When I was in college in the late 70′s early 80′s I studied basic computer programing during a time when a computer took up an entire floor and programing was done with punch cards. During this time period I used what is now the Internet to connect to computers at other colleges and universities. This early exposier helped me to realise the potential power of what later become the world wide web.
From around 1985-1995 domain names were free to register but it was no where close to how easy it is today to register one. I personally never registered any back then because I simply didn’t know how.
From 1995-1998 Network Solutions was the only domain name registrar with domain name fee’s of $100 for a 2 year minimum ($50 a year). This is when I purchased my first domain names. In 1997 following a lawsuit, domain name registration fees dropped to $70 for a 2 year minimum registration.
By the end of 1999 the registrar monopoly was broken and competition lowered domain name registration prices to as low as $6 reseller fee (registry level) which resulted in domain name registrars like Godaddy to offer domain names for about $8-$20 a year to the general public.
I continued to buy domain names year after year and now I am the owner of almost 600 domain names.
I didn’t buy domain names with the hopes of reselling them later for millions of dollars like a lot of people did . I actually developed a business plan for each one. The business plan came first then the domain name was purchased. I have always had the intention of developing each and every one of the domain names I own into a fully functioning website.
Right now my entrepreneurialness is out pacing my ability to develop the websites. I end up holding most of the names for years before I do anything with them but at less than $8.00 a year per domain name it doesn’t cost much to hold them.
The domains I do develope can change dramatically over time. Some blow up over night, some take years to develop, some start out as a well planned conceptions then evolve into something completely different. Some are an instant success, some become a success over time, and some are never successful. Some become successful only to fade over time then reborn again into something completely different.
An example of this is www.CuriousStore.com which started out as a boutique store for Curious George items. Well over time Curious George faded in popularity so I changed it to a collection of “science kit” type products.
I have been an entrepreneur all my life. I started out with a paper route and as a teen started a recycling business. In my 20′s I opened a record store in the Montrose area of Houston. I started an inventory business in the 90′s and also put up my very first wedsite.
One of the most important things I have learned is to never bet your success and livelihood on one concept. Things move at a fast pace when it comes to the Internet and what is successful today will most definitely not be successful tomorrow. I have learned that diversity is the key to a successful Internet business as a whole.
I call my diversity concept the “7-11 Internet Business Plan”. I call it hat because individual 7-11’s don’t make very much money but they do make some money and collectively all those thousands of 7-11’s make a lot of money. The same seems to be true for the Internet. You really can’t make much money from one Internet business but with a thousand you will do just fine.
I am working on that goal of owning one thousand Internet businesses and hope to reach that goal before I get too old to enjoy the benifits. I hope to leave a legacy of success that my neices and nefews can take over in the future.
Year after year it gets less and less expensive to do an Internet start up. My first website in 90′s costs thousands of dollars just to get the domain, web servers, software and bandwidth. This start up expense was on top of all the normal start up cost like inventory, furniture and fixtures.
Today I can launch a website for less than $100 and do it all in less than 24 hours and have it ranking on Google within 72 hours. However the harder part now is comeing up with the capital to buy the products to sell.
Sometime in the future I hope to put it all in book, a sort of how to make a million dollars on the Internet. With the way the value of the dollar is these days by the time I get around to writing that book a million dollars could be the cost of a gallon of gas.
If you would like to contact me my mailing address is:
Gary A. Giddings
PO BOX 1035
Alief TX 77411-1035
You can also us the form below to send me a message: