My Kingdom for An Eyeball

What a world we live in..  and what a great deal a man (or woman) can learn in a month away from the blog-sphere.. Deals announced, partnerships strategized and all roads lead to the ability to reach our fellow-man.   I’ve been traveling for family issues (nothing serious folks) over the past month –  I’ve been home and away from home. It will be great to reflect on the industry and vent some thoughts about the way things are ..  and the way they might go in the coming few weeks (go easy on me.. I’m traveling here).

Some thoughts for you to consider..  This blog has been inactive for 30 days and has somehow managed to add 400 subscribers since I took a posting sebatical.  In that time it attracted 1200+ spam posts..  It’s all about the eyeballs folks. 

In a world where people still operate 800/900 numbers to capture users “phoning in” common numbers (Good work folks) – In a world where new billboards are appearing on the LA skyline month to month –  In a world where those Sunset Blvd billboards generate more revenue than the buildings they are emblazoned on; what are your unique domain-name visitors worth?  The battle to reach (and win) the hearts/minds of our fellow man has been raging since Gutenberg invented the printing press. How much greater is a medium’s value when that ability to connect can be quantified and judged against its peer group?  Is a unique visitor the same as a phone-in, a qualified lead or paid introduction? 

Stay tuned folks. You live in exciting times.

Posted on February 14th, 2008 in Domain Names (Domains), The Power of the Internet, Type In Traffic |

Comments

  1. Posted by Frank Schilling: My Kingdom for An Eyeball at Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid | February 14th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    […] Source: SevenMile.com […]

  2. Posted by Kelly Lieberman | February 14th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    Yeah!!! You are back! Can’t wait to hear more from you. Missed your perspective!

  3. Posted by Ed Keay-Smith | February 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    Hey Frank,

    Glad your back and all is well mate!

    I totally agree Frank, it is and always will be a numbers game! He or she who gets the most eyeballs (and does not waste them when they get there)wins.

    I look forward to your future posts.

    PS. Spamalot Rules!

    Regards

    Ed
    http://www.ozdomainer.com

  4. Posted by Frank Schilling: My Kingdom for An Eyeball - Domainly | February 14th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    […] Source: SevenMile.com […]

  5. Posted by Mark | February 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Thank God your back Frank and I will have something good to look forward to reading.

  6. Posted by Andrew Hyde | February 14th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    Welcome back - my kind of vacation!

  7. Posted by Danno | February 14th, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    Hi Frank,

    Thanks for posting on your blog….If a couple of more days would have gone by witout a post…they would have to use a ‘defibrillator’ on me.

    Hope everything is working out well.

    Best,
    Dan

  8. Posted by pm | February 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

    Welcome back to blogging Frank

  9. Posted by Steve | February 14th, 2008 at 4:22 pm

    Welcome back, Frank.

  10. Posted by caymanick | February 14th, 2008 at 4:50 pm

    Welcome back.

  11. Posted by Rob | February 14th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    Welcome back Frank, nice to see you blogging again! Looking forward to more.

  12. Posted by Darren | February 14th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    Adding subscribers while on sabbatical…the people have spoken, they want their Frank ;)

    Regarding valuing eyeballs & voices:
    The really really big opportunity that has driven Google and Yellow Pages higher is local, and I can confirm that a phone-in is worth WAY more than a visitor to mom & pop…right now. It’s all about the engagement. Somebody walking into your store or calling and talking to you is always going to be more engaging than somebody visiting your website - 2 way communication vs. 1. I spent a lot of my previous job figuring out how to turn those visitors into callers. Of course, for best results, use everything & shake well. Gotta love the synergy.

  13. Posted by Gabe | February 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    Right on ….Franks back!

  14. Posted by Frank's Back | Green Taxi | February 14th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

    […] even Internet world from an extremely macro perspective, returned from his break today with “My Kingdom for An Eyeball“.  It is great to see his words again.  He is an excellent writer, and I truly encourage […]

  15. Posted by j | February 14th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    The Blogsphere is whole agiin….

  16. Posted by Heidi | February 14th, 2008 at 9:32 pm

    A new eyeball to your blog…..

