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opinion Why I Develop Every Domain Name Investment

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About 10 years ago I discovered the secret to domain success. Though, not much of a secret, domain development is a wonderful way to improve upon your investment, yet it is highly underutilized. Once I figured that out, I began developing everything I could get my hands. It’s one of those things that I’m so passionate about, I tend to recommend development to everyone I talk to, even if it wasn't even remotely close to the topic they initiated. It's funny sometimes, the expression on people’s faces when a conversation they started with me makes a 180 degree turn from, "Where can I find an end user for my domain?" to "You should develop it, and here's why!"

Here’s some great reasons why I prefer to develop every domain that I invest in.

Parking vs. Developing

I can certainly understand the draw for many to create a large portfolio of parked domains. Who wouldn’t? It requires little more than your checkbook to amass a stockpile of potential, little energy expended, residual income, and it typically makes back your investment, but why sit on a pile of domains for pennies when you could be making 10x the return on each developed domain? It almost seems fiscally irresponsible once you know what you’re missing out on. I hear it over and over again that people park because they don't know how to code, design, or just don't have the time or money to pay someone else to do it. I get it. I realize that those can be legitimate obstacles for some people. Personally, I think it's a cop-out and a negative mindset. They just have to put their mind to it.

There's always a way to schedule at least 30 minutes a day or budget $10 to $50 a month to put towards developing a domain. I think that sometimes an investor just has so many domains in their portfolio that it's overwhelming to even consider developing them all. I get that too. I understand the feeling of that kind of pressure. Like with anything in life though, one step at a time to get the ball rolling and eventually, in a week, month, year, or decade from now an entire portfolio can be developed. Progress is still progress, no matter how long it takes you.

The main reasons why I stopped parking are:
  • I made more per click (PPC) when I developed vs. a percentage of a click with a parking company.
  • I had more freedom and control over my content and design when developing.
  • I boosted the value of my investment as it grew in traffic, revenue, etc.
  • I was able to save money each year once my domains were able to pay their own renewal fees.
  • I generated profit from my portfolio until the domains and/or websites sold.
  • There was no pressure to sell, and I could hold out for the best offer since there were no more yearly costs per domain.
  • I was able to be found in search engines when I developed, giving me better reach and potential for visitors.
  • I had more control over what type of ads displayed on my pages to avoid any unforeseen UDRP’s.
Quick Flipping vs. Developing

There’s nothing wrong with quick cash. Especially when I started out, I always liked a quick flip where I could turn a $1 coupon .com investment into $10 to $200 within 24 to 48 hours. Frankly, I find that quick flipping is a good way to get your feet wet until one learns more about the industry and how to assess value. Every quick sale you make puts you one step closer to the actual value with cold hard cash that a buyer places at your feet so that next time, you can start putting fixed prices on similar domains.

The quick flip approach can be a particularly satisfying one, especially if you're a fast cash kind of person. However, 9 out of every 10 times, a quick flip leaves lots of money on the table that you could have put in your pocket. Let's not forget how much time it takes out of each day to keep moving each of your domains in a marketplace. We’re talking about a lot of hours per day. Most investors start to realize that while such a business model might be sustainable, they'll burn themselves out and be investing more time than the money they make. How much is your time worth?

In the end, while certainly more time consuming, developing a domain helps you make more productive use of your time. It also allows you to save time in the long run by never having to list the domain for sale. Not to mention, the revenue it generates every year to pay its own renewals and bring profits while it waits for a buyer to inquire about it. Domains will Increase in value each year as more viewers find and refer them to others.

Think about the long term and possibly diversify a little at first. Start out with a few quick flip investments coupled with a few long-term investments, just be careful while developing that you don't infringe on any trademarks.

Long Hold vs. Developing

Just like with quick flipping, it's beneficial to develop and have your investments paying their own renewal fees and bringing in profit each year. It's great if you can afford to renew undeveloped investments every year and not bat an eyelash. However, you'll have more peace of mind if they pay for themselves.

Many investors I've talked to rebut the thought of developing because they feel like their premium one word .com’s value has already hit seven figures, so why bother? But I say, you already own the domain, so why not take a dive into the deep end of the pool and see if it can swim with the big boys? Developing on a parked investment that already has a phenomenal potential will only better your chances at furthering that value and getting more buyers’ attention.

Don’t let this long hold mentality get in your way. If you’re lucky enough to score a premium domain for your portfolio, developing it could make all the difference. Chances are that if you have such a premium domain that everyone already wants and people talk about, developing it even into a five page mini-site could crank out cash like an ATM machine every month.

