- Impact
- 350
Realism.
I'm sure many of you that have been in the game for a few years already are well aware, but I feel like this needs to be stressed to those who are newer to the industry or are not having any success.
When I first got started with domaining I was absolutely killing it as far as I was concerned. However, unlike most domainers, I started domaining without even knowing there was an entire industry revolved around it.
I had been designing websites etc for a few years and was also a somewhat early adopter of bitcoin. I decided to start a bitcoin website and came to find there were several good names available to be registered, something I had never experienced with every other niche I had made a website for. So thinking that I had come across a great new idea, I registered them all thinking that I could just sell them to other people on bitcoin forums and sites.
Off-topic, but also worth noting: In the few years I had already been building websites, anytime I needed a domain I just found them by coming up with an idea and searching for it on godaddy. Every time that I saw a name or one of the related names that was "Premium" and had a much higher price tag, I just thought it was owned by godaddy but they were assholes and charged a premium for better names. And I always saw related premium names that I really liked, and some that I would have even paid a good amount for had they not all had ridiculous $xxxx price tags.
So my point here is -
A. About 99% of endusers imo use godaddy (I'm a part of several web design and seo communities, and the majority have never even heard of sedo/afternic/etc.). If you aren't listing your names there, you're missing out BIG TIME.
B. If you are using godaddy, take the time to list your names as premium, and not just auction. It sucks that they charge a 30% commission to use premium, but the exposure is well worth it. Especially if it's a name that you handregged. Time and time again I will search for a name and see one of my premium domains with the same keyword listed in the similar names.
C. When you price the name, don't get greedy. Make it more appealing to an enduser that is most likely not working with a huge budget, because the majority aren't. There's no telling how many times endusers have come across premium names with a $xxxx price and just written them off, but would have instantly bought it had it been low-mid $xxx. Surpringly, several people, even the internet savvy ones, don't know a thing about domain names. It would have never even crossed my mind to look up the who-is of a name and contact them to buy it. Most people probably don't even really know what the who-is is, and wouldn't even know how to find it and decipher the info if they did. I know, because that was me once.
Try and think of what you knew and what your thought processes were before you got into domaining and learned more about it. Even better, think the way you did before you had ever even bought your first domain, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing, and most "regular people" still don't.
Now getting back on topic. With my freshly registered bitcoin domains, about 30 or so, I made a posting at the bitcointalk forum and a few other places saying that I had them for sale. Withing a few weeks I had sold about 10. To name a few off the top of my head: coiniverse - $20, bitcoincrate - $35, and bitcoinbranding + 20webdesign as a package for $120. The 20webdesign was a name I had regged a while back for a site, but decided not to follow through with. I forget some of the others, but they were all sold for around $10-$50 and had only been registered for a few weeks using .99-1.99 gd coupons.
Sometime during this I had also come across this forum and learned a bit about the domaining industry and posted my small list of names at Sedo for about $150-$250 each. Although I was making all this easy money, I still didn't allocate much time to domaining, but after a few weeks I got an email saying my name bitivity had sold for $200 at sedo.
Around this time I started really focusing on domaining and reading actively on the NP forums. Unfortunately, I read so many golrified post and stories of xxxx sales that my expectations altered and I began raising all of my prices. So as I became more and more educated on domaining, my sales and progression came to a halt.
My problem? I had lost sight of reality.
Recently I began lowering my prices and expectations, and all of a sudden domaining isn't the lifeless industry I had begin to believe it was. Even though most sales are made to fellow domainers, I am able to make a profit from my time spent domaining. And at the end of the day, profit is all that matters.
Another point this brings me to is the common notion that hand registering valuable names is a thing of the past. That's the biggest myth I have ever come across in my domaining career. Sure, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that you will handreg a domain that sells for xxxx, but with a little research and effort, there are several available names that can make a profit. Even if it's a $5-$10 sale on a $1.99 hand register, it's profit. And thanks to ever-changing trends, there are even a few exceptions I've hand registered that have already brought in xxx offfers. Do your work and research.
Once you can build up a little profit from these small sales, you can then open up the doors to xxx-xxxx sales. As a hobbyist domainer I have never been comfortable regularly investing $69 in a drop or maybe xxx for a name to resell, but with your small profits on hand regs, it becomes much easier. Then it's a continuous cycle once you can begin to increase your sales and profits you can allocate to higher priced domains.
Ultimately, be realistic in the way that you price your domains, or you will never get out of the domaining game ahead. And don't be afraid to put in a little work, laziness never pays off. Spend time marketing your domain to people at a reasonable price, even if it's only a small profit. Profit is profit, and it leads to more profit if you use it correctly.
Don't be greedy and expect too much from any names that aren't category killers, generics, or closely related. You can either turn a $1.99 into $5 or $10 and move on to the next, or let it sit around hoping for a miracle. And letting it sit around is only going to lead to more and more renewal fees..
