Another Newbie - Would like some guidance!

[TheFifty9Sound]

I know what you're all thinking, not another domaining newbie! We all have to start somewhere right?

Well, I've been doing some research and purchased my first few domains. I don't expect to make loads of money, especially not right away, and I'm doing this as a hobby. I've got a three month break coming up, so I'm going to use that time to develop websites for my domains.

I think the names I've purchased are pretty sweet, but I'd just like some advice as to whether or not you think I'm looking in the right areas.

I've bought a few .com domains that are really short and snappy. Not necessarily exact keyword search matches, but clean, easy to say and read, topic specific, catchy sounding names. No more than two words.

I've also got a few one word .co, .info domains, and one word .us domains that make sense (like save.us - thats not my domain, but that kind of theme).

I know no one can value my domains without knowing what they are, and thats not what I'm asking, but do you think these are the right kind of domains to go after? Especially the one word .co .info .us ones? I considered them to be the kind of domains I'd hold onto for a few years. Thoughts?

 

[Kate]

I know no one can value my domains without knowing what they are, and thats not what I'm asking, but do you think these are the right kind of domains to go after?

The names that have an obvious commercial, that are brandable, memorable or short, or meaningful keywords, in a niche that you are familiar with.

IMO .co .info .us are weak TLDs. I would avoid them for resale value unless they are truly premium.

 

[Name Trader]

^^^ I agree with sdsinc. But you might have a better crystal ball than us. Imho, brandables are a hard sell too because anyone looking for a brandable name has too much choice.

 

[DU]

Well, I've been doing some research and purchased my first few domains. I don't expect to make loads of money, especially not right away, and I'm doing this as a hobby. I've got a three month break coming up, so I'm going to use that time to develop websites for my domains.

It's good that you've decided that you are not going to make loads of money - a lot of people think that you can simply turn $8 into $10,000 which isn't reality.

If your path of choice is development you want to focus on those people that also choose this avenue to help you. Developing a revenue stream is very different that domain flipping or domain parking on traffic.

So you're a Gaslight Anthem fan I take it?

 

[malcarada]

Your approach is the right one, a long term adventure that will possibly make money but not lots of it, that is how it normally works.

If you are developing a website the extension is not that important, the problem would be if you wanted to sell an empty domain name with the wrong extension. There are many successful sites out there with a little known extension and with the new TLDs coming up this will become even more common.

I think that you have chosen wisely, I don't see anything wrong with those extensions.

 

[SupremeDev]

The names that have an obvious commercial, that are brandable, memorable or short, or meaningful keywords, in a niche that you are familiar with.

IMO .co .info .us are weak TLDs. I would avoid them for resale value unless they are truly premium.

Firstly, I'd like to apologize to OP if I'm hijacking.
As for my question to sdsinc, what kind of domains with weak TLDs do you consider premium? Do list some examples.

Thanks

 

[TheFifty9Sound]

Firstly, thank you for the replies. It's nice to know I'm taking the right approach

Don't apologise SupremeDev, it's a good question! For example, I have a .co domain that has 450,000 exact match searches on google. Would that be considered "premium"? This one is on the top of my list of websites to build.

So you're a Gaslight Anthem fan I take it?

Totally. All the way back from Sink or Swim

 

[jcofclouds]

If you think a market sector might or will rebound in the future,
and 'if' you have the patience and money to pay for reregistering the domains;
then it might be a good investment, to purchase domains in areas or sectors that are not currently popular, and in fact, buying at reg fee, or lower,
is good speculating.
On the other hand, if one has to be patient, one might consider developing a website on a domain name.
It hardly ever makes sense to buy into a market sector, after it has shot up in price. The gains after that sharp rise, often will be less, than if you buy into a market sector that is undervalued at present, and hold,
and if some reason, that undervalued market sector begins to increase in value or esteem amongst the buyers.

Some people prefer not to speculate like this. Ok, that is their choice.
They usually have loads of money in the first place, and will tell you to put your money into bluechip or the safest places where you might get 2-5 % interest each year.
Ok, well those kinds of investors miss out on the 10x, 100x, 1000x there money that the speculator might get in the domain name speculation biz.
On the other hand, speculating in currently undervalued sectors might never pay off at all, and in fact, it could be a total loss.
But, lets be realistic here. what are we talking about?
A 10 or 20 dollar reg fee, that has to be renewed each year(for how long)??
Ok, it is a small investment. ON a limited basis, with a % of your portfolio, I would do this type of speculating, if you like the highs and lows that come with it. The rush of getting something that goes up astronomically in value, can be a great feeling.
ON the other hand, the lows might be too much for some people.
Its up to you.
I used to buy stocks, and the stock traders used to judge their investors, and classify them, in many ways.
One way they classified investors, is their willingness to expose themselves to risks, and how much risks are they willing to expose themselves to?
There are various categories. It is up to you.
Which one is best for you?
The poor man usually would be better off to go for speculating on undervalued (penny stock type things), as their money is not sufficient to buy into the high priced dot com's ......
and the competition might keep the poor man out of the .com's alot...at least the more valuable dot com's ...
IT IS UP TO YOU, WHAT CATEGORY OF DOMAIN NAME INVESTOR YOU WANT TO BE.