discuss TOP 10 mistakes new gTLD investors are doing in 2018 - Are you GUILTY of any of them?

[Brands.International]

Hi friends,

I did not have much time for NamePros discussions lately (except my appraisal thread for new gTLDs, where I spend some of my time), but I still like to read new articles and threads here. As some of you might know, I invest exclusively in new gTLD names. It is difficult for me not to notice that some new gTLD fellow investors are not doing well, therefore I am going to write some suggestions & hopefully it will be helpful for some members here!

TOP 10 mistakes new gTLD investors are doing in 2018!

Mistake no.1 - you are registering BAD, WORTHLESS names!
This mistake is far far the most important one - everything else can be forgotten, but if you have bad names, you will never make any profit. The appraisal thread I am running is unfortunately full of such examples...

Mistake no.2 - you are registering lot of names, and will be forced to dropped them prior the first renewal.
This is because you ignore the fact that even in best portfolios which are really well selected, only 1% of names are sold yearly for price which can be considered significant. And many portfolios I see here are not well selected, and there will be 0 sales in total, due to mistake no.1

Mistake no.3 - you spend too much time at Namepros, instead of LikedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Twitter.
Just to clarify, I love Namepros, and I love to hang around here. I also like to buy domains here for few dollars. But most of your end users (when it comes to new gTLDs) are simply not here. You need to reach out on various platforms, as here you speak mostly with other domainers, which is great for educational or recreational purposes, but not for your sales. Largest sales are made to end users, not to fellow domain speculators/investors.

Mistake no.4 - you are trying to impress, or get an agreement/approval from hardcore .com investors.
I mean, come on - selected, high quality new gTLD domain names are direct competition to valuable .com portfolios - there is only limited amount of money spent on domains, and new gTLDs are redirecting part of that money flow towards them. It is therefore logical that it is an unwanted competition for many .com holders and we can not expect lot of praise on them because of that. Saying that, I can clearly see some .com investors are very nice and genuine here, so this can not be generalised - still, it is good idea to have this notion somewhere back in your mind, as seeking approval of your new gTLDs names from someone who spent years to build his or her legacy extensions portfolio can be an doomed effort from the very start.

Mistake no.5 - you are trying to get an appraisal of your new gTLD name from .com investors.
Again, even in 2018, you will get lot of "regfee" comments or "I would stick with .com" comments -this is one of the reasons I am runnig the appraisal thread exclusively for new gTLDs, and I would like to invite other new gTLD investors to be more active in appraisal threads as well. In general, anytime someone gives you an appraisal or advice, try to check the domain portfolio of that person ..for example, if you see lot of bad domain names, it also can give you some information about the quality of such "appraisal".

Mistake no.6: you do not have your own marketplace ..
It really takes only few minutes and few dollars to create domain name marketplace, using solutions like efty.com, or to create simple webpage using wix.com. There is really no excuse for not having your marketplace nice and ready. Especially after GDPR legislation in place since May 2018, we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!

Mistake no.7: you have your marketplace created, but you operate from .com domain name...
Really???If you sell new gTLDs, you need to lead by your own example...so your markteplace also should operate on new gTLD extension. How can you possibly persuade end user to replace his long or ugly legacy name with new gTLD, if you do not operate from new gTLD? Think about it for a minute.

Mistake no.8: you are registering domain names with renewals around 500 and higher.
And you persuade yourself that you will develop it, if not flipped within 1 year. Yes, you can have 1 or 2 such names, no problem, but if you buy 30 of them, there is no way you will be able to develop all of them within 1 year. So you will end up dropping maybe 28 of them. And then you willl be really hating new gTLDs and "those greedy registries and ICANN maybe as well". This happend to many people 4 years ago, and we saw that recently again few weeks ago (who can guess the extension?), and I am sure we will see it again in near future when other planned new gTLD extensions will go to General Availability.

Mistake no.9: you do not care what are companies behind particular extensions.
You even can not tell difference between registrar and registries. You do not understand that once you drop you new gTLD domain name, it can be easily re-priced by registry, or it can be reserved by registry. You drop your good name, and then you start topics on Namepros saying "Registry reserved my name, please help!"...

Mistake no.10: you registered 1000 of very bad names, which will be only pure money loss.
Then (because you got lucky), you finally get a really good new gTLD name, with low standard renewal. Finally something good! This is a name which you should keep and wait for good ofers. But (because you have spent money on those 1000 bad domain names and everyone laughts at you ) you feel you need some casflow now! And because you are lazy to create your own marketplace (and from unknown reason you cannot also create your LinkedIn profile which is free of charge), and you do not like to send emails to end users because it is too much work, and you do not like to make phonecalls (from your country it is expensive anyway), you start $1 auction here...then it goes like this:
1
up
up
last 24 hours, SUPER PREMIUM name, a STEAL!!!
2
up
LAST BID IS $2, SUPER PREMIUM, INSANE NAME!!! Can anyone give $3? Do I see $3 for it?
up
up
up
me: ok, I will take it for BIN, USD 10...

And then you are again left with your bad 1000 names.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So guys, are you guilty of any of this?

 

[JB Lions]

Marek...I was thinking, now that I own MillionDollar.Domains as my Marketplace for ngTLD's, it's really a waste of time to solicit comments from other domainers. Some of the positive feedback I got is enough to move ahead with development plans. Like million dollar yachts and million cars and even million dollar homes, there's ALWAYS interest in millions of anything. Like who doesn't want to be a Millionaire
Thanks for all your work my friend, and I hope I can help

He's actually commented on that domain before when somebody else owned it and dropped it for a better name:

Web.Enterprises is much much better then MillionDollar.Domains
Web.Enterprices - one can imagine a large company on it
MillionDollar.Domains - it feels like domainer website, lol
so good decision, imo

 

[Brands.International]

He's actually commented on that domain before when somebody else owned it and dropped it for a better name:

Actually, you interpret that little incorrectly : the person was deciding between 2 good names for his domain porfolio website and blog, and he has choosen one of them. But that does not mean that the second name was much worse...so I think Rich made a very good decision, it is a nice name, and sure, it will be for domainer website, and it is perfectly ok imo

 

[JB Lions]

Actually, you interpret that little incorrectly : the person was deciding between 2 good names for his domain porfolio website and blog, and he has choosen one of them. But that does not mean that the second name was much worse...so I think Rich made a very good decision, it is a nice name, and sure, it will be for domainer website, and it is perfectly ok imo

The only thing I said was that you commented on it, which is true, then followed with my opinion that it was better, the same thing you said:

"Web.Enterprises is much much better then MillionDollar.Domains"

Not just much better, but much, much better. So I interpreted it correctly.

Side note, just saw this. In this thread you seem to be saying if you don't own new gtlds, you shouldn't be giving appraisals. You're 100% new gtld but:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-realestate-com.1093482/#post-6831135

You're giving appraisals on .com. And yours was incredibly high, $10,000 for the-realestate.com

Premiums followed up with some comparables that ranged from $495 - $1,200.

I think it's fine for anybody to give appraisals, good to get a range.

 

[Brands.International]

Of the 25 non-.TOP non-regsitry domains which sold in July, Godaddy & Name.com (popular US-based registrars) show the following base RENEWAL rates... Certainly not a $10 average. So where are these TLDs available with $10 renewals?

App $23.99 vs $19.99
Bio $79.99 vs $59.99
Cards $39.99 vs $34.99
Cooking $14.99 vs $34.99
Dental $69.99 vs $59.99
Digital $39.99 vs $34.99
Fit $39.99 vs $29.99
Group $24.99 vs $19.99
Life $39.99 vs $34.99
Media $39.99 vs $34.99
Network $34.99 vs $22.99
News $29.99 vs $19.99
Online $49.99 vs $34.99
Solutions $24.99 vs $22.99
Space $11.99 vs $10.99
Ventures $69.99 vs $59.99
Work $9.99 vs $8.99
Xyz $14.99 vs $14.99

That is extremely good and very important question for new gTLD domain investor...So where are these TLDs available with $10 renewals?

If you ask this quesion and have no idea about an answer, that means you have (at the moment, that can easily change) absolutely no idea about how to invest in new gTLDs. Low renewals are (with the quality of the name itself) the most important factor for domain investor.

Saying there, answer is complex: there are hundreds of registrars worldwide, and each has different business agreements and connections to different new gTLD registries. This also change by time, as there are renewal and trasnsfer promotions on some of those registrars, but they are usually time limited.
So it is all about information WHAT and WHERE.

As it goes, I will not publicly hype (and also not shame) any particular registrar in relation to any particular new gTLD extension, so I will not answer your question publicly on open forum. But here is what you can do : you can see WHERE people with larger portfolios of new gTLD names are actually holding their names. This infomation is still available in WHOIS database, even after GDPR legislation, and you can check it literally in few seconds. Everyone can check it in few seconds. You will be very surprised how cheap is to hold some very good new gTLD names if you do some deeper analysis.

