Are You a Successful Domainer? I Have a Question for YOU!

[Sufyan]

It’s been only a week that I started learning about Domaining. After reading a lot of threads, articles and blogs on the topic, I think I’m late to the party.

Domaining is ALREADY saturated. New comers (without lots of $$$$) don’t seem to make it big in the business. Lots of people are entering the market. Every now and then.

Over 75,000,000 .COMs have already been registered. A new domain name is being registered every 2.5 seconds. On average.

Ok, so if you are a successful domainer with a great portfolio and know the nuts and bolts of the business, I have a question that made me start this thread.

What Would You Do If You Had To Start From Scratch?

Thanks for your time to read the thread.

Cheers,
SJ

 

[kemjika11]

how many people "make it big" in the industry their work or/and invest in? Domainers don't need to MAKE IT BIG to enjoy doing it, and making a profit.Its unrealistic to think everyone can or is trying to make it big.

Secondly, the fact that many fresh regged names are sold for hundreds and thousands of dollars (from NP member testimonials), your point that newbies need lots of $$$ to "make it big" is destroyed. In that statement, i will interpret "making it big" as "making a nice profit". It has happened, and still happens.

 

[Spade]

What Would You Do If You Had To Start From Scratch?

Honestly? I would focus my attention on the aftermarket and drop markets. Looking for good deals on a single domain or a couple. I would also do extensive homework, and sales comps before I considered a purchase. Youve been here a week reading. My advice? Be here a month and read constantly. Read everything you can get your hands on. Its all about learning and making contacts.

Justin

 

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

Still time

You can still make money, even if you are new. Keep reading, and studying what people are buying, and selling. You may not be able to make a lot of money from hand-regs, but you can still buy good domains for $50, $100, $200, $300, and resell later for more money.

When you see someone here asking $100-$300 for a domain, and he has been here a few years, it should tell you that he probably knows what he can get for that domain name. So, either give him what he wants for it, or counteroffer for a little less. Soon, you may have a pretty good name, that you can make money with later.

If you have a $1,000 cash, you should be able to buy yourself a pretty darn good name, that will almost guarantee you a good sale later. Of course, there are never any guarantees, but the odds would be preety good for you.

Also, remember you try to get rich on one domain sale. If you buy one for $100, and sell for $350, you made a $250 profit! You can either blow this on a Ipod, or buy a few more domains, to sell later.
Frank

Frank

 

[DN BROKER]

It’s been only a week that I started learning about Domaining. After reading a lot of threads, articles and blogs on the topic, I think I’m late to the party.

Domaining is ALREADY saturated. New comers (without lots of $$$$) don’t seem to make it big in the business. Lots of people are entering the market. Every now and then.

Over 75,000,000 .COMs have already been registered. A new domain name is being registered every 2.5 seconds. On average.

Ok, so if you are a successful domainer with a great portfolio and know the nuts and bolts of the business, I have a question that made me start this thread.

What Would You Do If You Had To Start From Scratch?

Thanks for your time to read the thread.

Cheers,
SJ

If you have capital to help boost you're intro into the game... then you should focus on LLLL - LLL - LL and single or two word premium combinations.

if you have no capital ($1000 or less) then purchase domains or reg for long term (7-12 years)

.com is the best choice, then .net - .ca - .mobi - .org

 

[jacal1]

Learn to at least develop a minisite or a multipage whypark site before buying any domains. Then buy only a few good ones in the ways Spade suggested and do a little development with some.

I have 500 names, and the 50 or so I've minimally developed pay all the yearly reg fees...any sales are gravy.

This also helps me arrive at a price. Some I fell in love with I realize aren't worth much when I can;t get traffic. Others I would have sold for $100 start getting $1/day or so with minimal development and I change my pricing or keep them.

 

[Keral_Patel]

It also depends on the goal of a domainer.

If the domainer wants to earn 1 Million in 6 months then yes he needs to have loads of investment :D and loads of luck to keep flipping.

If anyone thinks he can flip a $8 domain into a million dollar sale overnight then it would need solid luck rather then logic on his side.

