Do you guys give up in domaining yet? Or are you thirsty for more?

[Arief WN]

I see some members here are giving up in domaining.
Is domaining really that hard? Or have they just found something cooler to do?

Guys, I'm giving up domaining.
I have enjoyed posting here and meeting friends, but the time has come for me to move on.
I wish everyone all the best and good luck in their domaining venture.
Cheers guys!

I quit domaining and didn't reg a domain name since a year
...

 

[ProSence]

Well, I'm new to domaining and I haven't sold any domain names but I have purchased around 50 domain names..

 

[eyedomainous]

Personally, I'm hungry for more. A lot more! After all, the web menu is expanding.

I do all right, but, IMO... the way we domainers approach the market leaves too much money on the table.

The individual market approach is weak, outdated, and mostly ineffectual.

A collective network marketing approach is needed to drive the value proposition of domains in today's marketplace.

-Where are the vertical namespace domain owner groups offering package deals to overcome (buyer blocking fears of) extension fragmentation?

-Why are we not pooling talent, expertise and resources to offer end users discount development options with purchase?

-How can we allow our unsold inventory to be so unproductive when collectively we could point those 100,000 or so domains to a mutually beneficial domain sales platform, like NamePros, where we pay no commission -but the platform also benefits from the traffic?

-Why are we also not leveraging our collective domain name platform for marketing and public relations?

We are leaving to much money on the table while complaining about not making a living.

In a marketplace overflowing with free social networking pages, we must enable domain sales... on the mantel of ownership.

 

[imrsa]

For me domain market is quite good. You can even cover your domain registration fee by parking them

 

[GiftedDomains]

One of the most important issues about domaining in order to be profitable is time management.

I experienced that without a fixed daily program and a time management system with fixed things to do in fixed amounts of time, i wasted hours of my time just because i didn't invested that time properly, since there are so many interesting things to read and to think about, you lose control and end up surfing and reading and going from one site to another and from one article to another and from one forum post to another and then the day is over and you didn't sell a single domain.

Now i try to do everything with a system. Like half an hour reading articles and news in blogs, etc. half an hour forums, 1 hour searching through droplists, auctions, etc. 2 hours enduser sales, etc....etc...all this sums up and if you don't invest your time the right way, you are losing money, simple as that.

Its not easy at the beginning, but after a period of time you get used to your system and find out that its much more efficent.

 

[leternal]

it won't give you a full month salary that's for sure...but it is fun and creative

 

[imrsa]

it won't give you a full month salary that's for sure...but it is fun and creative

It may not give you one month salary.....but you can earn more once you are good at domains

 

[Embrand]

One of the hardest things for me is that sales are not consistent. At least in my case, there can be several weeks or even one or two months without a single sale - and then suddenly three sales in two days...

It is really difficult to tell when that next sale will come along, and you have to prepare for future renewals and try to make a budget.

But it still is the best profession in the world! And another positive thing is that I feel that domainers are more accepted now than a few years ago. Companies realize that domains are assets just like anything else. I never get accused of being a "cyber squatter" by potential buyers anymore as I did five years ago.

So when the world economy improves, maybe things will be quite good indeed.

 

[imrsa]

One of the hardest things for me is that sales are not consistent. At least in my case, there can be several weeks or even one or two months without a single sale - and then suddenly three sales in two days...

It is really difficult to tell when that next sale will come along, and you have to prepare for future renewals and try to make a budget.

But it still is the best profession in the world! And another positive thing is that I feel that domainers are more accepted now than a few years ago. Companies realize that domains are assets just like anything else. I never get accused of being a "cyber squatter" by potential buyers anymore as I did five years ago.

So when the world economy improves, maybe things will be quite good indeed.

No doubt about it.....there is lack of consistency as you are not sure when you get sale of your virtual assets

 

[kerwin]

Why are you hanging around here if you think it's too late ?

To be clear, I do think it is possible to make a full time living from domaining even as a latecomer. I have my sights set on doing just that.

I just think that domainers take things too far when they say things like "good names sell themselves". That is not even close to being true when it comes to brandables. There is a huge element of luck involved, and then there is the issue of end users lacking the imagination to think beyond HostU or DomainKing or Flights24. You can have many terrific names and not have a single end user contact you for this reason. I know this because I own several great brandables which are lucky to get a visitor, let alone an offer view.

I did luck out once, and I'm going to use the proceeds to acquire names which are more likely to sell.

 

[Arief WN]

From your statement, I assume that you're a full time domainer who is discipline enough to manage yourself.
That's cool.

So, do you use some specific tools for helping you automate some of your domaining activities? :blink:

One of the most important issues about domaining in order to be profitable is time management.

