Earned Media and Going Viral

Earned Media, a new term for many, refers to a tipping point beyond Owned and Paid Media. Owned Media, content published and controlled by the company, differs from Paid Media. Purchased in many forms, Paid Media, constitutes a portion of any “modern” marketing strategy.

Earned media may also be viewed as user generated content. The opportunity to engage with prospects, clients, and vendors - through the use of social media - represents a boon for business of all size. The tools employed to adopt this strategy may be built by IT and Web professionals, but the people behind the chat or IM window should be closely tied to the business in question. Ideally the sales department takes on these digitally engaged users.

Web based conversations should be handled by staff equipped to handle real time commerce. The ability to give a refund, provide an RMA (returned merchandise authorization), or status of an order - these are CSR (customer service representative) related tasks. In many cases the online engagement tools, should they exist, resolve to the IT department. The separation of engagement tools, and people that engage the users of the tools, must be made.

Earned media is driven by the conversations others are having about YOUR business. Discussions about product quality, satisfaction ratings, buzz about new or pending products. Fostering these discussions provides the gas in the tank of the “going viral” engine. This is not all honey and roses. The “viral” road goes both ways. Unfavorable discussions may ensue, the digital mob driving viewership, can be fickle.

For years we have accepted the “800 support” line, as (hopefully) expert advice, when faced with a problem. Providing a common resource, away from the actual location of the business, is a fairly recent change. Not many years ago if help was needed, and the store you purchased from was closed, you waited until the business opened the next day. Phone support changed this expectation.

The web resources available today up the ante once again. Hold times are not acceptable, we want a chat window, with a live person available in seconds. Eighty percent of buyers look to their circle of influence for advice and reviews. Eight out of ten, a staggering number. This “trusted” review base has high value, advice from a friend, rather than the info provided by the corporate web presence.

Overcoming objections, the back and forth of the sales process, increases revenue and sales retention. The fickle web based buyer needs to be engaged. The answer here is not social media. Using current tools to engage buyers, during the buying cycle, actual people responding to real time chat, online reviews, entering discussions in the web based community. These are traditional sales and marketing tasks, using current tools.

The tools needed to engage in the “Earned Media” race are available to businesses of all size. The advent of cloud based providers, with the correlating competition in pricing, scales the tools needed. Solopreneur to Fortune 500, there is no reason not to get in the game.

Partner to Strengths, Ally to Weaknesses

Partner to Strengths, Ally to Weakness

Recently while stranded in Paradise, overlooking the waters surrounding Tampa, a truth in the new economy came to light.  My business brings me in front of all types.  From the seasoned business pro to the brightest eyed startup, there is an interesting denominator.  Fear of losing IP (intellectual property) keeps great new products from a larger adoption rate.One of my mantras as a business coach, when approaching markets with unique or “better mousetrap” products - Partner to your strengths, Ally to your weaknesses.  This approach challenges business stakeholders fears and courage.  Regardless of business tenure.

Approaching the market incumbent, truly a competitor, with partnership agreement is the first step.  The existing marketing material used to show the “unfair advantage”, against the larger competitor, holds the keys to the winning play.  The risk lies in giving away this unfair advantage.  The risk of giving away the game is real.  

You never get the right answer without the right question, a tenant my Father drilled into me.  Gathering the stakeholders in your company and discussing this approach is an important step.  This is not a five minute meeting, rather a phones - door closed event.  Plan some time off site, gather the team, and make a plan.  

The questions the C suite should be asking, when considering this approach:

• What are our greatest strengths?
• What weaknesses do we have?
• Who does my perfect partner look like?

The approach to this carefully qualified partner/prospect list, a list of five prospects, ranked like draft picks - should be the product of honest and open discussion.  Whether or not your company is capable of frank discussions about strengths and weaknesses -  a topic for another post.  A few good discussion points:

Present your “unfair advantage”

Your presentation should be based on your marketing materials.  If you have slipped any of your IP into your marketing stock, the competition has access to it.  Ask Mr. Google, he will tell you all you want to know about the game, and who you are playing against.

