strategy How to Find Potential End Users?

[shilmy]

Hi,

Do any of you has regularly sell your domain to end users? If so, do you mind share with me in this thread on how find potential end users for your domain?

Regards,
Sjarief

 

[End User King]

For you who have been successful in contacting and selling to end users, I would appreciate knowing whether it makes any difference in offering only one name or several equal quality pertinent names. I am not sure about having to go back to the same people with single names 2, 3, 6 or 10 times. TIA.

It's best to offer them as a group, or offer to them while negotiations
are still fresh like before you've received payment. With the right
wording in your correspondence it'll work better.

Thanks for that Joshua rep. added - which template are you using ? The one posted by EndUserSales ?

Actually Joshua has come up with his own template and it
works for him. I find his advice to be useful as well

 

[domba]

For this point i have a idea:

1. Send email with no price include, because if end user interest he reply with "how much your price".
2. Reply with reasonable price with personal approach owning this domain.
3. Make a contract with payment

 

[namegame]

What's the opinion on sending a sales email to maybe 3-6 large companies one by one giving each a few days to respond before going on to the next company vs. sending the emails to each at the same time...individualized, of course?

 

[JoshuaPz]

I like sending to all at once - for 4 reasons:
1. The amount of work needed to modify your e-mail template when broadcasting to each of your end-users is minimal.
2. It gives you more leverage. If multiple end-users responded asking, "what's your price?", you could reply to all such recipients with a figure stretching as high as you think the wealthiest of the interested folks would be willing to pay. But if you e-mailed just one at a time and then ended up making a deal with an end-user early on your list, you'd never know how much more you could have earned through dialogue with a later one.
3. It's excellent for domain tasting. Catch/reg a domain, e-mail all end-users on your list immediately, and drop it just under 5 days later if none has responded affirmatively, all the while just losing 20 cents for your trouble.
4. It makes for easier bookkeeping. In the event you pitch all your end-users and none are interested, you never have to bother returning to the Excel Spreadsheet (or whatever tracking medium you use) containing your prospects list for that domain.

 

[namegame]

I like sending to all at once - for 4 reasons:
1. The amount of work needed to modify your e-mail template when broadcasting to each of your end-users is minimal.
2. It gives you more leverage. If multiple end-users responded asking, "what's your price?", you could reply to all such recipients with a figure stretching as high as you think the wealthiest of the interested folks would be willing to pay. But if you e-mailed just one at a time and then ended up making a deal with an end-user early on your list, you'd never know how much more you could have earned through dialogue with a later one.
3. It's excellent for domain tasting. Catch/reg a domain, e-mail all end-users on your list immediately, and drop it just under 5 days later if none has responded affirmatively, all the while just losing 20 cents for your trouble.
4. It makes for easier bookkeeping. In the event you pitch all your end-users and none are interested, you never have to bother returning to the Excel Spreadsheet (or whatever tracking medium you use) containing your prospects list for that domain.

Good thoughts, Josh. Reps added for your contributions.

 

[JoshuaPz]

To chip in a little more to this thread: Here's a distribution of the times I received my last 50 "I am interested, what's your price?" responses. All hours are EDT:

00:00-00:59 - (none)
01:00-01:59 - X
02:00-02:59 - X
03:00-03:59 - XX
04:00-04:59 - (none)
05:00-05:59 - X
06:00-06:59 - X
07:00-07:59 - X
08:00-08:59 - (none)
09:00-09:59 - XXX
10:00-10:59 - XXXX
11:00-11:59 - XXXXX
12:00-12:59 - XX
13:00-13:59 - XX
14:00-14:59 - XXXXX
15:00-15:59 - XXX
16:00-16:59 - XXX
17:00-17:59 - XX
18:00-18:59 - XXX
19:00-19:59 - XXX
20:00-20:59 - XX
21:00-21:59 - XX
22:00-22:59 - X
23:00-23:59 - XXX

That results don't seem too surprising. As you can see, 43/50 (86%) of the replies arrived between 9am and 11pm EDT, with roughly half dropping in specifically from 9am-11am & 2pm-4pm.

Hope this helps / satisfies your curiosity.

 

[Nattydomain]

Joshua.....good post...Im losing a bit of hope though as I sent out for 5 difrent type of domains and no responses.....Last week when I first started I was hopeful..now im not so sure....

