Part 1 of 4: 'Trend Domaining' Presents Insights, Opportunities For Domainers, Fractional Domainers

Trends in society naturally affect the Internet and can provide great opportunities for domainers and fractional domainers. Luckily for us, Scott Griffes examines trends with a domainer's eye at his TrendDomaining.com Blog, and he generously shares his insights with his readers.

In Part 1 of a 4-part interview with Fractional Domaining Blog, Scott introduces himself and his blog; tells why you should read it; explains "trends" and "trend domaining"; describes how he identifies trends and generates his content; and shares his goals and reasons for developing TrendDomaining.com into a primary destination to help domainers succeed...

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Neal R. Voron, of Fractional Domaining Blog:

Q1: Who is Scott Griffes, and why should domainers read your “Trend Domaining” blog?

Scott Griffes:

A1: I am Joe Domainer. I am just like every other guy that frequents NamePros or DNForum. I’m not rich. I don’t own an island; I don’t even own a house. I leave for my blue collar job before 7 a.m. and don’t get back home until 7 p.m. And I squeeze in domaining and a blog when I can.

TrendDomaining.com is a great way to get new ideas for domain names, mini-sites, niche sites, affiliate sites or full blown sites. You will find unique content that you can’t find on any other site. You won’t find general domaining news that you can find on every other site.

Neal R. Voron, of Fractional Domaining Blog:

Q2: Scott, you watch and report on various trends that you observe. What is a “trend”, and what is “trend domaining”? By the way, how did you come upon that phrase?

Scott Griffes:

A2: I was torn between "NicheDomaining" and "TrendDomaining", as the goal of the blog was to focus on real world trends and how to find niches. I went with “Trend” because it sounded better and it’s easier to spell/pronounce. When I say “real world trends,” it’s as opposed to trends within the domaining industry, such as the LLLL.com surge that happened earlier. TrendDomaining is the practice of spotting trends either before they happen or early on, and being prepared to take advantage of them when they do happen. It’s the idea of taking the road less traveled by, before it becomes a 10-lane highway.

Neal R. Voron, of Fractional Domaining Blog:

Q3: Your postings are always eye-opening and interesting to read because you regularly identify, describe, and explain trends and their potential significance to domainers. Your fresh and unique content truly sets you apart from many other domain industry bloggers and makes “Trend Domaining” a must-read... How do you conduct your research and generate content?

Scott Griffes:

A3: Thanks! I read an awful lot. During my (long) reading sessions, I will leave tabs open in Firefox to remind me that I should investigate something. At any given moment, I have about 200+ webpages open in 5 to 8 Firefox browsers (I have gotten better!). The lifespan of a post for me is like this: I get an idea and save it in WordPress with the link that gave me the idea. I then add other links over the course of a day, two days, week, month, whatever. Once I have enough references, I’ll write the post. Sometimes I only need 1 or 2 references to make a post worth reading, other times I need 10-20. When I claim that LEGO is absolutely huge again, I want to show proof as to why I think that. But the goal is to write an informational post that you won’t find anywhere else.

Neal R. Voron, of Fractional Domaining Blog:

Q4: Do you have specific training and experience in trend research, or did your blog evolve from a hobby?

Scott Griffes:

A4: No training or experience. I was already doing all this reading as a hobby (I must be sick), though I do more now, now that I run this blog.

Neal R. Voron, of Fractional Domaining Blog:

Q5: You literally spend hours on news and trend research and then freely share your findings with the domaining community. What is your motivation for doing this? What are your goals for your “Trend Domaining” blog and for your business?

Scott Griffes:

A5: When I became a domainer, I would spot these trends and do some domain mining. I remember the first couple weeks I got addicted; using the Domain Name Analyzer, I checked probably 300k-500k names. I pulled maybe 100-200 from there that I felt were worth registering. Problem was that I didn’t have the money to do that. So, I saved them to a file. Well, that file got bigger and bigger. Ultimately I bought maybe 30 total.

At this point, I wanted to turn my hobby into something more. I thought domaining was the perfect industry for me: no physical inventory and an active traders market! I wanted to get serious and turn this into a livelihood. A huge worthless file wasn’t going to get me closer to that goal. So, I re-evaluated my efforts and decided to put all my hard work to good use.

My goal for TrendDomaining.com is to keep it updated regularly with current (or future) trends while it becomes a primary destination for domainers looking to gather information that will help them succeed.

To do this as a livelihood, I have to make money. That’s one of the reasons why we are all in this business. If I can find a way for my blog to help me reach that goal without being obtrusive, then I’ll take advantage of it.

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Don't miss the information-packed Part 2 of our interview on Tuesday when Fractional Domaining Blog and Scott Griffes of TrendDomaining.com discuss a wide range of topics, including: what kinds of domainers and businesses can benefit from learning about trends; how Trend Domaining can help both newbie and experienced domainers; how trend research has helped Scott with his own domain portfolio; examples of trends he has observed and valuable/potentially valuable names he has acquired as a result; how trend research can help to identify valuable -- and available -- domain names; what Scott looks for within identified trends and how he translates trend research into actual domain name registrations; what trends he has noticed with geo media and what opportunities he sees as a result; what trends he has noticed with .TV domains; and how readers have responded to his suggested domains.

... Whew! I know it's a lot, but it's good stuff! Be sure to read it!

Join me all week as Fractional Domaining Blog continues with Parts 2, 3, and 4 of our interview, followed by my personal review of TrendDomaining.com!

Thanks!
-- Neal