$300 million domain name?

This week the Wall Street Journal reports 
business.com could bring a price of $300 million with the Dow Jones Company and The New York Times interested in buying the name.

Not too shabby for a domain that makes about $15 million a year and was bought in 1999 for an astronomical price of $7.5 million. Now why would these heavy weights want to pay that much money for a site that only brings in $15 million.

Many moons ago we were all told that if you put butt into the seats (visitors to the website) “we” would find a way to monetize their visiting. Of course back then who knew the possibilities that now exist. For Dow Jones and The New York Times this is obvious.

Those folks driving the Alexa rankings for business.com up to the 2,000 range can easily be redirected to the shameless advertising and other goodies available on these sites.

Now my latest fun interest – MySpace – no wait Facebook – no wait MySpace – no wait Facebook.

If I was putting a bunch of energy into deciding where the flocks were going with these two I would do crazy. I think my time is better spent elsewhere for now. Old saying “let at least some of the dust settle before jumping into the fray”.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or [email protected]