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Buying Domains That Reflect Your Personal Interests

By Domaining365 on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 | No Comments

Recently my wife’s parents hosted our 3 children for a grandkid sleep-over and my beautiful bride and I had a very rare weekend to ourselves.

The extended child-sitting stint was part of an anniversary present her folks had given us back in May, and we cashed it in last Friday through Sunday to celebrate our recently passed 17th wedding anniversary.

Not having had a weekend with just the two of us in ages, craving some physical activity (keep it clean people) and never the types to spend time indoors if there’s an outside option, my wife and I quickly settled on a common interest.

We decided to spend our weekend together hiking a short section (17.8 miles) of the Appalachian Trail through beautiful North Carolina and Tennessee, from the Nolichucky River to Iron Mountain Gap.

On Friday night we threw some gear and food together and hit the hay looking forward to the trail. In the morning we dropped my truck off at our end-point then drove a second car to our starting point. This way when we reached the end of our hike we had wheels waiting for us on the other end.

So, what does this have to do with buying domains or domain investing?

Without fail, all of the domain investors I have met and have had the opportunity to discuss this topic with, have a portion of their domain name portfolio that speaks to something inside them, a particular interest or passion that is far and away more meaningful than making money.

Long distance hiking, backpacking, the Appalachian Trail, and camping are all personal interests and passions of mine. They are some of the activities and places I enjoy most and some domains in my domain portfolio directly reflect these interests. Indeed one of my personal goals is to hike the Appalachian Trail as a thru hiker and to join the ranks of the other 2000 milers before me, who all had their own reasons for hiking the trail, none making any more sense than the other. After all, what kind of people leave the world behind for 6 months to walk almost 2200 miles? My kind of people, that’s who.

Some Appalachian Trail, hiking, backpacking and camping domains in my portfolio…

2000Miler.com & 2000Milers.com – The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recognizes anyone who reports completion of the entire Appalachian Trail as a “2000 miler.” The term is a matter of tradition and convenience and is based on the original estimated length of the AT.

ATThruHiker.com & ATThruHikers.com – “AT” is an abbreviation for the Appalachian Trail. Generally speaking, an AT thru hiker is someone who hikes the entire Appalachian Trail, from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME in one 12 month period or less. There are some specifics that hikers love to debate and some very strong feelings all around, but just about everyone agrees that a thru hiker is someone who starts from one end and hikes “thru” to the other, not taking any prolonged time off the trail and finishing in under a calendar year.

HikingTarp.com – Some minimalist hikers prefer using a hiking tarp to construct a nightly shelter rather than relying on a tent. Any way to shave some weight from a pack is a viable option, and eliminating even a lightweight backpacking tent in exchange for a simple tarp shelter not only reduces weight but also takes up less space, leaving more room for other essential backpacking gear.

CampingKettle.com – A camping kettle isn’t just for making a cup of tea or a mug of coffee while on the trail. For extended backpacking trips, a way to boil water is essential for sterilization and the preparation of dehydrated food meals. My favorite type of camping kettle is the Kelly Kettle, and since I don’t have a good video of me using mine, check out these very cool video demonstrations direct from KellyKettle.com. Fueled with only small scraps of wood, bark, pine cones, etc. a Kelly Kettle can bring water to boil easier on the trail than any other camping kettle I’ve ever seen.

TentHiking.com – Tent hiking is simply hiking with a tent as opposed to relying on permanently constructed trail shelters, off-trail accommodations such as hotels, motels or hostels, slack packing or a hiking tarp. A lightweight tent that can stand up to the rigors of the trail is essential for anyone contemplating a serious tent hiking expedition.

TarpHiking.com – Tarp hiking is a niche within the backpacking and hiking community and as the phrase implies, these hardcore lightweight hikers leave the tent at home. They prefer to rely solely on natural surroundings and a simple hiking tarp to provide shelter from the elements. Tarp hiking is considered a more minimalistic approach to hitting the trail than tent hiking.

TentHammock.com – A tent hammock is a combination of a hammock and a tent where the camper or hiker sleeps in a suspended hammock while protected above by a roof covering or a “tent” that shields the user from rain, snow and sun. A tent hammock is ideal for keeping clear of running ground water in a storm or small animals scurrying in the night. It also completely negates the need to find a non-rocky or quasi flat surface to set up a ground tent. Tent hammocks also tend to be lighter than tents as poles are not required.

Everything in the domain investing world can’t be about making a buck.

At least not for me. Some domains are for making money and some I wouldn’t take a million dollars for. Okay, that’s a lie. I’d take a million bucks for any domain in my portfolio…but I think you get what I’m saying.

So, what are some domains in your portfolio that aren’t about making money and more related to your personal interests and passions?

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Domain Names, Fishing Tales And The One That Got Away

By Domaining365 on Monday, March 28th, 2011 | No Comments

On fishing trips and among friends, the words “got away” can mean nearly almost anything, from the ever common “I thought maybe I had a nibble…pass me another beer,” to the rarer epic battle between man and beast, from which man emerges triumphant, admiring the prize in the boat beside him among shouts of, “Look at the size of that thing!” only to have the moment shattered with a sudden twist, leap and flip as the fish winks and gives you the fin before disappearing silently into the depths below.

By way of background, and as a backdrop to the story I am about to tell you, in December of 2010 I took an interest in a series of blog posts on ElliotsBlog.com where Elliot Silver invited his readers to participate in an opinion survey for the value of SlipperyElm.com, a domain he purchased on the domain aftermarket.

Taking several posts to do so, Elliot discussed why he decided to develop a mini-site on the domain and shared strategies and details about how he went about doing it. He gave readers access to his decision making processes and included some transaction specifics such as where he bought the domain, how much he paid for it and even the vendor he hired to write all the original content for SlipperyElm.com. He spoke freely about how he would monetize it, what he expected to earn from it monthly, and his price expectation for a future sale.

Everything needed to replicate his efforts was mapped out in an easy to follow format. Still, as straight-forward as he made the process sound, there was one thing that Elliot wrote that struck a chord with me more than anything else. He described that it was just a few years back that he first spent $1000 on a single domain and that it made him nervous. I could definitely relate. I spend most of my domain prospecting in the realm of manual registrations, domain drops and sub $100 domain auctions. In my world $1000 buys a lot of domains. Occasionally I step out of that zone, but I am the first to admit it’s where I feel most comfortable. And if it’s not broken don’t fix it. My methods work for me.

Nonetheless, I decided right then and there that one of my projects for 2011 would be to find a rough domain name gem in the $1000 – $2000 range, develop it, and set a goal to sell it for $10,000 or more. At the time I made this decision I didn’t have a domain in mind, but I put the wheels in motion and started looking for one that fit the bill.

On February 5th 2011 my diligence paid off. I was using DropDay.com at the time to scan for keyword domains exclusively from the sub-set of GoDaddy Domain Auctions. I was immediately interested when CastileSoap.com appeared in the DropDay list. Heck, didn’t my wife just buy some of that stuff? I quickly ran some numbers and used the Google Keyword Tool to find out that over 12,000 global exact searches take place monthly for the exact phrase, “castile soap.” This confirmed my initial hunch that castile soap would be a highly searched product.

What I had found at auction was an exact match generic keyword domain for a popular product within the very profitable and competitive health and beauty niche. Soap. Go figure. A very specific type of soap (due to its olive oil base) but still a completely generic product, associated with and made a house-hold item by such brands as Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. It fit my criteria perfectly. I felt confident that I could build out the site, earn along the way, and later resell the domain once traffic and revenue justified the $10,000 minimum price I had in mind.

