Domaining Biz

I should have listened to everyone sooner.  I know, just like everyone else, it is hard for me to change.  I’ve been parking my domains with SEDO, which apparently is not the best idea for the types of domains in my portfolio.  Meaning, I have domains with type-in traffic.  I have been seeing a very low payout per click with Sedo.  I moved to Parked.com with some of my highest traffic domains and have literally tripled my income.  I even had one very good day where I made more in a day there than I do in a week at Sedo.  

If you haven’t tried them out yet, I highly recommend you do.

I am so excited!  I sold my first domain.

I hand registered a .org domain based on a news story I heard.  I had to get the .org because the .net was taken while I was trying to decide which I should get.  The next day, both my .org and the .net someone else got while I snoozed had bids on them for purchase.  Mine was for $100 and the .net was for $500.  So, I guess I know now which one I should have regged, or else I should have just grabbed both.

Due to the activity, I sent it to auction at Sedo.  I got one more bid which was high enough to cover Sedo’s 10%  charge for handling the transaction.  I was surprised at the amount of time Sedo held the money after I had pushed the domain to them (1 week), but it makes sense that they hold it for a bit to make sure the money clears that they were paid.

Sedo then paid the money to me without a hitch.  Overall it was a very good experience.   

As of today, I am officially a domainer.  I have made some small attempts at this in the past, but I am now making small but steady money with domains. Even though I’ve been in the business for a long time, domaining is new to me.  I am not certain what will happen when the new extensions come out, but I still believe the .com is king and am doing everything I can now to set myself up in the domain real estate business before changes happen next year. 

I’ve owned this domain for quite some time.  I got it because it it was short.  Now it seems appropriate for writing about my domain business and the buzz that surrounds it. 

I’ve started with some domains parked at Sedo.  I currently own approximately 60 domains.  I’ve just slowly gathered them over time.  I can still kick myself for not getting the .com of my city back before they even started charging for domain names.  It was available.  I am sure in the .com bubble I could have made a fortune off of it.  In todays market, it would be worth 10 times that amount.  A quick check at Google shows over 9,100,000 searches for it last month.  Wow! 

Ever wondered who owns some of the great domains?  Here’s some that I found:

movie.com & movies.com - Fandango, Inc.
radio.com & tv.com - CNET Networks (CBS)
work.com - Busness.com, Inc.
play.com - Play Limited
dog.com - PetsUnited, LLC
usa.com - NJ Domains
money.com - Time, Inc.
smith.com - Smith International, Inc.
eagle.com - Eagle Aeronautics, Inc.
chicken.com - DigiMedia.com, L.P.
internet.com - Jupitermedia Corporation
water.com - DS Waters of America, Inc
dinner.com - Versimedia, Inc.

Choosing a name to represent your business is very important.  After all, this will be YOUR business. Here are some things to consider as you decide on your domain name:

Use keywords people use in search engines that are pertinent to your business
• Make your domain name as short as possible
• Choose a name that is easy to spell
• Choose a name that does not change spelling in different countries or have multiple accepted spellings: color vs. colour; license vs. licence; traveler vs. traveller
• Make sure it is easy to communicate your name over the phone: redbook.com vs. readbook.com; reedbooks.com vs. readbooks.com
• Trademark your name to protect it
• Make sure you are not infringing on someone else’s trademark. It would be terrible to spend your money and time investing in your brand, only to lose it to someone else.
  Search for registered trademarks in the countries you will do business in
  ex: http://tess2.uspto.gov/
• Use Google to search for existing companies
• Conduct a trademark search
  http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectId/79BB0841-5898-40C3-A441E98A7494A853/310/274/FAQ/
• Avoid names that can easily be singular or plural, or else purchase both versions. For example, if your site has to do with medical graphic art, get both medicalartstudio.com and medicalartstudios.com or get both medicalgraphicart.com and medicalgraphicsarts.com
• Make sure your domain doesn’t have additional unintentional meanings. Webad.com can be read “Web Ad” or “We Bad”. Medicalartshits.com can be read “Medical Arts Hits” or “Medical Art Shits.” Even worse, medicalartsexposed.com can be read “Medical Arts Exposed” or “Medical Art Sex Posed.”
  Having the word “Sex” in your domain name is a sure-fire way to have your business email sent straight to junkmail folders, and a great way to lose customers.
• Make it memorable
• The fewer words the better. The fewer characters the better
• Make your name rhyme (i.e. heartart.com)

Some things to avoid if at all possible:

• Hyphens
• Numbers, especially the number 4. Some search engines penalize numbers in domain names.
• Non-standard grammar or speech (i.e. medicaldrawing.com vs. medicallydrawing.com,  medicaldraw.com or medicalcollege.com vs. collegemedical.com)

The domain business will be changing forever, starting next year.  ICANN has approved not just a couple of new top level domains, but are making it so just about anyone with $100,000 to $500,000 and the proper infrastructure can have complete control of generic TLDs.  Read the announcement here: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-26jun08-en.htm

This means cocacola can have .coke, or if you have the money and resources you may be able to have domains such as .weather, .you, .hotels, .dogs, .green, or even .news.  Imagine the possibilities!

One of the most important things you can do for your pocketbook is to transfer your domains away from Network Solutions.  There are many good registrars out there that will charge you a reasonable fee and provide you with decent customer service.  Here’s the steps:

1. Initiate the transfer at the registrar you will be transferring your domain to
2. Sign into your account at Network Solutions
3. Check your email address on your profile and verify it is valid
4. Check your domain and verify it has been at least 60 days since registration AND the domain’s registration is not due to expire within the next 7 days
5. Click Manage Domain Names, then click on the domain in account management
6. Click “Turn Off or Request Authorization Code” in the Domain Details row. (This could potentially say ON instead of OFF)
7. VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Choose “Leave Domain Protect Off”  (Domain must be unlocked to transfer it) 
8. VERY IMPORTANT!!! Check the box that says “Request Authorization Code” (You won’t get your code if you don’t check this box)
9.  Save
10. Check your email for your EPP code. You should have the mail within a minute or two. If you don’t see it, check your junkmail folder.
11. Go to your new registrar and enter the EPP code.  Your domain should transfer within a few hours.