To start off the day Domaining.com had at least five new blog feeds that I could see, Mashable, TechCrunch, Engadget, BusinessInsider and ReadWriteWeb. These five websites took over 95% of the showing feeds. They have professional writers that write several times per day. Out of 20 feeds on the first page of Domaining.com, I’d say 16 of them were non-domain related feeds.
Myself, along with several industry members sent an email to the owner, Francois, urging him to take down these feeds. His initial response, in a nutshell, was that he is doing this because after 2+ years he still has not covered his monthly expenses with advertisers or sponsored headlines. His goal was to reach out to webmasters of the world and pull them into the domain sphere. This is just a summary because I do not believe in sharing private emails. I think it is great that he wants to increase domain awareness, but this was not the route to go.
It seems that after enough complaints those feeds have been removed. Smart move!
Now…I have never, not one single time posted anything negative about Domaining.com, until today. I feel a line has been crossed with this new donation button. As you can see below, the donation button says that our industry leaders have no money and to donate money in order to help maintain his website. This from the man that values Domaining.com at $3,000,000, he shouldn’t need the money. If Domaining.com is a business that is not producing revenue, I hate to say this, but either take it down, create a new business model or seek consultation.
I have to say this is the worst message to send to the domain community and potential advertisers. Who the heck would advertise after seeing a message like this? I personally emailed Francois last year offering my assistance to sell advertising, something I have a knack for. Not once was he receptive to the idea. Instead, what he does is sends a message to potential advertisers that they must advertise with Domaining.com to support the domain community. I’m sorry to say this but Domaining.com is not the community, the people that make up our industry are.
This is not a personal attack towards Francois. Not only have I had some very nice email conversations with him, but I do believe most of his efforts benefit our industry. Unfortunately, this is an action that does not.
UPDATE – Since this post Francois has removed both the donate banner and non-domain related news feeds from Domaining.com. Good job Francois!
I think Francois should take a deep breath before he reacts because it usually seems to go badly
I totally agree. Which is why I’ve been using NameBee all day, and … from now on!
It seems ‘he’ takes it kinda personal that the domaining community doesn’t financially support him, the way he feels he should be supported, as noted by all the various ‘money making’ programs he has tried to institute there and then begrudgingly has to discontinue. He should heed the Zappos philosophy of client care.
Francois is a good guy, so I’m glad
you’re not attacking him personally
(you’re just frustrated with today’s decisions)
I feel that we can all relate to Francois.
He probably woke up this morning, frustrated, saying
“why in the H3LL won’t anyone advertise on Domaining.com??!!”
Sometimes our projects put us over the edge, but he should have really thought before making his next move.
I’m sure all of this is out of frustration… we all have bad days.
Hopefully, Domaining.com will continue as planned.
It’s a staple to our industry and it would really be a sad day if it closed down.
MAYBE Francois could lower his prices, and take on MORE advertisers.
Aesthetically, it wouldn’t bother me to see 10 or 15 small banner ads down the right side of the screen.
Business is business — he is offering a free service and we should EXPECT to see advertisers — to offset his costs.
If, possibly, he put 10 or so lower priced ads on the homepage, he might turn a little profit.
I bet he could stir up 10 lower-priced deals, on a month-to-month basis.
I wish him Luck… he’s been very nice to me, and
I’m sure things will be back to normal soon.
- Aron
There is a lot he can do to make money. He has a huge email database of email addresses that is just wasted.
I am frustrated not only with the feeds, but also his comment “Our Industry Leaders Have No Money”. That is a direct jab at the people that obviously spend money with me and other blogs. That crossed the line.
Good post! Kudos to you for standing up against such bull.
“I do believe most of his efforts benefit our industry”
Patrick, you have my deepest respect, and I always listen when you say something, and try to understand, but this I don’t get.
Is probably true because you are not the only one in this industry saying that, but I still don’t get it.
I don’t use domaining.com and I don’t know Francois. For me he is the guy:
- who own a great domain name – domaining.com;
- who developed this domain by using other people work – feed aggregator;
- who tried to be no. 1 aggregator in this industry by bullying others;
- who tried to charge people for access to other people (free) articles;
- who announced that he’s only follow back on twitter if you are member of domainers.org;
- who said “our industry leaders have no money”.
For people outside of domain industry the message is pretty clear: “stop paying for good domains, I have a great one, I offer a great (?!?) service on it and I still can’t make any money”.
I strongly believe that Francois is just another domainer that can’t monetize a great domain and I keep hearing about him just because he’s owning domaining.com and I’m interested in domaining industry.
I’ve never benefit from “his efforts”, but if others have please share the experience, I definitely miss something here …
I think Domaining.com has benefited from the content bloggers create and bloggers benefit from the traffic he provides. A lot of brand new bloggers would never have been found if not for Domaining.com. Do I think Francois did this for the industry, no. I beleive he did it for his own benefit, by default it has helped us.
I think he should charge for to have your blog posts added
I know I would pay to have my blog posts featured on the site.
Maybe 100 per month or so.
I bet im not the only one
I hate to disagree but… Domaining.com needs the content from bloggers to drive traffic. Without our content and feeds there would be no reason to visit Domaining.com.
In addition, he already does charge new bloggers a one time $200 setup fee to be listed on the site.
TBH I’m tired of all the gimmicks. I also think the site is ugly and that turns off advertisers. Some smart domainer needs to step up and make a competing site. IMO he overpaid for the domain when he bought it too.
You guys should be reading those sites anyway, just a short sighted post because your blog won’t get as many hits.
Techcrunch started small just like domaining if he wants to grow it he needs to expand.
I do read most of those blogs Bill. The problem is when I wrote non-domain related content Francois would remove those from Domaining.com. There has to be a line drawn, the domain name is Domaining.com, not AnytingOnTheWebSoICanMakeMoney.com.
Ultimately, it’s Francois’ domain and website – he can do whatever he wishes with it, just as you do what you like with your site (e.g. girls with their tits out).
He certainly doesn’t owe the industry anything.
He does owe us Chris. Without our content, without the Domaining.com badges on all of our blogs/sites and without the support of the industry there would be no Domaining.com. It is a two way street, we helped him build what he has today.
The rest of your (and my) comments have been deleted Chris. If you wish to attack me, call or email me. This is my blog, not yours!
For a guy who owns the name, Domaining.com how can we feel sorry for? I suggest he holds a charity event at the Playboy mansion party:)
Thanks, Jim
You know, Chef… it takes a lot of money to keep those automated feed readers going
. You just sit there all day… watching them just bring in news other people have written.
Exactly, the writing that the industry bloggers create.
Thank you!
Right or wrong ultimately it’s his site (Domaining.com) and he should do whatever he see’s fit regardless of others perceptions or opinions.
I see much bigger issues about the industry that someone should be addressing on blogs, that get swept under the proverbial rug.
I would like to see an honest perceptive article written about the state of affairs at the most recent TRAFFIC Auction which you attended. Was that event which is one of the most pivotal events of our industry a wash? Are the auction results of that event any indication of what is going on in the industry? Is it just a circle jerk run by inefficient crooked cronies or are they loosing their touch? Are we up the creek without a paddle?
I have been reading your blog because I think you have your finger on the pulse of the industry and trust your gut, you don’t need to go around policing other peoples sites. Give me something real and of substance Chef, the other small things will work themselves out in the wash, we have much bigger fish to fry right now.
Hey Dean, you’re right. This topic is old news and I’m closing the comments. Francois has listened to everyone and removed the donate button and feeds.
I promise to give my input about the TRAFFIC show and auction either tomorrow or Saturday.