Morning Folks!!
One ot the most often questions I am asked is how I got started with domains. Here is the answer. I did not approach domains as an item to flip. Besides there was no flipping in those days and only a handful of buyers on the planet. What I was doing was taking excess funds and investing in something I knew would take many years to pay off and take off. But I was willing to invest a portion of my cash and credit in domain names. So That's how it started.
When I started to actually earn money from those domain names I reinvested 100% of the proceeds because as an investment I did not need the $$ to live on. I could parlay what I already had and then parlay it again. My investments were always financed via my earnings.
Think of it as self powered. Self propelled. A solar business that recycled and reclaimed the earnings into more and more buys. Selling was not on the radar because collecting those names was so time sensitive. It was a race against progress. Each day others were figuring out as well. So there was no time to rest until about 2002-2003. The prior crash gave birth to a new channel that few knew of and even fewer respected. But nothing came without taking exceptional risk at the time and circumstance and the size of my wallet. Many were very tough decisions.
The beauty with flipping is there is almost a $0 entry bar. Few other things on this planet are so cheap and have such a huge upside. But flippers should also be transforming themselves into investors because that is a long term plan that will always pay you even when you don't work.
Flipping is a way to get started. It's a way to make a living. A good living. But as a flipper you should know when you have something in your hands that should NEVER be flipped. That's the point of this post. Flipping the ones that should be investments in your futures.
A guy that starts out today has to match his wallet with the patience to see it through. Clarity comes in time. There is so much more clarity today and that gives new folks opportunities as they come with fresh sets of eyes and new tools to work with. But they need to buy investment grade domain names not just random pigeon shit. That's the #1 reason domainers fail. They pick pigeon shit.
One thing I can tell you. Many domainers don't really understand what the numbers mean and they use Google numbers as a compass. Those numbers reflect so much broader terms and subjects than you think so many over estimate the value and usefulness. That leads them into the wrong direction and usually a black hole. I hear about exact matches and such but then the domain gets zero type in traffic. See the disconnect? It is about type in traffic. It does not have to be a lot. 10-20 potential customers a day have value. 0 has very limited or no value unless the domain can stand up on it's own. What does that mean? It means something that the public would accept and embrace and can be used commercially. What does that mean? It means something that sounds good, feels good, reads good, catchy, easy, passes all the tests and may have multiple functions. A generic, generic. Not a category domain.
All I can say and have been saying is there is a multitude of opportunity in domains. But 90% of that starts with current or future type in traffic. Yes a domain that gets zero today can get 100/day next year. That's called chasing the future and getting there before anyone else. But validation does not occur until they type it in. The domain is not 'Ripe' until there are type ins. So those that flip and have the time to watch some ripen will find great rewards with less work while building a stronger and stronger foundation.
Domaining is all about type in traffic. PERIOD! 90% of the game. Sure there are always exceptions. NNN have value, LLL may have value. But don't confuse that with domains with meaning. Domains that have a multitude of advantages. It's about guessing what others might think. The reason so few talk about type ins is because so many would go broke. PPC companies exist because of type ins. That's the model. Those are the domains that have value. Guaranteed value. Value that can be demonstrated. Then it is just a debate about the degree.
When I started 99% of the industries traffic had no value. There was no way to convert people looking for things to companies that could provide the good or service they were looking for and get paid. Except for adult that is. They KNEW what to do with the traffic. They knew how to convert into sales. To upsell. To trade traffic with their own competitors for their mutual benefits.
The problem with discussing an issue like this is one thing leads to another. When you come in at the beginning of a movie you might look differently on it as opposed to coming in during the intermission. The view is different. That is why history is so important so you can follow the bouncing ball and why it is bouncing and why it is bouncing a certain way and in a certain direction. It is why I try to give you a feel for things. No Google. No PPC. No aftermarket. 5% of the people online in the US and virtually none in so many other places. A mainstream doing everything it could to discredit doing anything online. Especially business. It was their greatest threat. So the movie is different when you see the entire show.
So even if you flip for a living you should have at least 1 out of 10 that are keepers. That are investments. That will eventually transform you from a flipper of domains to an investor in profit whether domains or any other opportunity. You can be flipping burgers or the restaurant owner with a chain of stores and all you have to do is THINK about it and what this all means to you.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
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