It Looks Easy...

[itlookseasy]

Hey guys,
Been lurking for a week or two, and haven't really had many questions I couldn't find the answers for (great forum). There is so much to know about this business, and just like my handle, it looks easy (but it's not).

I was first interested in domains about 10 years ago, but life got overwhelming and I unfortunately let everything expire and gave up on the dream. Well, life has been a ride since then to say the least, and now I'm in a transition. Financially I'm at an all time low ( I made $0.00 last year), I sleep on a cot, and live primarily on PB&J and water. (Don't judge me haha) I've managed to get a couple broken old thinkpads off craigslist and fix them, took some youtube tutorials, and started designing and selling vector graphics online. I'm now taking the very little bit of income I get from that, and investing in domains with my hammy-down laptop. Luckily I eat cheap and my cot is portable. I hope one day I can thank some of you in my future success story

I'm trying to be picky with the names I hand register since my whole life is starting from literally ZERO, but I'm sure I'm already making mistakes. I have a book with around 1600 available names I found in the last week or so. I really need to figure out how to sell most of all. So far it's a bit daunting, and I still need to make my first sale. It's like I'm scared of the outcome good or bad. What I really need is a mentor. Or someone to say, look at this, this is how we make money. If only it were that simple.. HA

Anyway, time to cut the novel short. Thanks for reading, and I hope to meet some of you creative geniuses in the future.

Some coms I registered in the last week: Deadful, RiffClass, PVTinvestigate, Motocroz, Namefam

-William

 

[CamMK27]

Welcome to NP. Great to have you here.

 

[MillionDollarDomain]

Welcome to NP! All the Best

 

[xeroox]

welcome to NP. My advice reading your story would be: follow the coupon section and wait for some registant promotion. If you are registering in bulk you will save a lot of money

 

[DnFolk]

Welcome @itlookseasy but its actually not

 

[CrocodileDundee]

Welcome to the forum!

If you are one a tight budget I suggest you focus on exact match type domains, Geo+Service.com (LondonPlumbers.com etc) things which you can sell on immediately. Make your way over to expireddomains.net and learn everything about the features on there (it's free and your best resource for finding expiring domains).

Some tips;

Focus on domains with some search volume and advertising competition.

The more you read the more you will learn and you can alter your strategy, but in the beginning its better to focus on learning and trying to make some sales (selling should be your priority, anybody can buy)

Take domain privacy off your domains, you want people to be able to find your WHOIS information! Park your domains at Undeveloped.com or another parking service.

Focus on who is going to purchase your domain before you buy it. What is your enduser for RiffClass? Who is your end user for Motocroz? try and think like a business owner.

Be critical of your domains! Don't fall in love with them.

 

[Silentptnr]

Welcome William!

Thanks for sharing a little about yourself. Sounds like a peaceful, simplistic existence. I like it.

I will tell you this, study what sells every day.

Your budget will limit the types of domains you can buy. So carefully search for available names that can sell quickly here on NP for a profit.

Do not register names that won't sell. I would give you examples of good available names but others will register them if I post them.

Also, perhaps use Dynadot or a registrar where you can Grace Delete (cancel and get refund) so that if you get one, and it's not good, you can get some money back.

Also, if you can get say 5 decent names, you can do a bulk auction which might do quite well here.

Lots for you to learn about the selling part, but it takes some time.

Best of luck! You'll do fine.

 

[Danish Harjiani]

Welcome to NP

 

[FolioTeam]

Welcome to NamePros

 

[AIS01]

Super Welcome To nP...

 

[itlookseasy]

Welcome to NamePros

Welcome @itlookseasy but its actually not

Super Welcome To nP...

Thanks for that!! I hope every one of you has an extremely profitable weekend!

 

[private123]

Financially I'm at an all time low ( I made $0.00 last year)

Welcome William,
Last year I made also zero. I am entering domain sector SEP 2017.

 

[lambo.com]

I think hand regging is a tough gig with considerable risk. Lots of $10 annual renewals sure add up fast.

If I was you, knowing what I know now, I'd save up a bit and build a small position in some choice cryptocurrencies. Especially those where you can stake or even get a masternode. (revenue stream)

At least with crypto it is instantly liquid, with huge potential for increase (if you pick the right ones).

Lots of people here dislike cryptocurrencies but people like me will be selling to them in the 2020's when they finally get it.

Having nothing to lose can be a very positive thing if channeled correctly. Wishing you well.

 

[DOMAIN ILLUMINATI]

ʬʬʬELCOME @ nP

 

[WatchDogue]

Hello!

Welcome to NamePros and it's vast array of topics and sources of information.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for your post, @itlookseasy, and a most sincere welcome to NPs! As you have already seen, this helpful, skilled and vibrant community is always more than willing to share their expertise. I think that you are definitely taking the right approach by starting with a long list of possible names, and then looking for ways to analyze which are most likely to sell before buying them.

A number of people have already offered excellent advice and tips (hats off in particular to the posts by @Silentptnr and @CrocodileDundee !). I would stress that the Namebio database should be your friend here, start with possible names, and see what similar names have sold for, where, and when. I would also use the free automated tools GoDaddy GoValue and Estibot (5 per day are free). Certainly don't take their valuations as gospel and sometimes they are very wrong, but in addition to an "independent" estimate they provide additional comparators and (in Estibot case) information on search statistics and advertiser information.