    Printing press to billboards, phones, and now blogs…….

    Look at how far we’ve come to reach fellow man.

    Heidi

  17. Posted by Edwin Sherman | February 14th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    These past few months I’ve been re-reading and studying old blog posts so it’s great to hear you’ll be posting again. Welcome back!

  18. Posted by Domo | February 14th, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    Quote:
    ” In a world where new billboards are appearing on the LA skyline month to month – In a world where those Sunset Blvd billboards generate more revenue than the buildings they are emblazoned on; what are your unique domain-name visitors worth? The battle to reach (and win) the hearts/minds of our fellow man has been raging since Gutenberg invented the printing press. How much greater is a medium’s value when that ability to connect can be quantified and judged against its peer group? Is a unique visitor the same as a phone-in, a qualified lead or paid introduction?”

    Direct navigation traffic not only can be quantified but also the data can be qualified,disected,chewed-on,saved and then regurigated again and again,trends then can be analyzed, best of all future ads can be fine-tuned based on old data, all of the viewer’s interaction with the ad (not only purchases) are an invaluable tool for marketers.
    How much is that worth?

    Could your : Billboard,Magazine Ad, TV spot, Local Town Crier flyer or Local Newspaper ad etc etc do that?

    The URL remains while the TV-Ad is long gone…

    What’s easy to refer to someone else ?

    an Memorable URL or a Street Billboard?

  19. Posted by Richard Atkinson | February 14th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

    Mr inspiration! Good to hear your words Frank.

  20. Posted by Mike | February 14th, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    It is great to see you back blogging again. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.

    I totally agree with you and think it is a very exciting time to be a domainer. It’s just going to keep get better.

  21. Posted by Omar | February 14th, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    Great to have you back Frank! :)

  22. Posted by Donna Mahony | February 14th, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    Gathering all the eyeballs you are working for is important too. I woke up to a news blurb on the TV for a site doing relationship obituaries. They were saying to put old relationships to rest by doing a relationship obituary on the website. I never heard the domain name but the obvious ones weren’t registered. They are now and have earned 10 years renewals already!

  23. Posted by amy fisher | February 15th, 2008 at 12:46 am

    hahah heres some spam… :)

    the taxi driver says hi.. i hope your family is doing okay

  24. Posted by Bob | February 15th, 2008 at 1:03 am

    Welcome back Frank! Glad to see you’re blogging again! Are you going to the TRAFFIC show next week? Did you like Domainfest?

  25. Posted by Dan | February 15th, 2008 at 1:40 am

    Great having you back!

  26. Posted by Bill Henson | February 15th, 2008 at 4:54 am

    We weren’t worried,,,, I’ll take quality over quantity any day.

    Good to seeya.

  27. Posted by Chris Nielsen | February 15th, 2008 at 5:19 am

    Well Frank, it’s just a measure of how popular you are.

    I went on vacation for a couple of weeks and only got about 3 spam comments, and I have about 50 blogs…!

    I guess I’m one of those new subscibers. I didn’t realize you weren’t posting since this was the first update I got. Thanks for returning… :-)

  28. Posted by David Wrixon | February 16th, 2008 at 11:48 am

    Welcome back Frank. You have been missed.

    Yes, and it is Eyeballs with Hard Currency to spend that matter. Not English registering Eyeballs, but Eyeballs with money to spend.

    With Bernanke just about out of Ammo, and no signs of things getting any better, he and Paulson now see it as their sacred duty to lie to congress about the US economy. In the meantime the IMF are predicting growth rates of 10% and 8% for China and India respectively.

    The amount of potential for the advertising market there is phenomenal. Throwing advertising money at new markets is far more effective than throwing it declining markets. It much easier to sign up new adopters than to get people to switch brand loyalties. After all loyalty is what brands are all about.

  29. Posted by TiKi | February 17th, 2008 at 2:35 am

    Greetings from Vancouver Island on the West Coast of Canada! We missed you and look forward more of that excellent insight from the Cayman Islands. :-)

  30. Posted by Richard | February 18th, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    I missed my dose of optimism and unique insight. Your blog and Aaron’s are the only two I REALLY value for getting me thinking!

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