iPad.com: New Millionaire About to be Minted Courtesy of Apple?

Elliot Silver
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45

Apple iPadAfter considerable speculation and discussion, Steve Jobs introduced the new Apple iPad today in a press conference that received much fanfare. The iPad is a device that is a new category of computing systems that bridges the gap between the iPhone smartphone and the Macbook laptop.

If history is an indication of the current situation, Apple is going to want the iPad.com domain name, just as they own iPhone.com and iPod.com.   iPhone.com was also privately held before Apple paid a great sum of money for it, and iPod.com has been owned by Apple for quite some time (since at least 2001 according to a Whois history search).

iPad.com has been a privately owned domain name since 1997. The current registrant (Administrative Contact) is a person with a New Jersey address named Martine Bejasa. They don’t have much on the front side of the website, although it’s quite possible there is information for clients of the owner, as there is a client log in on the home page. The owners will probably get a ton of traffic, which will be expensive for server maintenance.

If I were to advise   Martine Bejasa, I would recommend selling the domain name for the million dollar plus offer that will be sure to come from Apple. The name probably can’t be monetized by the current owner enough to justify passing on an offer in this range. In addition, there is no guarantee that the iPad is going to be a huge success, just as Apple TV has not taken off. If that’s the case, the domain name will probably be worth much less than its peak value today.

Now is   the best time to sell iPad.com, and I hope the owners and Apple are able to come to terms in the best interest of both parties.

Update:

As Bill Hartzer points out in the comments below, the domain name is registered to a company called Enero 6 Corp, translated to January 6 Corp.   Apple and Jobs always seem to have announcements right around that time, so it’s conceivable that the domain name was already acquired by the company.

Reaching Out to a Potential End User Domain Buyer

Elliot Silver
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0

I am going to try something a bit different today and give you an inside peak into how I hope to sell a domain name to an end user company that knows the value of potential clients who visit the domain name.

My company owns the domain name ResistancePool.com. For those who aren’t aware, a “resistance pool” is generally a small indoor pool with streaming jets, allowing people to swim in place. These are similar to treadmills in a sense but they allow people to swim instead of run. Resistance pools are perfect for smaller areas, allowing people to work out in a place where a lap pool couldn’t fit.

I have done some research, and I see that there are a number of advertisers who are bidding on the keyword phrase “resistance pool” using Google Adwords. Those pool companies include:

  • Endless Pools (EndlessPools.com)
  • FitMax (FitMaxiPool.com)
  • FamilyPoolFun.com
  • SwimEx.com

I also did some research to see what other companies offer these types of pools but who aren’t using Adwords. Since it’s the winter time – and since many parts of the country are facing frigid temperatures, some companies may not be advertising right now. Other pool companies that offer resistance pools include:

  • Sentry Pool (SentryPool.com)
  • Hydroworx.com

Now that I have a small list of potential buyers, I am going to do a bit of research to find the names and contact information of the companies’ principals and/or marketing contacts. Here are the contact name I found (email addresses not included here):

  • Endless Pools (James Murdock, President)
  • FitMax (Lawrence Chang)
  • FamilyPoolFun.com (Jeff Backer)
  • SwimEx.com (Mark Pearson and Suzanne Marchetti)
  • Sentry Pool (info@SentryPool.com)
  • Hydroworx.com (Anson Flake, Paul Hetrick and Mike McHugh)

Not only will I use this information to get my emails in front of the right people, but hopefully Google will visit my site, and I presume many of these companies monitor their brands with Google Alerts, so they should see this blog post as well.

The hard work of finding potential buyers is nearly complete, but here is the email that will be sent to the buyers today:

Dear (Contact),

I see that your company is one of the few pool companies that sells a resistance pool. My company owns the keyword domain name ResistancePool.com, and I would like to sell it. Instead of having to pay Google, Yahoo, or Bing every time someone clicks on advertisement, you can own the domain name for this competitive search term.

According to the Google Keyword Tool, there were 320 exact match search for “resistance pool” last month, and the number is almost certainly higher during the warmer months in the Spring and Summer. Owning this product domain name can help bring you new high value clients, and perhaps more importantly, it will prevent one of your main competitors from doing the same.

I am currently offering ResistancePool.com for just $850.00, paid via check, bank wire, or Paypal. I am also amenable to using Escrow.com, and we can split the fees. Since I am offering this domain name to several companies, the first one to reply with “I want it!” will get the rights to acquire it. The domain name is registered at Moniker, a Florida-based domain registrar.