A really important decision should be where you will place domains for sale once you have a few names to sell. I sense at this point that funds are really tight, so free choices are the best. I would recommend Undeveloped.com that is free to list on and they take a reasonable commission when you have a sale. Most importantly their landers look great, so it can help you build a professional presence without paying up front costs. Since Undeveloped act as the third party accepting payment and transferring name, it will give your potential purchasers confidence in the transaction. There are of course other options.

Since you need to be selective, I would make sure you are getting a few names with multiple possible buyers, and the hardest job is going to be coming up with a plan on how they will get in front of some of those buyers.

Not to be negative, but selling domains is certainly not a sure thing. Most domains go unsold for a long time. Even good names may never sell. Just to make sure your expectations are realistic that this is the way you want to invest your very hard earned and limited funds.

Welcome to the community, and we look forward to having you here. We all learn from each other!

Bob

 

[itlookseasy]

Welcome to NP! All the Best

Welcome to NP

Thank you guys!!

 

[xeroox]

Guess I haven't gotten around enough, there's a coupon section?? Great tip Thank you!

Here https://www.namepros.com/forums/domain-coupons-and-offers.358/
Build your list and wait for some promotion

 

[Nikhil Jain]

All the best there! Surely it will be a good journey ahead with the right research and implementation.

Welcome

 

[Rinkuji]

It Looks Easy ... Welcome Bro ..

 

[CrocodileDundee]

Thank you for that. All great tips I will use.

As far as the end users I imagine RiffClass being used for guitar classes, a youtube channel of short guitar riffs? Maybe a guitar blog? Motocroz I think of as a dirtbike/motocross company. Now who my customer is exactly, I'm trying to figure that out haha. Do you think someone experienced could turn a profit on those names? If you think they're complete trash it wont hurt my feelings, I'm not attached. (in my opinion!)

As far as privacy, I guess a PO box is my next purchase? Or is it ok to leave your home address in the WHOIS?

I appreciate the guidance, thank you!

When it comes to hand registering domains I try to keep it as niche and straight forward as possible, I.E - DenverMovers .com - SeattlePianoTuning .com etc etc Riffclass and Motocroz are not the worst domains in world particularly as some of your first reg's but I don't think they will sell (not anytime soon anyway). You might have to sit on those domains for 5 or so years just to get an inquiry - those are brandable type domains which are a bit of a lottery. It's very unlikely you are able to handreg anything of substantial value nowadays so it's better to focus on domains which have a very clear end users available that you can try reach out to via email and make a nice return on.

Most people just leave their personal information for everyone to see, althought you probably will get spammed with phone calls from people trying to sell your websites etc.. which happens to everyone

 

[itlookseasy]

Thanks for your post, @itlookseasy, and a most sincere welcome to NPs! As you have already seen, this helpful, skilled and vibrant community is always more than willing to share their expertise. I think that you are definitely taking the right approach by starting with a long list of possible names, and then looking for ways to analyze which are most likely to sell before buying them.

A number of people have already offered excellent advice and tips (hats off in particular to the posts by @Silentptnr and @CrocodileDundee !). I would stress that the Namebio database should be your friend here, start with possible names, and see what similar names have sold for, where, and when. I would also use the free automated tools GoDaddy GoValue and Estibot (5 per day are free). Certainly don't take their valuations as gospel and sometimes they are very wrong, but in addition to an "independent" estimate they provide additional comparators and (in Estibot case) information on search statistics and advertiser information.

A really important decision should be where you will place domains for sale once you have a few names to sell. I sense at this point that funds are really tight, so free choices are the best. I would recommend Undeveloped.com that is free to list on and they take a reasonable commission when you have a sale. Most importantly their landers look great, so it can help you build a professional presence without paying up front costs. Since Undeveloped act as the third party accepting payment and transferring name, it will give your potential purchasers confidence in the transaction. There are of course other options.

Since you need to be selective, I would make sure you are getting a few names with multiple possible buyers, and the hardest job is going to be coming up with a plan on how they will get in front of some of those buyers.

Not to be negative, but selling domains is certainly not a sure thing. Most domains go unsold for a long time. Even good names may never sell. Just to make sure your expectations are realistic that this is the way you want to invest your very hard earned and limited funds.

Welcome to the community, and we look forward to having you here. We all learn from each other!

Bob

Thank you Bob!

You made me think about some things. I was eyeballing undeveloped a few days ago, but was unsure if I should use it. I will definitely take a closer look now that you recommend it (and more than likely use it).

I don't think what you said is negative, real is real. I realize it could take time to make substantial profit, or even ANY profit at all, especially with mediocre/crummy names.

To me it's highly intriguing, and I actually enjoy everything about the process, researching, reading about it, learning. The thing I might not enjoy is giving names away for dirt because they don't sell. But that's the risk that's involved. I believe, for the average person, its easier to lose money than make a profit.

Thanks for your post, I will most likely park at undeveloped now.

 

[internext]

greetings @itlookseasy and welcome to np

 

[itlookseasy]

Welcome to NP. Great to have you here.

Hey thank you!!!

 

[itlookseasy]

Hello!

Welcome to NamePros and it's vast array of topics and sources of information.

Thank you!

YES it seems to be a massive library full of generous information gifted by many talented people. I'm so grateful to be here.