discuss Hosting your own domain portfolio website...

[DanBingham]

... is it really worth it?

OK, so you have your own website showcasing your entire domain portfolio. Is it REALLY worth it?

I took mine offline last year after making some changes, but wonder if its really worth it. Afterall, the majority of my domains point to Afternic servers and unless you are directing enough traffic to your portfolio, it could be a waste of time (and money).

Social Media, particularly Twitter does the job in marketing my domains, so why bother?

How about you? Does having your own website portfolio work for you?

 

[DanSanchez]

After years of building my own and using other tools, I conclude it is mostly a fruitless pursuit that is often a distraction from what matters most. Buying good inventory and focusing on negotiating well. One buyer is not going to want to see thousands of other unrelated or random domains. Unless you focus on a certain type of brandable, like short 5-6 letter names with no keyword meaning.

Use the tools you have at your disposal to maximize the deals that will be coming from your good inventory, sell sell sell.

 

[7363824]

I'm working on one. But I also plan to use my own landers because I dont think I should have to pay AN 20% when the lead came from my traffic.

That said I think having the landers as part of a bigger site that looks professionally done adds credibility those I guess if you dont mind using AN landers you're probably fine in that regard as the buyer has almost certainly heard of GD.

But I dont think your site has to be huge or complicated, just so long as it looks professional.

 

[ArielT]

I'm in the process of building my website but the main reason is to look professional to endusers

I don't know if I'll add all my domains or not

 

[NameFit]

Key principles are same, good names and much better exposure. Good names = People want to buy.
If the name is good, it will be found, put it in all places possible, starting with all marketplaces, start with Afternic and then you can do rest (Not sure if exclusive marketplaces have equal success rates).

Bear in mind, when it comes to 'digital goods' like domains, trust is the main factor in buyer's mind. If your site does not 'evoke' that feeling, the buyer is going to look somewhere else even if they like the name.

 

[7363824]

I like to build websites not I really sont mind I'm if you do I would look into something that'll do all the work for you. Epiks marketplace for example has a custom marketplace feature that'll automatically add all your Epik marketplace domains to your own portfolio site. Or if you dont want to use Epik theres tools like Efty.

 

[BrandAptly.com]

My guess is that it really depends on your marketing strategy and the nature of your portfolio. If you do a lot of outbound promos to a targeted niche market, you may benefit more from having your own website. If you have mad SEO or social media marketing skills, having your own website is definitely the way to go. I, for one, do not want to use my 100+ twitter accounts and my bots to promote someone else's market place...and then pay them a commission on top of that IF/WHEN I make a sale. When you have your own website, you can upsell related products such as hosting and other affiliate programs.

When someone goes to your vending machine in the office building, you stand to profit from any soda option they choose. If you send them to buy your soda which is sitting on the shelves in Walmart, there's a high probability that they might walk out with an option from Mr. Ys inventory.

 

[bmugford]

... is it really worth it?

OK, so you have your own website showcasing your entire domain portfolio. Is it REALLY worth it?

Yes. IMO.

Whether it results in extra sales or not it certainly can help with credibility. It is also something you can point to for reference purposes, like in a discussion about what you do.

Brad

 

[frank-germany]

the problem with DAN / sedo / epik / afternic is
that they don't care for your needs the same way you do

you have certain ideas
they don't share

so when you want it to perform
the way you want it
you have no choice

I just switched back
from dan to my own landers

http://pkws.com

 

[alcy]

i am on bodis for redirect landers 90% of time.
big banner on top is enough to see for sale domain.
before they had bad small banner. now its much better.
but its easy to switch to bodis lander only . no ads. and its a very good one.
when i receive bodis email inquiry i am in control of everything. no fees!!!
then I usually send it for dan add lead at 5%

i do not believe portofolio site is worth. especially not if you pay for it too.
today u can point to your folio on DAN. which is nice.
or sedo folio.. which is less nice.

or u can just throw together something lame and fast for a site like in my signature
if u just wanna show quickly your names for sale. that took 1 minut to do ...

so yeah.. these are my thoughts on own folio... and rediects to landers. keep it simple. concentrate on quality names that u think or preferably know will sell!

 

[JB Lions]

... is it really worth it?

OK, so you have your own website showcasing your entire domain portfolio. Is it REALLY worth it?

I took mine offline last year after making some changes, but wonder if its really worth it. Afterall, the majority of my domains point to Afternic servers and unless you are directing enough traffic to your portfolio, it could be a waste of time (and money).

