I bought Leaves.com in 2019. Shortly thereafter, I received and declined a $100,000 offer for the domain name. Depending on who you ask, perhaps I should have taken the offer. I’ve had numerous inquiries and offers since then, but $100k was the highest offer.

Last week, I received an offer for Leaves.com, but it wasn’t enough to get a deal done. The offer put the domain name at the top of my mind, and I thought it could be a great platform for a website that tracks fall foliage across the US. Living in New England, I have always loved the fall season as the leaves slowly change color before eventually falling as winter hits.

Sometimes when I look at X, I feel like I am one of the few people not building something using AI tools. Several years ago, I operated a handful of pet and geo-specific websites on exact match domain names. I primarily used WordPress for the website platform, and I worked with a variety of designers and developers for web development.

A few of the websites I operated did fairly well and several were more along the lines of vanity projects. They all kept me busy and engaged. Today, I only operate this website, Embrace.com, and my corporate website. I don’t have an urge to build anything new at the moment.

I’ve pretty much retired from website development projects. I previously shared why I retired my pet websites, and I already sold all of the geodomain names I developed over the years (Lowell.com, Newburyport.com, Burbank.com, and several other smaller projects). The only websites I continue to operate are Embrace.com and DomainInvesting.com, and I intend to keep it that way.

Website development can be a challenging job. The owner needs to design the website and ensure the functionality is perfected to achieve various goals. The owner also needs to be sure the website is secure. Not only does the owner need to protect company and customer data, but also be sure the website isn’t sending spam and doesn’t get hacked. This isn’t always easy, but it does require regular attention.

For more than ten years, I operated a group of pet related directory websites. DogWalker.com was the most popular of the group, and I also operated DogPark.com, DogGroomers.com, and CatSitter.com. I closed down DogPark.com more than a year ago, and the other websites were shut down a month ago. I thought I would share why I decided to retire these websites.

DogWalker.com was the first of these pet directory websites I launched. I don’t know if I would call it an immediate success, but at its peak, there were several hundred paying advertisers. I later acquired DogGroomers.com and CatSitter.com, and launched websites using the same WordPress theme and customized design. Those two websites were not as commercially successful from an advertising perspective.

Peter Askew has become one of the most well known domain investors through the successful businesses he has developed. I am a big fan of VidaliaOnions.com and the story behind this business, and Peter regularly shares background about his other web development projects, including BirthdayParties.com and DudeRanch.com.

Earlier this week on Twitter, Peter shared that he is starting a newsletter on GDDO.com, a domain name he recently acquired at auction: