IT.COM

advice Domaining does get better with time.

Spaceship Spaceship
Watch
Status
Not open for further replies.
Every single day I get lists sent to me by new domainers wanting to sell their domains. Sometimes I wonder what people were thinking when they came up with these lists of questionable domains and it got me wondering. So I went back through a bunch of old lists of when I first started about 3 years ago and found my very first list of 154 domains that I either handregged or bought in a Godaddy expiring auction. Needless to say I was floored when I realized how bad my choices were in the beginning. I went back through this list to see how many I would want knowing what I know now about what constitutes a good brandable domain. Out of 154 domains I would only want 25 of them now. Yes I would only want 16% of those names now! Luckily I sold a bunch of these which paid for all the bad ones but I realized that in the beginning I wasn't very good at domaining either.

The reason I am writing this is to tell those who are new to brandables and domaining to keep fighting and don't give up. Getting good at anything takes time, patience and sometimes money. Keep reading, keep learning whatever you can whenever you can. Study every single name that sells on GD auctions, Namejet, Flippa etc… There is more information in analyzing what sells and for how much then anything you will ever read. I spend at least 2 hours every single day including Saturday and Sunday reading old posts on Namepros, studying the brandable marketplaces, reading the viable domain blogs etc………You will get better at this if you put in the effort.

Keep fighting because domaining does get better with time.
 
42
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Hello,

I have the same experience. I don't think I've kept a single domain that I registered the first 6 month. Luckily, I have also been able to sell some semi-crappy names to help me continue to build the portfolio.

Ps. The domains I registered back in 1997 - 2000 is either sold or kept. These are good ones. But I wasn't a domainer back then. More of a guy with websites.
 
Last edited:
2
•••
Fully agree, and also I know I have became more targeted and focused on a narrower niche. Whereas before I was all over with quality and intent.
 
2
•••
2
•••
1
•••
1
•••
Well said. Same story here, looking at some old purchses idk what I was thinking. I found it better to pile a list of hand reg options instead of pouncing on one as fast as you see it. You may find something better 5 minutes later
 
2
•••
Every single day I get lists sent to me by new domainers wanting to sell their domains. Sometimes I wonder what people were thinking when they came up with these lists of questionable domains and it got me wondering. So I went back through a bunch of old lists of when I first started about 3 years ago and found my very first list of 154 domains that I either handregged or bought in a Godaddy expiring auction. Needless to say I was floored when I realized how bad my choices were in the beginning. I went back through this list to see how many I would want knowing what I know now about what constitutes a good brandable domain. Out of 154 domains I would only want 25 of them now. Yes I would only want 16% of those names now! Luckily I sold a bunch of these which paid for all the bad ones but I realized that in the beginning I wasn't very good at domaining either.

The reason I am writing this is to tell those who are new to brandables and domaining to keep fighting and don't give up. Getting good at anything takes time, patience and sometimes money. Keep reading, keep learning whatever you can whenever you can. Study every single name that sells on GD auctions, Namejet, Flippa etc… There is more information in analyzing what sells and for how much then anything you will ever read. I spend at least 2 hours every single day including Saturday and Sunday reading old posts on Namepros, studying the brandable marketplaces, reading the viable domain blogs etc………You will get better at this if you put in the effort.

Keep fighting because domaining does get better with time.

It does. It takes time to be successful. You will not become successful overnight.
 
2
•••
I would say - learn from your personal experience more than anything else. Not everything that sells on auctions has 'that value'. It can send a wrong message to newcomers. It is not for everybody - it would be rather naive to assume that what they did, you can do too. If that was true, everybody would be super rich.

Follow golden rule for the names, 'what would you do yourself if you were to run a business under a name' - it is like saying - would you buy that name for your business. If you cannot convince yourself, it will be hard for any buyer to convince himself. There are 'typically' no trends in domain industry (except I see some buzz around 4L's) but quality names never lose value. They 'always' mean the same thing.
 
4
•••
.
I would say - learn from your personal experience more than anything else. Not everything that sells on auctions has 'that value'. It can send a wrong message to newcomers. It is not for everybody - it would be rather naive to assume that what they did, you can do too. If that was true, everybody would be super rich.