Just to note: for me, even $10 average renewal is too high for some of extensions I like. I prefer renewals in between 1-7 USD max. So how to achieve that? Do some reverse engeneering now, and you will find it out. This was exactly the way how I learned with my first new gTLDs about various registrars wordwide, which are cheap, and people are using them. At the moment I use around 10 different registrars - and the no 1 reason for that, is, of course, the renewal price

 

[Brands.International]

Marek...I was thinking, now that I own MillionDollar.Domains as my Marketplace for ngTLD's, it's really a waste of time to solicit comments from other domainers. Some of the positive feedback I got is enough to move ahead with development plans. Like million dollar yachts and million cars and even million dollar homes, there's ALWAYS interest in millions of anything. Like who doesn't want to be a Millionaire
Thanks for all your work my friend, and I hope I can help

Rich I like the name I think you should probably use Efty.com for that, and you will be set and ready in 2-3 hours, it is very easy to setup with them, and even non technical person can do it (I am myself pretty non technical as well, but it was an very easy process when I was using them). GL with it, and I am looking forward to visit your new marketplace soon!

 

[lambo.com]

Rich I like the name I think you should probably use Efty.com for that, and you will be set and ready in 2-3 hours, it is very easy to setup with them, and even non technical person can do it (I am myself pretty non technical as well, but it was an very easy process when I was using them). GL with it, and I am looking forward to visit your new marketplace soon!

I think he should use the same template as your site, would match quality of the domain.

 

[Brands.International]

I think he should use the same template as your site, would match quality of the domain.

If this is the best you can come with ...

 

[JB Lions]

If this is the best you can come with ...

To be fair, from page 1, the "mistakes":

"we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!"

Mine needs work itself, but I'm not advertising it in my sig.

And I think I mentioned it before/constructive criticism, but it looks like the site is still kaput:

It looks like a design out of the 1990's.

There is no consistency in the backgrounds. It goes from white, to some blurred image to an earth background to a blue page with a bunch of beige polka dots etc. That page gave me a headache.

What I mentioned yesterday, the non-working Add to Cart button for the Guide Book that was supposed to launch back in January, half a year ago.

Then, what I mentioned before, the Domain Market page, bunch of domains, bunch of Make Offer links but none of them are clickable.

It's violating what you just posted on page 1.

Maybe, what you suggested to Rich just now:
"I think you should probably use Efty.com for that"

I would put a lot of what you have on the Contact page on it's own About US or FAQ page. That's also below the fold, on my screen I wouldn't even see it unless I scrolled down.

Mistake no.6: you do not have your own marketplace ..
It really takes only few minutes and few dollars to create domain name marketplace, using solutions like efty.com, or to create simple webpage using wix.com. There is really no excuse for not having your marketplace nice and ready. Especially after GDPR legislation in place since May 2018, we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!

 

[Brands.International]

To be fair, from page 1, the "mistakes":

"we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!"

Mine needs work itself, but I'm not advertising it in my sig.

And I think I mentioned it before/constructive criticism, but it looks like the site is still kaput:


I would put a lot of what you have on the Contact page on it's own About US or FAQ page. That's also below the fold, on my screen I wouldn't even see it unless I scrolled down.

Mistake no.6: you do not have your own marketplace ..
It really takes only few minutes and few dollars to create domain name marketplace, using solutions like efty.com, or to create simple webpage using wix.com. There is really no excuse for not having your marketplace nice and ready. Especially after GDPR legislation in place since May 2018, we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!

To be fair, from page 1, the "mistakes":

"we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!"

Mine needs work itself, but I'm not advertising it in my sig.

And I think I mentioned it before/constructive criticism, but it looks like the site is still kaput:

It looks like a design out of the 1990's.

There is no consistency in the backgrounds. It goes from white, to some blurred image to an earth background to a blue page with a bunch of beige polka dots etc. That page gave me a headache.

What I mentioned yesterday, the non-working Add to Cart button for the Guide Book that was supposed to launch back in January, half a year ago.

Then, what I mentioned before, the Domain Market page, bunch of domains, bunch of Make Offer links but none of them are clickable.

It's violating what you just posted on page 1.

Maybe, what you suggested to Rich just now:
"I think you should probably use Efty.com for that"

I would put a lot of what you have on the Contact page on it's own About US or FAQ page. That's also below the fold, on my screen I wouldn't even see it unless I scrolled down.

Mistake no.6: you do not have your own marketplace ..
It really takes only few minutes and few dollars to create domain name marketplace, using solutions like efty.com, or to create simple webpage using wix.com. There is really no excuse for not having your marketplace nice and ready. Especially after GDPR legislation in place since May 2018, we really need to project some more credibility towards end users, and having nice marketplace is very good way to do so!