A proposal to partner

Offering your fellow market competitor the ability to swiftly bring your product to market, as a component of THEIR solution, might be a tough message to deliver.  This seemingly unnatural event should be a Win/Win.  You are in essence signing your star player to the other team.  A clone of your most successful scorer, but you get a percentage of his contract.

Gotta nail the workflow.

Sequestering data, establishment of who has the ball, tiered partner support.  The components of the actual delivery of product to the new partner is key.  Examine your current process and engage your new partner.  You just might learn something about delivering to a known client type.  The culture of every company differs, don’t be afraid to learn from your former competitor.

This strategy is not for the faint of heart.  Boldly marching into the other teams locker room and discussing the playbook seems like sheer insanity.  If done well the results will be seen quickly.  In essence the play results in a licensing deal.  

Wholesale level relabeling is not new.  The structure of the deal, when seen as licensure, is well known.  Every great relationship is defined by a great contract.  Drawing the rules of engagement with your new partner can prove challenging.  Resist the urge to get caught up in technicalities, the goal is to increase profit revenue for both parties.

Gather the team and add some pages to the playbook.  You might just have some bench players that are star recruits for your “competitors”.

Security and the "Private Network" - Lock the doors and change the keys

The Internet is not a nice neighborhood, and has not been for quite some time. Data leaks, misuse of corporate technical assets, corporate espionage, phishing and crypto level malware - the list of threats is growing quarter to quarter.

In addition to the liability (SOX, HIPAA,Digital Privacy/security Acts - state and federal) the trend towards big data analytics brings a data silo issue to virtually every business. In short, no business is safe, it is time to lock the doors and review access lists.

Understanding who is looking at what, whether or not they made a change, and what the data looked like before the edit - the metrics of governance reporting - represents a whole new playing field for SMB and Enterprise IT/Ops stakeholders.

A recent report by the GOA outlines the future of bandwidth costs. Wired and wireless carriers are considering strategies for data usage and new pricing models. The Feds are in the middle of “Net Neutrality” arguments, hoping to level the playing field, odds are we are headed towards a caste system .. with regards to data usage and access. This is not a US problem only, we North Americans are getting the short end of the data/cost stick, but access is available - if it is in the budget.

Companies ranging in size from SMB to Enterprise should consider a “private network” as a leading security strategy. MPLS networks (as an example) provide a single point of entry to the greater web and allow for a high degree of packet management within the corporate LAN/WAN. Incorporating voice, data and video needs across locations and distributing users across a “private cloud” drastically increases security and lowers downtime.

Forts and castles are famous for guarded gates and single points of entry. The closed loop network, allowing for two factor authentication at EVERY point of entry, provides the same level of "guarded gate" as castles of old. A closed loop network with single points of egress for QOS/COS colored traffic to the greater web, once an expensive solution, is gaining traction as costs drop.

Within the framework of “costs” the argument can be made that companies can not afford to NOT migrate to a closed loop network. Locking down client lists, corporate planning and strategy files, let alone credit card information (client info) - a net reduction in breach risk - and governance.

As an integration professional I have found discussing private network strategies with my client base uncovers new avenues for lowering costs and increasing the value of existing IT initiatives. A real Win/Win

The bandwidth providers - wired and wireless - are scrambling to monetize their products in new ways. Steering your IT plan towards solutions that provide drastically increased security and reporting will help quantify true usage, and the correlating costs aka TCO.

NEW Top Level Domains are here to stay!

GLTD’s are hitting the street.  As of July 2014 52.5% of all websites resolve to a .COM address.  

New York City might be on the verge of disturbing the statistics.  As the second largest city economy on the planet, bested only by Tokyo, NYC is the first big name TLD to be released to the wild.  In reality it represents a small percentage of the new GLTD’s.

