I saw a thread on NamePros asking about using (and paying a commission) for third party sales landing pages vs. your own landing page. As someone who uses his own landing pages (via Embrace.com), I want to suggest some of the advantages of using a third party.

For starters, I had to spend time and money creating my own landing page. Much of the design that went into it was based on observing other landing pages operated by other investors and companies. I tried my best to envision what was working and what I liked to add those elements to my landing page, but it was based on my own intuition. Setting this up and keeping it going probably cost low 4 figures including the website design that was needed.

With my smaller portfolio, I don’t really have the ability to do a statistically significant A/B test. I could theoretically test the design, colors, and other elements of the landing page, but unless there is an absolute clear winner, the test would likely not yield statistically significant results. In short, outside factors could totally screw up my testing and I could choose the wrong design. I would assume third party landing page companies do lots of testing and have much more experience seeing what works to induce offers and inquiries based on their inbound leads.

Before taking this a step further, I should also add that setting up this type of testing would take technical expertise beyond my own capabilities. I would need to hire someone to set this up for me, and I would most likely need to hire someone to make changes to the test. It could end up being a cost suck on an ongoing basis while I continue to make tweaks.

After getting the technical aspect set up, I would need to hire a freelancer to help design the landing page tests. If I hire

I think it is important for domain investors should create some sort of business continuity plan for their domain investments, even if they do not technically operate a business. If something unexpected happens that prevents one of us from operating our business or directing someone else to operate it, some sort of continuity plan would be helpful.

I created what amounts to a business continuity plan in the event something happens to me while I am still operating my businesses. It might not be 100% complete, but I think it would provide some guidance to the people who would be managing my business.

I thought I would share some of the topics that I felt were important for my business continuity plan. Keep in mind this plan is a work in progress – I regularly make revisions and additions as things come up. Importantly, I do not keep confidential or sensitive information in the continuity plan. Things like passwords and private account numbers are kept separate and secured elsewhere.

You are welcome to share some things I may have missed: