Coming Soon: FreshDrop 3.0

Elliot Silver
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8

I use a number of tools to do due diligence on domain purchases, find good domain names, monitor domain names, and locate buyers for my domain names. By far, the best tool I use to find good expiring/deleting domain names is Fresh Drop.

I logged in to FreshDrop this morning to search for and analyze today’s inventory, when I saw a notice that got me amped: “Coming Soon: FreshDrop 3.0  2 Years in the making.” Although the site does just about everything I could ask for, it’s always exciting when new features are added.

Some of the features and upgrades I’d like to see include:

  • Speedier data analysis
  • Ability to add my own names to analyze
  • Field to see if it’s a NameJet private auction
  • Estibot valuation field
  • Field showing the number of current bidders

I am looking forward to learning about the new features, and I will be happy to share them once I hear about them. If you aren’t using FreshDrop yet, I strongly recommend checking it out. I’ve literally earned tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) from the sale of domain names I’ve found using the tool.

For those who don’t know about FreshDrop, I embedded the video above.

Poll: Favorite Type of Keyword Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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15

Over the years, I’ve learned there are many, many ways to make money from domain investments.

As you can probably tell simply by seeing the names I’ve sold and what I own, I personally prefer to purchase descriptive keyword domain names like DogWalker.com, Torah.com, and EventManagement.com among others. These are exact match terms for keyword searches like professions, business fields, objects…etc.

Each week in the aftermarket sales reports, I see dozens of other domain names sell for decent figures, and I can only assume most were hand registered by the seller at some point. There always seem to be sales of  brandable keyword domain names like ClearBell.com and made up terms like Vipee.com (both names sold last week via Afternic).

People can make a nice living selling brandable keyword domain names and made up terms, in addition to exact match keyword domain names. Of course, there are plenty of others, like ccTLD, gTLD, and IDN among others, but for the sake of this, let’s keep it .com.

I am curious what types of domain names you prefer for your investments. Please vote in the poll below, and feel free to discuss.

Thanks to WeBuyThe.com

Elliot Silver
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2

A couple weeks ago, I held an “auction” for the skyscraper banner on my blog, with the proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit organization that helps children of all ages with cancer and their families.

The winning bidder was a company called WeBuyThe.com. If you aren’t familiar with the company, they acquire domain names. You can visit WeBuyThe.com  and submit domain names that you’d like to sell (along with other important information), and they will get back to you about whether or not they would be interested in buying them from you.

The skyscraper banner raised $500 for the Ronald McDonald House, and the donation will help eclipse the $5,000 mark for the year. I am still optimistic about raising $10,000 this year. Someone recently suggested I add a Paypal donation button to my blog so people can “thank” me for helping via my blog. It would mean much more to me if you can give to the Ronald McDonald House.

Don’t Think Like a Domain Investor

Elliot Silver
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6

The director of my marketing program always reminded us that we needed to think like consumers and not marketers. It makes sense because the goal of marketers is to generate revenue from consumers, and if you aren’t thinking like a consumer, you probably won’t make the wisest business decisions.

One of the things that guides my decision making process when it comes to domain acquisitions and sales is the ability to put myself in the position of a counter party. I think about whether a particular domain name makes sense for a company in the industry, and I also think whether the price would make sense to the buyer or seller.

I’ve sold domain names in many different industries. I have zero experience in many of those industries, but I was able to get a cursory perspective when acquiring and then selling domain names. I did my best to put myself in the position of the person that would be buying the domain name from me, in order to give them a value proposition they would understand.

This morning, someone commented “I never use domains like “auto.com”, “shoes.com”, “wine.com”, etc. Never have. never plan to. Do not know ANYONE who does.  I never use those bland domains because I know that domain will not have the information, the item, the price, the shipping, the service that I am looking for.”

There are many things I personally do not do, but I know that just because I don’t do them it doesn’t mean others don’t either. When you are buying and selling domain names, you need to think like the people who will ultimately buy the domain names from you. If you can show them why they need your domain name to improve their business, they will buy it if the price is right.

Think like your target audience and not like a domain investor.

Group Domain Name Appraisals

Elliot Silver
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276

I don’t like appraisals. I think they’re pretty much worthless, and I wouldn’t pay someone to do an appraisal for me because it’s just not possible for a third party to accurately value a domain name.

I believe domain name is worth what someone will pay for it at a given time. That goes for your names and my names. A domain name that I think has no value may have tremendous value to someone with the capital to buy it while a can’t lose domain name can languish in an owner’s portfolio for years.

That being said, I am welcoming you to submit one domain name for a group appraisal. Visitors to my blog are welcome to appraise domain names if they would like to participate.

Hit “reply” and type what you think the name is worth. If you have the time and desire, please offer some insight into why you think it’s worth what you said it’s worth. You could also simply click the “like” or “dislike” buttons to agree with an appraisal.

Whether the actual appraisals are on target or not, I do think it’s good to get a range of opinions.

I’ll kick things off asking for your appraisal of ChelseaRealEstate.com (it will be the first comment so people can reply).

Andrew Rosener Interview: “Secrets from a Domain Name Broker”

Elliot Silver
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9

Media Options’  Andrew Rosener has become quite a successful domain name broker and investor, and his company frequently has great domain names under exclusive agreement. Rosener recently sold RH.com, and his company has been responsible for closing many large sales this year.

Andrew was recently interviewed by Seth Price of Placester.com, and I thought you might get something from the half hour interview so I shared it with you below. The discussion focuses on “what makes domain names so valuable and how to choose the right one.”

Enjoy the interview, and feel free to post any questions you may have for Andrew on the original interview post or here if you wish.

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