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interviews Expert Exchange: An Interview With Domain Buyer Broker Bill Sweetman

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Bill Sweetman is the President of Name Ninja, a company that works with entrepreneurs, global startups and marketers to buy some of the best names available. Unlike most domain name brokers, Bill concentrates solely on acquisition services, something that gives him a unique perspective on the domain name industry.

Below, Bill (@BillSweetman) brings his experience and industry insights to the table in a fascinating interview.


How did you get started in the domain industry?
It was a passion and hobby that eventually became a career. The domain bug bit me in the early nineties when I decided that I wanted to understand how to build a website. Of course one of the first things you need to launch a website is a domain name, so I registered my first domain name for that purpose. Because at the time I was one of the few people in my business circle that knew anything about websites and domains, and I was already working as a marketing consultant, people started coming to me asking for advice and help with domain names as well.

Eventually, I became the go-to guy for lots of clients wanting domain name help, especially buying domains. I was also dabbling in domaining even though I didn’t know that was the term for it at the time. I owned a very small portfolio of domains, maybe twenty or so, but I got offers on several of them and sold a few for four and five figures. Once I’d sold a couple of domain names for serious money I was hooked. I realized these things were valuable assets and powerful marketing tools.

Fast forward to 2007; I’m working in the digital marketing world and I run into a business associate who works at Tucows who mentions they are looking for someone to help them manage their in-house domain portfolio. I realized this was an opportunity for me to work with domain names on a full-time basis, so I quit my job as a marketing executive and went to work for Tucows. Working at a major domain registrar was an amazing experience and I learned a ton, but people were still constantly asking me for help buying domains on their behalf.

In 2013, I took a leap of faith and left Tucows to launch Name Ninja so I could focus exclusively on domain buyer broker work. To my pleasant surprise, there turned out to be a lot of demand for my services, and Name Ninja has been growing ever since.


You describe yourself as a "buyer broker." How does a buyer broker differ from a standard broker?
When most people think of a domain broker, they tend to think of someone who is trying to sell a domain name. Those are seller brokers, because they are representing a domain seller and they are usually compensated by the seller. A buyer broker, on the other hand, represents a domain buyer and helps that client acquire one or several domain names. A buyer broker is usually compensated by the buyer, since the buyer is their client.

These days I work almost exclusively as a buyer broker. This is a small industry, and many of the professional domain brokers will do a mix of both types of work; they will work as seller brokers with some clients, and buyer brokers with others. My strengths and personality are better suited to being a buyer broker, and that is what I focus on.


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Bill Sweetman
What is the largest domain name purchase you've brokered that you can tell us about?
I’ve done hundreds of domain acquisitions for clients and the vast majority are kept confidential, which is understandable but also a bit frustrating for me because I can rarely talk in specifics about the projects I’ve worked on. These transactions have ranged from $0 domain “purchases” (i.e., convincing the current owner to donate the domain to my client) to transactions in the millions. Client budgets are all over the map! Some of the great domains I have helped clients acquire and that are not secret are Skills.com, Fauna.com, Verse.com, and Upfront.com, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Keep in mind, too, that for a domain buyer broker like myself the ultimate badge of honor isn’t acquiring a really expensive domain for a client, it’s about acquiring a domain name that the client (and others) thought was impossible to get. Those “mission impossible” domain acquisitions, regardless of the price, are the ones I take the most pride in. I will spend months, even years, working on some domain acquisitions, and I will travel halfway around the world if that’s what it will take to get a deal done … and I have!


Who typically pays the most for domains? Startups, corporations, wealthy individuals, etc.?
That’s a great question, and the answer might surprise a lot of NamePros readers. In my experience, it’s large, traditional companies that will usually pay the most for a domain, however (and this is the surprising part) a lot of times there’s no direct correlation between company size and the budget they are willing to pay. I’ve had Fortune 500 companies only willing to spend a thousand dollars on a domain name, and I’ve had one-person startups willing to spend six-figures.

In general, however, I am working with budgets that are fixed, not enormous, and probably much smaller than most domainers would hope. Which leads me to another point: just because a domain buyer broker is knocking on your door wanting to buy a domain name doesn’t mean there’s a huge budget to spend. Not every company has a champagne budget; most of them have a beer (or soft-drink!) budget. I spend a lot of time educating my clients about the value of domain names and explaining why they aren’t going to be able to buy that amazing one-word .com for $25,000. I also spend a lot of time defending the business of domaining to my clients, most of whom are not fans of domainers, but that’s a topic for another day…


What would your advice be for startups looking to buy their first name? What would your advice be if they currently have a horrible name?
My general advice to startups is to focus on getting a domain that exactly matches your company name, even if that means you have to change your company name. In fact, I encourage startups to think about the domain name aspect of their name during the company naming process, not afterwards. I usually recommend to budget-conscious startups, which is 99% of them, that they come up with either a two-word name (e.g., Smart Snacks) or an invented word name (e.g., Snackster) that will allow them to get the matching .com domain for a relatively modest budget (four or low five-figures). I generally discourage them for naming their startup a single word (e.g., Snacks) unless they have the six-figure, or higher, budget required to buy the exact match .com domain. If they currently have a horrible name, I will tactfully encourage them to consider changing it.

