information Time For A Break From Domain Names

While I know you didn't, it feel like you wrote that for me! lol

NameCult keeps me very busy .. I can't recall the last day I missed sharing both my Daily Auctions List and my Daily Closeouts List. I'm pretty sure I have BY FAR the deepest manually searched lists in the industry as far as I know. Seems last year I missed a day because I had flooding in my condo .. I missed another day at some point because my computer died.

I have a full time (non-tech related) job of many many years that's recently wreaking havoc on my knees to the point where I'm seriously considering finding a new job (maybe in domains? lol).

I also walk little SteamieTheHotDog.com between 50km and 100km a week (thankfully walking is supposed to be good for my knees).

I'm still dealing with legal issues, insurance issues, condo disagreements, lying neighbours from the flood (internal piping/water tank). I still have another ongoing lawsuit with the city from a prior flood (external). Also have significant debt and paperwork from another side business that incurred a big loss due to the death of our overseas middleman mid-transaction. On top of that my partner in that business fled the country to go overseas leaving me to handle all the chaos and the debt. The government is after me for paperwork on that effectively doesn't exist (they're wrongly assuming I actually made a profit .. and I'm like .. show me the money you think I have .. lol). My mother has had a bad year (thankfully starting to improve quite a bit recently) with 3 operations including a hip replacement. Steamie has had a couple of relapses from his bout of Meningitis the year before. Life has been pure chaos to say the least!

All that said .. slugging away at domains has really helped my financial situation. I'm approaching the end of my 3rd year, and 2019 will definitely be a profitable one for me despite really not getting organised with my portfolio in any way. The majority of my domains aren't priced, and far less than half are are even listed on just Afternic and Sedo. I've never done outbound, and only did a little bit of wholesale my first year. So I'm probably operating at about 25% to 30% of what I could be doing .. yet I'm still making sales (a few with Sedo, a few with Afternic and a few via WhoIs incoming), which really gives me confidence in my domaining future (as long as I finally start to price and list ALL of my domains at all the other venues).

Domaining has saved me from likely bankruptcy. I've still got a ways to go both in terms of money and in just dealing with paperwork/renos, but I hit rock bottom in 2018 after 2 very bad years (not at all related to domaining, as I did make a few sales, but I wasn't yet profitable) .. and even if the path will be a little longer, I've climbed back up a bit and more importantly have a bit of momentum from domaining that I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.


NameCult itself has been a bit of a disappointment in that most people just don't click the affiliate links. After considering all the taxis I take to work because I'm getting everything ready at the last minute, then it's really not at all worth my time. I keep doing it because I go through the lists anyways, and I've also invested a HUGE amount of time and energy into streamlining my process. I really wanted to give it a year or two of consistent effort before really coming to a decision on whether to stop it or not .. getting to that point soon if I haven't already.

Or maybe I should do like Shane and get one or two others to do a couple of days a week. But aside from the above, I've had other very significant problems with partners in the past .. what I like about my domaining is that it's just me .. there's nobody I need to rely on, and just as importantly, nobody is relying on me.

The irony is that with going so deep into the lists, I pass over tons of quality domains for relatively cheap each day. Maybe I should focus on wholesaling rather than on publishing lists? Or maybe both .. if I actually find the time! lol

Or maybe I should just stop posting ridiculously long posts here on NamePros!? lol


Bah .. TIME .. it's a M%#!$3R F&$#$3R!

You asked us what we think. All i can think is:

any time-off for Bob, is a loss for the community

One of nicest on NP; your posts are an example

Thanks to your well-thoughtout article.

Here is what I firmly believe:

If your full-time job is domaining, you can take a vacation but not a significant break that may detrimentally affect your renewals and domain sales/inquiries. But if domaining is a hobby and you find yourself addicted to online activities that do not affect your bottom line, but instead, steal valuable time, then that is a different story.

