What's GoDaddy? A reality check

[paul]

I got hit with that question at the office today. The owners wife and a staff person asked me. Bright, educated people, but not website developers. It really reminded me how much knowledge I take for granted, but which is not really commonplace.

[Todd W]

I got hit with that question at the office today. The owners wife and a staff person asked me. Bright, educated people, but not website developers. It really reminded me how much knowledge I take for granted, but which is not really commonplace.

Funny you mention this my brother asked me today too.. he thought for $1 you get yourname@godaddy.com

[kdb003]

I get this question every superbowl

[chrisranjana.com]

What's GoDaddy?

Was it an interview question ?

[Farmer77]

I bet more people will be confused if you ask them what a web publisher does.

[paul]

I bet more people will be confused if you ask them what a web publisher does.

I would be happy if my spouse understood, much less other people The whole process is so invisible it seems like magic to outsiders. But if you try to tell someone else how you do it, you quickly realize it requires an extensive skill set to make it happen.

The best analogy I have come up with is the orchard model. I plant seeds, fertilize, water, prune etc. until they start having fruit. It takes time, growth is slow, but once you have a few into production they support you for a long time.

[KLB]

I would be happy if my spouse understood, much less other people The whole process is so invisible it seems like magic to outsiders. But if you try to tell someone else how you do it, you quickly realize it requires an extensive skill set to make it happen.

I'm in the same boat. People have no clue what it is that I do. It takes about twenty minutes to explain what a web publisher is and how one makes money doing it.

What's really bad is that people you have the ability to do things you have little control over. For instance the log home company I'm a dealer for was all upset about the description Google was using in my search results. I told them that all I could do was change the text on my website and hope that Google eventually starts using the new description. I also reminded them that they were the ones who approved the text for use on my site to begin with and that I had been using it for five years now. They actually wanted me to call Google and ask that they change the description for my listing.

I actually spent most of the night earlier this week (until 4 am) writing an "article"/email for them explaining in bloody detail how organic search results work vs. how paid search listings work. I also used the old "miserable failure" Googlebomb as an example of how unwilling Google is to manually manipulate any search result.

Let's face reality what we do and what Godaddy does is black magic to 90% of the people out there. We just have to live with the fact that most people will never understand this stuff even after we explain it to them.

[Westech]

My wife was just on the phone with our insurance company. She turned around and asked me, "what's your occupation?"

I know what my occupation is and so does she. It's just that it's difficult to pigeonhole it into a predefined category that other people understand. It can't just be a simple 2 word answer, it always turns into a long explanation with several follow-up questions.

[paul]

I find it works reasonably well to slur/mumble website and then clearly enunciate "Publisher".

On the bright side is the old saying about "getting rich in the dark." I do some work with sub-prime lenders and everyone, especially ambitious politicians, thinks they are making a killing. The business is like a magnet for legal action. Real estate is much the same, especially since you leave a chain of title permanent record that can come back to haunt you for years. With website publishing you would have a hard time convincing them you make good money even if you showed your bank records.

[KLB]

With website publishing you would have a hard time convincing them you make good money even if you showed your bank records.

Ya for some reason just can't believe one can make a good living slumming around the house in PJs all day.

[Shawn]

I don't even wear PJs.

[KLB]

Well I was trying to keep from putting really bad images in peoples minds.

I don't even own a pair of PJs.