domain Social.com

[BlueSkies]

I'd like to get some appraisals from the members of this forum on the name
Social.com

This is the 6 letter dictionary word.

Some history on the name:

I registered the name in 1995. In that year, I was using the name for a web site I called the Social Cafe. The Social Cafe was Cool Site of the Day on Jun 22, 1995

In October of 2006 the name was out of my possession for a couple weeks until my Registrar at the time, Namesecure, was able to recover it. It is now at Moniker and I intend to put it up for auction in early 2007.

Your kind opinoins are appreciated!

- BlueSkies

 

[edit]

You should be getting Press releases ready for when the auction begins, you need everyone to know this name is on sale! whether they are a domainer or not, big companies may not be looking at sedo

 

[Mike]

Somewhere on NP there's a thread about press releases and so forth. Also, call Sedo and talk to a rep there; this DN is a high ticket item, it's in Sedo's best interest to stir the media pot. If you're just listing the domain without pushing all available media buttons you WILL see lower sales results.

 

[WilliamKeller]

WOW
I really can't think of a better time to sell this domain then now
With myspace and so on i'm sure that there are alot of people that would like to get their hands on this domain
high 6 maybe 7 figures for an easy sale

 

[TheBulldog]

Meh, don't bother it isn't worth squat. Tell you what, I will save you the headache and take it off your hands for reg fee.

Oh, and holy quacamole, you gone be rich son.

 

[redshift]

I am wondering if you submitted any press releases or if sedo helped you with advertising at all?

 

[navigator72]

In my opinion, the name is worth Reg fee


Just kidding
PRweb is a great press release website. In fact my press release that I put out 2 years ago is still getting hits. I don't even own the website anymore.

 

[megdilts]

I think it's in the 7th figures. But it will also depend on the buyer. If google buys it, you're going to retire tomorrow.

 

[Modmedia]

Hmmm...

Yeah, Jealous.

 

[Bannen]

These kinds of names are a real balancing act, to try figure out what's best.

I have a friend in town who's one of the domain pioneers, who ONLY deals in this kind of prime name and has a few thousand of them, and has been a mentor to my piddling efforts at domaining.

The question is almost always: do you sell now for a nice high price, or do some quality development (which doesn't necessarily mean as much time/$$ as most people think).
With this name, your minimum offer price on your landing page I think is very realistic and no doubt you will get that amount within a not-too-long for-sale period.
But I always think of the other direction; whether you go for a social site, for which you admittedly have about the best natural name possible, or go for a dating site which is equally huge and possibly even a clearer demographic to monetize with adsense or other sponsored links... and this kind of name could quite realistically make you well into the xxx,xxx PER MONTH in adsense revenue and other ads. This gives you a huge income for the rest of your life (theoretically), and the added benefit of being able to sell that site, with that kind of traffic, for many times the estimates you're currently seeing here.

To sell as-is... yes, high xxx,xxx or low mill's.
If I had a name like that, with a little developing I could make it pay many times that.
So, back to the original question: make what to most people would be a sizeable, very handsome chunk of lettuce right now, and use that cash to invest in things that may themselves become very profitable; or take some time, spread some development out over a few months or years, and make what to most would be an entire garden of lettuce off this name alone.
There's no real 'wrong' answer here; both ways will do you well. You just look at your life circumstances and make the call that seems right for them now, n'est pas?



Bannen

 

[mattonline]

wat a domain, but coolsiteofthday there were much better ones around in 1995,
and definatly make a social networking sites, its destined to succeed IMO

 

[sine]

wow, that's a fantastic domain. best of luck with the sale.

i've a question though. it was mentioned a few times above that you lost the domain for a brief period last year. how is it possible to lose control over your domain?

thanks. and good luck with the sale ... not that you need it.

 

[Steven]

I don't know.
I think it may be worth in the mid to high 6 figures at most without developing the site.
I think you should start the bid at mid-high figure. Starting the bid at 7 figures may deter potential buyers or bidders unless the site is developed like myspace or something.
imho

 

[BlueSkies]

I am wondering if you submitted any press releases or if sedo helped you with advertising at all?

Yes, I put out two press releases:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/2/prweb504776.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb513240.htm

I do not have an exclusive arrangement with Sedo at this time per my wishes. Without an exclusive agreement, Sedo will understandably limit the amount of promotion done on my behalf.

- BlueSkies

... monetize with adsense or other sponsored links... and this kind of name could quite realistically make you well into the xxx,xxx PER MONTH in adsense revenue and other ads. ...
Bannen

If you don't mind my asking, I am curious what kind of assumptions go into estimates such as this.

