Punjabis are known to be loud and lavish, and so we are but they also the most entrepreneuring people known on Earth. Here is Manmeet Pal Singh Mahal, who single handedly revolutionized the Indian domain name industry. For the third edition of his founded Event, he’s got Frank Schilling as one of the speakers which speaks a lot about the momentum he has built around domain investing and trading. We caught up with him recently, and here are the tid-bits for you. No words are enough for Frank Schilling, but let’s try our best.
LP: Hi Manmeet. I think it can be correctly put that you’re one of the most influential domain name investors in India? Do elaborate us on your journey into Domaining.
Manmeet: Hello, and thanks for having me. I wouldn’t call myself “the most influential domain name investor (domainer) in India”, however people associated with the domain name industry in our country know me and that is quite an honour to be honest. To be known, and respected in your profession is an achievement in itself.
I started in the year 2000-2001 with a hand registered domain name which was my first, when I was attending school at University College of Cariboo, Kamloops now known as Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops in British Columbia, Canada.
Obviously as a novice, I didn’t know much about the game and dropped that first ever hand registered domain name in the year that followed. Fast forward to 2006, I revisited my passion about the Internet and domain names world sometime in May, 2006 where I went ahead and hand registered LoudBeats.com/.net while working with Dell International Services at Chandigarh.
Interestingly, I still own these 2 domain names after having rejected multiple offers in mid-high five figures (USD) and India wide trademark on the term “Loud Beats”. Rest is history.. During this journey, I have had the honour of working with some of the most respected individuals in the domain name industry and the notable in companies such as Job.com, IBM.com, Godaddy.com, BuyDomains.com, Tucows.com, Uniregistry.com, Verisign.com, Sedo.com, Escrow.com, DnJournal.com, et al.
LP: What is the vision behind DomainX Events and the Domain Name Owners Association of India?
Manmeet: So it all started in the early 2014 when I was sitting in my home office and working, discussing the massive potential of Indian entrepreneurs and relevant market with a domain name investor friend based in the US. On the way, we also discussed on how one could take Indian Domain Name Industry to the world map, while showing global audience that us Indians are no less.
That’s when I decided that we need to have a country-wide representation of our industry and Domain Name Owners Association of India (DNOAi.com) was born as a not-for-profit organization for “people who love domain names”. DNOAi™ is the first (in India) privately held association of similar minded domain name owners who have joined hands in order to bring investment, monetization and general awareness towards the domain name sector as well as web development industry.
In the following few months, I founded DomainX Events and a series of Conferences/Workshops started happening in order to take our efforts to the whole new level and provide a platform where Indian domain name investors could network. Our vision is to bring awareness and educate general public about the industry in India.
We are organizing DomainX 2016 Conference in New Delhi on 6th & 7th August, 2016 and bringing some of the most influential domain name investors to the country. People like Bill Karamouzis (MathGames.com), Frank Schilling (Uniregistry.com), Deepak Daftari (eSiksha.com), Jon Yau (StockPhoto.com), Ron Jackson (DNJournal.com), Zak Muscovitch (DNAttorney.com), Dave Evanson (Sedo.com) etc.. to name a few.
LP: You recently visited the Domain Fest Asia in Macau. How was your experience? Was it any different from the event you organised in Bangalore a few months back?
Manmeet: Yes, I went to Macau to attend DomainFest Asia from 4-7 September . It was good experience to network as we all try to meet and get to know the pioneers in the industry while discussing business with other domain name investors. I also met Tony, a domain investor from China, and purchased domain name 143.com from him. I sold this domain name later for US $150,000. Today, the global domain name industry is looking at Asia as a market of innovation and robust growth.
In my opinion, Macau was the perfect Asian location for such an event accessibility wise, though the attendance was bit on the lower side due to the inaugural show. L: Being actively involved with the IoT, how important do you think hosting services are for online careerists? Manmeet: As we all know, web hosting is an important part of building a website, your online presence or brand. Anything and everything you do on the Internet requires a website, and if you do not have a reliable hosting service, you can never succeed!
LP: Which hosting services do you use to put up your online assets? Any particular reasons for this choice?
Manmeet: I use Bagful.net hosting service from a very dear friend; Mr. Sham Kamboj, and they have been around since 20__. I have been using their hosting service for some time now. Reason: They provide the technology and exceptional service which is required by me to run my portfolio of websites.
LP: Where do you think the domain industry is going in the time to come? We have seen a recent surge in custom domains like .biz and .club. What trends do you see?
Manmeet: Good question. Domain Name industry is evolving every day, with new TLDs being launched every other day. There is market for every TLD out there, however current winners are definitely .COM, .NET & .ORG as global leaders while ccTLDs (country specific TLDs), for example: .IN & .CO.IN are not far behind for the regional success. .COM stands out of the crowd because it has been out there from the day one and globally acceptable. If you read through Sedo.com’s (Sedo is the most popular aftermarket for domain names) 2014 market study, .COM TLD is the clear winner with 55% of the domain name sales happening of .COM domain names
(Source: https://cdn.sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Half-Year-Domain-Market-Study-2014-Sedo.jpg?partnerid=44082&tracked=1&session=bf807a61b4d112b244b64536b3b64a45). Their current market trend proves the same here: https://sedo.com/us/resources/market-trends/
In my opinion, new gTLDs are here to stay, however they will have to wait for at least 2-3 years to gain traction in the market, from domain name investors or the end users.
LP: A few tips for our aspiring domain investors
Manmeet: I suggest every new investor to go easy with money they have in the pocket, and avoid going on a shopping (registering or buying of domain names) spree. Read, read and read again, all that you can for at least 3-6 months from the Industry veterans posts on domain name forums, follow their blogs, analyze the sales made by other domain name investors and figure out exactly is working for all to be successful. Once you have the initial understanding and grip of the industry, I am sure you will be in for long run.
Some of the common mistakes that should be avoided early-on are:
Refrain from buying Trademarked or Typo domain names. •
Set realistic prices of your domain names while taking into consideration the favourability, length, relevant sales history etc. Yes every domain name is unique, but not a sure-shot winner.
Avoid selling your domain name for pennies now, and wait for the right time to cash-in on big bucks. Renew for the longer duration.
LP: Finally, what more should we expect from Manmeet Pal Singh in the time to come. Any exciting updates and event to look for?
Manmeet: I am always busy doing one thing or the other, so yes, there are a lot of exciting things happening at my end.
Be it starting preparations with my team for DomainX 2016 Conference or entering the startup world with PunjabiSuits.com.
In fact, I just got done with writing an ebook on basics of “Domain Name Investing 101” which is available at www.DomainInsider.in for people starting out today in the industry.
Anyone interested to learn can always connect with me using LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/soofi