Teach a man to fish - Co-creating Abundance

[Rob Monster]

You all know the famous proverb from Lao Tzu:

I think it also applies to domaining.

I believe in teaching people to become sovereign, so they can provide for themselves, provide for their families, provide for their communities and also have time to contemplate the meaning of life.

So with this in mind, I have sponsored a number of initiatives, which I will not name here because that would be promotional and the mods don't like that.

However, I do want to share something and invite input to it. About 6 weeks ago, Epik acquired 2 brands that had training products associated with them: DomainFlippa and Domain Graduate.

The Founder of Domain Graduate, Sean Stafford, and I have a shared passion for teaching people how to become successful domainers. This project fits my personal interest and calling: (digital) empowerment.

In the past, Domain Graduate and Domain Flippa were both paid courses. The existence of a fee implicitly meant that most people would never participate since there was a large toll at the entrance.

When Epik acquired these brands, it was with the specific goal of making the pie bigger. We want to help teach a lot more people to be good at domaining by tapping the wisdom of those who mastered it.

With this mind, I am sharing a living draft, of what is to become Domain Graduate 2.0. It is the collective wisdom of some professional domainers. You can download a copy here:

https://my.armored.net/index.php/s/dG7MkwJAp9H3L43

This document will continue to be iterated, so if you see issues or opportunities to improve, we'll use this thread to invite discussion about how to empower more people to become effective domainers.

As for the draft document, here is my ask:

- If you have time, review it and send any editorial feedback to @DomainGraduate.

- Comment publicly if you like to discuss or share some technique that you think belongs in the course.

- Feel free to invite non-NP members to visit this page to retrieve the draft course.

We will add an acknowledgement section collating the input and refrencing the attributed contributions. That section might get large, and that is fine!

In about one week, we'll have a final version and we'll publish it with a beautiful cover, and put it online at a new and improved DomainGraduate.com so anyone can download it.

After that, we plan to recruit translators to localize the document and where appropriate add local resource tips. Different countries will have different versions to reflect language, ccTLD, local laws and local customs.

Finally, for anyone who wants to contribute to the cause, domain name donations are welcome to the eRise Foundation, for which a latest update is described here.

So, that's it. Tell us what you think.

On behalf of the Domain Graduate Team:

Rob Monster, @Abdullah Abdullah, and Sean Stafford

 

[Rob Monster]

First, seems like some blatant disrespect to Namepros and their staff. Said you will not name your other initiatives, then proceed to do exactly that linking to:

DomainFlippa
Domain Graduate
Personal Calling thread
Armored.net
erise.org
Philanthropy thread

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As far as this project. Probably didn't sell in the past because there are better ones out there and free. Ones from Estibot, Escrow, one by Andrew Alleman - How To To Sell On Domain Marketplace, much better than this one. I have all those in a folder and more. Free.

I went over this one and it was expected. Lots of affiliates do this, I have newsletters for my sites, Adam Dicker did this, where it's "free" but with affiliate links or promotion. So you want people to spend their time tidying this up to help promote Epik? They're the first registrar mentioned, first parking company mentioned etc.

Then we have threads with domainers complaining about stuff like bots and GD auctions, and auctions getting bid up. So let's train some more competition?

Oops.

 

[JB Lions]

Oops.

https://www.namepros.com/forums/promotional.15/

 

[Laguna]

@Rob Monster
I have another proverb.
"Give a man an inch and he'll take a mile "

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster
I have another proverb.
"Give a man an inch and he'll take a mile "

I try to give more than I get. You?

I hear you are struggling with domaining and have mostly tosser domains. Would a course have helped you at the beginning versus blowing your nest-egg on stuff that nobody wants? Serious question.

 

[Rob Monster]

Nest egg? Noooo, I've spent pennies Rob. Your right in one sense, I regged some rubbish but also did some homework too. I have a few that will cover all my costs in one go. I was forward thinking in a few of them and the time isn't here yet. Patience and I'll prove it

I was just wondering if a decent free how-to course would have helped at the outset. And glad to hear you did not bet the bungalow. I figured a guy in Laguna would know better though we never know in OC.

