Mistakes you made as a newbie

[Joseph David]

As a newbie in the domaining world. What mistakes have you made in regards to name registration or closing a deal or any other mistake you made generally. Let others learn from you.

The experts can also share some info, it will be appreciated.


- As for me I registered some crappy names. I hate seeing them in my portfolio.

 

[BaileyUK]

Back in 1999/2000 all the decent .coms were long gone. So my logic at the time was that .Net must be in demand before long, probably registered about 300 of them over a year or two. But that wasn't the biggest mistake - That was holding on to them for about ten years. Lesson learnt Don't settle for second best in anything because buyers certainly wont

Second biggest mistake, was letting my portfolio get to large.and too diverse. At its peak it was around 2000 domains in 2007. Never really got to concentrate on selling domains until I had reduced the portfolio to around 600. Lesson learnt Keep control and manage your expenditure ahead of time. Concentrate on what brings in the money

Have to add whats kept me in the game (over 20 years) and in profit. Recognizing that good Brandables and Product names were ready to be the next best sellers while everybody was chasing generic domains. I just had to know what was coming on to the market - so put all my efforts into understanding new technologies. There was plenty coming to market as computing power was ramping-up and miniaturizing. Lesson learnt, we all have our skills and fortes you just have to discover where they lay .

 

[Millionaire]

Though I still consider my domain knowledge equivalent to a newbie, now I have a small portfolio of around 110 domains which doesn't make me feel bad. Some are good, some average, some below average. But the majority of them are saleable but when no one knows.

As a complete newbie, I wasted around $200 on hand reg. on my 2nd day of domaining. But luckily somehow I recovered that amount from this lot. I was surprised when I made a sale of .exchange extension. This was the 3rd name I registered & returned 50% of the amount I spent on the whole lot. Then I sold those names at wholesale price & reinvested in better names after reading this forum for the next 4-5 months. Repeated this again & again. All these 110+ are acquired from domains income only. No fresh capital. Now payment for one small retail sale of $200 is pending, expected to get credited today. Will get more names.

But still, a lot to learn!

Few points -
*Spend at least 3months learning on this forum before investing in your first domain

* stay away from hand reg for 1st year.

* Read & make notes for future reference.

*When you start hand registering names, don't register it immediately. Write the list & look at it at least 4-5 times within 2 or 3 days. If you still feel them worthy, go for it.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

A great idea for a discussion - thank you @Joseph David . I would echo, and made, many of the mistakes already mentioned in this thread. Registered too many at the beginning, let a portfolio get too large for me (what is right size depends on person and circumstances), acquire almost great (or second best some would say) domain names, too many domains that were very similar, acquire domains in areas I thought I understood but really did not at a deep enough level, and expand into too many niches (so yes, made both mistakes there - at first too narrow, then too broad). I have let go domain names I should have held, and kept some I should have let go. Priced too low. Turned down an offer I should have accepted. I could go on, but you get the idea, I made a few mistakes!

I think mistakes are part of life, and while any of us can learn many things from reading, listening to others, etc., in a way, we all learn from our mistakes. At least, I hope we do. Reflecting periodically is really important in domain investing.

Here is what I find helpful in trying to avoid too many mistakes.

• Define who you are as a domainer before you start. Like is your goal to sell $$$$$ domains to big companies and make this your business, or you see this as a side gig and never want to lose money on this. Or simply a hobbyist finding this fun.
• Sleep on every acquisition decision. The vast majority of mistakes, had I waited longer, I probably would not have got them.
• Try to talk yourself out of every acquisition. I learned this on NamePros long ago, but forget from who. It is great advice to try to convince yourself that a domain name is not good, before investing in it.
• Limit yourself. I find it helpful to set limits - like only spend in domain names what you make from domain names, or set some other limit like one new acquisition per week or something.
• What are you proud of? I don't mean as a person, but that is good too , I mean if I asked you what are the 10 domain names that are in your portfolio that you feel are highest quality, you should know the answer, and why, and be treating those names with the respect they deserve in terms of getting a good price for them. The converse works with your worst 10.
• Emotions, emotions, emotions. In conventional investing emotions are what often separates successful investors. The same is true here. Don't feel you absolutely must have any particular domain name I recently listened to an interview with a person who we would regard as one of the more successful investors. Tons of great sales. He disclosed he never bids in auctions, cause too easy to get swept up and pay too much.

Best wishes to everyone, thanks for all the great responses, and thanks again for starting the thread.

Bob

 

[BaileyUK]

I have a question tho : many says domaining is a game of numbers, the higher your domain portfolio, the higher the chances of making a sale. How true?

Not true. Those that talk about it being 'Purely' a numbers game are usually those that already have got caught up in over bloated portfolios or think they have made no sales because they don't have enough.

