3 THINGS I WISH SOMEONE TOLD ME BEFORE I STARTED DOMAINING

[TomTom1]

Sometimes it’s hard to look back and remember the lessons of being a noob in the domain industry, especially after a long break. But here are the 5 lessons that are etched into my mind and I think would be of value to anyone jumping in the domain world with high expectations.

1. Don’t quit your day job
Thankfully, I didn’t quit my job when I started domaining. I will admit that I had high expectations and hoped to be domaining full time in a matter of months. While I didn’t have an official date set, I thought a year would be reasonable. In hindsight, it sounds crazy and actually makes me laugh a little to think that I was coming into an industry I knew nothing about and thought I would master it in no time flat. Lesson learned – If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and would be immediately successful.

2. Save your money on the hand regs
Alright, somebody did tell me this. In fact, most of the bloggers that I follow probably mentioned this early on… several times. But what did those experienced bloggers know? “Are you kidding me? Nobody has registered waterproofguitarcases.com, I’m all over it!” At one point, I had almost 500 hand registered names. I think about 498 of them sucked. I didn’t actually register that name, but I promise that some I did register were just as bad… or worse.

Funny thing is, I did manage to sell a dozen or so to end users and probably broke even in overall dollars. But if you include the time I invested, it was a definite loss. However, it was cheap price to pay for a valuable lesson.

There is an exception to this rule, which I will write about in a couple of days.

3. Know the industry of the names you are investing in
Having learned the hand reg lesson just mentioned, I soon found myself searching for a “premium” keyword domain. One day, while pursuing an interview with an end user, a fantastic electronics industry related name fell in my lap. They guy really needed to sell, and I was able to talk him all the way down to $5,000. “What a skilled domainer I have become!” Never mind that I had zero experience in electronics and no knowledge of the changing technology. The fact that the guy really needed to sell the name and was shutting down his business… that’s just a minor detail I overlooked. Some may call if a red flag, but to me… minor detail.

I’m not going to mention the name because I ultimately sold it.

While there are many other lessons to be shared, these are the top in my book. If you’re new, maybe you’ll take my advice and maybe you wont. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to learn on your own. If you’re an experienced domainer, what were you top mistakes?

source: http://sullysblog.com/3-things-i-wi...llysblogcomDomains+(SullysBlog.com+»+Domains)

 

[N-A]

1. I quit, under a "golden parachute". Doesn't go for all.
2. Your numbers seem skewed. If you were able to break even on low double digit sales, why couldn't you exceed expectations on a 500 domain name portfolio?
3. If this were voice of F2F sales, you could have gotten it much lower IMO. There are subtle cues everyone has that they throw off. When you're in your mental blueprinting process, you can "jot" them down to use in your negotiation tactics.

Overall, good job learning your lesson and hopefully some can learn from you.

Would like a little more clarification on #2 though...

 

[forge]

1. I quit, under a "golden parachute". Doesn't go for all.
2. Your numbers seem skewed. If you were able to break even on low double digit sales, why couldn't you exceed expectations on a 500 domain name portfolio?
3. If this were voice of F2F sales, you could have gotten it much lower IMO. There are subtle cues everyone has that they throw off. When you're in your mental blueprinting process, you can "jot" them down to use in your negotiation tactics.

Overall, good job learning your lesson and hopefully some can learn from you.

Would like a little more clarification on #2 though...

Take note, this isn't the OP's story, this is Mike Sullivan's story of SullysBlog dot youknowwhat

 

[N-A]

I know, if you're going to copy and paste a story over (even though credit was given), you should at least elaborate or have an opinion on it. Otherwise, you're adding no value because I could have found this browsing domaining.com.

I just took my experience and shared it under the three points, as the OP should have too. Then, it could be a discussion.

Like #1, why not quit your day job? Did you not save 10% of your paychecks each month or have something to fall back on for your standard of living that could last 2-3 years of unemployment? Etc.
#2 - These numbers just don't add up as I stated. Broke even on 10ish, but had 500 domains? Surely he made more sales, but maybe he wants to emphasize the point that going out and buying 500 gTLD's isn't your best investment and 500 closeout domains after they drop would be a better investment with coupons.
#3 - When you have practice in sales, you also master the art of buying (or negotiating). In my opinion I feel that $5000 was too steep if he's claiming at that point he became a master.
And lastly #4, is this industry news or a discussion piece? Sure, it's a new article on a blog, but IMO it's not classified as industry news. Nothing groundbreaking that hasn't been said already over, and over, and over.