domains

well in a wild attempt to get into the fastlane I went out on a domain name buying spree and without doing any research on the subject. Wasted a lot of money. not doing research is kinda like hitting the gas as hard as you can and not knowing that you have to put the damn thing in gear<--my corny fastlane analogy.

So to figure out what I was supposed to do, I registered at a couple of the top domain name forums and tried to soak in as much as could. Anyways now I am trying various ways to develop and/or sell the names. not as easy as I thought it would be.

What were your lessons learned?

...and how many domains do you have?

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www.ReservationsRightNow.com/forum

well I have learned a ton of the basics, parking ect. learned the rules of the big 3 .com, .net, .org, I learned a little about developing and adsense

the biggest thing I learned about domaining was no matter what you think your domain is worth or what appraisals tell you, your domain is only worth what someone is willing to pay you for it...and even then you have to be able to find that person

I had about 6, just names for my ideas before I went crazy. Now I have 39, some are very brandable but probably half of that list is garbage

What names do you own?

ok here are most of em, i put down what they are now and/or what they could be.


99spaces.com
backuplist.com-online file backup
booneparty.com-built in joomla
breadless.org-food drive charity im looking to start
britainkid.com
changesheets.com-
changesocks.com-
crownofcharlotte.com-dude i dont know why i got this
datebycampus.com-dating site that only allows .edu email addresses to register? idk
dealsfordates.com
doglovr.com-i wanna take down dogster
entrepreneurconfessions.com-blog for my entrpereneurship club...need to get back on that
frattydog.com-like MJ said, the frat version of theDirty.com
greekpet.com-maybe pet accessories addorned with frats greek letters
gymstorage.com-a ecom idea i want to do but dont know how to do
housingpuzzle.com-my housing site im building
irscomplaint.com-a forum
jeeporheep.com- jeep enthusiast version of hotornot.com plus forum
paintballreloaded.com-paintball ecom site, again i dont know how
rentstorm.com-brandable, some kind of RE site
richfad.com-mocking the Rich Dad wanna be's that dont actually do anything, like johncow.com
roidy.com-social network for steroid users, i dont know just an easy name to remember
rviral.com-my new project im obsessed with, I would share if there was a for your eyes only forum
sellice.com-marketing forum or something
sellingice.com-same concept
skippinglines.com-pre-registered tickets to events maybe...dont know how to do this
socialchairman.com-event managemt site
txtrr.com-google adsense...there a hot new site being made called txtr.com and im gonna get the typos
vipowl.com-a nightlife social network maybe...

I actually have a few more good ones but it would give away the business idea

This is just my OPINION:

I would recommend bundling them and selling them as a portfolio to some poor schmuck. Keep the ones you like or that might have some potential, but try to unload the others in bulk. If you can't do it before your annual registration expires, just let 'em go.

Just like you, there is someone out there with more enthusiasm than education, and he'll take them off your hands, if you market them properly. Good luck.

FYI, some of those might be keepers, if you're willing to put some time into them.

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My Book About Creating Your Own Luck

If you decide to let them expire, make sure your registrar does not auto renew your domains. This is a great feature if you want to keep them, but not so great if you want them to just drop.

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If you want things to change around you, you have to change first.

Thanks for your advice!

Peerless-so develop then unload? on a ebay type deal or through dnforum or namepros? I dont know much about bulk sales


Allthingznew-yea i used domaincheap.com to reg them, all the names are on autorenew right now...i need to go ahead and uncheck the sketchy names

...By which criteria are you judging this experience a "failure"? Personally, I think you have some great ones in there. I especially like vipowl.com.

Ok, so you're in it for around what? $400? Pretty inexpensive lesson, and if I were you, I'd continue to ride those lessons out. Develop a few that pop out at you and see where it takes you.

If you are looking for some fast and cheap software to develop a site, check out www.xsitepro.com (V2). Amazing stuff, and around $200. You can throw up a website in about 2 hours- without knowing any code.

If you are just looking for more tools and ideas, join www.thirtydaychallenge.com it's free and it starts Aug. 1st. You'll need to get in on a team, so move quick if you decide to go this route.

...Hang in there, I think you are more creative with domain buying than you realize!

If you do decide you want to sell some, PM me. ...I have also started hoarding domain names. A couple of years ago it was books, now it's domain names. Oh well, at least the domain names don't take up any shelf space!

