I strongly believe that a person could learn about the domain industry right now, do some research, make a small investment, and make a profit. I don’t think it’s accurate to say that only people who started 10+ years ago can have success in this business. I also don’t think you necessarily need hundreds or thousands of dollars to start.
If I had to start all over again today, and I was only willing to spend $50, I think I could still make a profit. It would certainly take time to make an impactful amount of money, but that is the same as just about everything else.
So how would I start today with $50? I would focus on two things.
1) I would look around to find companies that own a whole lot of domain names in their vertical(s), and I would see what types of names they own using a Reverse IP tool or by looking at the names that reside on their nameservers. There are quite a number of companies that own hundreds or thousands of long tail domain names, and I would try to find unregistered names that are similar to what they already own. One company that immediately comes to mind is Vacations To Go, although I haven’t sold them any names.
Before registering the names I found, I would do some research to find out who at the company would buy the names. If the company is small, I would contact the CEO. If it was large, I would probably not waste my time. I use the company’s website management page, tools like LinkedIn and Facebook, information on press releases, Whois information, and other sleuthing tools to find the CEO or owner. Once in touch, I would ask if the company is currently buying good domain names. Nothing more, nothing less.
If the person on the management team says the company is buying, I would then register 3 of the best domain names I could find from my previous research. I wouldn’t try to hit a home run and name a ridiculous price on these names. If I paid $10, I would probably offer them for $150/each. It’s a huge profit margin, but not too expensive for the company. It’s also not an amount that would require a lengthy contract or ownership confirmation, which would reveal the recent registration date. He or she will just buy if they like the names. If the company isn’t interested, I would list them on a place like DNForum for $40 just to recoup the investment and move on.
The key is to make sure the domain names make sense and are actually good names that a company would want to buy.
2) I would do geo-keyword research to find unregistered geo profession .com domain names and email people in those professions. I would offer to sell the names for $150/each, again because the price isn’t too high that it would cause someone to take a lot of time to think about. There are a ton of solid names that have been dropping, and I think a person with some time could do well by registering a few and contacting people who are in the field. Many of these types of names were coveted by the professionals in the field, but they were previously owned by large domain companies. You can now buy these names at registration fee, and try to re-sell them at a profit.
Take a look at your local phone book and see what types of urls lawyers, doctors, real estate agents, and other professionals are using, and see if you can find similar names for other cities. I know a large law firm in my hometown that uses NashuaLaw.com as their domain name. I also know there are a bunch of CityLaw.com names unregistered.
There is still a lot of money to be made in this business, whether you started 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago.
I have about 30 CityRealEstateAgent.com and CityRealEstateAgents.com domain names in my portfolio for cities from throughout the United States (such as JacksonRealEstateAgent.com). I listed them for sale in a couple of places, but they didn’t sell to domain investors. They also don’t get a lot of type-in traffic, so the revenue is light. Because they’re very targeted for long tail terms that get searches, the only way I will get traffic is via search, which won’t happen with parked domain names.
There are three weeks remaining in 2009, and before you know it we will be ringing in the new year. As the year draws to a close, now is a good time to take care of some housekeeping type of things before the final day of the year. I always uses the last few weeks to do a number of things to close out my books and to prepare for the new year, as many people focus less on work and more on celebrating the holiday season.
During Thanksgiving weekend, while my wife talked with her sister about her baby registry, I checked to see who happens to own