Do you play the Domain Game???

Domain names truly is a game, and sometimes a vicious one at that. I have about 100 domains at various registrars and then I manage a number of domains too. I use specialized software to both manage domains and to purchase them. But it's not always fun.

Some of my favorite registrars include Joker.com (Germany), Pair.com (they also do a great job at web hosting too), 1AND1 (cheapest place I've seen with one of the easiest control panels that allows managine all domains you have there on a single web page) and I still favor old Network Solutions for when I want to invest into the 5+ year registrations. I despise Enom as they were former large-scale spammers and before they made it almost impossible to transfer a domain away from them.

Where the game gets really into play is when you have to deal with scrupulous affiliate registrars and idiot webmasters who only care to rip you off of your domain name and try to re-sell it back to you. I've also had affiliate registrars who took the name I wanted and re-sold it to another registrar and then "offered" to sell my domain back to me.

I think it's important and wise that today you find a really good registrar and one that can "lock" in your domain name having lots of security before the domain can be transferred or sold. This usually means lots of contact emails so make sure your email address lasts as long as your domain name or at least keep on top of modifying your domain name email addresses. You need to protect your domains these days.

One day the dot .COMs will be worth good real-estate prices again. I see the dot .NETs catching-up and surprisingly many, many organizations are now opting for the dot .ORGs. Last year I purchased over 30 .ORG domains largely because religious groups, some very big, are diving into a strong Internet presence.

I do not see the .us or country specific domains ever being anything more then what they are now-just regional country names that few will ever remember. I do think the dot .TV is working nicely for a number of infomercials but only because the medium of the TV is pushing the use of the domain.

Lastly, I still cherish domain names that are close to the top of the beginning of the alphabet as possible. Numeric domains can actually be beneficial here too. Domain names having keywords relevant to the content of the site will always make a strong showing, so pick your domain wisely.

Perhaps 10 years later our domains will have some value that we can pass them along to our children who will benefit from our domain game fun now.

Mark

[cooper]

My company has about 20+ domains but only 4 actual web sites (2 are listed in my signature). We use the rest to capture users that may have forgotten the "real" domains and redirect them to the correct ones. It's helpful and a smart business move. I would recommend it to anyone trying to capture their audience.

We have been trying to acquire a .com domain that the registered "owner" has never used. It's annoying as no one returns any correspondence and the contact information listed in the WHOIS database is worthless.
I haven't looked into it at all from a legal perspective yet so I will ask the users here:
Is there any way for us to acquire the domain by forcing, or otherwise allowing, the current registered organization to release it? I don't want to get nasty about it, but it would be a different story if the domain was actually being used or if they would return our inquiries.

Thanks!

[graphyx]

I don't visit the forum as much as I should but no, I don't really "play" the domain game. I only own one .com . . . that is graphyx.com. If I should decide that I want to sell my domain, for profits sake, what do I need to do, where can I post it or promote the sale of it. And where can I find information on pricing it.

[OneMoreBite]

Oh, gee thanks. Another forum to visit! I'm quite a domain name junky and all these links! Oh, my. I need a 48 hr. day.

Thanks for this forum idea - I've had questions about domain names and wasn't sure where to post them. Now I know! I'll be back ...

Anyone spend hours simply trying to dream up domain names, only to realize you just wasted half the day in dreamland? Me too. ;-)

Kathryn

[vfaulkner]

Can't say that I'm really a player, but,
Back in 2000, Vanity Fair Corp.( www.vfc.com ), parent company to the magazine,lingerie, and such companies as Gitano , Lee, and JanSport, offered me $50 to sell them my then current URL, vfsolutions.cmo, for use in a new product line.
I was able to negotiate a $5000 tag, due to some personal circumstances. (I truly wasn't trying to be greedy.)

Trying to find a replacement was hard though, as my name and others are similar and already taken and/or copyrighted.

To purchase names, I have used www.domainpeople.com several times as registrar and easily moved from/to different hosts for clients...

[edwinj]

Great new forum!
I have been playing the game for a while too. It's a lot of fun and can be extremely rewarding.

The best names IMO are those that target a specific market that has commercial potential. Too many beginners dive in and register names that sound clever or cute. This is usually not the best way to go and can result in you holding worthless names. You see hundreds of junk domains on eBay, for instance.

We've all been there. You'd fall down laughing if you saw some of the names I first registered. :)

There are dozens of great tools and resources that can help one to be a serious player of the game.
Here are a couple:
Overture has a super tool you can use to 'create' valuable domain names out of keywords or actual search terms that people use. Another of my favorites is http://www.whois.sc

All the best!
Edwin

Hi

I've registered a few just on the off-chance, realistically they sit there waiting to be used.

The first one was virginitycured.com and .co.uk when used on a TShirt its 'Virginity Cured - While you wait'

Also my house name "thedukeofwellington.org' its an old pub, my name, my wife's name. My brother has the family surname and various other names.

Then I bought work4.me.uk and plumb.me.uk and water.me.uk

Most recently, just in case the British expedition to Mars was successful 'thebeaglehaslanded' had Pillinger's craft landed and found life. I guess that domain name would have been quite attractive!

Apart from those, I buy loads of boring business domain names all the time for work, mostly oriented to SEO.

The problem is, once bought, its a very big decision to drop them!

[simonm]

Not sure why it took me as a guest?

[paulfromwales]

I was involved in setting up Public Access Terminals for a Government Body and thought it would be a great idea to register a name that could work in all public places - stations, hotels, waiting rooms etc

So, as all the good ones have gone, thought I'd use a hyphen or two! Web-O-Matics.co.uk was born.

Two years on I no longer have an interest in this venture and put it up for sale on ebay. £9 - no bids £1 no bids!

So what is the true worth of a hyphenated name? My experience would say, pretty close to nothing!

That's a problem really, for if hyphens are classed as worthless by the market place, then in the real world of successful web sites, they are always going to be second class citizens.

My tip for success? Choose another language.

eg. How much are Cars.com, Autos.com & Motors.com worth? Thousands more than most of us can afford. Yet I bought Motors.com last year for the price of the registration fee! Yes, true - only it's the Welsh version - Moduron.com (I even found WelshMotor.com to partner it) In the Welsh speaking area I live in, it would be a natural name for selling used cars to a regional market place.

Paul

ukcamera.com

Hello Cooper,

You can't insist that a non-used domain be sold. Domains are properties. A non active domain is no different than your neighbors parked car which hasn't been used in 2 years. No different than an empty parking lot, empty garage or an empty apartment. Owners discretion. You must stay calm. There is a correlation between annoying and price and it's costly.

Mark - .us can be percieved as regional, but there are over 190 million residents in this nation. Key question - How many of us are really global. What percentage of your business is done outside a 100 mile radius?

Go to Yahoo or Google and search Miss Universe 2004. You will see how regional this term is. Miss Universe is scheduled for June 1st.

Hyphenated name - Paul, hyphenate names have different values. If you are building a business and branding is important, you will never buy a name with a hyphen.

If you focus on affiliate programs or you are good at search engine optimization hyphens fit it well. You rely more on your strategic web skills than type ins for visitors. When was the last time you typed in john-doe.com