information For Newbies Only #5

[johnn]

Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack. Remember this one is for Newbies Only.

1. Many Domainers are not from English speaking countries so check spelling before register or buy a name. The most mistakes from Newbies are putting two words together. It may sound good but it will have no meaning. Ex: GreenDick.com, BalloonVagina.com...
2. Stay away from Brandeable Names - These names mean nothing unless a Company spent lot of money to promote and make it a Brand: Ex: Godaddy, Fabulous, Dynadot... These names have nothing to do with Domain Names.
3. Stay away from Current Trend. You will waste money if you are getting in the current Trend as you are limited your Market. Beside, eventually the Current Trend will die down. Some of the trends are: NFT, Meta, Crypto... There are some good sales on the current trend but the percentage you can sell them is like 1/10,000
4. Stay away from Geo Names. Why limit your Market to a city or state when you can pick a name that will be sold to a bigger market. Ex: SanDiegoTaxServices, PhilaCakes...
5. Cybersquatting - Meaning you buy/register a similar name to the Company name and trying to sell to them - The chance that you are in trouble are more than the chance that they will buy your name.
6. Try to be simple and DO NOT believe in any Appraisal services. They are NOT accurate. You can sell a name to a small company for $5,000, medium company for $50,000 and to a Billion Company for $500,000 or more. So don't waste your time to look for Appraisal Here or from any company.
7. Forget about Domain Name Statistics: EMD, how many extensions have been taken, Results from Search Engines...They do not mean much to your Market.
8. Stick with reputable Registrars. Trying to save a nickel and dime here and there will not be good when it come to selling the name. Some buyers will not be interested in the name if the name is registered with some Registrars that they don't like.
9. Stick only with .COM .NET and .ORG until you are familiar with the market. There are some HOT extensions now but you have to know what name to pick/choose. Ex: .io, .xyz... Stay away until you know the Market.
10. Stay away from Outbound - It's very complicated for Newbies so don't get involve in Outbound as you may be labelled as SPAM and it will have a big affect on your Email once it's reported as Spam Email.

** BONUS - FAQ ** ​

11. Where can I sell my names fast? No one know even with Old Members here. Just list them everywhere you can: Afternic, Dan, Sedo, etc... Make sure that you only have "Buy It Now" at one place.
12. Stay away from Trademark name: If a company name is Dick.com - Can I register BigDick.com?
No one would have the answer for you except the lawyers as they are very complicated depending on a lot of factors. This also apply when you register/buy a name that's not .com. Check the .com to see if there is a live Website before buy/register it.

Good Luck.

 

[mr-x]

stay away from .org domains

General rules always have exceptions, Iinxuforums.org just sold over more than $7k at action.

Use tools like namebio.com when in doubt. Check recent, sales historic highs and lows by tld and or keyword.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for all the effort you put into this series, @johnn.

While I agree with most points, re statistics, I don't entirely. I agree that number of TLDs taken does not matter in the least to an end user. However, what it does show, and what use of the term in business names shows even more strongly, is a general interest in that idea/term. It seems to me to totally ignore that leaves an investor with only their own personal experience, that almost certainly is a more biased world view.

Regarding listing BIN more than one place, I have been torn on this issue since the start. If one is not going to be online, for sure it seems unwise to do it. Also, if one has a high probability sale (like if I owned meta, NFT or metaverse in almost any TLD would probably not put BIN). Otherwise, it seems to me the odds are so small of a sale to two people at same day, that I have gone back to often listing BIN more than one place. But there is a risk, I agree. Agree with @Joe N would love to see statistics - I recall a few anecdotes of same buyer clicking BIN two places, and maybe one or two cases of sales at different prices different places almost simultaneously.

Anyway, I mainly wanted to say thank you for your great contributions on NamePros, and this series in particular, @johnn.

Bob

 

[johnn]

Like I said this thread for Newbies only.
Some of the items will not apply if you are an experienced Domainer.
The idea here is to minimize the mistakes that Newbies make when they don't have a lot of experiences.
If you are an experienced Domainer then you can move on. There is no need to confuse Newbies.