The basics are, you can have thousands of rubbish domains, where does that lead to a sale ??. You have to understand that the market you are selling into is 99% professional as either a business or a successful domainer. Having a basket of a thousand rotten apples does not make you an apple salesman. But having a small tray of ripe apples will.

You build on what is successful and that's Never bulk. Indeed You have to build your skills on buy-and-try but that doesn't require thousands of buys. Far too many here get over committed on a bad buying policy, then find themselves in too deep to acknowledge or even look for a way out. They tend to be the most vocal on here NP about everything they 'Think' they got right without wanting to face everything they've got wrong.

You'll soon spot them - They only know how to sing off one hymn sheet

 

[FolioTeam]

Registering 50 bad names in one day

 

[J Sokol]

My biggest beginner's error was thinking that names I found to be funny or clever would have market value. This was not ever the case.

 

[FolioTeam]

Wow. So how did you go about It.

Did any results into a sale?

Registered another 30 shortly after. Made a sale of 1650 (my first) from the second batch. Dropped the rest (a total of 79 when added to the first 50). So, I made some profit my first year but barely. Luckily, I have a day job.

By my 9th month, when I was sure I was dropping the rest, I hunkered down and studied like my life depended on it. It took me another 6 months before I bought another name. The rest is history.

Now, I mostly buy from auctions, aftermarkets and bargain bins. I still register some names but they are mostly in future tech.

 

[TheBaldOne]

For me, Being rigid in negotiations.

Yes, there should always be room for movement.

BUT......

….. When a potential buyer asks the price and you give it you should never move if the potential buyer has not given a counter offer number. To move your price by just one penny or one cent without a counter offer having been made is ridiculous, we the 'owners' of the domains are not the supplicants in the negotiation process, but we become the supplicants if we allow the potential buyer to dictate where the negotiations will start by not giving a counter offer. If you just continually allow your price to drop then you might as well be running a 'Dutch Auction'.

 

[NameBuyer.com]

Second biggest mistake, was letting my portfolio get to large.and too diverse. At its peak it was around 2000 domains in 2007. Never really got to concentrate on selling domains until I had reduced the portfolio to around 600. Lesson learnt Keep control and manage your expenditure ahead of time. Concentrate on what brings in the money

This is some of the best advice to start out with. Keep your collection concise, manageable, and profitable before trying anything else.

Domain investing can be whatever you make of it. I've had people contact me who made close to $100k in 2 years with less than 100 domains. But they were buying domains in the $xxx-$xxxx range at auction that were in high demand.

On the other extreme, there are people like Mike Mann with 300,000+ domains.

So you can go for a big portfolio, small portfolio, or anything in between. As long as you do it right, success can come in different forms regardless of the number of domains you own.

As time goes on, I'd also suggest periodically getting rid of the bottom 5-10% of your domains when they come time to renew. Then spend that money on better names based on your most recent knowledge to keep things evolving.

 

[Samer]

three-word .coms

they’re available and everywhere.

I was always tempted hand reg, and buying.

Keep it short “Less is more”

Samer

 

[mr-x]

Don't settle for bad names, i.e. carssale.com. People buy these because they are lazy, don't have a good understanding of english or are overly enthusiastic.

Don't register names by hand unless you have a solid buyer in mind before hand. Before you know it, you've spent $100 on a yearly liability.

Use discipline, save the $40 a month you'd spend on lousy hand registrations and buy a decent .com.

 

[TheBaldOne]

You develop all your domain into website? Is that not an extra cost? And how is it better than just selling domain?

At first I didn't, then I started to and instead of selling just the domain name I would contact end users and ask about affiliate options for their products with the option also to just buy the site, it increased the end users interest considerably leading to many more sales. Often the sites were not even published but rather the prospective end user was given access to the developed site to view it - something many really appreciated and often that built up business confidence between us.

I have taken several years off from serious domaining and just returning now, the names in my signature will be the ones I shall likely develop next. (About 10 years ago I developed JesusChri.st but made the mistake of using the NKJ Bible - which of course brought a C&D flying through the ether. Mind you I did get it up to an alexa ranking of circa. 250,000 within 2 months of publishing the site, but having spent a month working on it I was put off doing it again, this time though I will plan on spending 3-6 months on each before offering them to an end user.)

Domainers should in my opinion look more seriously at developing their domains into sites, after all when we register domains we invariably view them as the possible sites they could become. As to cost, well that is relatively low in monetary terms but can be expensive in time consumption - but this reduces as you get competent using the design package. Also of course with affiliate programs you can soon get a steady flow of income which more than offsets renewal and hosting costs.

Hope this helps and encourages you.

 

[karmaco]

These are very common mistakes for those new to domaining.