I hope this helps some of you, because I wish I had never gotten away from when I was more than happy with a small profit on a newly regged name! I'm excited for what's in store now that I've focused on being more realistic with the majority of my portfolio.
Happy domaining
I'm sure many of you that have been in the game for a few years already are well aware, but I feel like this needs to be stressed to those who are newer to the industry or are not having any success.
When I first got started with domaining I was absolutely killing it as far as I was concerned. However, unlike most domainers, I started domaining without even knowing there was an entire industry revolved around it.
I had been designing websites etc for a few years and was also a somewhat early adopter of bitcoin. I decided to start a bitcoin website and came to find there were several good names available to be registered, something I had never experienced with every other niche I had made a website for. So thinking that I had come across a great new idea, I registered them all thinking that I could just sell them to other people on bitcoin forums and sites.
Off-topic, but also worth noting: In the few years I had already been building websites, anytime I needed a domain I just found them by coming up with an idea and searching for it on godaddy. Every time that I saw a name or one of the related names that was "Premium" and had a much higher price tag, I just thought it was owned by godaddy but they were assholes and charged a premium for better names. And I always saw related premium names that I really liked, and some that I would have even paid a good amount for had they not all had ridiculous $xxxx price tags.
So my point here is -
A. About 99% of endusers imo use godaddy (I'm a part of several web design and seo communities, and the majority have never even heard of sedo/afternic/etc.). If you aren't listing your names there, you're missing out BIG TIME.
B. If you are using godaddy, take the time to list your names as premium, and not just auction. It sucks that they charge a 30% commission to use premium, but the exposure is well worth it. Especially if it's a name that you handregged. Time and time again I will search for a name and see one of my premium domains with the same keyword listed in the similar names.
C. When you price the name, don't get greedy. Make it more appealing to an enduser that is most likely not working with a huge budget, because the majority aren't. There's no telling how many times endusers have come across premium names with a $xxxx price and just written them off, but would have instantly bought it had it been low-mid $xxx. Surpringly, several people, even the internet savvy ones, don't know a thing about domain names. It would have never even crossed my mind to look up the who-is of a name and contact them to buy it. Most people probably don't even really know what the who-is is, and wouldn't even know how to find it and decipher the info if they did. I know, because that was me once.
Try and think of what you knew and what your thought processes were before you got into domaining and learned more about it. Even better, think the way you did before you had ever even bought your first domain, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing, and most "regular people" still don't.
Sometime during this I had also come across this forum and learned a bit about the domaining industry and posted my small list of names at Sedo for about $150-$250 each. Although I was making all this easy money, I still didn't allocate much time to domaining, but after a few weeks I got an email saying my name bitivity had sold for $200 at sedo.
Around this time I started really focusing on domaining and reading actively on the NP forums. Unfortunately, I read so many golrified post and stories of xxxx sales that my expectations altered and I began raising all of my prices. So as I became more and more educated on domaining, my sales and progression came to a halt.
My problem? I had lost sight of reality.
Recently I began lowering my prices and expectations, and all of a sudden domaining isn't the lifeless industry I had begin to believe it was. Even though most sales are made to fellow domainers, I am able to make a profit from my time spent domaining. And at the end of the day, profit is all that matters.
Another point this brings me to is the common notion that hand registering valuable names is a thing of the past. That's the biggest myth I have ever come across in my domaining career. Sure, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that you will handreg a domain that sells for xxxx, but with a little research and effort, there are several available names that can make a profit. Even if it's a $5-$10 sale on a $1.99 hand register, it's profit. And thanks to ever-changing trends, there are even a few exceptions I've hand registered that have already brought in xxx offfers. Do your work and research.
Once you can build up a little profit from these small sales, you can then open up the doors to xxx-xxxx sales. As a hobbyist domainer I have never been comfortable regularly investing $69 in a drop or maybe xxx for a name to resell, but with your small profits on hand regs, it becomes much easier. Then it's a continuous cycle once you can begin to increase your sales and profits you can allocate to higher priced domains.
Ultimately, be realistic in the way that you price your domains, or you will never get out of the domaining game ahead. And don't be afraid to put in a little work, laziness never pays off. Spend time marketing your domain to people at a reasonable price, even if it's only a small profit. Profit is profit, and it leads to more profit if you use it correctly.
Don't be greedy and expect too much from any names that aren't category killers, generics, or closely related. You can either turn a $1.99 into $5 or $10 and move on to the next, or let it sit around hoping for a miracle. And letting it sit around is only going to lead to more and more renewal fees..
I hope this helps some of you, because I wish I had never gotten away from when I was more than happy with a small profit on a newly regged name! I'm excited for what's in store now that I've focused on being more realistic with the majority of my portfolio.
Happy domaining