The first batch of domain extensions, released in 1985, included .COM .NET .ORG .EDU and .GOV.  By 2012 a total of 156 Top Level Domains were available to those seeking a web presence.  2013 to 2015 will yield a over six hundred additional TLD’s - bringing the total number of .? options to over seven hundred.

Traditionally the domain name game, overseen by ICANN, has provided a fairly level playing field.  The release of new Top Level Domains will change the landscape.  In order to qualify for a .NYC url the candidate buyer must prove to be a resident of “one of the five boroughs”, a new hurdle.  

According to the .NYC website “Between August 4th and October 3rd, all businesses, organizations, and residents with a physical address in the five boroughs will be able to request one or more .nyc domain names for their chance to Own It.”  

Staged release of new TLD’s is nothing new.  A number of previous TLD’s have hoped to make a splash, but no release to date has shaken .COM’s hold on the “majority of domains on the web”.

Esther Dyson, founding chairperson of ICANN, states GLTDs "will create jobs [for lawyers, marketers and others] but little extra value." In 2012, the most expensive GLTLD, CDN.net, sold for $185,000, a clear separation from the traditional pricing model for domain names -- the cornerstone of commerce on the web.  

Concatenating Market Theory - Markets in the palm of your hand

As the internet becomes the common language for all things, ethereal and physical, markets continue to concatenate.

Concatenate: “To link together in a series or a chain”.  Amazon’s business model thrives on a concatenating market, a ubiquitous “store” carrying everything.  Diapers, as an example can be found at half the cost, from Amazon, over retail outlets.  The retail outlet must also be travelled to, an added cost.  Though my children are well past diaper age, I have vivid memories of the LAST trip I took down the diaper aisle at my local big box/warehouse store.  Having scoured the Orlando area for the lowest possible cost, I still had to travel to the location.  Diapers, when you need them, are vital.  Having them delivered, on a known schedule, would have been a bonus.

As a consultant my business takes me into almost every market segment.  All of my clients, regardless of horizontal or vertical market, are struggling with the same challenge.  “How do I stay connected to my clients and partners?”  Usually this question is wrapped around an increased internal cost, or a dropping top line sales number.  In the end it boils down to operating margins and fixed costs.  The goal, to increase margins and lower costs, is consistent.

We are steaming through through the summer of 2014.  A year marked with "the death of the PC" and explosive mobile adoption.  The second half of the year will bring a tsunami of wearable technology.  Many will see the location awareness benefit of wearable tech as a boon.  In store (retail) mapping will show some limited adoption by the all important 2014 Christmas Shopping season. Ensuring your business is also “location aware” and “mobile friendly” should be on the top of every business owners shopping list.

Android Wear, as an example, professes to: “organize your information, suggests what you need, and shows it to you before you even ask. Get messages from your friends, appointment notifications, and weather updates at a glance”.  I believe the consumer, not Apple or GOOGLE, will “Win” the wearables adoption race.  In the new economy all products must bring value to the marketplace, a truism that heavily applies to wearable technology.  Wearables are intimate, and must fulfill needs beyond raw tech, they must also fit with the personality of the users.  

The IOT (Internet Of Things) has been the next “big thing”, according to tech pundits, for a number of years.  Though mainstream users are just hearing about the IOT the tech behind location aware technology has been leeching into our daily lives for quite some time.  Wearable technology should provide the last link, allowing our digital selves to integrate and interface with our stuff.  We are all becoming familiar with voice activated technology thanks to Siri.  The IOT and Wearables provide the last technical link needed to enable Siri to direct you to the cheapest peanut butter .. inside your favorite store .. within inches.  A short leap from driving directions and digital sticky notes/reminders.

The combination of wearable tech, voice activation, IOT and a growing and spending economy - is defining a concatenating retail space.  YOUR business, regardless of market segment, MUST consider adoption of this new wave of technology.  

Every product has a point of use with a person or thing.  

