Dassa, how about a dose of reality here.  You wanted stats, so I just ran an
analysis on one of our Association clients.

We've already had some success with servicing small business Associations.
On a recent mail-out to members we received a 17% sign-up for one or more of
our on-line services, which took the particular Association to 35% of its
members being signed up.

Of those that did sign up, some stats: Only 66% have an email address of any
kind (and it's reasonable to assume therefore that 34% don't have an ISP),
26% have a domain name or website.  Only 11% have an email address connected
to their domain.  Just at a glance, many don't even have a fax number -
would you like to go to them and tell them that 5 personal email addresses
is insufficient, or perhaps extol the virtues of having multiple domain
names? 

The issue of a domain name per se is utterly irrelevant to the vast majority
of micro-businesses, and our own experience bears out Ginger's contention.

I know it's my article, but now it's been published in Software Engineering
Australia April 2002, take a look at
www.businesspark.com.au/services/viewservices.asp?serviceid=944 (Adobe
Acrobat required) to find out why.

Ron Stark



-----Original Message-----
From: Dassa [mailto:dassa§dhs.org]
Sent: Monday, 10 June 2002 7:27 PM
To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
Subject: RE: [DNS] New 2LD Proposals (to date)


|> -----Original Message-----
|> From: ginger FISH [mailto:cyrille.lefevre§scifi-art.com] 
|> Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 7:12 PM
|> To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
|> Subject: RE: [DNS] New 2LD Proposals (to date)
|> 
|> 
|> Mate,
|> 
|> 90% of the people registering domain names for business 
|> purposes are :
|> - small businesses that don't walk on dollars
|> - people that are thinking about a project that is not even 
|> sure to be given birth

Where do you get your figures from, can you provide a reference source
please.
 
|> These people don't know what a domain name is for starters, 
|> and they don't need several domain names, vanity to them 
|> would be pointless and too expensive. 5 email addresses are 
|> often more than enough for small businesses, most of them 
|> don't have tons of staff.

I doubt if anyone needs several domain names when they are first
introduced to the Internet.  However, as experience and knowledge is
gained a lot of them expand into other domain names.

|> What i understand is that it is too much like politics, some 
|> of you guys live in a bubble where everybody think they know 
|> what the people want but you don't even know the price of a 
|> bread roll ( yeah i know, be a smartass and give me the 
|> price of a bread roll ).

I'm afraid you must be in your own bubble.  For instance, most of the
business people I know are not just involved in a single business.  I
have found that once they start to go on-line with one business, they
tend to follow with their other businesses.  Some of the businesses they
are involved in are not related and require their own domain names.  I
have seen this a number of times and so can speak from experience and
personal involvement.

Of course there are individuals and businesses that will only require a
single domain name and limited services on the Internet.  

The point being all facets of the market need to be addressed.

Darryl (Dassa) Lynch.


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