question Is it possible to be very successful in domaining only with handreg domains ?

[Domain Name Invest]

I often hear that handreg domains are for beginners (often because they are just starting out and it's better to fail with domains registered at handreg fee) and that as the domainer progresses, they move almost exclusively to dropreg domains...

Do you know of any examples of successful domainers who have built their fortunes largely on handreg domains (except for the early investors in domaining of course) ?

 

[DealMaker1]

Hi

that's a nice position to be in.

my portfolio is much smaller, but still contains a mix as well, mostly com, org, some LLL.net and some "speculative" extensions.

fortunately, the last couple of years, ppc has managed to produce enough revenue to pay for renewals.
it's a case where a minority pays for the majority.

str for 2022 was 3%, but... i only sold six domains.



imo...

Keep at it! This game is one of quality. So keep refining and refining til you just have great names. Then you will see the percentage you sell go up.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Here is the first problem - that a person should even entertain .link. What a travesty of an extension. The discussion should end there because there is nothing even remotely similar between .com and .link. .com is an institution, .link is a flash in the pan. .com with classic keywords are always in demand. .link with ANY keywords, are not. As much as an antique Strativarius is worth more than a 2023 factory-made, cookie-cutter violin. I hope you see the picture.

In any case, let me extrapolate or rather keep it much simpler than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks:

7000 exact search SV is a number straight from the Google AdWords planner. And if you can't trust Google, then who can you trust? Month over month, at an avg. CPC of $15, "opening a bank account" exact keywords get an average of 7000 type-in searches per month. That means it is something that people are looking for "exactly". How much more dependable can you get than that (and using a bona fide extension on top)? And yes...it is that simple for SEO purposes.

These days I see too many want-to-be online businessmen over-complicating things in order to seem smart. But which is smarter, to spend $15 on a hand reg which is sure to make you more than that back or an expiring domain that was bid up at auction to $5000 and now you are left in a hole to make the money back? I'm not against expiring domains as I buy them myself, but clearly one must realize that a hand reg can still be equally, if not more effective. These types of domains are more for SEO strategists, not for pure domainers, so please keep that in mind.

I'm happy you have taken to re-educating bankers. I'm sure the world needs more people like you!

Cheers

"than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks"....holy shit, are you articulate. I guess that was directed at me, at least I hope so. First, your opinion about the extension .link is just that, and you know what they say about opinions Now lets take the .link extension off the table despite it's growing in registrations and popularity. Lets compare left of the dot "openingabankaccount" to "freechecking", and see what Google Adwards has to say about that? I don't have time to research it now, but with both "free" and "checking" being keywords, i can predict the results.

I look at hand regs as a game similar to offshore fishing where you never know what you're going to catch. Also, the more you do it the better you get. As soon as I finish keying this I intend to hand register the domain SWOTSPORTS.com....note too that it's a .com and not a .link, only proving I'm not stupid.

My personal business background tells me that a simple S.W.O.T. analysis applies as much to sports as it does to business. For anyone else reading this the acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and the analysis done right can even save a marriage.

Gotta run....gotta do another hand reg

 

[DealMaker1]

"than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks"....holy shit, are you articulate. I guess that was directed at me, at least I hope so. First, your opinion about the extension .link is just that, and you know what they say about opinions Now lets take the .link extension off the table despite it's growing in registrations and popularity. Lets compare left of the dot "openingabankaccount" to "freechecking", and see what Google Adwards has to say about that? I don't have time to research it now, but with both "free" and "checking" being keywords, i can predict the results.

I look at hand regs as a game similar to offshore fishing where you never know what you're going to catch. Also, the more you do it the better you get. As soon as I finish keying this I intend to hand register the domain SWOTSPORTS.com....note too that it's a .com and not a .link, only proving I'm not stupid.

My personal business background tells me that a simple S.W.O.T. analysis applies as much to sports as it does to business. For anyone else reading this the acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and the analysis done right can even save a marriage.

Gotta run....gotta do another hand reg

Well, if you can predict results with such accuracy that's quite the gift. And there was nothing directly at anyone in particular. Just "arbitrary Joe"...

The point here is that it is openingabankaccount.com and not openingabankaccount.link. I would also rather have freechecking.com than freechecking.link. .com is an institution and Google DOES play favourites.

If you need to use SWOT to save a marriage, I'm afraid it was already over. Maybe it was analytics that destroyed it in the first place...hmmm.

Actually SwotSports.com is decent. Best of luck with it.

Cheers

 

[LosAtmos]

Great post!

I am of the opinion that only experienced domainers will do well at hand reg. Someone just starting out with zero experience or knowledge will inevitability register large amounts of garbage because they don’t know any better and then drop most if not all of it 365 days later.

There are plenty of opportunities to get drops and allready regged names pretty cheap especially in the current market. Don’t hop into auctions until you know what is a good name and have the funds.

I think part of the reason so many fail is because they enter this business thinking hand reg makes it an even playing field (It doesn’t) and they can succeed on shoestring budget. They don’t have cash on hand for good names with some age.

Even good hand regs will likely take years to sell. Its not some shortcut to profit.

 

[LosAtmos]

.link is good in the right context. For example a URL shortener, it's all about links. https://chain.link is the website of one of the top cryptocurrencies.

"than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks"....holy shit, are you articulate. I guess that was directed at me, at least I hope so. First, your opinion about the extension .link is just that, and you know what they say about opinions Now lets take the .link extension off the table despite it's growing in registrations and popularity. Lets compare left of the dot "openingabankaccount" to "freechecking", and see what Google Adwards has to say about that? I don't have time to research it now, but with both "free" and "checking" being keywords, i can predict the results.

I look at hand regs as a game similar to offshore fishing where you never know what you're going to catch. Also, the more you do it the better you get. As soon as I finish keying this I intend to hand register the domain SWOTSPORTS.com....note too that it's a .com and not a .link, only proving I'm not stupid.

My personal business background tells me that a simple S.W.O.T. analysis applies as much to sports as it does to business. For anyone else reading this the acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and the analysis done right can even save a marriage.

Gotta run....gotta do another hand reg

 

[bmugford]

"than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks"....holy shit, are you articulate. I guess that was directed at me, at least I hope so. First, your opinion about the extension .link is just that, and you know what they say about opinions Now lets take the .link extension off the table despite it's growing in registrations and popularity. Lets compare left of the dot "openingabankaccount" to "freechecking", and see what Google Adwards has to say about that? I don't have time to research it now, but with both "free" and "checking" being keywords, i can predict the results.

I look at hand regs as a game similar to offshore fishing where you never know what you're going to catch. Also, the more you do it the better you get. As soon as I finish keying this I intend to hand register the domain SWOTSPORTS.com....note too that it's a .com and not a .link, only proving I'm not stupid.

My personal business background tells me that a simple S.W.O.T. analysis applies as much to sports as it does to business. For anyone else reading this the acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and the analysis done right can even save a marriage.

Gotta run....gotta do another hand reg

Well, since this thread is about "Is it possible to be very successful in domaining only with handreg domains ?"...

The answer when it comes to that question in .link is a firm no, because it has simply never happened.
Maybe @ThatNameGuy will be the first.

Last year (NameBio) -

.COM 122,600 sales for $142,900,000
.LINK 22 sales for $10,900

It is not even really worth having .link in this discussion.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

I am of the opinion that only experienced domainers will do well at hand reg. Someone just starting out with zero experience or knowledge will inevitability register large amounts of garbage because they don’t know any better and then drop most if not all of it 365 days later.

I believe I could handreg domains (.COM) at this point and hustle enough low - mid XXX sales to make a profit. That is after many years of experience though on the buy and sell side.

However, that is not that easy for someone to do with limited experience. It would also take an extreme amount of time & energy.

It might be viable for someone getting started, but then you have the problem that newcomers don't have the experience to know what to buy.

Many people start on handregs, but it is hard not to eventually graduate to higher quality domains when you start making sales.