How will your products mold to this new market component?  

Wearable technology will storm the market, as the year moves towards our biggest shopping season - the Holiday season.  In recent years barcode scanning, as a comparison pricing tactic, has seen adoption by price conscious shoppers.  The 2014 season will see a new form of marketing, largely based on the most reliable contact point, our mobile devices - all of them. HERE is a great PDF outlining common Barcode strategies, for mobile friendly retail adoption.

Markets are truly shrinking - into the palm of our hands.

The Year of The Horse is Kicking in Orlando!

In case you missed it, 1/31/2014 marks the year of  THE HORSE, in the Chinese calendar.  

“The source of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions.” states Wiki.  The reality of Chinese New Year in Orlando, in 2014:  Sulphur clouds, traffic jams, and bizarre entertainers.  I for one was not prepared.

Following up on a friends recommendation an impromptu lunch was planned, meeting at 1101 East Colonial, Chuan Lu Garden.  Arriving near the hour of celebration, noon on New Years day, I attempted to meet my lunch party at Chuan Lu.  My mapping app parked me across the street, in the 1100 block of East Colonial.

As I entered the back of the Tien Hung market (the only thing keeping me from Chuan Lu) the New Year’s festivities began in the front of the store.  Sidewalk blocked and OPD/OFD in force.  I easily understood, with the traffic impact of the pending event, the presence of Orlando’s finest.  Only later would I understand the importance of the Fire Dept presence.  A costly miss on my part.

The market is pretty big.  With hopes of escaping from an exit OTHER than the front door I walked the perimeter of the market.  I was surprised to find an excellent selection of great asian products, a great find.  As a wannabe Foodie, Tien Hung Market is worth a trip back, on ANY other day.

Discovering I was boxed in.  I had no exit.  The front store area was packed with people.  Cell phones taping the entire event.  

I must explain, I am a big guy.  Six and a half feet tall and compared to the patronage of a culturally specific store, I was towering over everyone else.  Couple this with my suit coat and business attire, I was made as some sort of compliance officer, a definite round eye.

The winding parade of exhibitors seemed to be at every turn.

At one point, within the tight aisles of the store layout, a few of the characters squeezed past me.  A symbolic dragon with an escort, half my height, fanned and gyrated as we competed for aisle space.  My attempt to challenge a great restaurant review was turning to the bizarre.

The passing of the characters provided a possible opening at the front door.  The throng of phone taping followers was crowding the entertainment.  

The front door of the market, once blocked by symbol and drum wielding accompaniment, was now unobstructed.  A small crowd, taking snaps at the front counter, my only challenge. I made my move.

Within a few minutes I was at the front door.  I was committed.  The market crowd, costumed characters, musical support and store staff were crowding the front door space.  Seconds later the air erupted with noise.  Strings of firecrackers were lit on the sidewalk, right outside the open market doors.  Clouds of sulphur smoke filled the air.  

Standing a head above the crowd, I took a face full of the smoke.  By the time I fought my way out, through the back door, I was hacking sulphur like a veteran coal miner.

Finding myself back in the 50 degree rainy weather, as a Floridian truly brutal, I called my lunch party.  A few minutes in the rain crossing SR50, betting no one would want to test the strength of their bumper against my 260 pounds, and we were seated at Chuan Lu.  The Sashimi lunch plate was excellent.

I think next year, at noon on Chinese New Year’s Day, I might choose a burger - over sashimi.  

Shoppers With Computers in Hand: A Retailer's Dream Come True

A nightmare -- a dream of sorts -- comes to mind for most retailers when confronted with a buying public empowered with loads of real-time competitive information. Price comparing in the aisles is rampant. Too much information in a buyer's hand is not always a good thing from a seller's standpoint.

In truth, well-informed buyers make predictable choices. As we look to 2014, we should know that buyers are changing in real-time. What questions can you ask your leaders about changes in buyer tactics? How can we draw from our past successes and grow with the new market challenges?

