NameMedia

Estibot Begins Listing Domains for Sale

I am not a fan of domain appraisals. I don’t believe in them at all, especially automated domain appraisals that really can’t have a “gut feel” about the value, which is often the most important thing for me when considering a domain name.

In fact, I actually have a template I use when I am trying to buy a domain name and the owner mentions or suggests an appraisal.

Ok, now that this caveat is out of the way, I will admit that I checked out an appraisal on Estibot the other day, and I noticed they now seem to list domain names that are for sale in a manner similar to DomainTools.

The name in the graphic above is owned by iReit, and is currently listed for sale at DomainMarketplace.com.  I am not sure what sales platforms are integrated with Estibot, but I checked a Buy Domains-owned name and it had a sales link, but a Sedo listed name did not have the for sale listing.

NameMedia Seeking Vice President of Product Management

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NameMedia in WalthamI thought the NameMedia Google Alert I received this morning might be of interest to someone who reads my blog, and I wanted to pass the information along to you. The company has posted a job opening for its VP of Product Management position.

One reason it might be interesting is that the company is looking for a “self starter” with “industry experience.” Now I am not sure what industry they are referencing, but if it’s the domain space, they could be looking to hire you. Here’s a clip of the position summary,

NameMedia is looking for a Product Vice President to manage our Afternic, SmartName and BuyDomains brands, combined they make the world’s leading domain marketplace and monetization platform.   In this leadership role, the successful candidate will have online, ecommerce and industry experience.

This is a great opportunity for a self-starter to have a direct impact on the bottom line of a fast-growing business.   The right candidate must be willing to do what it takes every single day to successfully execute against all goals.

If this position sounds like something you’re qualified to do, and you meet the company’s qualification requirements, you should be in touch with them.

Report: Internet Brands Acquired for $640 Million

TechCrunch is reporting that publicly traded Internet Brands has been acquired by a private equity company for well over a half a billion dollars. The reason this is significant is that Internet Brands is a company that operates a number of websites on great generic domain names.

Some of Internet Brands’ websites include:

  • Autos.com
  • Gardens.com
  • KidsCamps.com
  • Loan.com
  • VacationHomes.com

I am not sure if there is a relationship with NameMedia, but as you can see by the page title on the Advertise page of Gardens.com, there appears to be a relationship between Internet Brands and Namemedia: “Advertising with the NameMedia Gardening Network.” I’ve reached out to NameMedia for more information on this relationship. However, according to the Whois database, Gardens.com is registered to Internet Brands, so perhaps NameMedia sold it (along with DavesGarden.com) and the Advertise page is outdated.

Internet Brands was founded in 1998 as CarsDirect.com, and as a result of the success with that brand, the company transitioned “from a single vertical to a diversified, platform company that would scale much larger.” You can learn more about the company on its about us page.

How Do I Reply to a Domain Offer?

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It”s a bit strange to me, but there are a lot of domain investors that don’t know the best way to reply to a domain offer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as easy and as clear cut as it may seem, but in my opinion, if you are going to be a domain investor with a goal of selling domain names, you need to know how to reply to an offer to close a deal.

First off, it’s critical to research who your potential buyer might be by using the email address, name, IP address and/or anything else revealing about the potential buyer. This is important to make sure they aren’t going to use your reply in a UDRP or lawsuit, and so you are able to know why the domain name is coveted and how it will be used. I don’t like pricing domain names based on the size of the wallet of the buyer, but it would suck to sell a domain name for $5,000 when the buyer is going to spend millions of dollars to market a new brand around a specific domain name.

With that being said, I want to give you a recommendation to learn a good way to reply to potential buyers: attempt to buy a domain name from one of the industry leading companies or domain investors. I am sure some people will probably not like to get emails from non-buyers posing as prospects, but it’s a good way to learn from experienced domain investors and domain sellers.

For example, Buy Domains has successfully sold millions of dollars in domain inventory, and they get inquiries every single day from potential buyers. They’ve probably got a pretty good response down by now, and you may be able to learn from that.

The one caveat is that you can’t be too passive in this exercise because many companies may not even reply unless you make a significant opening offer, which says a lot right there without even saying anything. Needless to say, a company like Buy Domains will probably reply no matter what, and perhaps they will try to cross-sell, down-sell, or up-sell you depending on the domain name.

Although the domain business isn’t yet mature, there are plenty of leading companies out there whose insight can be gleaned by others. Your success can only help them in the future.

Want to Work for a Domain Company?

I love working for myself, but I know some people would either prefer to work for a large company because of the steady income and career opportunities. Chef Patrick Ruddell recently went to work for Moniker, and there are a number of other individuals who made the transition from self-employed to corporate.

Here are a few job openings I saw at leading domain-related entities in case you are interested:

NameMediaSenior QA Automation EngineerNamemedia is looking for QA Automation star to assist in delivering high-quality, high-visibility, high-traffic customer facing web sites and company-internal web applications. The successful candidate will have a passion for designing, building and executing automated tests against Java and Web applications.

SedoSales ConsultantAs a Sales Consultant in our London office, you are responsible for driving new business in our expanding UK market across all critical product areas while establishing high-level relationships with key decision makers and ensuring both growth and long term client satisfaction.   Successful candidates will have a demonstrated ability to drive new business, develop and leverage a strong client network, and deliver repeatable and consistent business offerings with a focus on quality, creativity, and integrity.

SedoAssociate Account ManagerWe’re looking for a motivated individual interested in the online-advertising industry for our office. This starting position within Sedo’s UK sales division will teach you about all of our products and services (domain-marketing, domain sales, etc.) and key clients groups as well as develop your sales abilities. As part of Sedo’s dynamic UK office, you will assist us to ensure the retention and maximum satisfaction of our client base through a mixture of account management and sales tasks.

