Ready to Quit!

[Broker]

Have'nt been able to sell a domain in months and I'm getting very frustrated. Have sent out hundreds of emails to potential endusers and not one reply of interest. Meanwhile tons of very odd domains are being sold everyday for thousands. This business is not treating me well at all. I just dont know what gives or what I'm doing wrong. :yell:

 

[Jeffrey]

Well, if your main bread and butter is domaining then that would be acceptable.

My last sale was a year ago plus my domains don't get a lot of traffic, but virtually, i'm not complaining. I know that good sale will come in its right time. I also enjoy developing some of my domains.

Well, in my opinion a mid $xxx sale every few months in not worth the effort.

I agree with Ronald above that development is a good way to go. :imho:

 

[Smith]

I know you have developed one property site Smith....and you now live in Dubai, do you have any plans to develop others related to Dubai or are you mainly interested in the PPC model ?

No plans to develop much stuff specific to the Dubai / UAE market at the moment, traffic is a bit limited, I look at it more of a testing ground.

PPC is easy, but there are talks behind the scenes of PPC coming to an end within 5 years and there isn't any replacement for it right now, so diversification is always a good idea.

 

[Kate]

ps - Do you know why people keep emailing me trying to sell me Dubai Homes ??

Perhaps it has to do with the nice property names in your sig

 

[gazzip]

No plans to develop much stuff specific to the Dubai / UAE market at the moment, traffic is a bit limited, I look at it more of a testing ground.

PPC is easy, but there are talks behind the scenes of PPC coming to an end within 5 years and there isn't any replacement for it right now, so diversification is always a good idea.

Thanks Smith, I have a few especially for development purposes, should be done long before that, I think there may also be great potential in advertising, banner ads etc - The UAE spends a fortune in advertising as far as I have read.

Perhaps it has to do with the nice property names in your sig

Ahhh, maybe - I never thought of that Kate, I will adjust my siggy to suit asap :tu:



...any ideas how all those other thousands of people that sent me emails know I have a little willy and need viagra ? - I have no idea I know I did'nt tell them !

.

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

...any ideas how all those other thousands of people that sent me emails know I have a little willy and need viagra ? - I have no idea I know I did'nt tell them !

LOL, gazzip!

This is an excellent thread, and I think that the points touched upon are very relevant to every single person that enters this forum. I have been in the domaining game since May, and I haven't sold any names yet. I am however, earning ad revenue (not much, but it's getting more stable every day, I pretty much get clicks every single day now-I suspect that's how it starts, small at first, then more each day.)

I too want to focus on developing, and have three development ideas that could become quite successful, but I am waiting on funds to buy software, and some other loose ends that need tied up.

I haven't contacted end-users as I truly have no desire to become a salesperson (I'm great at soft sales, but not hard). That is perhaps a downfall, but I choose to look at the other things that I can do make up for it, such as being a developer, and continuing to look for better ways to earn ad revenue. I would love to sell a name for $xx,xxx, but I think the more attractive thing to me right now is say, earning $x,xxx a month in revenue on names that I keep (and no, I'm nowhere near that yet!)

Once again, excellent thread.

 

[Giode]

Giode, its people like you we should all be using as our rolemodel! Well done in your success!

Thanks a lot dannbkk. Appreciate it! There are literally TONS of good examples to follow on this forum. I could start naming them, but I don't want to risk forgetting anyone

 

[Broker]

Yeah excellent thread for all of you. I'm the big baby who started it and I'm not quitting, just frustrated a little. Thread closed LOL

 

[estibot.com]

PPC is easy, but there are talks behind the scenes of PPC coming to an end within 5 years and there isn't any replacement for it right now, so diversification is always a good idea.

Wait.... what kind of talks? Who/what is "behind the scenes"? This should surely be interesting to all of us!

I am however, earning ad revenue (not much, but it's getting more stable every day, I pretty much get clicks every single day now-I suspect that's how it starts, small at first, then more each day.)

You bet your $$$ that's how it starts... unless you have a lot of money to invest up front, or score a lucky hand reg sale, "painfully slowly" is the word, and the next word you need is "perseverance". It took me 3 years of developing my rear end off until I started seeing any substantial growth in ad revenue. Still, it happens like this: for each site you develop, and for each traffic domain you park, the income goes up a few cents a day. Just got to keep adding good ones and dropping the bad ones. Eventually it starts to work.

You know what they say about success, it's 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration, well I think it is true for domaining and especially developing. And it takes years.

You read all these success stories, but they didn't happen overnight, the few who truly succeed worked very hard for very little before success happened.

Again, probably not true for those who bought domains in the 90's, well, all they had to do was hold on to them...

I too want to focus on developing, and have three development ideas that could become quite successful, but I am waiting on funds to buy software, and some other loose ends that need tied up.

Developing is good, if you have the time and the inclination, developing never hurts a domain. Appearing on page 1 in Google counts for something.


Good luck---
Josh

 

[Giode]

Thin*com is one of the best names I have seen owned by a member of this forum. Potentially seven figures!

Hey Gooster. Appreciate the compliment on thin .com! I wish someone would tell this to all the low-ballers who frequently make offers for this name. I have had some serious interest lately, from and end-user or two. We'll see what happens.

Thanks again!

I'd be interested in knowing the details of the "leg-work" you needed to do to turnover these domains.

There are many ways to get creative in searching for end-users. What seems to work best (for me) is using Google Adwords to help identify who the best candidates would be. I'll use Cushion.com as an example.