Thanks JB those are actually some very valid points. I admitt I am GUILTY (but only partially!) from MISTAKE no.6! This marketplace definitely still needs some improvement, and I will be working on it, also using details from your post, which is helpful for me..

Btw, I love efty.com...it is really easy for non tech people, and intuitive. I would use it again, should they provide some option for additional pages (I need that for my book, etc), which seems not to be case now, so I had to use another solution. But purely as a domain marketplace solution, they rock, imo

Yes, that book should be finalized much earlier..

If I can ask, why you do not have link at your marketplace in sig? I remember that in past I had a look into it, and it was pretty good at least from what I remember..so what is the reason? Imo more people looking at your or my domain names, more sales .. or no?

 

[JB Lions]

If I can ask, why you do not have link at your marketplace in sig? I remember that in past I had a look into it, and it was pretty good at least from what I remember..so what is the reason? Imo more people looking at your or my domain names, more sales .. or no?

This basically:

Mine needs work itself, but I'm not advertising it in my sig.

I talked about it some in another thread.

"I do have my own site, I like the name but I've been flip flopping all over the place on developing it. Bought a couple of themes I liked, but then didn't like it when I activated them. Tried some other solution, then didn't like it. Right now using DomainFolio theme after seeing somebody else using it, DomainBrothers.com, which I kind of liked, but I have do a lot of customization. Obvious stuff like my logo not matching the current colors. Haven't updated it in awhile, so bit of a mess right now. One day, hope to do it up right."

I think Maple Dots mentioned this one - https://www.domainbrothers.com/

And they were using a Wordpress theme devoted to domaining, one I already paid for in the past, so I was revisiting it. I kind of liked that one, but again, looks like they did some extra work with it.

This is the theme - http://www.scriptinglab.com/#sthash.4oPHfyck.dpbs

@Bulloney is checking out my site right now I have him labeled.

 

[Brands.International]

This basically:



I talked about it some in another thread.

"I do have my own site, I like the name but I've been flip flopping all over the place on developing it. Bought a couple of themes I liked, but then didn't like it when I activated them. Tried some other solution, then didn't like it. Right now using DomainFolio theme after seeing somebody else using it, DomainBrothers.com, which I kind of liked, but I have do a lot of customization. Obvious stuff like my logo not matching the current colors. Haven't updated it in awhile, so bit of a mess right now. One day, hope to do it up right."

I think Maple Dots mentioned this one - https://www.domainbrothers.com/

And they were using a Wordpress theme devoted to domaining, one I already paid for in the past, so I was revisiting it. I kind of liked that one, but again, looks like they did some extra work with it.

This is the theme - http://www.scriptinglab.com/#sthash.4oPHfyck.dpbs

My opinion is that you do not need to have 100% perfect marketplace - there is always some space for upgrades, and also various people will give you totally different feedbacks - one will say it is super cool, another person will tell you it is very bad design...poeple are very different in what they like.

The important thing is that we need a place where people can see our domain names. So when I am at LinkedIn and I speak with someone, that person can immediately see what domain names I have.
I really think it is very important to show your domains in as many places as possible - if people do not know about our names, they can not demand them. So if I were you, I would definitely include that link in my sig, even when you think it is not perfect yet...you have some pretty good domain names, so it does not really matter anyway...

 

[ThatNameGuy]

My opinion is that you do not need to have 100% perfect marketplace - there is always some space for upgrades, and also various people will give you totally different feedbacks - one will say it is super cool, another person will tell you it is very bad design...poeple are very different in what they like.

The important thing is that we need a place where people can see our domain names. So when I am at LinkedIn and I speak with someone, that person can immediately see what domain names I have.
I really think it is very important to show your domains in as many places as possible - if people do not know about our names, they can not demand them. So if I were you, I would definitely include that link in my sig, even when you think it is not perfect yet...you have some pretty good domain names, so it does not really matter anyway...

Getting back on topic Marek...I too like Linkedin, I have about a thousand followers on Linkedin and everyone of them is a potential domain buyer/investor. It's the perfect venue to start educating "end users" on ngTLD's. Thanks

 

[Asfas1000]

Of the 25 non-.TOP non-regsitry domains which sold in July, Godaddy & Name.com (popular US-based registrars) show the following base RENEWAL rates... Certainly not a $10 average. So where are these TLDs available with $10 renewals?