Out of 400 or so domain that I have explain (which im sure you have, but just to boost our momentium (sp) ) how many should I try to sell to end users (assume each would have a meaning wether generic or for marketing) on a daily basis & if the whois is just a webmaster or dnsadmin type of email do you still send it out?

I think most of the time the whois is not update and may just go to a email box that sits and never sees the light of day. How much time do you also look on the actual website for a contact rather then just the whois....Tell us o great one what should we do LOL

 

[JoshuaPz]

Again, I am far and away from an expert, having been domaining only since mid-July. I write roughly 30 e-mail pitches daily (for roughly 7 domains) and average about 5 "what's your price?" responses and 3 rejections. I spent about 2-10 minutes on each e-mail pitch, mostly fishing for a contact e-mail and and for a nice 2-5 word description of the group's mission to fill my template with.

You should definitely update the whois contact info on your domains with a real name + e-mail address and contact your prospects only from that e-mail. Candidates VERY often check the whois on the domains you pitch them, and they'll reply only to the e-mail addy listed in the whois.

Whether to pitch the whois contact or e-mail address listed on the site differs on a case-by-case basis. I'll save that discussion for another post.

Remember that your success rate depends far more on the relevance of the domains you exhibit to each respective group than the quality of the pitch itself. Writing a refined pitch for an inferior domain is no better than wrapping a moldy piece of cheese in elegant, transparent packaging. Most of the domains I throw out hold very obvious value to my end-users. Here are the latest domains I've received "I am interested" replies for:

* PaulMorse.com to PaulMorsePhotographs.com (already sold)
* NewWineSkins.com to NewWineSkinsAssociation.com
* CoastalCapital.com to CoastalCapitalInvestments.com
* Dinner-Is-Served.com to DinnerIsServed-PC.com (goes to show end-users don't fear hyphenated names)

These require very little marketing finesse or understanding of the end-user's industry to sell.

Let me know if there's anything else I can to do help.

 

[advaita]

Nice info. Joshua with some good ideas - I'm currently looking into selling a name to skin care companies, but what I'm finding is that it's difficult to get an e-mail to send a message to. Most of the sites I have seen have a 'contact form' but no direct e-mail address - how do you discover who to send the e-mails to, and is it better to aim for the marketing department or the I.T. department or go directly for the CEO ?

 

[Nattydomain]

Again, I am far and away from an expert, having been domaining only since mid-July. I write roughly 30 e-mail pitches daily (for roughly 7 domains) and average about 5 "what's your price?" responses and 3 rejections. I spent about 2-10 minutes on each e-mail pitch, mostly fishing for a contact e-mail and and for a nice 2-5 word description of the group's mission to fill my template with.

You should definitely update the whois contact info on your domains with a real name + e-mail address and contact your prospects only from that e-mail. Candidates VERY often check the whois on the domains you pitch them, and they'll reply only to the e-mail addy listed in the whois.

Whether to pitch the whois contact or e-mail address listed on the site differs on a case-by-case basis. I'll save that discussion for another post.

Remember that your success rate depends far more on the relevance of the domains you exhibit to each respective group than the quality of the pitch itself. Writing a refined pitch for an inferior domain is no better than wrapping a moldy piece of cheese in elegant, transparent packaging. Most of the domains I throw out hold very obvious value to my end-users. Here are the latest domains I've received "I am interested" replies for:

* PaulMorse.com to PaulMorsePhotographs.com (already sold)
* NewWineSkins.com to NewWineSkinsAssociation.com
* CoastalCapital.com to CoastalCapitalInvestments.com
* Dinner-Is-Served.com to DinnerIsServed-PC.com (goes to show end-users don't fear hyphenated names)

These require very little marketing finesse or understanding of the end-user's industry to sell.

Let me know if there's anything else I can to do help.

Ok so here is what I have done so far....and tell me if im on track and just not lucky OR not on track and wasting time.....

(domain)Candy (w/adjective) to candy companies big and small
(domain)A GPS domain to gps catalog companies and makers of GPS units
(domian)Recording domain to audio companies with 1 reply with price but no response back after it (about 4 days ago..did email back this morning then saw he is out of Baton Rouge so possible Hurricane damage)

Planning now for some travel domains and college style domains (keyword + 101)

What do you feel as at this point im looking to sell VERY LOW to them to build capital but hell there not even biting w/o a price listed.....

