, Chef Patrick, and others (too many to list here) all have sites that are essentially goldmines of information. Their blogs are well monetized and have become revenue sources for them, but their passion and commitment to their audience, and to this industry, is apparent in everything they write.

On top of all of his development projects and full-time (non-domaining) career that has him dashing in and out of airports, Morgan Linton runs a weekly television show, radio show, and his blog, which is packed with useful information for newbie and veteran domainers alike. A large portion of his weekly show is devoted to evaluating domains submitted by viewers, with advice about which ones to develop, and also “spotlighting” viewers’ current development projects. Again, this is all FREE information. This guy has NO time, and yet he makes time for his visitors, and always seems willing to answer questions.

I’m sure I will meet my fair share of curmudgeons eventually, but so far, I’m incredibly impressed by this community as a whole. The public perception of domainers as “cybersquatters” who are simply sitting on their .COMs and counting their stacks of cash just isn’t true. In reality, they are incredibly enterprising, hardworking, and generous business owners with some fascinating stories to tell (just ask, they’ll probably be willing to tell you, provided you don’t go spreading it all over the internet).

As I remarked to one friend shortly after joining Twitter, “I think I’ve found my people.”