One alternative to “taking a break” is to have another side business online. That may be a blog or another business that is not directly involved in domaining. Or another site you have a passion or interest for. Develop some of your best domains. Switching channels like this when you find yourself tired of or frustrated with domaining can be productive and refreshing on a number of levels.

Let me tell you a little secret. The most successful domainers have other ventures online in addition to domain sales.

@Bob Hawkes - I took a break of good 10 years!

Although I have been a member here in NP for a long time, I got interested in Stock Markets and left domaining until this April 2020. I came back to register a domain for a blog to start during this pandemic and ended up in the domaining world again.

I remember those good old days where I flipped .mobi and .cc for short term/small profits. LLLL.com used to be available for handreg for about $10 a piece. Surprisingly what didnt change was that even during those times CVCV and pronounceables in .com were in high demand. LLLL.net demand was about the same that you see today (not much interest). If one had registered low quality LLLL.coms during that time and held till now - there is no profit considering the yearly renewals - assuming now they sell only around $100 a piece.

Domain Parking was a fun.. Even my expired "proxies" related domains earned $xxx monthly on Sedo.

I thought I would share some personal news related to this topic. At the beginning of December I decided to take an acquisition break, and have currently gone 39 days without adding any new domains (I did do some renewals during the period). I have occasionally taken a few week break when we were camping somewhere without Internet, but I think this is the longest since early on in domaining.

It was an easy time to do it, as properly focus on other things over the holiday period. I found it emotionally nice to take a break from even thinking about adding any domain names.

Now as we got into January, I admit, I began looking, and even bid unsuccessfully in a couple of auctions, but still have not acquired any. I think I am about to break the domain name acquisition fast (a name that dropped a month and a bit ago is available to hand-reg and I want it and well....). But just wanted to share the experience with you.

Best wishes everyone. If you have stories of breaks you have tried would love to hear them in the comments.

Bob

Ategy.com said:

Domaining has saved me from likely bankruptcy. I've still got a ways to go both in terms of money and in just dealing with paperwork/renos, but I hit rock bottom in 2018 after 2 very bad years (not at all related to domaining, as I did make a few sales, but I wasn't yet profitable) .. and even if the path will be a little longer, I've climbed back up a bit and more importantly have a bit of momentum from domaining that I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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Good to hear your story @Ategy.com.Very Inspiring one.

Also I do have bought some names from your Name Cult list and yes unknowingly at first I did buy most of those in Incognito mode(Godaddy site issues was the reason at first) but after knowing about this affiliate stuff I now buy from your site link so that you may get commissions with the valuable service you provide for us(Doing it Irrespective of any Godaddy site issues.)

Sorry for my earlier mistakes with your Name Cult lists.

Your help and service is really massive and want to let you know how much it means to the Domaining Community overall.

Thank You very much.

I take my brake 2 month ago. No registration or search, read only

I took a 4 year break from active domaining, I have no regrets for doing so, I missed being active at NamePros of course, but over all, the 4 year break has served me well and was needed at the time.

First of all congratulations @Bob Hawkes on a great article on productivity.

Bob Hawkes said:

You may well come back to domaining after the short break more creative and energized. Scientific research supports the benefits of taking a break. For example, an article from Psychology Today covers five mental benefits from taking a break. These mental benefits include better focus, sounder decision-making, and enhanced creativity.

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Yes it's true Bob I have tried it with one of my Business recently and it worked wonders.Should probably do that for Domaining also.

3-5 days will even do the work but 1 week would be awesome personal time to recharge and get back on track again with a bang.

Outstanding advice, Bob! Although, I would, and do, still check email even during a break. I don't know how I'd feel if I missed a solid lead/sale because I totally checked out for a short time. I don't want to find out either

Guys .. While @Bob Hawkes did mention sometimes going completely off-grid to unplug, I'm pretty sure for the most part that the spirit of what he means is taking a break from the bulk of your routine. I don't do outbound, so sales correspondence represents well under 2-3% of my time domaining compared to everything else .. probably quite a bit less considering I put in 3-4 hours a day for everything going through the 50k expiration list and getting my own reduced list ready for NameCult.

