A Counter Offer Nullifies The Offer

Elliot Silver
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8

A few years ago, someone made an offer on one of my domain names, and I counter offered trying to get a better price. I don’t recall if the person replied to my counter offer or not, but I followed up within a day or two to let them know I reconsidered and would accept their offer. The person told me their offer was no longer valid.

I was pretty upset, and at the time, I thought they had done something wrong. After speaking with a couple of colleagues, I then understood that what they did was completely legitimate, and in making my counter offer, I effectively rejected their offer.

With domain names or anything else, if you make a counter offer, you are

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Everyone Has a Price

Elliot Silver
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11

No matter what the object or asset is, I think the old adage of “everyone has a price” is applicable to domain names. If you keep this in the back of your mind when you are trying to buy domain names, it will serve you well.

I think that everyone has a domain name they covet. For some, it is the exact match domain name for a topic they are passionate about, and for others, it is a domain name in a field they know they can make a lot of money with if they had the opportunity to develop the domain name. I would bet that most of us have at least tried to purchase our ideal domain name if it’s not actively used, and I would also bet that most of us have been turned down.

If there is a name that you really want, I don’t think you should take

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Downside to Working Alone

Elliot Silver
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16

When I was working as a marketing program manager for a large company and investing in domain names on the side, my goal was to turn the domain investment “hobby” into a standalone business. It’s pretty cool to see that come to fruition, but there is a downside to my business: working alone.

When I was in my corporate job several years ago, I had many colleagues, mentors, and other people who shared similar business goals. When I had questions about a P&L or needed some guidance about a marketing program that was underperforming, I could ask my boss or colleagues. When a program saw exceptional results, we all celebrated as a team. There were off-site meetings and team building activities.

With my domain investment business, there isn’t any

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MMQB: Peril Of Naming Your Website Without EMD

Elliot Silver
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14

I want to share an imteresting story that was posted on Deadspin regarding the MMQB.com domain name.

Sports Illustrated (SI) columnist Peter King, who famously covers the National Football League, is known for his MMQB column. MMQB stands for “Monday Morning Quarterback,” and the column is regularly posted following Sunday football games with news, analysis, and opinions about the week’s NFL games. I always find myself reading the column to get King’s insight.

It was recently announced that SI would have a standalone website called The MMQB. The domain name that was referenced is TheMMQB.com, which currently forwards to

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Otis: Fix Your Forwards!

Elliot Silver
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5

According to its Wikipedia page, “Otis Elevator Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators.” The next time you’re on an elevator, have a look on the metal frame on the ground as you walk in or on the keypad, and chances are good it will read “Otis.”

At some point in time, Otis Elevator made some very good domain acquisitions. Some quick DomainTools research shows me that the company owns three exceptional descriptive domain names for their product lines: Elevator.com, Lift.com, and Escalator.com. Historical Whois records show that these domain names have been owned for quite some time, and Otis is possibly the original registrant for all of them.

Not surprisingly,

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My Domain Acquisition Process

Elliot Silver
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19

I want to share some personal insight into my domain name acquisition process because I thought it would be interesting for you to see how I evaluate domain names and decide what to do with them. It might still be a bit opaque, but it is an off the cuff analysis.

For the most part, I buy domain names either in private or at NameJet. I don’t do much hand registering these days. In fact, I might hand register 50 names a year, and that is probably an aggressive number.

Typically, I will focus on specific verticals for my acquisitions. For instance, I was recently attempting to buy

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