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I created this for my blog, but thought I would share it here as well.
This guide is intended to give you general tips of what you should and should not do during a new domain extension landrush. It’s a few days too late to save anyone who may have participated in the .Me landrush, but hopefully you’ll remember these tips for future use. Admittedly, I don’t venture far from the .Com, so I am not an expert on landrushes, but I tend to have a broad view of the domain industry and I think you will find that the tips I offer in this guide are fairly sound. So please enjoy and let me know if you have any other tips or questions.
* RESEARCH - If you hear about a future landrush that interests you, take time to research all of the material available to you via ICANN/IANA and the hosting registry. Try to get a general overview of how the extension release is scheduled and structured. You can usually glean valuable information such as registry restrictions, registry reserved domains, pricing, and participating registrars.
* MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE - Long before that fateful day comes, you should think about what domains you want to go after and make a list in order of importance. Make sure that you have 10-20 times as many domains on your list as you actually plan on buying. Some of the domains you want might get registered by other domainers before you and the last thing you want to be doing is thinking up new domains on the spot.
Make sure that the domains you pick make sense with the extension.
Make sure that your list contains only premium domains. Try to keep it to one or two words and focus on commercial value. Ask yourself if there is a definite market and buyer for your domain. You want to get the most valuable domains that you can. There will be plenty of time to register lesser quality domains (made up words, weak keywords, 3 word domains, LLL’s, etc…) at a later time. Get in, get out and get paid!
Check your list against the registry’s list of reserved domains and remove any that are on that list. Often times registrars will show a reserved domain as available and allow you to go through the process of “registering” it. They’ll take your money and send you a confirmation email, but the registration will obviously fail. Depending on which registrar you use, it may take days before you get a refund. If you only have a $500 budget and half your money is tied up in attempting to register reserved domains, you suddenly have a lot less money to work with when you need it most.
* FIND A REGISTRAR - It’s important to find the right registrar for the job. The things you want to focus on are price (including any possible promos or coupon codes), bulk registration capabilities, how refunds are managed upon failed registrations, speed of checkout/registration and overall security and reliability. Obviously not all registrars will be perfect and perhaps you might have to compromise in one area or another, but determine which factors are most important to you and spend the time to find the registrar that works best for you. Make sure you create an account and either fund that account or get a credit card on record, etc… You want to eliminate as many factors as possible that may slow you down.
* SET A BUDGET - You don’t want to get caught up in the thrill of the moment and start spending frivolously. Set a budget that you are comfortable with and make sure you stick to it. If you get through your whole list and still have money left, don’t just start registering domains at random. Either call it a day or take time to generate another list. Obviously the more time you waste, the less chance you have at getting quality domains, but acquiring even one more quality domain is far better than wasting money on several terrible ones. This is why it is important to generate a long list so that you don’t get caught at a disadvantage.
* AVOID CONTACT - A lot of new domainers will sit in chat, or read the landrush threads on the forums or talk to other domainers on IM while the landrush is taking place. “I got these domains” … “I’m getting these types of domains”… “What should I get?”…”What is available?” and other various feedback, hype and conjecture… NO! You don’t need to get caught up in what other people are doing or wasting time telling people what you did or didn’t get. Do the research ahead of time, make the list, check the list, check it again and stick to the list! If you need feedback about your names, ask a trusted domainer to review your list long before landrush day and then adjust accordingly. Cut off all contact to the outside world until after you have finished getting the domains that you want.
* AFTERMATH - So, the initial rush is over and you’ve gotten some nice domains, now what? Do feel free to share your new domains in the appropriate showcase thread on the forums or with your friends. Please realize though that the extension just opened and at this point (and probably some time into the future) no one really has any idea how much your domains are worth. Don’t flood the appraisal section with new threads or bug people in chat… we don’t know.
* HAVE FUN!
This guide is intended to give you general tips of what you should and should not do during a new domain extension landrush. It’s a few days too late to save anyone who may have participated in the .Me landrush, but hopefully you’ll remember these tips for future use. Admittedly, I don’t venture far from the .Com, so I am not an expert on landrushes, but I tend to have a broad view of the domain industry and I think you will find that the tips I offer in this guide are fairly sound. So please enjoy and let me know if you have any other tips or questions.
* RESEARCH - If you hear about a future landrush that interests you, take time to research all of the material available to you via ICANN/IANA and the hosting registry. Try to get a general overview of how the extension release is scheduled and structured. You can usually glean valuable information such as registry restrictions, registry reserved domains, pricing, and participating registrars.
* MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE - Long before that fateful day comes, you should think about what domains you want to go after and make a list in order of importance. Make sure that you have 10-20 times as many domains on your list as you actually plan on buying. Some of the domains you want might get registered by other domainers before you and the last thing you want to be doing is thinking up new domains on the spot.
Make sure that the domains you pick make sense with the extension.
Make sure that your list contains only premium domains. Try to keep it to one or two words and focus on commercial value. Ask yourself if there is a definite market and buyer for your domain. You want to get the most valuable domains that you can. There will be plenty of time to register lesser quality domains (made up words, weak keywords, 3 word domains, LLL’s, etc…) at a later time. Get in, get out and get paid!
Check your list against the registry’s list of reserved domains and remove any that are on that list. Often times registrars will show a reserved domain as available and allow you to go through the process of “registering” it. They’ll take your money and send you a confirmation email, but the registration will obviously fail. Depending on which registrar you use, it may take days before you get a refund. If you only have a $500 budget and half your money is tied up in attempting to register reserved domains, you suddenly have a lot less money to work with when you need it most.
* FIND A REGISTRAR - It’s important to find the right registrar for the job. The things you want to focus on are price (including any possible promos or coupon codes), bulk registration capabilities, how refunds are managed upon failed registrations, speed of checkout/registration and overall security and reliability. Obviously not all registrars will be perfect and perhaps you might have to compromise in one area or another, but determine which factors are most important to you and spend the time to find the registrar that works best for you. Make sure you create an account and either fund that account or get a credit card on record, etc… You want to eliminate as many factors as possible that may slow you down.
* SET A BUDGET - You don’t want to get caught up in the thrill of the moment and start spending frivolously. Set a budget that you are comfortable with and make sure you stick to it. If you get through your whole list and still have money left, don’t just start registering domains at random. Either call it a day or take time to generate another list. Obviously the more time you waste, the less chance you have at getting quality domains, but acquiring even one more quality domain is far better than wasting money on several terrible ones. This is why it is important to generate a long list so that you don’t get caught at a disadvantage.
* AVOID CONTACT - A lot of new domainers will sit in chat, or read the landrush threads on the forums or talk to other domainers on IM while the landrush is taking place. “I got these domains” … “I’m getting these types of domains”… “What should I get?”…”What is available?” and other various feedback, hype and conjecture… NO! You don’t need to get caught up in what other people are doing or wasting time telling people what you did or didn’t get. Do the research ahead of time, make the list, check the list, check it again and stick to the list! If you need feedback about your names, ask a trusted domainer to review your list long before landrush day and then adjust accordingly. Cut off all contact to the outside world until after you have finished getting the domains that you want.
* AFTERMATH - So, the initial rush is over and you’ve gotten some nice domains, now what? Do feel free to share your new domains in the appropriate showcase thread on the forums or with your friends. Please realize though that the extension just opened and at this point (and probably some time into the future) no one really has any idea how much your domains are worth. Don’t flood the appraisal section with new threads or bug people in chat… we don’t know.
* HAVE FUN!
