poll Shotgun Vs Sniper approach?

[Kyle Tully]

Every few days watching the domain drops I'll see a flurry of keyword domains dropping.

e.g. One day there might be dozens of "meta" names dropping, a few days later it might be "spatial". Whatever the hot topic was a year or two ago.

Typically there may be one or two OK names in the bunch, but they tend to get progressively worse as you go through the list. The sign of someone going on a "shotgun" hand-reg spree. And my first thought is always what a waste of money... my approach has been more that of a sniper, picking off only the best names (IMO) that I plan to keep for 10+ years and testing the waters before going deeper.

This has worked very well for me, e.g. I had a thesis about a specific type of .gg name, reg'd 3 and sold 2 for $5k each within a year. Reinvested those profits into more of the same type of name. Did the same in the gambling niche, turning 2-figures into 5 within 18 months. I only have a handful of AI names for the same reason.

But what you don't see with all those names dropping is what the investor sold from that bunch of names. They might have registered 100 and sold 5. Perhaps the shotgun approach works better?

I'd love to hear what style of investing you tend to take when going into new niches or spotting new trends and how it has worked for you.

Do you take a shotgun approach, grabbing everything that fits a loose criteria and planning to drop names? Or are you taking more of a sniper approach and only getting what you consider to be the best names you plan to hold?

 

[cooljub]

Sniper. I don't splurge on trends or even follow them really. I just buy a name if I like it and it's not too expensive. I can only afford to hold a few names anyway..

Until I get my moonshot sale that is

 

[karmaco]

I get only a few of the best remaining unregistered. Moderation is key.

 

[Kyle Tully]

Sniper. I don't splurge on trends or even follow them really. I just buy a name if I like it and it's not too expensive. I can only afford to hold a few names anyway..

Until I get my moonshot sale that is

I’ve had one moonshot hit already and I think the danger is in changing your strategy where you end up buying names that aren’t in your wheelhouse.

The most dangerous time to buy names is after a sale (when you feel rich) because your usual criteria get softened.

 

[DNAAS]

How can you be a sniper when domain names are not scientific?

There is no underlying algorithm.

There are lot of unwritten rules and stories and at the end of the day it is not like houses which go up in price because of demand and location.

The TLDs come as close to location but really only in USA and any market trying to crack the USA.
Outside the USA lots of TLDs and hyphens are used happily (especially Germany)

It's why none of the valuation sites work as there is no algo nor any defined rules.

You will say but look at 4L.com - but again there are lots of 5L and 6L that are more expensive and not necessarily in .com

 

[Kyle Tully]

How can you be a sniper when domain names are not scientific?

There is no underlying algorithm.

There are lot of unwritten rules and stories and at the end of the day it is not like houses which go up in price because of demand and location.

Part of the reason for the thread is because I’m not sure my “sniper” approach is the right way.

But my way of thinking has been there is an underlying algorithm.

You can study keywords and business names and see there are definite trends in how people name companies. Names that match those keywords/trends have a higher STR and/or higher selling price.

So while I can’t say which specific names will sell, if I have a portfolio of 100 names that match a certain formula I’m confident 1-2% of them will sell each year at a certain price.

If I stray too far from that formula either STR or price decline.

But where I think the shotgun approach might have an advantage is in really hot emerging niches like AI.

E.g. you might have been able to get a 3-5% STR on otherwise average names just because the market is so frothy, then drop everything that didn’t sell from that bucket.

 

[DNAAS]

Is that algorithm at reseller level or user level?

Most of it is from these forums

 

[Kyle Tully]

Is that algorithm at reseller level or user level?

Most of it is from these forums

I only sell to end users.

 

[DNAAS]

Ok so what's more important the word(s) or the google searches or the cpc?

 

[Kyle Tully]

Ok so what's more important the word(s) or the google searches or the cpc?

Words

 

[biggie]

Hi

you can't snipe anymore.

so, best to have bigger than anticipated budget to hopefully get your choice picks

imo...

 

[DNAAS]

But look at the bed and beyond. No one here would have foreseen that and in fact many are still arguing over it even though it sold.

 

[Kyle Tully]

But look at the bed and beyond. No one here would have foreseen that and in fact many are still arguing over it even though it sold.

Baby and Beyond is actually a great example to learn from.

The sniper approach here was to register just that one name.

"With the idea that BABYandBEYOND.com would make a great baby brand for Bed Bath and Beyond, BABYandBEYOND.com was hand-registered on 11/10/2002."

He had a thesis and registered the name for a specific reason. The article didn't mention why he thought they might go into baby products, but it's possible there were some hints that made this a somewhat likely scenario.

The shotgun approach would have been to register dozens/hundreds of baby names for lots of different companies. Or to register tons of different "and beyond" names for different industries BB&B might go into. As far as I can see from his portfolio he didn't do this.

I don't know which approach is actually better in terms of ROI.

 

[Kyle Tully]

you can't snipe anymore.

What do you mean?

 

[Samer]

I’ve tried both methods;
I like sniper more; slow and steady wins the race; and let’s be real, @Kyle Tully do you foresee the “shotgun” method making a portfolio of quality?

I despise “BabyandBeyond” as the worst .com sale of all time; it is actually the perfect example of a dumpster fire co. in decline wasting money.

I may biased, BedBathBeyond is a dumb brand;
BabyandBeyond (babies and beyond?) ripoff of it.

BedBathBeyond owns Beyond(.)com and even BBBY(.)com but Baby and Beyond is just dumb. Why havent they rebranded to Beyond yet?

 

[Kyle Tully]

I’ve tried both methods;
I like sniper more; slow and steady wins the race; and let’s be real, @Kyle Tully do you foresee the “shotgun” method making a portfolio of quality?

Thanks, good to hear from someone who has tried both.

I don't think the shotgun approach makes for a good portfolio... but if the method is more mass reg, sell at volume quickly, then drop, rinse and repeat, then I could see it working.

 

[Samer]

Thanks, good to hear from someone who has tried both.

I don't think the shotgun approach makes for a good portfolio... but if the method is more mass reg, sell at volume quickly, then drop, rinse and repeat, then I could see it working.

My favorite quote on this industry:
“It’s all a numbers game”

But sometimes it’s hard to quantity their worth : )

 

[Samer]

What is your favorite source to see expiring domains, you may know more about this topic than me, @Kyle Tully

I never thought of using expiring domains to give me registration ideas. —i like it; not going to lie; but if you arent overzealous shotgunning imo.

 

[Kyle Tully]

I use expireddomains.net and have about 30 different filters set up for different types of names I like to buy.

 

[Jannes]

Always a sniper, just sometimes more trigger-happy.