 

[Rob Monster]

I read the guide and the problem is its very generalized and slanted to his style of investing. He pretty much disregards “brandables” when many people starting out run to brandables. While I agree no one can tell you everything and you learn by doing a guide for beginners should contain more rudimentary things not pages and pages about typos and monetization.

The rudimentary things I am talking about is language,word positioning, how to know if the words go together (make sense) etc. A list of all the resources for obtaining a name besides hand reg. A list of places to sell your name, a brief discussion on outbound versus inbound etc.

I almost stopped reading when he said NetSol was a great registrar.

Some of that material is dated, and Sean knows it. I think we'll have to redact that. We need more editors, which is why I decided it was a good idea to crowdsource the content before the translators get busy.

 

[Laguna]

I was just wondering if a decent free how-to course would have helped at the outset. And glad to hear you did not bet the bungalow. I figured a guy in Laguna would know better though we never know in OC.

What is OC Rob ?

 

[Rob Monster]

What is OC Rob ?

Aha was talking about Orange County. Pelican Hill is a go-to for us when wife needs a sunbreak and lunch on the deck at Nick's in Laguna.

 

[Rob Monster]

Aha ok cool.
I live in London, England but I took the name Laguna from my favourite racing circuit Laguna seca

Threw me for a loop there - I bet I am not the only one. Laguna is iconic in America, ICYMI.

 

[Laguna]

Threw me for a loop there - I bet I am not the only one. Laguna is iconic in America, ICYMI.[/QUOTE.
Wonder if there are any domainers in Laguna then because I have a domain that might me useful to them. I won't say what it is in this thread because it's obviously they wrong thread to put to a domain name but it's not on any platforms at the moment. Can I pm you the name ?

 

[Laguna]

Wonder if there are any domainers in Laguna then because I have a domain that might be useful to them. I won't say what it is in this thread because it's obviously the wrong thread to put to a domain name but it's not on any platforms at the moment. Can I pm you the name ?

 

[Rob Monster]

The document has the term "Epik" 32 times in it. Just saying.
Almost every section mentions it at least once.

Brad

Sure, we'll teach people to fish with high quality fishing poles so we can give stuff away for free. There is an economic model here. Crazy, right? Other merchants with good solutions are welcome to co-sponsor this effort but the teaching materials should remain free.

 

[Rob Monster]

I think the issue people have is you are trying to act like some altruistic force, while at the same time doing obvious self promotion. People are not stupid.

Brad

Actually, not everyone is quite that cynical. It seems crazy in this day and age that capitalists are not just selfish pricks but indeed this happens. I call it enlightened capitalism. I am refining the model but it is actually possible to do well by doing good, and to do good while doing well by co-creating abundance. Feel free to not participate but if you like the idea of teaching people to fish, then fish. However, scarcity minded people will never point out their fishing holes because they think that the God of the universe who made the fish in the first place, can't show you a better fishing hole. I do understand the mindset. It must be suffocating.

 

[Rob Monster]

It is just amazing how your altruism lines up so well with your own self interests.
What are the odds?

The Epik promotion in the manual is also at the detriment of the information.

For instance -

Here is a list of some of the most common places that to buy and sell. They are listed here in the order of the most time I spend using them

1.) Epik.com
2.) GoDaddy Auctions
3.) Sedo.com
4.) NamePros.com
5.) Snapnames.com

What nonsense. Who spends the most like on the Epik marketplace?
Take out the obvious self promotion and maybe people will take it more seriously.

Brad

I did not write any of the content but sure, make that list alphabetical since we don't know market share. I do think DAN belongs on that list along with NameJet. Thanks!

 

[Sarah Frank]

Hi Everyone,

I am excited to get this ball rolling and edit the material to provide the best knowledge for domainers. While I have my own opinion on a few edits, I really value YOUR feedback and went through all of the replies and took notes. It's been a few days since the book was shared via the original post, has anyone finished it? Is there any additional feedback?

