I would like to present some tips on being a frugal domainer and keeping 100% of sales profits for yourself. By not paying sales commissions and doing some of the work on your own you can earn maximum return on your domain investments. Every bit helps especially if you are working with a portfolio of lower to mid-range value domain names.
Mainstream domain marketplaces charge you, the domain owner, a hefty percentage of the final sales price as their commission. The rates look something like this: Sedo (10% commission), Afternic (10%-20% commission), SnapNames (20% commission), Bido (8% commission), etc. on every single transaction.
These marketplaces may be right for you if you have valuable domain names and want to opt for the seller protection and escrow services they provide. However, in many cases the final sales price on large marketplaces could end up being much less than you could earn if you found a buyer yourself!
So, you’re looking to make some domain sales? These tips and tricks should help you become a more savvy domainer.
1. Choose names that have selling potential. If there is no market for your type of domain name then you simply won’t make sales. Do the keyword research before you go on a GoDaddy shopping spree. You may want to check your domain’s keywords against Google search data using the AdWords keyword tool.
Some things to ask yourself before purchasing or registering a domain…
If you find your name stands up to these questions then you are likely the new owner of a valuable piece of internet real estate.
2. Invest some time in marketing and promoting your own domains. With the explosion of social media, there is no excuse not to dive in and start spreading the good word about the value of domain names.
Domainers are currently tapping into the huge audience of users on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin. More consumers, business owners and potential domain buyers can be found on these networks than all of the major domain name marketplaces combined.
Here are some ideas for making the most out of your time on social networks.
3. List your domains for sale on free marketplaces and forums. This is a great way to get free exposure to your domain sales. Be sure to price your domains very reasonably to get sales. Be cautioned as a large part of the buyers here will be domain resellers, but really, who do you think is hanging out at Sedo.com and other big marketplaces? Resellers also.
Here is an older but still relevant article from DotSauce that has a large list of forums, 33 Great Marketplaces for Selling Your Domain Names (and Websites).
4. Set up your own web presence to display your domains for sale. A unique domain portfolio website is a valuable asset to any domain investor. Your domain portfolio website should be professional, user friendly and informative. You can send customers new and old to browse your inventory here, include a link to your site in your email signature, set up RSS feeds and alerts for customers, accept payments directly on site and more.
Here are some options for developing your own domain portfolio website.
5. Go after the end users. Depending on the quality and reach of a given domain name this can be either an easy or difficult task. Your first step is to simply research websites of the same category as your keywords. See what the industry or niche is up to and what businesses and individuals are appearing on the top search results pages for the exact and similar keywords. You may even want to do a Google blog search for fresh results. Contact anyone you feel would benefit from owning your domain.
Here’s a quick tip from DNW; Do a WHOIS search to see if your domain has been taken in any other extensions (.net, .org) and contact those registrants.
Further reading on selling domains to end users.
I wish you the best with all your domaining ventures. I hope these tips are able to help you out in some way. If you have any comments or suggestions please leave one below!
This article is from DotSauce Magazine.
I’ve scoured my seemingly endless Twitter stream and have come up with several hundred web development resources shared with my followers over the past 9 months. I have divided my top resource picks into several categories of interest: Domain Names,Web Development, WordPress, SEO & Marketing, Web Design, and Online Business.
To get more resources like these shared daily,
please follow me @DotSauce on Twitter.
Feel free to copy and re-tweet any of these resources to share with your followers, they will thank you for it and I would most definitely appreciate the mention.
Here are some of the latest tools, trends and articles on domaining. For more articles and resources browse the Domain Names and Domain Industry categories on DotSauce.
Coming Soon: The new DotSauce Domaining Directory will begin featuring a collection of top domain name resources.
You may also be interested in browsing or contributing to the DotSauce list of Top Domainers & Industry Profiles on Twitter.
I am a huge fan of WordPress, which you will soon see as you scroll through this monster list of top notch WordPress resources. Featuring topics from plugins to themes and everything in-between. For exclusive articles and features on the subject browse the DotSauce WordPress category.
Here you will find a variety of tools, code snippets, full scripts or plugins as well as some interesting articles and tutorials on modern web development. Browse our articles on the topic in the DotSauce Web Development category.
Select articles, niche guides and tools on succeeding with the search engines. For additional articles on search check out the DotSauce SEO, Traffic and Marketing categories.
Some fabulous downloadable graphics goodies, articles and tools for you creative types. Get inspired and enhance your website with these web design resources.
From blogging to social networking, there is alot more to do with business today than ever. Here are some of the latest trends and insights in online business I’ve found this year.
Enjoy the lists? Follow @DotSauce for more great web development resources and consider sharing this post on Twitter or your other favorite social sites using the buttons below. Thanks!
This article is from DotSauce Magazine.
A previously unreported 6 figured sale has just come to light – thanks to George Kirikos. The domain Skirt.com sold recently for $100,000. It was reported in this SEC filing by Morris Publishing Group LLC: “During the second quarter of 2007, “we acquired the domain name for the Skirt! magazines’ Web site for $0.1 million.” A great sale for a great domain!
One of the most complex parts of domaining is domain law, and it can be difficult to understand and keep up with it for the average lay person.
Fortunately, noted domain lawyer Zak Muscovitch has now stared a blog on his website. I personally find it amazing that a lawyer, who is undoubtedly under a lot of time pressure, takes the time to blog about this important area of domaining. Zak is known as Canada’s leading domain lawyer, and you may recall his name from our in depth interview with him about Canadian domain law.