The domain market is not saturated. It always feels like it is saturated. But if you are already here then don't miss the opportunity.

I would even say that if I can go back in time and I went back in 1996 then also I wouldn't register great names. Which were available at that time. Because no one knew that they will sell for huge amounts in future. It was risky even at that time and it is even riskier today. So before you go in 2015 and regret that why you missed out in 2008 its better to take whatever is on offer and hope for good things to happen.

 

[DnEbook]

consider numeric domains ..... only 100,000 nnnnn's exist compared to 450,000 LLLLL's

have a look at a site called 4636.net , you may find it interesting and worddial.com , even 739*com is an adult site , they explain the reason why at the site

i regged ireviewtv*com a few days ago , about a week ago i regged witvg*com ...... acronym for world internet tv guide

there are still ssome good ones ...... but generics are becomming out of reach in .com

 

[Sufyan]

Hey all, thanks for taking time to reply to my question. I appreciate it very much.

I particularly like the posts by Justin, Frank, Mir, Alan, Keral and evirtual1 and found them to be of great help for a newbie domainer for developing his / her strategy in this business. Even today.

Once again, thanks a lot for the help. :great:

 

[Charley]

If the domainer wants to earn 1 Million in 6 months then yes he needs to have loads of investment :D and loads of luck to keep flipping.

It doesn't have to be this way always. If you can try to broker a few big domain names, 1 million is just pocket change. There is no investment required in this case.

 

[Keral_Patel]

If the domainer wants to earn 1 Million in 6 months then yes he needs to have loads of investment :D and loads of luck to keep flipping.

It doesn't have to be this way always. If you can try to broker a few big domain names, 1 million is just pocket change. There is no investment required in this case.

Yes but here some luck does comes in.
Where some people do debate that there is nothing like luck in domaining.

But I bet that more then a thousand people, who found NP just by luck and they started domaining

 

[Charley]

Yes but here some luck does comes in.

You mean luck getting an investor to purchase the domain name ?

 

[Keral_Patel]

Luck in getting an investor to purchase the domain name and the luck in getting the seller to sell his domain name.

Because most of the times the seller always wants 500% more then the buyer is willing to pay.

 

[Charley]

Because most of the times the seller always wants 500% more then the buyer is willing to pay.

Not at all. Consider poker.com, their asking price is 27 million, which IMO is nothing for a poker business or online poker business. Poker.com is worth the price.

I am referring to premium generic one worders in the .com Tld.

 

[bro]

What Would You Do If You Had To Start From Scratch?

If I dont have enogh money to buy good names from auction house, and can afford to buy only $7.15 domains then I would spend my time scanning dropped domains and find good keyword combos to handreg and resell later on domain forums.. I do that and make good income selling such domains to webmasters / domainers.

Put whatever profit You made back into domains.

 

[Keral_Patel]

Not at all. Consider poker.com, their asking price is 27 million, which IMO is nothing for a poker business or online poker business. Poker.com is worth the price.

I am referring to premium generic one worders in the .com Tld.

Man are you telling me that making that deal doesn't requires luck?

If yes then please teach me how to make a billion dollar deal. I am fed up of this life and I want 1 million in brokerage.

We all want so please try and share some of your tips.

What I am trying to do here is guide the new guy to a good place rather then waste his time wondering about jackpots. Why are you trying to give him things that he can't handle. If he was that smart he would not have even asked the question in first place. He himself is a newbie and that is why he is asking for help.

 

[soggyindo]

I would focus my attention on the aftermarket and drop markets. Looking for good deals on a single domain or a couple. I would also do extensive homework, and sales comps before I considered a purchase.
Justin

I always thought the registrars would have the drop market covered?

Or do they mainly just count traffic names, to count and keep if profitable? Perhaps sifting thru the other dropping names still needs nous/crystal ball/ legwork.

Where (after a good education) we can step in?

Cheers all you guys for guiding the < 2 month club.

:D

 

[Mike]

I edited my post from Here

I suggest to read the entire thread, though.

