discuss Epik vs. Epic and Happy New Year!

[ThatNameGuy]

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=epik

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=domainer

Just like "domainer" isn't a real word, either is epik However, they both are found in the Urban Dictionary and Wiktionary, thus they're not made up words imho.

Like I have with other key words, I've just started accumulating a portfolio titled; EpikNames.com like; EpikTravel.com, EpikVegas.com and EpikJobs.com

Rob Monster the CEO of Epik.com was the first industry leader I met when I accidentally found the domain industry and the secondary market that Verisign says is "hidden in plain sight".

It's been said, if you want a new idea read an old book, and you may want to think of me as the old book I found this industry too late to be involved in "one word" domains, but two word domains have become my skill set that I've been told I'm pretty good at, and hopefully getting better.

Now getting back to Epik vs. Epic. As a business person, would you rather own the domain EpicTravel at 20K or EpikTravel at 2K? In my mind it's a No Brainer, but not so fast old time "domainers" might say? To put things in perspective, I just bought the domain EpikTravel.com from Epik.com for $8 and GD Values it at $1,343 while it Values EpicTravel at $6,455. And while those valuations sound way out of bounds, NameWorth values EpicTravel.com at $9,450 and EpikTravel.com at <less than $500. Furthermore, NameWorth values Epik.com at $64,000 and Epic.com at 10M, that's right ten million dollars

Finally, and maybe it's just me, but I like "Epik" better than "Epic"....maybe it's that EpikWeed I've been smoking. What say you?....Happy New Year

 

[bmugford]

Serioius question Brad and thanks....what if you're only selling to "end users"? For instance, I own EpikMortgage where EpicMortgage is available for resale at Uni for God knows how much? I believe I'm able to get to the owner(s) of Movement Mortgage (a bowel movement?), and they're one of the largest mortgage companies in the US. Keep in mind "if" you like and truly believe in what you're selling, the sale is a whole lot easier. Regardless, thanks for your input

Well, if you can sell domains like this more power to you. I am just skeptical that is the case.
I don't really see the value proposition for a buyer.

You might be able to sell one here and there, but I am not sure how repeatable it is.

Regardless, if you are that good at sales, you would be better off with high quality domains to start with.
Ones that have obvious value and don't need a long pitch or explanation.

You also need a proof of concept. It is much easier to register domains than sell them.

Why not start pitching some of these brands and see how it goes?
Only then will you be able to tell how successful it is.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Well, if you can sell domains like this more power to you. I am just skeptical that is the case.
I don't really see the value proposition for a buyer.

You might be able to sell one here and there, but I am not sure how repeatable it is.

Regardless, if you are that good at sales, you would be better off with high quality domains to start with.
Ones that have obvious value and don't need a long pitch or explanation.

You also need a proof of concept. It is much easier to register domains than sell them.

Why not start pitching some of these brands and see how it goes?
Only then will you be able to tell how successful it is.

Brad

First, a couple of things about Epik. I've copied a few unsolicited comments where those familiar with Epic consider it a Great Brand, and being a marketing guy myself that's pretty powerful stuff. I don't know how long Epik has been in business, but I'm guessing Rob Monster might be an excellent reference if it were to help sell domains with the first word Epik. Keep in mind, I said Rob "might" be a good reference, but I don't want to assume anything.

Then I recommend you check out this post and thread started by rohitgoyal, https://www.namepros.com/threads/domaining-in-2019.1170486 that shows 85% of his domains being sold via "outbound" strategies.

Brad...your advice might work for you, but it won't work for me. Like a Basset Hound I showed, I needed to force feed Lord Mergatroid of Antwerp before each show to fatten him up. He hated being force fed, and I hated to do it. Does Mergy as I called him remind you of anyone? I hope so.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

 

[Joe N]

Then I recommend you check out this post and thread started by rohitgoyal, https://www.namepros.com/threads/domaining-in-2019.1170486 that shows 85% of his domains being sold via "outbound" strategies.

@rohitgoyal has had some great success with his outbound methods, but my understanding is that they require a significant time investment, as well as additional human resources that can be paid a low enough wage so as to not cut into profits too much.

Rohit's methods also requires vast amounts of domain names that have historically sold well in the <$1,000 range via traditional outbound methods (e.g. geo names and exact match product/service names, but usually not brandables).