Brad

 

[DomainNature]

If you can foresee the future like Baba Vanga then the answer is yes, you can be successful with hand regs.
But if you can't foresee the future like Baba Vanga, then the answer is a straight no, better go grow potatoes, it can turn out to be more rewarding.

 

[DealMaker1]

If you can foresee the future like Baba Vanga then the answer is yes, you can be successful with hand regs.
But if you can't foresee the future like Baba Vanga, then the answer is a straight no, better go grow potatoes, it can turn out to be more rewarding.

Who is Baba Vanga, and how can I contact him?

But in all seriousness, people new to the industry are going to have hard-knocks at the beginning. But as they learn the market, they will even find solid hand regs that sell. And that, my friend, is a skill.

Cheers.

 

[bmugford]

Who is Baba Vanga, and how can I contact him?

But in all seriousness, people new to the industry are going to have hard-knocks at the beginning. But as they learn the market, they will even find solid hand regs that sell. And that, my friend, is a skill.

Cheers.

I have said this before, but most overnight success stories are actually years in the making.

It took me quite a while to reach a tipping point into what eventually became a sustainable business model.

But I also had proof of concept along the way. I was actually getting inquiries and offers, which lead to sales.
Without that, it is hard to even know if you are on the right track.

Brad

 

[DomainNature]

Who is Baba Vanga, and how can I contact him?

You can google about her, I have think that you people heard about her.

 

[DealMaker1]

Is she expensive? Can she tell me if my hand regs will be successful?

You can google about her, I have think that you people heard about her.

 

[MKA]

I often hear that handreg domains are for beginners (often because they are just starting out and it's better to fail with domains registered at handreg fee) and that as the domainer progresses, they move almost exclusively to dropreg domains...

Realistically, no. For someone to buy your domain they have to be interested in it from the get-go. If it's available for registration then there hasn't been an active interest in it , and if the resellers haven't noticed a potential in it it likely doesn't exist.

Is it possible for something to have gone unnoticed for decades? Yes. But it's extremely unlikely.

Your best bet would be if you caught a new word or phrase during its inception, or registered a good domain in an underdeveloped country's language. But in general I think it's a bad idea.

 

[eyedomainous]

It is increasingly unlikely a human could be very successful with only hand-reg domains.
And, increasingly very likely AI registrars will be very successful with hand-reg domains.

The sun is setting on humans hand-reging premium domains, and human domaining in general.
Of course, a smart AI assisted human can still have 'some skin in the game'.

 

[DealMaker1]

It is increasingly unlikely a human could be very successful with only hand-reg domains.
And, increasingly very likely AI registrars will be very successful with hand-reg domains.

The sun is setting on humans hand-reging premium domains, and human domaining in general.
Of course, a smart AI assisted human can still have 'some skin in the game'.

Interesting. AI can never write poetry. It can try within the trillions of permutations it can come up with but it always comes across as tinny and angular. But it is always missing one element which can never be permutated and only humans can put forth - extemporaneous, subjective emotion. And that is the art of it.

Domains are somewhat similar, but not exactly. You need a little bit of feel for what sounds and looks good but there is more AI that can be used in this industry than others.

I can say I have fifteen possible hand regs off the top of my head (actually they are sitting there, and I have enough for my goals) that are better than 95% of the domains I see here being regged by beginners (that includes dropped domains). That just comes from refinement over time, whittling down til you know more of the essentials within word dynamics and what you could possibly cold-call someone about. But it is also experimentation. Sometimes a person can be quite baffled about what works and what doesn't.

The best thing beginners can do is stay away from lottery registrations ie trying too hard to make their words mean something (often it comes off as awkward from trying too hard) in order that it will become popular vernacular and a big cheese will buy it for millions. It may happen in a blue moon, but it is very rare (and don't fool yourself that you have so much luck that you are that rare person...) Better to go slow in the beginning and you will learn and then luck will come on its own accord. Pretty much the same in most industries.

Ever ask yourselves why 80% of lottery winners go broke or would say their lives are WORSE than before the windfall? Think about it for a while, and maybe it will tell you something about what money-wisdom truly is. And this can be applied to every business venture.

Best of luck.

