I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I get anywhere from 4-12% of my traffic from Domaining.com, depending on the day. It’s obviously one of the top traffic referrers for my blog. One negative for me (and maybe positive for you) Domaining.com deletes links to article with domain names for sale.

When I have valuable domain names I want to sell and will be content with domain investor pricing, I’ve purchased Domaining.com sponsored headlines for 24 hours, and there is considerable value in doing that. In 2011, I purchased 12 sponsored headlines on Domaining.com. I probably had close to a 75% sales rate, which is outstanding.

I can’t say for certain whether the majority of those sales were from people who read the headline on Domaining.com and then bought the domain name(s). However, I am pretty sure more than a few found their way to my post as a result of the headline, and it was certainly worth the cost.

People often ask if I would be willing to list a domain name for sale on my blog, which is something I don’t do. My recommendation to them is to post an article on their own website (or to create a post on DNForum) and then pay for a sponsored headline on Domaining.com for about $150.

Although it may seem a bit pricey for a 24 hour headline, it gets tremendous exposure from domain buyers of all kinds. If the price is right and you can absorb the $150 cost in the domain sale, I strongly recommend doing it. It’s worked several times for me, and Francois didn’t even have to ask me to post this.

I’ve read about how some of the wisest domain investors negotiate huge domain sales, and this is not one of those stories. This is a lesson to domain investors who think a higher offer will always materialize after an opening offer, and hopefully it will make you to think twice when you receive an offer.

At the end of 2011, I received a $5,000 opening offer for a one word, aged .com domain name I had recently acquired at auction for under $100. I did some research on the name and buyer and we sent a few emails back and forth, with me asking him to submit his best offer, assuming his $5,000 offer was just an opening offer.

When I didn’t hear back within a day or two (previous emails were fairly quick), I offered it to him for around $10,000, figuring I would either sell it for $10k, or at the very least, the $5,000 offer.

I didn’t hear back from him for a few weeks and sent a follow up email. Unfortunately, he opted to buy a different domain name.

Although you often hear stories about huge offers materializing from smaller offers, this is a case where the opposite is true. I turned down a solid offer with the hopes of making more, and it didn’t work out.

2011 was one of my best years in terms of domain sales and income, and the offer came in right at the end, so I gambled on it. I think it’s important for you to see how easy it can be to lose a $5,000 sale when you want to be a little bit greedy. It was a lesson learned, and I hope you, too, can learn from my experience.