Here is a call to everyone who is starting out now or who hasn't yet made it into this industry and trying your hands into it. Things will work if you try harder, and smarter! They definitely will!
Here is a look into my journey and what worked for me. Maybe it works for you too!
When I started out, a friend and I pooled in $40 each to buy some domain names and flip it for some "quick" profits. Even before we bought a domain name, we were day dreaming of quick flips and what we would do with the $1,000 coming next week. Or maybe next-to-next. That never happened!
We bought 8 domain names from a list of 70 odd names that we had researched. It was a week, a month and then 6 months and the names did not sell. Instead, we became victims to appraisal scam and lost faith in the industry as a whole.
Eventually, reading and learning everywhere possible and desperate to see some success, a year passed. I was still reading, researching but to no avail. Before expiration, I decided to renew one of those domains and buy some new ones. This time, a domainer friend of mine advised me to go with geo names. 2 names was all I bought. And decided to give the outbound marketing and domaining business, one more try! Didn't work out!
I was obsessed looking at the sales other people were making. I was the one lagging behind. How could I not do it! I tried it one more time. And decided to keep doing it until I made at least one sale. Bought 2 more and then 2 more. Finally after 13 months of buying my first domain name, I struck upon a sale of $250. Converting $10 to $250. What an ROI! That was it.
I had found my niche. Geo-domain names it was! I invested all the money I made into geo names, researching for days and then doing outbound for each of them.
Things started growing exponentially. Soon, I had a portfolio of over 100 names, flipping some of them every week, built a team of my colleagues to do outbound marketing for me. One was generating leads. The other was sending out emails. Things never looked back since. Until I left domaining due to personal reasons.
Over the years, I sold 100s of domain names, mostly in the price bracket of $250 to $450.
It was a big deal. I was able to pay for my education and do things that mattered. Although I blew a major portion of it endlessly, I knew how to make money in this industry.
Had I not tried it one more time or had given up, I wouldn't have discovered it.
Take away :
- Consistency is the key.
- Learn from your peers. Not everyone is a cheat. There are good people out there. In our industry, there are some, who would go out of their way to help you.
- Do not give up. If things don't work out, try harder. More so, try smarter.
- The only reason things may not work for you is because you are not making them work. There is a difference between "need" and "want". If you need it, you will find a way to achieve it.
P.S. I am no success story. However, I made it when things seemed impossible. It was all due to encouragement from a domainer friend from NamePros. If I can, you too can!! I am back into domaining and doing well so far.
I think it is more of a skill that you develop. Once you develop it, you can use it over and over again.
I am open to your ideas, success stories and learning experiences.
Kindly share it. We will all get to learn from it.