General Domain Information

For the first few years of full-time domain investing, I set an annual revenue and profit goal for my business. I then broke this goal down into smaller monthly goals to give myself a target for each month. I hated this and stopped setting monthly profit goals for myself a while ago.

With a relatively small domain name portfolio, closing deals is never consistent. Large portfolio holders can usually model out how many sales they will hit each month, but that’s not something I can do with any consistency. As a result, setting monthly income goals was a recipe for disaster for me. It would either cause me to rest easy or try too hard to hit a number that was of no consequence.

This year has been relatively slow for my business. Year to date, I am on pace to equal the number of domain names I sold last year, but I am trailing substantially on the revenue and profits, year over year. Obviously, the profit is the most important metric to my business.

There are a few reasons for why my business income is down this year. For starters, last year was my company’s best year profit-wise due to some abnormally large domain name sales. Comparing a great year to a pedestrian year isn’t really fair, but I can’t help it. I am always seeking income growth. That said, I expect the year to be slightly below average unless I close a few exceptional deals unexpectedly.

Many people confuse domain squatting with domain investing. Some use the “squatter” term pejoratively, but others simply refer to people who hold portfolios of domain names as domain squatters. They’re not trying to be rude, but they don’t understand the difference between the perfectly legal business of investing in generic domain names vs. the business of monetizing trademark domain names, also known as cybersquatting. To many, it is one and the same.

People looking to buy domain names bristle at the fact that their coveted domain name is owned by a domain investor. “Squatter!” they might comment somewhere in anger. Nevermind the fact that the domain name has been registered for 20+ years and matches the name of hundreds of other companies. They’re angry because a domain investor has something they want, and the price seems high to them.

If I see two friends or colleagues that could benefit from meeting over a shared interest or converging path, I am always on the lookout to make a connection. Connecting friends or colleagues for each other’s betterment is something I enjoy doing and I appreciate when it is done for me without asking or expectation of a quid pro quo.

Just about every Sunday, Andrew Miller shares some random thoughts on LinkedIn. Oftentimes, his weekly posts offer some domain name news or insights. In his second bullet point yesterday, Andrew shared a list of domain names he and Hilco Digital are advising on, and he closed that thought with this:

“If you have a connection, client or are a potential interested party, connect with us and we will work with you, always. We love to share success!”

In a blog post yesterday, WordPress announced its new “100-Year Plan.” The plan includes domain name registration, hosting, and support for 100 years. The cost is a staggering $38,000 for each plan.

WordPress created a video advertisement for this new service, and it’s clearly not targeting domain investors or domain name portfolio registrants:

I have several templates I have crafted to respond to purchase inquiries. These templates vary based on the type of domain name. For instance, inventory-quality domain names have a pretty standard response but higher value domain names are more custom tailored based on the domain name and my history with it.

I change up my templates from time to time to modify them as needed. When responding to purchase inquiries and having subsequent discussions about my domain names, there are many factors that play a role in how I respond to a purchase inquiry.