discuss What makes for a good brandable domain ? Showcase your brandables here

oldtimer · Jun 5, 2013

With thousands of startups needing a name for their new company and many more existing businesses also branching out all the time and needing names for their new line of products and services it seems that brandable domains is one of the areas that could be very beneficial to domainers both old and new and deserves to be explored further.

Below are a few points of discussion to get this thread started, if I have left something important out please let me know so that it can be added to them. If you have any tips or advice about brandable domains please feel free to share them with the rest of us.

1-What is a brandable domain.

2-How many different types of brandable domains are there and is one type better than the others.

3-What makes a brandable domain stand out amongst thousands of others.

4-What is the optimum length for a brandable domain, how long can a brandable domain be and still qualify as being a good choice.

5-What types of brandable domains are most desired by startups and existing businesses.

6-What is the best way to find brandable domains.

7-What is the best way to sell brandable domains.

Attention Newbies: It's probably best to first hear what some of the more experienced domainers have to say about this subject before you consider getting any domains, and even then it's probably best to experiment with just a few domains at a time. You should be able to sell one domain and then use the proceeds from that sale to get more domains, if you cannot even sell one domain then you are doing something wrong and need to adjust your strategy. IMO

SearchEngineZ · Jun 7, 2013

I always ask myself this:

can I imagine multiple end users who would love this domain?

And the second question is:

is there a better domain they could get for cheaper?

I have a LLLL .com that starts with "ad". I reckon that there are dozens, if not hundreds of marketing companies that might want to rebrand with my domain. I'll hold out for a good price.

Compare that with another of mine, pels.net. It cost me $178 back in 2008 when I was just learning about domaining. I can't imagine any end user for it, unless they use PELS as an acronym. It's worth paying the renewal on, but I don't expect to sell it for a high price. An American business could just buy pels.us for $4 from GoDaddy.

Yet many domainers might think it is brandable, because it is CVCC and passes the radio test etc. But it doesn't sound like a brand. It doesn't have any pizzazz!

dcristo · Jun 7, 2013

opalxx said:
Such as?

Keyword domains will always be in demand. Perhaps buying undervalued generics and flipping them? Usually this requires intimate knowledge of a niche though. But if it was easy making money, every body would be doing it.

oldtimer · Jun 7, 2013

hookbox said:
There are millions of brandable style domains registered and few if any ever sell because they are never seen.

What makes one brandable domain sell and for thousands of others of the same quality (or even better) to just sit there for years is the level of presentation and marketing that is done to make the domains get noticed by the right people. That’s why getting accepted at BrandBucket is such a big deal because they have thousands of end-users who go there every month for the specific reason of finding a brandable domain. If your domain gets accepted at BrandBucket you might be able to sell a 6L domain there in two months where as the same domain might sit dormant for years somewhere else. IMO

urlurl · Jun 7, 2013

hookbox said:
There are millions of brandable style domains registered and few if any ever sell because they are never seen. Naming a company is very complex and a true art form and most in the business world are clueless how to come up with a great brand name so they seek out sites like Brandbucket. If you are new to this game don't waste your money regging a bunch of names because they will never ever be seen by anyone. Its a rarity to come up with a great 5, 6, or 7 letter domain and then for an end user to come up with that exact same name and seek you out to buy it. Not going to happen or very rare. If Brandbucket accepts your name you have a chance of selling it. A chance not a guarantee and first the name has to be accepted by them which is rare in itself. With around 12 million 5 letter combinations, 310 million 6 letter combinations and 8 billion 7 letter combinations you can see how easy it is for that fantastic name you just came up with to get lost in the sea of massive amounts of short domain names. There are easier ways to make money in this business.

This is not the easiest way and i'm not sure there is an easy way to make money in this business. if there was we all would be doing it. its just another niche, just like traffic names, dictionary words, geo, high demand key words, etc.

But keep in mind great brandable names are very rare and hard to find.

Fonzie · Jun 7, 2013

oldtimer said:
What makes one brandable domain sell and for thousands of others of the same quality (or even better) to just sit there for years is the level of presentation and marketing that is done to make the domains get noticed by the right people.

No, it's because there's absolutely no accounting for the tastes of individual people who make domain buying decisions. Some of them are comically uninformed, in spite of having otherwise deep pockets from the business ventures they aren't bad at.

