Advice for E-Entrepreneurs (Domains)

[CoMp1eX]

I don't think it has much appeal. The name just seems too long and its not very catchy. Seems more like a spam site name, but that's just me personally.

PreciousMetalBoom.com sounds a lot better... if you get what i'm saying.

I currently 22 domains. Is there a site that explains in detail how to sell them?

PS: If I find an more than ok name, would it be a good investment just to grab it? Can I always expect to get more than $7 for it in the future.

 

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[Yankees338]

I don't think it has much appeal. The name just seems too long and its not very catchy. Seems more like a spam site name, but that's just me personally.

PreciousMetalBoom.com sounds a lot better... if you get what i'm saying.

I currently 22 domains. Is there a site that explains in detail how to sell them?

PS: If I find an more than ok name, would it be a good investment just to grab it? Can I always expect to get more than $7 for it in the future.

I agree. The site could have some potential value, though, if there is a bigger site that would be interested in buying you out to redirect traffic.

CoMp1eX,

I'd recommend buying anything that seems like it could be of value. Think about it...if you buy 70 sites, and even just ONE of them is valuable enough to warrant a $500 sale to a buyer, you'd come out AHEAD by $10!

I think it's a worthy investment, and if you're willing to do a little searching to find potential buyers, the domains could be even more valuable.

 

[Jorge]

I sold a website 2 weeks ago for $1200, I had it on parking making around $80 a month. It was just a good domain, so yeah, I got my $7 back Lol

 

[LightHouse]

I sold a website 2 weeks ago for $1200, I had it on parking making around $80 a month. It was just a good domain, so yeah, I got my $7 back Lol

care to share the domain name?

i have all 50 some of mine parked at parked.com. not making much but its better then having the domain providers ads all over and not making anything at all.

 

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[LarryG]

Great thread. I have 100's of domain names myself. And I have had the same issue of someone grabbing my GoDaddy searches if I don't buy right away.

I'm not a lawyer, don't even pretend to be...but, I've run into a few issues with the domain names.

You can't use a person's name (unless they are considered in public domain).
You can't use a name that is registered or trademarked. (The other company can get it back)
If you grab a name that is someone else's business and even if it's not trademarked or registered, they can get it back from you UNLESS you have it operating. (answer is to point it to an operating website)

On a sidenote, did anyone see the story about the man who made $330 million by buying up popular websites with a .cm (Cameroon). So, if I typed google.cm, I'd go to his site. It was just populated by google ads and from the clicks, he made $330 million.
So he picked up all the people who did typos.

We typically buy common mispellings for our websites as well. So, if someone makes a mistake typing, they still make it to our sites.

I am looking in investing in the .com names of some older local businesses and then pointing to them or perhaps selling the domain to the business, is this safe or does your experiences say not to?

 

[offroadaz]

wonder if I can get anything for adultbillpay .com I never figured out a good way to sell it

 

[debtblue]

Hey guys

This is my first post.I m Sam from the UK, i got myself into a debt of £35000. For the last two years I have paid a lot and currently i m left with £15000. I have come to join this board bcoz i think this board is the only board aimed at people who really want to make a change in the lifes.

Recently I have fallen head over heals with the concept of buying, selling, renting domains, even though I understand its very difficult to find any easy ones these days especially in TLD. So far I have not purchased any domains as I m still trying to work out few doubts, and I was wondering if you guys can help me understand few technical points:

1. What can i study to understand the concept of buying and selling domains?
2. Do I need to learn how to set up a website as well?
3. Do I need to learn FTP, to understand how to upload info on website?
4. While buying domain names, what security should i look out for?
5. For how long should I buy the domain for?
6. Where and how do you sell the domains?
7. Do I need to get my domain hosted before I could park them?

I will really appreciate any help or advice you guys offer.

many thanks

Sam

 

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[drewjones]

I goto a site called exody.com to find my expired domain names. There is also a place called tdnam.com - godaddys domain aftermarket(the place to buy names after they've expired or deleted on any of godaddys sites.

