strategy Developing your domain names

[heavend]

Good evening boys and girls,

It's great that everyone seem to have their favorite name they want / wish to develop in theory, some day. I have heard this over and over again in this business - that some day when there is time and when the situation is just right, and when the moon is blue - we all would develop our domains into great sites, which then would raise their values and can be sold for 100 X over. I have been guilty of this myself - as for the past 15 years I always had ideas about development, but never got anything solid of the ground.

In reality, 99.999% are registering the names and sitting on them hoping to magically get to 100 X their investment without lifting a finger. Some will be successful at just that (or lucky), but most would fail and will have to either drop their names or sell below the original purchase. This is fine, as we know in any business most would fail and hard work would separate those who achieve some mediocre success from those who really make it big.

Maybe someone would like to share the actual tools to be used to start developing. Since we all in the same boat (kind of), we may as well share some of the resources.

I understand it takes a long time and huge commitment - so my main question is

What are the fastest way to get into developing domains into websites? (outside of becoming web developer professionally or hiring pros)

I have seen a bunch of crappy websites (amazon and other affiliates, etc) being sold for a few dollars on ebay. Never really gave them a try, but was wondering if other people had success with them? My issue with amazon is - your buyer will come to you only once. Say, he will even find a product he wants, then would add it to the basket, then will see amazon checkout, and will never come to you again. (no reason to come to you if he can go directly to amazon) Maybe someone had a different experience with those and can recommend something specific?

I also have been using free html software, anyone can download and use - like NVU, for example. I like it for something simple, like informational pages, but anything which has to do with databases, shopping baskets, products for sale and we are back to either affiliate sites or professionals. Is there something in between?

I apologize in advance, if this has been discussed in the previous blogs, as I am fairy new to this community.

All best,
Alex

 

[heavend]

@MisterSoft.com I asked tech services at sedo about SEDOPRO, will see what they say. As far as commission - yeah, I had to pay like $13,000 on the $65,000 sale, and yes, it does hurt your bottom line, but ...

Anyways - thank you very much for sharing - will see what I can do with SEDOPRO, while still trying to develop them one at a time.

 

[TRY]

Agree the pages look quite good. But as you said still a lot of time to invest to bring them ahead.

Don't you think your time would be better spent sending out 5 quality emails a day to potential customers?

Potential customers? If you mean advertisers I am not at that point yet with this network of sites. It will be the hub if you will for at least 40 other sites such as chicagolanddoctors.com, chicagolandlawyers.com, chicagolandads.com, chicagolandaccountants, etc.

 

[Kate]

Development only works well if you are dedicated and develop about something you are passionate about.
Anybody can put up a site, but as said above, getting it to rank well forever is another matter.

The only thing that cannot really be automated is the production of unique, quality contents. That's why so many sites are just scrapers and have little original contents.

Then there is monetization. The easy way is to plaster your site with Adsense, but I don't like that very much because you become too dependent on Google and partners, and to me it's another form of parking really. And it's not going to make you a lot of money unless your site is very popular. Now you can try something else like affiliate schemes. Experimenting and diversifying is good.

What I've described above is the typical amateur blog/website.
It simply takes too much time for very little pay. It's a great hobby but not a full-time job usually.

The other approach is to set up an e-commerce store and sell stuff. Gadgets for example. You don't have to reinvent the wheel: ready-to-use platforms like Prestashop, Magento etc are available even for free can be quickly set up. You can be selling the very same day. But you need to find your niche.

This is true for any business venture, including domaining.

I alway advise people to pick domain names they could develop, because:
a. they have some clues about the niche/industry, that can possibly increase the odds of a sale
b. developing can be a plan B. But in reality this seldom happens because we all have busy lives.

 

[heavend]

@Kate "ready-to-use platforms like Prestashop, Magento etc" this is very interesting and in fact - what I was originally planning to do to start. can you please provide more details and maybe differentiate between which are better, and where to start?

 

[mhdoc]

I have started adding domain names to my Shopify store. I am still working on the traffic generation part, but am finding it fairly easy to set up a decent looking store. I have wanted changes to the free template I am using a few times and the response from support has been excellent. $29/mo for the plan I am using but that includes hosting and makes all the ugly backend details like PCI compliance their problem. PixSe.com if you want to see what it looks like.

 

[TRY]

Just 1 example, You mentioned amazon. People made money but the small commissions made it difficult for them to scale up. So what are people doing? They get their products from china, make a few changes to the the product like color, size, etc. Put their private brand on it then sell it via Amazon except now they are making 40% +. As well as selling on their website. Putting up a website is the simple part. Marketing and everything else is the most difficult and important part of the business that will make or break you.

 

[5dots]

Potential customers? If you mean advertisers I am not at that point yet with this network of sites. It will be the hub if you will for at least 40 other sites such as chicagolanddoctors.com, chicagolandlawyers.com, chicagolandads.com, chicagolandaccountants, etc.

Sorry, I meant end-users.

 

[SirDrago]

Prestashop, Magento etc
These easy to install scripts are useful and a benefit for a starting entrepreneur but what I believe to be the greatest challenge is finding wholesalers, distributors and dropshipers that offer integration with the above scripts.
Basically what we need is a "Plugin store" for WordPress and those scripts mentioned above.
If anyone knows of any please share.