Social Media, particularly Twitter does the job in marketing my domains, so why bother?

How about you? Does having your own website portfolio work for you?

Yes, it's something you have control over. I believe most of who people consider top domainers have their own portfolio site.

 

[branding]

Definitely worth it. I'm getting most of my sales through my own landers. The money saved on commission definitely makes up for the time/cost of operating a website.

If you're a bit technical and not afraid of learning new stuff you can automate a lot so it doesn't even take much time and effort to do so.

Having a website listing your domains or just info about you as a seller adds credibility and invites dialogue.

Don't overcomplicate things. A mini website with info about you as a seller does the trick. Pull all your domains listed at marketplaces/registrars through their API or autogenerate those pages/landers from your own database/csv/dash and you're golden.

If you're not very creative, hire/get someone to throw together a half decent design and logo. One single additional sale would pay easily pay for all of this.

In comparison; You can either choose to run your operation from home, a sublet or owning your own building. What are u aiming for? I'm shooting for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Does having your own website portfolio work for you?

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not read any responses in this thread.

Bottom line: if you are sending your leads to a marketplace that allows the visitor/buyer to search for other names it is a losing proposition and all you are is an unpaid salesperson for that marketplace.

If your name has value...for whatever reason...sending it to someone willing to 'process' the transaction for 10/15/20 percent commission is an exercise in futility.

Park the name, either for revenue or for your own marketing material, then accept offers. Period.

Otherwise, all you are doing is lining the pockets of another entity (maybe even your competitor). Take control of your asset(s) and let the vultures die on the vine.

 

[DanSanchez]

If your name has value...for whatever reason...sending it to someone willing to 'process' the transaction for 10/15/20 percent commission is an exercise in futility.

Park the name, either for revenue or for your own marketing material, then accept offers. Period.

Otherwise, all you are doing is lining the pockets of another entity (maybe even your competitor). Take control of your asset(s) and let the vultures die on the vine.

I agree and disagree with your statement. Marketplaces are generally a pooling of traffic that may sway buyers away from your asset. This applies if your asset is not the strongest in the niche at the time. If your asset is strong, your description applies because you might be giving people more options. I disagree with marketplaces that demand DNS control of your asset for this reason.

But the second part of your statement is not taking into consideration most individuals will not be able to create an authoritative brand that will yield trust in the eyes of a prospect. Keep in mind I had two separate sites and brands for negotiating with prospects. I was totally against paying anyone a fee for using their systems because I am capable enough to build my own.

But a 9% cost has compounded my ability to create trust and translated to bigger sales. You can also use the third party systems to appear bigger than just a person selling domains, as long as you get full customer data, the loss of a commission can easily be passed onto a customer. Add the time savings and the ease of use, I would argue most systems pay you to utilize their value added tools.

Not sure how you can describe anyone as a vulture, even Afternic provides value that I personally disagree with, but many people use. Many people would call domainers vultures, which is why I took issue with your description of a voluntary service that adds more value than it takes away, generally.

 

[Masay]

no need for portofolio, but at least you own a blog or profesional website.

 

[Mister Funsky]

I agree and disagree with your statement

LOL...sounds a lot like a statement my ex-wife's lawyer made once upon a time

In the interest of not calling out specifics, I will say that everything, person, marketplace and/or entity has its own niche and agenda in this wacky world of domaining...whether for good or ill gained results.

My conclusions and observations are an accumulation of almost 3 decades in this goofy industry...I could have fared worse and I could have fared better...but I am increasingly irritated at the attempted smoke that is blowing up my skirt (I wear shorts, but my meaning should not be misconstrued) and others that are trying to eek out an existence in this industry.

Yes, for the newbie and those that are a little green behind the ears, a 'marketplace' is not a bad place to gain a foothold. But for those that have made it beyond the test of fire it is futile to direct traffic to a place that will not maximize the value of an asset.

 

[7363824]

I agree and disagree with your statement. Marketplaces are generally a pooling of traffic that may sway buyers away from your asset. This applies if your asset is not the strongest in the niche at the time. If your asset is strong, your description applies because you might be giving people more options. I disagree with marketplaces that demand DNS control of your asset for this reason.

But the second part of your statement is not taking into consideration most individuals will not be able to create an authoritative brand that will yield trust in the eyes of a prospect. Keep in mind I had two separate sites and brands for negotiating with prospects. I was totally against paying anyone a fee for using their systems because I am capable enough to build my own.