Sometimes people need to experience the results of making a bad naming decision before they realize they need to fix it. They have to learn the hard way. I rarely recommend they invest a lot to buy a TLD other than .com, in fact I get a lot of business from clients wanting to upgrade to .com from a .co, .io, .net, or a ccTLD. At the end of the day, I will gladly help my client acquire any domain in any gTLD or ccTLD, but if they ask my opinion, I usually recommend they stick with .com, especially if they are a B2C organization.


Do your clients focus mainly on .COM acquisitions? If not, which other extensions are currently sought after?
The vast majority of my acquisitions for clients are .COM, followed by .CO (quite popular with startups), .ORG (for not-for-profit clients) and a few “true” ccTLDs, such as .CA, .CN, .FR, etc.


Do you have any advice for domainers about how to work with a buyer broker who is interested in one of their domains?
I’d say the most important thing is to make sure you respond to the buyer broker – and do so in a timely manner. A buyer broker like me is not the enemy of domainers. In fact, I would argue that a buyer broker is almost a dream customer because I’m not going to offer you a stupidly low number on a valuable domain name, I’m not going to call you a “squatter” or “hoarder”, and I’m not going to waste your time. I’ve got a job to do, which is to find and buy one or several domain names, and if we can reach an agreement on price you won’t have to handhold me through the escrow and domain transfer process. If you treat me with professional courtesy and respect, I will do the same. And remember, I could be a repeat customer of yours.

For example, there’s one domainer (a one-man operation) that I’ve bought four domains from so far on behalf of clients, each for five figures, and I will probably continue to buy from him because the guy’s a total professional to deal with. If a domain buyer broker comes knocking on your door, you really should answer. Domainers that have ignored me or who have been a nuisance to deal with have lost out on thousands of dollars in domain sales. My advice to readers is: don’t be that guy; answer the door.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Great info.
Bill is truly one of the good guys in the domaining world. Always honest, hard working and responsive.
A great asset to our industry.
Thanks for the insight guys!
Aron
 
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Agree with @XF.com (f^cken hell that's a nice domain)

Bill is refreshingly friendly and approachable compared to many of the other folks in the industry.
 
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Bill,
How long do you think it will be before New "G"s could become a mainstream recommendation ?
Thanks
 
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Bill,
How long do you think it will be before New "G"s could become a mainstream recommendation ?
Thanks

I recommended some new TLD domains to a client yesterday because they would be appropriate for his situation however I don't see new TLDs ever becoming more popular (with end user buyers) than other .com alternatives like .net or .org or ccTLDs. I think new TLDs will always be a niche and 'exotic' choice and there's nothing wrong with that. In some cases a "be different" domain strategy can help a company stand out from the crowd.
 
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Holy words:
just because a domain buyer broker is knocking on your door wanting to buy a domain name doesn’t mean there’s a huge budget to spend. Not every company has a champagne budget; most of them have a beer (or soft-drink!) budget
 
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Great questions James. And outstanding answers Bill. I especially like
"My general advice to startups is to focus on getting a domain that exactly matches your company name, even if that means you have to change your company name."
 
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Thanks for the share and the time @BillSweetman ! Question....you seem to brand yourself both as your name and as your website name. Can you recommend which is better? I've been thinking about personal branding versus business name branding. What are your thoughts on that? Are your clients looking for NameNinja or Bill Sweetman?
 
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Question....you seem to brand yourself both as your name and as your website name. Can you recommend which is better? I've been thinking about personal branding versus business name branding. What are your thoughts on that? Are your clients looking for NameNinja or Bill Sweetman?

That's a really interesting and loaded set of questions! I don't believe there is one "right" answer to the personal branding versus business name branding dilemma. It depends on your specific situation. Some of the things you need to consider for your decision are whether or not you want some separation between the personal branding (who you are) versus the business branding (what you do) and how much future flexibility you want or need. One of the advantages to keeping the two separate is it doesn't box you (the person) into one specific set of services or products. That way you are free to launch or offer other services (or maybe shut down business #1 and launch business #2), perhaps under new/different business names, without impacting your personal brand. In my case, the "Bill Sweetman" brand is the domain name consultant and 'below' that is the professional services firm "Name Ninja". This way if I wanted to launch a new services or product venture I would use another brand name for that.

I get most of my business by word-of-mouth referral from existing clients and strategic partners, so I guess you could say they are looking for Bill Sweetman. But the "Name Ninja" brand does appeal to my target market, especially first-time clients, and I chose that brand because it's memorable (IMHO) and sounds like a boutique operation, and that's exactly what we are. I didn't want the business to sound like a large company. Also, the plural of Ninja is Ninja, which is kind of cool. So when you hire Name Ninja you are getting more than just me; you're getting a team of Ninja.
 
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So you probably meet some via the website, but most via referral to you the expert. Makes sense. I think the answer is if you build your personal reputation first, you can also develop ventures "under" the personal brand. So NN is boosted by your personal reputation, brand and efforts.
 
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Interesting insight into the "buy side" of domaining. Kind of surprising that the F500's are less inclined to splash the cash, but I guess more is on the line for start ups so the risk/reward plays out as higher. Great interview!
 
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