strategy Selling/Marketing Domain Names

[ThatNameGuy]

I spent, no invested a whopping $18.97 this am on these three names; StockTips.today, SimpliSilver.com, and SimplyCuddle.com. Note, I was thinking of a color for "cuddle" and this is what I came up with. Also note, "Simply" is with a "y" and not an "i" simply because it was available that way. Imagine it if you will as a "Dating Site" that may have some pretty serious potential?

Regardless of whether you think these or good names or bad names, they must be sold in order to turn a profit. I'm aware that some of you have your own sites, while others just list your names with other domain sellers. I've also learned/observed that some of you seem to be doing OK, while others are struggling This brings me to the title of this thread, "Selling/Marketing Domain Names". Applying the 80/20 rule, the majority of my domains apply to multi Billion dollar industries. Think of the names I registered this am, the "stock" industry, the "silver", and the "cuddle" industry.....just kidding, the "dating" industry....according to Wiki, a 2.5 Billion dollar industry. The one thing I know is, it's unlikely that decision makers in any of these industries are looking for me, and even if they were, they probably couldn't find me

This brings me to a selling/marketing strategy I've had for a while. This is why I've been seeking a partner of sorts, for about 90 days now. While I don't know for sure, I'm guessing leads are generated for most of you via things like Google Ad Works, social media, and registrars like GoDaddy. I'm also guessing this works for some of you, but not all Having been self employed since 1970 in a variety of businesses (some successful and some failures), I'm very familiar with the term lead generation. What I don't see is the likes of Google or GoDaddy aggressively going after industries like the business startup legal industry, the stock or financial services industry, the Silver industry or even the Dating industry.

Furthermore, generating leads is just the beginning of a possible sale. How many of you are skilled negotiators, or have even read the book the "Art of Negotiating"? I use to be in the Debt Collection business years ago, and while you might think, what does that have to do with the domaining business? Well, a lot when it comes to strategy. In the debt collecion business "good debt" was the debt you were able to collect, and "bad debt" was the debt you couldn't collect.....duh! As it turned out, 20% if my top collectors/negotiators collected 80% if the debt we collected each month. And they were the ones who made the most money

Finally, lets just take the three domains I registered. It's my opinion they have way to much potential value to list them on a bunch of registrars sites, and hope and pray they'll generate a lead resulting in a sale. Seriously, if any one of my top collector/negotiators couldn't get at least $1,000 for any or all three of these names I'd be shocked. And how much commission would I pay them? In all probability, a minimum of 20%, and maybe as high as 50% depending on the sale. I'd most likely scale their commission where the higher the domain sells for, the higher their commission becomes. For example, if "SimplyCuddle" sold or 10K, their commission would most likely range from 30 to 40%.

Thanks for listening to this 'ol DomainDrunk Happy New Year!

Bulloney

 

[BaileyUK]

Hi Bulloney, I must admit, you do remind me a little bit of myself in the mid late 90's, When I was first dabbling with domains. Back-then I would hand-write lists of my 'So called Desirable domains' Filling pages of A4 sheets. My first real self-taught lesson was never register a domain on impulse, So I got better at perusing my list day after day before pressing the 'Buy Button' Of course my (maybe/brought) lists just got longer and longer over time, necessity made me become a bit more market aware So I began to learn to cross-out domains and only register the strongest and shortest of terms.

An old advisor from my early days reminded me If I was to register just about all the best-terms in a available space (such as Simpli) then where was the development, usage and demand going to evolve from - Bit like owning a whole large peace of unused land, Without developed in-roads If you own it ALL who the hell is going to want to build there.

my next and I think most Important lesson was use the search engines (this was way before Google and the rest) Seek keywords that were already in play. But not in the mainstream of domaining terms. that's when I ran with the key word 'Smart' and I have to admit 'Spot' for Smart-Personal-Object-Technology' yep just coming into fruition back then. now SPOT pretty much died a death apart from one or two short word decent sales. SMART + a short techno type word/product however has served me well.

What I'm trying to hint or recommend here is reframe from being 'Totally Creative' or new in domain usage and use google to see to see where your "Simpli" concept is already in use but not yet fully exploited. that should tell you what your KEY terms are, and try to restrict your Ground to the best or most Likely to be picked-up on.

