So many of us have squashed our passions for the sake of paying for the mortgage or trying to just keep the lights on at home. What we end up leading is a life of quite misery as joy is replaced by a world that seems to be in darkness. We are trapped in indentured servitude and feel like we have nowhere to go to escape..Im here to share with you th...

This is the third in the series on running a traffic test. The first three articles in the series can be viewed at: Part 1 Baseline Data Part 2 Focusing on Performance Part 3 Improving the Revenue In the previous three articles Ive been taking readers through an actual traffic test that a real prospective client is doing with ParkLogic (...

Have you ever been asked the question, How much are you worth? Most people immediately think of it in terms of dollars and answer, Im worth blah, blah, blah. Is this really the best way to view yourself and is money the only measurement of a person? If someone asked me how much my wife Roselyn is worth to me then Id immediately respond by sayi...

A number of things happened to me when I turned around fifty years old. For a start, I found myself less tolerant of putting up with friends that had the habit of making bad decisions and then asking to be bailed out. Why should I perpetuate their illogical decision-making processes? The second thing that happened was I became very aware of my...

This is the third in the series on running a traffic test. The first two articles in the series can be viewed at: Part 1 Traffic Test Baseline Data Part 2 Traffic Test Focusing on Performance As we discussed in Part 2, whats vital in running a traffic test is understanding the performance, both positive and negative. The data is the data bu...

Ive had a long-standing reseller account with Enom for many, many years and being a bit lazy I really havent checked the pricing for a while. I had the need to register a .com recently and as is my habit I found what I was after and went through to my shopping cart. Boy was I in for a surprise! I couldnt believe it but Enom was trying to charg...

Ive never been a believer in going on diets to lose weight..in fact, I think there a load of rubbish. You only have to ask the simple question, What happens when you go off the diet? to realise the yoyo mentality of on/off what we put in our mouths is pretty stupid. What I am a BIG believer of is Lifestyle Change. A positive lifestyle change i...

This is the second in the series on running a traffic test. The first may be viewed by clicking on the link below: Part 1 Traffic Test Baseline Data One of the challenges of running a traffic test is to determine which metrics should be used for comparison purposes. Ive had so many people tell me that all that matters is revenue..I beg to ...

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by the number of things on your todo list or find yourself fighting battles on numerous fronts at once only to discover someones planted a knife in your back? If thats you then keep on reading.. Thankfully I didnt have to pluck a metaphorical knife from my back but my todo list was ever expanding. Im no...

In this blog I would like to share with you about a force more impactful than a trade war and more destructive than an atomic bomb. Each of these incredibly powerful events are nothing compared to the power that can be unleashed by gossip. Yes, you read that correctly, gossip. With the power of an ill-spoken word a friendship can be destroyed,...

Winter has come to Melbourne, Australia and not just Game of Thrones, Westeros. Outside my study window, blustery winds pelt pebble sized hail down to create a white sheet of rubbly ice on the grass. Inadvertently I pull the zip of my sweater up a little higher as if that alone will ward off the cold. This scenario is replayed out around the w...

Getting your hands around the data is paramount when it comes to working with domain traffic monetisation. Ive had a number of readers ask me to write further about how ParkLogic conducts a traffic test and whether it really is worth all the hassle. The first thing we ask for is baseline data from where the domains were previously being moneti...

Embarrassingly, as many readers are aware, Australia has gone through seven prime ministers in the last ten years. The latest PM, Scott Morrison, only assumed the job eight months ago and across the last weekend the nation went to the polls to decide what to do with him. I must admit that I love elections and I cant help myself as Im glued to ...

I need to apologise to readers.I just received some data from Escrow.com that proves that I was completely wrong about the size of the domain sales market. Back in August 2017 I estimated the market to be around $250m and what the latest Escrow data proves is that I was wrong..by a long shot. According to the report, Escrow.com alone sold a...

Understanding how targeted advertising works is a critical part of how domain traffic is monetised. In this article Im going to attempt to unpack online advertising and to help shed some light in what has changed over the years. Back in about 2002, when I first started investing in domains, I made sure that every one of my domains had an appro...

Freedom of speech sounds wonderful but many of us need to have a reality check and realise that it has never existed, it doesnt exist and will never exist into the future. At this point you may be getting a little miffed with me for such an audacious claim, after all, Who has the right to tell you what you can say? Well..me actually.to be fair, not...