App $23.99 vs $19.99
Bio $79.99 vs $59.99
Cards $39.99 vs $34.99
Cooking $14.99 vs $34.99
Dental $69.99 vs $59.99
Digital $39.99 vs $34.99
Fit $39.99 vs $29.99
Group $24.99 vs $19.99
Life $39.99 vs $34.99
Media $39.99 vs $34.99
Network $34.99 vs $22.99
News $29.99 vs $19.99
Online $49.99 vs $34.99
Solutions $24.99 vs $22.99
Space $11.99 vs $10.99
Ventures $69.99 vs $59.99
Work $9.99 vs $8.99
Xyz $14.99 vs $14.99

These are the standard renewals. New g's that sell (to be precise, that have sold) are of higher quality and renewal rates.

 

[Brands.International]

These are the standard renewals. New g's that sell (to be precise, that have sold) are of higher quality and renewal rates.

@Asfas1000 Standard renewals very much differs between registrars worldwide. I will respectfuly direct you to post #104 - if you read that in detail and will do what I advised to garptrader, you will soon understand exactly what I mean, without me needing to mention specific registrars, as I want to avoid that.

You are, of course, right that new gTLDs that sell are of higher quality that those which do not sell, but when it comes to new gTLDs, higher quality of domain name is not always equivalent to having premium renewal fee attached to it In another words, you can have some very good new gTLD names with standard renewals attached to them (for example if you secured them early, or you have drop-catched them, or you bought them from early new gTLD adopters here at Namepros who secured them with standard renewals, or you bought them at aftermarket, etc..there are several possible ways to get such names).

 

[Asfas1000]

In another words, you can have some very good new gTLD names with standard renewals attached to them

If you are able to find those, then you should have some edge.

 

[Brands.International]

If you are able to find those, then you should have some edge.

I got some very nice names here at Namepros a year ago, and few good also this year - I use to open WLTB thread from time to time, and among hundreds of pretty bad names which one needs to filter out, 1 or 2 are usually good

 

[RamBabuSEO]

@lolwarrior Thanks Marek, it is great contribution and sharing valuable thoughts, where there are many aspects you referring are correct and worth to look into and change the mind for future. Specially points 2,7,8 & 10. But you should not add a word guilty to the people which I don't think is correct word to represent their level of understanding towards domaining. And yes there should be many many people might got into this trouble unintentionally, but I believe this is called domaining. I am not professional, but I have acquired 4-10 most highly premium gTLD names in which 2-3 have renewal around 100 to 250$.

I really appreciate & like your every kind words written for gTLD supporters or investors in order to be aware and do better job accordingly

 

[Ayananta Chakraborty]

Very informative and to the point. Mistake 3 and 6 are common problem for other tld investors too and last one is true fact. Thank you for sharing the truth with us.Highly appreciated.

 

[Ollie3000]

Great post @lolwarrior - There are a growing number of us ngtld investors and we have all probably made most of the mistakes on your list.

As has been mentioned in this thread, it's the one worders that have the best potential - my strategy was to go through namebio's top .com sales and then check against popular ngtlds and pick up what was available. I did well if I do say so myself and most are listed on Sedo - I get offers fairly often, but they are low ball.

My theory is these extensions are for the next generation & those who can afford to hold for 10 years will reap the rewards. We all know tech advances constantly and why wouldn't domain extensions evolve to.

 

[HotKey]

Guilty as charged, offence #3.

But TBH, if anything, being a member of NP (the only SM site I really use) has drastically improved my investing habits, and helped reduce the amount of clutter I used to collect pre-2016.

My fellow DN warriors with their willingness to share triumphs and pitfalls and everyday grinding continues to reinforce the fact that a quality domain name will always rise above a hundred crappers, no matter the hype or trend.

Yourself, LOL, are evolving and maturing I see. Your posts are becoming more quality and less noise. Kudos. Generally, threads from people who post "advice" or "how to" or "Q&A" if they have only been in the industry for a few years should be taken with a grain of salt. Anyone who thinks they know what's going on with less than 5 years into something has no idea what's going on. A few here and there might strike gold with a good name, but the real cache should be found in the words of those whom have been slugging it out for years.

 

[robert widener]

excellent post , great advice to follow .

 

[Deepak Bhandari]

Wow Great very helpful

 

[Premiums]

just reported new gtld sale and got this:

Your post in the thread Report Completed Domain Name Sales Herewas deleted. Reason: Responding to a deleted post / Cleaning up the thread / Thank you for understanding
Yesterday at 5:09 PM

new gtld hater forum
enough for me

 

[Isaac Meeya]

Great read, thanks.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

I get offers fairly often, but they are low ball.

This is because such TLDs are not interesting for most endusers with good budget.
Unfortunately.