With most brands only interested in the [dot]com domain extensions, the business of buying and selling domain names currently seems saturated. To grab a five-letter English-word [dot]com domain name today is like trying to pluck a star by leaping up from sea-level.
Although there are hundreds of other extensions, and new niche-focused ones like [dot]blog will be coming out in 2016, it doesn’t seem like the world will recover from the spell of the [dot]com extension anytime soon. Hence, the [dot]com extension may still be the most sort after top-level domain (TLD) for many years to come, unless ICCAN can come up with a policy that will engender order in the chaos the other extensions stir.
What Does This Mean?
Domain investors may still be able to cheaply grab great domain names that can sell for millions in ten to twenty years’ time. Of course, one could argue that most of the million-dollar names, even simple two-word combinations, were snatched in the 90’s and early 2000’s and not be wrong.
But the future holds a promise, which only the innovative ones among domain investors can discern. Think about the future of the tech industry. Tech inventions and innovations, New tech-related words, New tech-inspired products sprout up every day across the world. The tech industry will unquestionably be a major player in the future of [dot]com extension and its value to domain investors.
This is because, despite the technological advancements the world has experienced over the last two decades, the tech age is still very infant, and we will definitely witness the births of some spectacular technology within the next twenty years.
Needless to say, with new inventions come new business opportunities, new words, and new word combinations. A good example is the internet itself. Think about the business opportunities—web hosting, e-commerce, online advertising—that accompanied it. Think about the words and phrases it birthed or that became popular because of it.
Which technology stands the chance of becoming very successful in the near future—perhaps like the internet? When will that tech be launched? A great [dot] domain name related to that tech, by then, will be a gem.
Possible Tech Niches Every Domain Investor Ought to Watch Out For
- Artificial Intelligence
- Robotics: exoskeletons, delivery drones, medical robots et cetera.
- Smart homes
- Virtual and augmented reality
- 3-D printing.
- Digital fashion
- Space travel
These areas of technology and more are bound to cover a lot of milestones in the next twenty years, ushering in new business opportunities, new words, new ways of using word, and possibly even unearthing already existing words that domain investors may be neglecting today.
Also, the new businesses relying on the opportunities presented by future techs will require suitable web addresses in order to establish themselves online. This holds a huge prospect for domain investors looking to cash in on the successes of techs that are being developed today.
What Every Domain Investor Should Do
Keep a long-term portfolio of [dot]com domain names. While a short-term portfolio (for domains you buy and sell within a short time to make, perhaps, a few hundred dollars) is important and can give you a steady stream of income, you also need a long-term portfolio.
It is in the portfolio that you keep the gems among your domain names, the types you can sell for thousands or millions.
When you hear that China plans to build an elevator to space, you get to work, grabbing viable [dot]com domain names integrating words that could start trending as soon as the project is complete. Then you tuck the domains away and wait for the right time to list them for sale. That’s what a long-term portfolio is for.
Finally, read science fiction books. Subscribe to tech newsletters. Watch science fiction movies and documentaries. These will help you get acquainted with terms associated with tech niches, terms you could use in your domain names.