OK, so I've never written a blog post before, but where better to start than here on NamePros?
My name is Andy, and I've only been a member since September last year, joining one day after my 33rd birthday. I started my domaining journey in August 2014.
When I first heard about "domaining" I was looking for ways to make a little extra cash on the side, and unfortunately, I stumbled upon Sedo who directed me to United Domains. Oh boy, do I wish I found GoDaddy, NamePros, and Flippa first. As a beginner, these are definitely the places you want to be: great auctions, priceless advice, and of course $1 coupons for the hand reg's.
I thought I could re-invent the wheel and hand reg'd a whole load of new gTLD's with premium words and phrases, so in my first 3 weeks, I was down at least $300. After a couple of months, I soon realized that they were useless (they were all .bio). To be honest, I'm too embarrassed to list what I registered. Soon after this, I signed into Google AdWords, which is a great tool to see what's hot and what's not; if your not sure what Google AdWords is, it has a tool named Keyword Planner where you can type in a keyword or phrase to see how often it is searched on average each month; the higher the search volume, the better. I then stumbled across ExpiredDomains.net, which in theory is a good site but, this is when I started to hand reg trademark domains such as BestGamesforAndroid.com. Sure, it's searched over 40,000 times a month but no end user is interested as it infringes on Android (no wonder it was expired)
DomainSherpa.com saved me. By this point, I was thinking, "What am I doing?" I've wasted all this money and seen no return and probably never will. Thanks to the @Ali Zandi's interview on DS, which I watched twice. I took notes and started afresh; I had to accept the money spent is gone. Ali's interview helped me understand domaining a lot better, what people are looking for and how to sell a domain. Ali's techniques are priceless and his portfolio proves it.
NamePros.com saved me. This forum is the best! Back in April, I was out of the game, I was homeless, my wife was unemployed and suffered a miscarriage. I gave up. Towards the end of April, I decided I should see if I could get rid of some of my garbage hand reg's, so I listed them here on NamePros. I sold 8 domains for $11... WOW!!!! I then started to just randomly read some of the Pros' blog posts by (@Ali Zandi and @Eric Lyon ) with the full intention of quitting. Two months later, here I am writing my first ever blog post. I have sold a further 4 domains for profit (not much), but they are still sales. I know how to advertise a domain for sale, I know how to contact potential end users, and I know .com is king!!
I now spend most of my time reading blog posts on here from the Pros (priceless advice), browsing GoDaddy closeout auctions and expiring domains, and doing my full research before bidding/buying. I list some domains on Flippa and on NamePros. I still hand reg the occasional domain, but nine times out of ten, I use a $1 coupon for those! I am more active on LinkedIn (add me here) searching for end users, thanks to @jamesiles's blog post.
So here is a quick recap for all you fellow beginners: places to go and accounts to create.
I spent 3 years at college studying engineering, and I am more motivated about domains than engineering. I am now teaching myself web development, something I know nothing about but want to do.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and have learned a little something new
My name is Andy, and I've only been a member since September last year, joining one day after my 33rd birthday. I started my domaining journey in August 2014.
When I first heard about "domaining" I was looking for ways to make a little extra cash on the side, and unfortunately, I stumbled upon Sedo who directed me to United Domains. Oh boy, do I wish I found GoDaddy, NamePros, and Flippa first. As a beginner, these are definitely the places you want to be: great auctions, priceless advice, and of course $1 coupons for the hand reg's.
I thought I could re-invent the wheel and hand reg'd a whole load of new gTLD's with premium words and phrases, so in my first 3 weeks, I was down at least $300. After a couple of months, I soon realized that they were useless (they were all .bio). To be honest, I'm too embarrassed to list what I registered. Soon after this, I signed into Google AdWords, which is a great tool to see what's hot and what's not; if your not sure what Google AdWords is, it has a tool named Keyword Planner where you can type in a keyword or phrase to see how often it is searched on average each month; the higher the search volume, the better. I then stumbled across ExpiredDomains.net, which in theory is a good site but, this is when I started to hand reg trademark domains such as BestGamesforAndroid.com. Sure, it's searched over 40,000 times a month but no end user is interested as it infringes on Android (no wonder it was expired)
DomainSherpa.com saved me. By this point, I was thinking, "What am I doing?" I've wasted all this money and seen no return and probably never will. Thanks to the @Ali Zandi's interview on DS, which I watched twice. I took notes and started afresh; I had to accept the money spent is gone. Ali's interview helped me understand domaining a lot better, what people are looking for and how to sell a domain. Ali's techniques are priceless and his portfolio proves it.
NamePros.com saved me. This forum is the best! Back in April, I was out of the game, I was homeless, my wife was unemployed and suffered a miscarriage. I gave up. Towards the end of April, I decided I should see if I could get rid of some of my garbage hand reg's, so I listed them here on NamePros. I sold 8 domains for $11... WOW!!!! I then started to just randomly read some of the Pros' blog posts by (@Ali Zandi and @Eric Lyon ) with the full intention of quitting. Two months later, here I am writing my first ever blog post. I have sold a further 4 domains for profit (not much), but they are still sales. I know how to advertise a domain for sale, I know how to contact potential end users, and I know .com is king!!
I now spend most of my time reading blog posts on here from the Pros (priceless advice), browsing GoDaddy closeout auctions and expiring domains, and doing my full research before bidding/buying. I list some domains on Flippa and on NamePros. I still hand reg the occasional domain, but nine times out of ten, I use a $1 coupon for those! I am more active on LinkedIn (add me here) searching for end users, thanks to @jamesiles's blog post.
So here is a quick recap for all you fellow beginners: places to go and accounts to create.
- NamePros.com blog posts - priceless!
- GoDaddy - yearly fee applies to browse auctions
- DomainSherpa - great interviews from domain experts
- DNJournal.com - weekly domain sales
- Google AdWords Keyword Planner
- LinkedIn - good way to search for potential end users
- ExpiredDomains.net - research why it's expired!
- Who.is - check registrar and domain age
- NamePros Marketplace - buy, buy, buy, and sell!
- Flippa - sell, sell, sell
I spent 3 years at college studying engineering, and I am more motivated about domains than engineering. I am now teaching myself web development, something I know nothing about but want to do.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and have learned a little something new
