To Give Up or Not to Give Up...

[armengrecotech]

Hi all...

Maybe it's just that I need some encouragement...

I'm new to the market. I've learned so much about the domain business.
I have all my valuable resources all in my bookmarks...
However, it feels like I just can't get things started.
I've bought 3 domains... all worthless and won't sell...
I've backordered domains that can make a hell of a profit... but I've gotten outbid constantly or the price of the domain goes sky high to the point that I can't afford it, and that it is getting outbid of it's profit potential...

I guess my question is kind of... how did you start out?
Do I need a lot of cash just to get myself going?

I feel like I'm on the verge of giving up, but I know that's not going to get me anywhere.

 

[MicroGuy]

Give up.

Funny you should post this...I was just getting ready to say the same thing after further reflection. Much like a musician who would never want his child to enter show business.

This is no way to live, walk...no RUN from here while you still can. Before it's too late and you get the LLNN domain fever!

 

[Archangel]

I think it boils down to: Do you wanna domain as a side project/for fun or do you want to turn this into a living? Probably less than .01% can make a living off this so if someone is thinking of paying the bills etc with domaining, RUN AND NEVER LOOK BACK because it's a hard battle and no matter how hard fought the battle is, you'll likely never win.

The same advice goes to the New York Mets.

Funny you should post this...I was just getting ready to say the same thing after further reflection. Much like a musician who would never want his child to enter show business.

This is no way to live, walk...no RUN from here while you still can. Before it's too late and you get the LLNN domain fever!

 

[accent]

How to lose $500:

Buy a domain for $500 before learning the domain market.
Attempt to sell said domain.


Learning to recognize undervalued domains at the $500+ level takes multiple years of serious study. The exception is LLL and quality LLLL.coms - the circumscribed market makes it somewhat easier, but that is true for everyone else as well, so those domains are rarely seen below market value.

There are several types of domainers. Some look to flip for a quick profit, hard to do in today's economy. Others buy domains with income (overvalued these days, IMHO, unless you really know your stuff), or develop one or a few websites. Others buy-and-hold, anticipating significant price appreciation over the next years. Your strategy depends on your means and personality.

 

[armengrecotech]

Hi all,

Thank you for continuing offering your input.
The thing is... I don't want to give up. I am really determined to learn. However, I think all I needed was some lifting up, because I always expect to have things move quickly and succesfully, and if they don't... well I kick myself for it.

I'm thinking so far... maybe I should start out small?
I can try to browse around GoDaddy auctions...
Bido has some good development potential domains listed for bidding...

Just thinking:
I know .com's are the primary domain extension to go with, but would .info's be a bad start? Or even .in? Just to be a little diverse in the market?
For example, if I got blogsoftware.info and put the time to develop it a bit, and then try to sell it off, would that be a good idea... in order to "start off" as a beginner domainer?

 

[Archangel]

If you don't have a wicked/killer starting budget, starting small is your best solution. .infos are pretty good if you monetize them. And keyword .infos are plentiful, in good prices. I have sealions.info for sale at $3, for example -- and that's a good term. I have a minisite on PDAPhone.info and might with MarilynManson.info .us also isn't bad (yet not too terribly good, either). So with some work, you could get $20 to balloon into $250 or so. It'll just take time, effort and PATIENCE.

(For anyone who wants to say turning $20 into $250 is a pipe dream: I've turned $16 or so into nearly $400, $17 into $175 and $18 into $300 -- all this year. Ya just have to know HOW. )

Hi all,

Thank you for continuing offering your input.
The thing is... I don't want to give up. I am really determined to learn. However, I think all I needed was some lifting up, because I always expect to have things move quickly and succesfully, and if they don't... well I kick myself for it.

I'm thinking so far... maybe I should start out small?
I can try to browse around GoDaddy auctions...
Bido has some good development potential domains listed for bidding...

Just thinking:
I know .com's are the primary domain extension to go with, but would .info's be a bad start? Or even .in? Just to be a little diverse in the market?
For example, if I got blogsoftware.info and put the time to develop it a bit, and then try to sell it off, would that be a good idea... in order to "start off" as a beginner domainer?

 

[Jaco]

The problem is this.
You either 'get it' or you don't. I've found that people who are destined to 'get it' usually do so fairly quickly and generally ascend. These people are maybe 10% of the 'domainer' community. The other 90% never get it, or only partially 'get it' (which is often times worse than not getting it at all) and as such, always make suboptimal buying decisions and generally lose money over time.

Lets give you the benefit of the doubt and presume that you're on the upslope of the learning curve (which we all went through) and are one of the 10% who are destined to 'get it'.
I would argue that if you're in this group, your first order of business isn't finding ways to fritter away your money when lacking the knowledge required to make a good decision, but rather, seeking out the needed information and doing as much immersion-learning as possible to ensure that when you do spend, you aren't making an awful buy.

At this phase, you should do your "learning" with your mind, not your checkbook. People who rationalize their previous awful domain buying decisions are doing just that; rationalizing. You don't have to endure their pain if you just sit back, learn what there is to learn and not make one single purchase until you're certain that the decision is rooted in something more solid than hunch, impulse or the need to sate the false imperative that motivates people to act when no action is warranted.

It's particularly important that you act properly now, because 'right now' is a wee little window of time when fantastic names are laying on the sidewalk, just waiting to be picked up. Just like the stone age drop-catchers seized upon unique opportunities reflective of their era, the early keyword miners seized on unique opportunities reflective of their era, you too can seize on domain related opportunities reflective of the present economic discord (this very well may be the last window to get truly great names for piss), but you ain't gunna be doing it at Godaddy buying $7.49 new reg's. Those names are in the aftermarket. Those names cost money, but they can be had 'cheap' relative to their earning potential of amplitude factor.

One diamond is worth more than a dump-truck full of shit. Domainers who still believe that 'quantity' is impressive, absent any sort of underlying quality, are losers at this.

Focus on quality. Quality, quality, quality. Buy a beachfront lot, not 40 acres of useless swamp contaminated with toxic waste.

(Oh, and yes the bin is a WONDERFUL place for beginners to land semi-decent names on the cheap, with the occasional "wow, you paid $10 for THAT?". If the most you can afford to spend is $10, then buy the best damn name you can find for that $10. I recently got .org CityForums out of the bin... Think that name is worth $10? )

 

[cache]

if you only bought 3 domains, it is only lunch money. You need to believe probability: if you only have one domain, then you may have to wait 10 year until someone make an offer to you; alternatively if you buy 10 domains, then you will only wait for a year...

 

[John Slaney]

If you don't have a wicked/killer starting budget, starting small is your best solution. .infos are pretty good if you monetize them. And keyword .infos are plentiful, in good prices. I have sealions.info for sale at $3, for example -- and that's a good term. I have a minisite on PDAPhone.info and might with MarilynManson.info .us also isn't bad (yet not too terribly good, either). So with some work, you could get $20 to balloon into $250 or so. It'll just take time, effort and PATIENCE.

(For anyone who wants to say turning $20 into $250 is a pipe dream: I've turned $16 or so into nearly $400, $17 into $175 and $18 into $300 -- all this year. Ya just have to know HOW. )

I think it boils down to: Do you wanna domain as a side project/for fun or do you want to turn this into a living? Probably less than .01% can make a living off this so if someone is thinking of paying the bills etc with domaining, RUN AND NEVER LOOK BACK because it's a hard battle and no matter how hard fought the battle is, you'll likely never win.

The same advice goes to the New York Mets.

Randy, I have to disagree with the bolded items in your posts.

Armengrecotech,

You don't need a big budget, although it helps.

Don't bother with mini sites. They are not worth the hassle for a few clicks. Wait until you have the domain(s) you want and the capital to build a proper site(s). Too many newbies get caught up with wasting money on minisites, in my opinion – I know I did. Get the money and build a proper site.

Focus only on purchasing domains in com/net/org. If you see a good cctld in .us/co.uk/.de go for it. Don’t bother with .ws/.cc. If you are speculating on cctlds that are not in DNJournal every week and you are able to secure decent names look at .in(India). Some good drops in this extension and with 1billion people and a high degree of English there is a lot more potential than .ws and .cc.
As Dongsman has stated before, development is the key to domains. Sell domains now to get the capital you need for proper development. It is too hard to manage buying, selling, finding content writers, setting up minisites etc when you start out.
Focus on one thing then worry about the rest later.