 

[affable]

Paypal fees, ebay fees etc like this website.


http://thefeecalculator.com/ (Not mine)

Cool. So, do you sell on eBay yourself or are you just going to provide this website for those who do?

It would also be useful to have a site that can figure out just the Paypal fees for people who use Paypal to pay and get paid for domain sales. That way you would know what they are going to take from a given amount of money. Might be useful for buy now type domains sales pricing.

 

[Sukhvir-Singh]

Cool. So, do you sell on eBay yourself or are you just going to provide this website for those who do?

It would also be useful to have a site that can figure out just the Paypal fees for people who use Paypal to pay and get paid for domain sales. That way you would know what they are going to take from a given amount of money. Might be useful for buy now type domains sales pricing.

First I need to prepare it and then I hopefully sell on flippa..I never sell a website on Ebay!

 

[affable]

First I need to prepare it and then I hopefully sell on flippa..I never sell a website on Ebay!

Yeah, you'll probably make a lot more money on Flippa over ebay. Everyone on ebay wants everything dirt cheap!

 

[heavend]

I have developed many of my domains into websites from past 1 year or so.

Some websites I sold away but these are remain with me.


WordpressXpertz.com/
ShoutRant.com/
http://LovePolls.com/
NameZeal.com/
//MeraGuide.in/
NewsProper.com/

FeesCalculator.com - Going to develop soon!

@kawalsukhi - Hey I have a question. I really like you site: NameZeal.com, and I see in your services dropdown - you offer $5 / at godaddy if you register 3 domain names. That sounds pretty cool, and hard to believe. Can you please elaborate how you achieve such a prices? (unless it's a secret) I mean, if you truly register /renew them $5 / each - I would move a lot - but it sounds like it's too goo to be true. ?

Here is the page I am talking about: .namezeal.com/product/domain6/

 

[affable]

@kawalsukhi - Hey I have a question. I really like you site: NameZeal.com, and I see in your services dropdown - you offer $5 / at godaddy if you register 3 domain names. That sounds pretty cool, and hard to believe. Can you please elaborate how you achieve such a prices? (unless it's a secret) I mean, if you truly register /renew them $5 / each - I would move a lot - but it sounds like it's too goo to be true. ?

Here is the page I am talking about: http://www.namezeal.com/product/domain6/

I've seen this offer a couple times myself around the web but never tried it. I do know that it's for registering only and not renewals. Regging for $5 a piece isn't bad though. If you do this, let us know how it works out.

 

[heavend]

Well, I will wait Mr. or Mrs. @kawalsukhi to reply here - since I think it's too good to be true. If it is real, I would want to place an order right away, and then will report on it. @kawalsukhi - Please let me know if this offer is only for new domains or renewals? what is the deal here?

 

[heavend]

Hey guys,
I also started new thread: Numeric Domain Names PPC - basically asking if someone has a good PPC provider for their numeric domains, please let me know. At this time, noone replied to the posting. I have over 2500 numeric's alone and I would love for them to bring back something and cover the huge fees at least partially, while I develop the other, non numerics names one at a time.
If someone has an idea it would be great. My only idea is to use 4.cn for this, but I am a bit skeptical about them, since even regular for sale listing takes forever to approve.
All best,
Alex

 

[Sukhvir-Singh]

I've seen this offer a couple times myself around the web but never tried it. I do know that it's for registering only and not renewals. Regging for $5 a piece isn't bad though. If you do this, let us know how it works out.

Well, I will wait Mr. or Mrs. @kawalsukhi to reply here - since I think it's too good to be true. If it is real, I would want to place an order right away, and then will report on it. @kawalsukhi - Please let me know if this offer is only for new domains or renewals? what is the deal here?

You can now check your PMs.

Thanks

 

[heavend]

thank you

 

[Mahogany]

Developing comes second nature to me however.... I simply don't have the time anymore... I outsource 80% of my development now. I also have a team of writers I keep a monthly retainer with that deliver original content per my request on a regular basis.....

In the day and age..... OG content is probably the most important aspect of developing.... Stay away from foreign writers and build you a team of writers...

 

[affable]

Developing comes second nature to me however.... I simply don't have the time anymore... I outsource 80% of my development now. I also have a team of writers I keep a monthly retainer with that deliver original content per my request on a regular basis.....

In the day and age..... OG content is probably the most important aspect of developing.... Stay away from foreign writers and build you a team of writers...

I agree with you on the time issues especially. I am not a pro or advanced developer by any means, but I know my way around more than some. Time is the one thing that developing takes a lot of at times, especially trying out new things. I just never have enough time these days to create something great, so I settle for good enough many times.

Cheers

 

[TRY]

The best content is obviously to give the user what he/she is looking for. What a beautiful thing when they are looking for your advertisers or products. So your advertisers and products become the content. For example I own chicagosuvs.com, chicagopickups.com..., the visitor does not expect information, he is expecting to find Suv's or pickups in chicago....I don't just have websites but various networks of sites with a commonality that will supplement the individual sites marketing efforts. Chicagolandvehicles.com is under construction, so don't judge me by the way it looks in the end it's going to be about marketing and since you are competing with the best and largest companies in the world you need to be better and more efficient in getting high quality users that will convert.
P.s. the vehicles network is just a part of the Chicagoland network of sites.