We have a long hit list of domains constantly watched for price deals, development signs, ownership change etc. One we had on our list was celebritygossip.net (no idea what happened and why we did not purchase the name since the price was extremely fair - win some, lose some) however today we realized this name was a little goldmine.

According to compete – celebrity-gossip.net (yes, the hyphen version in .net) receives over 250,000 visitors a month. Further research shows it’s on the first page of results in Google for the term “gossip”.

So, the owners of a hyphen domain name (a .net) have done a great development job to realize a bucket load of organic traffic yet they made a big mistake and never purchased the non-hyphenated version. Celebritygossip.net is a true generic name so the new owner will benefit from a lot of traffic driven by one company’s misfortune.

What does this tell you?

• With the right development even hyphen names can get you a lot of traffic (not just .com)
• If you own a hyphen name do a quick search today (not tomorrow) and see if the non-hyphen version is available.

As for those who acquire domains, don’t forget to check and see if the hyphen version is currently in use. You may be pleasantly surprised.

You have to love this business. Where else can you make money in your underwear? It doesn’t matter what you wear to work because a computer is your connection to the world – not a physical office.

Warning: It’s a scary vision to imagine all domainers in their underwear so I will assume you all look like Kate Beckinsale for the moment.

Many of us are lucky enough to earn a living in this business so when dealing with other companies (raising investment capital, offering services, negotiating a deal, applying for a loan, etc..) how many of you use the royal “we” – the one meaning your company. ”We” certainly sounds better and helps portray your company as a real business rather than a one man show. However when can using the word “we’ become a bad thing?

Most small business (one man shows) will use “we” every time they connect with a bank, apply for credit or talk to a potential customer  - such as ”we” can provide this or “we” are doing that.  All is fair in using the word “we” but at some point you must revert back to “I”.

If you have built a truly successful business and looking to raise investment capital it’s important to lay all your cards on the table. In this case it means coming full circle back to “I”. After all, it’s your success, your hard work and your company - No “we” involved. Investors should be convinced to invest in you and not some fictional “we” that will only lead to confusion.

Mark my words - after a 10 minute presentation using the word “we” instead of “i” a smart investor would look at you and say - who is we?  I’m pretty sure you would rather answer questions about the business plan than explain how you just streched the truth (hmmm… thinks a potential investor… what else did he stretch?)

Using the word “we” is fine but when you can revert back to “I” then you know you did something right – in your underwear.

As a further follow up to the recent SnapNames upgrade, below is another shortcut to find some quality domains. Much like the “bidders” shortcut we mentioned a few days ago you can also sort by minimum bids with just a few clicks.

(a)  From the home page, leave search box empty - hit go
(b)  double click “minimum bid” so it’s sorted from high to low

Starting to fall in love with a drop / auction service again - been way too long ….

Happy Domaining to all….

100,000 good names.

Not a chance.

When a large portfolio owner announces the sale of 100,000 names it sounds like jumping ship but it’s not like that - in any way, shape or form.

As I said in an earlier post:

“Over 98% of the portfolio just added to Afternic by iReit is JUNK! - Complete and useless domains your blind grandmother would not register nor be able to spell if Bob Barker was promising a gold house behind door number 3. It’s simply a collection of tens of thousands of typos, possible trademark problematic names, unbrandable words, hypens, meaningless phrases and utter junk with a few good names thrown in to help with a press release”

Quite frankly I have no idea why anybody announced this - it certainly does not help iReit in selling the names. All it does is verify big players are selling their junk and trimming portfolios to only include premium names. It’s no longer about quantity but quality - wait … that is exactly the way it should be.

So I ask, iReit dropped a few hundred (not 100,000) good names in the marketplace - what’s the big freaking deal?

You want real names – watch the featured domains on the homepage of SnapNames, search NameJet daily & read the blogs for private sales.  The deals are out there - this market was not just flooded with great names.

Take a look at some of the “killer” iReit portfolio names listed for sale below. My Amex is ready - Where do I sign up

12-1.com
122122.net
12-25.com
1-mood-disorders-light-therapy-circadian-rhythms.com
1-obsessive-compulsive-disorder.com
1-website-promotion-webmaster-resources.com
4-albuquerque-real-estate.com
4always-n-forever.com
desi-india.com
design-wap.com
dgtop1.com
dgs-fxp.com
d-guo.com
dgw3.com
dgxinc.com
duda-messer.com
ebook007.net
ebook-bay.com
e-clas.com
ec-leao.com

Namebio recently posted an article about iReit’s decision to sell a large chunk of their portfolio and Dark Blue Seas deal with Godaddy. One of the interesting quotes was:

“it may suggest that both companies are seeing major drops in revenue and are cleaning house and changing monetization strategies”

I really like Namebio so proper credit is given for reporting on this but now (in good fun) we must disagree that any such move is suggesting a major drop in revenue. These moves (in our opinion) are a better way to maximine revenue hence you are probably right in assuming both companies could be changing monetization strategies.

However, this change is not new – its simply time for large portfolio owners to take advantage of a market that is finally moving away from domainer to domainer sales.

Elliot posted a story about AmericanFlags.com– a true internet success story. The simple math tells us that in order to get corporate end users (the ones with really big wallets) we must first battle the war to obtaining approval from small business dreamers and owners on how much domain names are worth. AmericanFlags.com is a true example of this. How one name bought for $2,500 changed a mans life forever.

People are realizing this so it’s now time for iReit and others to sell assets which may never get $100,000 but will certainly get $2,3 or 5,000 because real buyers (not domainer to domainer sales) are starting to come.

It’s smart for iReit to cash in from the sale of domains which may not meet their development goals. I’m not sure if Afternic or BuyDomains was the right choice but the move was right for sure.

As for Dark Blue Sea - not Dark Deep Blue, all in good fun namebio , they have been selling names through GoDaddy for quite some time. Many of the names most domainers would not buy (even in a drop) while many more are simply great names at fair prices. I think the magic here is finding the right target prices for end users… there, I said it. End users, small business owners, vanity names for people with extra cash – that’s why this deal is great for both parties. GoDaddy has the end users – Dark Blue has the domains. Finally, a portfolio owner smart enough to go to the source (thumbs up Dark Blue).

Selling from domainer to domainer is a never ending moody circle of price swings. Oh, the world is ending, PPC is going down – why would I ever pay that much.

Let’s skip these people and go straight to the buyers who actually have development plans. Plans that involve a lot more than sitting home waiting for someone to click on your ads and then crying wolf when the company somebody else worked their butt off to build doesn’t pay you more. Lazy Domainers…. Let’s bypass them all!!

All I can say is it costs $6 to register a name for a year so you (as a domain owner) are essentially stealing property from the candy jar (it’s cheaper than a 12-inch sub) – If you decide to sell a good name for a couple hundred bucks than another domainer is stealing from your candy jar!

Hell with the candy jar robbers – let’s find the people who buy the candy. Next year we will find the people who make the candy.

Dark Blue has secured the system soooo many of us wish we had!!

One suggestion – if GoDaddy or Dark Blue are listening – can you release the sales information to DN Journal weekly.  More reporting, greater values will come.

If you’re in this for the long run then this is your opportunity to pick up some great names. We were privy to viewing much of iReit’s portfolio a little while ago and there are a few good names at FAIR prices….Remember, I said FAIR, not firesale.

As for 100,000 good names?

NOT A CHANCE.

Over 98% of the portfolio just added to Afternic by iReit is JUNK! - Complete and useless domains your blind grandmother would not register nor be able to spell if Bob Barker was promising a gold house behind door number 3. It’s simply a collection of tens of thousands of typos, possible trademark problematic names, unbrandable words, hypens, meaningless phrases and utter junk with a few good names thrown in to help with a press release.

So, iReit dropped a couple hundred good names in the marketplace - what’s the big freaking deal?

In a nutshell, these moves by various portfolio owners only strengthen what we have always believed. Traditional methods of valuating names simply based on PPC earnings is going away – Large portfolio holders are once again opting to sell based on the keyword value of the name.

The world is not ending - it’s simply shifting in the right direction.

We consistently receive offers to purchase “generic” domain names and its surprising by what some perceive to be generic names.  Everybody has their own definition (to a certain extent) but ours is rather specific.

A generic domain name should be one that defines an industry, product, social event, profession, name or procedure.

I’m sure there are more words here but the reasoning is the domain has to define something.  For example,

MedicalSurgery.com – this would be generic.

CrazyMedicalSurgeryDoctors.com - no, this is what we call a vanity name.

Also, traffic.  We rarely include existing traffic as a factor in the acquisition of domain names but I have to ask…

If your domain name is getting 1,000 uniques a day why are you offering to sell us the domain for $200?

Right here you have just confirmed that you are full of the stuff your local farmer calls fertilizer.  The correlation just does not work.  Either (a) you have no idea how to generate revenue from a domain with traffic or (b) you think we will become so dazzled by the possibility of getting your traffic we will immediately charter a private jet to deliver a suitcase full of cash.

(The fact that you are most likely from the domain community leaves us to choose option B as the only choice)

7 day stats?

Why would anyone purchase a name for multiples of PPC revenue based on a 7 day history from a parking company?

If the domain has PPC value – show me a 3 or 6 month printout.  On a 7 day chart the revenue means nothing.  You have not been paid (so the clicks are probably not even verified) and it’s pretty easy to get your buddies to bump up the stats for a week by clicking your ads. 

We do understand some buyers want these stats (Although PPC value is of little or no value to us) so … when trying to sell your name do you have to sound like a used car salesman?

The buyers in the industry know what they are doing.

Would be nice to see some sellers do the same.

Last night we mentioned SnapNames upgraded their auction platform to include the number of bidders. It seems this wasn’t the only announcement.

DotWeekly announced the Snap team will now allow private sellers to auction off names held at Moniker.

The acquisition of Moniker by Oversee was one of the best deals for this industry (in our opinion).  Introducing improvements like the ones over the past 24 hours can only help (a) provide the greater transparency people are asking for and (b) increase liquidity for domain name owners.