In Conclusion

There's literally no good reason why an investor shouldn't want to expand on their investments, so that they can profit passively while they wait for the right buyer. They could even have it generate leads for another investment project of theirs. Sometimes one has to sweat a little and dig their heels in before they can find the true potential in an investment. Don’t forget the age old line, “it takes money to make money,” and what better way is there?

Now that you know, there’s no more excuses. It’s time to stop procrastinating and start being productive with your investments. Before you know it, you’ll be telling all your friends to develop, like you’ve been doing it all along. I know I did.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I developed many of my sites in an hour or two, I don't do it to increase revenue but to protect them form company's who would like my names but do not want to pay for them. So even though some the links on the sites may not work after a few years I feel company's like Chilli's will think twice before going to WIPO and try to take a domain like BabyBackRibs.com from me. Other sites like FloridaCondos.com allow me to point other real-estate related sites I own to it like Luxurycondos.com thus protecting multiple names with one web site. As far as perspective buyers not thinking it is for sale because it is a developed site that has not happened. One look at the site and someone interested in the name can see I am not making a ton of money on it so I still get offers. One added plus is it keeps low ballers from making unrealistic offers which is fine with me.
 
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Your basic problem with Development, is the CONTENT.

What i see, especially with Domainers, is that you are FORCING yourself to produce content to give value to the domains you own.

Very good point you bring up. I always encourage people to not develop unless they not only have a solid business plan but have the means either by themselves or hiring others to keep it going. This includes content creation. And if they do develop to choose a handful of their best names at a time until that set can pay for the next round of developed websites.

Of course that doesn't work for everybody because of the different quality of names, monetization methods, audience, etc among each portfolio so a strategy needs to be developed on a portfolio by portfolio basis.
 
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SO much great things to learn!! Thanks to all that contribute and making Namepros a great learning place for domainers!!

Love the article!
 
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When one has hundreds or thousands of domains, they either drop the standards of what constitutes 'development' or simply don't bother with it. The healthiest approach is to select domains that generate consistent parking revenue and park them, identify the ones with short term potential and flip them, set aside the most valuable ones and tag them for sale long term, and lastly, pick a handful for developing a business on. The latter kind also enjoy a lower tax bracket when sold as a business, as opposed to as domains only.

^^ Yes, this. ^^
 
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One problem I've always noticed that has prevented me from developing more domain names I own into sites is well, Sedo. I like to list my domains for sale at Sedo, because that's how some buyers find names. However, one thing I have always hated about Sedo is that Sedo takes a much higher commission if your domain is developed and not parked at Sedo. What do you guys think about this? And do you just face the facts that you need to pay significantly higher commissions if your site is not parked at Sedo, but rather developed? I also see this pricing structure by Sedo as detrimental to the overall development of the web. Because it prevents people, like me, from wanting to develop certain domain names into full web sites.
 
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One problem I've always noticed that has prevented me from developing more domain names I own into sites is well, Sedo. I like to list my domains for sale at Sedo, because that's how some buyers find names. However, one thing I have always hated about Sedo is that Sedo takes a much higher commission if your domain is developed and not parked at Sedo. What do you guys think about this? And do you just face the facts that you need to pay significantly higher commissions if your site is not parked at Sedo, but rather developed? I also see this pricing structure by Sedo as detrimental to the overall development of the web. Because it prevents people, like me, from wanting to develop certain domain names into full web sites.

I used to be troubled by this dilemma as well, I eventually realized you have to treat Sedo like Sedo treats you, cold and calculating. The only way I feel a "broker" (and man we domainers do often use that term loosely) deserves such high commissions is if they bring the customer to you. If the domain itself generated the inquiry then all Sedo provides is a restrictive and cumbersome negotiation platform that takes a massive slice out of your self-service profits. (Even worse for low priced sales because they have the audacity to charge a ridiculous minimum that effectively brings the commission to 50 and even 60%. WTF.)

Anyway, I now park my revenue names at DomainNameSales, list all my domains for sale there and point most of my non-rev portfolios there also just to route sales inquiries into their platform. I also list my portfolio on Afternic and Sedo as well as any internal markets registrars may have, like Dynadot or GoDaddy but I don't route any domain traffic there.

My basic logic here is that I want the inquiries generated by the domain itself routed to the best sales venue and for me that's DNS, even in this early stage. If an inquiry is generated by a user searching the database of a specific marketplace, then it's a lead I may not have gotten otherwise. Since I know any Sedo inquiry I get came from Sedo it doesn't stab me in the gut as much to pay the higher rate because it wasn't parked there.
 