Please contact me at once if you would like to purchase ResistancePool.com.

Regards,
Elliot J. Silver
President, Top Notch Domains, LLC

There Are Many Ways to Become a Successful Domain Investor

Elliot Silver
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2

Picture 1Believe it or not, DomainGang.com was right in its recap article on Monday. In separate posts, Brian discussed how domain investors should find end users for their domain sales, and I said that domain investors should continue selling to other domain investors. The reality is that both recommendations can work for different people, but most people do a little of both rather than one extreme or the other.

As the old cliche tells you, there are many ways to skin a cat.

People come into the domain industry with a variety of backgrounds, careers, financial situations, and family situations, and each has his or her own needs to be successful.

Some people own the best possible .com domain names, and if they make one sale per year, they earn more than 99% of the rest of us. They can wait for an end user to approach them, and they won’t regret turning down a 7 figure offer because they don’t need the money and know it’s worth more.

Some are domain investors purely as a hobby, and if they earn more than they spend, the year is a success for them. They can email potential end user buyers and/or wait for end users to approach them. If they sell and make a good profit, that’s great. If they don’t sell, they can pay the $8 renewal fee each year and wait until an offer comes their way. As long as they are in the black at year end after paying renewal fees, all is well.

Some are full time domain deal makers. Many constantly buy and sell domain names and need to make quick (or big) sales to stay liquid. They churn and burn through domain names and use the money to buy other names and to grow their business. They try to hit home runs with their sales, but are happy to make a good profit on a quick sale, while moving on to the next transaction.

Some people own strong portfolios (generics or TM names with traffic) and make a living with PPC and affiliate revenue. They sell when they receive an offer that’s great, but they don’t necessarily look to sell. They are earning enough with their domain names as is, and they don’t look for   buyers because buyers find them. They can be selective when they sell.

Many people own domain names that they develop and build out. They aren’t necessarily looking to sell their websites, but if the right offer comes around, they will consider it. Some of these people seek out potential end user buyers and others are content waiting until the right deal comes around.

Most domain investors I know use a combination of strategies to generate revenue. They sell to end users when they receive a good offer, they email potential end users (mindful of UDRP/legal issues), they sell to domain investors in private and on forums, or they hardly ever sell and generate revenue from their domain names.

No matter what type of domain investor you are, if your strategy works and you enjoy what you do, nobody can tell you that your method is wrong. One of the amusing things I find is when someone will try to argue that another guy has it all wrong, when the other guy makes a lot of money year after year. The domain business is like any other business: there are many ways to be successful, but the ultimate bottom line is your bottom line.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/poenaru/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Stop Looking for End Users & Sell to Other Domain Investors

Elliot Silver
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35

Stop!Brian from TeenDomainer.com has a post today that brought up some good points about selling domain names to end users rather than to other domain investors. He is right in some respects, but that isn’t the full picture. My primary clients are and always have been other domain investors, and it makes sense for my business.

If I buy a domain name for $10,000, my goal is obviously to sell it for more than $10,000. I can either try to hit a home run and sell it to an end user for much more, or I can settle for a single and sell it much more quickly but at a lower profit margin. While many people like to hit home runs and make huge sales, it can be more lucrative over the long run to make more domain investor to domain investor sales.

If I sell the domain name to an end user for $20,000, that’s a great 100% profit, but it could take months to move it. However, if I sell it to another domain investor for $12,500 within a week, I now have a profit in my pocket and the ability to buy an even better domain name with that base amount.

Yes – selling to end users can be much more profitable. However, you need to consider your time finding the end user and closing the sale into that equation. I generally find it less appealing to sell to end users as a result. My question for Brian is, how many end user sales have you made, and has it been worth your time? This isn’t a knock, but I have been down that road and generally find that end user sales take up much more time and have a far greater rejection rate.

You Can Start Today and Still Be a Successful Domain Investor

Elliot Silver
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9

FlipI strongly believe that a person could learn about the domain industry right now, do some research, make a small investment, and make a profit. I don’t think it’s accurate to say that only people who started 10+ years ago can have success in this business. I also don’t think you necessarily need hundreds or thousands of dollars to start.

If I had to start all over again today, and I was only willing to spend $50, I think I could still make a profit. It would certainly take time to make an impactful amount of money, but that is the same as just about everything else.

