I'm James Iles: Q&A (Interactive Interview Session)

[James Iles]

Hey NamePros! I'm James Iles, I'm the lead writer for the NamePros Blog, where I've written about 630 articles since May 2015. I also buy and sell a few domain names and I operate as a broker, working with select startups and established companies regarding domain name strategy.

Away from domains, I have also worked as a photo retoucher (of course, I own PhotoRetoucher.com!) for an established portrait photographer. In my spare time, I'm an amateur runner, doing two 24-hour events this year.

Ask me anything! Post any questions here and I'll do my best to answer them

 

[James Iles]

What's your favorite domain which you don't own and why?

I’d say X.com. It’s a very select group of one letter names, it’s supremely valuable and can be used in a multitude of industries.

It’s also a piece of internet history!

 

[James Iles]

Hi James and thanks for the opportunity.

As a blogger and writing person, what do you think should be the best subject line when we promote domains via email to a potential buyers?

Please give an example

Thanks

We had a great series recently with Mike Robertson, who suggested some great tips for outbound sales.

The subject line is a difficult one - it has to prompt interest and convey what the email is about - all in a couple of words.

I’d recommend doing some A/B testing with several different versions, to see what works best in terms of open rates (which can be tracked) and response rate.

 

[James Iles]

Nice to see you. How i can sale my domain name in just 2 weeks? Recommend me any strategy or important points to consider.

Selling a domain in 2 weeks is a very specific time frame

It’s a tough task to sell any name inside 2 weeks, especially not knowing the domain. Outbound sales can sometimes produce a sale quickly but would likely compromise on the achievable price.

Auctions, NamePros listings etc are also possible way of producing a quick sale. Again, compromising on the achievable price.

 

[James Iles]

This thread is a great idea James! I love your well-researched and written articles for NPs, James. It was an honour to meet you in person at NamesCon!

My question for you is the following. How do you see domaining in 5 years from now? What changes do you see on the near horizon, and do you feel overall the environment will be better or worse. I realize it is a big question, so feel free to answer any aspect you want.

Thanks again for your incredible contributions to the NPs community.

Bob

Thanks Bob! It was great to meet you too! Hopefully you’ll be at the next NamesCon event.

As I mentioned in another response, I believe that the renting of domain names will become more popular - due to investors looking to keep their most valuable names and the general price increase of 1 word .com’s, for example.

I think there will be a disparity between the 1% and the 99% - the top 1% of names will continue to rise in value, with some lower end niches struggling a little.

I would anticipate some consolidations of top portfolios (similar to the previous NameFind acquisitions) in the next 5 years too.

 

[topdom]

Domain parked at Sedo, but gets price request at Afternic. Why? Because they want to buy it for a price between 20 and 90? Or are these price requests fake?

Why don't buyers visit domains they are interested in to contact domain owner, and instead work with and trust a middleman who may cheat both sides, and prevent sales because of large gap between offers made to buyers and sellers.

 

[john888]

What company will rent a domain name. Spend money marketing their image to the domain name and then not owning it. Or, do you mean a rent to purchase plan with a final price payed years later.

 

[SuperBrander]

Thanks for the AMA thread. You mentioned that you own 50 domains. Can you share them? Or the best ones?

 

[Kassey Lee]

Great work, James.

DomainIQ. I use it every single day without fail.

Please give us some detailed examples how you use this tool everyday.

 

[James Iles]

Domain parked at Sedo, but gets price request at Afternic. Why? Because they want to buy it for a price between 20 and 90? Or are these price requests fake?

Why don't buyers visit domains they are interested in to contact domain owner, and instead work with and trust a middleman who may cheat both sides, and prevent sales because of large gap between offers made to buyers and sellers.

There are many domain buyers who are owners of small businesses, they know they need a specific domain name but they don’t necessarily trust direct interaction with a seller (or they don’t know how to get ahold of them).

You mentioned Afternic - which is owned by GoDaddy and contains a lot of godaddy branding. To someone who isn’t familiar with domains and the industry, using a 3rd party such as Afternic adds security and legitimacy to the buying process.

As far as “middlemen” go, a broker’s job is to do everything possible to close a sale.

 

[James Iles]

What company will rent a domain name. Spend money marketing their image to the domain name and then not owning it. Or, do you mean a rent to purchase plan with a final price payed years later.

No, I mean renting without a final sales price. Braden Pollock has just done this with Monopolize.com - getting a few hundred dollars per month for as long as the buyer needs the name.

For smaller startups, the possibility of renting a domain name would be highly beneficial, I believe - and this would be my target market.

Being able to launch their brand using a premium .com name rented at a few hundred (or thousand) dollars per month is win-win: it gives the owner passive income on a valuable name and it allows the startup to develop their brand on the best name available from day 1 - which can help with access to funding etc (Jason Calacanis took interest in Calm after realising they were using Calm.com).

Obviously contracts would need to be signed laying out the rights of both parties.

 

[James Iles]

Thanks for the AMA thread. You mentioned that you own 50 domains. Can you share them? Or the best ones?

I sold off a lot of my best names over the last year or two (such as Wombat, GrabFood, L22, 90x, 88ZZ - all .com), so I’m in a position waiting for some opportunities.

