discuss Incognito Domainer

[MapleDots]

Quite a while back I mentioned that I've put my domains to work and I have over 1000 domains forwarded to one of my online stores. So instead of parking income I'm harvesting the traffic and hopefully selling some items from my online store.

A few interesting things have happened during this time and it's not what you would expect. I'm selling more items than ever on the online store and I cannot say for sure if that is because of covid, or the increase in traffic, but that is another issue altogether.

What I really wanted to talk about with this post is kind of surprising...

Since I stopped forwarding my domains to a mapledots lander, and forward them masked (address remains in address bar) to my online store, the inquiries have shot up substantially. The clients basically email or call my business and ask for the person in charge.

The number one thing the email inquiry, or caller, says is "I notice you're not using the domain".

I say....
Ohhh, I forgot about that domain, I use it to drive traffic to my online store.

Client says...
Would you consider selling?

I say...
If the right offer came along but I'm really in no panic to sell.

Client says...
How much are you asking?

I say...
Never thought about it but it would have to be a genuine offer worth my while for me to consider selling.

Here is where it gets really interesting...

The dialogue is so civilized, there is nobody calling me a domain squatter, there is no name calling, nothing! It all seems sooo polite with me basically always repeating that it would have to be a significant offer worth my while for me to consider selling the domain.

Since I operate all of my businesses as a sole proprietorship I bill right through my online store and the end user has no idea that they ever did business with mapledots or a domainer.

I don't think I'll be going back to my previous way of selling domains anytime soon. I still use mapledots for my auction and marketplace activities, but for most inquiries I now use one of my regular business names.

Selling incognito is truly a refreshing way to sell domains. When the end user does not know they are dealing with a domainer the transaction is so much more pleasant.


============================================================================

PLEASE DO NOT POST, OR DISCUSS, MY PERSONAL BUSINESS OR NAME IN THIS TOPIC.

Discuss the topic at hand without getting into the personal details of my business. - Thank You!

 

[MapleDots]

The chances of anyone landing on some random domain name and then being redirected to some unrelated site and then buying your product that has nothing to do or any connection whatsoever to that “name” are almost nonexistent.

However it does make sense that someone who has been eyeing a particular domain and now noticing that it no longer redirects to a business might think that this means that the domain is no longer needed and now available for sale. But the best way to show someone that a domain is for sale is - obviously - by having it redirect to a For Sale landing page.

Yes a For Sale page is pretty clear, I will not dispute that.
However I find my way is working for me, and I am getting more inquiries than with my for sale lander.

 

[xynames]

The domain doesn't have to be random. I use the same method as @MapleDots does with domains related to my business.

For me it works. I want to add that it highly depends on the quality of your domains. Like you said, random domains would probably do better on landers but if you're selling an exact match for a niche you're operating in you know for sure the inquiry is serious, or another domainer operating in the same niche.

He doesn’t want us to discuss his business even though to respond intelligently to these threads he keeps creating on this topic you really have to - but as far as I know his names have nothing to do with what he’s selling.

Without being free to discuss his names and his exact business this thread is pointless as far as the “benefit” of directing names.

But as mentioned it does make some sense that anyone who has been eyeing a particular domain and then suddenly notices that it no longer redirects might now be roused to make an inquiry assuming the WhoIs is not private.

 

[eternaldomains]

Quite a while back I mentioned that I've put my domains to work and I have over 1000 domains forwarded to one of my online stores. So instead of parking income I'm harvesting the traffic and hopefully selling some items from my online store.

A few interesting things have happened during this time and it's not what you would expect. I'm selling more items than ever on the online store and I cannot say for sure if that is because of covid, or the increase in traffic, but that is another issue altogether.

What I really wanted to talk about with this post is kind of surprising...

Since I stopped forwarding my domains to a mapledots lander, and forward them masked (address remains in address bar) to my online store, the inquiries have shot up substantially. The clients basically email or call my business and ask for the person in charge.

The number one thing the email inquiry, or caller, says is "I notice you're not using the domain".

I say....
Ohhh, I forgot about that domain, I use it to drive traffic to my online store.

Client says...
Would you consider selling?

I say...
If the right offer came along but I'm really in no panic to sell.

Client says...
How much are you asking?

