The love for domains

[jurrie]

hey everyone,

i've been thinking about this a lot... the domain bussiness...
is there still a time to start this? isn't it spending already lost money?
Well i think it isn't... but i'm all new and need a lot to learn
i would just be very honored if someone here at namepros took some of his time to mentor me in the domain bussiness

questions like :

-what is a good budget to start with
-should i go for a few traffic names that make me some monthly revenue to build my bussiness steadely
-how can i find decent names, what software/scripts/help is available

i hope to get answers to those questions

who can help me learn the domainselling/ppc/cpm/etc. bussiness
who would love to be a mentor

jurrie

 

[seeker]

Greetings.
although I am no mentor, I will try to give some hints that I have accumulated through my experience, and hope, that this will help you.

is is too late? Yes...mostly....
I know the answer is shoking at first, but the vast majority of good domains are taken.
Unless you want this to be a hobby, and you dont want a quick buck, it is almost impossible. almost.
I feel I should tell it like it is. I have been in this business since 96, and well, I think for anyone starting out right now it is extremelly difficult unless... --->
forget about traffic names. You'll have to have a big budget and be ready to stand the cost of acquisitions. If you do have a very large budget, obviously, the task becomes easier, but your ROI in the mid term will be less, so that is why I am saying it is very hard.
I know there will be people that will disagree with me, and disagreement is always healthy. It allows a good exchange of ideas.

Now, as for budget to start.
place a number that you are willing to lose. Yes, say that I am willing to lose X amount of money.
Take that amount, and invest in domains that are in a subject you know a LOT about. This is called niche mining.
get names that you know make sense to your niche market, whatever that may be. a hobby, something you learned well at school, something to do with your work etc...
use tools such as overture to determine what people are searching for within that market, and, try to get the best possible domain extension (which other then the best .com, is subject to each persons opinions).

another theory, which I am sure many people subscirbe to is to invest in lesser known extensions in the hope that one day, they will become popular.
this is great if you like gambling, because that is what 'other exotic' extensions are. It might pay, and it might not.
the third route, is to develop the names you have, something everyone talks about in the appraisals sections, but lets face it, we are in the domain business (at least most of us), and not web developers.
I always see people saying 'yeah, I'll develop that one'... how many domains actually do get developed? look at the stats at regged domains vs sites and you'll see my point.

to make a very long story, a little less longer
it is possible within some parameters (assuming money is a restriction) to enter this market with the hope and actually benefit of making money, however, it is more difficult than many people admit or want to accept, for the obvious reasons.

If you are a large company with a large budget, most of what I said does not apply.

I hope this helps you, and does not discourage you, because there is money to be made. But you have to do it in areas that you are very familiar with, giving you the edge over other speculators.

 

[TUFKATH]

Great post seeker. I think you've enlightened not only the topic creator but some other newer domainers on this site.

I don't think it's hard to make a profit in the domain business. It may not be a big profit but it helps when you're 16 and unemployed. But for domains to make a difference in your life you would want some XXXX profits at least, and the best I've done is $180.

Hope this topic helps you out. Good luck.

 

[jurrie]

thanx seeker, for your point of view, an interesting piece of writing to me
and i'm not giving up already , hehe.

the thing is , i spend lotsa money on things i love to do.. and now i decided to start spending money to make a profit in the long term, not quick cash, in my experiences on the web, there is no such thing as quick cash, sigh.
the people who sell their quick cash ideas use the naivity ( mind the wrong spelling, i'm dutch speaking , lol ), of other ppl to make money.
i've been naive too in the past , tried a lot of things and now i feel that it's time for something serious, trying to give my future (read soon to come) daughter something.

i have good ideas and mostly i find out it's hard to execute them alone, but finding a partner to work out the ideas is also very hard.

since a few months i've been registering some domainnames ( i have 19 now some are good...i know it.... but the best i have is a dutch .be , a generic name
getting some traffic on it and making me think i can do more in domainnames.
but there is a lot still to learn

 

[admans]

After reading this article i am sure lots of new people will be enligtened, I know i am, in past few months in which i have been acquainted with this industry and have tried my luck, i can surely say, this post is the best a newbie would get.

I had my ups and downs here, but i feel any domain, if developed would fetch you a good profit in mid term or long term and if you think that the domain is worth keeping and developing however odd the name maybe, go ahead and develop it and from my little experience, i would say, that would earn you the most!

Well thats my 2 cents.:p

Hope you get my point.

Regards,

Admans.

 

[MichaelV.]

its never too late imo...

you never know what you might come across... buy an "off-the-wall" name and build it, you might get lucky

just dont come into it thinking its going to be your pay check right off the bat

do it for love

^^^^^^^ all good advice

 

[TUFKATH]

Yeah domains are definitly addictive!

 

[DOMiNIC]

Think of it this way. You register a domain for say $7.95. If you sell it in less than a year for $15.90 you have doubled your money.

Where else can you do this time and time again with such a low risk?

 

[sdtrader]

I know there will be people that will disagree with me, and disagreement is always healthy. It allows a good exchange of ideas.

It's hard to find a posting of this length without being able to disagree with something in it but this is one such case.Although I am a novice here you have summed up my exact thoughts in a better way than I can come up with.This would be a helpful statement to present for anyone about to start on the domain venture.

 

[cache]

I think money can be made different ways. If you are a used car dealer, you can either sell american car or japanese car. Some cars are easier to sell, but
they all make money for you.

 

[slaydragon]

well, all i can say that its really depend on luck and the demand, some people can make lots with domain reselling while others cant, but either way, if you put in effort in choosing the name or by developing it to a site, you will succeed...all the way!