Oversee.netPortfolio Account ManagerJoin Oversee.net as the Portfolio Account Manager for the Domain Management operations team. This position will be working with a group of diverse, energetic, and motivated members who encourage team collaboration. This position involves responding to customer inquiries primarily via email correspondence as well as assisting the team in managing internal domain portfolios. This is a great opportunity for an individual to learn more about the domain name industry.

Oversee.netAccount Manager Emerging BusinessesAs an Oversee Emerging Business Account Manager you will be responsible for growing and managing marketing partnerships, primarily for our airport parking reservations web business, aboutairportparking.com. Oversee has a major presence in online travel services with its lowfares.com web site, and seeks to expand its online travel business by leading specific niches like airport parking. This experienced, eager Account Manager skilled at closing new partners and growing and managing existing ones will play a critical role in growing the revenue of the Emerging Business group at Oversee.

Oversee.netSearch Engine Marketing Specialist – Emerging BusinessesOversee.net’s Emerging Businesses division has an immediate need for a motivated, creative and analytic thinker with excellent communication and leadership skills to join the paid search marketing team. Oversee.net’s Emerging Businesses division has the proven ability to leverage core competencies in bid optimization, landing page design and to monetize high volumes of traffic into quality leads for a network of advertising partners. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company’s core brands include LowFares.com, Degrees.com and IdentityTheft.com.

MonikerSales & Marketing Lead Generation SpecialistMoniker Online Services, LLC (www.moniker.com) is a leading provider of domain name registrations, auctions, appraisals and brokerage services for individuals and businesses that wish to have a unique address and branded identity on the Internet. The Sales & Marketing team is looking for a high energy and tech savvy individual to assist in developing lead generation and marketing programs to sell the company’s products and services – primarily focusing on premium domain name sales.

Domain SponsorSoftware Development ManagerOversee is looking for a talented and passionate individual to help bring our Domain Sponsor product to the next level. We are currently looking for a Software Development Manager to lead our core Monetization team which serves millions of page views a day. This is a critical position with big responsibilities and high visibility. The position requires a strong individual with demonstrated leadership ability that enjoys taking on big challenges that directly affect the company’s results.

Domain SponsorSoftware Development ManagerOversee is looking for a talented and passionate individual to help bring our Domain Sponsor product to the next level. We are currently looking for a Software Development Manager to lead our core Monetization team which serves millions of page views a day. This is a critical position with big responsibilities and high visibility. The position requires a strong individual with demonstrated leadership ability that enjoys taking on big challenges that directly affect the company’s results.

Domain SponsorSenior Data ArchitectWe are currently looking for an architect to identify and lead a comprehensive data strategy across our organization and design and build a scalable, extensible, and operable data infrastructure.

eNomSenior Director, Sales and SupportManage a team of over 40 Sales Representatives and Technical Support Representatives…etc.

Thought ConvergenceDatabase AdministratorThe ideal candidate will be a strategic thinking self-starter with a passion for technical problem solving. Strong candidates will have a solid understanding of the issues surrounding large-volume websites and scalability.

Thought ConvergenceSr. User Experience DeveloperIf you enjoy taking client user interfaces to the next level, are driven by the challenge of defining and maintaining long-term strategies, and want to contribute new and unique ideas to the UI design of rich Internet applications, this position may be perfect for you!

GodaddyKeyword Search AnalystThe Keyword Search Analyst is responsible for researching and compiling a list of keywords that target specific industries. This position requires the ability to write copy based on the top keywords within the category.

GodaddySocial Media DirectorThe Social Media/Communications Director oversees aspects of internal and external communications for the organization. Part of this responsibility is managing the Social Media department and maintaining a cohesive corporate message thru the various Social Media platforms.

GodaddyProduct Manager (Domain Monetization)The Domain Monetization Product Manager oversees Go Daddy’s domain monetization product line, including the domain parking platform. This person will develop and manage cutting-edge monetization solutions for domain names, and will be responsible for the vision and execution of Go Daddy’s domain monetization strategy.

Name.comUser Interface (UI) DesignerAt Name.com we want to put a greater emphasis on the usability of our tools and services. By focusing on the user, we believe the rest will fall into place. We’re looking for a UI Designer to help drive the design process for new Name.com products and features. As a UI Designer, you will work closely with our development team and company leadership throughout all stages of the product cycle. If you’re a critical thinker with a good design sense, a strong technical background, and an eye for making things better we want to talk to you. This is a full-time salaried position.

TucowsAssociate DeveloperWe’re looking for people that love to program.
This position is for a temporary full-time software engineer (for 3-6 months) that will design, code and test projects and enhancements within a small Agile team. Maintenance and testing of the products is expected, as well as tight collaboration with other developers, QA, product managers and other various members of the team.

Buy Domains: With No Money Down

One of the best things about buying domain names from NameMedia’s Buy Domains is that I can use my American Express card to make the purchase instead of having to pay with a wire transfer or ACH. Even better is that they don’t charge anything extra for using my AmEx. This is great for two reasons.

I get American Express Rewards points for my purchases. These points can be used for gift cards, hotel nights, upgrades, and many other great products and services. Since most of the acquisitions aren’t cheap, the points can add up quickly.

The biggest reason though, is that I can buy domain names that I plan to re-sell with what amounts to no money down, and I can re-sell them before I even pay off my credit card at the end of the month. Its like a no interest loan, which can’t be beat. Of course, this depends on where in my billing cycle I buy the names and whether or not I am able to make a quick flip, but generally speaking, it can give me at least a couple of weeks before having to actually physically pay.

Buy Domains is a company that I’ve been doing business with for a few years, and I am happy to work with them. Using my American Express card is one of the reasons for it.

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