discuss New ways to sell domains?

Domain is mostly bought to develop a website to advertise a product.
Who will be interested to buy a domain that needs advertisement?
I don't advertise my domains anywhere. Domains and websites should not need to be advertised, only products need. Domain itself is not a product. It's just an advertisement medium.

poweredbyme said:

I don't advertise my domains anywhere

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Then you really are limiting your exposure, unless you are not actively selling any!

DefinitelyDomains said:

Then you really are limiting your exposure, unless you are not actively selling any!

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Yes. I sell passively. I don't have too many domains and don't have domains that worth 5+ figures. But even if I had, I wouldn't advertise.
For me, active selling is to list domains at 1-2 marketplaces. I should admit I am a bit lazy, calm, not very ambitious in general. This might be a factor. Perhaps I am trying to rationalize my laziness. However I truly believe domains are only advertisement medium like a TV channel. If you were trying to sell a TV channel, you wouldn't advertise it on other TV channels.

"active selling is to list domains at 1-2 marketplaces"

Sorry to say... that is not "selling"... that is "order taking". Two different activities.

One is qualifying and actively engaging prospects, the other is a book keeper that takes no accountability for revenue results..

And if you don't know the difference, then you are in for a tough ride as an investor.

-Cougar

BrandCougar said:

"active selling is to list domains at 1-2 marketplaces"

Sorry to say... that is not "selling"... that is "order taking". Two different activities.

One is qualifying and actively engaging prospects, the other is a book keeper that takes no accountability for revenue results..

And if you don't know the difference, then you are in for a tough ride as an investor.

-Cougar

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BrandCougar said:

"active selling is to list domains at 1-2 marketplaces"

Sorry to say... that is not "selling"... that is "order taking". Two different activities.

One is qualifying and actively engaging prospects, the other is a book keeper that takes no accountability for revenue results..

And if you don't know the difference, then you are in for a tough ride as an investor.

-Cougar

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BrandCougar...you're EXACTLY right, but that's the way this industry operates. And that's the reason there's so much opportunity It's like everyone in this industry is so brainwashed they really believe their way is the right way and the only way....sad

ThatNameGuy said:

I expected that question, but I haven't done my first trade show yet. That said however, I've sold all sorts of intangible business services at trade shows. I've sold medical billing systems hardware and software, I've sold credit/collection systems to creditors, investigative services to banks, and niche tax services to lawyers.

The whole trade show experience provides the sort of confidence needed to sell domains directly to decision makers. The naysayers will say the attendees already have names to which I say, doesn't everybody Besides, a certain percentage of attendees are always looking to "go it on their own", and they're going to need a domain.

I'd be doing it now if it weren't for the fact that I'm still seeking a partner to compliment my experience and expertise, and the likes of Go Daddy and Donuts may be just the ticket

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Good ideas here. This got me thinking.

How about selling industry specific domain names to vendors that call on an targeted industry-pitching the domain names as lead-generating tools for the vendors. For example, have potential clients compete to win the domain name for their business. For example, an international Lawyer/Law Firm might want to obtain OffshoreTaxAttorneys.com for marketing (yeah, I own it.). A vendor at an American Bar Association conference could get a lot of hits for attorneys that could "win" that name at the end of the conference.

So, in this case you'd want to find a group that specialized in web marketing for legal professionals/law firms. Someone smart said there's Riches in the Niches.

BMWMotoRider said:

Good ideas here. This got me thinking.

How about selling industry specific domain names to vendors that call on an targeted industry-pitching the domain names as lead-generating tools for the vendors. For example, have potential clients compete to win the domain name for their business. For example, an international Lawyer/Law Firm might want to obtain OffshoreTaxAttorneys.com for marketing (yeah, I own it.). A vendor at an American Bar Association conference could get a lot of hits for attorneys that could "win" that name at the end of the conference.

So, in this case you'd want to find a group that specialized in web marketing for legal professionals/law firms. Someone smart said there's Riches in the Niches.

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Excellent observation MotoRider....another example is an industry like "Real Estate" where you have over 1.3M realtors in the US alone, and just as many vendors who serve the real estate industry. I'm already considering making real estate agents "domain agents". After all they work with other agents every day, they work for "commission only", and they're already trained in sales......Duh!

Customer lands on landing page can see domain for sale contacts owner.
If this is not happening then they are still searching or not for your domain.

I've tried a lot of things, but the only way that has really worked for me is just simple old landing pages. It sounds so boring but when it works it works, so I'm sticking to it. Rather spend my time looking for good domains and then letting them sell themselves

I've used yelp to connect with business owners who had similar names to the domain I was selling. Came close to closing, but not in the end. Could be helpful for some. Also a great tool is scrapebox, use it to find relevant blogs & forums for your niche and then go add value to their comments with a link back to your domain. This may yield some results if done right.

Bob Hawkes said:

Has anyone tried an approach of offering the domain name with a startup website?

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Bob, this is an old technique and it isn't worth the hassle anymore. The amount of extra money you might get from adding a simple website to the domain is negligible and when you take the time involved it's not worth it.

If you want to sell a website for substantial prices, it has to have traffic and sales (proven).

You have to consider the headache it causes after you sell even a simple website. most of these buyers have no clue about anything to do with website creation and maintenance so they will constantly be contacting your for advice/help. Top it off, if you sell them hosting, then you have another headache - tech support. In the end, you find yourself wasting time for what amounts to nickels and dimes when you could be focusing on something more profitable.

