Hi everybody! I registered on this site last year, and I don't think that I ever properly introduced myself! I've mostly been over on Rick's board, mostly because I have some friends over there. I'm sure a lot of them are over here as well!
So the other day I saw a link that I followed to the Bido contest, and I realized that I had never really posted over here. Signed up last year, got busy, and just plain forgot! Dork! So sorry about that! My loss! I've just been pretty busy juggling two careers while also working hard to progress as a domainer.
I've been a pilot for many years, flying for United since '89, currently on the 747. I mostly fly to Sydney, once in a while Tokyo or Hong Kong, and the occasional special duty military charter. I like flying troops home. Don't like flying them over.
After 9/11, I realized something. In today's world, nobody can be single skill set, single income source, or single employer dependent. That makes you real vulnerable to any big change. So following my own advice, I spent a couple of years working as an appraiser, and also as a broker. I still keep a small office down the hill from my house.
I no longer do any appraisal work though. Too many times fighting traffic in SoCal, and stepping through dog #$%& in strangers' yards! The real kicker for me was the day that I was literally dodging the lawn bombs in some forgettable backyard in South Central LA, and I looked up and saw a United A-320 fly overhead. I was a Captain on that plane at the time, and it looked like UAL was going to survive after all. So I said to myself - "Self - WTF are you doing here?!" So I was done with that!
Discovered domaining in 2006 when I was trying to find some good real estate names, and quickly realized that they've mostly all been gone for years. Then I realized that domains are THE BEST REAL ESTATE ON THE PLANET! Been hooked ever since! Thankfully my wife has been pretty understanding.
We were playing a 'let's imitate somebody else in the family' game the other day. So my 8 year old pretend types, rubs his peach fuzz upper lip and mumbles "Ooh - that's a good name!" Funny but a little pathetic too!
Currently working on building out some lending sites. The best one is HomeRefinance.com. I have a JV deal with a local lending group that is win/win, and we should do OK with this brandable name, since it has great ovt/wt.
I love real estate, lending, legal, aviation, nanotech, and travel names. Also 2 and 3 word .com generics. Lots of opportunity still in that area. Don't love 3/4 letter, .mobi, or ccTLD. Nothing personal if that's your thing. It's just not for me!
This business lends itself well to specializing, and I do like that. I'm WAY more interested in collaboration than competition, and if anybody ever needs anything from me, please feel free to e-mail or call me.
I'm not a huge fan of parking, mostly just because I feel like it diminishes the value of a good name. And the names that make good money parked are usually pretty expensive. No disrespect to any parking companies. I think they provide a great service to monetize domains - before you develop! I've got a few hundred names parked at a couple of places as well. But I'm really more interested in developing and partnering for bigger better deals.
I've been to a couple of the TRAFFIC shows, and I'm planning to go to NY in a few months. Great conference, with lots of networking opportunities! I highly recommend it to anyone that's really serious about this business!
Sorry this is so long, but I feel like I owed it to the membership for not posting before. I'll try to contribute more often. Seems like a pretty good group here! Great, there goes the rest of my almost non-existant free time!
Cheers, Bob (aka daddybat)
So the other day I saw a link that I followed to the Bido contest, and I realized that I had never really posted over here. Signed up last year, got busy, and just plain forgot! Dork! So sorry about that! My loss! I've just been pretty busy juggling two careers while also working hard to progress as a domainer.
I've been a pilot for many years, flying for United since '89, currently on the 747. I mostly fly to Sydney, once in a while Tokyo or Hong Kong, and the occasional special duty military charter. I like flying troops home. Don't like flying them over.
After 9/11, I realized something. In today's world, nobody can be single skill set, single income source, or single employer dependent. That makes you real vulnerable to any big change. So following my own advice, I spent a couple of years working as an appraiser, and also as a broker. I still keep a small office down the hill from my house.
I no longer do any appraisal work though. Too many times fighting traffic in SoCal, and stepping through dog #$%& in strangers' yards! The real kicker for me was the day that I was literally dodging the lawn bombs in some forgettable backyard in South Central LA, and I looked up and saw a United A-320 fly overhead. I was a Captain on that plane at the time, and it looked like UAL was going to survive after all. So I said to myself - "Self - WTF are you doing here?!" So I was done with that!
Discovered domaining in 2006 when I was trying to find some good real estate names, and quickly realized that they've mostly all been gone for years. Then I realized that domains are THE BEST REAL ESTATE ON THE PLANET! Been hooked ever since! Thankfully my wife has been pretty understanding.
We were playing a 'let's imitate somebody else in the family' game the other day. So my 8 year old pretend types, rubs his peach fuzz upper lip and mumbles "Ooh - that's a good name!" Funny but a little pathetic too!
Currently working on building out some lending sites. The best one is HomeRefinance.com. I have a JV deal with a local lending group that is win/win, and we should do OK with this brandable name, since it has great ovt/wt.
I love real estate, lending, legal, aviation, nanotech, and travel names. Also 2 and 3 word .com generics. Lots of opportunity still in that area. Don't love 3/4 letter, .mobi, or ccTLD. Nothing personal if that's your thing. It's just not for me!
This business lends itself well to specializing, and I do like that. I'm WAY more interested in collaboration than competition, and if anybody ever needs anything from me, please feel free to e-mail or call me.
I'm not a huge fan of parking, mostly just because I feel like it diminishes the value of a good name. And the names that make good money parked are usually pretty expensive. No disrespect to any parking companies. I think they provide a great service to monetize domains - before you develop! I've got a few hundred names parked at a couple of places as well. But I'm really more interested in developing and partnering for bigger better deals.
I've been to a couple of the TRAFFIC shows, and I'm planning to go to NY in a few months. Great conference, with lots of networking opportunities! I highly recommend it to anyone that's really serious about this business!
Sorry this is so long, but I feel like I owed it to the membership for not posting before. I'll try to contribute more often. Seems like a pretty good group here! Great, there goes the rest of my almost non-existant free time!
Cheers, Bob (aka daddybat)