It's also comprehending just how LITTLE relativity exists between domain sales, in spite of a few retards breathlessly insisting there's always some corollary. Who fucking cares what (that domain) sold for. it literally means nothing to (your domain), regardless of if they use the same keywords, if they have more or less letters or numbers, the same extension, etc.

I've been in 'the room' when domain buying decisions are made on a few different occasions. I've also sold an awful lot of them.

oldtimer · Jun 7, 2013

urlurl said:
But keep in mind great brandable names are very rare and hard to find.

I just registered P e t o m a ,com (using $2.49 godaddy coupon) , this domain can be used for any Pet related product or service or as a catchy and attractive name for a company that provides such products and services. It's short, memorable, and easy to spell and in my opinion is a good example of the opportunities that still exist with brandable domains.

Fonzie · Jun 7, 2013

oldtimer said:
and in my opinion is a good example of the opportunities that still exist with brandable domains.

I think it's an even better example of why you're still on Namepros.

oldtimer · Jun 7, 2013

Fonzie said:
I think it's an even better example of why you're still on Namepros.

I believe it’s too soon to make a judgment about this domain, if it sells in the next few months then it will prove my point, and if not then it’s not going to be a big deal considering the cost of acquisition. IMO

By the way what’s wrong with being on NamePros. Oh wait I bet you are going to say it’s where all the retards hang around.

equity78 · Jun 7, 2013

Fonzie said:
No, it's because there's absolutely no accounting for the tastes of individual people who make domain buying decisions. Some of them are comically uninformed, in spite of having otherwise deep pockets from the business ventures they aren't bad at.

It's also comprehending just how LITTLE relativity exists between domain sales, in spite of a few retards breathlessly insisting there's always some corollary. Who fucking cares what (that domain) sold for. it literally means nothing to (your domain), regardless of if they use the same keywords, if they have more or less letters or numbers, the same extension, etc.

I've been in 'the room' when domain buying decisions are made on a few different occasions. I've also sold an awful lot of them.

The key part where I agree 100 % is the subjectivity of the decision maker. Take alt spellings as an example. You will find people who love using Tyger because they can't get Tiger, or the ever popular leave off a letter like Flickr or Tumblr. Then you will have another branding company or CEO that hates alt spelling and when presented with these type of suggestions they don't even reply because they think those names are absolute trash.

So for a domainer, how many can you own ? These names require patience, They are making no money parked, have little monetization options most of the time. For new domainers or hobbyists who have to watch their bankroll, they have to stick to a plan and not keep regging after they have acquired their number.

The other part is true also there is no correlation, you own a unique asset, Dudu.com selling for $1million means little for your DeDe.com you may get more or you most likely will get less, the potential buyer will care nothing about Dudu.com.

oldtimer · Jun 7, 2013

equity78 said:
The key part where I agree 100 % is the subjectivity of the decision maker.

People in the boardroom might not all be geniuses that can come up with the right domain on demand, that’s why when they are presented with some viable choices they might pull the trigger and make a purchase as it has already been shown at BrandBucket.

Some end-users might not know exactly what they are looking for or like until they see it right in front of them, that's why brandable domains sell better when presented in the form of a logo.

IMO

urlurl · Jun 8, 2013

... that's why brandable domains sell better when presented in the form of a logo.

IMO[/QUOTE]

I 100% agree, a logo or design can bring out the suggestive use and add a great deal of value to names in this niche

oldtimer · Jun 8, 2013

mazkel said:
Urlurl summarizes it nicely.

Yes UrlUrl has made very good points, but we would like you to also give us a few tips as to what kind of brandable domains you have had the most success with, how you acquired them and how and where you were able to sell them.

urlurl · Jun 9, 2013

Out of these names which ones do you think have the potential to sell in $x,xxx range

C l y n g

P h o t i v e

J i g s y

S t y c k

W e P o s t

S p i n a r o o

i F e a t h e r

oldtimer · Jun 9, 2013

urlurl said:
Out of these names which ones do you think have the potential to sell in $x,xxx range

C l y n g

P h o t i v e

J i g s y

S t y c k

W e P o s t

S p i n a r o o

i F e a t h e r

At first glance I say:

C l y n g

J i g s y

S p i n a r o o

These make good names for a new product (game). IMO

nicenic · Jun 9, 2013

I wanna add some spice

to this thread and now copy/paste what Elliot Silver expressed in his blog on January 8, 2013 here:

Title: Why I Don’t Like Investing in Brandable Domain Names
It’s always fun to start of a blog post with a caveat, so here goes! Many people have made millions of dollars selling “brandable” domain names. There is nothing wrong with investing in brandable domain names. I personally don’t really invest in brandable domain names, and I will share some reasons for that....http://www.elliotsblog.com/why-i-dont-like-investing-in-brandable-domain-names-2886

GiftedDomains · Jun 9, 2013

From Elliots Blog post:

Millions of dollars in domain sales are achieved each year from brandable domain names. Many times that figure is lost (paid to domain registrars), most likely to never be recovered.