To this day i havn't sold a name yet. I started roughly a few years ago and have bought some interesting names to me, which makes me happy. If I ever want to develop ANY of those sites, I can without much problem.

My brother on the other hand, buying and selling domains made $150,000 last year just doing that.

Something I am finding out. If your looking to sell names, the gold is when you buy it.

How do you determine a "brandable" name??? Don't think of specific company names, think of general industries, like "financial planning" is a good subject, names are sold everyday in that industry.

I see fortunes being made in the domain broker industry alot, it makes me sick thinking about it. And with my brother, He went from having nothing to making $150,000 a year in 3 to 4 years.

So anything can be done.

Drew

 

[CoMp1eX]

Please give me some advice -

I got an offer for 150 for a domain. I then sent a counter for 1500.

They didnt take it over 10 days and it expired. 2 weeks after that and they made
me an another offer for the 1500.

Should I take it or make another offer??? Of course they want it they sent
two offers which cost $40 to do so.

This is my first big offer, i'm excited but I dont want to be low-balled if they
are actually willing to spend xx,xxx..

 

[mtnman]

Namepros are a little better seasoned at this. I think you'd get a better idea for flipping over there.

www.namepros.com

And don't pay any mind to the stupid colors and Rick Latoona logos everywhere...it's just a clever way to stir things up and redirect people to another place. Very effective, I might add.

 

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[CoMp1eX]

Thanks, I signed up there but it won't let me post no matter what I do. :smx8:

 

[zaiteku]

what is the exact model for parking or finding renters?

If you use parking.com then I assume they put content on your domain. Is that good enough to pass as "developed"?

If you have 1000 domains, is that the only way to really park them and make money efficiently? It seems that there would be no way to develop all those domains into something legit. As Dianne was saying, does that raise your risk that someone will trademark your domain and take it from you down the road?

How are you guys with lots of domains dealing with them all on the whole? Parking them at a service site like parking.com and developing only the good ones? Or leaving the bulk of them undeveloped?

 

[lightning]

Just read this whole thread and I was wondering if one of the “Pros” can give me some advice!

I am new to this whole E-real-estate stuff, although I have been registering domain names for about 2 years now (currently own about 30). Of those 30, I would say ten of them are pretty good names that I should be able to do something with someday. (simple 2-word .com domains). A few of them seem very brandable, so I would love to build a site off of them in the future!

In the meantime, I read this whole thread and I am VERY interested in the concept of “parking”, where you guys seem to be making extra cash just by letting a website advertise and “point” surfers away from your site! My questions are (and please excuse my ignorance here); Is this safe or a smart thing for me to do? Would I run the risk of losing my domain name in any way? How hard is it for me to get my name and site BACK should I decide I don’t want them holding the domain anymore, as I would like to build a site on it? Are there ANY issues/surprises/problems I should be aware of before considering this? Some of these names could turn out to be valuable, so I’m a little sketchy on all of this…and I DON’T want to give up a site that may turn into something great in the future..just to make $20 bucks a month on it in the meantime..…

What kind of commissions are possible on a decent site that gets a lot of clicks? (say leaving them on a site like “parked.com). Is there a specific site like that I should be looking for? I took a tour of that site and read through FAQ, and I would just like to make sure I understand what I’m getting myself into BEFORE I start publically announcing and listing my domain names on their site. If I understand correctly, it seems like it would be MUCH smarter for me to park them there while I sit on them, then it is leaving them alone with Godaddy.com, letting THEM advertise all over them! At least this way, maybe I can make a little extra cash a month! Do I just post my domain names to their site and then sit back and collect commissions (if there are any?). Is it more complicated then that?

ANY and all help/advice/input etc. would be greatly appreciated!

 

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[LightHouse]

Just read this whole thread and I was wondering if one of the “Pros†can give me some advice!

I am new to this whole E-real-estate stuff, although I have been registering domain names for about 2 years now (currently own about 30). Of those 30, I would say ten of them are pretty good names that I should be able to do something with someday. (simple 2-word .com domains). A few of them seem very brandable, so I would love to build a site off of them in the future!

In the meantime, I read this whole thread and I am VERY interested in the concept of “parkingâ€, where you guys seem to be making extra cash just by letting a website advertise and “point†surfers away from your site! My questions are (and please excuse my ignorance here); Is this safe or a smart thing for me to do? Would I run the risk of losing my domain name in any way? How hard is it for me to get my name and site BACK should I decide I don’t want them holding the domain anymore, as I would like to build a site on it? Are there ANY issues/surprises/problems I should be aware of before considering this? Some of these names could turn out to be valuable, so I’m a little sketchy on all of this…and I DON’T want to give up a site that may turn into something great in the future..just to make $20 bucks a month on it in the meantime..…

What kind of commissions are possible on a decent site that gets a lot of clicks? (say leaving them on a site like “parked.com). Is there a specific site like that I should be looking for? I took a tour of that site and read through FAQ, and I would just like to make sure I understand what I’m getting myself into BEFORE I start publically announcing and listing my domain names on their site. If I understand correctly, it seems like it would be MUCH smarter for me to park them there while I sit on them, then it is leaving them alone with Godaddy.com, letting THEM advertise all over them! At least this way, maybe I can make a little extra cash a month! Do I just post my domain names to their site and then sit back and collect commissions (if there are any?). Is it more complicated then that?

ANY and all help/advice/input etc. would be greatly appreciated!

totally safe you just point the NS to ns1.parked.com and ns2.parked.com and thats it, when you want it back jjust change the DNS back to default. and in parked .com you just add the domain then go in and optimize it. it will take you 2 hours tops todo everything with 30 names.

http://www.parked.com/tour/?promo=44A688C782

if you want to sign up you can use my link to get there, i just relized that they did an affliate program. i have about 63 domains with them. parked is very very easy to use. and it also helps your domains get on search engines while they are sitting.

 

[LightHouse]

PS i also tried SEDO before and found it to be horrible and complicated, i found a site yesterday that compared all the parking companies but i didnot save it, i will have to check my history later

 

[lightning]

totally safe you just point the NS to ns1.parked.com and ns2.parked.com and thats it, when you want it back jjust change the DNS back to default. and in parked .com you just add the domain then go in and optimize it. it will take you 2 hours tops todo everything with 30 names.

http://www.parked.com/tour/?promo=44A688C782

if you want to sign up you can use my link to get there, i just relized that they did an affliate program. i have about 63 domains with them. parked is very very easy to use. and it also helps your domains get on search engines while they are sitting.

Wow thanks for the info! Again, please excuse my ignorance here, lol, but what do you mean by changing the "NS to ns1.parked.com and ns2.parked.com".

Edit: I just did some looking around, and Im guessing that has to be done on Godaddys page so that traffic gets directed to the parked site correct? Or, more simply; I would essentially just be re-routing the traffic by linking MY domain name/site to the parked page?

I will definitely check out the link you posted. Thanks again.

 

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[LightHouse]

Wow thanks for the info! Again, please excuse my ignorance here, lol, but what do you mean by changing the "NS to ns1.parked.com and ns2.parked.com". Im not sure I understand or know what this means... :/ Also, what exactly does "optimizing" involve?

I will definitely check out the link you posted. Thanks again.

you will just point the name servers to parked, which registrar are your domains with, i can give exact directions with godaddy and 1and one, any others still should be fairly easy to figure out.

optomizing is making sure the key words are correct, the colors and pictures work. basically making the page relevant to a sercher that happens on your page and wants to click through.

 

[CoMp1eX]

SEDO.com is extremely easy to use to me, but i'm not getting the best results.

With only 100 of my domains thrown on there (not-optimized either), I've only made 75 cents total.

I'm getting good page hits, but not clicks.

I don't really care about parking any more, either flipping or developing from now on.

BTW, what is RPM on Sedo???

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I am using parked.com for about 15 names ... I think I made $1.20 in 6 months -- some of the names are very good as well. One and two word names. Had I known this, I wouldn't have wasted 1 hour of my time setting it up.

 

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[lightning]

you will just point the name servers to parked, which registrar are your domains with, i can give exact directions with godaddy and 1and one, any others still should be fairly easy to figure out.

optomizing is making sure the key words are correct, the colors and pictures work. basically making the page relevant to a sercher that happens on your page and wants to click through.

I just registered and put 20 or so of my names up there. They are supposed to review my application and email me within 3 days. I will check back in as soon as I hear something.

All of my domains are with godaddy.

Thanks again

 

[LightHouse]

I am using parked.com for about 15 names ... I think I made $1.20 in 6 months -- some of the names are very good as well. One and two word names. Had I known this, I wouldn't have wasted 1 hour of my time setting it up.

ive found the value in not having to set up individual parked pages yet, IE my time spent on them. i ahve made some money, but if anything they are getting listed in search engines and making a few snese rather than being nothing at all. I was talking to biophase about setting up my own pages but i do not have the development time for that yet.

 

[LightHouse]

I just registered and put 20 or so of my names up there. They are supposed to review my application and email me within 3 days. I will check back in as soon as I hear something.

All of my domains are with godaddy.

Thanks again

it will probably only be one day, but godaddy is very easy to change the nameserver address on.

 

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[lightning]

I am using parked.com for about 15 names ... I think I made $1.20 in 6 months -- some of the names are very good as well. One and two word names. Had I known this, I wouldn't have wasted 1 hour of my time setting it up.

A quote like this definitely takes away some of the optimism I had about parking domain names! lol. Since we all know Mike knows what hes doing on the Internet, can anyone think of a reason why his sites arent producing! Is optimization really the key leading to "clicks"? I definitely wont bother taking the time to park them all if results like this are the norm (?)...

Edit: By the way Lighthouse thank you again for your help thus far!

 

[mtnman]

A quote like this definitely takes away some of the optimism I had about parking domain names! lol. Since we all know Mike knows what hes doing on the Internet, can anyone think of a reason why his sites arent producing! Is optimization really the key leading to "clicks"? I definitely wont bother taking the time to park them all if results like this are the norm (?)...

Edit: By the way Lighthouse thank you again for your help thus far!

It's not that his names can't perform, they're not set up to perform. I have had the same experience with my own with various parking companies.

If they're not type ins, they simply need to be developed in some manner to start performing to their potential.

Typically, all the stories you here about making money with parking relates to EXTREMELY generic names or mispellings. Hence, type in traffic.

I think most of the people chasing this avenue are going to find an empty hole. I woke up in this hole one day. The harsh realization that type-in-generic-motherload domains have been long gone(regged many years ago).

For example, pizza.com, just sold the other day for 2.6 million. Many years old, tons of type ins, etc..These types of domains can be had today but for a rather large investment. I won't disagree that there are good deals out though, just not for reg fee's anymore.

My $.02.

 

[lightning]

Thanks again for the advice guys. 2 days ago, i parked 16 of my domain names and fooled around with the optimizing features. (unfortunately, most of my domain names are not "type-ins" as you both mentioned).

I have gotten about 4 clicks in 2 days, and Im currently up to .96 cents. LOL (I guess I can forget about that Gallardo I was going to buy with this venture huh? j/k)

This interests me a great deal so i will keep you guys updated as things progress!!

 

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[Jill]

Out of the 40 or 50 domains I own, I can only think of one or two that might get some type-in traffic. But I do have a dozen or so that I think could be set up to make a little passive income:

One would be a blog / news aggregator-type site.
One would be a search / review site for several specific luxury markets.
One would be a retail - or click-thru retail site for a particular type of clothing, etc.

I won't lay it all out here. But I'm totally clueless about how to do any of these. Just trying to figure out which one to work on first to get me the most bang for the (time)buck in all of my free time :smx4:.

Do you think this is something a VA could help with? Or would I waste more $$ getting their help than I have a chance to recoup? I know it's impossible to say with such generic information. But I THINK there's some real potential for a few of them, mainly because they are clever (IMO), memorable names. They aren't short or generic, but simple and memorable.

I would welcome any opinions from anyone who knows anything about this stuff! TIA!

 

[mtnman]

There's a myriad of things that could be said here, but one is most valuable. Just do something. Pick one and roll with it.

During that time, just by starting, you'll have a better idea of where you want to go and at least start getting a feel.

You said "totally clueless" and you don't want to spend much "free time." Pick the blog. It's easy, you can do it yourself, and the free resources are defined only by your imagination.



Here's what I think you should do to get your feet wet. Is it what you have a vision for? Probably not? Will you accomplish enough to push through toward what you want? I think so.

Pick a topic, one of your domains, and get a super cheap hosting account if you don't already have one. Make sure your hosting account is accompanied by a Cpanel (control panel) complete with Fantastico. This is usually standard, but just be sure to keep things easy.

What the hell is Fantastico you say? In short, it will allow you to install software on your portion of the server without learning how to set up a Mysql database and modifying a config file for uploading site software. You also will not have to use ftp in the beginning or do a direct file transfer.

The point is to make it as easy as possible to get started and be able to focus on your ideas/content to work out which direction is best. You can always pay someone to do this for you later when you have a defined path in mind.



Using the nameservers listed in the Welcome email from your hosting account, log into your registrar and change your name servers for that domain.

Log into your cpanel (usually www.Jill'sdomainhere.com/cpanel if you don't have a link for it) and open the Fantastico Icon (bottom right of the home). You will see a few free CMS systems selections and links to the company websites if you would like to learn about them before installing.

I'd recommend just installing Wordpress for ease of use and flexibility.

It will take you through the steps to install, and along the way you will select username's and passwords for your admin log in to your website.

From there, your site should be live with a basic Wordpress blog template. Now go browse around www.wordpress.org and look at some of the options and plug ins (add on upgrades, such as, SEO.)

You will also find a gazillion templates to match your style and design you want to create. Most are free, and you can always get a paid/custom template later.

Keep in mind that once you change your nameservers it can take 48 hours to propagate around the web. Your site may be visible to you, but not others.

It's that easy to get started with something. The beauty is that if you decide it's not for you and you want to go another route, log into your cpanel, and remove. Start fresh with something else.

You're still reading? Where's the blog!?

 

[Jill]

Great response, Mtnman. Thanks for taking the time to give me the details, links, etc. I'm just going to have to make time to learn about this stuff.

I don't think it is my fastlane-to-millions plan. BUT, I do think that if I could make a few hundred here and a few hundred there, it would get me just a tad closer to the world of passive income!

Speed++

 

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[TaxGuy]

mtnman rep+++

I'd like to add that in the world of e-Biz just remember that some of the biggest household names are things you would've never thought twice about b4 they were pushed into the mainstream such as eBay, yahoo, google, youtube, myspace, and facebook.... how many of these words even crossed your mind b4 you were introduced to them and how many of them can you now think of off the top of your head that you just go "how'd they take a domain like that and make it such a household name?"

another one I'd like to add that was highlighted in one of the legendary threads is "whateverlife.com"... a teenage girl, just saying something a teenage girl would say and marketing towards her own demographic and now she's a millionaire and has had ZERO product to sell!!!!

that's why I'm tryin to brainstorm all the ideas I can for domains, but it means nothing if you can't think of the idea to populate that domain and make it marketable which is what separates the slow-laners from the fast-laners....

just hope that Kevin Ham doesn't already own the .com's for ALL the ideas I have, but then again, all it takes is that one domain and a great idea on how to build a website around it to make it to the fast-lane!!!

 

[TaxGuy]

btw where can you find $10 .com or .mobi names???

I tried one on Namecheap.com and 1and1.com and both came out to about $20/yr, granted it was just a trial run for domain numero uno and of course of the 3 .com's I searched for all were already owned by Network Solutions LLC(isn't that Kevin Ham's company?)