Now obviously It's a whole different ball game if your just going to go with new-extensions, like 'Today' I've never dabbled in this market and really cant see the point - Yep I did try the new ones from years ago..BIZ, .TV Never sold any that weren't just one word.

I must admit domains have kept me nicely occupied in retirement. However, Would I like to be entering the domain reselling market afresh Today ??? Not a Bloody chance

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Hi Bulloney, I must admit, you do remind me a little bit of myself in the mid late 90's, When I was first dabbling with domains. Back-then I would hand-write lists of my 'So called Desirable domains' Filling pages of A4 sheets. My first real self-taught lesson was never register a domain on impulse, So I got better at perusing my list day after day before pressing the 'Buy Button' Of course my (maybe/brought) lists just got longer and longer over time, necessity made me become a bit more market aware So I began to learn to cross-out domains and only register the strongest and shortest of terms.

An old advisor from my early days reminded me If I was to register just about all the best-terms in a available space (such as Simpli) then where was the development, usage and demand going to evolve from - Bit like owning a whole large peace of unused land, Without developed in-roads If you own it ALL who the hell is going to want to build there.

my next and I think most Important lesson was use the search engines (this was way before Google and the rest) Seek keywords that were already in play. But not in the mainstream of domaining terms. that's when I ran with the key word 'Smart' and I have to admit 'Spot' for Smart-Personal-Object-Technology' yep just coming into fruition back then. now SPOT pretty much died a death apart from one or two short word decent sales. SMART + a short techno type word/product however has served me well.

What I'm trying to hint or recommend here is reframe from being 'Totally Creative' or new in domain usage and use google to see to see where your "Simpli" concept is already in use but not yet fully exploited. that should tell you what your KEY terms are, and try to restrict your Ground to the best or most Likely to be picked-up on.

Now obviously It's a whole different ball game if your just going to go with new-extensions, like 'Today' I've never dabbled in this market and really cant see the point - Yep I did try the new ones from years ago..BIZ, .TV Never sold any that weren't just one word.

I must admit domains have kept me nicely occupied in retirement. However, Would I like to be entering the domain reselling market afresh Today ??? Not a Bloody chance

Bailey...here is where you totally missed my point, while I need to slow down, I don't buy every domain that simpli comes to mind, and btw, what did you think of my "SimplyCuddle".com domain for a dating site?.If you don't like it, that's fine, but with the passion and enthusiasm I bring to this game, I bet I can sell it for a damn good profit in the next 12 months. Sorry, I just drifted off the reservation (one of my many faults), but did you pay any attention at all to my sales strategy or marketing plan? I already have a "plan" for "developing" my property (my domains). If I recall, you were a "corporate" guy in the business world, and as such, when you drifted off the reservation, corporate was able to reel you back? I wouldn't have made a good corporate guy like you, and maybe that's why I've never worked for anyone, except maybe my wife Thanks for your post Bailey....I need a really good corporate guy to compliment my strengths, and you could work with me anytime. Note I said work "with" me. Thanks again,

Bulloney

 

[Kuffy]

I think the first thing you need to do is to decide on the type of domainer you are. I'm a treasure hunter, and a programmer, and the last part gives me problems these days with responsive sites using templates and CMS. It's taken me over a year to decide on the type of structure that I want to use. My feeling is the best sales come through "who is" enquiries, and I include direct navigation to the name with those, and through my own name listing sites. The problems come from building those, and getting them listed where potential buyers can find them. Any traffic you send to a third party site is building somebody else's business, and not your own.

 

[BaileyUK]

Thanks for the acknowledgement Bulloney, Yes I shouldn't have used the word "ALL". I was out of my edit time when indeed I picked-up on that over encompass. What I was trying to generalise on though was that in this day-and-age a good worthwhile investment term/word really needs to have had Market decisions already made in its favour but Not to anywhere near over use. Creativity built on 'near' stable foundations would probably be my learnt moto. A good usage word or term should already be in play , and it is important that the .DOT doesn't intervene (from general experience) I'm not saying it doesn't work just harder to be sold on . (Touchscreen.tv) was one of my earliest sales. Good domain investments - just like 20 years ago - still require hard graft. If you can think-up 20+ combinations and they're all available. It should be a Big warning Sign that your probably off-track with todays and tomorrows markets.

I do like the words "simplycuddle" as a dating domain No I'm not so sure. It would require a healthy marketing and product budget to bring it into a sort of not necessarily Touchy/Feely space. Otherwise the Pevs would have a field day. However as a Product line I think it's a great name . You wouldn't be able to TradeMark it as a soft toy product - bit it could be very good for soft toy marketing.

As for working, No I gave that-up 12 years ago, a couple of healthy pensions took care of that. My determination is now to actually build a site that interests me,and then hopefully others (bit like domains) taken me 20 years to get around to even thinking about it

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Thanks for the acknowledgement Bulloney, Yes I shouldn't have used the word "ALL". I was out of my edit time when indeed I picked-up on that over encompass. What I was trying to generalise on though was that in this day-and-age a good worthwhile investment term/word really needs to have had Market decisions already made in its favour but Not to anywhere near over use. Creativity built on 'near' stable foundations would probably be my learnt moto. A good usage word or term should already be in play , and it is important that the .DOT doesn't intervene (from general experience) I'm not saying it doesn't work just harder to be sold on . (Touchscreen.tv) was one of my earliest sales. Good domain investments - just like 20 years ago - still require hard graft. If you can think-up 20+ combinations and they're all available. It should be a Big warning Sign that your probably off-track with todays and tomorrows markets.

I do like the words "simplycuddle" as a dating domain No I'm not so sure. It would require a healthy marketing and product budget to bring it into a sort of not necessarily Touchy/Feely space. Otherwise the Pevs would have a field day. However as a Product line I think it's a great name . You wouldn't be able to TradeMark it as a soft toy product - bit it could be very good for soft toy marketing.

As for working, No I gave that-up 12 years ago, a couple of healthy pensions took care of that. My determination is now to actually build a site that interests me,and then hopefully others (bit like domains) taken me 20 years to get around to even thinking about it

Darn you Bailey....now look what you made me do....about SimplyCuddle, you said, " However as a Product line I think it's a great name . You wouldn't be able to TradeMark it as a soft toy product - but it could be very good for soft toy marketing." So what did I just run off the reservation and do? You guessed it, or maybe not...I just wasted another $8.49 and registered the name, "SimplySnuggle" Why? Four reasons: 1. the name was available
2. I could afford $8.49
3. Your observation of it being a "soft toy product" instead of a dating service
4. All good/great salepeople would love to have the luxury of saying "do you prefer to Cuddle or Snuggle Mr. Disney, or which one would you prefer to use for your soft toy, and which would you prefer for your dating site?

Thanks Bailey

 

[BaileyUK]

Yep I like them both, I do personally like to check the US and European trademark databases before I register these days. I don't really care (Well actually I quite like) If somebody goes to the expense of registering TM's after my domain registrations.

good luck mate - your certainly well worth engaging with, lets hope you stay around

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Yep I like them both, I do personally like to check the US and European trademark databases before I register these days. I don't really care (Well actually I quite like) If somebody goes to the expense of registering TM's after my domain registrations.

good luck mate - your certainly well worth engaging with, lets hope you stay around

appears no TM violation on the US side with either Cuddle or Snuggle. Cheers!

 

[Kpett]

If your hand-regs of today are worth a thousand dollars, they probably already would have been registered. Yeah, there are success stories here and there, but most hand regs aren't flipped for thousands in a short period of time. I think it will take a lot of work on your part to get what you want. Good luck.

 

[Kuffy]

I'm starting to believe that the scam listing at AfterNick (I likr that typo that another member made ), result from listing finds in the reg-of-the-day thread. If that is true, then it would seem thart some have perceived values of $x,xxx by some of the thread readers.

However, I have yet to sell one for more than $xxx, so I agree that I need to do a bit of work to maximise the gain.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

If your hand-regs of today are worth a thousand dollars, they probably already would have been registered. Yeah, there are success stories here and there, but most hand regs aren't flipped for thousands in a short period of time. I think it will take a lot of work on your part to get what you want. Good luck.

