At this point, I want to say another “thank you” to all the people who have taken the time over the past few days to post comments on the blog and email me, with their appreciation for covering the conference. Out of all the emails and comments, I’m constantly being asked one question “What do you think of the conference?” Even though it’s close to 1.30am, I thought I’d give you a run down.

Here are some of the pros and cons for me. Now I’m not someone that goes to all the domaining conferences. I’d never previously attended a TRAFFIC conference, I’m not a conference junkie, so please factor that in when you read the following:

Pros

• The venue is great - accommodation, gym, facilities, food, staff, the lot. The above picture was taken from my room, it looks out over the ocean. You can hear the waves - very peaceful.
• The quality of the speakers and their presentations is quite good.
• There was something for everyone as the presentations were aimed at all levels of knowledge. This was spot on, considering the cross section of domainers; some are techos, others have very limited or no technology skills, others are more business focused.
• You get to meet everyone in person. The people on NamePros, DNF, company CEO’s, their sales and biz dev guys.
• Great representation across the industry. eg: Sedo, Parked, NameDrive, Moniker, Namejet the list goes on.
• You get to ask all those questions directly to the people who can answer them. For me, some of those tricky parking questions I’ve been thinking about for months, have now been answered - its a big relief.

Cons

• The weather - its raining again! We can’t control that unfortunately.
• There are a very small number of people with very big egos. You just have to laugh.

So, would I go to another conference? Yes, without a doubt. Although I’d want to make sure it was some months away from this one. As domainers, we need to ensure that we actually DO the things we talk about, otherwise its just noise.

Most important of all, we all have limited time on this planet and need to prioritise and ensure that we focus on the things that matter. For me, domaining is a means to an end. Domaining shouldn’t consume your life, so stop reading this and go talk to your family, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, parents, friends or someone that matters to you. Tell them you appreciate them.

Domain name portfolios have:

• Two revenue streams. 1.Advertising - monetizing the direct navigation traffic. 2. Domain sales
• One expense - Registration cost

Modeling Advertising Revenue

• Advertising revenue = volume * price
• Volume is the number of unique visitors. Search volume data (google, wordtracker)
• “Heartbeats” (Overture with extension)
• Price is the amount received per unique visitor. For example, bid price data and number of advertisers.

Five Different Types Of Prices

• Wholesale price. eg:$100
• Flipper price. eg:$200
• Retail price - one that would list through a sales channel
• High retail price - portfolio owners who say they will sell for $X
• Very high retail price - An astronomic price for a domain name

Modeling Probability of Sale

• Actual number of sales divided by size of portfolio
• Depends on sales strategy (flipper -> 50%, retail 1% to 4%, very high retail 0.01%).
• Optimal strategy is average sales price * probability of sale - restocking cost

Restocking is if you sell a domain, can you go out on the retail market and buy another?