I decided to put my money where my brain was. At the time I entered the bidding fray there were only 4 minutes and 6 seconds remaining in the expired domain auction. The current price was $506 when I submitted my proxy bid of $798, hoping I would catch a break and not have to go any higher. No break. $798 was immediately surpassed and I watched for the next brief minute or so as two bidders kept pushing it up higher and higher. I didn’t bid again until it was over $1300, and then tit-for-tat, me and bidder #7 went at it in $5 increments until the auction closed at $1505. I had won the auction and step 1 of my plan to secure an undervalued domain asset was accomplished.

What a feeling! I was like the guy in the boat with that trophy fish, grinning ear to ear and savoring the feeling of successfully putting a plan into action. I immediately paid for the domain and started putting together the keywords and article titles for contracting out the content. I must say I was pleased. I had broken through a mental barrier, elevated my domain purchases to a new level, followed through on a plan and indeed I was quite happy to spend $1505 for a domain.

Unfortunately my celebratory mood didn’t last long, but I’ll get to that in a second. First, take a look at a screen shot from my GoDaddy account showing my winning bid on the closed auction. By following the green arrows you can see that the winning bid was indeed $1505, it was mine, I was willing to go higher (final bid amount kept confidential) and the auction was “closed” when this screen shot was taken.

GoDaddy Expired Domains Auction screenshot for CastileSoap.com

So what happened? How come you don’t see an awesome little mini-site about castile soap when you go to CastileSoap.com? Um, because it got away silly. I had it in the boat and all of a sudden the *&#^@% was gone!

As many an angler has done before me, days later I still contemplated in silence how my catch had managed to slip through my hands through no fault of my own. How could I legitimately win a domain auction with one of the largest registrars in the world, submit payment, have my credit card charged successfully, receive an email receipt from GoDaddy for the purchase, and STILL be left wondering what the hell happened?

Why am I not the current and legitimate owner of CastileSoap.com? More questions and answers on the way in part 2 of this article (coming soon), although I think some of you will figure it out before I get it written.

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Domain Names – Picking The Low Hanging Fruit

By Domaining365 on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 | No Comments

Low Hanging Fruit

Like any industry or business in its infancy, domaining was jump-started by people and companies picking, selling and developing the low hanging fruit, those most obvious domain opportunities that people now consider legends of a bygone golden era, when supposedly all you had to do is reach up and pluck. Of course we say “obvious” now, but it is far too easy to blow off those early innovators as simply being in the right place at the right time and not credit them as creative geniuses with the moxie that it took to get this ball rolling.

Can you still succeed at domaining?

Domain name investing and domain name sales, domaining if you will, certainly isn’t for everyone. On not-so-wonderful days I can come up with a lot of choice adjectives for many of the behind the scenes research and tedious every day tasks and responsibilities that I contend with. Occasionally I may inwardly cringe or alternatively seethe at some of the inconsistencies I’m faced with in my domaining endeavors.

Bored with Domaining?

Have you ever heard someone say or write about being bored with domaining? I’ve read it, but I don’t get it. That’s like saying the lottery is boring, or that hunting for lost treasure is droll. Seriously, if domaining is boring then you might as well lump advertising, marketing and making money in the same category. Truly, is there any more exciting self-employment opportunity than domain investing, domain monetization and domain name sales? I don’t think so, but buying into the hype machine, positive and negative, has indeed been the downfall of many would be domainers.

Yeah sure, the low hanging fruit may be gone…and you personally may never have the opportunity to hand register a domain name for $8 and sell it for $100,000. Boo hoo. Wake up and smell the opportunity. Just because the ripest, most succulent and sweetest domains were harvested first doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of good fruit still higher up on the tree. And the price and demand for them is going up.

Plus, if you pay attention you’ll find that plenty of that previously picked fruit is abandoned in the form of domain drops by early innovators or the disenchanted who underestimated the commitment necessary to succeed at domaining. Good drops are eagerly scooped up by entrepreneurs utilizing monetization methods that the original registrants never even considered or had at their disposal.