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Hello!

For a newbie, the perspective of developing a domain name into a real website, will also help filter out a few bad domain name ideas! :)
 
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I am not a Domainer but I once thought that The number of domains sold above 1 Million dollars can be counted on your fingers...

However, How many websites/online businesses were sold above 1 Million Dollars? much much more...

That why I prefer developing online businesses over Domain investment, I just select Domains that might be developed into Websites /or sold one day ( with few exceptions)..

This is especially true for gTLDs, because everyone is expecting not to be able to sell his gTLD before 5 years!...so you better develop some of the domains tell then....and developing sites on new extensions might help promoting new extensions....

I suggest someone should start DevelopYourDomain.how :)
 
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I can say it is quite easy to achieve traffic by even the most minimal development. If the site is a bit obscure it stands a chance of bringing in traffic in stats compared to other mainstream content. Less competition on keywords can allow some of your opportunities to better on things you thought fell short also.
 
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I developed many of my sites in an hour or two, I don't do it to increase revenue but to protect them form company's who would like my names but do not want to pay for them. So even though some the links on the sites may not work after a few years I feel company's like Chilli's will think twice before going to WIPO and try to take a domain like BabyBackRibs.com from me. Other sites like FloridaCondos.com allow me to point other real-estate related sites I own to it like Luxurycondos.com thus protecting multiple names with one web site. As far as perspective buyers not thinking it is for sale because it is a developed site that has not happened. One look at the site and someone interested in the name can see I am not making a ton of money on it so I still get offers. One added plus is it keeps low ballers from making unrealistic offers which is fine with me.

I've still made you lowball offers... :)
 
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Nice post @Eric_Lyon . Reading this article was like opening a blank page in my mind and then trying to learn something that I already knew but was never really aware of.
I think its time for me to look at my parked domains in a different way which is going to be more profitable.
Thank you for this tip :)
 
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I read this years ago, and although I am not sure if I got it right, this is the basis of what it said:

"If you think it takes money to make money, you are wrong. It takes work, time, and a great idea. I got the idea, if you got the time."
 
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Making a site from scratch getting traffic and relying too much on Google is much harder task, you know something like Designing so that helps with your ranking and its not easy for others to replicate that. You may say that its a lazy attitude, but somethings just can't be done by everyone, I have made websites done seo and ranked many times in some particular high competitive niches. Its very hard now to get to the earning position of google, without taking much effort and time.

There are not much revenue to be earned for small keywords that just brings traffic which is not worth the time and effort we put. I had more than 100 micro adsense website 1.5 years back which were earning very nicely, but the whole scenario changed when google went down on microsites, that made me back to square one.

If we are to devote time and resources on domains that we build and develop its quite easy to do on 5 websites if they are in the same niche, but doing that on many websites at one time is not practical. Even if we take all the pains and make a website rank well and Google just do a penguin dance and we are thrown out from the game in a day.
 
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Making a site from scratch getting traffic and relying too much on Google is much harder task, you know something like Designing so that helps with your ranking and its not easy for others to replicate that. You may say that its a lazy attitude, but somethings just can't be done by everyone, I have made websites done seo and ranked many times in some particular high competitive niches. Its very hard now to get to the earning position of google, without taking much effort and time.

There are not much revenue to be earned for small keywords that just brings traffic which is not worth the time and effort we put. I had more than 100 micro adsense website 1.5 years back which were earning very nicely, but the whole scenario changed when google went down on microsites, that made me back to square one.

If we are to devote time and resources on domains that we build and develop its quite easy to do on 5 websites if they are in the same niche, but doing that on many websites at one time is not practical. Even if we take all the pains and make a website rank well and Google just do a penguin dance and we are thrown out from the game in a day.
then you developed them the wrong way if they got penalized and dropped from google. I know plenty of mini sites that were either not effected or ranked better after google penguin and panda. It was all in the tactics they deployed to build and market the sites that effected their positions in search.

one should always develop for a real person and not for a search engine anyways. If people find it useful, they will organically share/refer and you'll move up in search naturally. If you aren't sure how to build sites like that, hire someone that does (I personally don't develop for anyone but myself and do not offer any services for development).

you can see how I like to develop my own here: https://www.namepros.com/threads/how-i-monetize-my-domains.855413/
 
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I beg to disagree and I understand that you have very limited knowledge about SEO. One thing is that at that time I was not trying to sell the domain or website it was mainly for adsense revenue. I have seen your post about the way you have provided how you can make money from the websites that we develop. All these and many more types of methods are there to make money with developing websites. The thing we are in debate is that if a domain investor should spend his time devoting to development of his names or he should just sell the domain alone.

