Morning Folks!!
I can say the same shit until I am blue in the face and all I am ever met with is resistance. No matter what I say, they always know better. They are broke and in despair but discount everything I say. They will try everything under the sun but won't even try and understand what works and WHY it works.
Domaining is the simplest, easiest and fastest way to make money next to the race track and the stock market. Neither of those can you control. But domains, domains you can control but folks think they are buying a lottery ticket that the MACHINE PICKS!
If folks would just stop, take a deep breath, take a fresh look at things and don't reject what works out of hand, folks would have a different result.
There are a DOZEN ways or many more ways to do well in domains. Many ways to climb the mountain and make your fortune. But if fortune is eluding you, time to change what you are doing.
- Your first domain purchase is your most important. You can start again TODAY and buy your FIRST domain name. Try it! Just don't buy garbage. But a GEM! Not a ROCK! Don't know the difference? Keep reading.
- Domains are about Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives. Don’t know the difference? Go learn. Until then, you would be lucky to be as good as a stopped clock that will always be right twice a day. Don't confuse that with achievement.
- Those nouns, verbs and adjectives need to be in the right position. ie: GrandSlam.com not SlamGrand.com
- If the domains get ZERO type in traffic, that means not 1 person in 7 BILLION think like you. Not a one. Time to adjust or build a great destination. Other than that, you have a liability.
- If you don’t think there is still type in traffic available, you are in the wrong profession and besides that, you are clueless. Type ins are the ultimate verification reagrdless of what folks crow about. That does not mean you can't think of something before it is coined.
- Don’t buy a domain and try and sell it 5 seconds later. That means you did no research to understand the domain or the traffic. You didn't even take the time to see if what you were holding was a diamond or a piece of broken glass.
- It must pass the “Radio Test.” If you don’t know what the “Radio Test” is, you are lost without a compass. You don’t understand the masses. wtf are you doing?
- Don’t leave too much money on the table when you are selling a domain. If you don't know what makes one domain valuable and another one worthless, then you won't do well at setting the value either. You don't sell by asking a price. You sell by asking questions.
- The value of the domain has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with the buyer. But if you don't ask questions, then you know shit!
- Learn to value a domain properly and stop selling to other domainers. That by definition proves you are leaving money on the table. They do what you do and see an upside. Something you might be missing because you don't understand #1-#9 or any or all of those.
I could go on all day with do’s and don'ts. Know the difference between a 'Social Domain' and a 'Commercial Domain.' But each domains should have some type of seed for a business around that domain. Some reason why masses of people might go there or type it in. If you are lost, focus on what you know. A hobby or specific business you know about.
I would say that almost 100% of the domains I have bought on the secondary market and over 90% of the domains I hand registered, have had a business plan associated with it from the get go. A vision of what could be done with it. However I made a conscious decision to wait 20 years before I would spend my time really developing. There were too many things to learn along the way and I don't have enough money to pay for those lessons myself. I just think it better to lay back, let others stumble and learn from THEIR failures not MY failures.
But these are just some of the most basic as way too many domainers are Pigeon Shit Farmers. They just think they are domainers. I see portfolio after portfolio with NO VALUE whatsoever. NONE!!!! They spend tens of thousands a year or more on fees and not a one has value. These are good people that just are on the wrong path and need to regroup.
Just take those dollars and buy a handful of really nice domains. They are out there. But if you don’t follow some rules and guidelines, you are buying land in Alaska that won’t see a human being for the next 500 years.
I would suggest if you are not wildly successful in domains that you foucs where there is TRAFFIC centers and population. Destination is Times Square. I absolutely guarantee you that if you had a retail store in Times Square with no rent or overhead that you can figure out something to sell the millions that pass by that is profitable. Like umbrellas on a rainy day. Compare that to what you sell in Alaska with nobody there? Don’t like umbrelleas, then try Pizza. Try anything you like because whatever it is, you will likely do ok because of the TRAFFIC! Or at least the POTENTIAL of traffic if you are a forward thinker and can see something others have yet to see.
And if it does not have traffic, then at least have domains that mean something or describe something. If not another person on the planet even understands it and has no traffic and you have no idea how to develop it, then please explain how that domain has value? (other than typos and TM infringements that will only get you grief in the future)
Last thing. Domains with SOME type in traffic are available at EVERY price level. $500/$1000/$5000/etc.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Paul
Great post Rick. To your point about those who discount everything you say – those people are afraid to take risks and sit in their comfy cubicle and wait for others to tell them what to do.
I’m not complaining, we need people like that so that the rest of us willing to take on that risk will also reap the rewards.