When you type the word "cushion" into the Google search engine, you notice the "Sponsored Links" at the top of the page, and right side. These companies are paying Google to advertise based off of that specific keyword. In other words, they are looking to increase traffic, and hopefully sales, based off of that keyword. These are your best candidates to sell to since you already know they are paying good money for the Adwords campaign.

Include a brief explanation about the value of generic names, and the resulting type-in/targeted traffic that these names can produce, in an email to these companies. Your response rate will be MUCH higher using this method.

Other than that, just send emails to as many relevant companies as you can. The bigger companies will have "gatekeepers" intercepting any emails you send, before the decision makers get to read them. Just hope that the gatekeepers have enough sense to forward it on to the correct parties.

Hope this helps!

 

[snoop]

Have'nt been able to sell a domain in months and I'm getting very frustrated. Have sent out hundreds of emails to potential endusers and not one reply of interest. Meanwhile tons of very odd domains are being sold everyday for thousands. This business is not treating me well at all. I just dont know what gives or what I'm doing wrong. :yell:

Here is a few tips,

-Endusers come to you, they want specific names, trying to find them really doesn't work well, occasionally someone might be lucky but the very essence of an enduser sale is that the person really wants a *specific* domain.

-Odd and not so great names sell for high prices daily, but the odds are low, companies like buydomains sell only 1% of their inventory per year, and the quality and sales process is above average.

-I would probably suggest focusing on domains of certain value rather than replying on low probability sales to endusers, eg 3 letter domains, popular keywords etc.

 

[Giode]

Here is a few tips,

-Endusers come to you, they want specific names, trying to find them really doesn't work well, occasionally someone might be lucky but the very essence of an enduser sale is that the person really wants a *specific* domain.

-Odd and not so great names sell for high prices daily, but the odds are low, companies like buydomains sell only 1% of their inventory per year, and the quality and sales process is above average.

-I would probably suggest focusing on domains of certain value rather than replying on low probability sales to endusers, eg 3 letter domains, popular keywords etc.

I agree with Snoopy. IF you can wait for them to come to you, you hold a lot more leverage in negotiating higher dollars. Takes patience!

 

[moped]

The weak USD sucks for affiliate earnings, I'm in NZ and the USD is worth exactly half what is was when I started domaining back in 99. Affects parking revenue, but on the upside dot coms are cheaper to own.

 

[998617]

Bad Luck

 

[pokainc]

Feel exactly what you feel Hasrob. I own mostly Dubai/UAE related names and I have tried sending emails to Dubai Companies, but no luck.

I even created a www.DubaiDomainNames.com and pointed almost all my domains to it in hopes of maybe increasing traffic and getting some offers.

In yahoo if you search 1)Dubai Domain(s), 2) Dubai Domain Name(s), I'm in the top searches. And still no substantial offers. Two people showed interest, then didn't hear from them again.

I hear of people selling Dubai domains for Xxxx$ to XXxxx$ range. If I get high xxx$ for some I would be satisfied. But even that is not happening and in all fairness I think I do have some high quality Dubai/UAE names.

It's extremely frustrating especially if more money has to be invested to keep some of the names.

In a sad way it feels sorta better to know I'm not alone in this mess.

 

[jestew]

Other than that, just send emails to as many relevant companies as you can. The bigger companies will have "gatekeepers" intercepting any emails you send, before the decision makers get to read them. Just hope that the gatekeepers have enough sense to forward it on to the correct parties.

to get around the "gatekeepers," call the company at 5:15. The secretary leaves at 5:00 but the guy that calls the shots doesn't leave until 6:00 or 7:00.

 

[Albert]

to get around the "gatekeepers," call the company at 5:15. The secretary leaves at 5:00 but the guy that calls the shots doesn't leave until 6:00 or 7:00.

Good try. LOL. A very unique trick!

 

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

Don't try to make a killing!

Remember, don't try to makea killing right off the bat! Let's say you reg 20 fairly good name at $10 each. $200 invested. Then 6 months later, you sell them at different prices, but you get $300 bucks for the lot. Maybe you lost $2 on one, made $4 on another. No matter what, you came out $100 ahead! Now, you can reinvest say 75% of that, and go buy something with the other $25. Keep doing this over and over. I know, I'n talking crap! Ha! :hi:

Frank

 

[xynames]

I send out zero outgoing lately and sell almost weekly, with daily inquiries. If you are not even getting inquiries, your issue is either (1) exposure or (2) desirability of your domains.

 

[spencyr]

Reading about other peoples difficulties can really help newbies.... thanks for bringing up this old thread, it gave me some ideas to run after.

 

[miklcct]

I think alot of people don't realize how much money may be available to them... Think of family members, close friends, acquaintances, etc... Show them the kind of profits you've been making (assuming you are making them). If you're making profits, chances are they're annihilating that GIC/bond rate.. Start a business and make them a partner in the business. I'm looking into doing this myself right now -- not because I'm broke or need the money, but because it would allow me to scoop up the opportunities I sometimes miss due to having my funds tied up.

My family members don't have money (all are locked into useless properties in rural areas and they won't sell even the value has been appreciated for multiple times), none of my close friends want to start any business even I want to start one writing websites/apps, and I need to take a personal loan out of my bank in order to support my living if one day I decide to start a business (by myself) because my full time job only barely supports my living and there is no better opportunity in the town I am living. In this case how can I afford anything premium?! Therefore I only stick with reg fee domains.