Yeah, thanks. I had to learn that there is a lot of the content in their email that is not on their site (or rather that even though some of their site content is in the newsletter, the newsletter is not on the site). So, I was skimming through quickly before rushing out the door, when it caught my eye. (The other day they answered I question I asked about eBay; I almost deleted the newsletter because I assumed it was a duplicate of the DailyDomainer.com Website - the question/answer presented on my site at DestinationWebsites.com. Though I have been domain-minded for a long time, I am new to the domainer community and am realizing how much there is to learn).
Anyway, their appraisal was lower than I wanted to hear, but still in line with one I actually paid to have done a little while ago. Not to say that I necessarily believe in paying for appraisals, because I am thinking I don't. However, I do appreciate the thoughts provided by the DailyDomainer. Ultimately, it is the market (buyer and seller) that will truly determine the price.
Having taken a retail-type position with this domain, I think I probably will do some sort of development as you suggest. I recently ignored an offer for $10k. Not sure what it will actually bring, but I aim to find out. It is the end user (i.e. bank, mortgage/credit company, etc...) that I want to reach. A little "shining up" ought to help. Thanks, and God bless us everyone!
Yep, some great ideas [for my very-limited development "budget"]; thank you. True, in my opinion, that the better developed a domain/site is, or the more traffic it is receiving, the greater the interest by prospective buyers (and thus, the higher the value).
While it is nice to turn an asset into a sale and move on, I also realize that having held it for so long, why not take a little more time if it can make a dramatic difference in the value - as well as the potential cash flow.
All this is said in keeping with the title of the thread: Make it easier for the potential end users to find you - or at least to be able to have more to talk to them about when you find them.
(Not exactly what I wanted to hear either since I had a sell-it-now attitude at first. But, we want to do our best, right?)!
There's a paradox here. If you decide you're going to hold the domain, develop it into a business then it doesn't apply. But when you're developing a site to try to generate revenue while you wait for the end user to come along, a couple of things to be cautious of:
1. Any kind of 'this site/domain is for sale' banner might put off potential users. Particularly if there is any kind of community atmosphere involved such as blog rolls, forums, user posted content etc.
2. Developing a site well and NOT putting a banner up might cause prospective buyers to not even bother contacting you.
3. If you're just going to stick up an MFA site (made for adsense) with scraped content that really ads no value to the internet that isn't already there, you might be better off (financially and in terms of time) just sticking with a simple well optimized landing page.
Very interested to hear other people's thoughts on this.
Either way, it's a great domain, good luck with it!
What was the subject of your email? Any example !!
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† Did We Know That There Aren't Really Thousands Of Bands Who Might Be Interesting, We Will Get To Deleting All Bands That Aren't In Flames, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Deicide †
On Thursday I decided to take my own advice and pick up the phone in checking to see if there might be any interest in an undeveloped news-related domain I have. First I spent quite a while trying to find specific contact numbers for several companies including Yahoo! and Google. For the latter two, I ended up calling their general numbers. In both cases my requests to talk to someone in Marketing were rebuffed and I was referred to an online form. Usually I am able to get a lot further than that. What really helps is if you have a specific contact name or referral from someone you know.
That does not mean I will give up on trying to make phone contact whenever possible, but it does reinforce what people are saying here about the importance of sending carefully-prepared emails!
Anyway, I am usually optimistic, but I am not carrying too much hope for hearing back from anyone whose form I used. But I'll let you know if I do.
I've bought a few batches of domains in bulk in the past, and usually find myself with a trademark or two, not typos but the actual company name in a TLD other than .COM (or in one case the .COM when their company was a non-generic .NET).
Out of 15 or so emails or contact forms explaining the situation and offering to give (not sell or barter) the domains to them rather than let them drop where they'll be picked up by someone else, I've never received a single response. Maybe they think it's a scam, or maybe they just don't care.
Nowadays I just delete them, not worth the hassle trying to do someone a favor who doesn't even respond..
I would choose the first one as the second one doesn't seem all that professional.
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† Did We Know That There Aren't Really Thousands Of Bands Who Might Be Interesting, We Will Get To Deleting All Bands That Aren't In Flames, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Deicide †
In a followup to my previous post, I did actually receive a call back from one of the news and information companies I contacted a few weeks ago. Then, after sending an email to another one yesterday, I received another reply this morning.
If you swing at the ball you could strike out. But if you don't swing, you will never make a home run - in fact, you will never even hit the ball.
The reason i ask is because both have advantages and disadvantages
If you tell them you are a simple user that didn't have time to develop the name they may try to trow a low bait, you lower the credibility value of your offer and you may be treated as a random guy that they can sweep easily
If you tell the you're a company may sound too promotional, may afraid of the offer, deny it because they think it has some sort of catch or several other things
What worked better for you and how your customers reacted with your approach ?
My number 1 thing is NEVER overlook sales to end-users OFFLINE.. think outside the box and approach people offline a bit as there are many businesses who may not be "online" but may be interested in the idea. Could be your next end-user is right next door!
When contacting a number of companies in the same business, is it more adviseable to only mention one name or all names I have that apply to that business in the same email or letter? Does listing more than one dilute the potential offers or might it help in getting multiple offers from the same buyer? For example, it I'm offering flowers.com should I only offer it or also offer flowershop.com, roses.com, florist.com, floraldesigns.com, and weddingflowers.com etc.? It seems counter-productive to contact the potential buyers over and over again with a new name.
this is a fantastic thread with many tips and tools. Maybe i will use them in the future.
regards
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