The front counter has moved
As mobile adoption grows, the interface that makes people most comfortable is changing. No longer are we tied to the traditional three-point interface: monitor, keyboard, and mouse. As more wearable technology hits the steep part of the adoption curve, a shift in initial client interaction is taking place. We are encountering clients and prospects wirelessly and dynamically, based on their location and store proximity. In essence, the front counter of your business has shifted into concentric rings, with your brick-and-mortar location at the center.

The presentation of your store/brand digital presence is the new front counter for clients armed with layover technology. Google Glass is the most advanced and widely known example of this emerging technology, but actual Glass users represent only a small percentage of your potential client pool. The technology itself (the ability to see a store digitally) will be ported to cellphones and tablets in 2014.

Be competitive
Your business exists because you believe you bring value to the market. Your products and services represent more than your best effort. Excellence is your goal. Repeat business is the lowest-cost source of revenue. Representing your market-facing wins behind your new digital front counter is the key to retaining your relationship with possibly distracted clients/users.

If your goal is to engage every client who graces your door, a click-to-chat capability during store hours would mirror your in-store experience digitally. Competing for new and repeat clients is nothing new. A more connected client is an opportunity to engage in a different way. A good use of tools and information allows for personalized updates. Informing a return client of a sale or offering product shipment information is a real value add, engaging the client at their point of need.

Embrace change (WiFi and access)
Digitally enabled buyers need access. Offering WiFi at your location is crucial. Free WiFi within your store increases foot traffic and in-store time. Registering your location as a WiFi hot zone is also an option. Sites such as WeFi use a mapping interface to guide searchers to available wireless web access.

Using a walled garden tactic (as opposed to unfettered Internet access) allows retailers to retain brand presence and ensure eyeball time with prospects taking advantage of the store's Internet resources. Challenging the user with user terms, filtering (no adult content), bandwidth monitoring, and time limits helps you control the environment.

Fools rush in
It's better to be tardy than foolish. The digital representation of your business should closely mirror your brick-and-mortar model. Any retailer that has survived the last five years is solid.

Reaching out to clients and prospects with a new set of tools can be challenging. Observe and emulate your company's strengths. The true change lies in adopting a CRM approach to retail business. Social networking, user-generated content (reviews), and customer bonus/retention cards -- all these tools provide a stream of information about your clients and how to meet and predict their needs.

Originally posted on 1-6-2014 at:
http://www.solutionprovidersforretail.com/author.asp?section_id=3488&doc_id=270807&

Is your website ready for 2014?

If you are in business in any way, you use the web to interact with your people. Clients, prospects, vendors, and employees -- they are all more effective when they use common, web-based tools to access information. That information flow is vital to the growth and sustainability of businesses of all sizes.

As the year draws to a close, and all eyes turn to the plans for 2014, updating your company's website should make the short list of pending budgeted expenditures. You probably have a website, and an existing URL (Universal Resource Locator) with some good information about your company, and how to contact the right people to get stuff done, place an order, check on an order, talk to someone about a sale, email, or post a kudo or complaint. These functions should be as prominent on your new site as they are on your existing site.

Where your current site is most likely lacking will become more apparent in early 2014. Buyers are going mobile. This is not a new trend, but I believe the 2013 shopping season will provide a true tipping point for mobile adoption. Tablets, phones, phablets, convertible tablets/laptops, and a bevy of wearable tech -- these items comprise the “wish list” for many Santa-seeking gift receivers.

The hardware trickle down theory also applies. As people get the "latest and greatest” toy or device, the last REV ushers a whole new wave of adopters into the mix. On the home front as well as the office, many new users will become truly mobile capable in the first quarter of 2014. I know in my company and home -- as I upgrade -- all my old tech steps down a level, enabling some new function or gadget for the “new” user of my “old" tech.