 

[Rob Monster]

@Kassey Lee could we count on you for a chapter on Chinese and Pinyin domains?

@GUTA would perhaps consider a section on how to sell to Chinese? A shameless plug of Guta is allowed!

Thanks again @James Rayers for an awesome byline article on Brandable Domains. I think folks are really going to appreciate that one!

 

[Rob Monster]

You have 6 places to Buy and Sell and left off the #1 place I buy, Namejet, is there some reason they're not being mentioned?

Chapter 7 seems to be completely off, content nothing to do with subject. Just 2.5 pages

Chapter 7: The Domain Name Aftermarket
New Hamshire seacoast
talking about renewing 100 .infos

Here is the last half page:

But when it comes time to renew those 100 regular .infos the renewal fee will be $10 dollars each. The first year of registration is what is cheap, not the renewals. Second, it is going to be easier to manage and market one good .info then it is going to be to market 100 no-so-good .info domains. Now, it’s true that you may be able to swing a few good sales with some of these info’s that you have registered if you play your cards right, but it is going to take more of your time. Keep in mind, it is going to be much better to have one very good name then to have 100 bad ones. Quality domains sell well, and no one wants to buy large quantities of bad ones. Costs aside, managing one good domain is far more efficient than the exhaustive and futile efforts to try and monetize or manage 100 bad ones.

What does that have to do with the Aftermarket?

Good edits. Will review with @DomainGraduate. Thanks JB!

 

[vikki88]

With this mind, I am sharing a living draft, of what is to become Domain Graduate 2.0. It is the collective wisdom of some professional domainers.

Thank you for this @Rob Monster , really insightful

 

[Rob Monster]

I timed myself, 10 minutes. Not sure what I would find if I spent more time, but some of the same issues haven't been corrected.

Domainapps.com, is that still a thing? Could be temporary but it's not loading for me - https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/domainapps.com.html

Places to buy and sell, for some reason where I'm most active, Namejet, still lot listed. I don't know if there is some personal beef or something for not adding them.

Aftermarket section, still hasn't been touched/fixed. Complete mess.

Escrow section. Didn't mention the most used Escrow place, Escrow.com. I know you have issues with them but if you're truly into educating new domainers, you would list them.

Outbound marketing, unless I missed it, didn't see anything about CAN-SPAM.

Spelling mistakes like "Before making plans to market a bane"

I guess you mean name?

--------------
Let me just throw this suggestion out. You have so many projects going on at once. Have you ever considered just locking yourself in a room and just knocking this one out, finish it? Just take 1 day and get it done, go thru it line by line. It's not the type of thing where you're going to have new things pop up daily, weekly. Get it done, then maybe update once a year or something like that. But finish a project all the way thru.

Thanks for the edits.

Will check with @Ala Dadan and @Riacontents for the next round of edits.

Serious question though, are you this much fun at parties?

 

[oldtimer]

@Ala Dadan - Great idea from @oldtimer. Please make that happen.

I am actually fine to take the whole book and make it a PDF page-flip, i.e. browse the book. It just increases site dwell time and makes the itself more useful. Please check that.

It would also be great to make it searchable so that when newbies enter a specific question it can take them right to the page that provides the answers.

IMO

 

[Anne L.]

Thanks for the feedback.

I believe there is an opportunity in connecting domains, talent and capital in a methodical way that makes it easy for an investor to manages dozens or hundreds of income-producing sites.

Do you have an existing web enterprise that taps this opportunity? May I ask for the domain name/link please if you already have such a business up?

Thanks.

 

[bballdude823]

Here is an example of what I am talking about.

I am looking at a client who is in the process of dropping 100+ 5 letter domains ending in co.com.

Example: imkco.com

He did not get inquiries so he will drop them.

Show attachment 140189

However, outbound has never been tried. Emerging market people are well-equipped to do this work.

WHere on the site or newsletter do you have a place where these domains are dropping?