So how would I start today with $50? I would focus on two things.

1) I would look around to find companies that own a whole lot of domain names in their vertical(s),   and I would see what types of names they own using a Reverse IP tool or by looking at the names that reside on their nameservers. There are quite a number of companies that own hundreds or thousands of long tail domain names, and I would try to find unregistered names that are similar to what they already own. One company that immediately comes to mind is Vacations To Go, although I haven’t sold them any names.

Before registering the names I found, I would do some research to find out who at the company would buy the names. If the company is small, I would contact the CEO. If it was large, I would probably not waste my time. I use the company’s website management page, tools like LinkedIn and Facebook, information on press releases, Whois information, and other sleuthing tools to find the CEO or owner. Once in touch, I would ask if the company is currently buying good domain names. Nothing more, nothing less.

If the person on the management team says the company is buying, I would then register 3 of the best domain names I could find from my previous research. I wouldn’t try to hit a home run and name a ridiculous price on these names. If I paid $10, I would probably offer them for $150/each. It’s a huge profit margin, but not too expensive for the company. It’s also not an amount that would require a lengthy contract or ownership confirmation, which would reveal the recent registration date. He or she will just buy if they like the names. If the company isn’t interested, I would list them on a place like DNForum for $40 just to recoup the investment and move on.

The key is to make sure the domain names make sense and are actually good names that a company would want to buy.

2) I would do geo-keyword research to find unregistered geo profession .com domain names and email people in those professions. I would offer to sell the names for $150/each, again because the price isn’t too high that it would cause someone to take a lot of time to think about. There are a ton of solid names that have been dropping, and I think a person with some time could do well by registering a few and contacting people who are in the field. Many of these types of names were coveted by the professionals in the field, but they were previously owned by large domain companies. You can now buy these names at registration fee, and try to re-sell them at a profit.

Take a look at your local phone book and see what types of urls lawyers, doctors, real estate agents, and other professionals are using, and see if you can find similar names for other cities. I know a large law firm in my hometown that uses NashuaLaw.com as their domain name. I also know there are a bunch of CityLaw.com names unregistered.

There is still a lot of money to be made in this business, whether you started 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago.

Using WhyPark to Create Mini Portals to Sell or Generate Revenue

Elliot Silver
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15

For SaleI have about 30 CityRealEstateAgent.com and CityRealEstateAgents.com domain names in my portfolio for cities from throughout the United States (such as JacksonRealEstateAgent.com). I listed them for sale in a couple of places, but they didn’t sell to domain investors. They also don’t get a lot of type-in traffic, so the revenue is light. Because they’re very targeted for long tail terms that get searches, the only way I will get traffic is via search, which won’t happen with parked domain names.

This week, I will be working with Craig Rowe of WhyPark to rapidly build sites on these domain names. I plan to use several widgets on the sites, including some provided by Zillow. In addition, I will use the automated content provided by WhyPark, and supplement this with some unique content about each city (I will be working with a copywriter for this). The goal is to get listed in search engines for each search term, which will drive some traffic to the site.

While I don’t anticipate these domain names will make a lot of PPC revenue, I do have an ulterior motive for this project. I plan to email 10-15 real estate agents from each city, offering their related domain name for sale. I will use a version of my end user sales email.

In addition, I will have a link on each page for agents to learn about advertising information. I will offer banners and/or text links, which will be fairly inexpensive for advertisers, but it will be a revenue stream from where there once was none. The only downside is that if I get an advertiser, I can’t sell the name without a problem, so it will have to be enough of a revenue stream to make it worth while.

Assuming the domain names rank well in the search engines because of the unique content, they will have more value to real estate agents. Instead of discussing the theoretical ranking increase for a keyword domain name, I will be able to prove it by saying, “JacksonRealEstateAgent.com ranks higher for the search, ‘Jackson real estate agent’ than your website, despite the fact that you’re a real estate agent from Jackson.”

As with everything I do, I will let you know how the sites perform. I will be looking for the following things:

  • Search engine ranking in Google and Bing
  • Advertising inquiries/advertising revenue
  • Domain Sales
  • PPC revenue

WhyPark makes it pretty easy to add widgets and content, but I am going to ask Craig to provide a tutorial later on in the week for dummies like myself who probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out on the first effort.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/penguincakes/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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