Let me leave you with these brief apple facts and an analogy between domains and apples.

Fact 1 : The largest apple ever picked weighed 3 pounds.

Fact 2: It takes two pounds of apples to make one 9 inch pie.

My domaining analogy?

It’s simple. You may never pick a 3 pound apple, but gather enough small ones and learn how to bake (develop and monetize your domains) and instead of selling second rate apples, start cashing in on tasty simple to bake pies.

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Follow Domaining365 on Twitter for domain news, domain commentary and Tweets about available unregistered domains with monetization and branding potential.

Apple facts courtesy of Mott’s Inc.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

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Geo Niche Domains – Taking Aim At Your Target Market

By Domaining365 on Friday, February 18th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Using geo niche domains to target local prospects “Oh I get it now!”

Every day, more and more savvy small business owners and independent medical professionals are coming to the realization that hundreds, maybe even thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, are searching the internet locally for the very products and services that their businesses provide.

Wait, wait, wait…

I know, that you know, that this is no revolutionary concept. The point is however, that it is indeed a brain explosion for the entrepreneur who is realizing it for the very first time.

Have you ever seen those stand alone carts at the mall?

You know the ones I’m talking about right? They’re usually piled high with everything from RC cars, puzzles, and cheap looking personalized etched glass to moisturizer, hair clips and “As Seen On TV” products.

An analogy I like to use some times when discussing the value of organic internet traffic with a traditional brick and mortar business owner is that of one of those cart vendors in the mall, selling all that crap that no one even looks at when they walk past. Those little carts are still profitable though because of the mass amounts of human traffic that flows past, and JUST HAPPENS to see a “shiny object” that grabs their attention. Boom. Impulse buy. Okay, I admit it. I bought a hermit crab once from a mall cart vendor…as a gift for someone else of course.

Anyway, compare the mall cart traffic of the unknown masses on a busy Saturday to the incredibly specialized traffic that a geo niche domain garners when populated with relevant content. Because the domain and the content of the site is so focused on a specific niche and on a specific search phrase, the probability that search engines will make the connection between the targeted search and targeted geo niche domain is exponentially increased, resulting in the searcher finding exactly what they searched for.

What exactly am I talking about?

Okay, for instance let’s look at the profession of dentists. There are a lot of reasons why people look for a dentist but I think we can all agree that the primary reason people look for a dentist is because, well, they need a dentist. Maybe they’ve moved recently to a new city or the dentist they do have is skimpy with the laughing gas or has bad breath. Who knows. The point is, at any given time thousands of people are looking for a dentist all over this great land.

Well, what exactly do you search for when you’re looking for a new dentist in a new city? Every one is different of course, but for me it just comes natural to type in the city where I’m looking for a dentist, and then the word dentist. And yes, I do realize that the plural ‘dentists’ tends to have more searches compared to the singular. More on that later.

So, the scenario is I go to my favorite search engine and type:

Asheville dentist

Or maybe, if I am feeling lucky I just go to AshevilleDentist.com and hope for the best. (This is a parked page, not my site, no relationship to whoever owns it, just using as an example.)

So you tell me, what dentist in Asheville wouldn’t be intrigued that every month about 150 people go to Google alone and type in the exact phrase, “Asheville dentist” and hit Enter? Oh and let’s not forget to mention the 400 or so per month that use Google to search for the plural “Asheville dentists?” Between those two searches alone, on one search engine, nearly 600 people are looking for a dentist in Asheville EVERY MONTH. And this doesn’t even include other searches for the same phrases on other popular search engines such as Yahoo and Bing.

With proper attention to SEO and relevant content, it would not be difficult to get AshevilleDentist.com ranked very well in the search engines, especially for the exact match search “Asheville dentist.” Same goes for the search for “Asheville dentists” and the corresponding domain AshevilleDentists.com (also parked and once again, not mine). Plus, if either of these domains were developed (the way I would do it anyway) the plural domain would rank for the singular and vice versa.