Steve O'Brien
Well said Rick.”It all starts with the name”. Product and business branding starts with market studies, product design, research and much more – but the most important part is the NAME. That is how we did it at advertising agencies 20 years before there was domain names. That is how we do it with domains now. The radio test is a good old point. I am sure many folks do not know what that means – oh well. Another one is the”logo test” – meaning how will the word or words look to to the eye?
Another great post my friend – you should write a book – It would surely be a best seller. There is so many folks in the domains industry now that just do not have a clue about branding, keywords, and traffic. I hope they appreciate your time in trying to aim them along.
Domains, Oil, Gold, Land, and Food
Nice info. All very true.
Steve, the poster, may have a point.
Nobody has written the book on how to buy domain names. :)
There is only one book out there that is just about the domain industry.
steve
Good points and right on target.
But I suggest people go another step.
If you can’t program don’t build a website.
I’ve watched 10 people do it and they all lost their money and had no functional website.
If you don’t know programming its useless to buy a domain.
Domains are overpriced and you can’t get your money back.
Oh your friend knows how to program? Watch how fast your friend turns on you and then quits because he thinks he is doing all the work…
This is why big companies have no idea of domains. They aren’t programmers or in computers in any way where they can envision what is possible. So they don’t get it. They never will get it.
As I talk to people I am shocked at how little they understand.
Some of these are the same people that hired me and were telling me what to do. I would never listen to them now and I would tell them I think you are stupid if I met them again.
Even Apple fired Steve Jobs…..unreal.
Fero
So far all true .
Right to the point .
5k camera
how do you get to see other people’s portfolios of pidgeon names, do they send them to you all the time ?
cub
Rick,
Great stuff. I am new at all this so I have some questions:
1. What is the”Radio Test”?
2. With regards to #8 and #9, what questions do you ask to determine what makes a domain valuable and what makes a domain worthless?
4. What kind of research do you do to understand the domain and the traffic?
3. How do you find out how much”type in” traffic a domain gets?
As you can see I don’t know much but I want to learn. Thanks.
cub
Altaf
Hi Rick,
You said the same many times. It is we who seldom understand what makes value of a domain.
Gratefully,
Altaf
Ryan O'Meara
The radio test is such a great way to gauge. Just say the domain out loud a few times, then do it again. Then again!
Carlos Wuest
Very good points. Really a chair on this business. I already have it printed. Again, thank you.
Anthony
Cub –
The radio test is if the domain you are selling would be good to use in a radio advert of if it would cause confusion to the person hearing it.
Example:
You buy reloadz.com many names have a Z or an additional R at the end. Joe blogs hears an ad on the radio which ends”visit reloadz.com for further details” as a written word its easy to see the Z but Joe Blogs will type in http://www.reloads.com into his google search.
I see loads of domains touted as”brandable” with five O’s in the name, along the lines of Zooos.com. How in the hell is a person going to know how many O’s he is meant to type if he hears an ad for them on a radio.
Do you get what the radio test is now? Hope this helped.
Adam Cross
Great post. I’ve read too many post and blogs where people are saying”it’s not worth the time anymore” I totally disagree with that and agree that it’s still a viable income. Keep it up!
cub
Thanks Anthony. Any comments on the other questions that I posted? I sure would love the feedback.
Amanda
Thank you for the tips on valuation.
domain guy
I heard it on the radio the other day a domain with the dash in the domain stated on the radio.and yes many people do not learn no matter how blue in the face you are.This encompasses like 80-90% of the population.With the great recession many domains in selected industries have gone from signficant traffic to little or no traffic
today…a slow dwindling of traffic over the last 4 yrs.like no heartbeat due to the current state of the economy.
ps. when people start to build websites and learn about keywords,ranking etc…as these words are included in the website text sometimes people then realize these keywords could also be domains.still only 10% really understand this concept.
George
“If you don’t know programming its useless to buy a domain”
OK. I understand…”Don’t buy a car unless you’re a mechanic”
Are you sure was just orange juice what you have had for breakfast?
MicroSourcing
Domains are great investments. The shorter the domain name, the better because short domain names are often strong keywords.
bigbobm
Rick,
How much do you think GRANDSLAM.com is Worth? What about SLAMGRAND.com?
Thanks,
Ask For Name
Real guide to choose the right names to invest!
Motivational and strict a little (as always :)
Thanks, Rick !
Yan Huang
Well stated, great advice for any domainer and to-be domainer. Keep up the good work!
What is a Premium Domain Name? – MAJ.COM
[…] makes sense. If you haven’t read Rick’s blog on how to choose a domain name, here’s the link http://www.ricksblog.com/2011/11/ricks-top-10-bullet-points-to-being-a-successful-domainer/ This will save you from registering or buying “crap” domain […]