Are you thinking of replicating these techniques in order to try selling some of your names, Rich? It would be tough to sell your Epik portfolio this way, but you never know.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

@rohitgoyal has had some great success with his outbound methods, but my understanding is that they require a significant time investment, as well as additional human resources that can be paid a low enough wage so as to not cut into profits too much.

Rohit's methods also requires vast amounts of domain names that have historically sold well in the <$1,000 range via traditional outbound methods (e.g. geo names and exact match product/service names, but usually not brandables).

Are you thinking of replicating these techniques in order to try selling some of your names, Rich? It would be tough to sell your Epik portfolio this way, but you never know.

I'm already talking with rohit Joe....are you trying to tell me you know more about outbound strategies, costs, budgets, personnel etc. than I know?....Seriously

 

[ThatNameGuy]

wow

@Ategy

are you paid by the hour at namepros?

you waste too much time here
same for me.....

Sorry you don't want to participate in the conversation frank, but for the benefit of others who wish to learn, here is the Urban Dictionaries definition of Epik with a "k".https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=epik I've also learned that your friend Rob Monster is pretty awesome as well. He and don't always agree, but we do agree on one thing

 

[Joe N]

I'm already talking with rohit Joe....are you trying to tell me you know more about outbound strategies, costs, budgets, personnel etc. than I know?....Seriously

Are you that insecure, Rich, that you can't enagage in a discussion you started without turning it into a pissing match?

 

[rohitgoyal]

@rohitgoyal has had some great success with his outbound methods, but my understanding is that they require a significant time investment, as well as additional human resources that can be paid a low enough wage so as to not cut into profits too much.

Rohit's methods also requires vast amounts of domain names that have historically sold well in the <$1,000 range via traditional outbound methods (e.g. geo names and exact match product/service names, but usually not brandables).

Are you thinking of replicating these techniques in order to try selling some of your names, Rich? It would be tough to sell your Epik portfolio this way, but you never know.

I completely agree with you. I have realised one thing that there is only one rule in domaining that there are no rules.. different model or strategy work for different individual and one has to find their own working model based upon their resources and comfort zone..

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Are you that insecure, Rich, that you can't enagage in a discussion you started without turning it into a pissing match?

I can assure you Joe...i'm way more secure than you'll ever be. Like I told your buddy Brad, I neither like or appreciate being force fed, and that's EXACTLY what you've been trying to do.

Joe, I own a domain SWOT101.com where the "S" stands for Strengths, the "W" stands for Weaknesses, the "O" for Opportunity and the "T" stands for Threats. SWOT is a strategic planning technique developed over 50 years ago about the time I graduated college and started my first business. It's similar to TQM (Total Quality Management) that's an even older business planning technique that I've subscribed to as well. Do you remember me saying, "if you want a good idea, read an old book"?

I wasn't born yesterday Joe and neither am I a psychologist, but I know what you and what some refer to as the "cabal" are up to. And don't tell me you don't know who the others are

Yes I'm talking with rohit from India because it appears he's open minded enough to discuss things like "outbound" strategies similar to those I've been talking about for the last two years. While I haven't gotten to know rohit personally YET, I already know we have a few things in common. For starters, he obviously believes in "outbound" as do I, he hand reg's domains of which he's accumulated 8,000, he owns mostly .coms (i converted to mostly .coms in the last year), and he drops about 90% of his names before they renew a second time.

While it's still too early to tell, rohit and I might make a good fit as long as we realize each others strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Keeping "on topic" with this thread, I purchased within the last 24 hours Epikeast.com, initially because I thought it might be appealing to Epik that's located in the Greater Northwest of the US, and then I thought rohit might find it interesting because of his location, India (the East). And to clarify, i didn't buy the domain to sell to either of them. Rohit, if you're reading this there is a site for your country IncredibleIndia.com that triggered a couple of domains I own like IncredibleFlorida and IncredibleRome. I don't know if I still own them, but I should, and this gives you some idea of my domain thinking

That's it for now Joe...now like Frank told Ategy in this thread, it's probably time for you to take a break from what you refer to as the "pissing contest"

 

[JB Lions]

I purchased within the last 24 hours Epikeast.com, initially because I thought it might be appealing to Epik that's located in the Greater Northwest of the US, and then I thought rohit might find it interesting because of his location, India (the East).

And to clarify, i didn't buy the domain to sell to either of them.