Some statistics:

• Fifty-three percent of adult cellphone owners use it to access the Internet
• A sale coming from mobile phones on eBay comes every two seconds
• Twenty-eight percent of all Internet usage comes from a mobile phone/device
• Smartphone sales have become bigger than PC sales

The numbers point to as much as a 60% saturation rate among 18- to 24-year-old users (buyers), as engaged mobile platform users. That is a true tipping point in the market -- more than half of all users expect your website to be a working tool on a mobile device.

The outstanding question is simple: 

How do I ensure my site will work and respond on a mobile device?

As a first step, a "mobile-optimized" site must be rolled up. Google penalizes sites in organic search results when the target site is searched for from a mobile device. This means if you are in the cat food business and you are triggered as the “winning” search response (based on keywords, location, and user generated content/reviews), and you DO NOT have a mobile-optimized site, your next closest competitor with a mobile-optimized site will return as a lead response. Ahead of your listing, in the organic (native) search index.

Reworking your site, as a mobile-optimized resource, is an involved process. Content must be reworked, made presentable on a screen as small as 3.5 inches, and made navigable with gestures rather than clicks. The ability to navigate a maze of information with swipes, touches, and squeezes, is imperative to the project success. Most sites are dependent upon a traditional three point interface (mouse, keyboard, monitor), not a touch interface.

As you work with your integrator, or in house marketing team, be sure to reference a site plan that includes true adaptive/responsive site design tactics. The people/time/money invested will show returns in some unlikely places, as your rally point for information about your company embraces a new wave of mobile buyers and partners.

Cryptolocker Virus Can Decimate a Business

In recent weeks, a new breed of virus has emerged: truly effective “Ransomware." Past iterations of Ransomware, most notably the “FBI Virus” have touted an urgent call to action, involving a transfer of funds, to the group that has infected your computer. The FBI Virus is removable; with the right geek involved, your data was not in jeopardy, the virus could be removed, and your computer returned to a functioning state. The current version of Ransomware, known as “Cryptolocker,” is no joke. Your files are truly gone. The only path to restoration involves paying the ransom, via Bitcoin.

So far, the standard rate for retrieval of your information is two bitcoins. Standard bitcoin exchange rates, averaging about $300 USD per bitcoin, have applied. In the majority of the cases reported, the paying of the ransom actually works. About a thousand PCs a day are infected, though this rate may vary in the future, as known successes are reported in the viral community.

Paul Ducklin, head of technology for the Asia-Pacific region at SOPHOS, described the impact of the virus: “It's kind of like losing your computer or smashing your hard disk or dropping your computer in the harbor. You are never going to get your data back.”

Let me be clear, removing the virus does NOT gain access to your data. The information is locked, not accessible, coded to a specific and complicated key. Cracking the key is a job for geeks armed with supercomputers and dual MBAs and is well beyond the scope of the average SysAdmin or corner computer geek. It is no joke, no post-Halloween spoof. Infected file types range the gamut of often used and critical files, and include documents, databases, spreadsheets, photos, videos, and music collections.

The virus is also written to lock “backed up” versions of the files. The operative function of cross platform infection pivots on real time links between data structures. If you are using a common and widely adopted platform such as Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, or SurDoc, then your file storage may also be locked. During the past decade, users have moved away from a truly “cold storage” approach to file protection, but that old-school approach is the best way to combat the current malware attack.

PCs and laptops that are attached, via VPN, or other linked mechanisms are also prime candidates for this viral attack. The virus authors are looking for files that are easy buy decisions for the unlocking keysets. A database of client information, current AR, banking info, ERP and CRM tables, etc. The data types targeted are obvious. This corporate infection strategy is reinforced by a development (in the past week) of a “buy more time” option in the ransom scheme. Initially, a 72-hour window was given, demanding two bitcoins for the unlock key. Now, a “buy more time” option has been given. The upcharge can range into the thousands of dollars (USD), allowing for more time to gather funds to purchase unfettered access to your files.

