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Looking to Buy .COM Profession Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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7

I am looking to buy a couple (or maybe more) high quality profession domain names, and I would be interested in seeing your priced submissions. As I always do, I have posted the requirements for the domain names I want to buy.   Please do NOT submit names that do not meet ALL requirements set out below. No exceptions.

  • Profession (like acting coach, dog walker, or private pilot)
  • .COM only
  • At least 15,000 local exact match searches a month (GAKT)
  • Domain created (registration date) before 2001
  • Price $5,000 or below
  • Domain names not currently on the market

If you have names that are more expensive, I am probably not interested for this project. I have been buying names like these for the last two years, so I know they are out there to buy. I am a motivated buyer, but please don’t waste your time or mine by saying something like, “I know this doesn’t meet all of your requirements, but…”

If you would prefer that the domain names with prices not be revealed, just submit the domain name via comment and say something like (please remove this) and I will do my best to delete your comment and follow up with an email.   I do expect that you’ll submit names that have prices though since that’s a requirement.

Again, I can’t stress enough that the domain name should meet all requirements set out above.

Also, I am not looking for geodomain names – like NewYorkLawyer.com for this.

Get Educated by Harvard Business School Professors For Free

Elliot Silver
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4

Harvard Business School (HBS) is one of the premier business schools in the world. Leaders from companies and organizations throughout the world come to HBS to learn from some of the smartest professors on a variety of topics – everything from Finance, Marketing, Negotiations, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and many more.

Although it can be difficult to get accepted into HBS, people like you and me (pardon me if you’re already HBS-trained) can read interesting articles by faculty members in order to help us operate our businesses. Harvard offers faculty-written articles that can be read online at absolutely no cost on its Harvard Business School Working Knowledge website. This insight

Some interesting articles I’ve read that might be beneficial to you include:

There are hundreds of articles available that could be beneficial to your business if you take some time to read them. Some of the articles also have a link to a discussion forum where you can read comments from other readers. If you haven’t checked out the HBS WK website before (or never knew it existed), I recommend bookmarking it and looking through the site when you have an opportunity.

Due Diligence Before Buying a Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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11

If you’re a domain investor, it’s likely that you’ve either been offered a stolen domain name or seen one advertised for sale, whether you knew it was stolen or not. Buying a stolen domain name can cost the buyer quite a bit of money (once the name is recovered) and it could hurt his reputation if he sells it.

In my opinion, it’s the buyer’s responsibility if he buys a stolen domain name, and all buyers should perform due diligence on a domain name before making the acquisition or risk losing his investment and domain name. Just like with physical property, if a purchase is found to be stolen, the person in possession of it will probably lose it and will likely not see his funds returned (I am sure there are cases where this isn’t true – especially when something is bought in good faith, but it’s an assumption).

There are a lot of seemingly obvious clues that can be seen when a stolen domain name is offered, including ridiculously low price, top domain name offered by a new member of a forum without any previous feedback, or someone emailing you in private with a too good to be true offer. While not all of these necessarily mean a domain name is stolen, they are clues that a buyer should note and should set off red flags.

A buyer should use the Whois History tool offered by DomainTools to see if there are any suspicious changes in the Whois data. For example, if a Whois record seems to remain the same for 10 years and the most recent change notes a simple email address update while the rest of the record is the same, that is a big red flag.

A couple of years ago, I was emailed by someone offering a pretty good domain name at a great price that looked to be owned by a lady in New York, although the contact email had recently changed. I was able to get in touch with the lady shortly after domain investor Richard Lau had already done the same, and she was able to recover her domain name by contacting the registrar. Had I not done due diligence, I could have bought this name, which surely would have been taken from my account and given back to the rightful owner once they determined that it had been pilfered from her account.

Due diligence is especially critical when you are purchasing intangible property like domain names.

Hump Day Light Humor

Elliot Silver
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2

When I was in graduate school earning a degree in Direct Marketing, my thought about an ideal first job was to work for Lester Wunderman, the person considered the father of direct marketing (he didn’t go by “Direct Marketing King” although he could have). As it worked out, when I graduated in 2004, I was hired as a Project Manager (and then later promoted to New Business Associate) at Wunderman, the company founded by Lester Wunderman and a part of Y&R Brands.

I was going through some old emails yesterday and I found the email I sent to colleagues announcing that I was leaving the company to start a new position at AIG. I thought I would share it here because I think it’s somewhat humorous.

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, today is my last day at Wunderman.   My life-long dream of becoming a professional basketball player has finally come true.   After years of practice, I have officially been signed by the New York Knickerbockers of the MBA – not the National Basketball Association, but the MBA – (Midget Basketball Association).   For those of you who are unaware, we play Tuesdays and Thursdays at Madison Square – the Park, not the Garden.   I know that the life of a professional athlete is one filled with money, alcohol and groupies, but I certainly will not forget all of you.

All kidding aside, I wanted to take a moment to tell you all how much I have enjoyed working with you.   I have learned so much from all of you, and am lucky to have had the opportunity to work with you….

Working at Wunderman was a great experience for me, and it allowed me to work on the agency side of the advertising business, which was helpful in my next job. Some days I actually miss working for a fun company like Wunderman, but the advantages of self-employment certainly are great!

Buying Trademark Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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11

Anyone who owns or has registered more than a handful of domain names has probably owned one or more names that infringe on the trademark of another company, whether its intentional or unintentional. Figuring out what domain names are dangerous to a domain portfolio is a big part of doing business as a domain investor.

Sometimes blatant trademarks pose no threat because the trademark holder doesn’t seem to care, and other times seemingly generic domain names become issues when overreaching companies attempt to take domain names using the legal system – or threats of the legal system. You need to be aware of the risks involved with domain investing before jumping in head first.

On average, I receive a few emails a month that go something like this: “I own the domain name xyz.com, and I am not sure if it’s a trademark. What do you think?”

Although I would love to give my educated opinion when I get those emails, I almost always recommend that the person speak with a lawyer, since I have no legal experience. When I first started buying domain names around 2003, I registered some names that may have infringed on the trademarks of other companies. In fact, I received a couple of cease and desist letters. At different times, I reached out to Brett Lewis and John Berryhill who both gave me very good advice.

If you have real concerns about possible trademark names in your portfolio, it’s best to ask a domain lawyer rather than another domain investor. A domain investor may have some experience with trademark issues, but there’s no substitute for a legal professional. Just like you wouldn’t ask your dentist about a toenail problem, you shouldn’t expect a domain investor to answer your legal questions.

Breaking: Sedo Brokers Sale of Jerusalem.com for Over Half a Million USD

Elliot Silver
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15

SedoIn June of 2009, it was reported that Jerusalem.com was purchased for $750,000 (the news was also reported in the Jerusalem Post). The website was used on its own for a while, and I later found it to be forwarding to GoJerusalem.com, which I thought was strange after such a big acquisition.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Ryan Colby, one of Sedo’s top domain brokers, announced that Jerusalem.com was privately being offered for sale via his page on Facebook. I inquired about the asking price and learned that it was in the ballpark of half a million US dollars. I was very surprised at this and felt it was a good enough value to pass the information along to a couple of domain investors I know.

Earlier this evening, Ryan updated his Facebook and Twitter pages to announce that the sale of Jerusalem.com had closed at $510,000: “Jerusalem.com: SOLD for $510,000. A glorious geo name in every way.”

Since this is breaking news, I don’t have information on the buyer of this great domain name yet, but I am sure Sedo will soon make a more formal announcement with that information.

Congratulations to Sedo and the buyer of this great geographic domain name.

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