Seems yours are the same name +/- 1 word..those are easier to sell I suppose then one that is a name of their industry but they have there own company name you understand?

 

[DnPresident]

Just got a reply to an email In like less than 5 Minutes- CHECK THIS

Update to my post here: Just got a -No Thank You- from first response
____________________________________________________________

First email I've sent out in some time. Months in fact

I see Joshuapz email he posted....I changed it to the below email and in 5 minutes I get--- Begin Reply=

Dave,

I don't usually spend alot of time with offers like this but I'll quickly hear you out. Let's get right to the point. How much?

xxxxx

President
------------End reply

I should have had the price already

I don't know what to reply as a price, didn't expect a reply this fast but know it's a big industry and quite an expensive product.. I have the exact name in .com but the .net down are available......I return email at $6,200 and it's been about 10 minutes and nothing.

I'm awake now


--------------------Email I sent
Dear xxxx.com staff,

I hope you will take a moment to read and forward to the correct decision making person.

I'm Dave Crutcher, a software developer from Kentucky and I have one of the largest portfolios of premium difficult to find domain names in the world. I am writing to let you know I currently have the very name you are targeting and paying to advertise in dot com. xxxxx.com is available for acquisition. Because I am releasing some of my domain names to related businesses by the end of 2008, I will offer you xxxxx.com at this time.

If you would like to consider acquiring this domain name, please reply to this message ASAP. I would be happy to discuss a price that suits your budget. In the event I do not hear from you soon, I will contact my next candidate.

Thanks for taking the time to read this message. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

All the best,
Dave

David Crutcher
Ph#
[email protected]

 

[Nattydomain]

So a no thank you to $6200? If i read right you may want to wait till Moday and email this person back to adv other companies have offered a lot less but you are willing to settle for XXX......If this domain was bought on a drop and you got it for reg fee, I will drop it A LOT to say $500 just to adv him you need to clear it out....

The way that im looking at it is at first yes, i also ofer $x,xxx amounts but then I think about it.....First there not contacting me im contacting them which means they were not on the lookout for my name. Second I have a nice list that holds 32 domains per page. If I get $100 for a reg fee domain x32 and I work my ass off thats $3200 in say 2 weeks (of course accounting for if they reply back and ask for a price) so lets say I do this for the month 64 domains @ $100 is $6400 a month for $7 domains......can anyone say "quit my day job"! LOL

Update to my post here: Just got a -No Thank You- from first response
____________________________________________________________

First email I've sent out in some time. Months in fact

I see Joshuapz email he posted....I changed it to the below email and in 5 minutes I get--- Begin Reply=

Dave,

I don't usually spend alot of time with offers like this but I'll quickly hear you out. Let's get right to the point. How much?

xxxxx

President
------------End reply

I should have had the price already

I don't know what to reply as a price, didn't expect a reply this fast but know it's a big industry and quite an expensive product.. I have the exact name in .com but the .net down are available......I return email at $6,200 and it's been about 10 minutes and nothing.

I'm awake now


--------------------Email I sent
Dear xxxx.com staff,

I hope you will take a moment to read and forward to the correct decision making person.

I'm Dave Crutcher, a software developer from Kentucky and I have one of the largest portfolios of premium difficult to find domain names in the world. I am writing to let you know I currently have the very name you are targeting and paying to advertise in dot com. xxxxx.com is available for acquisition. Because I am releasing some of my domain names to related businesses by the end of 2008, I will offer you xxxxx.com at this time.

If you would like to consider acquiring this domain name, please reply to this message ASAP. I would be happy to discuss a price that suits your budget. In the event I do not hear from you soon, I will contact my next candidate.

Thanks for taking the time to read this message. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

All the best,
Dave

David Crutcher
Ph#
[email protected]

 

[DnPresident]

So a no thank you to $6200? If i read right you may want to wait till Moday and email this person back to adv other companies have offered a lot less but you are willing to settle for XXX......If this domain was bought on a drop and you got it for reg fee, I will drop it A LOT to say $500 just to adv him you need to clear it out....

He sent the "No Thanks" Email right around 4:45 PM my time or a little before and I haven't emailed him anything else yet.

I do know he as well as others run adwords and target people looking for this specific product without the .com on the end.

Not sure what I'll do now except start sending out more emails since I see now that it could work, it was a hand reg in 2006 but $500.00 is a little low for it. I may either email him back next week asking if he wants to make an offer or just shoot him my lowest price.

