advice Brandable Domains (Part 1 of 4) – Are they worth the investment?

[Eric Lyon]

This is part 1 of 4 in a series about brandable domain investments. I see the question asked all the time whether or not brandable domains are worth investing into. I think the standard answer for every niche is that there are both good and bad investments within each target market.

As we can see by the above three categories of brandable sales attempts, it draws a much clearer picture about the potential of the brandable markets. It also shows that there is such a thing as premium brandables (Seen in sales that are 5 or 6+ digits). There is a clear demand for brandable domains from small start-ups to large corporations expanding their product lines.

My suggestion, for those just getting started with brandables is to start with a sub-niche you already have knowledge in. For instance, if you have worked around coffee all your life and spent much of your time comparing your coffee shop to competitors, you’ll more than likely be able to come up with some great coffee shop brand ideas. Invest into 2 to 5 max to get started and target small start-up coffee shops, coffee bloggers, etc. to get your feet wet with potential end-users. You can apply this simple strategy with any niche...

Read More

 

[Domains - Wanted]

Brandable Domains (Part 1 of 4) – Are they worth the investment?

Short answer: YES!
With caveats. Good idea to write about this, by far, biggest segment of the domaining pie! Looking forward to upcoming parts 2 - 4...

 

[rafaelo0]

Hi @Eric Lyon first let me just say thank you for the excellent article can't wait for part 2, 3 and 4 maybe in one of those parts you can share with us where to sell and where to find endusers for brandable .com domains. I know that you can sell them on brandbucket or in your own website or by auction or even researching companies that have the same name in different extensions but say i have a brandable .com and i want to do some outbound offers but there isn't any companies/websites with my brandable name where can i find prospects?

Also i see that in your article you mention Ninjablock.com sold for 50$ in the Questionable brandable investments (Unpredictable sales of questionable brandables) i was the one who sold Ninjablock.com i did have a BIN for 50$ but a buyer approached me by private message and we talked on a price and i sold it for 39$ and altered the BIN to 39$ just thought you might want to know so that you can correct your article.

Ps: i sold Ninjablock.com for that amount because i needed to clear some domains from my portfolio and cash for another investment but i still think Ninjablock.com has potential to sell for xxx$

Best Regards,
Nuno

 

[Julio]

The URL says 1 of 6 don't make it shorter

I'm starting to learn about brandables this was a good first part. What I am starting to understand about brandables is that they have to make sense, sound good ( radio test ).

I understood that when I was watching TV about 2 weeks ago and the commercials for Atomic Light was on.

 

[frank-germany]

I want to add
not to register a domain
that you can't imagine
selling at least for 4 digits USD

as when you finally sell a domain
you want to cover for all your previous spendings

if you go for just a few dollars
in the end you may agreed to the so called "fact"
that 99% of domainers are losing money

 

[Eric Lyon]

Hi @Eric Lyon first let me just say thank you for the excellent article can't wait for part 2, 3 and 4 maybe in one of those parts you can share with us where to sell and where to find endusers for brandable .com domains. I know that you can sell them on brandbucket or in your own website or by auction or even researching companies that have the same name in different extensions but say i have a brandable .com and i want to do some outbound offers but there isn't any companies/websites with my brandable name where can i find prospects?

Also i see that in your article you mention Ninjablock.com sold for 50$ in the Questionable brandable investments (Unpredictable sales of questionable brandables) i was the one who sold Ninjablock.com i did have a BIN for 50$ but a buyer approached me by private message and we talked on a price and i sold it for 39$ and altered the BIN to 39$ just thought you might want to know so that you can correct your article.

Ps: i sold Ninjablock.com for that amount because i needed to clear some domains from my portfolio and cash for another investment but i still think Ninjablock.com has potential to sell for xxx$

Best Regards,
Nuno

Thanks for heads up, I changed the $50 to $39 for accuracy.

And no worries, part 4 will cover how to sell brandables.

 

[Eric Lyon]

The URL says 1 of 6 don't make it shorter

I'm starting to learn about brandables this was a good first part. What I am starting to understand about brandables is that they have to make sense, sound good ( radio test ).

I understood that when I was watching TV about 2 weeks ago and the commercials for Atomic Light was on.

Ya, it started at 6 parts but then I combined some of them that worked better together and the end result was 4 parts.

Radio test is important with most, but not all. Keep in mind that some abbreviations can be considered brandables in the right niche markets. I'll have more about that in Part 2.

 

[Domains - Wanted]

...Keep in mind that some abbreviations can be considered brandables in the right niche markets. I'll have more about that in Part 2.

Brandcronyms (brandable acronyms) is the term you're looking for, I think

 

[Eric Lyon]

I want to add
not to register a domain
that you can't imagine
selling at least for 4 digits USD

as when you finally sell a domain
you want to cover for all your previous spendings

if you go for just a few dollars
in the end you may agreed to the so called "fact"
that 99% of domainers are losing money

This works great as long as you aren't overpricing. Imagine if some of the domains in the bad investment list had $10k price tags. Even most the ones in the questionable lists might find them self sitting for renewal several more years with inflated pricing. It can be a delicate balancing act when pricing. The key is to first understand the value of the brandable needing priced. Ideally, understanding the value prior to investing in one the best path to take.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Brandcronyms (brandable acronyms) is the term you're looking for, I think

Those work as well. There's nothing like a good solid premium acronym.