I recently conducted an in-depth analysis of a statistically sound sample of a several hundred thousand domains. There was nothing special or selective about the sample and yet the results showed that contrary to many peoples believe, domain monetisation is alive and well. I attend a lot of conferences around the world and I must admit that I ...

Long time ago (about 40 years) in a country far, far away (ie. Canada) I woke up on the Sunday after Good Friday to an Easter Egg hunt. With the recent release of the latest Star Wars trailer I really couldnt resist writing the previous sentence..for me, as a child, Easter was all about chocolate eggs and rabbits. While at a Good Friday church...

For just over a week Ive been laid up sick and had just enough energy to press the buttons on the TV remote control. Last weekend I found sleep virtually non-existent as the pain my throat from coughing kept me awake.but there was a silver lining to my incapacitation. Being ill gave me a lot of time to do some serious thinking. This can be qui...

I just had a read of the changes that the Australian governing authority (AUDA) is looking to introduce to the .AU namespace. I must admit that I found myself quite perplexed that they have no idea what is going on in the domain space. The single biggest problem with AUDA is they are the police, judge, jury and executioner of the .AU namespace...

I just read a newspaper article that suggested the R word is starting to be used in financial circles around the world. Whats the R word you may ask? Recession. If the world heads into a recession, then is this going to have a significant impact on domain investors earnings? You bet it will! I remember reading an article posted by an industry ...

Understanding another person, whether they are a family member, work colleague or even a close friend is the first stage in developing the relationship further. Its easy to gloss over issues when everything is going well but much harder when the rubber really hits the road. Ive found that in a tense situation the first stage in trying to under...

About ten years ago I wrote an article that the holy grail of domain monetisation is the ability to manage mass developments and for management to be able to have a meaningful impact on them. In this article I hope to share some of my own thoughts and experiences on developing a platform to achieve this goal. I should say from the outset that ...

Ive been in Japan for the past eight days and its been a tiring and yet great time. Im writing this blog in a few spare minutes between meetings while sitting at a table in the ICANN registration area. Please excuse me if there are any typos or grammatical errors. I was in Tokyo for the first four days of my journey to the land of the rising s...

As is my custom, Im writing to you from the Melbourne Qantas Club as I wait for my flight to Tokyo, Japan. Yes.you would also be right in saying, Werent you just in New Zealand? Sounds like a bit of jetsetting but its actually more of a tyranny of timing. Last week I was hiking through the pristine wilderness of the New Zealand south island. I must...

In the previous article in this serious I took aim at the two major marketplaces of Sedo and Godaddy/Afternic. I then proposed a business model that solved the problem of the marketplaces being full of bad domains that must reduce the likelihood of sales transactions for potential buyers. You can read more about this hear: Part 1 I now want to pr...

Once again I find myself at Melbourne airport waiting for my flight..but this time theres a big difference. This time Im heading to New Zealand to hike for five days with Roselyn and a couple of friends..its going to be awesome! While walking through the airport Roselyn constantly admonished me to slow down. I dont know what it about airports but...

In this article Im going to propose an idea that could be very unpopular amongst domain speculators but wildly popular amongst domain investors. Yes, there is a difference between those two camps and its this difference that needs to be highlighted. If we are to look at the domain aftermarket, there are really two major and a host of second ti...

When I was a young strapping lad, (I sound so old!) I attended cubs and loved it. As well as learning about bush craft and how to be a better person I had the motto of Be Prepared drummed into my head. Some people mistakenly believe that this motto only related to the outdoors, but they would be completely wrong. Being Prepared was meant to be...

Over the last few years the domain monetization industry has gone through a silent seismic shift that many investors are completely oblivious about. For the last decade its been assumed that with the demise of Yahoo that Google was the only alternative to monetise domain traffic..boy has that changed! I went trawling back through the many pres...

Thank goodness, my brain has finally caught up with my body after NamesCon. The twenty-four plus hour journey from Vegas flying in a tin can at nearly 40,000 feet is more something to be endured rather than enjoyed. During my time of Internet withdrawal (there isnt any on the planes across the Pacific) I pondered the question, Was NamesCon worth it...

As many readers know, one of the last things I like doing before I board a flight is to write a blog that Im on my way. So once again I find myself in the Melbourne Qantas Club but unlike the majority of my trips, this time Im not alone. It just so happens I have both Danny and Laci from ParkLogic with me and they have managed to lighten the m...

Its less than a week until NamesCon and I find myself ticking off items on the todo list. Theres nothing quite like a big tick next to an item youve been working on for the past few weeks. If you want to attend NamesCon and dont have a ticket, then heres something just for you! The ICU registry is giving away two VIP passes to NamesCon. All yo...