For personal computer users, an image backup of cold file storage of the to-be-protected data is recommended. USB capable storage is cheap. 32GIG flash drives, in the $30 range, are prolific. I would recommend backing up crucial data as often as needed. The question is, how many days can you afford to lose? Backing up your primary information monthly, at a minimum, is recommended. In the past, corporations and enterprises have used tape backup, some form of shelved cold storage, ensuring information integrity.

Returning to the trends of old, keeping a “cold copy” of primary data is critical. Even when the ransom is paid, there have been cases where the key is not provided. Ironically, the absence of a key, despite ransom payment, is laid at the feet of law enforcement. Should the authorities track the key generating server and shut it down before your key can be generated, your data is still locked.

Sticker Shock: ICAAN's New Rules for TLDs

Creating a website -- currently a fairly inexpensive proposition -- is about to become a lot more costly and complicated.

Nowadays, domain names, starting as low as $3, are readily available and traded openly. Typically, staking a claim to a specific URL or domain name does not present a financial barrier to entry. In fact, even the least technical businessperson can tackle website creation, although hiring a professional will doubtless deliver higher quality results and should take less time.

Regardless of size, financial status, marketshare, or talent, the web offers an inexpensive and readily available platform for users of all types. But volcanic change threatens the equality Tim Berners-Lee envisioned when he crafted the Internet.

Most domain names end in .COM and .ORG; in a “top 100 sites” listing by Ted.com, .COM accounted for half of the primary list. Another 39 used .ORG, while a mix of other top-level domains (TLDs) rounded out the ranking. Under ICANN's new rules, new and distinctive domain names will be released, after review by ICANN. These names will begin to become visible in the greater web in the fourth quarter of 2013.

A highly visible top-level domain, one of the first to gain approval and plan for market release, is.NYC. According to the City of New York’s information page about the .NYC TLD, pricing for these domain names will be based on estimates of related revenue, a model lending itself to more of an auction-based feel than the traditional domain pricing model.

Qualification for acquisition of a .NYC-related domain is also limited. According to City of New York officials, qualified applicants will have a “bona fide presence" in the City of New York, meaning regularly performing lawful activities within the city and maintaining an office or other facility in the city. This is a drastic departure from traditional domain acquisition practices, where anyone with a few dollars can start a named web entity, regardless of location or taxpayer status.

A TLD differs from a traditional domain in its length and its price. New generic top-level domains (GTLDs) change the playing field, allowing for different associations between companies or cities and their web presence. Essentially, the introduction of this new class of domains separates the big players from the little guys. I question not only this fundamental change in the way the web routes naming conventions, but the basic class-level distinction ICANN is allowing to emerge.

You can find the reasoning for this move by looking at ICAAN’s bottom line revenue. According to its FY13 Operating Plan and Budget, ICANN's total operating income was $14.2 million in 2012. However, the organization predicts income of $85.9 million only 12 months later. Six times the operating income, year over year, is enough to entice any company into a new direction. But I question at what cost this increased revenue will come.

If a wave truly becomes a sound at first hearing, then a product becomes a reality at first adoption. Based on the thousands of initial registrants for GLTDs -- despite the massive cost per registrant -- the market apparently believes this new TLD strategy will succeed.

Esther Dyson, founding chairperson of ICANN, states GLTDs "will create jobs [for lawyers, marketers and others] but little extra value." In 2012, the most expensive GLTLD, CDN.net, sold for $185,000, a clear separation from the traditional pricing model for domain names -- the cornerstone of commerce on the web.

The WWW has (for the most part) provided a level playing field for all entrants, regardless of size. True impact has been determined by the masses, nullifying the law of scarcity, and allowing for viral growth of brands and goods based on value -- not marketing might and size of company. How the new GTLD schema will affect search engines, ability to find products, and baseline competition on the web is still largely an unknown. Time will tell as the new web postfixes hit the digital street. Hopefully the final vote, rate of adoption by consumers, will hold the most weight.