I experienced that without a fixed daily program and a time management system with fixed things to do in fixed amounts of time,
i wasted hours of my time just because i didn't invested that time properly.

Since there are so many interesting things to read and to think about, you lose control and end up surfing
and reading and going from one site to another and from one article to another and from one forum post
to another and then the day is over and you didn't sell a single domain.

Now i try to do everything with a system.
Like half an hour reading articles and news in blogs, etc. half an hour forums,
1 hour searching through droplists, auctions, etc. 2 hours enduser sales, etc....etc...

All this sums up and if you don't invest your time the right way, you are losing money, simple as that.

Its not easy at the beginning, but after a period of time you get used to your system and find out that its much more efficent.

 

[kev]

Domaining has been a great launch pad for me personally. I don't consider myself pretty clever but I've made enough for me to earn a solid $25k each year, just from domains. It's given me the chance to develop websites and go into business.

But to be successful in domaining, you need to know your stuff

 

[Dave]

Domaining has been a great launch pad for me personally. I don't consider myself pretty clever but I've made enough for me to earn a solid $25k each year, just from domains. It's given me the chance to develop websites and go into business.

But to be successful in domaining, you need to know your stuff

And well kept secrets like one letter cctld's help too. :hehe:

 

[Arief WN]

There is a thread for that.

And well kept secrets like one letter cctld's help too.

 

[GiftedDomains]

From your statement, I assume that you're a full time domainer who is discipline enough to manage yourself.
That's cool.

So, do you use some specific tools for helping you automate some of your domaining activities? :blink:

No, i am not a full time domainer. Far from it. I spend around 7 to 8 hours a day for my main job and around 4 to 5 hours for domaining (weekends more). The only tools i use are freshdrop and a domain filter software for going through droplists and one custom script. Most things are done manually though.

 

[NetOctave]

It takes hardly an hour to create a basic minisite using wordpress including a single page content. Have patience and it will slowly bring you decent amount. Many of the names perform better than parking and pays for the renewal fee. And after a year or two some of them are in better positions on the search ranking.
At the very least you should create a landing page and link to your main portfolio.

 

[Arief WN]

:hi: Nmridul, thanks for the tips.

It takes hardly an hour to create a basic minisite using wordpress including a single page content.
Have patience and it will slowly bring you decent amount.

Many of the names perform better than parking and pays for the renewal fee.
And after a year or two some of them are in better positions on the search ranking.

At the very least you should create a landing page and link to your main portfolio.

But I think it's just easier to use a Sedo's landing page like this one. :imho:

Source: this post

Because all I have to do is only these two easy steps: :blink:
1. Set the NameServer.
2. Put it on Sedo.

------------------------------------------

And what about linking back to your main portfolio?
I simply use this setting.

 

[DomainTalker]

Give up domaining? No way!

Don't be dismayed by the current economic slowdown in the US & Europe. Its temporary.


The internet is expanding faster than any other category of activity in this world. Its changing absolutely everything in our lives - the way we work, play, connect with each other, and seek information. And, its generating massive money.


And, it hasn't even started yet!


The vast majority of the world is not even on the internet yet. China, alone, adds 30 million new people onto the 'net every month. Most of Asia is booming - and, most of their peoples are not on the internet yet. Africa is barely there....and Eastern Europe & Russia are only gathering pace.....And, soon, they ALL will be on the 'net - literally billions more people!

...And every one of these future users (and many, many current users) will need a unique internet address, sooner or later....ie a domain....And, we domainers need to be the people that can sell domains to them.


Give up domaining? Not a chance! It - and internet opportunity - are potentially the most lucrative single sources of money in the world.


Just find & keep the best domains you can afford. They will be worth super-gold in the future.

.

 

[Rich]

I'm thirsty for more!

 

[garptrader]

Who needs domains when you can just create a Youtube channel or Facebook page? Yes, internet penetration is growing rapidly in developing countries but will that translate into increased demand for domains? Several months ago my wife and I visited her family in a remote part of Colombia only accessible along dirt roads via moto, horse or four-wheel drive when the roads weren't wet. The town we visited did not have running water nor any stores but it does have electricity. My wife's brother via some wires connecting from the electric lines to his home had an internet connection. So despite the relative lack of infrastructure in the area, his eleven-year old daughter spends a lot of time on Facebook - uploading photos, etc. In '95-'97 I spent a bit of time on AOL so perhaps eventually some of the social media frenzy will migrate to the web. Note I did see a lot more usage of .COM than I had expected (local cctld is .com.co) and even English keywords in some domains. Strangely in two weeks in the state of Bolivar, Colombia I didn't see even one .CO. Cartagena is definitely a cool place to visit - maybe even to stay for a few months.