I think for 99% of domainers who take time to go through the daily lists and spend time going through names and participating in auctions, there is effectively no time difference between completely unplugging and just responding to sales correspondence a couple of hours a week. For those where it would make a difference, they likely already have a secretary to at least keep leads hot a few days until you get back. So yes take a break .. but take that email if it comes through .. a few minutes easy stress free correspondence could extend your vacation another week or two!


And yes .. definitely check that junk mail .. my 2nd highest sale this year (high $x,xxx) had 2 or 3 emails go into spam that I almost missed over several weeks. Ended up being one of the most amazing epic domain sales stories EVER considering the actual domain and who the buyer was!

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and for additions and insights!

sharastar said:

3-5 days will even do the work but 1 week would be awesome personal time to recharge

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I totally agree. I sort of arbitrarily chose a week, but shorter breaks can totally work, and be more feasible for full-time domain investors. Because we can do domaining 24-7 does not mean we should, and even a single day full break can be valuable.

RheiHawk said:

Although, I would, and do, still check email even during a break. I don't know how I'd feel if I missed a solid lead/sale because I totally checked out for a short time.

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Yes, I think you definitely speak for the majority here, and it is probably much more reasonable to take a break from everything except checking messages and responding to offers.

Thanks for sharing your personal story, @Ategy.com and even though not enough have clicked on the links to make it worthwhile, your contribution to the community with your daily personally created lists is amazing. Knowing your story makes it all the more impressive. I hope things go smoother in some of the struggles, and that your domain selling success of 2019 stays strong.

I had not really thought as clearly as @Ategy.com about this...

Ategy.com said:

what I like about my domaining is that it's just me .. there's nobody I need to rely on, and just as importantly, nobody is relying on me

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but there is so much truth. That independence does lead to the difficulty in taking full breaks, however. I would love to hear some comments from those who have a trusted associate who can handle things while they are away.

lock said:

Why not take the immediate risk off yourself and start seeking opportunity try some brokering?

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This is an interesting idea that would allow full use of domaining skills without the risk of having a large amount invested in a portfolio.

I am guilty of largely ignoring my spam box, but this story from Ategy should be a warning to us all to keep tabs on our junk mailbox!

Ategy.com said:

And yes .. definitely check that junk mail .. my 2nd highest sale this year (high $x,xxx) had 2 or 3 emails go into spam that I almost missed over several weeks

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TCK said:

If your full-time job is domaining, you can take a vacation but not a significant break that may detrimentally affect your renewals and domain sales/inquiries. But if domaining is a hobby and you find yourself addicted to online activities that do not affect your bottom line, but instead, steal valuable time, then that is a different story.

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I totally agree with this, and my post, I now realize, was largely from the perspective of a part-time or hobbyist domain investor. Hopefully many who do it full-time at least have an associate who they can draw on to cover things, but not sure if that is always or even often true. Thank you for the valuable perspective @TCK and I agree entirely with your view.

Just in case there was confusion from the title, it did not reference a break that I personally was taking, although, well, I am trying to cut back slightly this week .

Bob

Cheers
Corey

tonyk2000 said:

I did this once. Lasted ~1 year. It was great!

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Wow a year! That is incredible! And glad that you found it useful, coming back stronger than ever. Thank you for sharing!

Brands.International said:

I am personally not taking any acquisition breaks, but for each domain I now purchase I try to get rid of 2 domain names from my porftolio

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That is a good idea that I will keep in mind @Brands.International Thanks.

Too bad about your March Break @HotKey - maybe this year?

Love to hear other ideas of various types of breaks or other ways to help motivate you to pursue quality over quantity.

Bob

If names stand test of time renew 6 months ahead and you won't feel so over whelmed or take up some brokering if portfolio isn't too out of hand. Just paying ahead might just be the relief you need. Nobody needs a break from Bob.

Xabial said:

If you’re gong on a break, and they really want that name, they’ll find a way to contact you.

