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Super Bowl Sunday Quickie – Go Saints!

Elliot Silver
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0

Just a few quick bullets on this super Super Bowl Sunday:

  • I have two lengthy articles about the current state of live domain auctions that I will post beginning tomorrow. The first part dissects what I believe are problems with auctions lately, and the second part offers some suggestions to improve them. Hopefully other domain investors can contribute some valuable feedback.
  • I’ve heard from a couple people that Domain Roundtable will be happening this year, despite the fact that the DRT website still shows information about the 2009 conference. I expect to hear where and when it will be held soon, assuming those two people were correct. Once I hear, I will share with you.
  • A couple of people emailed me this week asking if I know anything about the GeoDomain Expo. As far as I know, it is still scheduled for New Orleans at the end of April (during Jazz Fest). I really hope the schedule is set ASAP because the price of flights seems to continue to increase and people need to make reservations soon.
  • If you live in the New York City area (or New Jersey), don’t forget that the Castello Brothers will be having drinks with us at the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central on Tuesday at 6pm. You can RSVP via comment or email. So far, about 25 people have confirmed.
  • I’m excited for tonight’s Super Bowl, and without a doubt, I am rooting for the New Orleans Saints. Next week’s Domainer Mardi Gras in NOLA will be even better if the Saints win and the city is celebrating.   As a Patriots fan, I generally root against the Colts, and New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, so it’s a no brainer for me.

FitnessTrainer.com: Why I Stopped Bidding & Some Buying Advice

Elliot Silver
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15

Fitness TrainerWhen I was looking at Snapnames the other day, I saw an auction for FitnessTrainer.com, and I placed a bid on it. The domain name went to auction on Thursday afternoon, and the auction continued for a couple of hours after its original close time, with 5 minute extensions following last minute bids. FitnessTrainer.com ended up selling for $20,888.

Had I won the domain name, my plan would have been to build it in a similar fashion to DogWalker.com and CatSitter.com. I opted to stop bidding for a couple of reasons. First, the price was more than I wanted to spend on a directory domain name right now. Second, and the reason I am writing this post, is because I wasn’t sure if enough people were called (and known as) fitness trainers.

When buying a great domain name like this, it’s important to dig deep into the numbers and actually think about the usage of the name. There are a lot more listings in Google for “personal trainer” than “fitness trainer,” and the Adwords keyword tool indicates that many more people perform searches for fitness trainers than personal trainers. When you are buying a domain name like this, think about the term and how it is used in every day by the people who will be visiting the site and/or advertising.

I still think FitnessTrainer.com is a solid name, but I couldn’t justify the price because so many people refer to fitness trainers as personal trainers. At the end of the day, there would still be great interest in the FitnessTrainer.com domain name and term, but my model wouldn’t have been able to justify the price.

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

Don’t Give Up a Deal Over Pennies

Elliot Silver
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3

It’s always important to get a great deal when trying to buy a domain name to flip, but if you like a name at a rough price range enough to consider buying it, don’t fret over a few percentage points. From experience, I hesitated on a deal that I now regret not making.

I recently tried to buy a domain name for several hundred dollars, and the negotiation came down to the owner wanting $100 more than I wanted to pay.   With escrow fees, it would have been less than a couple hundred dollars more, but I thought (and still think) the name is worth between $2-3,000 on a quick flip. I ended up walking away from the deal because I thought the seller would figure that having my cash would be better than keeping the domain name he hasn’t sold in 8+ years of ownership.

It’s needless to say, but I checked the Whois today (several weeks later) and the domain name has changed hands. Perhaps someone else saw that the price was lowered or maybe the owner became motivated to sell it. Whatever the case is, I am sure I couldn’t buy the name today without greatly overpaying. It’s my loss, but an important lesson for people who are privately buying domain names.