*************
As a new domainer the chances are still there, but it's become a little more difficult and challenging over the years.

A few pointers here:

.5, Patience. It's a virtue, but also the key to surviving the domain game.

1, read the NamePros legal section FIRST! it's too easy to fall to the temptation of registering a name that actually is trademarked by someone else.

2, Either have a broad understanding of internet/domain dynamics or pick your niche(s) that you're well versed in. Why? Because in your area of expertise, you will know future developments, trends and product launches. This level of knowledge can give you a comfortable head start.

3, End User is KING! Getting to the End User - read # .5

4, Unfortunately, this industry is HIGHLY competitive. While NP has a great community, at the end of the day, everyone is striving to protect their interest, so don't expect anyone to share knowledge just because your name/NP ID is cute. (To this day i'm trying to figure out how some people are doing it: Spade, NameTrader - just to name 3 that came to mind first...)

4.5, If you have "deeper" pockets, familiarize yourself with the Domain Auction Houses, such as Snapnames, TDNAM, Sedo, etc. and be on the lookout for drops - which is a science in itself....

5, PPC or Development. Never let your domains sit there and generate money for the likes of GoDaddy, etc. Once you own the domain, IMMEDIATELY park it until you get to develop it. While development should ALWAYS be the goal, there are some domains that are better being parked.

6, If you don't have these skills already, GET THEM! ASAP!! Which skills? Oh yeah, development (the evil word) ! It's vital, it's essential, it's your golden egg in the basket that you don't own just yet. Basic HTML, .php, JavaScript.
OR take the easy way out and familiarize yourself with Joomla (recommended), Drupal and Wordpress.
Then there's the graphic aspect. Photoshop (Fireworks), Flash, etc. You don't have to be an expert, but you should be knowledegable to a certain extent, it's going to make your life easier.
Also, the more you know about development, the better your advantage when talking to hired coders/graphic artists.

6.5; You do have options then: Own domains for PPC. Develop domains for the long term. Buy undervalued sites and spruce them up for flipping. No one said that Flipping is restricted to Real Estate.

7, The most convenient solution for domainers: Domain Tasting. There's quite some controversy about this topic, I for one absolutely am in 100% favor of this practice. Make use of it with every domain you register. Some registrars are charging a small fee for tasting, which in the end will still save you tons of money. Register > Park: you realize that the domain you registered is insufficient in self support through parking > cancel the domain.

8, Network. Network and while you're at it, Network some more. It's all about who you know, how well established you are, your reputation, honesty, ethics, etc.
At the same time; Make no mistake about it. Some domainers are ruthless in their negotiations and manage to reap the rewards of their hard negotiation tactics. It depends on who you are before you decide to take any particular route.

9, Read first, then ask. While new domainers are quickly forgiven when they ask redundant questions or questions that have been answered a billion times, nothing is more questionable than seeing the same question 10 times when the answer is sitting in the thread that's just one click away. If you read the threads and the answer is still not clear -> Ask as much as you can. Contradictory? Not really. Just Read > Then ask

and the final #10, Be Persistent. Domaining as opposed to Stock Trading is not a business of dynamic. It's asking for a steady hand with sometimes long term vision.
There are some exceptions such as the LLLL.com market which is a volatile market with fast paced changes.

That's my .2€ of domainer's knowledge. I should adhere to most of these points myself. But as always, it's easier to preach than to actually do.

M.

 

[Keral_Patel]

Mike I think you wrote it all :D

Nice compilation though.

I just added a thread today for the development side : http://www.namepros.com/webmaster-tutorials/451469-tips-on-making-a-good-website.html

Maybe that can also help on that development part and getting some revenue going.

Patience is the key in that one also

 

[Malaysia]

reg few selll few, reg again n sell again.. flipping domains n snowball ur portfolio n $$
of course patience is virtues do not reg any name u come accross in ur mind n if u are not confident in selling ..quick flip are normally names that domainers wud buy..waiting for a end user is for somebody wif patience n $$$