This team has the better jet for sure!

Looks like SnapNames just upgraded their auction platform so you can view the number of bidders for each domain.

Have to look in to this further but here’s a neat trick to get you started…

(a) leave search box empty - hit go

(b) double click bidders so it’s sorted from high to low..
 
All most active auctions !!

P.S. Very nice… (Kudos to whoever was involved in this decision)

Someone famous once said “If everybody is selling, it’s time to buy”.

This quote is true in so many way unless the investments are in a market which is going to end – and the internet is not ending.  In fact, it’s still only beginning.

In recent months we have witnessed the introduction of the Snowe bill, an American economy whose ultimate direction is not entirely known and slower domain sales (for the larger names).

However, is this doom and gloom for domainers?

No.

It’s an opportunity the market has given you to purchase prime property at discounted prices for a limited time.

The Snowe bill is a potential threat but you have to wonder why many of the larger companies (ones we all pay money to) have not spoken more publicly to gain momentum against the bill. The same large companies who hold many of the generic names which could be subject to the Snowe bill in its present form. Additionally, VC firms are giving money away to this space like pigeon feed in leicester square.

I’m not saying we should ignore the bill but it certainly would be nice to see some more valid discussion on it - certainly from the ICA to the domaining community.  Am I missing something - so quiet….

As for doom and gloom, we are far from this.  I’m still waiting for the same person who claimed the domain industry is in this state to issue an orange alert for DMD (domains of mass destruction) – No republicans in this company….do not get me started….

Others mention why some people are selling their names for the first time – natural progression of business I say.  If a few large portfolio holders had investments tied up in American real estate (which I know some of them did) then the loss is not from the domain industry – it’s simply a matter of diversifying (hence freeing up cash from the sale of domains) because of the substantial losses incurred from another venture.  Real estate has always been king – one of the safest investments around.  Not so any more in the good ole us of a.  Best time to buy a house in our humble opinion – 2010.

So, where are we now…

All of us entered this industry to secure a little corner of the internet.  Now that you have a corner why are you not developing more?  Domain parking is a great source of “bonus” revenue – but it never has been a good retirement plan. 

Domainers (in the pure sense of this word – I mean people who simply buy and sell domains with absolutely no real intention of development) will always be subject to market trends and general economic concerns the greatest.

Domainers who develop will be able to weather storms, take advantage of the opportunities presented when price corrections appear and continue to build their corners of the world into small countries.

With that said, it’s important to do what you believe is right to protect your assets (support the ICA could be one) but it’s equally important to understand who you are.  Ask yourself…

Are you a pure domainer (just someone that flips)?
Do you have development plans?
Can you actually make these development plans happen?
Do you have an idea but no real talent (hire or partner with someone who does)?

The domain industry is no different than real estate (or any sales business). Most real estate people reside in one of two categories:

A) People who sell a few houses a year, happy to make 50k.
B) Those who develop a client book and can weather most storms

Guess who always gets hit hard first.

When the storm is over, guess who is stronger.

Mamma always said don’t put your eggs in one basket.

She was right.

What she didn’t tell you was you can still leave a lot of them in one basket – if you know how to cook.

We have sold quite a few developed websites over the years and its always interesting to view the offers.  From the insane offers (not in a good way) - to the somewhat fair market ones - to the ones that seem very, very good but a bit of a longer payday.

It’s pretty easy to scratch the silly offers from the table so now we have (1) a not so bad offer involving a bulk payment and (2) a pretty great offer with a couple payments staged over time.

I remember when we first faced this dilemma in 2001.  The numbers were higher than most people will ever sell a website for so we were on cloud nine.  However (and here’s the dilemma) there was a substantial difference between the two offers on the table.  Substantial meaning I could pay cash for a Maserati, retreat to the Greek islands for a year, buy one of those crazy jet cards and even have a little money left over to be Client 10 for a few weeks from the spread between both offers. 

Only question I had to answer was…

Do we take the smaller offer and secure all the funds upfront .. or..  do we go with the larger offer – taking less now but in 12 months end up way ahead of offer #1?

You have no idea how much I went back and forth on this until one day I called a friend of mine.  This guy is self made and worth 8 figures (10 if you include cents).  He told me the decision was simple – all you have to do is ask yourself one question.

If you accept the offer (#2) with multiple payments then would you be happy with the amount received from the first payment?

You see his logic was once you defer payment for a portion of your business then you should consider any payment after the first check a bonus.  Too many factors including bankruptcy, the economy, currency fluctuations, simple supply and demand – so many that can’t fit here – will be working against you every day.  Sometimes the risk will pay off but unless you can afford to take that risk why do it.

We choose #1 - lump sum, one-time payment.

He was right.  The company with offer #2 later went bust 3 months before we would have received our second payment.

Present day – happened again last year.

Still not taking anything but a lump sum, one-time payment.

Of course, this doesn’t always apply but at least ask yourself the question before signing on the dotted line - especially in today’s economy.