Can newcomers to domaining still make it realistically?

[dotgold]

For people entering the domaining world, can they actually make a living buying/selling seeing how things are so competitive and scarce?

Are their any examples of people who recently got into domaining and are doing very well? What sort of investment did they make?

Thanks!

 

[kingdombunniez]

The domain business is just as any other business. If you want to become succesful in it it depends on your goals and state of mind. Do you want to start so you can become a millionaire? Or just make some extra money on the side? Make a full time income?

You should treat it like any other "job". Invest time, energy and some money. Be ready to learn and listen but decide for yourself what's best.

But yeah I think no matter what oyu start as a newcomer you can make it

 

[Kpett]

I sort of fell into domaining - had a website I ran (part-time) for almost 15 years on the side, then one day a business that had the .net offered to buy my .com domain. He offered a low number - and that's when my research began! I ended up selling the name to them for $1500 and that became my seed money for getting into this business.

Although the Name Pros threads have a wealth of information, I have found the best experience is to actually buy and sell domains and learn from you own experience. A hundred people can tell you not to do something, but maybe it takes trying it yourself and finding it doesn't work for you to learn!

 

[lambo.com]

I think one of the biggest myths in domaining is that anyone can 'make it'.

The cold reality is that a small fraction of people have the potential. For those who don't have the potential, they can put in all the time, hard work and tears but they won't make it happen.

It's logical really. Take anything else, singing, acting, accounting, teaching, nursing.. Do we each have the potential to make a living out of absolutely any conceivable career path? No. We all have strengths and weaknesses.

Luck. Because domain name investing has a very high luck component (especially as relates to being there at the right time and place for an impactful convertable inbound inquiry), it makes it exponentially more important to have a skill/mindset functioning at a high level to stack the deck in your favor with all the decisions/ judgment on calls that are made. Especially knowing when to say no to buying a domain!

The good news is that those with the potential and right temperament really can experience amazing successes in domain names.

 

[1Darko]

If I knew then what I knew now, I would have done this . . . I would have 10 domains that I was willing to hold for the long term, but willing to sell at anytime. Then I would have said I get $599 to hand reg 100 names, and then hand regs got to 100, thats it until I sell hand regs. So a portfolio of no more than 100 of my own hand regs I probably would have slotted some money for drop lists, eBay, name pros, that kind of after market venue.

I don't see the problem at all. You can evaluate your current portfolio with the knowledge you gained and sort the names to the "good" ones and "toxic" ones. For the good ones the strategy would be like you wrote - hold for long term and willing to sell anytime! The "toxic" names you can either drop or auction off for $1.
After you have done it you have drawn a line. Under this line you add only names with the new criteria.
With this method you clean up and save some money and get mindpeace. If you will chase the sale for every "toxic" name you will get crazy. Focus only on the good ones!

 

[Kuffy]

I don't see the problem at all. You can evaluate your current portfolio with the knowledge you gained and sort the names to the "good" ones and "toxic" ones. For the good ones the strategy would be like you wrote - hold for long term and willing to sell anytime! The "toxic" names you can either drop or auction off for $1.
After you have done it you have drawn a line. Under this line you add only names with the new criteria.
With this method you clean up and save some money and get mindpeace. If you will chase the sale for every "toxic" name you will get crazy. Focus only on the good ones!

This is my policy at the moment, with one exception. Rather than trying to sell medium to good names, I'm looking at monetising them. I'm especially interested in sponsors who will provide a generated sales web site so that I can use a name with minimum effort.

 

[Want2learn]

I think one of the biggest myths in domaining is that anyone can 'make it'.

The cold reality is that a small fraction of people have the potential. For those who don't have the potential, they can put in all the time, hard work and tears but they won't make it happen.

It's logical really. Take anything else, singing, acting, accounting, teaching, nursing.. Do we each have the potential to make a living out of absolutely any conceivable career path? No. We all have strengths and weaknesses.

Luck. Because domain name investing has a very high luck component (especially as relates to being there at the right time and place for an impactful convertable inbound inquiry), it makes it exponentially more important to have a skill/mindset functioning at a high level to stack the deck in your favor with all the decisions/ judgment on calls that are made. Especially knowing when to say no to buying a domain!

The good news is that those with the potential and right temperament really can experience amazing successes in domain names.

I don't agree with your assessment here. Singing and acting take talent. I can take lessons to the cows come home. Ill improve for sure, but is it good enough to be excellent? No! Ill never be an actor or singer. Being an accountant, teacher, or nurse is skill based. Most anyone can be taught how to do these three jobs. I does not take talent to be an accountant, teacher, or nurse . . . skill and hard work! I think domaining is a skill, anyone can be taught how to domain.

I do agree our strengths and weaknesses def play a role. Temperament and personality also influence success as you allude to. Ill take luck as well. If I sell a domain for 10k from existing portfolio, I got lucky. If I sell 3-4 XXXXX domains from current portfolio, I saw something no one else did. That isn't luck.

 

[lambo.com]

I don't agree with your assessment here. Singing and acting take talent. I can take lessons to the cows come home. Ill improve for sure, but is it good enough to be excellent? No! Ill never be an actor or singer. Being an accountant, teacher, or nurse is skill based. Most anyone can be taught how to do these three jobs. I does not take talent to be an accountant, teacher, or nurse . . . skill and hard work! I think domaining is a skill, anyone can be taught how to domain.

I do agree our strengths and weaknesses def play a role. Temperament and personality also influence success as you allude to. Ill take luck as well. If I sell a domain for 10k from existing portfolio, I got lucky. If I sell 3-4 XXXXX domains from current portfolio, I saw something no one else did. That isn't luck.

You can become a nurse or teacher, be ineffective/ poor at your job, and still get paid. Domain investing doesn't have that predictable income, rather the opposite with annual liabilities unless you really have 'assets' that can keep you floating or shoot you out of the water to safe land.

Let's invert my logic a little. If everyone has that potential as you say, then there must be a possibility that everyone can become successful at the same time. This is not possible due to key variables such as 99.999%+ of domains having no value, the oversupply with limited demand, the stagnation of elite domain assets in the hands of the few and so on.. These are market factors alone not looking at the personal reasons why not everyone has that potential.

These market forces alone mean that only a small group of people can become successful and you had to have that potential in the first place to be able to rise.

 

[lambo.com]

Signs of potential:

- mind over heart, removing emotions from decision making processes

- fast learner, especially to move on from mistakes

- harness/refine an ability to discern between a gamble, an asset/ investment, liability etc..

- patience

- gut/instinct. Most who are handregging of course have 0 in this category as well as those above.

- can't convince themselves of something (they want to believe to be true but isn't)*

In a 'Coming to America' scenario, is it possible someone who has none of the above traits can make it? Sure, as long as it wasn't * (see above) then they had an x-factor variable of some kind which means they had that raw potential all along.

 

[shorterwinters]

I don't agree with your assessment here. Singing and acting take talent. I can take lessons to the cows come home. Ill improve for sure, but is it good enough to be excellent? No! Ill never be an actor or singer. Being an accountant, teacher, or nurse is skill based. Most anyone can be taught how to do these three jobs. I does not take talent to be an accountant, teacher, or nurse . . . skill and hard work! I think domaining is a skill, anyone can be taught how to domain.

I do agree our strengths and weaknesses def play a role. Temperament and personality also influence success as you allude to. Ill take luck as well. If I sell a domain for 10k from existing portfolio, I got lucky. If I sell 3-4 XXXXX domains from current portfolio, I saw something no one else did. That isn't luck.

Singing and acting do take talent, yes. Absolutely but you also learn to be better. You get taught to be better. Experience, coaching, practice, etc. etc.
Same goes with accounting, teaching, and nursing. You need to be born with that brain wired for numbers to be any good. You need to be born with that brain wired to teach others to be any good. You need to be born with that brain for nursing (compassion) to be any good. The world is full of bad accountants, teachers, and nurses. They have all been taught the "skill" to do it but they do not have the talent to be any good nor do they have the temperament or personality.
This is not to say that one can not be good at something if they are not born with an inherent talent to do it. Practice, learning the "skill", etc will allow one to overcome those obstacles and perhaps be one of the best there is to be sure but comparing whether you can be successful in acting or accounting without being born with that "knack" doesn't ring true in my own head but it really helps.
I am not trying to say that if I practice enough I can beat Michael Phelps or a shark but that some things can be taught and some can't, it depends on the person. That's just what I think......which doesn't really matter in the end.
Luck? Hell, that plays into so much in all aspects of life.

 

[Want2learn]

You can become a nurse or teacher, be ineffective/ poor at your job, and still get paid. Domain investing doesn't have that predictable income, rather the opposite with annual liabilities unless you really have 'assets' that can keep you floating or shoot you out of the water to safe land.

Let's invert my logic a little. If everyone has that potential as you say, then there must be a possibility that everyone can become successful at the same time. This is not possible due to key variables such as 99.999%+ of domains having no value, the oversupply with limited demand, the stagnation of elite domain assets in the hands of the few and so on.. These are market factors alone not looking at the personal reasons why not everyone has that potential.

These market forces alone mean that only a small group of people can become successful and you had to have that potential in the first place to be able to rise.

There is a big difference between anyone and everyone don't you think? The question was "Can newcomers to domaining still make it realistically?" I am not saying everyone will make it, I am saying anyone can make it. In fact I said most anyone can be taught to do those three skill jobs you mentioned. I think most anyone can be taught to be a successful domainer. I do not think everyone will become a successful domainer . . . even though how we define success could be a lot different.