But a 9% cost has compounded my ability to create trust and translated to bigger sales. You can also use the third party systems to appear bigger than just a person selling domains, as long as you get full customer data, the loss of a commission can easily be passed onto a customer. Add the time savings and the ease of use, I would argue most systems pay you to utilize their value added tools.

Not sure how you can describe anyone as a vulture, even Afternic provides value that I personally disagree with, but many people use. Many people would call domainers vultures, which is why I took issue with your description of a voluntary service that adds more value than it takes away, generally.

For me the problem I have with AN is the commission is very high. I have chosen to offset this in my pricing and to use my own landers. I thin 20% is a little high when they provide the traffic though their marketplace or registrar partners but is unreasonably high when the domain owner provides the traffic using their landers so I dont. But I dont think it's unfair to call them out for their high commission structure either.

 

[alcy]

For me the problem I have with AN is the commission is very high. I have chosen to offset this in my pricing and to use my own landers. I thin 20% is a little high when they provide the traffic though their marketplace or registrar partners but is unreasonably high when the domain owner provides the traffic using their landers so I dont. But I dont think it's unfair to call them out for their high commission structure either.

how u get paid?

 

[eyedomainous]

It would be nice, and more professional, if it was not an either / or marketplace.

I run my own portfolio site and direct traffic from virtually all of my regs to it, but as most registrars have marketplaces I frequently find those 'forwards' broken (30 this month), or hijacked to a parked page or their related domains.

Being a domain registrar running a domain aftermarket presents a clear conflict of interest for domain registrants who elect to operate their own marketplace with domains they registered from that registrar.

So its tougher running your own shop, as there are overt and covert policies and practices from individuals and institutions working to bring about the failure of the portfolio domainer marketplace. Hosting, website and email, is another powerful weapon at their disposal. I am restructuring my op to avoid future problems.

So, yes, it would be nice, and more professional if registrar marketplaces represented all domains for sale, and took the fee, or commission, a domainer shops pays.

That is how the other, bigger, 'call letters' market works... where radio and TV brokers have their own websites... and marketplaces list all the stations/domains for sale for a commission or a fee.
It certainly delivers a better user experience, and builds better public relations.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think it probably is not worth the effort, but despite believing that, I do put a bunch of hours into making one. I agree with those who say that it is probably most beneficial to those who have a fairly narrowly targeted set of offerings in a few niches, and also of course it is valuable for those who prefer to have their own landers and control the inquiries to a degree most marketplace landers do not permit.
Bob

 

[Matt Morgan]

If you host your own domain portfolio on your own site, you can have full control of everything from how you get inquiries, to how the your payments get taken, to how you receive communications from interested people asking for price requests, and much more.

If you host your own, you can even include an optin form to collect email addresses, so you can build an email list.

 

[.X.]

It’s alright, I like messing with it sometimes, I could live with out it though, mine is just a small portfolio of names I have reg and bought since 2018. I don’t really have a desire for full fledged portfolio selling type site though.

 

[Indianad]

Definitely worth it. I'm getting most of my sales through my own landers. The money saved on commission definitely makes up for the time/cost of operating a website.

If you're a bit technical and not afraid of learning new stuff you can automate a lot so it doesn't even take much time and effort to do so.

Having a website listing your domains or just info about you as a seller adds credibility and invites dialogue.

Don't overcomplicate things. A mini website with info about you as a seller does the trick. Pull all your domains listed at marketplaces/registrars through their API or autogenerate those pages/landers from your own database/csv/dash and you're golden.

If you're not very creative, hire/get someone to throw together a half decent design and logo. One single additional sale would pay easily pay for all of this.

In comparison; You can either choose to run your operation from home, a sublet or owning your own building. What are u aiming for? I'm shooting for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars.

Thanks NameDeck! I'm a newbie and appreciate the information on how to navigate this industry. Again...thank you

 

[IMEZI]

still progressing for it, on my way building my own brand marketplace

 

[Pay.My.id]

IMO , its about incoming traffic to our domain, before buyer find our name or make offer or clcik BIN button, they need type a name in browser. If we host domain portfolio on own server, or we build simple website to manage all domain, we could collect more data , especially when we use third party analityc to track all visitor .

- Hosting your own domain = Traffic go to all your target,but need a little budget to buy hosting

- List /host your domain on marketplace = Your natural traffic go to them, free no need pay in some marketplace.

Its depend on our goal .