What kind of click-through rate does one assume - 10%?
What average payout per click - 20 cents?

With these assumptions, one would need 5 million (unique?) visitors per month to make $100,000 per month. (5,000,000 x .10 x .20)

Of course something is probably wrong with these assumptions because I saw a story about plentyoffish.com getting Google adsense checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars per month with 1 million monthly visitors (average between quantcast.com and compete.com estimates).

Anyone have any experience here?

- BlueSkies

i've a question though. it was mentioned a few times above that you lost the domain for a brief period last year. how is it possible to lose control over your domain?

The details are in this press release:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb513240.htm

Someone pretended to be me and got Namesecure to move Social.com into their account. Seven days later, the name was transferred to GoDaddy.

- BlueSkies

 

[Steven]

Yes, I put out two press releases:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/2/prweb504776.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb513240.htm

I do not have an exclusive arrangement with Sedo at this time per my wishes. Without an exclusive agreement, Sedo will understandably limit the amount of promotion done on my behalf.

- BlueSkies



If you don't mind my asking, I am curious what kind of assumptions go into estimates such as this.

What kind of click-through rate does one assume - 10%?
What average payout per click - 20 cents?

With these assumptions, one would need 5 million (unique?) visitors per month to make $100,000 per month. (5,000,000 x .10 x .20)

Of course something is probably wrong with these assumptions because I saw a story about plentyoffish.com getting Google adsense checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars per month with 1 million monthly visitors (average between quantcast.com and compete.com estimates).

Anyone have any experience here?

- BlueSkies


The details are in this press release:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb513240.htm

Someone pretended to be me and got Namesecure to move Social.com into their account. Seven days later, the name was transferred to GoDaddy.

- BlueSkies

Just out of curiosity, are you a php programmer?
I think that if you develop it into another myspace type of service, you can make a lot of money.

I've been working on a community script (providing a mini-site for each user with pic/video gallery, blog, comment forum, rank, private message, flash chat) that is heavily modified from an open source CMS.
Only if I had that name of yours, I would be a millionaire.
So jealous haha

 

[BlueSkies]

Just out of curiosity, are you a php programmer?

Yes, I am actually. The fact is though that there is a lot of good software out there for free or very low cost. I'm a big fan of Joomla and the wide array of extensions available.

- BlueSkies

 

[Steven]

Yes, I am actually. The fact is though that there is a lot of good software out there for free or very low cost. I'm a big fan of Joomla and the wide array of extensions available.

- BlueSkies

I'm having a second thought about your website.
I think you should develop it first and then sell it off for bigger bucks.
Maybe you can form a team (programmer, graphic designer, support), incorporate, and then sell it off later (sharing the profit off the sale).

 

[Bannen]

Dating links pay quite well and are hugely popular; they're one of the best sponsored links to put even on NON dating sites for a few straggling clicks. I even have a 'taxi' name that has nothing to do with dating, that has only dating links on it (don't tell anyone) and does well with them. Check the traffic and monetization forum here to find where you might get the best-paying sponsored links.

The benefit you have, that is more unique than most, is in having this kind of a prime name to do something with. PlentyOfFish, for example, needed a lot of time and continued effort for the branding and community to build up. With 'social.com', you're starting off with the viewers' natural inference that this site is done properly, and large, because you have such a prime dot com. People will remember the name instantly. That consumer memory makes for a very quickly-accelerating traffic increase... as long as you have a nice, even novel site that is fun and easy to use, very clear in its purpose, and provides what they are looking for in such a site.
To spend some time, even to spend a little cash, in consulting people about this kind of development, might go a long ways.
I mention this only to flesh out some options; personally, I'd probably sell now to fund other things I'd rather develop. But who knows what you want?

 

[sine]

BlueSkies,
thanks for the link to the story. wild one, that.

glad you got it back.
good luck!

 

[estibot.com]

My system gives social.com this value:

$108,645

[Edited due to system update]

 

[BlueSkies]

I'm having a second thought about your website.
I think you should develop it first and then sell it off for bigger bucks.
Maybe you can form a team (programmer, graphic designer, support), incorporate, and then sell it off later (sharing the profit off the sale).

A lot of people said the same thing.

The name did not sell during the 2 week period that it was listed at Sedo. After an initial offer of $25,000, which wasn't close to what I might accept, I raised the minimum offer to 1 million. There were no offers at that minimum.

I decided to take the advice that many of the people here offered and develop the Web site. I'd like to invite anyone that is interested in visiting Social.com when it launches (hopefully within a week or so) and give me your feedback.

Anyone know where I can find a CEO with a proven track record?

Thanks!

- BlueSkies