I agree with the income aspect you mentioned in general. This is part time for me. If I pay $200 for a domain and get a $220 sale, I don't excited a whole lot. It is a positive though. If I hand reg a domain for 5.99 and sell it for $26, I feel much better even though the dollars are still only a twenty spot up!

"Let's invert my logic a little. If everyone has that potential as you say, then there must be a possibility that everyone can become successful at the same time. This is not possible due to key variables such as 99.999%+ of domains having no value, the oversupply with limited demand, the stagnation of elite domain assets in the hands of the few and so on.. These are market factors alone not looking at the personal reasons why not everyone has that potential." Most everyone has potential! I do not think everyone can or will be successful at the same time. Simple supply and demand as you allude to will make it difficult for people to succeed at same time. There will be people that do not understand English very well, and will reg complete crap. I have no idea what % of domains have no value. Is it 99%? How many possible domains are there?

We may ultimately just disagree, and that is fine! Keeps things exciting!! I think of domaining in this sense like education in America. Everyone, most everyone, has the opportunity or potential to better their lives by getting an education, but not everyone will. I would also say, and this may be more of your broader point and if it is we are probably in agreement say 95% And that is, in the same way that we have opportunity or potential with education or domains, we do not have EQUAL opportunity. I did not have the same opportunity to become president like President Trump. My students at school do not have the same opportunity to become president like President Obama.

So most people have the opportunity to succeed.
Most won't.
The opportunity is not equal for all people.

 

[Want2learn]

Singing and acting do take talent, yes. Absolutely but you also learn to be better. You get taught to be better. Experience, coaching, practice, etc. etc.
Same goes with accounting, teaching, and nursing. You need to be born with that brain wired for numbers to be any good. You need to be born with that brain wired to teach others to be any good. You need to be born with that brain for nursing (compassion) to be any good. The world is full of bad accountants, teachers, and nurses. They have all been taught the "skill" to do it but they do not have the talent to be any good nor do they have the temperament or personality.
This is not to say that one can not be good at something if they are not born with an inherent talent to do it. Practice, learning the "skill", etc will allow one to overcome those obstacles and perhaps be one of the best there is to be sure but comparing whether you can be successful in acting or accounting without being born with that "knack" doesn't ring true in my own head but it really helps.
I am not trying to say that if I practice enough I can beat Michael Phelps or a shark but that some things can be taught and some can't, it depends on the person. That's just what I think......which doesn't really matter in the end.
Luck? Hell, that plays into so much in all aspects of life.

The bolded part is my point. No matter how much MOST people practice they will not beat Phelps in a race. We don't have the same talent. I know he is a workout beast, so Im not suggesting talent alone has won him his races.

Lets get into numbers. NumeroPhobia for many in the states Take the concept of 0. "Zero was invented independently by the Babylonians, Mayans and Indians (although some researchers say the Indian number system was influenced by the Babylonians). The Babylonians got their number system from the Sumerians, the first people in the world to develop a counting system." Take those 3 people groups. Essentially South America, the Middle East, and India . . . those people did not look European. It makes no sense to me then that Hispanics in the states as a group do so poorly in math. Their forefathers came up with concept of 0! I do agree we have to have a nice brain. I don't think that you have to be more than average intelligence to do those 3 jobs well. Compassion for the nurse is a great quality to have. It is neither talent or a skill though.

 

[imadoer]

I think almost anyone can do this if they want it bad enough. I came into this business not knowing anything about domains or websites. I didnt even know much about going online. This was all like a foreign language to me. I'm no genius my road wasn't easy. I grew up in the ghetto. Had to struggle everyday. I didnt go to college and my writing skills are terrible. I screwed most of my life up. However I didnt let anything hold me back I wanted be a successful domainer. I saw the money. So I worked like a machince studying ,networking and learning from different people. I make money from domaining. I dont have a job. This is all I do. I started in jan 2015.
If I can do this, You can do this. Get off your lazy asses and put in the work required to become successful.

 

[xynames]

I think at this moment there are a lot of domainers scrambling to buy dropped domains, and this is driving up "wholesale" prices. Not necessarily more domainers than ever, but more than recent past.

 

[zomgmike]

Everything is in motion. You can still "make it" because new concepts are always being invented by the public. For example, before Big Baller Brand shoes popped up recently, nobody knew to register names like bigballerbrandshoes.com.

 

[elevator]

New comers are still making it. With hard work anything can happen, all it requires are to study and know the dos and don't of domaining. You can know these by reading through many blogs and try and errors. But must minimize spending on new regs, you must do it softly as you study, you put on practice and with time and effort you can sale through. 90% of domainers are still practicing even when they are making money to date.

Good luck and cheers you are welcome into this highly addictive business or call it investment