NamesCon has become the domain industrys premier conference and without a doubt the place to be if you want to do business in the domain industry. A conference like NamesCon can be a little daunting at first and getting the most out of the event is often the result of good planning rather than luck. I thought Id share with you how I approach N...

The other day I was out training with my wife and a couple of friends as we hiked through the Silvan forest in the Dandenong ranges. It's all a part of the training for a 5-day hike of the Milford Track on the South Island of New Zealand at the end of February. Our friends had selected this days hike, and all was going well. Sure, we had some ...

It was announced on the 4th January that CEO, Tobias Flaitz, was leaving Sedo and that Matthias Conrad was to replace him. For the past 7 years Tobias has steered Sedo through some tumultuous waters and in my opinion, he now leaves the company in a stronger state than when he arrived. Rather than report the facts of his leaving and trying to d...

At this time of year, I like to spend some time reflecting on the state of the domain industry and in particular what Ive been up to the past twelve months. Let me say from the outset that Ive seen a LOT of changes take place and from my perspective most of them have been good. Development At the end of 2017 I wrote about a project that I was...

I do apologise if I offend anyone in this post.it is not my intention. Over the years Ive noticed that Christmas has become more about commercialism and political correctness than it is about the true spirit of Christmas and the reason for its being. Christmas is a derivation of two words, Christs mass. According to etymology, Christmas is der...

Most people would answer this question with a smirk on their face and that the obvious answer is revenue. Although revenue is vitally important to any business, I would like to say that when it comes to domain traffic monetisation it is not THE most important. The problem with revenue is that its a very one-dimensional number that doesnt tell ...

I had a really good night last night. At 3am in the morning I was doing some development (yes.I am one of those founders that still does programming) and Id finally wrangled a report to display exactly what I wanted it to show. Sounds pretty boring but trust me when I say that it was nothing short of euphoric! Programming is one of those stran...

Ive been I the business of managing domain traffic for nearly two decades, the last of which has been as one of the co-founders of ParkLogic. In this article I will share with you how a proper analytic traffic test should be constructed and the pitfalls that so many people fall into.which ultimately robs them of increased revenues. Lets imagin...

Once again I find myself in the Melbourne Qantas Club.its becoming like a second home for me which in many respects is a bit sad. Ive just received word that my flight has been delayed by over ninety minutes..which is not good. For those of you that are frequent travelers you will appreciate my angst as I instantly calculated whether I have en...

Do you ever put up with people that just treat you badly? Maybe their work colleagues, friends or even family members. They seem to believe that they can treat you in whatever manner they like, while you have to obey a series of rules that they impose upon you. I had a situation like this and it was really perplexing how to first of all identi...

This past week was pretty tough for me. My wife Roselyn was sick with the flu and kindly shared it with our daughters. Afterall, sharing is caring right? So there I was quarantining myself in my study thinking that Id dodged a viral bullet when I sneezed. Theres something about that first sneeze that caused me to instantly reflect upon whether...

Over the last few years Ive watched many domain investors throw money at some pretty crazy ideas and invest in nonsensical domains. Some of these investors have already completely burnt their cash and have exited the industry. Ive also watched the quite diligent investors that have methodically planned how they are going to get a return on their ...

Its good to be back from ICANN and a couple of weeks vacation in the south of France. I must admit that theres nothing quite like taking some time out to refresh yourself and get a new perspective on our incredible industry. As a co-founder of ParkLogic, while away,I found myself reflecting upon each of our service offerings and asking two que...

ICANN finished a few days ago and I've finally got the energy to write a few thoughts down about it. I must admit that it does help that I'm now on vacation in Provence, France.... In terms of business, ICANN was gruelling. After stepping off the plane on the Saturday I literally had back-to-back meetings from early in the morning until late a...

Im leaving in a few hours to head to the ICANN conference in Barcelona. I must admit that Im not looking forward to sitting in a tin can at 30,000 feet for 24 hours.which causes me to reflect on the lessons Ive learned from traveling the many miles to different events around the world. For a start, I dont let anyone plan my trips..Ive tried di...

Finding out how you recharge your batteries is one of the most important things you can do. Each of us have a little internal dynamo that sometimes winds down. The end result is that many of us grit our teeth with internal exhaustion as we face each day. Internal tiredness has nothing to do with the number of hours of sleep weve had the night ...