With the .jobs expansion moving forward, it's time to think beyond the niche.jobs domain that you might or might not (probably not) obtain. At some point, there are going to be hundreds of new extensions including things like .resume, .engineer, .software, .microsoft and so on.

The costs of defensive registrations and trademark infringement related lawsuits and processes like UDRP will be enormous. But, ICANN revenue will explode and the organization will grow (the real bottom line). 

What can job board operators do about it all? If you have a few hundred thousand dollars, you might start your own registry - maybe you'll get .resume or .recruiting. If that's not for you, then the other good options are -- provide more value, do more marketing and do more branding.  In one word, compete!

Many job board operators are fearful of the .jobs expansion. The value we provide to job seekers and employers flows through our domains whether we like it or not. Many of us chose those domains long before we knew what we were doing or where our businesses were going.

But we know domains are important. And we care deeply about anything so central to our businesses because this is our livelihood. As entrepreneurs the health of our businesses shape our lives and our kids lives and last but not least - our teams lives.

Does anyone know more about .jobs than Gerry Crispin? He called me yesterday with a bone to pick about my blog post. It is not really accurate to say that SHRM has been championing diversity.jobs. He was right, that's too strong a statement.

Nevertheless, Gerry is opposed to the .jobs expansion. There are a number of striking statements in his opposition letter below but this one stands out above the others "Job seekers enter a toxic environment in their efforts to secure a position - everywhere in the world."

Ever since SHRM started pushing the benefits of allowing Employ Media to launch http://diversity.jobs, I feel differently about the .jobs expansion initiative. Why would SHRM pick on my small company? Over the years, my company has advertised in SHRM's magazines, on its website and exhibited at its conferences. So, why would SHRM want to throw my company under the bus?

Our flagship websites are LatPro.com (for Hispanic and bilingual jobs) and DiversityJobs.com.  Apparently SHRM thinks it can do better and is promoting the idea that HR could benefit from new websites at diversity.jobs, bilingual.jobs and SpanishSpeaking.jobs.

So, I was very glad to hear from Peter Weddle today at the IAEWS about the association's new efforts and a related task force to campaign against the expansion. He makes a credible argument that ICANN may open a can of worms for itself by approving the expansion.

Now that the ball is in ICANN's court, you can consider this a done deal (great reporting by John Zappe). ICANN has been trying to launch new TLDs like .books, .games, etc for ages. Their goal is to maximize the number of domains worldwide - that's how they pay their salaries and that's why .jobs domains like diversity.jobs are on their way to our neighborhood. Confusion in the marketplace between domains like DiversityJobs.com and Diversity.Jobs is not ICANN's concern.

Some new videos supporting .jobs are available at the universe.jobs website.  I have expressed my concerns about the long-run scenario for these domains as I believe that eventually the interests of SHRM, Employ Media, Direct Employers and employers will diverge. Nevertheless, I take my hat off to the Direct Employer's team. This looks like an irresistible pitch to me. These videos are masterful.

As a consequence of lending its name to Employ Media for the promotion of .jobs, SHRM has an obligation to prevent .jobs domain auctions or the sale of those domains through the sale of Employ Media itself. It cannot avoid damaging its constituents if it fails to do this.  

If SHRM itself were proposing to develop the .jobs domains, there'd be a chance the interests of employers would be served. But, the proposed changes give Employ Media free reign with the domains and that can only end one way. Eventually, the domains will likely end up auctioned to the highest bidder either individually or collectively. As a result, you and I are going to pay a tax one way or another.

If you could afford a domain name for your job board that contained a single dictionary word, your category keyword or some related keyword, would you do it? These folks did:

• care.com
• caterer.com
• climber.com
• experience.com
• idealist.org

Judging by compete.com traffic graphs, it's a relatively high flying group...

Know of any others?

Sedo has sold Resumes.com for $400,000 which makes it one of the 20 highest sales reported so far in 2009.

I started writing about domains in 2006 and since then the value of the right domain to your business has only grown. There is a window of opportunity open now that comes along once in a blue moon. If you came out of this recession with nothing other than a new category-killer domain, over the long run that could make up for all the pain and suffering of the last year.