Unique Offer to Entice a Wholesaler to Sell a Domain Name

I can think of several exact match .com domain names I would like to buy from wholesale or manufacturing companies that are not using the domain names. From what I can tell, these domain names were bought many years ago by the various companies, and they have never done anything with them. In all of these cases, my offers have been rejected over the years.

Last night, I thought of an interesting proposal that might entice these companies to sell their domain name, and I thought I would share the idea with you in case you are interested in buying domain names owned by major wholesalers. Instead of simply making a cash offer for the domain name, you can promise the company you will either:

Optimize Your Parked Pages Before Cyber Monday

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Cyber Monday is one of the busiest online shopping days of the entire year, and Cyber Monday is coming up in a couple of days on December 1st. With so much shopping done online, I presume many of us will see an uptick in traffic to our parked page, and hopefully an increase in PPC earnings as well.

Before Cyber Monday, domain investors should spend some time ensuring that our landing pages are optimized to maximize the PPC revenue generated and that the domain names are actually in the correct accounts.

Today and tomorrow, I am going to have a

HARO Publicity Can Help Your Website

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If you operate a website and have become an expert in a particular field, you should consider signing up for the HARO email newsletters. HARO, which stands for “Help A Reporter Out,” is a daily newsletter that lists interview and comment requests from reporters and publications that cover just about every industry and field.

HARO helps reporters connect with experts in their field to help them with articles they are writing. Obviously, if a reporter uses an expert as a source, it can help establish the source as an authority in the field, and it can potentially drive traffic to the source’s website and business.

Here’s a brief synopsis of how the process works using domain investing expertise as an example:

Explain “Replacement Cost” in a Negotiation

Getting to the right price in a domain name sale negotiation is often difficult. The buyer doesn’t want to pay more than a certain amount to buy the domain name, and the seller is often asking more than the buyer is willing to spend for it. Convincing someone why a domain name is worth the asking price can be a challenge, but a domain seller might want to mention the replacement cost as rationale for the price.

To me, the replacement cost for a domain name is the amount of money I would need to spend in order to buy an equal or better domain name if I would sell one of my assets. If I sell a domain name for $10k and it costs me $15k to buy an equivalent domain name, I am losing out because I am lowering the value of my portfolio while not generating enough income  to improve it. For someone like me, it doesn’t make sense to sell one of my domain names for less than the replacement cost of an equal or better domain name.

I think the majority of  domain buyers

Working With Domain Brokers

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Elliot’s blog posting yesterday about conflicts of interest with domain brokers reminded me of what happened when I sold my Bored.com network of sites in 2008 for $4.5 million.

I was not really looking to sell Bored.com, but a broker approached me and asked if he could shop it around (like to Google, Yahoo, etc.). I had never heard of this broker (I don’t think he is still around) but since I was not actively looking to sell the site I figured it couldn’t hurt. After around 6 months he did not generate any offers so I sent out some emails on my own, since I had not given him an exclusive listing.

A few months later one of my potential buyers made me an offer. At the same exact time the broker also found a buyer. Both started in the

Domain Industry Connections Are Valuable

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Yesterday, I wrote an article advising people that they should ensure there aren’t any conflicts of interest when choosing to work with a domain broker or consultant. Adam made a very good point in a comment, and I want to discuss it further. In the comment, Adam wrote, “someone seeking advice should likely look for an expert and that expert should be well connected.”

One of the greatest value adds of a domain broker or a consultant is his knowledge of the domain space. There are many general business consultants and even IP lawyers without (much) domain industry experience who may offer advice related to domain names. Although there is probably some  value from these outsiders, it is beneficial to work with someone who has experience navigating the world of domain investors.

Most connected domain consultants and domain brokers will be able to give advice on how to negotiate with certain buyers and what types of offers can be intriguing. They know that a portfolio