advice Creating A Domain Portfolio That Converts

[Eric Lyon]

It’s no big secret that every successful business has a good brand identity. Domain investing is no different, it’s a business model as well. When considering your brand identity, it’s important that you don’t infringe on anyone elses brand. It’s going to take you some time to research your competitors and their brands to ensure yours is unique.

Once you have your niche picked out and you’ve invested in a few niche domains it’s time to start your domain portfolio. There are a few different portfolio scripts out there that many domain investors like to use, however, they don’t really provide the added features needed to optimize your efforts.

It’s not enough in today’s world to simply slap up a list of domains with buy now/make offer options. The domain industry is saturated with so many of these lists that it devalues the sources. Because of this, it’s essential that you provide a complementing service targeted at the niche you selected. This service will aid in establishing you as an expert in your niche, as well as provide you with an additional revenue stream to help cover your domain renewal costs.

While many people opt for parking their domains in hopes to make a few bucks until they sell, it’s not really that practical of a solution for domains that were never established or are not category killer one words. If there’s no traffic, there's no parking revenue. So, instead of finding that out the hard way, create some custom landing pages of your own for your new niche domains in your portfolio...

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[Templr]

Eric, how successful have you been selling your names on your websites as apposed to the marketplace?

 

[Kuffy]

That's good advice, and it's the reason I started my Wise Accountant project. It's not just about selling names to first time users, but there is a whole market for selling feeder and support names to established sites.

 

[promo]

Yeah please tell us how many names you sold the last 12 months? And how large your portfolio is?

 

[james bin]

How large your portfolio is can u tell me?plz

 

[Eric Lyon]

Eric, how successful have you been selling your names on your websites as apposed to the marketplace?

Yeah please tell us how many names you sold the last 12 months? And how large your portfolio is?

How large your portfolio is can u tell me?plz

Back in 2009 to 2012 I used marketplaces the most to flip and bought domains in bulk all the time, however, my business model changed a lot since then. Just like with everything life, throughout history, things change. I found that developing all my assets in to either mini-sites, large service/product sites, or multi-monetizable landers was the better way to go for me. it allowed me to generate more steady income monthly to sustain my living expenses.

Remember, what works for one person may not work for another.

As far as my portfolios go, I used to manage anywhere from 150 to 300+ domains at a time with a fast rotating stock back when i played the quick flip game (Registering with coupons & flipping for $40 to $200+). That was very time consuming.

Now days, I still develop all my domains, however, I don't buy in bulk anymore like I used to, so my public portfolio is down to 16 domains and my private portfolio is down to 5 (total 21), all developed (Except one new one I aquired recently for a campaign that I still need to develop out).

It only makes sense that one would develop their portfolio to convert like a business. After all, domain investing is a business model that has thousands of different directions it can go and everything you can do to help your domains pay their own yearly renewals is an asset. Developing a portfolio that converts is just one of those strategies and a must have for anyone serious about their business.

You'll notice that some of the larger portfolio holders (1000+ domains) have opted to turn marketplace scripts into their monetized portfolio. Some even open the doors to other investors to list their domains for sale and call it a brokerage.

Developing a domain portfolio that converts isn't new by any means, it's been an option that some have used for decades successfully.

As far as how many domains I've sold in the last 12 months. None, however, they all still paid for themselves and some of my bills even though they didn't sell, because they are monetized. I don't push my domains for sale much anymore since they generate revenue. I'm happy sitting on everything that makes money. Occassionally, I'll have one that didn't produce for a while due to a market shift, dying trend, etc. and I'll either sell it, drop it and notify my readers of the drop, or give it away. I recently dropped 3 geo+service domains and alerted some of my readers in case they wanted them on the drop to do something with.

The point of this article/post was just to show one of the posibilities investors have when it comes to targeted monetization of a domain/portfolio. Use the information as you will or throw it away. Up to you.

 

[Eric Lyon]

That's good advice, and it's the reason I started my Wise Accountant project. It's not just about selling names to first time users, but there is a whole market for selling feeder and support names to established sites.

Exactly! yet another niche

 

[promo]

So 16 names in your portfolio and no sales the last 12 months?

Well I see how you would go down the development route then. But most domainers aim for a domain sale at one point. In contrary to developers that buy domains to make websites.

 

[Eric Lyon]

So 16 names in your portfolio and no sales the last 12 months?

Well I see how you would go down the development route then. But most domainers aim for a domain sale at one point. In contrary to developers that buy domains to make websites.

Everyone uses their own strategy, correct. What works for one may not work for another. Keep in mind though, just because one domain investor buys and develops in a way that generates revenue with no intent to sell in the short term game, it doesn't mean a sale won't take place in the long term game. But then, the long hold game isn't new either, lots of investors have been long holding since the 90's. None of mine are that old though, so i guess they've been holding longer than I have waiting for the perfect buyer. - Note: Just because their 1990's domain hasn't sold yet, doesn't mean they aren't a domain investor

 

[promo]

Thats true. But domain investing would require that the domain had some inherent value. Otherwise you are developing websites that you intend to sell in the future. That can be done on any domain.

Probably a big potential in that. But I would call that the development industry rather than domaining. But as you say. Each to his own.

 

[Eric Lyon]

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Thats true. But domain investing would require that the domain had some inherent value. Otherwise you are developing websites that you intend to sell in the future. That can be done on any domain.

Probably a big potential in that. But I would call that the development industry rather than domaining. But as you say. Each to his own.

That's true and as we all know, value is in the eye of the beholder and the counterpart, the eye of the end-user (Consumer) that see's the same or close to the same value as you, making a perfect match for a sale.

As you also pointed out, any domain can be developed or monetized, so that means that it makes sense (Regardless of any appraised value of a domain) that monetizing it in some way could help the owner/investor/reseller recoup some of their ownership costs.

There are many different ways to monetize a domain. Parking, Landing pages, Mini-sites, Redirect traffic, etc. The following article outlines a long list of ways to monetize: https://www.namepros.com/threads/do...options-limitless-revenue-potentials.1032079/

One way in particular for those tired of parking or generic landing pages that don't rank very well in search engines is monetized custom landing pages. More info on that here: https://www.namepros.com/threads/od...-example-multiple-conversion-options.1031918/

Even those with basic skill sets in html can build those them self. HTML is pretty easy to learn too.

In short, it's not about the quality of a domain someone owns when it comes to revenue streams or at the very least, the asset paying it's own renewals each year. A 24 character domain in any extension can generate income just like a 3 letter .com can while they wait for the right buyer when they are monetized.

It just makes sense for a domain not to sit there, costing someone money every year (out of pocket), when there are viable monetization solutions to choose from. Niche targeting a portfolio simply increases the potential of a domain inquiry or sale because more of the visitors that visited the portfolio organically were looking for that niche using search engines. Joining a niche seeker with a niche portfolio equates to better converstions.

Of course, that may not work for everyone. I encourage everyone to do their own research and testing. When you find something that works for you, rinse and repeat.

 

[Templr]

I'm happy sitting on everything that makes money.

So how do you monetize your sites?

 

[Eric Lyon]

So how do you monetize your sites?

I use a variety of different monetization strategies on different sites. I provided a list of options here and have a few of my own sites listed as examples in the full article: https://www.namepros.com/threads/do...options-limitless-revenue-potentials.1032079/