I own names like DN88, 88GT (I like the letter/number combination), PhotoRetoucher, and some geo/keyword names like LosAngelesBroker. I’ve also just picked up Pen.co and Voila.co.

Nothing special right now, but I will be investing in the right opportunity - probably 1 or 2 word .com names.

 

[James Iles]

Great work, James. Please give us some detailed examples how you use this tool everyday.

I use their WHOIS history tool religiously. Since GDPR, it’s been a real help to get extra information.

I also use the related domains feature to see what other names a specific owner has in their portfolio.

I also receive daily emails with monitoring alerts to show me which names are moving at the moment.

DomainIQ is a very versatile toolkit

 

[Paulot]

sir, what are the features of great domain names ?

 

[BuyBrandWeb.com]

Hi James, I love to read your articles and expecting more articles in the future.
There is high competition in the current market and it's very difficult to get a good name at reselling price.

What's your favorite auction house?

 

[Adijohn]

How can i made Billion

 

[David Drimer]

JI: My client developed his site in Russia 15 years ago. He wants to transfer the domain to a US-based host. He knows neither the developer nor the authorization code. The registrar is being of no help and has blocked all info. ICANN has been useless. Is there any road that can lead to my friends getting control of their domain back? They have even shown the registrar canceled checks... Thanks

 

[Telodomains]

it gives the owner passive income on a valuable name and it allows the startup to develop their brand on the best name available from day 1 - which can help with access to funding etc

Won't the startup decides to trademark their brand on the premium .com that they will be renting? Will this cause further issues and questions on ownership?

 

[john888]

No, I mean renting without a final sales price. Braden Pollock has just done this with Monopolize.com - getting a few hundred dollars per month for as long as the buyer needs the name.

For smaller startups, the possibility of renting a domain name would be highly beneficial, I believe - and this would be my target market.

Being able to launch their brand using a premium .com name rented at a few hundred (or thousand) dollars per month is win-win: it gives the owner passive income on a valuable name and it allows the startup to develop their brand on the best name available from day 1 - which can help with access to funding etc (Jason Calacanis took interest in Calm after realising they were using Calm.com).

Obviously contracts would need to be signed laying out the rights of both parties.

What formula (monthly rate) would suggest for rending out a domain name valued at $10,000 or $100,000 and over a 1 or 2 year period? I suppose if the contract is too long or the monthly rental is too low, you could be missing out on a full out sale during the period.

 

[James Iles]

sir, what are the features of great domain names ?

For me, a truly great investment name is:

- .COM
- memorable
- simple to spell
- fairly short (6 or fewer characters)
- can be used in a versatile way across several industries
- will have great liquid value
- will be a direct upgrade for tens, if not hundreds of companies

 

[James Iles]

Hi James, I love to read your articles and expecting more articles in the future.
There is high competition in the current market and it's very difficult to get a good name at reselling price.

What's your favorite auction house?

Thanks!

Yes, the competition is very high at public auction. Reseller prices are increasing, but that should bring a case for increasing end user prices I think.

I personally really like NameJet. Their platform is easy to use, they have a varied inventory and importantly it’s simple to access NameJet on the move

 

[James Iles]

How can i made Billion

Probably not with domains!

Likely by creating a phenomenal and innovative product or service.

Or by divorcing the world’s richest man !!

 

[James Iles]

JI: My client developed his site in Russia 15 years ago. He wants to transfer the domain to a US-based host. He knows neither the developer nor the authorization code. The registrar is being of no help and has blocked all info. ICANN has been useless. Is there any road that can lead to my friends getting control of their domain back? They have even shown the registrar canceled checks... Thanks

That’s a tricky situation! I would definitely get legal advice from an attorney familiar with domain name law - there are many reputable options.

 

[James Iles]

Won't the startup decides to trademark their brand on the premium .com that they will be renting? Will this cause further issues and questions on ownership?

I’m sure that considerations such as this would be worked into any rental contract. But of a company becomes established enough that the domain is an imperative part of their business, then they may acquire the domain name. That kind of agreement would be reached between buyer & seller (plus an escrow/attorney/broker).

I believe this situation has been happening recently. It’s public knowledge that Braden Pollock did this with Monopolize.com, and I really wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen more and more.

 

[James Iles]

What formula (monthly rate) would suggest for rending out a domain name valued at $10,000 or $100,000 and over a 1 or 2 year period? I suppose if the contract is too long or the monthly rental is too low, you could be missing out on a full out sale during the period.

That would be entirely dependent on the individual transaction. For a $100k name, you could look to rent this at $5k/month, reviewing this after 2 years, for example.

I still believe that for a smaller startup, it could be a win/win - they get access to a good .com name and the owner (who may not want to part with the name completely) gets a revenue stream that pays better than parking or their own development project.

I don’t think this strategy would be for everyone, though.

 

[FavourB]

(I like the letter/number combination)

Am new to domaining just one year into the jungle, and I must really confess is not easy to get a good name, when I started off I was advised never to go for letter/number combination, but am relieved now that you said you buy them too, so my question is this, when buying letter/combination what is the key things to look at for, so that I don't end up buying rubbish, like I have done in time past..