I say...
Never thought about it but it would have to be a genuine offer worth my while for me to consider selling.

Here is where it gets really interesting...

The dialogue is so civilized, there is nobody calling me a domain squatter, there is no name calling, nothing! It all seems sooo polite with me basically always repeating that it would have to be a significant offer worth my while for me to consider selling the domain.

Since I operate all of my businesses as a sole proprietorship I bill right through my online store and the end user has no idea that they ever did business with mapledots or a domainer.

I don't think I'll be going back to my previous way of selling domains anytime soon. I still use mapledots for my auction and marketplace activities, but for most inquiries I now use one of my regular business names.

Selling incognito is truly a refreshing way to sell domains. When the end user does not know they are dealing with a domainer the transaction is so much more pleasant.


============================================================================

PLEASE DO NOT POST, OR DISCUSS, MY PERSONAL BUSINESS OR NAME IN THIS TOPIC.

Discuss the topic at hand without getting into the personal details of my business. - Thank You!

This looks very interesting.

Just want to be clear,
1 - [Domain A] has keywords totally unrelated to [Online Store Domain B]
2 - [Online Store Domain B] is a fully functional marketplace that acts as a real biz selling physical/digital goods
3 - Whois privacy can be enabled on all [Domain A] as long as there's contact details mentioned at the online store's contact page
4 - [Domain A] redirects to [Online Store Domain B] while remaining under [Domain A] in all URLs related to the online shop (in other words, zero traces of [Online Store Domain B] in the URLs when customer types in [Domain A])

Is this correct?

 

[Cannuck]

Seriously, I don't think I'm going back.

The best advice I have for domainers is not to be a domainer, people feel alienated when they feel they are dealing with a professional domainer. Everyone likes to believe they found a domain and snapped it up before it hit the open market. In fact in one of my negotiations that is exactly what happened. I said to the person inquiring maybe I should offer it for sale for a while to see what happens. Right away they seemed more eager to negotiate wanting me not to test the market.

Sooooo many advantages to NOT officially being a domainer.

You've inspired me in more ways than one @MapleDots .

This was actually my plan B from the beginning. The niche domains I currently hold just needed a focused lander as they already have organic traffic. I've noticed others doing similar, particularly in the real-estate industry. Correct me if I'm wrong, it will increase SEO on the home page if you use A-record redirect vs domain forwarding.

 

[biggie]

The best advice I have for domainers is not to be a domainer, people feel alienated when they feel they are dealing with a professional domainer.

Hi

i disagree, with quote above...
and agree, with quote below.

Without being free to discuss his names and his exact business this thread is pointless as far as the “benefit” of directing names.

To me, be who you are, when the opportunity arises.
when someone contacts you, they expect you to be responsive to their inquiry.

i'm certainly not going to act like a carpenter, when asked if wellcare.us is for sale.
nor am i going to try and presume their emotional state of being.

just saying.....

imo...

 

[MapleDots]

This looks very interesting.

Just want to be clear,
1 - [Domain A] has keywords totally unrelated to [Online Store Domain B]
2 - [Online Store Domain B] is a fully functional marketplace that acts as a real biz selling physical/digital goods
3 - Whois privacy can be enabled on all [Domain A] as long as there's contact details mentioned at the online store's contact page
4 - [Domain A] redirects to [Online Store Domain B] while remaining under [Domain A] in all URLs related to the online shop (in other words, zero traces of [Online Store Domain B] in the URLs when customer types in [Domain A])

Is this correct?

It's just set up for type ins so basically the typed in domain is visible in the address bar upon landing. Because the domain is a masked forward you can add any tags or descriptions to customize it if you want. I don't do that because I want it to seem like I am only using the domain to gain traffic for my online store.

So basically the domain name stays in the url for one keyclick and I have a java script loaded on my store which breaks it out of frames and loads my real domain address upon any click thereafter.

 

[Cannuck]

^ Ah, now I get it... kill two birds with one stone!

 

[MapleDots]

You've inspired me in more ways than one @MapleDots .

This was actually my plan B from the beginning. The niche domains I currently hold just needed a focused lander as they already have organic traffic. I've noticed others doing similar, particularly in the real-estate industry. Correct me if I'm not wrong, it will increase SEO on the home page if you use A-record redirect vs domain forwarding.