1.overpaying on names at auctions (know your budget and if name is actually worth it)

2.Reversed names- Adjective comes before a noun not after it

3.not checking for trademarks and how they could interfer with your names. This should be done at least once a year.

4.Not checking similar names for development and weighing that. One a 2 word the words reversed-is it developed?

5.Registering names without asking who would want this name and why?

6.Registering names you like but that have no discernible market value

7.Registering names that don’t make sense. Putting any two words together that don’t make sense just because they are available.

8. Contacting trademark owners. Don’t do it.

9. Overpricing names or underpricing names.

10. Expecting instant success and fortune.

11. Having a one year plan does not lead to success. Registering a ton of names and then dropping them every year is not a great business plan. Register or buy names you intend to keep and believe in.

12. Acting like a desperado and mucking it up when approached about a name OR acting like your name is Gods gift with outrageous pricing that doesn’t match quality.

13. Making purchasing decisions solely from domain valuation bots

14. Registering more names than you can afford to maintain

 

[trelgor]

"Your domains are pigeon shit"
"Only invest in exact match keyword domains"
"Brandables suck"
"Research data metrics before you buy"
"Check traffic"
"Check alternate extensions"
"Check age"
"Radio test"
"Good domains never drop to registration fee level"

I took a couple of years, but I finally freed myself and my profit of all of this bad counsel from another era.

It's about the name, duh.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

registering domains without checking these websites below for the keywords in my domain.

uspto.gov
wipo.int

Trademarks

 

[ThatNameGuy]

As a newbie in the domaining world. What mistakes have you made in regards to name registration or closing a deal or any other mistake you made generally. Let others learn from you.

The experts can also share some info, it will be appreciated.


- As for me I registered some crappy names. I hate seeing them in my portfolio.

I registered some too, but probably my biggest mistake was not having a technical partner to help me implement my ideas and my plans to "outbound" domains to the "end user" market.

I'm keenly aware that the kinds of domains I register are mostly "average", and need to be sold to the markets they're intended for.

I've attracted a couple of sweat equity talents in the last 90 days who share my vision.

Finally, i spent my first year registering mostly new gTLD's because I like them so much. However I've since learned that few endusers really understand them.....even the college kids Thus my portfolio has evolved to become 85% .coms. Despite my being 72 years young, I'm pretty progressive and I luv a challenge. I especially like it when someone says, "you can't do that" or "you don't know what you're talking about" That's all the motivation I need

Thanks for the thread!

 

[Joseph David]

Thinking further, Perhaps you could share some of your experiences under this mentor, I appreciate it wouldn't be possible to name names, or direct examples of domains. But I'm sure we would all like to read how this is working out for you.

Perhaps a general overview of commissions earned, number of domains worked on. Your personal experience on replies to your outbound emails..

• Experience: Well, it has been quite intriguing, working under Let me say Mr A. I came into the game a complete newbie and trust me there is alot of learning to be done coupled with the fact that I have limited resource but I want to take action. I was reading up, saw the offer and I took it. I work on a maximum of 5 domain at the initial which I will pick the one I want to work on in his portfolio. I made some mistakes in outbounding but then got corrected, in the process I learnt the art of outbounding cause I use only his sales letter(no expection, no fine tunning, use what I give you). This trims my excitement that I have initially but it Shaped me( there is a professional way of doing things, I had to learn that). I started asking questions you know as I mostly got no reply( his answer: it part of the game, keep outbounding. You will the right end user). Got tried at some point but I learnt the waiting game. I never though of that.

• Remember money comes only when you make a Sale so I was eager to make one. He told me one day to drop some of the domains am working on that I don't have an eye for good domains and not all domain sells in the first year. ( Was surprised and curious at the same time. So I went back to his portfolio and picks some domain I hated most in his portfolio. Trust me I will never spend my money to buy such domain)

• Within 2 hours of working on the domain I got my first sale in the high $$$. Was surprised( learnt to see what people want not what I want).

• Note I am solemnly given the responsibility to negotiate. When I got a reply I revert back to him to get his response cause the domain was put on MKAE AN OFFER. He told me It is your call, it is your sell. ( Learnt not to be greedy and at the same time not to go too low.)
• After this sale I got unlimited access to his portfolio. I only Point and excute

• My comission: PRIVATE

• My mistakes: when I want to register my own domain. I do didn't consult him.I ended up registering crappy names. He lately ask if I had my domian am working on. Told him its crap. He laughed Said its part of the game.

• Overall: I learnt much In a short period of time( Am just 1 month old in domaining). I will actually say as a newbie get a mentor. He is not about me selling but also learning the art. Tho I make sales.

• His personal words will always be there is always a gem of names waiting to be registered daily. If you loss one, move on. There are millions waiting to be registered.