Again, re-read the first paragraph. There are plenty of success stories, but there are many more failures that you probably don’t hear about because the owners either disappear from the domain investment space, or they hold out hope that the next big sale will be theirs.

You could change the word "brandable" with "keyword domains" or any other type of domains and this statement (and many other comments in his blog post) would still be true and remain the same. And i even bet there are even more losers with keyword domains, crap extensions, etc. than those who invest in good brandable .coms.

There are always winners and losers. And its not so much about which category of domains you invest in, but if you as a person/domainer have the necessary skills, talent and ability to make money with domains or not.

wot · Jun 9, 2013

The one thing I have definitely learned in my few years in the business is that I have no idea what is likely to sell and often no idea why the buyer has bought it.

Some of the weirdest names sell for good money that I often would not have bothered regging.so basically I have learned nothing.

Kate · Jun 9, 2013

It's important to understand that there are many degrees of 'brandability'.
Some domain names are more brandable than others.
For example, a domain like kawa.com or diva.com is hugely brandable.

No offense, but
C l y n g
S t y c k
are more like lottery tickets to me.

I think there are many possible buyers for kawa.com, but much fewer for C l y n g. The odds of making a sale aren't comparable.

Some brandables pass the radio test, others don't. Ideally, a brandable domain should pass the radio test. Some end users will still buy domains that don't meet this criterion, they will have to advertise a lot and brand them heavily. It can be done. But significant budgets are needed.
The problem here is that a domain that is memorable will work for you. A domain that isn't easy to spell or remember won't initially. You have to make the domain valuable until it becomes a household name (or at least famous enough). Yet after losing loads of traffic to flicker.com, Flickr had to secure flicker.com. There are limits to creativity and thinking outside the box in the real world...

Personal conclusion: brandable domains that pass the radio test will be more liquid than those which don't.

EJS · Jun 9, 2013

sdsinc said:
Personal conclusion: brandable domains that pass the radio test will be more liquid than those which don't.

My issue with brandable names is that most don't seem to be liquid enough. If you own a portfolio of them and need to sell them next week to buy a car or pay some bills, you can't simply convince someone to create a brand using your domain name.

On the other hand, I have found that relevant keyword .com domain names are much more liquid. I might not get my asking price on names like EventPlanner.com or EventManagement if I need to sell them quickly, but I know I'd be able to find an end user buyer quickly if necessary. If I owned a radio test passing brandable name like Totindo.com, I don't think the same could be said.

Again, it's really a personal preference based on experience.

oldtimer · Jun 9, 2013

What makes all the difference here more than even the level of quality is which domain is getting the right exposure. Absent a lot of type in traffic (which most brandables don’t have any) the domain that you might consider to be of better quality can sit dormant for years without getting any offers if it is not seen by the right end users where as one that you might consider to be of lesser quality might sell in just a few months once it gets accepted at a boutique sales venue that caters directly to startups. Although the better quality domain might be worth more, which might actually be a disadvantage with brandable domains since most startups seem to be looking for domains that are less than five thousand dollars, but an affordable domain that gets the right exposure is the one that is probably going to sell faster. IMO

hookbox · Jun 9, 2013

sdsinc said:
It's important to understand that there are many degrees of 'brandability'.
Some domain names are more brandable than others.
For example, a domain like kawa.com or diva.com is hugely brandable.

No offense, but
C l y n g
S t y c k
are more like lottery tickets to me.

I think there are many possible buyers for kawa.com, but much fewer for C l y n g. The odds of making a sale aren't comparable.