I can't use A-record because I bulk forward over 1000 domains, I don't know how to do that with A-Records but in the next post I will disclose a little secret.

 

[MapleDots]

My secret #1

Here is a secret I have been using for quite a while and I will disclose it today...

GoDaddy has poor bulk tools and it only lets me change about 50 or so domains with forwards until it times out. I used to be able to forward 1000 domains in a few keyclicks and now it takes much longer.

How do I get around that?

I forward all my domains to domains.mydomain.com in the godaddy control panel so now I never have to touch it again.

My main business domain uses google domains so I go there and make a subdomain called domains.mydomain.com.

Now I forward domains.mydomains.com to my online store number #1.

If I want to change the forward of all 1000 domains to online store #2 then all I do is change the forward of domains.mydomain.com to my other store address.

So at any time I can change all 1000 or so domains to forward to any one of my online stores or businesses with a couple of keystrokes.

 

[MapleDots]

My secret #2

Here is another one of my tricks

Since my google analytics are loaded on the main domain it shows me exactly where each keyclick comes from, I can see when someone types in any of my domains and how many times it lands. If I switch back to mapledots I can also see how many keyclicks I get and how many times people land.

So I can direct all 1000 or so domains to numerous businesses and companies with one keyclick, let it run for a month and analyse my google analytics.

So far I get many more keyclicks when they forward to my online store and if only a few people poke around I might just pick up some business.
I also get more domain inquiries when forwarded to my online store instead of my domaining page.

It's called putting my domains to work instead of just sitting there looking pretty.

 

[Cannuck]

Using a Javascript solves the problem of "breaking out" under masking, and the time savings of forwarding to a sub-domain... solves the logistics problem and get both analytics plus a pipeline to direct sales to boot! No more 3rd party parking... genius! Nice work A++!

 

[Cannuck]

That's some fancy dancing! I know now I've got some homework to do. Thanks for sharing!

 

[eternaldomains]

My secret #1

Here is a secret I have been using for quite a while and I will disclose it today...

GoDaddy has poor bulk tools and it only lets me change about 50 or so domains with forwards until it times out. I used to be able to forward 1000 domains in a few keyclicks and now it takes much longer.

How do I get around that?

I forward all my domains to domains.mydomain.com in the godaddy control panel so now I never have to touch it again.

My main business domain uses google domains so I go there and make a subdomain called domains.mydomain.com.

Now I forward domains.mydomains.com to my online store number #1.

If I want to change the forward of all 1000 domains to online store #2 then all I do is change the forward of domains.mydomain.com to my other store address.

So at any time I can change all 1000 or so domains to forward to any one of my online stores or businesses with a couple of keystrokes.

This reminds me a bit of the multi domain redirect tactics used by phishermen

Some more questions:

1 - is a subdomain necessary and why?

2 - is masking applied to the google domain as well? Or just the domains for sale?

3 - GA is on both the google domain and the online store as well?

 

[MapleDots]

This reminds me a bit of the multi domain redirect tactics used by phishermen

More questions:

1 - is a subdomain necessary and why?

2 - is masking applied to the google domain as well? Or just the domains for sale?

3 - GA is on both the google domain and the online store as well?

1. The sub domain is how I redirect 1000 domains with 1 keyclick, so I can change it anytime. You don't need it if you don't want to do that.

2. Masking is only applied to the forwarded domain not the end business domain. Remember I use java code to break you out of the frame on any keyclick. I can tell if you are staying and poking around my online store. In fact I can even see if I get a sale.

3. GA is automatically on all pages because it runs on my online store, so all forwarded domains will be logged and I will know from where the traffic is coming from. So if you were at godaddy auction and typed the name in the address bar I would see you coming from godaddy.

As for your main question...

There is in fishing involved, I'm simply directing the domains to where I think I can utilize them the most.

 

[SuperBrander]

Thanks for your previous response regarding the different marketplaces. I have another question if you don't mind answering- why mask the domain instead of just forward it to the business and show the business url? I imagine some unsavvy people who follow the redirect and end up on the business site might think the domain they were trying to see is being used as a business since they still see the url at the top and that might make them not approach you to inquire about the domain.

 

[eternaldomains]

1. The sub domain is how I redirect 1000 domains with 1 keyclick, so I can change it anytime. You don't need it if you don't want to do that.

2. Masking is only applied to the forwarded domain not the end business domain. Remember I use java code to break you out of the frame on any keyclick. I can tell if you are staying and poking around my online store. In fact I can even see if I get a sale.

3. GA is automatically on all pages because it runs on my online store, so all forwarded domains will be logged and I will know from where the traffic is coming from. So if you were at godaddy auction and typed the name in the address bar I would see you coming from godaddy.

As for your main question...

There is in fishing involved, I'm simply directing the domains to where I think I can utilize them the most.

1 - I mean if I want to use mydomain.com instead of subdomain.mydomain.com to do the middle redirect is this ok?

2 - what about masking/not masking the middle redirect domain (subdomain.mydomain.com)?

Another partly unrelated - don't mind sharing what payment processor do you use for your biz sales? Asking because I've been looking at payment processors and they tend to have very polarizing reviews

 

[MapleDots]

Thanks for your previous response regarding the different marketplaces. I have another question if you don't mind answering- why mask the domain instead of just forward it to the business and show the business url? I imagine some unsavvy people who follow the redirect and end up on the business site might think the domain they were trying to see is being used as a business since they still see the url at the top and that might make them not approach you to inquire about the domain.

So if someone types in bestdomain.com and gets to mystore.com I want it to say bestdomain.com. In a sneaky way I still want the person typing the URL to see it in use. Because I don't advertise my domains anyone typing it in is doing so only to find out who owns it which ultimately might lead to a sale.

If they see the site and want to know anything else they will click on something and that leads them to the real store URL. From there on there might be some curiosity as to who is using the URL so they might poke around and in a small percentage of cases I might even pick up a sale of product but that is not the real purpose. The real purpose is to show who is kinda using the domain, to the person looking it is obvious the domain is only used as a redirect so they naturally think.... hey maybe I can buy it.

On the other hand if the leads straight to marketplace site asking for 10k they will probably just click away because they think another squatter own the site. With my method they are not intimidated, instead they think the url is not in use and I may have a chance to purchase it. From there on the negotiation starts. Using my analytics I can tell you I get more inquiries when I use this method than when I forward to godaddy auction or my landers.

So remember I am not talking about sales, I am saying my method gets me more inquiries than my landers and from there on everything depends on my skills as a domainer. The results will vary for every domainer depending on their sales and closing skills.

 

[MapleDots]

1 - I mean if I want to use mydomain.com instead of subdomain.mydomain.com to do the middle redirect is this ok?

2 - what about masking/not masking the middle redirect domain (subdomain.mydomain.com)?

Another partly unrelated - don't mind sharing what payment processor do you use for your biz sales? Asking because I've been looking at payment processors and they tend to have very polarizing reviews

1. The subdomain is irrelevant, it is only used to bulk forward 1000 domains with a keyclick. No subdomain is required for masking, you can mask each domain to any address you want in godaddy. I use a middle subdomain so I only have to change the subdomain forward and all 1000 domains change and point to where I want them to.

2. Again this is not possible because the subdomain is only used in godaddy, nobody ever sees it.

I use Costco Elavon Merchant Services to process my domain sales up to 10k.
After that I use certified funds and I have had really good luck with that.

In Canada we also have e-transfer and I will often use that to transfer domain funds and a lot of my friends on namepros will tell you we deal almost exclusively with e-transfers among ourselves because it is free to use.

 

[Cannuck]

Agreed, someone who is serious about a domain will investigate more, and perhaps be willing to invest in a domain that isn't used directly, feeling that they might have the chance of getting a good deal since it is a secondary one to your main business. That's using psychology. It's an interesting and novel technique, one that GD certainly wouldn't want to share with their market, since it cuts their grass.

In particular, it works because you also have an online store, so forget the pay by click on 3rd party lander, not much money in that anyway. The domains actually work for you!

 

[creataweb]

1 - I mean if I want to use mydomain.com instead of subdomain.mydomain.com to do the middle redirect is this ok?

You could use a simple piece of code to redirect from mydomain•com instead of using a subdomain if you really wanted. I've done this for a few reasons myself in the past. Easy to do in bulk too because you can just change the URL inside the code for instant results.