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For most of us the only contact is mostly through email. With some using privacy on domain making using other sources more difficult.

If I don't respond to email that will be a big obstacle to sales. Except quick transfer is enable.

@Ategy.com
Great job you're doing with that your daily list. Some of the good names do give an errors while trying to buy with your discount. Don't no why but the few time I tried buying I'd to go to Godaddy directly, and I paid more than I should have when I buy through your link. Other times I just forgot to click your link. Sorry about that but you're doing a great job for newbies like me in making the selection less risky.

@Bob Hawkes.
Great article once again. You've help my learning process without even knowing.
When you go for that you break don't stay to long because we need you. You're so energetic and active in this forum and your prints are everywhere. That's the beauty of the internet.

Thanks again.

TCK said:

Like any business, you get what you put into it. You can’t make sales on autopilot because there are actions that require manual intervention. But it all depends on your goals.

I think what @Bob Hawkes was referring to is taking a break when you find yourself “hitting your head against a wall” or “swinging punches at air”. Metaphors are mine. But he can clarify.

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Once setup manually, auctions can restart automatically until the domain expire. You can literally make sales on auto pilot if you don't need to change auction data. A domainer should have lots of free time if not busy with acquisitions and watching auctions of others.

For venues other than registrars, just make sure there is no BIN and auction doesn't end in the days of your holiday. So you can transfer the domains if sold.

NameDeck said:

at least get 1 day known to be 'domainer day

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Quite apart from any idea of a break, having a day designated as a domainer day could make the existence and services of domain investors better known, and if done well could enhance positive views of the community. Has this ever been done before? Would be nice to highlight some of the positive stories of the people who are domainers. I agree having at least a few major registrars on-board to help promote it would be good.
Bob

PS Edit I am not sure I like combining domainer day with a break day though. I like domainer day to spread word of community, and break day as a reminder to balance our lives and maybe take breaks from acquisitions.

Thanks@Bob, what is feel is, a break is very important in every profession to start fresh.

Great piece of advice!

Domaining is long term thing imo ... effort should be made when we buy, but then, when we sell, patience is needed. It can take lot many years to make a good sale.

I think the advice to "take a break" is very valid for those who are trying to flip intensively .. but if we consider it as a long term investment, it is not that difficult to reply to inquiries, or to post once a day at Linkedin

One well known and respected domain investor has recently taken a "break" from most domain related activities for In case you have not heard, @Michael Cyger ran across Washington state solo and unassisted over running between 18 and 33 miles each day over a 13 day period (with one rest day to recover from quad related issues). Quite the accomplishment! You can read all about it at his associated website mike.run.

I doubt most of us (OK speaking personally not me!) have such ambitious stories to share, but would be interesting to hear from those who took an extended domain break, not just to take a break but because they were doing something interesting that required a break.

So tell us your stories!

Bob

Have had an involvement with domain names since 1996, both as an end-user and as what I'll call
an advanced hobbyist with a modest portfolio.

Break time as occurred most assuredly over the years, with the break being from an aggressive
active pursuit of new names to add to the portfolio.

Always checked email for anything re my portfolio as that is my obligation to inquiries or BIN .

In effect, I think of my break as " putting the brakes " on foolish speculative purchases - and
I too love(d) silly names.

The break lets the wallet cool down and gives me time to re-consider whatever niche I might have been
tossing money darts at.

There are so many tools and options today to check on names, niches, trends, comps that
my domain activities today, at my level of involvement, is almost like being on a break.

And KUDOS to NamePros, the all-inclusive multi-facitied Forum that consolidates so much material in it's content coverage and the various links and external references that reading NamePros with regularity is in itself a break from the vast searching for similar info across the web.

Bob Hawkes said:

Taking an Acquisition Break

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I did this once. Lasted ~1 year. It was great! I was able to make better own landing pages, reorganized portfolio, corrected technical errors (forgot to list for sale, forgot to park etc), checked pricing, etc. etc.
Highly recommended method