It's been good for me. Hope I answered your question

 

[King]

Nice thread. For me, 1ST & WORST mistake was choosing GoDaddy & registering tons of domains with them , their upsales of "hey wanna add these 7 other extensions for only 50$ more" at the time it seemed like a deal! & in my mind at the time I thought since companies like FB were shelling out thousands & millions for every domain extension, I thought hey why not register them now & avoid paying that much! I never sold a single domain I registered with them as I failed to properly list them, mainly because I assumed I would develop them & then sell the website with all those extra extensions, which I never ended up doing because I was a complete idiot. I would even renew them & add years of registration I rarely did research on the domain market & just thought every domain was a good investment. After I finally realized the BS I got myself into around 2017 I decided that GD auctions were better than hand reg, it's not, I let my emotions take over in winning those overpriced domains as I saw the price going higher I thought it meant it was a good domain since other investors were bidding Never sold any of those either. Fast forward to 2019 & I finally got out of my I know everything mindset, leaving GD, started doing more market research found & joined NP started learning a lot, what sells, what won't. Now I am working with a portfolio of around 150, mostly .com domains. Developing some & hoping for a good 2020.

Hopefully, the domain noobies are getting valuable insights from this thread & not letting their arrogance drive their domain acquisitions or they'll end up losing thousands as I did.

LEARN! INVEST IN YOURSELF FIRST!

 

[karmaco]

Newbie mistakes or people who do not have a grasp on the English language can be witnessed all day every day on dropping lists and auctions. The level of pure random trash that routinely gets registered is astounding. Many make my original crap registrations look not that bad after all.

While I made registering mistakes like everyone the first year, I am fortunate because I was able to make a great profit anyways with crypto and coin names that year. This is not typical and I got lucky in that regard to begin not long before a big trend.

Since then,its been all about refining and getting better names. I think another mistake anyone can make is not sticking to their wheel house. Some people seem to have no clue what a good two word is. You have to work with your strengths.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Registered domains with Google PageRank thinking it would sell for good money. Later found out that those domains were having fake PageRank. Didn't knew fake PR was also anything before that!

 

[BrandAptly.com]

1. Operating by the herd mentality and not thinking outside the box.
2. Approaching it like a hobbyist and not a business person.
3. Being reluctant to apply business skills acquired from other industries.
4. Not taking advantage of opportunities created by loopholes in the industry.
5. Relying on domain appraisal bots to determine what domains to get.
6. Being afraid to lose money and not taking more risks.
7. Not making more inevitable mistakes a lot sooner.

 

[TheBaldOne]

Biggest mistake as a newbie I made was not planning from the start to develop domains into stand alone websites. I think that actually applies to 99% of domainers as well.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

At first I didn't, then I started to and instead of selling just the domain name I would contact end users and ask about affiliate options for their products with the option also to just buy the site, it increased the end users interest considerably leading to many more sales. Often the sites were not even published but rather the prospective end user was given access to the developed site to view it - something many really appreciated and often that built up business confidence between us.

I have taken several years off from serious domaining and just returning now, the names in my signature will be the ones I shall likely develop next. (About 10 years ago I developed JesusChri.st but made the mistake of using the NKJ Bible - which of course brought a C&D flying through the ether. Mind you I did get it up to an alexa ranking of circa. 250,000 within 2 months of publishing the site, but having spent a month working on it I was put off doing it again, this time though I will plan on spending 3-6 months on each before offering them to an end user.)

Domainers should in my opinion look more seriously at developing their domains into sites, after all when we register domains we invariably view them as the possible sites they could become. As to cost, well that is relatively low in monetary terms but can be expensive in time consumption - but this reduces as you get competent using the design package. Also of course with affiliate programs you can soon get a steady flow of income which more than offsets renewal and hosting costs.

Hope this helps and encourages you.

Thanks Bill...i agree, and as a business guy all my life most every domain I register has a business plan/vision behind it. The idea of buying a domain and holding it for years hoping and praying someone will find it and pay big bucks frankly nauseates me This is why I've partnered with technical talents to compliment my marketing expertise. For those of you who have technical talent and little or no marketing skills, I'd highly recommend you partner with someone who can help you sell your domains even if you have to pay them a 50% commission. After all 50% of something is far greater than 100% of nothing

 

[CraigD]

WE LOST BIG TIME. But CraigD was actually onto it and helped save many.

I do hope the alleged $27,000 male escort service, $6,000 liposuction procedure, $10,000/month penthouse apartment in Miami, $6,000 chihuahua dog, and $60,000 Moroccan office furniture, were worth the aggravation caused to 900,000 customers!

If you guys are wondering what I am talking about, this Wikipedia page on Registerfly is a good read about what can go terribly wrong in the domain registry industry.