I am regularly asked by friends and colleagues “how is business?” Although this question is simple, the answer for someone in the domain business may be fairly complex, especially if they want to be honest and not give an “all good” response without really sharing anything.
For me, honestly answering this question can be difficult. The status of my business changes on a regular basis. I could be having a crappy month, but one large deal makes everything great. Similarly, I could be having a very good month and a few major acquisitions or expenses could give me a bit of concern when it comes to the cash flow.
The number of purchase leads can also impact my perception of how business is, but should it? The vast majority of leads who want to purchase my domain names either don’t have any idea about the value of domain names or they don’t have the budget to buy their desired domain names. I like it when I have a steady flow of leads because it can show I am on the mark with my acquisitions, but at the end of the day, if the leads aren’t qualified, they don’t really matter all that much.
There are many factors that go into making my business good. The unique thing about the domain name business is that things can change rapidly. One very large sale or acquisition can change my perception of the health of my business very quickly. I suppose this is similar for other types of businesses, but I think the domain name business is a bit more immune to outside economic conditions.
For the most part, I think people are being nice when they ask “how is business?” Most people probably care a bit, but they don’t really care about the details. When it comes to other domain investors who are asking, it can be a tricky question. Not only can the answer depend on the day or week, but my entire perception of how my business is doing can change in a heartbeat.
Alan, a friend and domain industry vet once told me ‘Business is always booming’ because even if things are slow for you, business is booming for somebody somewhere and acknowledging that allows you to align with that energy.
The overall domain market seems to still be healthy, and if you see names selling similar in quality to ones you own, then you are probably positioned well. Whether that be high quality one word .com, two word domains, 5 letter pronouncables, or some other category. From recent blog posts I see companies as big as Microsoft and Yahoo are still buying domains in the aftermarket, which is a great sign. .com is still taking the lions share while other extensions and new gtlds are the outliers, but still show life. There is still the need by companies and individuals for good domain names. Too bad we aren’t getting all the aftermarket sales reports in DNJournal, such as from DNS and Godaddy auctions. But we do know there are sales happening all the time.
Not one sale makes a business. I think my grandfather told me that. Bottom line is you can’t judge any type of business based off one sale, one day, one week or one month. It is an accumulation of many days, weeks and months. If you have a year or two of bad business then business actually does suck but if you a few days, weeks or months it doesn’t matter because it always turns around at some point. When someone asks you they really don’t mean at that exact moment how is business but over time how is business. So your best answer is, Business is Good.
Business is always booming and making big bucks since I received the MBA from DFAcademy courses.
Would highly recommend others taking those courses.
I almost graduated from the Trump U too.
Pretty soon, I will be getting the PhD in domaining.
Regards,
BullS
MBA-my Big Ass
“Business is always booming and making big bucks since I received the MBA from DFAcademy courses.”
Funny!
“The number of purchase leads can also impact my perception of how business is, but should it? The vast majority of leads who want to purchase my domain names either don’t have any idea about the value of domain names or they don’t have the budget to buy their desired domain names. I like it when I have a steady flow of leads because it can show I am on the mark with my acquisitions, but at the end of the day, if the leads aren’t qualified, they don’t really matter all that much.”
Reason I set minimum offers on all of my domains. Back in the day had them with no minimums and got a ton of leads but I’d rather have less leads that have a good chance of converting than wasting time on an inbox of offers that never materialize as time has a price.
“Exciting” “Challenging”
. Business for .com is very good. Business for new gtlds? Sigh…not so good. Hey, why didn’t anybody tell me these are worthless?
Kind of how I feel about “how are you?”