If your domain name is associated with a virtual property, than it stands to reason that the value of the property depends on the neighborhood and what the property offers. Just like you won’t want to spend half a million dollars on a run-down one-room shack in Nowhere, Alabama, you don’t want to buy domain names that have very little potential to resell or are worthless. You want names that attract buyers and represent a virtual property that appreciates over time. Continue reading Virtual Real Estate →

Now, if you’ve done some research you can still think up your own. Or, maybe you have the inside scoop on some very new trend that has something to do with your interests. This can be a line of investigation that is quite profitable. The more you are familiar with a specific industry, the more likelihood you will be able to create some domain names that appeal to somebody who wants to buy it. Continue reading Thinking Up Your Own →

In the business, there is something called “tasting” domains. Tasting a domain allows you five days grace period to figure out if you want to pay the full registration fee. It gives domainers some time to research the probability that this domain name will generate revenue. During the grace period is up, the buyer of the domain can actually use the domain name and park a page full of advertising and affiliate links. This is a very standard practice because it allows a domainer the ability to see what traffic shows up spontaneously and how they get there by checking the site statistics. This gives the domain buyer some insight into whether they’ve picked a good name or not. Continue reading Taste Test Before You Buy →

The most volume of sales is in the .com domain, although the .org and .net are starting to show some good sales in the higher price ranges. The extensions mean the following:
– .com – Commercial
– .net – Network
– .org – Organization (usually non-profit)
– .info – Resource website.

There are many more extensions than these four, but these are the most popular PC-based Internet domain extensions. Some domain name business owners do only .com names and others will try their hand at other types of extensions. It’s a personal decision, but .com are really the most popular and highly sought after domain names.

It’s up to you whether you try to expand into other domain extensions, instead of just the .com one. There are new extensions coming out every day and it’s wise to keep abreast of that, particularly now that cell phones are becoming very common in our society.

More and more people are using them to surf the web and some extensions are coming out like the .mobi extension. They are like finding a whole new undiscovered country and you could be the first one to plant your flag on the surface and stake your claim.

While they may not be extremely profitable now, they could end up being goldmines in the future. A well-diversified portfolio will want to take advantage of any new area that begins to show promise in the domain name business. You will have to pay more for some of these extensions and the same rules apply: no trademark infringement.

One way to verify whether something is going to be big is to check out the adoption rate in other countries. It might give you a head’s up on the coming wave of the future in your own country.

Speaking of countries, you can get a .co.uk or .de domain name. One is for Great Britain and the other for Germany. While you might think you have to be a resident to get one of these names, it’s not true. The different country extensions have different rules and some of them do require some residency and others do not.

Do your homework when deciding on whether or not you want to go for domain names from countries other than where you reside. Continue reading Dot Com And Then Some →

You need to be avoiding any celebrity names that might be construed as a trademark infringement. There is now legislation to protect trademark and service mark owners from a practice called “cybersquatting.” Cybersquatting is when a person decides to try to appropriate a domain name that they are using in “bad faith” to profit from later. Continue reading Domain Squatters Rights Are A Thing Of The Past →

A domain name is any name you type into the URL address locator in any web browser. It is usually prefixed with a www extension to signify that it is used in the World Wide Web (WWW). While the www prefix is part of the domain name, in actuality, only the actual domain name after the www and period are actually registered. No one owns the right to the www prefix. Continue reading Domain Names As Products →

HOW MUCH MONEY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

Now, comes the bottom line. How much money are we talking about? It all depends on the volume of your domain name business. The higher the volume, the more likelihood you will make a bigger profit. That’s because each individual domain name that you park or buy is not going to be profit leader. You will have some losers and some big winners. In addition, you will have a lower volume to work with if you are developing the sites instead of just flipping them. That’s because it takes more time, but the profit can be more too. It all depends on what model you are using. Continue reading Domain Name Profit Potential →

Develop Or Sell Only

Now that you’ve seen from some of the other articles in this series, how easy it is to get a parked page service, it might not be as intimidating to figure out how to develop the site. WhyPark.com can get you started in developing a full site. If you find one of your parked domains is doing a good business, then it might make more sense to keep the domain name and develop the site. There are a number of things that will make a site appreciate in value. They are: Continue reading Develop or Sell Only →

Are Good Domain Names Hard To Find

Good domain names aren’t hard to come by. You don’t even have to have a way with words. That’s because you can get domain names by simply understanding what people are searching for on the web. Another great way to determine a good domain name is to find out what other names have sold to give you an idea on similar names that might sell as well. In this chapter, we will discuss where to find names that sell and how to go about creating ones that might be winners for your own portfolio. Continue reading Are Good Domain Names Hard To Find →

A Domain Name Business Can Be Fun and Lucrative

While we do want to generate income and not get too emotionally attached to the process of generating domain names, we can still have some fun with the entire process. Maybe you don’t consider yourself hip or trendy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start to learn the slang of the Internet and figure out ways to combine it into fun domain name terms. Continue reading A Domain Name Business Can Be Fun →

One of the “gee whiz’ moments that I came across when seeking out new marketing techniques was a realization that the same principals apply to real estate investing can also be used for ” cyberspace” real estate investing.

This came about because I use a multiple domain name strategy, to test different advertising. I match action words to the messge I want to get across. This increase response rates, because good domain names are easy to remember ( please see my previous post about how to choose domain names)

So here I was, buying domain names, new, used, expired, and dropped. Since I can not use all the domain names right away, ( it takes time to develop a new marketing piece), I put up a one page article along with a few google adsense adverts on it . I had my contact information on the page also.

