On my way back from DomainFest I had an interesting experience talking to a couple of people next to me on the plane. As a normal part of the conversation each of us asked each other what we did.

The first person was the Asia Pacific marketing manager for a multinational software development firm and the other owned a small business that manufactured high quality organic popcorn.

What I thought was fascinating was the fact that when I explained to the marketing person that I had just come back from a Domain Name Conference she just switched off. . Maybe she'd had a bad week but her ambivilance towards domains was highly surprising as after all she was a hotshot marketing guru.

The small businessman had a different reaction. He'd obviously pondered what we'd first discussed as later on in the flight he asked some really pertinent questions about what he needed to do in the online space to get his website firing.

I asked him if he thought that having hotels.com would be good or bad for Hilton Hotels. He answered, "Of course!"

I then said, "It's unlikely that they'll ever get it because an entrepreneur with vision bought it and is now running a highly successful business."

I then asked whether he thought popcorn.com would be useful for his business and that was then that I saw the light go on in his mind. He doesn't have a big business and probably couldn't afford the domain but the importance of branding on the Internet really impacted him.

It's a shame about the first person but sadly their reaction is really common of many marketing people who just don't seem to "get it". The second guy was atypical and I believe that it's the small business owner market that will be the purchasers of the majority of domains in the future. These are the guys that sweat and strive to go forward and then intuitively grasp the fact that having the right domain is not just a nice thing to have but critical to their business.

Have you had a similar experience as I had on the plane? Let me and others know by commenting here.

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Quite Australia....LOL!
written by Whizzbang, 30 January 2008

Yes....I was quite for the lady....afterall I had a lawyer keep me up until the small hours of the morning in the bar at DomainFest LOL!

Self Professed Regurgitater of Useless Information
written by PRKeating, 30 January 2008

Guess the domain: Creation Date: 2002-06-10

Of course putting myself in the poor woman's shoes, here she is trying to enjoy her drink and dose and next to here is this very quiet, polite and very shy Aussie.............

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written by brint, 28 January 2008

Can you blame her for tuning out? It's probably too closely related to what she actually does for a living to spark her interest.

But this is all new and exciting territory to the small business guy.

What no backlink? :P
written by Ben Wilks, 28 January 2008

Hi Michael, I find the person's attitude you are talking to usually is the hardest thing to get past. Sometimes ppl get it but they get jealous that they didn't know more about it and switch off, when all they had to do is listen and learn as much as they wanted. You're right about a-typical people but I think it's also an attitude thing.

http://blog.supernaturalagency.com
written by MartinEdic, 28 January 2008

I'm seeing more people from a lot of different walks of life getting it when I tell them what we do as domain portfolio developers. It seems that more and more people are starting to see the value of domains. My business partner and I were out one night and we ran into two different sets of people who, when we told them what we do, both told us about domains they'd recently purchased as investments. That's when I thought we might see a market bubble coming...

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written by Gordo, 27 January 2008

wasn't gourmetpopcorn.com just on the auction block recently?

Close Encounters of the Web Kind
written by Michael Castello, 27 January 2008

Great post and relevant. Many in the business world have been taught that a college degree was the best way to move up in the corporate business world. Of course it was and still is a great way to get a heads up on the competition. But that competition is changing and those that adapt will prosper. I have been talking up the internet since 1994 and there is a strict divide on those that do and those that don't get it. The ones that don't usually have the attitude that their professors never once spoke about what I was talking about and it was irrelevant. There will be those that lead and those that follow. The leaders take the gamble and stand on their own principles and convictions and usually fall hard or fly high but they usually are glad they had the chance to do either. The followers have blinders on and are marching in step to the weekly pay check. I am not challenging that it is a bad thing. We need both types but I can not fault those that do not understand. They may never.

Those that “got” the internet early on were considered an interesting bunch. If you have ever watched Steven Spielberg’s movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", it was similar in that these crazy people that had seen UFOs and they kept creating images of Devil's Mountain for some strange reason. Everyone thought they were unhinged but they all had the same impulse to find this place, which they did. They were all drawn to New Mexico and after they had climbed this mountain Alien spaceships landed and it was all a very exciting and historical event.

We originally found the same problem when trying to sell businesses on our GeoDomains like PalmSprings.com. Many did not get understand but a few did. Those few still made us tons of money and as time goes and colleges start teaching what we are all doing, the rest will come and make us tons more money.

Small Business Owners will Become Big Business
written by Tym, 27 January 2008

Small business owners almost always get it first. The result is that many of them become the big businesses in their field.

There are very few corporate, big company people that I deem particularly smart and forward thinking. They achieve "success" by excelling at the corporate game - which is all about following the leader.

Great Story
written by Sammy Ashouri, 27 January 2008

Great story. So far I haven't met anyone naturally that has the same vision in regards to domains like I do, but I have discussed things with a couple people and lights too turned on. I had one session with one guy that lasted 4 hours where I was explaining marketing on the internet and the importance of a domain name.

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written by tim davids, 27 January 2008

I have a friend that loses 40k per year gambling but when I tell him 100k invested in domains could let him retire he just says "I dont understand the Internet" and that ends the conversation

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