Follow golden rule for the names, 'what would you do yourself if you were to run a business under a name' - it is like saying - would you buy that name for your business. If you cannot convince yourself, it will be hard for any buyer to convince himself. There are 'typically' no trends in domain industry (except I see some buzz around 4L's) but quality names never lose value. They 'always' mean the same thing.
Of course not every single name has that exact value but more often then not you can learn from the sale.
 
0
•••
Study every single name that sells on GD auctions, Namejet, Flippa etc…
Really? I think you're stressing the importance of doing research, but you don't want to go crazy in the process. :xf.wink:

I would add, FOCUS. Pick a niche, or possibly 2 or 3 niches and concentrate on those. Avoid going willy-nilly about registering and/or buying domains, as things can get unmanageable very quickly.
 
3
•••
A person's domaining skill set can most certainly improve over time.

But at the same time the domaining world gets harder.
 
3
•••
Really? I think you're stressing the importance of doing research, but you don't want to go crazy in the process. :xf.wink:

I would add, FOCUS. Pick a niche, or possibly 2 or 3 niches and concentrate on those. Avoid going willy-nilly about registering and/or buying domains, as things can get unmanageable very quickly.
I agree you should focus and choose a niche and that is why I mentioned mine which is brandables.
 
0
•••
I would add, FOCUS. Pick a niche, or possibly 2 or 3 niches and concentrate on those. Avoid going willy-nilly about registering and/or buying domains, as things can get unmanageable very quickly.

you should focus and choose a niche and that is why I mentioned mine which is brandable

Could you give us some ideas of how narrow a niche should be ? Also, should it be oriented toward 'industry branches' (eg: weight loss, jewelry, vr...) or types of domains (emd, geo, pbn, brandable and meaningless names...)
 
0
•••
Great post! I'm in my 3rd week of domaining and already feel so much more confident than in the first two :D

I'm soaking up a lot of information on this awesome forum here and I'm looking forward to being more and more experienced :)
 
2
•••
that is very encouraging to hear and true i believe. i feel more confident already after just 6 months or so of doing this than when i started. of course i still have lots to learn but you know what i mean
 
0
•••
Could you give us some ideas of how narrow a niche should be ? Also, should it be oriented toward 'industry branches' (eg: weight loss, jewelry, vr...) or types of domains (emd, geo, pbn, brandable and meaningless names...)
When picking a niche the most important thing is to know that niche like the back of your hand. For example, if you're in the medical field then you know all the terms, jargon etc…..that could really benefit you in selling names. I would try to focus on something you really know first and then branch out once you are successful in that niche.
 
5
•••
Thanks for the candor and honesty @hookbox - much needed and appreciated encouragement.
 
0
•••
Very nice, post.

I was going to post something similar last week, about looking back at my first attempted VERY small 35 domain portfolio sale to another domainer who is a recognizable name in the industry.

I was asking $12k for the portfolio, he declined. Turns out that I sold three of the names in that portfolio... guess for how much... exactly $12k.

Now what I'm not saying is that the domainer made a 'bad call', but what I am saying is that it is funny how things work out sometimes.
 
2
•••
Also, should it be oriented toward 'industry branches' (eg: weight loss, jewelry, vr...) or types of domains (emd, geo, pbn, brandable and meaningless names...)
That would be a personal choice as there's no right or wrong answer. The best answer may be BOTH simultaneously, since that narrows your field even more.

Like hookbox said, you should be familiar with your niche and I would say it helps if you are genuinely interested in that niche. Emerging technologies provide some good niches to follow, but still I wouldn't put all my domain eggs in one basket. And be realistic about looking ahead toward renewal time.
 
2
•••
Definitely it gets better with time, you get experience and understand market situation.
 
0
•••
Names and Wines get better with age.
 
0
•••
Great post! Yeah, time and persistence are key to developing successful domaining skills.
 
1
•••
Still learning and each day comes with some new thing to learn about domaining. Started with something else and landed up in domain business. And I am liking it. Very few sales but very satisfying though.
 
0
•••
Of course not every single name has that exact value but more often then not you can learn from the sale.

Nice Post! Can you say what are your first 3 metrics you use to valuate and judge the sold names?
Ty
 
0
•••
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back