Waddya know bout .FREE ?

[Mark Talbot]

I know this is new, and I know it doesnt yet exist in the realm, but waddya know about .free domains.

I have ordered a few of them, as I imagine a few of us have.

But since this is so new and yet unregisterable, what are your thoughts.

 

[tekz999]

Fail.

 

[katherine]

I don't think I would take them for free

A few domain hack possibilities though.

 

[grcorp]

I think that the only possible use would be offering a cost-free domain registration for those too cheap to pay the $7.17... and burden viewers with advertising at the top of any page which is found under a .free domain.

Otherwise, as tekz999 said... fail - as most new gTLD's are.

 

[tekz999]

Freebies always fail. They do not convert and produce profit. They are a liability. They are a burden. They waste money and suck blood. Never attract freebies lookers.

 

[grcorp]

Freebies always fail. They do not convert and produce profit. They are a liability. They are a burden. They waste money and suck blood. Never attract freebies lookers.

You'd be surprised. Whether the vendor is playing the numbers hoping for a conversion rate of those who will indirectly spend money, or just doing a giveaway for the sake of building their brand, freebies can be an amazing way of marketing.

Some examples...

Lotus notes promotes themselves as a largely free product, with a premium that requires payment. To quote what their CEO Phil Libin said in a recent issue of Fast Company magazine; "The easiest way to get 1 million people paying is to get 1 billion people using."

Flickr has multiple restrictions on what you can do without paying for a membership, and as a result, have tons of paying users, while still earning money off of ads.

In 2009, McDonalds started giving away coffee with breakfast in the morning. The percentage of McDonalds coffee cups I see now is significantly higher than what it was before that.

It may be a liability in the first place. However, people looking for a deal (i.e. to spend as little as possible) are still looking to spend money in some way. In McDonalds' case, that worked out perfectly because now more people are going to McDonalds for coffee, which is the perfect pretext to sell other breakfast foods.

By doing that online, they could limit the giveaway to those who opted-in to their newsletter, which is even more advertising opportunity to get more paying customers in. It's really a minimal investment once you have broadcasted your brand to so many new people.

 

[Mark Talbot]

I think that the only possible use would be offering a cost-free domain registration for those too cheap to pay the $7.17... and burden viewers with advertising at the top of any page which is found under a .free domain.

Otherwise, as tekz999 said... fail - as most new gTLD's are.

While I understand what is said, after reading the faqs at dotfree, it was said that the tld will be transferrable, and supported through registrars.

Regardless of the outlook as suggested, I got a few nice ones ordered, and if the tld functionality doesnt pan out properly or hidden expenses occur, then I just let them drop.

But trust me, it isnt a matter of me being "too cheap".
If I recall correctly, .coms through Network Solutions originally were free to the public.
And .coms did kinda well in the end. (I know, apples and oranges, but just to make a point)

 

[Theo]

sex.free FTW

 

[BacklinkMafia]

Maxwell, I liked your examples about minimal investments!