 

[edwardpan]

thank you, john, very helpful

 

[Joe N]

Like I said this thread for Newbies only.
Some of the items will not apply if you are an experienced Domainer.
The idea here is to minimize the mistakes that Newbies make when they don't have a lot of experiences.
If you are an experienced Domainer then you can move on. There is no need to confuse Newbies.

Appreciate the effort and opinion, @johnn but I really would be interested in hearing what types of domains you do recommend for newbies, since your advice seems to steer them away from virtually all main categories.

 

[johnn]

Generic:
- Services
- Products
- Ecommerce
- Travel
- Real Estate
- Short names: 3/4 letters
-....

 

[Joe N]

Generic:
- Services
- Products
- Ecommerce
- Travel
- Real Estate
- Short names: 3/4 letters
-....

Wouldn't those all be EMD names? Or brandable if they're not referring to a specific product or service?

 

[johnn]

Joe, You sound like you are an experienced domainer so these items are not for you,
Move on.

 

[Joe N]

Joe, You sound like you are an experienced domainer so these items are not for you,
Move on.

I hope it's still okay to discuss?

No offense intended at all. I see the points you're making with your advice. I just think that it's important to be especially clear for those who are newer to domaining, otherwise they might get the wrong idea.

As much as it's useful to provide a list of things to avoid, I think it's equally (or even more) useful to show newcomers what positive actions they can take to be successful.

 

[Pradheep]

Thank you for sharing valuable information

 

[itx]

Appreciate the effort and opinion, @johnn but I really would be interested in hearing what types of domains you do recommend for newbies, since your advice seems to steer them away from virtually all main categories.

Yes I would agree with this @Joe N and @johnn - this blog post is helpful but essentially steers newbie investors away from everything.

 

[Ashok02]

Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack. Remember this one is for Newbies Only.

1. Many Domainers are not from English speaking countries so check spelling before register or buy a name. The most mistakes from Newbies are putting two words together. It may sound good but it will have no meaning. Ex: GreenDick.com, BalloonVagina.com...
2. Stay away from Brandeable Names - These names mean nothing unless a Company spent lot of money to promote and make it a Brand: Ex: Godaddy, Fabulous, Dynadot... These names have nothing to do with Domain Names.
3. Stay away from Current Trend. You will waste money if you are getting in the current Trend as you are limited your Market. Beside, eventually the Current Trend will die down. Some of the trends are: NFT, Meta, Crypto... There are some good sales on the current trend but the percentage you can sell them is like 1/10,000
4. Stay away from Geo Names. Why limit your Market to a city or state when you can pick a name that will be sold to a bigger market. Ex: SanDiegoTaxServices, PhilaCakes...
5. Cybersquatting - Meaning you buy/register a similar name to the Company name and trying to sell to them - The chance that you are in trouble are more than the chance that they will buy your name.
6. Try to be simple and DO NOT believe in any Appraisal services. They are NOT accurate. You can sell a name to a small company for $5,000, medium company for $50,000 and to a Billion Company for $500,000 or more. So don't waste your time to look for Appraisal Here or from any company.
7. Forget about Domain Name Statistics: EMD, how many extensions have been taken, Results from Search Engines...They do not mean much to your Market.
8. Stick with reputable Registrars. Trying to save a nickel and dime here and there will not be good when it come to selling the name. Some buyers will not be interested in the name if the name is registered with some Registrars that they don't like.
9. Stick only with .COM .NET and .ORG until you are familiar with the market. There are some HOT extensions now but you have to know what name to pick/choose. Ex: .io, .xyz... Stay away until you know the Market.
10. Stay away from Outbound - It's very complicated for Newbies so don't get involve in Outbound as you may be labelled as SPAM and it will have a big affect on your Email once it's reported as Spam Email.

** BONUS - FAQ ** ​

11. Where can I sell my names fast? No one know even with Old Members here. Just list them everywhere you can: Afternic, Dan, Sedo, etc... Make sure that you only have "Buy It Now" at one place.
12. Stay away from Trademark name: If a company name is Dick.com - Can I register BigDick.com?
No one would have the answer for you except the lawyers as they are very complicated depending on a lot of factors. This also apply when you register/buy a name that's not .com. Check the .com to see if there is a live Website before buy/register it.

Good Luck.

Tq