Without hand-regs, I'm sure I couldn't have built the kind of portfolio I own. My portfolio consists of specific "niche" domains like top "area code" domains, ".today" domains, "Simpli" domains "Memory" domains, etc. There were certain things about these types of domains that appealed to me like seeing my local university using "757Pitch" to "pitch" a business plan competition. or "757Sports" for local sports reports. My Simpli domains were a result of seeing an add on TV for a very successful security company called "SimpliSafe", thus I own domains today like, SimpliVegas, SimpliSexy, SimpliAmazing, SimpliCasual etc. Until becoming a member of NamePros I didn't know anything other than how to hang-reg a domain, but now that I know there's another method, I'm sticking to, and sticking up for, my original strategy

Bulloney

 

[BaileyUK]

There's definitely an Addiction to domains. Those ol' endorphins certainly kick-in. I think even those that have been 'relatively' successful with our domain investments over many years, can identify with the Perceptions that can come around. Like many, I've tried to analyse on a ad-hoc what is its bases ? I've certainly never been a gambler, even friends recognise I can quite happily spend an evening in a casino and not part with a penny (except at the bar) Unfortunately I only ever studied 'Industrial Psychology' (Work base stuff) Which I must admit served me well in a working environment . Anybody ever come across some analysis work or better qualified to comment? I enjoy all the banter here but, lets face it some of us must feel for the 'self perceivement' that so often shows itself

 

[ThatNameGuy]

There's definitely an Addiction to domains. Those ol' endorphins certainly kick-in. I think even those that have been 'relatively' successful with our domain investments over many years, can identify with the Perceptions that can come around. Like many, I've tried to analyse on a ad-hoc what is its bases ? I've certainly never been a gambler, even friends recognise I can quite happily spend an evening in a casino and not part with a penny (except at the bar) Unfortunately I only ever studied 'Industrial Psychology' (Work base stuff) Which I must admit served me well in a working environment . Anybody ever come across some analysis work or better qualified to comment? I enjoy all the banter here but, lets face it some of us must feel for the 'self perceivement' that so often shows itself

Bailey....Cheers!...my friend You said, "I've certainly never been a gambler, even friends recognise I can quite happily spend an evening in a casino and not part with a penny (except at the bar)" While Blackjack was my game, I never lost near as much as the 6K I have invested (note I didn't say gambled) in domain names and brands. I gamble for fun, and invest for gain. For example, I just bought the domain SimpliBrandabe for a site that will compliment my DomainImagination site for selling the 100+ Brandable domains that I've accumulated. Keep in mind, I don't care what other domainers think, I only care what end users think. Generally domainers like their own work far better than that of other domainers (their competition). Did you happen to notice that SimpliBrandable, the name I chose for my brandable domain site, is a brandable name, unlike the other brand sites I've been perusing? As you know, I bring a lot of enthusiasm and passion to this game, and what I've learned about business in general, if you combine things like passion, enthusiasm, common sense and practical experience, there's very little holding you back. Sound Bold? Sound Cocky? Sound Arrogant? Sound Confident? All of the above? Some domainers may not like me, but remember what I said about domainers and their opinions of other domainers

Bulloney

 

[DN_Hunter]

For example, I just bought the domain SimpliBrandabe for a site that will compliment my DomainImagination site for selling the 100+ Brandable domains that I've accumulated.

How does the DomainImagination Marketplace work? I visited that site, and it was just info on being part of the Epik Network, and reasons to invest in domains. But how would I browse your list of domain names?

One of my goals for last year was to create a Market Place for my domain names -- I found two services that each has their own pros/cons. Efty and ToughDomains -- you can see examples at the MarketPlaces in my signature. Although at some point I will have to commit to one of these (or perhaps a different service if a better one comes along).

Is DomainImagination suppose to be your online market place that lets me browse through your inventory?

Thanks,
DN

 

[ThatNameGuy]

How does the DomainImagination Marketplace work? I visited that site, and it was just info on being part of the Epik Network, and reasons to invest in domains. But how would I browse your list of domain names?

One of my goals for last year was to create a Market Place for my domain names -- I found two services that each has their own pros/cons. Efty and ToughDomains -- you can see examples at the MarketPlaces in my signature. Although at some point I will have to commit to one of these (or perhaps a different service if a better one comes along).

Is DomainImagination suppose to be your online market place that lets me browse through your inventory?

Thanks,
DN

Yes it is DN...while Epik is the registrar where I purchased DomainImagination, my site, like yours hasn't been developed. Epik is helping me with a lot of different things, and that's why I'm registering my domains with them instead of GoDaddy. I've checked out Efty as well and like their platform. If Epik can't accomodate me, that's where I may go?

As for my SimpliBrandable site, it should point to the DomainImagination site where I'll be selling both concepts. Thanks, and the best of luck to you in 2018