15 Ways To Become A Better Domainer

Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 by clicky


The competition in the domain industry is steadily increasing as more and more people are becoming aware of it's global impact in today's financial marketplace. Professional investors and huge corporations are staking their claim of this internet real estate and have turned this once primitive name exchange into a booming multi-billion dollar industry. 

Today's domainers are needing take their domain investing to another level in order to have continued success and profitability. Below are 15 Ways To Become A Better Domainer.

Utilize the forums
As I've said in previous posts, the importance of domaining forums in the domain industry are vital and serve as a great resource for beginners and professional domainers alike.  Whether you are looking for some honest appraisal opinions or asking questions that only another domainer would know the answer to, the domain forums are there to assist. 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, this constant stream of domain information has shaped many beginner domainers into today's greatest professional domainers.  If you're not a member of a domain forum you should greatly consider joining one today. 

Are you a domainer or a domain developer?
Are you buying domains for quick profit sales? Are you buying domains for the long-term traffic revenue? Are you buying domains to develop and birth new traffic? Whether you choose to do one or all three, you must come to terms and clarify a solid game plan when it comes to your domain investments.  It's reasonably okay to have a few domains being developed but your overall strategy needs to take shape and be narrowed down to a specific objective. Developing a domain name takes time, effort and more time, but the possible payoffs are always huge. Buying domain names in bulk for quick sales is also profitable but relies more on a constant sales initiative to be successful. Either way, you need a tactical approach on how you want to market your domains. 


Dissect your portfolio
I once spoke to a guy who boasted a domain portfolio of over 3000 names. After hearing how he was considering selling a few of his "best" domains, I offered to peruse the list and maybe assist with finding some end users that might be potential buyers.  He agreed and the next day he sent me a list of about 1000 of his best domains that he was willing to sell. To my surprise over 90% of them were, in my humble opinion, not worth much more than the reg fee. I contacted him back and explained that I was only to find about 75-100 names that could possibly be decent sales. He was stunned. He declined and stated that my appraisal was not correct and thanked me for my time. 3 days laters, I received an email from the exact same guy asking for assistance in selling the  75-100 domain names I previously found in his list. Seems that during those 3 days, he spoke to a few other domainers and received the same appraisal and evaluation of his so called "best" domains. This guy thought since his domains contained popular words like gamble, casino, sex and technology that it automatically made his domains super valuable. What he didn't consider was the multiple hyphens and terrible combinations of typos and keywords. Don't be the domainer with a huge list of terrible domains just to brag about how large your portfolio is.  Trim your "extra" domains and streamline by selling or trading and use the profit for investing in quality names that are earmarked for immediate revenue or immediate development. Be proud of the overall quality of  your portfolio and not just the number of domains it contains. 

Know your rep
I amazed on how many people I encounter that in the domain industry that have no idea who their representatives are for such companies as Sedo, Moniker, Go Daddy and other big domain powerhouses. The representatives of such companies exist to assist their members who utilize their services and are hands-down the quickest and easiest way to get something resolved if you feel a mistake has been made. If you have domains either parked or offered for sale with a domain company, I highly suggest sending a quick email to find out who your representative is and do you best to maintain a professional and courteous relationship with them. It's easier to ask assistance from  someone whom you know and knows you than it is to  ask a complete stranger. And don't forget to vote for your favorite domain rep at next years Domainers Choice Awards.

Stay clear of Trademark Infringements 
This should be a no-brainer. Time and time again I see domainers struggle with the headaches caused by trademark infringements and bad faith domain registrations. Not only do most of the trademark claims filed at the WIPO result in the domain being transferred to the appropriate party, but it also indicates that your choice in domains is questionable and therefore proving that you are still purchasing non-quality domain names.  Domains that infringe on trademarks are not quality. Ask any lawyer. Save your registration fee and steer clear of legal woes. 

Auto-renew 
Now that your portfolio is streamlined and contains only select domain names, you definitely don't want to lose or let any of them drop and take a chance of someone else buying you lovely internet real estate.  Do yourself a favor and set  your domains for auto-renew at your domain register where purchased.  It's a terrible feeling to have someone else scoop up one of your prize domains just because you didn't or couldn't find the time to renew the registration. Visit this great article by the Daily Domainer that explains the life-cycle of a domain name and don't let accidental "drops" happen to you. 

Limit the hand regs
Hand regs or hand registrations are domains that are purchased from a publicly available source at a regular registration fee and are either brand new (never been purchased) or have expired and no longer owned by the previous owner. Go Daddy is a domain registrar that is popular with domainers and consistently used for hand regs.  The possibility of stumbling along a unregistered domain is always there and the opportunity for someone to register a new domain name that never existed and create value to it is also conceivable, but in essence, most domain names that are hand regged are simply non-researched, impulse purchases that pad a domain portfolio with non-value names. Distinguish yourself as a profitable domainer and limit the amount of hand regs you add to your portfolio. One good way is to wait 24 hours before registering a hand reg domain and then re-evaluating before buying. You may lose a registration every so often but in the long run you will save on unnecessary registration fees and useless domain name ownership.  

Stay current with news and sales
To be successful is to be informed. The pulse of the domain industry is constantly evolving and therefore it is beneficial to a domainer to know exactly what is the next potential opportunity or trend being created within our industry. If you buy domain names, you are an investor. If you are an investor, you need to stay current with the news of your investments and other people's investments. You can do this by monitoring the recent domain sales and news offered by many websites that are specifically geared towards todays domainers. One of my favorite websites is Ron Jackson's DNJournal. You can find great articles, news and the popular Year To Date domain sales. You need to know what domains are selling, which domains are being bought and how much they are being bought for. Invest time in your investments and reap the rewards. Predicting the next big trend is priceless. 

Blog around
Domaining blogs are sprouting up everywhere with domainers eager to share their experiences, setbacks, lessons learned and tips with anyone who wants to listen. We all need to take advantage of this free and useful information by visiting various domain blogs and getting another person's perspective on our industry.  And don't forget to subscribe to their RSS feeds, if it is offered, and have all this new information sent directly to you to read at your convenience... for free. Subscribe to this blog here.

Diversify with other TLD extensions
While some domainers swear that .com is the only extension worth being bought, there are others, like me, who think it's absolutely insane to dismiss all other TLD's and only buy one flavor of domain name.  The popularity of .TV and .Mobi and the ongoing success of ccTLD's has risen and is playing a prominent part in today's domain marketplace.  Generic domains in any of these extensions are being recognized as a highly sought after commodity with no signs of slowing. Familiarize yourself with other TLD's beside .com, .net and .org and evaluate your domain purchases on a global niche scale the next time you go to buy a domain.

Consider fractional domain ownership
Fractional domain ownership is simply a group of people that own a domain name and share in it's profits, development and use. There is not one sole owner because it is owned by the entire group. Owning a portion of a high value domain is a great way for a newcomer to the domain industry to begin and understand the ins and outs of professional domaining and share in the profit growth associated with that certain domain. It also allows "regular" domainers to group funds together and own a very premier domain name without one person having to pay the entire purchase price. Look for this trend to boom in 2008.

Optimize your parked pages
Once you buy a domain name, it is up to you whether your domain will contain a fully-functional website that you can customize/adsense or whether you will "park" your domain and allow targeted content to automatically be placed and monetized per visitor. If you choose to park your domains, it's imperative that you understand how domain parking works and how it can be optimized to bring better results. Sedo is a popular place for domain parking and allows users to see detailed stats and account information for each domain parked on the Sedo network. Revenue is shared with Sedo each time someone clicks on content on one of your parked pages and relies on consistent traffic to be a steady stream of income. Brush up on your domain parking information here

Update your WHOIS information
The WHOIS database is sort of like a directory of purchased domain names that contains the owner's contact information, purchase date and expiration of a certain domain. One use of this information is being able to contact a domain owner and inquire about purchasing the domain. Without the correct information in the WHOis database, a potential buyer may not be able to contact the current owner and allow an offer to be placed. Contact your domain registrars and make sure your WHOis information is current and correct. If you opt not to be contacted by potential buyers, you may consider using a service that purchases domains for it's clients and keeps their information private. There is also an option to pay an additional fee at some domain registrars for private domain registration.

Contact more end users
So you have a great domain name that is considered gold in a certain industry. Great job. Now, if you have decided not to develop it and simply want to profit from a sale, I highly suggest contacting an end user. What's and end user? An end user is someone who would use the domain name specifically for creating brand recognition in a certain industry. Here's an example: Adam owns organicdogfood.com and Bob owns an organic dog food company in Texas but uses the domain BobsSuperGoodOrganicDogFood.com.  Adam contacts Bob and offers a shorter, brandable and easier to remember domain name that can increase Bob's exposure on the internet for people searching for organic dogfood. Adam has just contacted a possible end user. A domain name can usually be sold to an end user for more since it is valued more by the actual user of the domain instead of a regular domain buyer. 

Change your views on the domain industry
Are there still opportunities to be successful in today's domain industry? Yes.  
Is there still time to take advantage of the booming domain sales? Yes
Is it still possible for a domain newbie to come in and thrive even with a small initial investment. Yes


Good luck with your domaining, enjoy the tips and don't forget to check back for the upcoming article titled: The 10 Best Places To Sell Your Domains 





Go Daddy's Brilliant Super Bowl ad.... sort of

Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 by clicky


Seems powerhouse domain name registrar, Go Daddy, has failed to get approval from the Fox Television Network on their latest attempt to air a provocative and edgy 30-second commercial during this year's Super Bowl game. 


But instead of bowing to defeat, Bob Parsons and his ever-adapting marketing team has chosen to take the same 30-second time segment and utilize it to lure television watchers to visit www.GoDaddy.com/SuperBowl08 and watch the originally intended Super Bowl commercial that was denied by Fox Television.

Simply brilliant. 

Not only does Go Daddy allow the video to still be seen by a huge audience, but in turn, it will drive tons of new traffic to their website and allow them another media platforms on which to advertise the highly anticipated video: EXPOSURE. 
Using a tv commercial to advertise a web commercial. Still brilliant. 

And, I wouldn't be surprised if the above mentioned trend-setting marketing team implements some sort of contest or giveaway during a portion of this year's Super Bowl on their website to take advantage of winning over the always growing customer base of customer domain registers. 

Either way, I can't think of another domain registrar that has penetrated their intended audience as much as Go Daddy.  Now that's exposure. 
;)


-Rudy

Sedo Reports $72 million for 2007

Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 by clicky



Sedo, the leading online market place for buying and selling Internet domain names and websites, has reported that a total of $72,230,731 worth of domains were sold and transferred via the Sedo marketplace in 2007. 


This is a 60% increase of the same figure from 2006.


Over 27,000 domain names were transferred through it's marketplace during the same time.

View the entire 2007 Secondary Domain Market Study from Sedo.

Is This The Fastest Domain Tool?

Posted on by clicky


"Just start typing. Your results will appear instantly."

If you're like me, you don't want to waste time searching for available domain names using a slow loading search tool. I want results, and I want them quick. And this is exactly what you get when you utilize InstantDomainSearch.com's latest domaining tool: InstantDomainSearch

This webtool helps you find the right domain name—as fast as you can type.



You can find out more information about InstantDomainSearch.com here.
Or you can add this domain widget to your site/blog by visiting here.

Stay up-to-date on the latest domain tools and information by subscribing here.




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Video Interview: Jay Westerdal of DomainTools

Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 by clicky


Here's a cool short video created by Modern Domainer. It features Jay Westerdal, of DomainTools.com.



If you get a chance, check out Jay's blog or DomainTools.com.

Go Daddy Announces .ME Domain Extension

Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 by clicky



.ME - THE NEW DOMAIN THAT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!

GoDaddy.com has announced Internet users around the world can register the catchy new domain extension for personal or business use later this year.


Imagine the possibilities. After all, .ME translates to a wide range of catchy words throughout the world - including the obvious English translations, such as "about me.” Others include "amar.me," which means "love me" in Spanish, and "secondo.me," which is Italian for "in my opinion."


Read more of the Go Daddy Press Release here.


Domain Tool Of The Week: DNSalePrice.com

Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 by clicky


DNSalePrice.com is a great website for domain sales history and comparable sales. Not only is the interface ultra straight-forward, but DNSalePrice.com claims that their database is the largest and most accurate repository of domain sales to be found anywhere. It includes all published domain sales from 2003 through present.


Simply, type in a keyword and narrow down optional details such as:
- TLD choice
- Number of words
- Length
- Include numbers
- Include hypens
- Month range
- Price range
- and other details.

We checked a couple of well-known domain sales that occurred over the past couple of months and DNSalePrice.com nailed them all. Do yourself a favor and checkout this great tool.



Get Your FREE Domain From Register.com (limited time offer)

Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 by clicky




Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Register.com Free Domain Promotion is back up and running!

Register.com, a ICANN-accredited domain registrar, has given tons of free domains away in the past through this exact same promotion.
This promotion runs for about 1-2 weeks and then all of a sudden, it's over.
Then you have to hear all the ranting from other people how they got a free domain name and you didn't.

Don't let that happen this time!

Visit here and register one FREE domain name.
Must register as a small business.
CC is required, but not charged. PayPal also will work.
Make sure you choose 1 yr registration and do not choose extras such as privacy if you want it for free.

I've included a few links to other forums/websites that have used the free register.com promo.

http://www.register.com/promo

Enjoy your FREE domain name and don't forget to subscribe to this blog to stay up-to-date on all the domain industry inside tips and news.

Cheers,
Rudy

SnapNames Releases List Of Premium Domain Names Set For Auction

Posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 by clicky

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

[video] Recorded proof of Network Solutions Domain Name Front Running

Posted on by clicky





This video was created by the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society.

Video recorded January 8th, 2008 showing a search for a non-existing domain on networksolutions.com, then checking another whois site about two minutes later to see that the domain is registered by Network Solutions. An example of "Domain Name Front Running" as defined by ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC).

-Rudy

BREAKING NEWS: Network Solutions Steals Your Domain Names

Posted on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 by clicky






In a forum thread over at Namepros, it is being discovered that Network Solutions may be participating in an unethical activity called Domain Frontrunning

Read more here at the Namepros forum post and check back for more details. 

-------------------
Update:
Found more info about this topic over at DotSauce.



Domaining Tool Of The Day : SEObook Typo Generator

Posted on Monday, January 7, 2008 by clicky


" A great domainers tool!"

If you're needing to search for typo combinations for a certain domain name, look no further than the SEObook Typo Generator.

The visual interface is simple and lightning quick and easy for anyone to use . This tool allows you to type in any word and click to find various typo variations. 

Skipped letter
Doubled letters
Reversed letters
Skipped spaces
Missed keys
Inserted keys

A great resource tool for any domainers arsenal.

Check out the SEObook Typo Generator here.





Go Daddy Girls Set To Light Up CES Show in Las Vegas

Posted on by clicky



Go Daddy, the world's largest registrar of domain names, is set to showcase the ever- popular Go Daddy Girls at this years Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.


The world's largest domain name registrar is participating in the world's largest technology tradeshow with a Go Daddy booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The girls will be signing autographs and helping Go Daddy give away free domain name registrations to booth visitors.

The original Go Daddy Girl, Candice Michelle, along with IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, will be signing autographs Monday.  On Tuesday,  seven-time Olympic swimming medalist Amanda Beard, who's also appeared in Playboy, will be on hand.


There will  be interview opportunities with Go Daddy Girls Candice, Danica & Amanda.
Also a visual opportunity to see The Go Daddy Chopper.

More info at GoDaddyGirls.info

New Domaining Tool: DomainScour.com

Posted on Friday, January 4, 2008 by clicky

                                                NEW!


Domainers are pleased to have another useful tool at their disposal. Many have found that DomainScour.com , developed by Michigan-based design firm Ninjamuk, can greatly reduce the time it takes to find and acquire a new domain name.

Geared toward webmasters, the site streamlines the domain-finding process into a few simple steps. Using the site costs nothing, and is easy enough for even the most digitally-challenged to operate. 

DomainScour owners are encouraging visitors to offer comments and suggestions on the site by using the 'Contact' link at the bottom of the page so they can continue to shape and refine the site.

Personally, I like the added feature of available name hacks that are automatically displayed when typing in a domain name.






Domain Tool of the Week: BustAName.com

Posted on Thursday, January 3, 2008 by clicky



Watch the BustAName.com tutorial created by it's f0under, Ryan Stout.

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