Do you play the Domain Game???

[AussieWebmaster]

I have used this method successfully for a few businesses. The impact of the domain as far as search engine placement and if you get really good ones the traffic from direct address typing can be substantial.

There is a person in the adult industry that makes a large income from selling the traffic from his domain names... that $10 investment can be big bucks.

[steve-parrott]

I'm a part-time web designer and practically live in cyberspace. If I were to spend, say a few hours a week, on the domain game could I expect returns greater than if I was flipping burgers at Macs? Is it a "work at it for a year and get paid big the following year" kind of thing? Do you have to invest in a huge number of names to make it a profitable business?

[rambodog]

My tough question these days is whether to register all the extensions or not. Years ago I registered computerchecks.com but not the other extensions. Now, I wish I had. Of course a year or two ago domain names were still typically $35/year - registration costs have plummeted since then.

[Linda Buquet]

steve-parrott said:

Is it a "work at it for a year and get paid big the following year" kind of thing? Do you have to invest in a huge number of names to make it a profitable business?

Great question!!! I see some domains going for the big bucks and my eyes glaze over thinking of how much I could make. I tend to wear rose colored glasses ALOT!

But realistically, I think it may be somewhat like playing the lottery. Since so many are people are in the game, probably the more GOOD names you buy, the better your chances of winning. There is also skill involved in choosing the right names and some luck involved with selling them at the right time and place.

What does everyone else think???

[AussieWebmaster]

It is not just buy low and sell high that can make you money at this game... you can use the power it has for search ranking to get good placement in the engines and then sell advertising...
there is a whole cottage industry of people creating sites to sell traffic specific to keywords or industries.

[xmx]

Domains are the essence of the internet.

Think a moment if you had to connect to sites using their numbers ID instead...

The success of the internet arrives in great part from the domain names.

Very nice that now WPW has a forum totally dedicated to domain names.

[fallof]

Yes, I guess I do play that game. I am a Domain Registrar. I also buy and sell Domain names for investment. I offer many of the services mentioned, such as domain locking, forwarding, masking, bulk registrations and transfers. My rates are Low, transfers are only $7.75/yr and registrations are only $8.95/yr. We have 24X7 Support and more.... Of course you can do searches and backorder Domains as well.

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[SymbioticDesign]

Hi Everyone!

Yes, I too am a small registrar. I partner with Wild West Domains (GoDaddy's reseller division/company).

The only reason I setup as a Domain Registration Reseller is because I was having so much difficulty with NetSol & Register that I had no choice. As a web designer, I needed complete control over my Domain Names and these Registrars were holding them for ransom and refusing to allow me to make changes, or refusing to make the changes on my behalf.

I looked long and hard in order to come up with a decent solution and I do know that I found it. eNom was good, but refused to allow me to reregister for more than a year since that was the rate I originally signed-up for.

Upon becoming a small Registrar and having total control over my names, I felt so good about it that I registered many versions (different extensions) of my main website Domain. Even if I only had one Domain, I'd keep my Registrar status.

Plus, I enjoy helping people get started with their online business or professional presence.

But having such access to and control over Domains has kind of turned me into a Domain Name Nut. As I buy Domains for future development, I later find an even better name and register it.

An example is ImageMorgue.com. A morgue is a common name for the place to file unused or unpublished production animations, models, characters, photos or images. Of course, since almost all good Photo Gallery Domains are registered, and since Morgue.com is a single word Domain it is gone, so I came up with Image Morgue, which would be professionally understood and brandable.

But since branding is a major concern for any website and business, I had to register ImagesMorgue.com, MorgueImages.com and MorgueImage.com. This helps avoid cybersquatting issues.

Later, I was talking with fellow Domainers and someone mentioned that he makes heavy use of his Morgue Bin and thinks it's a good name. I looked it up and MorgueBin.com was available and registered it. This will be the one I probably develop. So now I have a set of 4 Domains I can sell.

I have registered quite a few Domains with great plans for development. However, hunting the good Domains down can be quite a chore. And if you don't do it as soon as possible, you may lose out. But, if you jump too quickly you could wind-up with a lemon just because of your mood at the time.

I was all set to buy another Domain when it was snatched out from under me while I sat on the idea of the brand. Now, I am using another Domain for that site and wish I had the one I lost out on.

But it is a real difficult task to find just the right brand for a business. I now do some of this for others.

Anyway, yes, I am in the game. I register Domains (for myself and others) and I offer Premium Domains for sale.

I don't really make any money doing this. It has become a kind of hobby. Actually, yes, I'm addicted. I have well over 200 Domains and I have never even sold one. So maybe I should stop.

NAH....

[geoffreygag]

Hello Linda,

why are our post appearing as guest? My post earlier changed.

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

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Geoffrey,

I think it was a temporary glitch. Seemed to happen a couple of time and now appears to be OK. Just be sure you are logeed in before you post.