Within a matter of a few days, I had someone contact me about if they could buy that domain name from me. The offer was a very pleasing. Of course I sold this domain to them. The other funny thing about this, is that those silly little adverts that appeared on my site contributed to another $134.00 by the time the transaction took place. (1 month)

I am sure you are aware, now with the internet going strong for over 10 years, good “.com ” names are becoming less and less. That is why you are seeing more people using other domain extentions. BUT they do not get the same recongnition as .com names. When you say a domain address to someone, most people think in terms of “.com” endings. If your site is not a “,com” , your chance of losing leads to the “.com” owner is great.

Lesson: Always buy a “.COM” extention and the more you buy the better. At only $8.95 a year from godaddy.com, invest a few hundred dollars in good domain names, put the domains up for sale ( you can do this at godadddy too ) and you will probably make a very good return on your investment.

Get Reach Quick? Hardly.

However, there are ways to make money in domain investing. Let’s look at a couple of investment opportunities designed for aggressive investors. Please, don’t bet the farm on a domain name.

Know the Market

Would you buy a stock without doing some background research? What if you didn’t understand how the stock market functions? It’s tough enough to make money in domain investing without adding market ignorance to the mix. Tag several domain trading websites and track them until you get a feel for what sells for what. Really good names can bring some nice money your way. One example: a domain that was purchased in 2000 for $10,000 recently sold for $65,000. That’s a very nice ROI in any investment arena. Of course, it’s the exception to the rule, which is why it got so much media play.

It can happen, but it might take some time. You’re more likely to make $50 on a domain name trade but it’s fun and it is fifty bucks. Just keep it in perspective and only invest what you can afford to lose.

Buying and Appraising the Quality of Domain Names

There are plenty of sites where domain investors buy and sell names with legs, that is, domains that already have a business attached to them. These are attractive to entrepreneurial types interested in building web-based businesses.

Or, sometimes, you’ll find a great domain name, perfect for your on-line venture, for sale on these domain investing and trading websites. No business attached. You’re just buying the name.com. You may have to bid your way to ownership, or make an outright purchase if it really is the perfect domain name.

Either way, you can hire a domain name appraiser – yes, they really exist – who will run all kinds of diagnostics on the name to see how it would do if you bought it. Or, if you aren’t interested in the name for your own use, you can simply take your chances, register one or a bunch of domains for very little and post (it) them for sale or lease.

Building Cyber Equity

Another way to make some cash through domain investing is to register a “good” domain name and then actually generate some revenue through actual sales, Adwords or some other steady income from the website. You are, in fact, building cyber equity, adding value to the domain name by also delivering a functioning website and even some web traffic.

Think of it this way. There are people who make a lot of money “flipping” real estate. They buy a house that needs fixing up, they fix it up and resell at a profit. Or, so the flipper hopes.

Same deal here. You register the domain name, which shouldn’t cost more than a few bucks, you spend a few Sundays getting hooked up with a PPC or affiliate program (or why not 10 PPC and affiliate programs) and you’ve got cash flow that immediately increases the value of the domain name.

A higher page rank will also increase the value of a domain name, so some SEO work may pay off big time when the sale is finally made. If you buy a domain name and simply park it on some host’s server, you aren’t taking full advantage of your investment, even if it’s only a $2.95 domain registration fee. Put the domain to work for you and chances are, you’ll increase its value at the time of sale. And make some extra bucks while waiting for sale day.

Buy Domain Names in Bulk

Once again, take a little time to learn about domain name registrations. There are plenty of sites that’ll give you a significant break on registration when you register in bulk. Some players in this market register 1000s of domain names at a time for maybe a buck or two per registration. Then, they market their inventory. Very risky and not for the faint of heart.

Know What You Need to Know

So, if you don’t know much about domain name investing, take the time to learn – to learn how to construct a simple website, to generate income from sources other than direct sales, although if you do have access to a useful product or service, why not use the site for direct sales as well. It only increases the value of your domain name when you can show you’re making $50 bucks a week as an affiliate site for the XYZ company and $100 a week selling products.

Is Cyber Realty In Your Future?

It is if your expectations are reasonable, you don’t invest more than you can afford to lose and, most importantly, you learn the rules of the game – everything from how the market operates to how to build equity in a domain name.

If you think of a domain as a “place” just like a home, the market dynamics are similar. The difference? People need a home. They don’t need to spend $5,000 on your really cool domain name. In other words, domain investing isn’t a needs-driven marketplace.

Remember Beanie Babies?

Basic economics 101: a market is only strong as long as its investors believe in the market’s ability to make a profit. Just a few years back, people were buying up Beanie Babies for investment, spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a stuffed toy! Visit eBay today to see what Beanie Babies are selling for. The market in plush collectables lost faith in its ability to generate a profit and the bottom fell out. Overnight!

Anything, including a domain name, is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And in the case of domain names, supply far outstrips demand so you better have a good product. Preferably one that’s earning some income.

And if you get an attractive offer, take it. It’s pretty unlikely that you’ll find another buyer willing to pay bigger bucks for that domain.

It is a market – domain names – but it’s a fickle market, it isn’t needs-driven and there’s always more supply than demand. Still, by taking a few simple steps, you can add value to a domain name and actually make a few hundred bucks.

No, it won’t get your kid through college, but it might pay the air fare to get her there.