Newbie Domaining One Year In

Newbie Domaining

Newbie domaining – well, perhaps you read my six-months post, so I’ll try not to be repetitive. If you have not, looking back, I had actually learned a couple of things by then and perhaps its worth a read. You can check them out here. Anyway, this week does celebrate my one year in the domaining world, as evidenced by the numerous domain names that I let drop this week. As happens to most newbie domainers who visit GoDaddy for the first time as an introduction to domain names, I was amazed at what was selling on their auction platform and for how much. I was also awestruck by the number of domain names that I thought of that were “actually available” to register (hand reg) like HardJudgement(.)com, RollingLogs(.)com, ShoulderOfGiants(.)com and a lot of other pigeon shit names, as Rick Swartz would call them. What was I thinking? Nothing but $$$, which allowed me to waste a bunch of $$$.

In one of the 6-month posts, I talked about a thread I started at DNForum entitled, What’s The Most Important Thing You Have Learned Domaining, which got a lot of participation and is something I read from time to time, as it is chock full of notable tips and reminders. Anyway, if somebody were to ask me that same question today after one year doing this, I’d answer… Take your time and do your homework! Now that it is tax time, it is pretty evident that I wasted a lot of money lining the pockets of others because I didn’t take my time and I did not do my homework, at first anyways. Remember, patience is a virtue and nothing is easy!

While I’m only doing this part time, I try and maximize the time I do spend domaining by reading as much as I can from others who are already successful doing it. One of the best things that I did early on was open a Twitter account and follow folks in the domaining world. Follow some of the well known names in the industry and follow who they follow. Soon, you’ll have an abundance of relevant reading material on a daily basis that will inform you of the domaining world, past, present and future. It really is an amazing resource and keeps you in tune with the industry as a whole, without wasting much time. It is also a great platform to sell domain names and I have sold several names through my website, which they found via Twitter posts. Just be sure to not bombard your followers with just domain listings. Be sure to re-tweet articles or posts that you find informative and relevant and also take the time to provide your own insight, inspiring quotes and other tidbits of information to keep your followers following and to have them encouraging others to do the same.

Another great thing that I did was join and mine information from several domaining forums, such as DNForum and NamePros. You may find the best information there is from threads of the past, as I do, although even today, it’s hard to pass bad advice on there, without getting shredded by the more seasoned moderators. Once you find your way around, you will quickly find that most of the questions you have in your head, have already been answered. The internet is vast and is still growing at an incredible pace, but it has also been around for some time now, so there is no need to re-create the wheel. Learn from others who have already been where you are and you will find the learning curve is steeper but a lot quicker! Don’t just be a stalker on the forums though. Be sure to participate and get your name out there. Perhaps answer some softball questions from other folks who are just starting themselves. You’ll quickly find yourself forming relationships and perhaps closing some deals with them.

As you’ll quickly find, there are numerous outlets to try and sell your domain names. So far in my first year, I have sold most of my names through my own website, although I have also sold names through SEDO, GoDaddy, DNForum and EBAY. I have also received offers through DomainNameSales, Toby Clements newsletter, 4.cn and some other outlets, but have yet to close any of those deals. Every week, I’m discovering new outlets to try and sell my names. Your domain names will not sell themselves. You have to work it. Many domainers simply list their names at SEDO and then wait and hope. That is certainly not the right approach towards success!

As far as my first year in this part time business, I have had three $XXXX sales, several $XXX sales and a bunch of $XX sales, although those were mostly hand reg names that I sold on E-bay. Profit/loss-wise, I can say that I have had a loss for my first year, which will help my taxes, although I also now have a nice inventory of sellable names and have generally made a considerable profit on those names that I have sold so far. Most importantly, I’m getting much better at investing in names that others would like to buy and I do my homework before doing so. That really is the trick of it all and something to study and learn more about on a consistent basis. There is an abundance of weekly publications that discuss the most recent sales of domain names and their corresponding prices. Seek these out and see what is selling. There are certainly some trends and you’d be wise to invest in those types of names, if that’s what you’re doing. With the economy the way it is, there are folks out there who are selling cheap to get out, which creates buying opportunities for you and me.

In my first year, I also purchased a couple of traffic websites, that are ranking extremely well on search engines and that was a great investment on my part. I paid $300 for one of these sites, invested a little time at monetizing it better, and have already made $665 from that site. Not going to retire with that, but let’s face it, in a full year, the site will make between $750 and $1,000, and its residual income. If I can do that 50 more times, that is a pretty nice side income.

Perhaps a better way to go, however, is take the time to buy a name related to what you are passionate about and develop it. I have developed a handful of websites and have had a decent return through monetization (i.e. Google Adsense, ClickBank, advertising, etc.), although these were sites I really had little interest in and were developed with little knowledge. I’m now in the process of building a couple of sites about things that have great interest to me like wine, stamps and a children’s educational app, and the posts and ideas are flowing with ease. It really is a lot more exciting and enjoyable to put together as well. Looking forward to sharing these with you over the coming months.

Unlike my first year when I haphazardly stumbled into this hobby/side business, I’ve set some definitive goals for this year and the longer term, which has allowed me to focus and chip away at them, moving me in a defined direction. I have no doubt that I will achieve each and every one of the goals, because in my mind, I already have! That was always the key to success in other business I started in the environmental field. Create a goal, carve out steps to get there and start climbing them one by one. It never fails, just believe in what your doing and continue putting that out there.

Thanks for checking in and taking the time to read this!