Get a Referral From the CEO

Elliot Silver
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0

A couple of years ago, I reached out to a business colleague when I was looking to sell a domain name. He gave me the contact information of  a friend of his who is CEO of a medium-sized company (LinkedIn says 51-200 employees) that we both  thought might be interested in the domain name.

When I reached out to the CEO, I assumed he wouldn’t be the best person to ask about the domain name. Instead, I asked him if I could contact the person who manages  the company marketing to discuss the domain name opportunity. He said that would be a good idea, and he provided the employee’s email address and phone number. I then emailed the Director of Marketing at the company, making sure to mention that the CEO referred  me to him to discuss the domain name. The company ended up buying the domain name from my company.

I am not sure how much

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Tip: Email the Old Whois Email Address

Elliot Silver
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0

I have been looking into buying a domain name, and I opened a discussion with the owner via the current Whois email address. One thing I noticed is that a year or two ago, the email address changed while the other Whois information remained the same. On very rare occasions, this can be indicative of a domain theft where a thief controls the new email address unbeknownst to the real owner.

One way that I like to do due diligence is to send an email to the old email address found via DomainTools Historical Whois search. Typically, I will send a short email to the old email address confirming that the current email address is accurate and that the rightful domain owner is aware of the email discussion.

If I don’t receive a reply confirming this, I would

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Counterparty Needs to Have Authority

Elliot Silver
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14

I have bought and sold quite a few domain names to larger companies with multiple levels of decision makers. In these dealings, I have negotiated with a variety of individuals at different positions within the companies. One thing that should be discussed is whether the other party has the authority to negotiate terms and agree to a deal.

I have discussed deals with everyone from marketing managers to lawyers to executives. Generally speaking, I assume that the other party is authorized to discuss a deal because they either contacted me to discuss a domain name or they were the point of contact for me. As a negotiation gets going a bit, you should think about asking the other party if they have the authority to do a deal with you.

The primary reason for learning this information is that you don’t want to reach a deal with the other party only to learn that someone else has the power to cancel the deal. It can be a major time waste if you negotiate a price and terms only to learn that there are other people that need to get involved before the deal can be finalized. It is pretty

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Be Mindful of Legal Risk

Elliot Silver
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2

One of the considerations domain investors need to make when buying a domain name is the legal risk. For some domain names such as clear trademark typos, the risk is obvious and great. For others such as keyword and short acronym domain names, the risk is lower.

Regardless of the type of domain name that is owned, I think there is always some level of legal risk, and domain investors need to consider the legal risk before making a domain name purchase. They also need to consider the legal risk before making use of their domain name, as the usage could be cause problems.

Even if the chance of success is low, companies can file a UDRP pretty easily and at a relatively

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Industry Companies Should Hold Local Meetups

Elliot Silver
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6

One of the main reasons I enjoy attending domain conferences is that I can meet with companies in the industry. For instance, at THE Domain Conference this past week, I had several conversations with the Sedo contingent of Solomon Amoako and Dave Evanson as well as the GoDaddy contingent of Joe Styler, Cory Lodder, and Marcus Jackson. I had conversations with reps from many other companies as well.

At conferences and other smaller events, I am able to ask questions about the company, exchange ideas about products or services, and sometimes I can get tech support from the company representatives in attendance. This one on one time is mutually beneficial and helps build a strong relationship between various companies and my business. Even if I am not currently a customer, this time can be spent learning about why I should work with a company, or at the very least, be the foundation for a future discussion.

I understand the large industry conferences may be

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Don’t Try to Sell a Domain Without Permission

Elliot Silver
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17

It’s pretty easy for someone to claim to be a domain broker. There aren’t any special licenses or other requirements for someone to sell domain names on behalf of others. An email address or phone number and some domain name listings are basically all it takes to get started.

It seems that some people may take advantage of the ease of getting started and try to sell domain names they aren’t permitted to sell. Perhaps they see a domain name listed for sale somewhere or believe the domain name may be for sale, and they attempt to broker the domain name without permission. I presume the belief is that if they come to the domain owner with a buyer, they will be rewarded a commission. This is bad business.

Even if a domain name is listed for sale,

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