In the end, it's just not worth it unless you are selling established sites and have enough sales to actually get a premium price from serious buyers.

Most of these marketing methods are like throwing darts in the dark.

The most promising method I read about in NP (I am not sure if it is mentioned in this thread because I didn't read all the posts) is using paid ads in LinkedIn with very specific targeting, where you target business owners of companies with 100+ employees, that are within a niche related to your domain, and show your AD with BIN price on it to minimize clicks from users that cannot afford the domain. This method is only effective for high value domains that worth re-branding from buyer point of view, and worth advertising costs from seller point of view. I didn't try this method yet but it is in my mind and I will certainly give it a shot.

That being said above method is only effective for companies that may do re-branding, which could be small percentage of potential customers for you domain. The larger percentage of potential end users are startups that are still looking for a name, the best way to reach those potential customers is through brandables marketplaces such as BB & SquadHelp. Reaching those customers outside of these well known marketplaces is very hard, I don't know about any effective method for doing that, other than shooting in the dark methods.

I have another "idea", although I assume it is not really newww

Anyway, one could try to...
...present it as "NOT FOR SALE" because people want what they (seemingly) can't gettt
Of course don't forget to add your contact info hahaahaaaa

Perhaps find people online with similar businesses that has to do with your domain name. Although it could take ages to find the right buyer, however there's plenty of forums and sites that allows you to promote your domains.

You could create a blog with just your domains(if you have lots of them), or even a website. In conclusion, it takes time and patience and dash of effort to look out there for any potential buyers across the web and public. Don't put your nose down, be patient.

Only if you have very short and good name associated with widely usage of its service around the globe. This could make sales quicker as demand is huge for them. However to find 1-4 letter .COM TLD is hard to find these days, but it doesn't mean that the game is over. New gTLDs being adapted across sectors online and it is still good time to register something unique such as: Economic.energy and Webcam.dance

They are more direct to the purpose of the service you will provide online. Personally they will take the market very soon, as .COM getting out of range, due to large amount registrations, and raising difficulty to find short and attractive names.

maxtra said:

Stand on the street corner and hawk your names

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Hawk.Best

I tend to agree with the simple view @Daniel Lorentsen expressed that the most important single thing to sell domains that someone may readily guess (i.e. generic single words and two or three word likely expressions) is to have an active and effective lander. I am surprised how often this seems not to be done - either no active lander or some sort of parking page that hide that the domain name is in fact available.

For brandable domain names I would argue that you probably need to be on one of the brandable marketplaces, because that is where people go to look for that sort of domain name.

Roughly speaking domain names are used for three main things and can be considered the following types:

1. branding/company name
2. descriptive name for product being offered
3. campaign specific or product specific marketing

Now clearly they can overlap - like Hotels.com is both 1 and 2, and sometimes a marketing campaign will cover both 2 and 3.

I think that the industry needs a new kind of marketplace that does not deal with brandable names (no made up words) but rather caters to category 2. For example I could tell them that my product is golf clubs and they would show me various phrases available in various extensions that fit that product closely. Now services like Dofo may make such a marketplace unnecessary, as they consolidate search, but I still see a need for a product in that.

The campaign specific is even less general and harder to imagine an effective selling strategy. I think ultimately here is where a real estate professional model makes sense. An organization comes to a phrase specialist with a request like "I want to run a marketing campaign for xyz" The professional comes back with a list of phrases that are available for consideration. Some sort of network listing professionals with phrase expertise in different areas might be helpful. This whole area is still in its infancy.

Bob

Ostrados said:

The most promising method I read about in NP (I am not sure if it is mentioned in this thread because I didn't read all the posts) is using paid ads in LinkedIn with very specific targeting

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And the credits go to @Riz M.

DOMAIN ILLUMINATI said:

I have another "idea", although I assume it is not really new

Anyway, one could try to...
...present it as "NOT FOR SALE" because people want what they can't get
Of course don't forget to add your contact info ha

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What do you mean? Like this?

Landing page...

The this domain is not for sale ultimately paid off big for Matt Blaze with crypto(.)com apparently!
I actually see some merit in the approach for a class of domains. People do naturally value higher what they can not have.
Bob

EbookLover said:

What do you mean? Like this?

Landing page...

This domain is NOT for sale at any price
as it is invaluable and thus PRICELESS.

Please contact Joe Blow at joe.blow @ whatever.com if interested in making an offer.
​

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Yes thats about what I meannn

I just would use the email - address "notforsale @ example.top" and would set up an automatic response like "Dear X, thanks for your offer but this domain name is not for sale - except you make the right offer. Best regards, X".

Bob Hawkes said:

The this domain is not for sale ultimately paid off big for Matt Blaze with crypto(.)com apparently!
I actually see some merit in the approach for a class of domains. People do naturally value higher what they can not have.
Bob

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Indeed, the crypto.com - case / sale is a very good exampleee

golan said:

And the credits go to @Riz M.

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Yes I learned about LinkedIn method from him there was a thread about it on NP.

Southtexas81 said:

Pay escorts ( aka. Hookers ) in NYC and Las Vegas to advertise your name to their high end clients

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Um..is this thinking inside or outside..the box? I want the Vegas franchise!

I will say promote your brand, online and offline both. It will surely help. Of course, you should have the varieties to meet the demand.