Even Non-Beer Drinkers Should Take A Swig

Ever wonder who thinks up some of the domain names out there…what are they thinking…or is it what they’re drinking?

Bill Fisher loved beer, so way back in the early nineties he bought the domain name beer.com. It wasn’t intended for business, just pictures of beer guts and jokes. In fact, he so loved his brew that he also bought the domain names for his two favorite beers, Budweiser and Guinness.  Eventually the internet began to boom and, evidently, Bill’s pics and jokes amused the folks at Budweiser and Guinness…well, sort-of. Fisher handed over the domain names so as not to go to court for trademark infringement, though he did end up with a stash of free beer and two free tickets to Ireland. It was the simple premise of beer.com, however, that changed his life forever.

“Whoever has the clearest, simplest address, the root name, they’ve got credibility,” says Mike Zapolin, the author of Internet Warrior, and former VP at Bear Stearns & Co. “There’s this amazing opportunity to buy the name of a category from a technical person or hobbyist, put some money in it, and you might be toe to toe with a Fortune 500 company in months.”

Mike, now nicknamed “Zappy”, bought beer.com from Bill and brewed new content.  This time, InBev came calling…he sold the “business” for $7M. Zappy encourages tapping the barrel of internet identification, citing that 70% of all media is consumed online. The opportunity, he says, is in advertising. Of all the internet content, only 7-8% is advertising and it’s predicted to go to 10% by the end of 2011. To put this in context, a single percentage point increase represents an additional $7B spent. And, like all successful advertising, it’s the location that ultimately determines success.

So where do you start when it comes to building an online presence? John Battelle, CEO and Chairman of Federated Media says you still need the fundamentals: you need a solid brand. You need a great product or service, strong messaging and a well focused target audience. Do you know what you stand for, what you’re selling and who you are selling to? He encourages creating a fundamental foundation before launching into cyberspace, but when you are clear with who you are and what you’re selling, there are 3 quick things you can do to cut through the clutter:

1. Engage in behavior that already exists. Google went after search; pre-existing products/services were phone books and libraries. Facebook went after connectivity; pre-existing methods were the phone, letters and parties. Match.com just took the brick & mortar bar and made it virtual. Look at human behaviors that already exist and then establish a location for them online.

2. Choose a generic domain name. Too often we want to personalize, but these internet experts all agreed that shoes.com, chocolate.com, creditcards.com, etc. were far more lucrative targets than “yourname”.com…unless of course you’re Ashton Kutcher. Only businesses with well established brands (household names) tend to see mileage from the use of their brand name. So the message: say what it is.

3. Connect. Social media platforms such as Facebook are here to stay, and the fastest and most effective way to advertise is through links and connections, now called “Friend Casting”.  Friend Casting is where links are shared by friends and built-in networks, who then forward information virally. You need a social media platform from which to launch, and the entire panel agreed that Facebook is the future for connecting. In fact, Facebook gets more traffic these days than Google!

So…with over 80 million Millenials turning to the internet for, well, everything, and using their friends on Facebook for purchasing pointers and perspective, it’s time to bring your beer to the party.

by AmyK Hutchens
Founder & Intelligence Activist
www.amyk.com
Twitter: @AmyKinc
Twitter: @AmyKHutchens
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