Zak’s blog isn’t limited to Canadian law, indeed it provides a global view, for instance, talking about a recent domain decision by the Indian High Court, the Kentucky seizure of gambling related domain names, and Olympic trademark infringement.
Good luck Zak and I look forward to lots of interesting reading.
For those waiting on information on the .CM (Cameroon ccTLD) go live date, which, as we announced in this month’s newsletter, had been delayed due to server problems, here is the latest:
* Sunrise domains which have been validated and had at least two name
servers were connected on August 28, 2009.
* All landrush domains that had only a single application and at least two
name servers defined have also been connected on August 28, 2009.
* The extension is now LIVE – as of September 18, 2009 at 08:00am UTC.
If you are looking to register some .CM domains, here is the pricing for your reference:
GO LIVE PRICING:
1yr: $199
2 yrs: $390.00
5 yrs: $899.00
You can visit the .CM Domains Page for more information and to begin your registration! If you have any questions, please contact one of our domain specialists for assistance, and thank you for your patience as the process to get this extension live was delayed!
Dr. Kevin Ham recently gave a great talk at the Vancouver Enterprise Forum and luckily for us, internet marketer and blogger Adam Killam was there to record the event!
These 17 short videos cover the entire talk. Hear Dr. Ham’s story of how he got started on his path to becoming a multi-millionaire domainer.
Watch the video series and take home some solid ideas on being an entrepreneur and businessman online.
Learn the true value of money and get insight into how the Kevin Ham Business 2.0 feature “The Man Who Owns The Internet” came to be as well as details on the infamous .CM deal. Enjoy!
Source: Adam Killam YouTube Channel, Vancouver Enterprise Forum 2009.
This article is from DotSauce Magazine.
This is more of a fun question to get people thinking about the power of domain names. I’m sure there are many people, including myself who hand-registered some of their best names years ago. I’m guessing an even larger audience shelled out the big bucks in the aftermarket to purchase their prize domains.
Let’s get right to the poll question and find out where people are getting their best names!
Before answering, think a moment and choose a single domain from your portfolio that you believe is the most valuable.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Thanks for your response! Please leave a comment below if you like.
Last month I asked quite a popular question, How do you monetize your domain name portfolio? Many people voted and the results are pretty clear. Alot of respondents are still using traditional PPC parking. It was a bit of a surprise to see Google AdSense at #2, meaning people are developing custom sites as well.
I would like to see direct advertising and business development become a larger part of monetizing and building out domain names. I suspect we will see more niche ad networks and greater business building tools become popular very soon.
This article is from DotSauce Magazine.
I’ve decided once again to open access to DotSauce Premium to all registered members. Current Premium members will no longer have to pay their subscription and will keep their Premium title for life, granting an all access pass to any features that might be paid in the future.
For those not familiar with DotSauce Premium, it is a private area of our forum community featuring a wealth of domain resources.
Some of the links and articles may be dated, but the content is still relevant and with more eyes on the Premium forums I hope to keep things fresh in the coming weeks and months.
In light of free access and the expected larger audience, there will now be a suggested PayPal donation for registering DotSauce available domains.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@DotSauce) know that I love to share all kinds of great web development and WordPress goodies and you will soon be seeing those appear on DotSauce Premium.
I would like to encourage you to join our Domaining community today, so you can start browsing the DotSauce Premium forums now. Please feel free to contribute your own links, articles, discounts and other resources.
This article is from DotSauce Magazine.
WordPress is a fantastic content management system that has been adopted by the masses. With huge demand and community support, many web designers are taking advantage of the open-source software to create innovative product themes that go beyond just looking great.
These 10 WordPress themes and plugins could each be used to launch your own online business or breathe new life into your existing website.
This premium quality theme features custom plugins which transform your WordPress website into a yellow pages style directory. Accept payments automatically through PayPal and have your members sign-up and create their own listings. A ThemeForest exclusive.
This is a plugin that you can incorporate into any WordPress Theme. A sleek user interface and powerful auction administration make this a great plugin for managing your own private live auctions.
Created by the same developer as YellowPress. WPClassified has further features for managing classified style listings directory through WordPress. Potentially generate good revenue from user listings. A ThemeForest exclusive.
Developed by the Unique Blog Designs team, leaders in WordPress design and development, Affiliate Theme overhauls your WordPress admin and allows you to quickly customize and develop beautiful mini-sites, landing pages and blogs without touching any code!
This advanced theme is similar in concept to Affiliate Theme, allowing you to create an unlimited number of landing pages and squeeze pages for your products or affiliate offers. Advanced backend features give you the ability to customize and build great landing pages.
Market Theme adds excellent shopping cart and product management features to your WordPress dashboard. Using custom fields you can transform blog posts into product features.
Another WordPress shopping cart plugin featuring a light and dark style. Advanced features for publishing, managing and making product sales through WordPress. A ThemeForest exclusive.
A beautiful theme that comes in 6 vibrant color variations and features some innovative details for developing a user-friendly Wiki or FAQ website. Unique sidebar features and a clean layout with great whitespace. Wiki Theme is a ThemeForest exclusive.
This plugin can incorporate Amazon customer reviews into your blog posts. Earn more affiliate commissions from Amazon when you write about any product your readers can view relevant reviews from actual customers.
The premier WordPress plugin for managing advertisements, affiliate offers and sponsored content on your blog. You keep 100% of advertising profit and set it on auto-pilot!
I hope you enjoyed the list! I would love to hear your comments and would appreciate it if you would share this post with fellow WordPress fans.
This article is from DotSauce Magazine.