 

[lock]

There could be a car yard full of Lambos that everyone wants but no-one knows about. The seller has to do some work it might be parking or more but if online and having contact private and the contact form or email not working then it doesn't matter whether you got Lambos or Sparks. The active webmaster with domains priced may have more success selling freeing up money for more than holding out for top money on best. Success in domains requires buying what another wants and turning a profit, or you end up holding trophies as you need to sell not just hoard. Time management is required along with skills over and above just coming up with ideas.
I probably have sparks dragging from my tail pipe as it isn't the most predicted that will get next inquiry.

 

[DealMaker1]

Success in domains requires buying what another wants and turning a profit, or you end up holding trophies as you need to sell not just hoard.

You got the gist. The man who knows how to sell to the interests of the public and learns not to hoard will find success in one way or another, because he is always fresh and has his ear to the ground, proper.

 

[GoKaizen]

How long did it take Brad?

It took me quite a while to reach a tipping point into what eventually became a sustainable business model.

 

[eyedomainous]

Actually, if you want to be very successful with handregs you really have to buy way ahead of the curve, and hold / 'hoard' the asset until its marketplace / namespace matures.

Its like planting trees. You have to wait awhile before you can sit in its shade and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

For example, all of my domains are handregs... and I focused in on TV domains, 20 years ago, when web video began... as a fuzzy postage stamp sized buffering image. I knew then I'd have to hold for a generation.

Now, video dominates the web and, while I sold some -like my 'cloud tv' domain -when the market came for it, I still want to hold most until their (keyword) goes mainstream; like DroneTV.com -there were no drones in the air when I bought it, but usage is now trending into the mainstream.

I will hold for as long as it takes... and generate some rev along the way by working a few.
Now, I would not say that I am "very successful", but I got a shot-at-it. And my aim is steady.

 

[biggie]

Actually, if you want to be very successful with handregs you really have to buy way ahead of the curve, and hold / 'hoard' the asset until its marketplace / namespace matures.

Its like planting trees. You have to wait awhile before you can sit in its shade and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Hi

waiting for domains to mature, until it becomes a valuable asset...is difficult for the impatient.

i waited years for "3 char. com, LLL.org and 4L.com" to reach 4 figure ranges, that were originally acquired for $$.

imo...

I focused in on TV domains, 20 years ago,

Hi

had a few .tv names i hand-regged from old overture tool that earned some ppc.

i see the same opportunity to invest early in other extensions like .co has paid-off for some as well as early investors in .xyz

in jan. 2022 i bought vbn.xyz for $39 on the forum and resold it on sedo the next month for $500.
used some of the proceeds to acquire a few more.

probably got lucky on that one, but 5 years from now, who knows.

as long as they don't keep increasing the renewal fee, then they might be viable investments.

imo...

 

[Zanok]

My answer would be the exact same if your question was if it's possible to become a millionaire by buying a lottery ticket every day.

If you simply want to know if it's possible or not, then yes would be the answer.
However, it's very unlikely to happen.

To stay on topic, factors such as industry knowledge, budget, opportunism, timing, luck and many others can slightly increase the odds in your favour... to a certain extent.

 

[kor]

Please define "very successful".

 

[DealMaker1]

Please define "very successful".

"Success" is a relative thing. If you are looking to the public to define what success is for YOU, just don't. Only you know your potential, what that means exactly given your particular circumstances (genetic, social, economic or what have you). If you are an absolute beginner and hand reg ten .com domains for $150 (of hard worked for money) and are able to make $500 after a year, that could be considered a success. If you are Paris Hilton, hypothetically, and get GIVEN $10 million by your daddy for a business and it loses 17 million after a year (just because she can't learn and is no good at), I would consider that a complete failure.

So you see, it is relative.

 

[Charybdis]

I could hand-reg a few great domains in the past 2 years, but nowadays I struggle to find good names which are still available for hand-reg. I am talking about .com domains only.

I think don't waste your time and money on hand-registration.

 

[kor]

"Success" is a relative thing.

I know, that's why I asked that question.

And I was mentioning the OP.