Ask Companies to be Creative

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One of the many reasons I like to use Escrow.com is because of their flexibility. I closed a deal a week ago that required a bit of assistance from Escrow.com on deal terms. It wasn’t a standard sale, but the buyer and I were able to work with them on a bit of a custom transaction that met our needs. Sometimes a bit of creativity is what it takes to get a deal done.

If you need a creative solution for something in the domain space, always ask an account representative or someone else within the company. The worst that happens is they say no. There are many scenarios that aren’t considered when launching products or services, and many companies will be happy to accommodate your needs, especially if your ask is simple for them to do.

When you ask for a company to do something custom for you,

Sale Price Doesn’t Necessarily Show “Real” Value

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I recently won an auction on NameJet, and within a couple of days of changing the nameservers, I had a serious buyer approach me to buy the domain name. After a brief discussion, I shared what I paid for the domain name because it was easy enough to find. To paraphrase his response, it was something like, “Oh man, I would have paid more!”

There have been plenty of times that I have been in the same position as this person. I read about domain names that sold privately or at auction, and I think about how that domain name sold for less than I would have paid had I been involved. This is flawed thinking.

Although the  sale price of a domain name is indicative

DomainView Tool Can Help Find a Domain Name Buyer

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I frequently use DomainTools’ domain search tool to seek out prospective buyers for my domain names. It’s easy to search for keywords within registered domain names, and I can use this information to identify prospective buyers for certain domain names my company owns.

I wrote about Verisign’s DomainView tool yesterday. Specifically, I shared insight about how the tool can help identify the person or entity that is behind an inquiry for a domain name. I also think the DomainView tool can be used to help find a prospective buyer in a similar manner to DomainTools’s domain search tool.

DomainView allows people to see what .com and .net domain names have been

Q3 Estimated Taxes Due

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It is September 15, and Q3 estimated taxes are due! Many business owners in the US need to pay quarterly estimated taxes, and today is the due date for the third payment.

As it says on the IRS website, “If you mail your payment and it is postmarked by the due date, the date of the U.S. postmark is considered the date of payment.”

Mid year estimated taxes are

Verisign Tool Can Help Identify an Inquiry

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Verisign has a tool called DomainView which can be used to see what types of .com and .net domain names are being registered. You can use the tool to search daily registrations as well as registrations for a set period of time of your choosing. In addition to the novelty of seeing domain registration trends, the tool can also be used to help identify an inbound inquiry.

Oftentimes, people who are interested in buying a domain name in the aftermarket will hand register other, similar domain names that are unregistered. They do this because they want to protect the brand they are planning to create. If you are able to see other domain names they recently registered, you may gain valuable intelligence that can help you respond to their inquiry. This is especially the case if you don’t know the identity of who is inquiring (ie a Sedo inquiry or broker inquiry).

Let’s say someone inquires about

Domain Investor Words to Live By

Frank Schilling posted this gem on Today: “Take risks, and don’t be afraid. You’ve got to speculate to accumulate”

As a domain investor, I live by this quote. I am always taking risks on purchases with the hope that they pay off. With each acquisition and sale I make, I increase my knowledge to help guide me on future deals.

If you invest in domain names, you need to continue to buy domain names that you believe you can either monetize or sell for more than you paid. There is a lot of risk when it comes to buying domain names, especially when you are paying more than the annual registration fee. Being fearful is harmful to your business. Taking calculated risks is essential in making deals.

Every day, I am taking risks when I make offers, bid on auctions, and negotiate deals. You can’t be afraid to pull the trigger on a big deal, even if it is out of your comfort zone. This is great words of wisdom from someone whose big risks have been greatly rewarded.