Don't bother with info, unless you are able to secure a great keyword that you know you can immediately flip. Sealions is not a good term (for enduser sales and probably even a minisite) -unless orcas start an online shop:lol:

Look at the daily drops. Find com/net/orgs that are businesses or services (or at least domains that you wouldn't be embarrased pitching over the phone/email) Only com/net/org because it is not worth the effort explaining what a dot me or dot cc is. Even .biz is easier to flip if you can get a good keyword. A grabbed a biz a few weeks ago and parked it at sedo until I was ready to contact endusers. One week later I received an offer of 120 euros and dumped it.

Reg only the best names -Ones that you can feel most confident about being able to sell. There are some great names I see dropping that with some effort could make great brands and it is hard to not buy them if your goal is flipping and building capital.

Don’t bother with selling on domain boards unless your domains don’t sell. Use them to get rid of your mistakes and be happy if you get enough for a good dot com.
Contact end users - Offer the domain between 99 – 499 (unless you feel you have a gem then just hold on to it until you are comfortable making higher sales)These are numbers that businesses feel comfortable with and still give you a good return. Don't fool yourself by expecting xxxx-xxxxx for a handreg (although it can be done, don’t count on it). Buy 1 and sell for 99 = 10 more regs. Sell those between 99-499. Reinvest in more domains and a drop catching script (check the member expron), Estibot Pro membership(worth every penny) and other such domain tools

Plan on working 8 hours a day.( or whatever time you have available)
Spend half your time reviewing drop lists and selecting domains that you feel confident about selling. Check wordtracker/adwords tool/number of advertisers listed in Google sidebar to get an idea about search volume and potential end users. Again, just names that you think you can sell. Don’t waste time trying to grab 4L.coms. Most aren’t easy enduser sales and there is a lot of competition for domainers and registrars.

Spend the other half of the day qualifying endusers for your existing domains and sending emails.

You may get 1 good domain some days, other days you may get ten. Just keep the domains coming in and going out. I am debt free(not from domain sales) so I can live off 99 dollars a day. For anything over 99 I put half away for a rainy day and half into new domains/toward my planned fully developed income generating site(s).

As Dongsman has stated before, development is the key to domains. Sell domains now to get the capital you need for proper development.

Don’t bother with the appraisal section of this board. Half of the people offering appraisals are lucky to get their domains sold for 28-50 at Bido. The other group that did provide solid advice seemed to have stop posting. You will get a feel for the value of your domains after a while.

Do read the board regularly and follow the advice of the “oldtimers” but don't spend all day here at the expense of researching domain and contacting endusers.

Don’t get greedy-make a buck today-turn that into 2 tomorrow-and 4 the next.

I don't know if only .01% of people make a living at this or not, but I think it can be done if you are realistic. You have to spend the time, search the lists, send the emails, make the calls, be smart, learn from your mistakes, have a plan, watch trends and keep going.
May 2008 - I didn’t know what Paypal was-didn’t know what domain extensions were-could barely send an email.
June 2008 - I bought my first domain and continue to do so daily.
July 2008 - My first sale - $600.

I made, and continue to make, lots of mistakes, but I am learning. My biggest regret is not knowing about domains earlier (and not taking web development in university)


Good Luck
J”jobless since Feb 26 2009” 73

 

[shree]

thank you guys for some really good tips and way to get started .very helpful for a newbie like me

 

[Archangel]

J73: It's okay to disagree with me. But really, I've been in this game for many years and I've met a FEW ppl who were able to make a living doing this. My "guess" was a hyperbole, as I'm sure there are lots of ppl who succeed in making a career out of domaining. But I think the vast majority of domainers are struggling to make a $100 sale. It's not a hard thing, domaining, but it is tricky.

BTW I don't believe in mini sites for clicks. I wasn't suggesting one should make a mini site and try profiting off the clicks. Make a mini site, get it traffic and resell for a decent sum. The buyer, so long as the domain was good enough, won't care how much it makes since the site would be bare-bones & the buyer would more than likely develop a full site with it, using the traffic the domain achieves.

 

[armengrecotech]

Great info guys! This is great!
I think I'm definitely going to start off small and flip. I am going to try on working from small, to big. I'm looking at some great .info's and I also am eyeing a .co.uk domain that I feel is right.

I'm thinking you know, should I consider investing some time to develop the sites I made "mistakes" on? Would it be worth more in the long run if I did?
For my truetorrents.com site, I can purchase a really nice script for $40. If I get decent traffic, would it be worth more than reg fee?

 

[ComKid]

Randy, I have to disagree with the bolded items in your posts.

Armengrecotech,

You don't need a big budget, although it helps.

Don't bother with mini sites. They are not worth the hassle for a few clicks. Wait until you have the domain(s) you want and the capital to build a proper site(s). Too many newbies get caught up with wasting money on minisites, in my opinion – I know I did. Get the money and build a proper site.

Focus only on purchasing domains in com/net/org. If you see a good cctld in .us/co.uk/.de go for it. Don’t bother with .ws/.cc. If you are speculating on cctlds that are not in DNJournal every week and you are able to secure decent names look at .in(India). Some good drops in this extension and with 1billion people and a high degree of English there is a lot more potential than .ws and .cc.
As Dongsman has stated before, development is the key to domains. Sell domains now to get the capital you need for proper development. It is too hard to manage buying, selling, finding content writers, setting up minisites etc when you start out.
Focus on one thing then worry about the rest later.

Don't bother with info, unless you are able to secure a great keyword that you know you can immediately flip. Sealions is not a good term (for enduser sales and probably even a minisite) -unless orcas start an online shop:lol:

Look at the daily drops. Find com/net/orgs that are businesses or services (or at least domains that you wouldn't be embarrased pitching over the phone/email) Only com/net/org because it is not worth the effort explaining what a dot me or dot cc is. Even .biz is easier to flip if you can get a good keyword. A grabbed a biz a few weeks ago and parked it at sedo until I was ready to contact endusers. One week later I received an offer of 120 euros and dumped it.

Reg only the best names -Ones that you can feel most confident about being able to sell. There are some great names I see dropping that with some effort could make great brands and it is hard to not buy them if your goal is flipping and building capital.

Don’t bother with selling on domain boards unless your domains don’t sell. Use them to get rid of your mistakes and be happy if you get enough for a good dot com.
Contact end users - Offer the domain between 99 – 499 (unless you feel you have a gem then just hold on to it until you are comfortable making higher sales)These are numbers that businesses feel comfortable with and still give you a good return. Don't fool yourself by expecting xxxx-xxxxx for a handreg (although it can be done, don’t count on it). Buy 1 and sell for 99 = 10 more regs. Sell those between 99-499. Reinvest in more domains and a drop catching script (check the member expron), Estibot Pro membership(worth every penny) and other such domain tools

Plan on working 8 hours a day.( or whatever time you have available)
Spend half your time reviewing drop lists and selecting domains that you feel confident about selling. Check wordtracker/adwords tool/number of advertisers listed in Google sidebar to get an idea about search volume and potential end users. Again, just names that you think you can sell. Don’t waste time trying to grab 4L.coms. Most aren’t easy enduser sales and there is a lot of competition for domainers and registrars.

Spend the other half of the day qualifying endusers for your existing domains and sending emails.

You may get 1 good domain some days, other days you may get ten. Just keep the domains coming in and going out. I am debt free(not from domain sales) so I can live off 99 dollars a day. For anything over 99 I put half away for a rainy day and half into new domains/toward my planned fully developed income generating site(s).

As Dongsman has stated before, development is the key to domains. Sell domains now to get the capital you need for proper development.

Don’t bother with the appraisal section of this board. Half of the people offering appraisals are lucky to get their domains sold for 28-50 at Bido. The other group that did provide solid advice seemed to have stop posting. You will get a feel for the value of your domains after a while.

Do read the board regularly and follow the advice of the “oldtimers” but don't spend all day here at the expense of researching domain and contacting endusers.

Don’t get greedy-make a buck today-turn that into 2 tomorrow-and 4 the next.

I don't know if only .01% of people make a living at this or not, but I think it can be done if you are realistic. You have to spend the time, search the lists, send the emails, make the calls, be smart, learn from your mistakes, have a plan, watch trends and keep going.
May 2008 - I didn’t know what Paypal was-didn’t know what domain extensions were-could barely send an email.
June 2008 - I bought my first domain and continue to do so daily.
July 2008 - My first sale - $600.

I made, and continue to make, lots of mistakes, but I am learning. My biggest regret is not knowing about domains earlier (and not taking web development in university)


Good Luck
J”jobless since Feb 26 2009” 73

I couldn't agree 100% more both in strategy and regret.....nice post!