 

[Nattydomain]

Keep us posted...Im doing some research tonite and tomorrow morn so will also update on any responses good or bad....

He sent the "No Thanks" Email right around 4:45 PM my time or a little before and I haven't emailed him anything else yet.

I do know he as well as others run adwords and target people looking for this specific product without the .com on the end.

Not sure what I'll do now except start sending out more emails since I see now that it could work, it was a hand reg in 2006 but $500.00 is a little low for it. I may either email him back next week asking if he wants to make an offer or just shoot him my lowest price.

 

[copper]

So far, my results are not good
However, I got one reply saying he's looking for "shine" related domains.
He owns car polishing business selling his own brand of car wax, car polish...

Anyone have such domain and want to sell?
Let me know your domains by PM and I'll see if it will suit his need.
If it does, I'll send your domain to him.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Ask yourselves these three questions:

* What e-mail address are you sending your messages from? I use my college mailing address, which carries lots of assurance and credibility. Look into grabbing an addy from your school, parent company, or affiliated organization, and make sure that group has NOTHING to do with domaining. Since the general public looks down on our practice at this point in time, sending from an e-mail address associated with an unrelated but constructive, trusted motif will go a long way towards meriting those "I am interested" responses.
* How are you introducing yourself? "Entrepreneur", "innovator", and "social activist", are nice buzzwords because they indirectly describe domain trading but don't bear the negative stigma associated with "domainer" or even "domain reseller."
* What prices are you proposing? It's crucial not to get too greedy. I would never offer a domain for anywhere near $6200 unless the end-user satisfies this 3-part test: (1) They're a venture-backed corporation ["proof of budget"], (2) They've been around for at least 5 years ["proof of self-sustainability"], and (3) The domain INDISPUTABLY lies, to any fair-thinking human, at the core of that end-user's mission ["proof of direct relevance"]. I have yet to encounter such an end-user for my low-budget, drop-caught domains. I feel I'm much better off proposing my typical $50-$500 asking prices and scooping up $2000 a week, as I am now, then setting forth $5000 figures and wondering whether I'll make my first sale before next New Year's fireworks begin exploding over my head.

Hope this helps improve your luck.

 

[Nattydomain]

UPDATE....

Today I sent out about 25 emails for 1 domain name...got back 2 responses so far....1 was asking for traffic stats, backlinks, and an apprasail...well this domian just sits parked so its nil for all he requested...Still shot a price at mid $xxx and no reply since.

Second response back just asked how much...this time I lowered my price for this enduser and when replied back they lowered by half.....i will take it as this domain since I had it has never got an offer before and if I can sell domains for this particular amount 1x a day i will be VERY happy!

Will keep you posted as Im sending more email in just a bit.

 

[DNK.it]

Just set price higher than 50-70% of your real asking price and say that you are open to an offer that fits their budget. The success rate will be very high or at least that work for me

 

[DnPresident]

Just set price higher than 50-70% of your real asking price and say that you are open to an offer that fits their budget. The success rate will be very high or at least that work for me

I like that pretty well and I think we should maybe come up with a few advantages in purchasing the keyword.com that they have been advertising and bidding on.

 

[dochlaggie]

I need help with this reply. I have sent out about 30 of Joshua's letters.

I have had 3 replies. From from South Africa, who said the exchange rate prevented them from purchasing anything.
I replied that i was open to offers. Nothing back.

Second reply, the person said that he had a gut feeling tHat my name was right for there business, but had to talk it over with his partner, nothing so emailed again.
Received a reply in minutes from his blackberry tO say he had directed my email to the marketing dept. Nothing since then.

Now I have this this reply from a Chinese firm. I have another 2 similar names that may suit there business.

I am asking for help from the namepros think tank. Thanks in advance people


the dialogue so far

Dear XXXXX,



Thank you for your e-mail.We would be very glad to cooperate with you.



We're sorry to tell you that we haven't received you e-mail until yesterday.So,whether we have the opportunity to acquire this domain name?



Hope to receive your early reply.



Thanks and best regards,
XXXXX


my email--I have been away over the weekend , so I have replied that I am away until Monday.





there reply---

"Thank you for your prompt reply .

Have a nice weekend!

Thanks and best regards,"

 

[DomainBuyerBroker]

dochlaggie

My gut feeling would tell me to stay away from any China connection unless it's a foreigner working in Hong Kong or something like that.

Don't trust anything from China. Just my personal experience.

nattydomain

Don't break your price just because they ask. Just because you are being proactive in your sales it doesn't mean you have to break the price especially if they are interested. If anyone shows interest and your price is fair, you should stand your ground and describe more benefits of ownership.

 

[DNK.it]

nattydomain

Don't break your price just because they ask. Just because you are being proactive in your sales it doesn't mean you have to break the price especially if they are interested. If anyone shows interest and your price is fair, you should stand your ground and describe more benefits of ownership.

Agree with DomainBuyerBroker,

I've had 3 reply from different endusers for the same domain name. To the first and the second enduser I've written only the domain price without listing all the benefit to own that keyword, to the third enduser instead I've listed all the benefit to own that domain name ( Adword volume search, Average CPC screenshot and a better ranking on Google for that keyword ). The first two wanted to buy the domain at half of my asking price, the third one has bought the domain name at my asking price

the domain name was a three word ORG handregged 10 days ago and the price was 300$, a nice profit

 

[Nattydomain]

dochlaggie



nattydomain

Don't break your price just because they ask. Just because you are being proactive in your sales it doesn't mean you have to break the price especially if they are interested. If anyone shows interest and your price is fair, you should stand your ground and describe more benefits of ownership.

nattydomain

Don't break your price just because they ask. Just because you are being proactive in your sales it doesn't mean you have to break the price especially if they are interested. If anyone shows interest and your price is fair, you should stand your ground and describe more benefits of ownership.

Agree with DomainBuyerBroker,

I've had 3 reply from different endusers for the same domain name. To the first and the second enduser I've written only the domain price without listing all the benefit to own that keyword, to the third enduser instead I've listed all the benefit to own that domain name ( Adword volume search, Average CPC screenshot and a better ranking on Google for that keyword ). The first two wanted to buy the domain at half of my asking price, the third one has bought the domain name at my asking price

the domain name was a three word ORG handregged 10 days ago and the price was 300$, a nice profit

I see your point....At this point im trying many diffrent things....my MAIN GOAL is looking to quit my %$#@! day job and if I can pull $4000 a month im fine!

So, since im asking these people if they want to buy the domain im selling a lot lower then if they came to me first. So by my books $7.44 for $200 x5 a week = happy camper until i can buy better names and offer more for them..Right now 80% of them are from drops as my older names I will of course ask for more.

 

[fleadom]

Ok, and let's take the case where two or three of the companies offer you the asking price.

Whom are you selling the domain to? To the one who replied first? To the one that you believe is more trustworthy?

Do you invite them to make a better offer? I think if you do so, it is very likely that the end user will end the negotiations, since he will think that you are just trying to increase the sales price.

 

[JoshuaPz]

If you have several parties interested in the same domain, you're in good shape. Here's what I'd do:

First, contact whichever one looks to be the wealthiest with an asking price above what you would have requested had only one candidate expressed interest.

If candidate 1 says "ok, I accept", or they make a counter-offer, contact all other candidates NOT with an asking price but informing them your best offer for the domain so far is [the figure you've negotiated with candidate 1] but you're looking for a somewhat higher amount; what is the best you can offer?

If any of those other candidates say "sure, I can beat that, I'll offer [higher amount]", then tell candidate 1 you just received an offer from a previous candidate of [higher amount], and now you've got yourself a bidding war between all your prospects.

If none of the other candidates can beat #1's price, then obviously you sell the domain to #1.

Rewinding a little, if #1 rejects your offer without a counter, ask #1 what's the most they're able to offer, and add you'd be willing to sell them the domain at that price provided it beats your other candidates offers. If #1 responds with a price, follow the above procedure to recreate the bidding war. Otherwise, cross #1 off your list, do some research, and pick out the next wealthiest-seeming seeming of your subsequent candidates. If that candidate is your only remaining prospect, follow the usual steps of proposing an asking price, etc. you would if you had only one interested prospect. By contrast if still other prospects remain, follow the entire procedure delineated in these 5 paragraphs again, but treating your second-wealthiest-seeming candidate as your new #1.

Whether you believe this formula is moral or not, it's provably the way to extract the most money for your domain given a fixed level of business acumen, and unwillingness to just tell your prospects "not good enough, I'll just sit on the domain until a better offer comes along" if you best offer you can squeeze out of them is far lower than what you would have liked.