Now instead of unrelated uninterested mall traffic passing by a cart with unrelated miscellaneous gadgets and contraptions, the human traffic generated by Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. for the search “Asheville dentist” is presented with the exact thing being searched for, a site about a specific Asheville dentist, built on AshevilleDentist.com. Heck, find me the dentist in Asheville who DOESN’T think it’s a good marketing idea to own the site 600 or so people every month find first when looking for a dentist in Asheville.

I use the example of AshevilleDentist.com because I live in the Asheville area, but the idea is interchangeable with any city and just about any profession, offering the creative domainer limitless combinations of potential domains to develop or sell.

Just for the heck of it I used JustDropped.com to search for domains deleted within the last 90 days that end in the word “dentist.”

Here are just a few available geo dentist domains (some with traffic according to Estibot’s Alexa data) that are available for manual registration. That’s $8 folks. And there’s thousands of dentists out there who will readily grasp the value proposition that is represented by capturing the eyeballs of the specialized traffic these types of domains can bring.

In an industry where as a general rule of thumb you’re going to have two visits a year, probably x-rays with your regular cleaning and maybe even a dental emergency or two over the course of a several year patient relationship, how much is just one new client worth to a dentist anyway?

BainbridgeIslandDentist.com
136 monthly Google exact searches

HudsonFallsDentist.com
Alexa 17.6M

MagicValleyDentist.com
Alexa 9.7M

MammothLakesDentist.com
Alexa 17.9M

Sure, for some small businesses a few hundred extra monthly views of the company website or building a new web site only expecting a few hundred monthly visitors might have little positive financial impact. But don’t overlook the ones to whom it can make a tremendous difference.

For small geographically focused service oriented businesses, especially medical professionals where the patient relationship may continue for several years, geo domains can make a tremendous difference, especially in the area of new customer acquisition and reducing traditional marketing and advertising costs.

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Keyword Domains – Search Engine Optimization Common Sense

By Domaining365 on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 | 3 Comments

Domainers and SEO consultants don’t always see eye to eye.

Why not? We’re not competitors. We both have the same goal of increased organic and targeted traffic for our clients, or for our own businesses.

I understand the value of proper SEO, so why is it that some SEO companies have such a difficult time acknowledging that all SEO starts with the actual domain name? Or at the very minimum that a domain name, if properly utilized, has the ability to give you the edge in a competitive market?

These questions and others rattled around in my head as I sat in on a client meeting the other day…a 3rd party vendor pitch for SEO services. The client (my client) has purchased multiple keyword domains from me over the years. I’ve also trained members of said client’s internal staff on keyword research and how to integrate keyword domains and targeted landing pages as part of a long-term online marketing strategy to drive traffic to the main company brand, or to a specific product within their online store or to a specific service offering.

In addition to keyword advertising campaigns (which they still utilize across several networks) my client grasped early on how keyword domain landing pages targeting niche keyword search terms could over time reduce their dependence on paid keyword advertising, and result in higher quality organic traffic over paid clicks.

My client gets it.

My client understands that keyword domains serve as a foundation on which to build, but they are only that. If you build a crap house on a strong foundation, you still have a crap house. Keyword domains are not the answer in and of themselves. Hence my client’s need for a competent SEO firm to provide content writing and other SEO services.

The simple reality is that Keyword domains WITH relevant content, and built out incorporating effective SEO strategies, have a huge advantage over similarly created content sites not employing a keyword domain approach.

Any SEO “expert” who doesn’t readily admit that should seek a new line of work.

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Buying Domains That Reflect Your Personal Interests

Domain Names, Fishing Tales And The One That Got Away

Domain Names – Picking The Low Hanging Fruit

Geo Niche Domains – Taking Aim At Your Target Market

Keyword Domains – Search Engine Optimization Common Sense