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1. If English is not your first language, try to lean towards Brandable domains or short (4 Letter, 5 Letter) domains in the beginning. I can imagine a lot of crappy keyword domains being registered are because some people use translators or they don't yet understand what sounds good in proper english and what doesn't.
2. Don't just lurk. Frequent the forums and network with experienced domainers, share your feedback or opinion even if you're new. Join in on the discussions, find a mentor. It surprises me how helpful most members of the domaining community are with each other, after all, in a way we are all competitors, but unlike any other industry, we always try to give advice and tips - take advantage of it so that one day you too can give back too.
3. If you want to experiment first with hand-registering domain names, don't try to come up with names on your own just yet, as tempting as it may be. The "Available Domains" section should be one of your most frequented on Namepros: https://www.namepros.com/forums/available-domain-names.106/ - Experienced members are generous enough to share lists of domain names that are available to be registered. Sometimes you will land a gem within the bunch.
4. Most of the questions you may have right now have probably already been asked and answered hundreds of times already (literally) - pretend this forum is a book on an infomercial that you just paid money for and read. You have enough material here to answer almost anything you're thinking of. 95% of the posts/discussions on NP are on the topic of domains.
5. Before registering or buying a domain name, ask yourself this: "Is this domain name worthy enough for me to pay renewal fees on for at least 3 years?" - If it is not worth it to you to renew (at full cost) that domain name for 3 or more years, then you don't even see value in it, do you think someone else will? Remember, there are no 99 cent renewal coupons.
6. When growing your domain portfolio, keep it diversified. When you're new to domain investing, don't register 10 domains on the same topic or niche. If something is trending, buy 1 or 2 domains, not 10 or 20 because they're available. Trends can die quickly in this industry and it's easy to get carried away and find yourself with 30 renewal fees in 12 months on worthless domains or domains that won't have value for years, be prepared for that.
7. When first starting out, focus on flipping domains and not 'holding' them. Flipping means you acquire something and sell it asap for more than what you paid no matter how much more it is and grow from there. 'Holding' is acquiring a domain name and waiting for a much larger offer. Being new, you probably won't have a sense of what will attract that big offer so you may only have domains that can be sold for 1, 2, or 3x's what you paid for it to fellow and more experienced domainers. Once you start learning what consistently sells to other domainers for smaller profits, you'll begin learning what you should be holding onto yourself.
8. When you're thinking about registering or buying a domain name, think about who would want the domain and how much they would be willing to spend on it, this is usually based on how much money they can make with that particular domain. Example: If you come across a domain like CuteCatPictures.com, yes it sounds good, yes, a blog can be made out of it, it can be a site with Cute Cat Pictures, but most of these sites are hobby sites and they don't make serious money. If a website like this which could only generate $xx a month, do you think they're going to pay hundreds or thousands? No, more like $20 or $30. Your *big* sale for a name like this would most likely be low $xxx but that would be luck. Instead, focus on domains you know someone can make good money with. If someone can earn thousands a month operating on that domain, that's when you can expect reasonable offers.
9. Many new investors automatically fall in-love with a domain they own once they receive a $20 or $30 offer on it, they assume this person is making me an offer so it must be worth thousands. It's not. When starting out, sell, sell, sell. There may be a chance that you did let a good domain get away but at the end of the day the experience and knowledge you gained from doing these small deals will help get you to a higher level much more quickly and time is more valuable than money and there are always new opportunities every day.
10: If you're in need of cash flow, then you need to study up on contacting end users because chances are you won't be receiving offers on your names any time soon. If you're not in this for the long-haul (at least a year) then you shouldn't bother at all. I see a lot of people new to domain investing saying "I've had my domains listed on Sedo/GoDaddy/etc for a month and It hasn't sold or gotten any offers!?" - There is no expected time for something to sell. Many of the domain sales you see reported, the owners have held on to those names for years. So again, if you need cash flow quickly, focus on reading up how to contact people to make sales, not wait for them to come to you.
Good luck!
2. Don't just lurk. Frequent the forums and network with experienced domainers, share your feedback or opinion even if you're new. Join in on the discussions, find a mentor. It surprises me how helpful most members of the domaining community are with each other, after all, in a way we are all competitors, but unlike any other industry, we always try to give advice and tips - take advantage of it so that one day you too can give back too.
3. If you want to experiment first with hand-registering domain names, don't try to come up with names on your own just yet, as tempting as it may be. The "Available Domains" section should be one of your most frequented on Namepros: https://www.namepros.com/forums/available-domain-names.106/ - Experienced members are generous enough to share lists of domain names that are available to be registered. Sometimes you will land a gem within the bunch.
4. Most of the questions you may have right now have probably already been asked and answered hundreds of times already (literally) - pretend this forum is a book on an infomercial that you just paid money for and read. You have enough material here to answer almost anything you're thinking of. 95% of the posts/discussions on NP are on the topic of domains.
5. Before registering or buying a domain name, ask yourself this: "Is this domain name worthy enough for me to pay renewal fees on for at least 3 years?" - If it is not worth it to you to renew (at full cost) that domain name for 3 or more years, then you don't even see value in it, do you think someone else will? Remember, there are no 99 cent renewal coupons.
6. When growing your domain portfolio, keep it diversified. When you're new to domain investing, don't register 10 domains on the same topic or niche. If something is trending, buy 1 or 2 domains, not 10 or 20 because they're available. Trends can die quickly in this industry and it's easy to get carried away and find yourself with 30 renewal fees in 12 months on worthless domains or domains that won't have value for years, be prepared for that.
7. When first starting out, focus on flipping domains and not 'holding' them. Flipping means you acquire something and sell it asap for more than what you paid no matter how much more it is and grow from there. 'Holding' is acquiring a domain name and waiting for a much larger offer. Being new, you probably won't have a sense of what will attract that big offer so you may only have domains that can be sold for 1, 2, or 3x's what you paid for it to fellow and more experienced domainers. Once you start learning what consistently sells to other domainers for smaller profits, you'll begin learning what you should be holding onto yourself.
8. When you're thinking about registering or buying a domain name, think about who would want the domain and how much they would be willing to spend on it, this is usually based on how much money they can make with that particular domain. Example: If you come across a domain like CuteCatPictures.com, yes it sounds good, yes, a blog can be made out of it, it can be a site with Cute Cat Pictures, but most of these sites are hobby sites and they don't make serious money. If a website like this which could only generate $xx a month, do you think they're going to pay hundreds or thousands? No, more like $20 or $30. Your *big* sale for a name like this would most likely be low $xxx but that would be luck. Instead, focus on domains you know someone can make good money with. If someone can earn thousands a month operating on that domain, that's when you can expect reasonable offers.
9. Many new investors automatically fall in-love with a domain they own once they receive a $20 or $30 offer on it, they assume this person is making me an offer so it must be worth thousands. It's not. When starting out, sell, sell, sell. There may be a chance that you did let a good domain get away but at the end of the day the experience and knowledge you gained from doing these small deals will help get you to a higher level much more quickly and time is more valuable than money and there are always new opportunities every day.
10: If you're in need of cash flow, then you need to study up on contacting end users because chances are you won't be receiving offers on your names any time soon. If you're not in this for the long-haul (at least a year) then you shouldn't bother at all. I see a lot of people new to domain investing saying "I've had my domains listed on Sedo/GoDaddy/etc for a month and It hasn't sold or gotten any offers!?" - There is no expected time for something to sell. Many of the domain sales you see reported, the owners have held on to those names for years. So again, if you need cash flow quickly, focus on reading up how to contact people to make sales, not wait for them to come to you.
Good luck!