Armengrecotech,

It has been stubborn times in the domain business lately with many deals coming up in various discounted outlets. Study your keywords and combinations, track and note available two word domains in the name database and I would stick to .com tld if just starting out. There are limited choices anywhere you go but now is the time to find more prospective domains on the market for a relatively cheap price.
I recently purchased firstfemales /.com...... hand registered for $8. I can make either a nice informative website out of it with some effort and hold out to find another enduser for a much higher ROI.....or quick flip it for a minimum 300-600%+ ROI now. This is a decent return but I don't want to undercut it's potential either so I may hold this one to see if anything follows it's scent. You need to find names like this... or better! ......to find endusers. If you touch three word domains you will be a long time in this game with little to no return and possibly broke or with debt. I have yet to sell a three word domain......oh wait, I don't own any! I guess I can't advise on that then but .com is the only thing I buy with very few exceptions. Good Luck...

 

[MeanerDomainer]

I couldn't agree 100% more both in strategy and regret.....nice post!

Armengrecotech,

It has been stubborn times in the domain business lately with many deals coming up in various discounted outlets. Study your keywords and combinations, track and note available two word domains in the name database and I would stick to .com tld if just starting out. There are limited choices anywhere you go but now is the time to find more prospective domains on the market for a relatively cheap price.
I recently purchased firstfemales /.com...... hand registered for $8. I can make either a nice informative website out of it with some effort and hold out to find another enduser for a much higher ROI.....or quick flip it for a minimum 300-600%+ ROI now. This is a decent return but I don't want to undercut it's potential either so I may hold this one to see if anything follows it's scent. You need to find names like this... or better! ......to find endusers. If you touch three word domains you will be a long time in this game with little to no return and possibly broke or with debt. I have yet to sell a three word domain......oh wait, I don't own any! I guess I can't advise on that then but .com is the only thing I buy with very few exceptions. Good Luck...

Don't take this the wrong way, but firstfemales(dot)com is NOT at all a good example of the type of domain he should be trying to buy. I doubt that you will be able to sell it to anyone.
Why?
1) No-one EVER searches for "first females".
2) It is not a product or a service that any company offers or wishes to market.

I assume that this is a "language barrier" issue. Did you perhaps think that "first females" could stand for "first ladies" as in wives of presidents? "First ladies" could be developed into an informational site, but with very limited earning potential, at least as far as I can think of (maybe books, commemorative mugs, etc?.
"First females" could also be developed into an informational site about women pioneers (first female to solo fly across the atlantic, first female to play in the NHL, first female to win an Indy car race, etc.) Again, such a site would have rather limited earning potential (although perhaps better than "first ladies" if you manage to sell a lot of Danica Patrick crap).
Your ROI would be far better if you invested the time and effort in developing a decent name.

 

[Archangel]

You said what I hadn't earlier. This is a speculative domain, not one that'll reap any rewards anytime soon. Like I said: .infos are a great way to start out but one ya get the capital, broaden your horizons. Keyword or generic .infos are way better than speculative .coms.

Don't take this the wrong way, but firstfemales(dot)com is NOT at all a good example of the type of domain he should be trying to buy. I doubt that you will be able to sell it to anyone.
Why?
1) No-one EVER searches for "first females".
2) It is not a product or a service that any company offers or wishes to market.

I assume that this is a "language barrier" issue. Did you perhaps think that "first females" could stand for "first ladies" as in wives of presidents? "First ladies" could be developed into an informational site, but with very limited earning potential, at least as far as I can think of (maybe books, commemorative mugs, etc?.
"First females" could also be developed into an informational site about women pioneers (first female to solo fly across the atlantic, first female to play in the NHL, first female to win an Indy car race, etc.) Again, such a site would have rather limited earning potential (although perhaps better than "first ladies" if you manage to sell a lot of Danica Patrick crap).
Your ROI would be far better if you invested the time and effort in developing a decent name.

 

[DnEbook]

l would just keep reading , and dont be a slave to .com , just reading dnjournal shows many other extensions make money as well , also these are times when bargains can be found , as for backordering i think its too late in the game for that , quite possibly a mugs game that sees the registrar the only winner , also try and develop at least one of your domains , that will also help you learn. I still see great regs in the .us market ...........seems undervalued for a cctld ??

Always something interesting in the auction section, and if there alot of bids going on it may be worth looking into that auction ?

 

[MeanerDomainer]

deleted

 

[ComKid]

Don't take this the wrong way, but firstfemales(dot)com is NOT at all a good example of the type of domain he should be trying to buy. I doubt that you will be able to sell it to anyone.
Why?
1) No-one EVER searches for "first females".
2) It is not a product or a service that any company offers or wishes to market.

I assume that this is a "language barrier" issue. Did you perhaps think that "first females" could stand for "first ladies" as in wives of presidents? "First ladies" could be developed into an informational site, but with very limited earning potential, at least as far as I can think of (maybe books, commemorative mugs, etc?.
"First females" could also be developed into an informational site about women pioneers (first female to solo fly across the atlantic, first female to play in the NHL, first female to win an Indy car race, etc.) Again, such a site would have rather limited earning potential (although perhaps better than "first ladies" if you manage to sell a lot of Danica Patrick crap).
Your ROI would be far better if you invested the time and effort in developing a decent name.

Ok....I'll admit, I have never bought a domain for more than reg fee and sold it for a good ROI in my 7 years in this business.

Nor have I "developed" a domain name and sold it for good ROI.....yet.

But what I have done from experience......and from which I am speaking, have bought many $8 two-word niche and brandable domain names that front-end developer's don't want to register or wouldn't suggest buying.....and sold for $280-$2100.... with offers so far from $1000 to up over $8000. I bought many of those names between 2005-07 when everyone said the hand registry was depleted of "decent" names. The one I recieved an $8000 offer on I registered 6 months prior. And the one I have a $1000 offer on was registered this year........ as well as one I hand regged less than 3 months ago that I am presently negotiating for $1000-$2000.
Every single domain that I have sold could have been sworn off as a "loser" in the appraisal section of any domain forum. Each sold for way more than what was "speculated". They all had low search results,... if any. ....and none were a generic service or product domain name that companies are "looking for".
I leave those domains to the masses to fight over...... and grab the ones for $8 at the registrar that those same masses say are "gone with the times".

I started out small too, like most. But I would say I am one of the few success stories who made it in this business not totally conforming to keyword specifics and search results to find great names.

If I did everything exactly the way everybody else was trying to do it.....I would have much more competition and way less choices! :lol:

I am just giving advice to someone who has not pushed the line yet in this business. Never push the line when you are just getting into this business especially with limited funds. If they have not the funds to go and buy a $100-$1000 domain name to "hope" to turn into something (as a new domainer) then go for the $8 - $50 "ok" name and "hope" just the same. I would be willing to bet that FirstFemales.com is better than the three domains he has right now and way better than the first 10 domain names I've seen many, many, many new domainers register their first time in. And as I stated previous....... there is better! I was playing off the fact that there is much, much worse for $8!

Do you (meaner) have a domain to share that you could use as a $8 (maximum) investment example? How about a $100 example? At least give him some hope with a few good cheap .info suggestions or at least a $8 .com

I'll put up an example of a domain I recently aquired that is a good solid one word domain name that probably won't even bring in a strong ROI like many of my $8 picks. Entrees (dot) net I aquired for mid $xxx which is a decent buy but if I only sell it for $2000 is only 400% ROI which doesn't even compare to the ROI of $2100 or $8000 from a $8 domain. But I see good one word .net's sell for mid $x,xxx - $xx,xxx all the time on DNJ so I remain hopeful.

I know there is better, and it costs more money to find better.....but if you teach a newbie to start at the exact same place in this business you are at right now... they will go broke in no time. It's no secret that everyone is trying to get the good names and that it takes investment in time and money and research to do so. But there are obvious, and.... let the record show, sometimes not so obvious things to look for in a name.

At this point in the game you either have to cough up more money to get what you want or take a bigger (but very possible) chance on the niche or brandable $8 (.com) domain name. This is true for both domainer and end-user....which is why $8 domains have possibility still in this market!

The opportunity that *IS* available to you right now is buying drastically undervalued names on the aftermarket and developing them into earning platforms, or betting on end-user sales.

This would be my best advice also for the best investment money can buy.....but you will still need considerable money to compete but there are deals going on right now in the aftermarket.

 

[ComKid]

Read everything you can and use all the tools at your disposal. Listen to those who have been successful as well as those who were unsuccessful! Don't think that everything had been done in the domaining world because it hasn't. There are hidden niches still waiting to be discovered and decent domains being offered up all the time but patience is the key.

 

[MeanerDomainer]

Ok....I'll admit, I have never bought a domain for more than reg fee and sold it for a good ROI in my 7 years in this business.