What? You bought EpikEast.com because you thought it might be appealing to Epik but then you didn't buy the name to sell to them? Those statements seem to contradict each other, unless I'm reading it wrong. Or you bought it to give it to them? Then you could have just mentioned it to them and let them buy it themselves if they wanted it.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I completely agree with you. I have realised one thing that there is only one rule in domaining that there are no rules.. different model or strategy work for different individual and one has to find their own working model based upon their resources and comfort zone..

Rohit...i agree totally with your response here to Joe, but check out my response back to him regarding the so called "pissing contest". Like I said, I wasn't born yesterday and I don't like or appreciate being force fed by others, PERIOD! If you don't know by now, your business model/plan goes against the grain. I trust and believe in what you're doing, especially with regards to "outbound" sales and I hope you understand where I'm coming from. There's a serious chink in the domain armor, and what I mean by that is that traditional domaining has some serious problems imho.

You may have noticed from the thread you started "so called professional domainers" questioning your every move. There's a reason for that rohit....and I'll explain to you later.

Like you clearly stated, "different model or strategy work for different individuals, and one has to find their own working model based upon their resources and comfort zone" Well said Rohit!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

It is very simple

Epik is a great domain, small variances can be perfect brandables.

EpikAnything else is a terrible idea because now you have a misspell/modification with a second word.

I like misspells and I like brandables, just not as two word combinations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another thing to consider is that a misspell can be trademarked, similar to Realtor.com, so technically any second word you add is trademark infringement because the name is made up and owned by the original user. Fortunately this is not the case with Epik so one can easily combine it with a second word but you're taking a risk on EpikNames.com because that can be a trademark infringement with Epik the registrar.

Any Godaddy appraisal that's under $2000 is pretty much meaningless as far as an indication of worth/value or realistic price someone might be willing to pay.

Examples of names I just invented randomly that are available to handreg with their appraisals:

Zambobo.com $1107
Zwavo.com $1105
Rambono.com $1230

That doesn't mean that good names can't be appraised under $2000, it just means that Godaddy's default is to give almost any domain at least a $1000+ valuation in order to justify its worth to potential end users.

Thanks SuperBrander...i actually liked your random pick; Rambono.com that appraises for $1,230. Actuially GD shows "Rambo" as being a keyword that's valued at $8,131. I don't know about a possible TM issue with the name Rambo, but I know it has to be very popular. That said, if I were to buy it, or something like Ramboxxxxx, it should be worth GD's appraisal of $1,230. Actually RamboBrands is avaiable to buy, and I may just buy it. It appraises for $1,205 at GD. Thanks for the idea SuperBrander Happy New Year!

 

[MapleDots]

What? You bought EpikEast.com because you thought it might be appealing to Epik but then you didn't buy the name to sell to them? Those statements seem to contradict each other, unless I'm reading it wrong. Or you bought it to give it to them? Then you could have just mentioned it to them and let them buy it themselves if they wanted it.

It comes down to the fact that if I own the .com I don't need anything else.

Epik.com - if they want east they go east.epik.com or epik.com/east

If I relate it to any of my companies, I could care less what words people add and register as long as I have my .com and my ccTLD equivalent.

So all that will happen is money will be wasted on domains that will never sell. The more junior members will keep repeating that scenario until the lesson is learned.

EpicEast probably has value

EpikEast is worthless to anyone except a company called Epik and chances of a sale there are remote at best.

 

[Joe N]

I can assure you Joe...i'm way more secure than you'll ever be. Like I told your buddy Brad, I neither like or appreciate being force fed, and that's EXACTLY what you've been trying to do.

Joe, I own a domain SWOT101.com where the "S" stands for Strengths, the "W" stands for Weaknesses, the "O" for Opportunity and the "T" stands for Threats. SWOT is a strategic planning technique developed over 50 years ago about the time I graduated college and started my first business. It's similar to TQM (Total Quality Management) that's an even older business planning technique that I've subscribed to as well. Do you remember me saying, "if you want a good idea, read an old book"?

I wasn't born yesterday Joe and neither am I a psychologist, but I know what you and what some refer to as the "cabal" are up to. And don't tell me you don't know who the others are

Yes I'm talking with rohit from India because it appears he's open minded enough to discuss things like "outbound" strategies similar to those I've been talking about for the last two years. While I haven't gotten to know rohit personally YET, I already know we have a few things in common. For starters, he obviously believes in "outbound" as do I, he hand reg's domains of which he's accumulated 8,000, he owns mostly .coms (i converted to mostly .coms in the last year), and he drops about 90% of his names before they renew a second time.

While it's still too early to tell, rohit and I might make a good fit as long as we realize each others strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Keeping "on topic" with this thread, I purchased within the last 24 hours Epikeast.com, initially because I thought it might be appealing to Epik that's located in the Greater Northwest of the US, and then I thought rohit might find it interesting because of his location, India (the East). And to clarify, i didn't buy the domain to sell to either of them. Rohit, if you're reading this there is a site for your country IncredibleIndia.com that triggered a couple of domains I own like IncredibleFlorida and IncredibleRome. I don't know if I still own them, but I should, and this gives you some idea of my domain thinking

That's it for now Joe...now like Frank told Ategy in this thread, it's probably time for you to take a break from what you refer to as the "pissing contest"

It seems to me you're too sensitive about people expressing opinions that differ from you're own. Anyone who posts topics here should be prepared to have their views challenged and to accept it with grace and respect.

I've used the exact same techniques to sell domain names as Rohit, but on a much smaller scale. I've shared these experiences with you in other threads. I'd even be happy to give you tips to help you get started with your own outbound selling.

Rohit is a great person for you to be talking to, though. He certainly has more experience than most with outbound sales, and you're wise to value his opinion and respect his techniques. You should check out his detailed post on outbound strategies here: https://www.namepros.com/threads/outbound-process-for-beginners.1101291/

@rohitgoyal - A couple questions for you:

1. Do you believe the portfolio of "Epik + word" domains registered by @ThatNameGuy are good candidates to try selling via outbound techniques?
2. Based on your experience, do you believe that, in general, @ThatNameGuy is buying the right kinds of names to sell via outbound marketing?

 

[rohitgoyal]

It seems to me you're too sensitive about people expressing opinions that differ from you're own. Anyone who posts topics here should be prepared to have their views challenged and to accept it with grace and respect.

I've used the exact same techniques to sell domain names as Rohit, but on a much smaller scale. I've shared these experiences with you in other threads. I'd even be happy to give you tips to help you get started with your own outbound selling.

Rohit is a great person for you to be talking to, though. He certainly has more experience than most with outbound sales, and you're wise to value his opinion and respect his techniques. You should check out his detailed post on outbound strategies here: https://www.namepros.com/threads/outbound-process-for-beginners.1101291/

@rohitgoyal - A couple questions for you:

1. Do you believe the portfolio of "Epik + word" domains registered by @ThatNameGuy are good candidates to try selling via outbound techniques?
2. Based on your experience, do you believe that, in general, @ThatNameGuy is buying the right kinds of names to sell via outbound marketing?

Answer to both your question is "NO".

However I follow one strategy and I never said that it's the only working strategy. I am no expert so can't comment or claim that what may work or not.

Lastly I would request both of you to kindly keep me out of the discussion as unnecessary both of you are tagging me whereas I have no role in the same.

 

[frank-germany]

Are you that insecure, Rich, that you can't enagage in a discussion you started without turning it into a pissing match?

Joe, you seem to really like the Rich guy
do you hope, he has an undiscovered in his agenda?

 

[wwwweb]

I completely agree with you. I have realised one thing that there is only one rule in domaining that there are no rules.. different model or strategy work for different individual and one has to find their own working model based upon their resources and comfort zone..

There are many rules in domaining especially when it comes to spamming, and trademark infringements, but there are many people working out of grey areas who think they are untouchable from the legal sense who just create issues for the overall industry with their $299 endless outbound spam BIN’s.

There is no secret to what you are doing by using low waged workers in India to spam North America / European companies with freshly regged domains in violation of many laws, including the Canspam act, and the ones that don’t sell, get offered on namepros to users who think they have promise, not realizing that the majority of users for such names have already been spammed for them.

Better makes your money while you can, only a matter of time before email spammers are next:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...ed-act-signed-trump-law-congress-fcc-ajit-pai

 

[SuperBrander]

@ThatNameGuy Besides Rambo.com that sold for 3.5K there's only one Rambo sale- Rambov.com for $100. Godaddy's claim that Rambo is a keyword that's valued at 8K- just demonstrates how unreliable their tool is. Also, looking at individual words is meaningless without the second word in the combo. "Cloud" is a popular word. But CloudCondom.com is worthless. It all depends on the context.

The point I was trying to make is that anything below a $2000 appraisal is an extremely mixed bag of good and bad and any random name, registered or not, can get appraisals in that range because whatever the domain is- Godaddy wants to justify a sale price at least in the high $XXX to low $XXXX range. They get a cut from sales after all. Above $2000- the higher appraisal you get, you'll usually have less low quality names and more high quality names. It's a pretty good tool for screening, but for any other purposes (like determining domains' retail worth)- it's usually very very far from accurate no matter the range.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

One of the people I follow on Twitter is Jeremy Miller, a Canadian author, speaker and business owner who is a specialist in company naming. I read his Sticky Branding book some time ago, and I am currently reading his new book Brand New Name (you may see a review/overview on NamePros on it in the coming months ).

Anyway, he also Tweets great and insightful content, and a few days ago the topic was why are so many wrong spelling brands in products that appeal to children? Names like Kool-Aid, Rick Krispies, Play-Doh, Froot Loops, Lite Brite, Sno-Cone and many others. His argument is that they are phonetically spelled like 6 year old would probably spell them. I think hie is onto something relevant to domain investors. Clearly one should not advertise to children, and that is regulated, but the idea of when phonetic spelling helps is a broader issue.

Here is a link to his blog post on the topic.
https://stickybranding.com/why-are-childrens-brand-names-misspelled/

More broadly, are there certain applications where phonetic spelling is more likely to be accepted. On the original topic of Epic vs Epik, maybe it is from my many sign-ins at their site, but I somehow visually prefer Epik for reasons I can't quite explain - maybe the capital E and high letter ending aesthetics? Or maybe it is because I think like a 6 year old? Which seriously is a good thing in many ways .

Bob

 

[ThatNameGuy]

@ThatNameGuy Besides Rambo.com that sold for 3.5K there's only one Rambo sale- Rambov.com for $100. Godaddy's claim that Rambo is a keyword that's valued at 8K- just demonstrates how unreliable their tool is. Also, looking at individual words is meaningless without the second word in the combo. "Cloud" is a popular word. But CloudCondom.com is worthless. It all depends on the context.

The point I was trying to make is that anything below a $2000 appraisal is an extremely mixed bag of good and bad and any random name, registered or not, can get appraisals in that range because whatever the domain is- Godaddy wants to justify a sale price at least in the high $XXX to low $XXXX range. They get a cut from sales after all. Above $2000- the higher appraisal you get, you'll usually have less low quality names and more high quality names. It's a pretty good tool for screening, but for any other purposes (like determining domains' retail worth)- it's usually very very far from accurate no matter the range.

SuperBrander....i see humor in pretty much everything, and I especially like laughing at myself. In your post about my two new domains RamboBrands.com and RamboPizza.com you mentioned about "Cloud" being a popular word, but CloudCondum.com is worthless" I don't disagree at all, however I really do know personally a guy whose name is Clark Rambo, and get this, Clark started in business when he was living in the "757", The Rubber Ducky Condom Company

Clark I believe divorced and moved to Florida years ago, but I think I'll call him and tell him about the portfolio I started using his name. He obviously has a sense of humor and I'm sure he might want to participate in the domain game using his name.

Finally...the name Rambo Pizza has a pretty good ring to it imho. I think it's every bit as good a name as Dominos Pizza, Little Ceasers or Pizza Hut. What do you think?

 

[frank-germany]

One of the people I follow on Twitter is Jeremy Miller, a Canadian author, speaker and business owner who is a specialist in company naming. I read his Sticky Branding book some time ago, and I am currently reading his new book Brand New Name (you may see a review/overview on NamePros on it in the coming months ).

Anyway, he also Tweets great and insightful content, and a few days ago the topic was why are so many wrong spelling brands in products that appeal to children? Names like Kool-Aid, Rick Krispies, Play-Doh, Froot Loops, Lite Brite, Sno-Cone and many others. His argument is that they are phonetically spelled like 6 year old would probably spell them. I think hie is onto something relevant to domain investors. Clearly one should not advertise to children, and that is regulated, but the idea of when phonetic spelling helps is a broader issue.

Here is a link to his blog post on the topic.
https://stickybranding.com/why-are-childrens-brand-names-misspelled/

More broadly, are there certain applications where phonetic spelling is more likely to be accepted. On the original topic of Epic vs Epik, maybe it is from my many sign-ins at their site, but I somehow visually prefer Epik for reasons I can't quite explain - maybe the capital E and high letter ending aesthetics? Or maybe it is because I think like a 6 year old? Which seriously is a good thing in many ways .

Bob

thanks @Bob Hawkes
that was your first post I enjoyed reading


but who is the right Jeremy Miller?
guess this one
https://twitter.com/StickyBranding