I would say that it would depend on the size of portfolio and his availability of time and his interest in the niche which he would have invested. As some of the members here have pointed out the stronger points, It would not be just not worth the time and money spend.
 
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I beg to disagree and I understand that you have very limited knowledge about SEO. One thing is that at that time I was not trying to sell the domain or website it was mainly for adsense revenue. I have seen your post about the way you have provided how you can make money from the websites that we develop. All these and many more types of methods are there to make money with developing websites. The thing we are in debate is that if a domain investor should spend his time devoting to development of his names or he should just sell the domain alone.

I would say that it would depend on the size of portfolio and his availability of time and his interest in the niche which he would have invested. As some of the members here have pointed out the stronger points, It would not be just not worth the time and money spend.
Right, what works for one won't work for another and if there is no passion behind what someone does, it will probably fail. If one can't develop and has no money to hire a developer, they are probably stuck. Unless of course they get a little creative and find a partner that knows how that is willing to split revenue on digital real-estate. There is more than one way to skin a cat or get a domain developed.

My SEO/SEM knowledge is very limited compared to some of the consultants that have been around since the beginning of search indexing. I am thankful that all my SEO/SEM trial and error failures since 2005 taught me how to sort / improve / rinse / repeat. Allowing me to easily (Still to this day) achieve page #1 within the top 10 listings of google for assorted long tail key word/phrase terms. But then, I'm not about bulk traffic, I'm about targeted converting traffic. So I build for niche campaigns that are tailored to my very specific geo needs with highest probability of conversions and lowest chances of server resource strain.

My advice is that people should stick to what works for them, but to never be afraid to step out of the box and try something new on the side. The only way one will know 100% for sure if something won't work for them is to try it. And even then, many go about it the wrong way after reading countless seo guru blogs from people that just read what someone else blogged about and recycled it in their own words without ever struggling through the trial and error process them self to learn hands on.

Same with domaining in general, one should NEVER quit their day job and dive into domain investing blindly as their sole source of income. They should play the domain investing game on the side to make sure it's right for them till they find their niche or decide to toss in the towel.

Both domain investing and developing small digital business models are not for everyone. It can get very frustrating for most people trying to wrap their head around it all and hitting brick walls at every turn. However, it also doesn't help to tell everyone that domaining sucks, developing doesn't work, seo is garbage, the internet is evil, nobody can make money online, etc, etc.. such a mind set is very demotivating and like dominos, it spreads to others and discourages them from even trying.

So again, We agree to disagree with one another and what works for me wont work for you and vice versa. That's fine, because at the end of they day we both achieve the goals we put our focus on. The only thing I disagree with, is putting negativity into perpetual motion and blanketing failure as the only result to anyone that has a large portfolio and wants to develop. Where there's a will, there's a way. Not everyone will be able to achieve a completely developed portfolio, however there are some with 500+ / 2,000+ domains that can and will.
 
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I beg to disagree and I understand that you have very limited knowledge about SEO. One thing is that at that time I was not trying to sell the domain or website it was mainly for adsense revenue. I have seen your post about the way you have provided how you can make money from the websites that we develop. All these and many more types of methods are there to make money with developing websites. The thing we are in debate is that if a domain investor should spend his time devoting to development of his names or he should just sell the domain alone.

I would say that it would depend on the size of portfolio and his availability of time and his interest in the niche which he would have invested. As some of the members here have pointed out the stronger points, It would not be just not worth the time and money spend.
Developing a site gives more profit than just selling the name. A person who don't have development knowledge, interest and time can never develop a site hence he will make lesser profit/may not be able sell the domain at all.
 
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<Great article ! It's mainly the difference between Domainers and Webmainers ... Both are very different, the mentality is not the same ... ! To me, I consider website development as being much more risky than "simply" buying and reselling domains (not so simple actually)... Too much work for a tiny probability of profit since, as in domaining, it's always a matter of finding the right end buyer! To me, the most important things are keywords and being a good seller (with a real strategy)... So, it means that time is your best friend as well as your worst enemy !

I've met couple of guys doing Webmaining for living... But most of them where living in Asia, where the cost of life is much more lower and where you can hire a web designer for almost nothing ...
 
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Thinking of developing kansasvacationhome.com and selling...is this feasible?
 
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