If you see value in a domain name, get the best price you can, but don’t fret over a couple of percentage points. If the domain name is worth what you think it’s worth, and you are fairly close to buying it but just can’t hammer out the exact deal you want, think about what happens if the owner sells it to someone else. If you’d regret it, you should probably jump on the name.

Domain names are one of a kind, unique assets. When they are sold to a developer, end user, or unmotivated seller, you will lose your chance to get a deal. If your gut says to buy it, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger, even if the deal isn’t perfect.

Adding Value to Domaining.com

Elliot Silver
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I emailed this to Francois yesterday but want to know your thoughts on this idea. I think a way to add value to Domaining.com is to allow people to post comments on articles, similar to a site like Drudge.com. IMO, the more people that come to Domaining.com to actually stay there, the better for generating revenue.

I know there are websites and bloggers who either don’t have a comment section or they simply don’t approve comments that they perceive as being negative. One reason I don’t generally post comments on other blogs is because I don’t want to write a well-thought out comment only to see it sit in the moderation queue or get deleted because the post’s author doesn’t like comments that aren’t in line with his/her thinking.

As mentioned in the past, I approve just about everything unless it’s threatening towards someone, is too vulgar to post, has obvious spam, or is otherwise derogatory.

This would add value to the Domaining.com website, and people would visit to see what others are really thinking about certain articles where comments are heavily moderated and/or censored.

The downside for Francois is that he would then have to become a comment moderator himself, which is something he may not wish to do. This doesn’t take a lot of time, but if people abuse the system and post hateful or incendiary comments that are just inappropriate, it could become time consuming and burdensome.

If the language barrier is an obstacle in getting advertisers, Francois might also be better served by hiring a sales rep who is fluent in English. There are plenty of people looking for work, and I am sure he could find a hungry sales representative who would work for commission.

Domaining.com drives somewhere between 8-14% of my traffic each month, and I appreciate that. As the old saying goes, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Meet the Castello Brothers in New York City on February 9

Elliot Silver
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13

David and Michael Castello will be speaking at the sold out Local Online Advertising Conference being put on by Borrell Associates. After the conference, the Castello Brothers will be the guests of honor at a special New York domainer get together.

On February 9th at 6pm, I am organizing a domainer get together at the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central. This classic jazz cocktail bar is located in bustling Grand Central Station, and is the perfect spot for a drink or two after work.

I have a reservation at the Campbell Apartment, but I need an approximate headcount by Monday.   Please email me or post a comment if you will be attending. In the past, there have been anywhere from 20-40 people at these get togethers, and it’s a great opportunity to meet other domain investors in the area.

*Dress code is dressy casual, and sneakers are not allowed.

Francois Makes Business Decision, Lazy Domain Investors Go Nuts

Elliot Silver
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32

Apparently Francois Carrillo of Domaining.com decided to add tech blog feeds to his website today. The result of the decision was that Domaining.com was briefly filled with non-domain related news articles. This made it difficult for domain investors to quickly find their favorite domain news and blog articles, and people publicly complained in blogs, Facebook, forums, and Twitter. That is, until Francois reversed course and took those feeds out.

I know Domaining.com has become popular because it allows people to easily find interesting domain-related news articles without having to visit a whole host of websites. I even get about 8-12% of my daily traffic from Domaining.com, so any confusion or excess articles might result in less traffic to my site. However, Francois has every right to make his own business decisions without public criticism from users who aren’t paying him a dime.

I don’t know if his business model is good (because someone may eventually buy him out) or it sucks (because it’s now a loss leader), but that’s not my business or anyone’s business.

The fact that we use and benefit from Francois’ website should not mean that we have the right to publicly criticize the guy and put him on blast when he tests things out in an effort to make some money. If you are paying for services and they aren’t what you agreed to when you signed up, you have every right to complain. When you are using someone else’s services at no cost to you, you have no right to complain.

I support the First Amendment right to free speech, but I think it’s uncalled for when people openly criticize the guy for trying to make a buck with his business. There are plenty of people who do worse things to make a buck.

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