Some brandables pass the radio test, others don't. Ideally, a brandable domain should pass the radio test. Some end users will still buy domains that don't meet this criterion, they will have to advertise a lot and brand them heavily. It can be done. But significant budgets are needed.
The problem here is that a domain that is memorable will work for you. A domain that isn't easy to spell or remember won't initially. You have to make the domain valuable until it becomes a household name (or at least famous enough). Yet after losing loads of traffic to flicker.com, Flickr had to secure flicker.com. There are limits to creativity and thinking outside the box in the real world...

Personal conclusion: brandable domains that pass the radio test will be more liquid than those which don't.

Everytime I hear that a name has to pass the radio test I laugh my ass off. People quoting books that were written in the 80's and still talking on their landline phones.

oldtimer · Jun 9, 2013

EJS said:
My issue with brandable names is that most don't seem to be liquid enough. If you own a portfolio of them and need to sell them next week to buy a car or pay some bills, you can't simply convince someone to create a brand using your domain name.

On the other hand, I have found that relevant keyword .com domain names are much more liquid. I might not get my asking price on names like EventPlanner.com or EventManagement if I need to sell them quickly, but I know I'd be able to find an end user buyer quickly if necessary. If I owned a radio test passing brandable name like Totindo.com, I don't think the same could be said.

Again, it's really a personal preference based on experience.

You have been very successful so far with keyword and geo domains and you probably don’t see any need to venture into areas that you are not very comfortable with such as brandables or future trend domains, but for those with a low budget these might be good areas to get into if they go about it the right way. IMO

hookbox · Jun 9, 2013

EJS said:
My issue with brandable names is that most don't seem to be liquid enough. If you own a portfolio of them and need to sell them next week to buy a car or pay some bills, you can't simply convince someone to create a brand using your domain name.

On the other hand, I have found that relevant keyword .com domain names are much more liquid. I might not get my asking price on names like EventPlanner.com or EventManagement if I need to sell them quickly, but I know I'd be able to find an end user buyer quickly if necessary. If I owned a radio test passing brandable name like Totindo.com, I don't think the same could be said.

Again, it's really a personal preference based on experience.

Really good 4 and 5 letter pronounceable domains are just as liquid as a good keyword domain in my opinion. I think the majority of domainers invest in keyword domains so your market is a little wider when selling them. The other thing that a lot of domainers assume is that just because a name is pronounceable doesn't mean its worth anything. You gave the example of Totindo.com which you couldn't give away on this forum.

urlurl · Jun 9, 2013

sdsinc said:
It's important to understand that there are many degrees of 'brandability'.
Some domain names are more brandable than others.
For example, a domain like kawa.com or diva.com is hugely brandable.

No offense, but
C l y n g
S t y c k
are more like lottery tickets to me.

I think there are many possible buyers for kawa.com, but much fewer for C l y n g. The odds of making a sale aren't comparable.

Some brandables pass the radio test, others don't. Ideally, a brandable domain should pass the radio test. Some end users will still buy domains that don't meet this criterion, they will have to advertise a lot and brand them heavily. It can be done. But significant budgets are needed.
The problem here is that a domain that is memorable will work for you. A domain that isn't easy to spell or remember won't initially. You have to make the domain valuable until it becomes a household name (or at least famous enough). Yet after losing loads of traffic to flicker.com, Flickr had to secure flicker.com. There are limits to creativity and thinking outside the box in the real world...

Personal conclusion: brandable domains that pass the radio test will be more liquid than those which don't.

No offense taken, I just wanted to give some examples of brandable names I have sold in the $x,xxx range.

4L's repeating (cvcv) are excellent brandable names but expensive to invest in. A reseller would need to pay x,xxx to buy a good cvcv - using up valuable capital.

Kate · Jun 9, 2013

hookbox said:
Everytime I hear that a name has to pass the radio test I laugh my ass off. People quoting books that were written in the 80's and still talking on their landline phones.

Of course, not every name has to pass the radio test. But it doesn't hurt. After all, a brandable should roll off the tongue.
This is not a problem if you rely on SEO for example, and you are not going to advertise and brand your name heavily.
But if you intend to achieve famous brand status, you'd better think twice.

flickr, delicio.us, o.co and others have learned the hard way.
o.co actually does pass the radio test, but that isn't enough.

I suppose that domains like flickr or delicio.us were initially bought for regfee, because the founders they didn't want to pay for a better domain or were short on funding. They ended up paying significantly more for the right domain.

discuss What makes for a good brandable domain ? Showcase your brandables here

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