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www.ReservationsRightNow.com/forum

Well, I think of great names (in my opinion) all the time and just have to pass on them because I am a broke college kid. I just consider it more of a mistake of rushing into something without know what im doing...something I do all the time.

Along the lines of collecting books, I am doing that too...wanna sell me some good ones? I love to read and try to learn as much as possible. It started with Rich Dad last november then blink tipping point, 4 hour workweek, and losing my virginity.

If you want some good names I can check and see if they are still available. I write them down everytime I think of something creative.

Speed +++ for the great feedback on the site builder adn 30 day challenge...just what I need

Haha, a waste? Wait till you have about 400. I wouldn't sweat it at all. You have a couple in there that are pretty decent.

Keep rolling with it. I'm not sure how long you've been at this, but give it about 6 months to get a handle on your ebiz endeavors.

400! good lord. That the cost of the lift and tires on my jeep, every year, haha. I bought my first few names about when I joined, Feb 08...which is when I was just getting interested in entrepreneurship. then this summer I went bought all the rest.

Hopefully I can get a handle on the ebiz stuff, Im extremely new at this stuff. Ive got tons of ideas but just dont know how to implement them without getting ripped off, something that already happened to me with one of my sites.

Hopefully soon I will get have my 'success story' that tells of how I went from college kid who only cares about the next party to ebiz fame.

yveskleinsky, I just saw its your birthday, have a good one!

Looks like you have a few good domains in your list

Yeah, yours are not half as bad as most who do the same.

I own around 300+ domains and am in the process of selling off a huge part that I do not plan on using.

I made almost half my investment back by only selling 1

It all depends on the quality and use of your domains.

It can be fastlane, but you need a good plan and take it serious.

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I have received a few pm's about selling my domains. all are for sale except housingpuzzle

I bet you are happy you started this thread huh?


My 7 cents:

While good domains are going out, don't let the land analogy scare you. I almost bought some really really stupid domains because I really thought that soon there will be nothing left.

Don't let anyone fool you - there are plenty of 4 letter domains out there, not even talking about 5 letter ones. The problem, stuff like pqrz.com or kdxq.com are hardly marketable.

There are sites out there that show the list of expiring domains that day - those lists are LONG and look like this or this


This is a great tool you can use to find some domains. Also biophase linked to domainsbot.com before; that's where I got whybesingle.com by playing around with words.

For me, the biggest challenge is staying within reality - to really think through what business is going to be behind the domain. And if it is a good business, can I get a better domain from someone else by paying them a bit?


P.S. 400 domains - what is your strategy with those? Are you trying to sell winners and group others as a package?

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It's not doing a 9-5, eating at Applebees w/the wife and kids after work, and going home to watch TV until bedtime.-Russ H

I'm sitting on a couple hundred domains myself. I have some parked with Sedo just to see what they did on type in traffic, some with some generic PLR content that don't do much, just sitting out there aging but I haven't done much SEO with them. I have others that I developed and was actively SEO'ing and doing affiliate marketing with.

The hardest part to me has been putting a value on the domains. I could try and auction them off one by one, but don't know if I would even break even. They are mostly keyword domains, some one word, most two word or three word, and a few junk hyphenated domains thrown in for good measure.

I am struggling with the same problem of developing or selling the domains. I don't have the time to invest in developing them, particularly once my baby is here soon. And trying to understand selling them has been confusing. How do you know if it is worth it for a professional appraisal, marketing costs on sedo, etc.?

I think you actually have several good ones. Certainly good enough to recoup your investment, plus a little. I especially like:

sellice.com and/or sellingice.com - auction or re-sale site for diamonds / diamond jewelry

skippinglines.com - You're on the right track here. I think you should hire a cheap VA to find out all the best ways to avoid lines at major tourist attractions (such as Paris' museum pass to avoid the Louvre line or private tours to avoid the Vatican Museum lines, amusement parks.) Do you have any idea how much dear, precious vacation time is wasted standing in line for this kind of stuff??Then, set out to find (or CREATE!) ways to avoid the velvet rope nonsense at popular clubs, etc, etc, etc. You could even make it a paid service

socialchairman.com - Event managemt site is good OR, make it a combination event search site such as CitySearch (or Guidelive in Dallas, for instance) and Evite. Start with your city, and include semi-private parties such as charity balls, conventions, etc.

vipowl.com - a nightlife social network maybe... Yup.

hey thanks a bunch jill for your ideas for my names! good stuff!