 

[Kate]

Who needs domains when you can just create a Youtube channel or Facebook page?

You don't need a domain, unless you are business (even a small business). A youtube channel is an extra communication tool, not a replacement for a domain name.
Why should you get a domain ?

• more professional
• more control
• E-mail addresses
• better SEO
• ...

I mean, you could use a free subdomain under blogger or whatever but it's not very smart to put your business presence where you do not control it :gl:

 

[equity78]

Exactly Kate, because guess what when MySpace was ruling the net all those fanboys never thought it was going down the tube. The quotes were "My Space is the Internet" or "I don't need a domain I just need my My Space page"

I trust a naming system being in place for a lot longer than my faith in any one site lasting decades.

"The only thing new in the world, is the history you don't know" Harry S. Truman.

 

[DomainTalker]

I agree with both Kate (sdinc), and equity78...

Which is more likely to be more robust - and be more sustainable to base your business upon - over years, or perhaps decades?...Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook? Or, the entire Internet DNS (Domain Name System)?


I know I wouldn't base my livelihood (business) - and my entire online world - on Mr Zuckerberg & his mates.....I bet on the Internet address system, itself.

That means domains...

.

 

[Arief WN]

Nice Tips from FX

I think FX is one of the best salesman in here.

And I'm just a little surprised about the amount of email he has sent just for a single domain.
Well, I think that's a lot of emails. :blink:

FX also has a great tip about building your own end-user database. :great:

Finally completed: geopay360.com $1750
Took two weeks to complete, sent over 150 end-user emails during september/october for this domain.

...
You shouldn't stop sending emails.
I love cloud/data/solar/green domains as theres so many endusers around the world.

When I started domaining 98 as a (hobby) and this still is a awesome hobby.
I pick my domain I want to sell and I'll start with each country.
I look at that country's business data on what business are operating in there country's business tax listings.

I find every business that are either cloud/hosting or solar and so on, depending what I'm selling.
Note down there info's find them on Google take down there whois email or company email.
And I now go to another country and do the same.

I go around the whole world and once I've got a good amount of data I cater each email to suit that company and send sometimes 400 plus emails for one domain.
Yup it's taken time - but every company I note down I'm building my own database and I add them to it.
And I always mark down the ones - who replyed - the ones who buy and the ones who don't.

So when I sell a cloud domain I go into my datafield look into cloud listing's.
I now already have every cloud business contact data and I resend to them all again.
Plus always adding new business that open to my datafield.

Keep sending - and build your database.

Goodluck - never give up

 

[GiftedDomains]

I don't think the whole Domain Name System will be changed anytime soon (no one can think of a better alternative at the moment), but what could change is a shift from exact match keyword domains to other type of domains (like short brandables), if google continues to destroy EMD domains in its updates, and that will also depend on how domain horders of EMD domains use their domains. If we continue to upload some crap minisite no one really needs or park them, then google will be even more motivated to destroy them and will have more justifications (amoung the fact that they want to force everyone to pay adwords anyway).
Its also not a secret that people like Matt prefer short brands over EMD domains. The reason is simple: most EMD domains were horded by domainers and most of them are lazy and just want easy and fast money through clicks, without giving google users any useful additional info or service.
I think people should concentrate on fewer domains in their portfolio, but instead brainstorm and offer something special and useful in their sites. The time of automated solutions to fill 1000s of domains with crap to earn few bucks through clicks will be over very soon.

 

[Arief WN]

Are you suggesting that we should develop and maintain all of our domains?
Well, that's the ideal solution. But I think it will take a team to do that. :imho:

So, I prefer this "lazy" solution.
The parking income is reduced due to the minimalist layout. But it's ok.

I don't think the whole Domain Name System will be changed anytime soon (no one can think of a better alternative at the moment),
but what could change is a shift from exact match keyword domains to other type of domains (like short brandables),
if google continues to destroy EMD domains in its updates, and that will also depend on how domain horders of EMD domains use their domains.

If we continue to upload some crap minisite no one really needs, or park them, then google will be even more motivated to destroy them
and will have more justifications (amoung the fact that they want to force everyone to pay adwords anyway).

Its also not a secret that people like Matt prefer short brands over EMD domains.
The reason is simple: most EMD domains were horded by domainers and most of them are lazy and just want easy and fast money through clicks,
without giving google users any useful additional info or service.

I think people should concentrate on fewer domains in their portfolio, but instead brainstorm and offer something special and useful in their sites.

The time of automated solutions to fill 1000s of domains with crap to earn few bucks through clicks will be over very soon.