 

[Domains - Wanted]

@Eric Lyon
To be sure: you've mentioned abbreviations. Using first letters only (e.g. ABCD.com) are acronyms, not abbreviations. Abbreviations are constructs like: SitRep.com. Two different things. Both are brandables, of course.

 

[frank-germany]

It can be a delicate balancing act when pricing. The key is to first understand the value of the brandable needing priced. Ideally, understanding the value prior to investing in one the best path to take.

the problem with prices is :
you need to know your future buyers pockets

as long as you do not have an iquiry
its really hard to tell
and its more or less dossing dices

but most domains in the lower region
are priced at $1.2K USD to $1.8K USD
so if you have no clue
that price point may be good start

for me a $30 USD sale has more costs attached
then benefits ( taxes / accounting )
so I tend to simply delete them

I would like to add that most domains I sell
I actually do own for a long time
5 to 10 years

but so what?

 

[Eric Lyon]

the problem with prices is :
you need to know your future buyers pockets

as long as you do not have an iquiry
its really hard to tell
and its more or less dossing dices

but most domains in the lower region
are priced at $1.2K USD to $1.8K USD
so if you have no clue
that price point may be good start

for me a $30 USD sale has more costs attached
then benefits ( taxes / accounting )
so I tend to simply delete them

I would like to add that most domains I sell
I actually do own for a long time
5 to 10 years

but so what?

There's nothing wrong with having a long hold game. Diversifying and have both long hold and quick flips can also prove to be a good strategy.

 

[Eric Lyon]

@Eric Lyon
To be sure: you've mentioned abbreviations. Using first letters only (e.g. ABCD.com) are acronyms, not abbreviations. Abbreviations are constructs like: SitRep.com. Two different things. Both are brandables, of course.

Thanks for pointing that out. I've clarified a bit more as to what I'm referring to in regards to acronyms and abbreviations in part 2 of 4 that I just rolled out here: https://www.namepros.com/threads/br...-of-4-identification-and-inspiration.1002239/

 

[anantj]

@Eric Lyon
To be sure: you've mentioned abbreviations. Using first letters only (e.g. ABCD.com) are acronyms, not abbreviations. Abbreviations are constructs like: SitRep.com. Two different things. Both are brandables, of course.

Actually, it is the other way around. SitRep is an acronym and abcd is an abbreviation

 

[Domains - Wanted]

Actually, it is the other way around. SitRep is an acronym and abcd is an abbreviation

Acronym: an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. NASA).

 

[anantj]

Acronym: an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. NASA).

Yup so sitrep is an acronym

 

[Domains - Wanted]

Yup so sitrep is an acronym

Initial letters = first letters only. Hence, the acronym for "situation report" would be: SR

 

[Eric Lyon]

Yup so sitrep is an acronym

Initial letters = first letters only. Hence, the acronym for "situation report" would be: SR

Here's how I addressed acronyms and abbreviations in part 2 of 4:

Abbreviations (a shortened form of a word or phrase.) – There are good and bad abbreviations, however, even with bad abbreviations, while they may not be ideal for branding, they still may have value in the shortness of characters. Let’s look at a few examples of abbreviation brandables. Here’s some examples of good ones.

• GAL (Gallon) – This one’s a clear abbreviation and happens to also be pronounceable.
• CATEG (Category) – This one’s a clear abbreviation and happens to also be pronounceable.
• Ave – (Avenue) – This one’s a clear abbreviation and happens to also be pronounceable.

Acronyms (an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word) – Very similar to abbreviations, there are both; good and bad acronyms to invest in. However, due to the shortness of characters, there may still be value in a bad brandable acronym. Here’s some examples of good ones.

• ANI (Age Not Important) – Pronounceable and brandable
• MAT (Mechanical Assessment Technique) – Pronounceable and brandable
• DIY (do it yourself) – Pronounceable and brandable

For abbreviation and acronym ideas, the following source seems to have an ample selection: Here

 

[ValleyRock]

Wonderful insights Eric.

I have been toying with idea of a "brandable" domain after the reading the blogpost and from my inference it seems their might be consistent path to the so called "brandable domain".

I have noticed these; and not sure if they are "brandable" or just "pun".

1. proper.com -> prupr.com
2. brandy.com -> brando | brndy | brandi
3. violent.com -> vyolent.com

Brandable seem to be easily built from popular words. Your list has many valid examples which have actually sold.

1. Tonix => Tonic
2. Snax => snap | snack
3. nimby => nimble
4. vroom => broom | va va voom

I believe it's important to remember that the word must ring a bell. Like the example you cited on the scorpion blog