Nor have I "developed" a domain name and sold it for good ROI.....yet.

But what I have done from experience......and from which I am speaking, have bought many $8 two-word niche and brandable domain names that front-end developer's don't want to register or wouldn't suggest buying.....and sold for $280-$2100.... with offers so far from $1000 to up over $8000. I bought many of those names between 2005-07 when everyone said the hand registry was depleted of "decent" names. The one I recieved an $8000 offer on I registered 6 months prior. And the one I have a $1000 offer on was registered this year........ as well as one I hand regged less than 3 months ago that I am presently negotiating for $1000-$2000.
Every single domain that I have sold could have been sworn off as a "loser" in the appraisal section of any domain forum. Each sold for way more than what was "speculated". They all had low search results,... if any. ....and none were a generic service or product domain name that companies are "looking for".
I leave those domains to the masses to fight over...... and grab the ones for $8 at the registrar that those same masses say are "gone with the times".

I started out small too, like most. But I would say I am one of the few success stories who made it in this business not totally conforming to keyword specifics and search results to find great names.

If I did everything exactly the way everybody else was trying to do it.....I would have much more competition and way less choices! :lol:

I am just giving advice to someone who has not pushed the line yet in this business. Never push the line when you are just getting into this business especially with limited funds. If they have not the funds to go and buy a $100-$1000 domain name to "hope" to turn into something (as a new domainer) then go for the $8 - $50 "ok" name and "hope" just the same. I would be willing to bet that FirstFemales.com is better than the three domains he has right now and way better than the first 10 domain names I've seen many, many, many new domainers register their first time in. And as I stated previous....... there is better! I was playing off the fact that there is much, much worse for $8!

Do you (meaner) have a domain to share that you could use as a $8 (maximum) investment example? How about a $100 example? At least give him some hope with a few good cheap .info suggestions or at least a $8 .com

I'll put up an example of a domain I recently aquired that is a good solid one word domain name that probably won't even bring in a strong ROI like many of my $8 picks. Entrees (dot) net I aquired for mid $xxx which is a decent buy but if I only sell it for $2000 is only 400% ROI which doesn't even compare to the ROI of $2100 or $8000 from a $8 domain. But I see good one word .net's sell for mid $x,xxx - $xx,xxx all the time on DNJ so I remain hopeful.

I know there is better, and it costs more money to find better.....but if you teach a newbie to start at the exact same place in this business you are at right now... they will go broke in no time. It's no secret that everyone is trying to get the good names and that it takes investment in time and money and research to do so. But there are obvious, and.... let the record show, sometimes not so obvious things to look for in a name.

At this point in the game you either have to cough up more money to get what you want or take a bigger (but very possible) chance on the niche or brandable $8 (.com) domain name. This is true for both domainer and end-user....which is why $8 domains have possibility still in this market!



This would be my best advice also for the best investment money can buy.....but you will still need considerable money to compete but there are deals going on right now in the aftermarket.

First, I am relatively new and I have regged some names that sucked, especially in the beginning. With that said, I don't see potential in firstfemales.com, mainly because it's not a commonly used term ("the first woman to..." is), it's not a product or service anyone buys or markets and it's not a name anyone would want to use for the name of a company or a product.

However, hopefully you will managed to sell it and prove me wrong.

He should avoid buying 13 "firstfemales" and use the $100 to buy something much better. And right now, good names can be bought for less than $100.

 

[ComKid]

I understand where you are coming from. No I wouldn't suggest to go out and try to get 13 like names if they were 13 mediocre to less than names.
However, I would suggest, just to a beginner, to stay away from 3 word domains......anything non- .com (unless it's a popular 1 worder or very excellent 2 worder) anything that is hard to pronounce or spell. And think hard and deeply into the possible functionality of your domains......this is usually the most impotant factor and should take most of your time making the decision weather to buy or not.

The domain name firstfemales.com, if developed, could be an information site (not very profitable) but also a forum (very profitable). The first thing I thought of is to use it for a biographical site for of one of my relatives whom was the first female to fly across the U.S. in a hot air balloon.


3.5 billion socializing females on the planet....how could this domain name NOT make a great forum with alot of information? I see the goldmine here. I can see first female categories up the ying yang and anti-male social groupings galore! :talk::talk::talk::talk: :kickass: