I am sure most of you read Mike Berkens’ blog, but in case you missed it today, please check it out…
Thanks for the Suggestion!
A few weeks ago, Rob Sequin suggested that I install a widget on my blog allowing visitors to subscribe to the comments, allowing them to know when others posted. This a good way for visitors to track any follow-up comments that they left, since there are so many things going on in the life of the average domain investor.
After upgrading my blog, my developer was able to work out a kink in the subscribe to comments feature, and it should now be working.
Rob – Thanks for the suggestion!
WorkOpportunities.com Now For Sale
With America’s work situation getting worse, now is a good opportunity to buy a job-related domain name. I am selling WorkOpportunities.com for $7,800. Of course the name JobOpportunities.com is a better domain name, but I also think that is easily a low to mid 6 figure domain name. People are looking to find work as the unemployment rate creeps higher. In fact, according to CNN today, unemployment is up in 98% of cities across the US.
Using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, you can see there are about 60,500 searches per month for “work opportunities” and slightly more than 7x the number of searches for “job opportunities” at 450,000. Pretty good numbers if you ask me, and I priced it under $10,000 to move it even faster.
Additionally, there are 1,840,000 Google results for the exact quoted term “work opportunities.” There are also plenty of advertisers for this phrase as well.
I am going to list this in a couple of other spots, and as always, the first person to tell me they want it will get it. I don’t think this deal will be around very long before someone grabs it.
One idea for the site is to do build a white label automated job search site, similar to what I did on Lowell.com and Burbank.com.
Check the News Before You Reply
Have you ever received more than one email offer or inquiry on a domain name in a short period of time and not know why? I am sure most people search for the domain’s key term(s) in Google to see what people might be looking to find, but that might not get you the most relevant information.
Before you reply to the inquiry, check Google News and Google Blog Search for the term(s) both quoted and unquoted. While News and Blog results are generally listed in the standard Google results first, they may not appear at the top of the results, rendering the fresh information useless. If someone is trying to buy a domain name from you because a television network just announced a show with the same name as your domain name, you should know this before you respond.
If you receive more than one inquiry on a single domain name, especially if it’s irregular that you receive inquiries on this particular domain name, you should assume it’s not coincidental. Having the most updated information is critical when determining how to reply to an inquiry, and Google’s information, like their News and Blog Search, can help you filter through the crap.
Domain Partnerships
Partnerships can be a great way to leverage a domain name with another company’s labor, intellectual property, financial accumen, and experience. When successful, they can lead to substantial revenue growth and a well developed website. There are a number of partnerships within the domain industry including:
Monster Venture Partners & Castello Brothers – Traveler.com,
WashingtonVC & Internet Real Estate – Phone.com & Software.com
There are a few things I can think of when it comes to partnerships that people should consider.
Set benchmarks – If you agree to a partnership and you give up ownership in exchange for a website that doesn’t drive additional revenue, there really is no purpose for the partnership. Make sure you set benchmarks for revenue, and reward more based on success.
Create contingency plans – If for some reason, one partner will not be able to fulfill obligations, there should be something in writing that determines what will happen. Many things come up, and you want to protect your rights.
Set timelines – If your project suddenly becomes backburnered, you should have recourse to ensure that you aren’t obligated to continue a partnership when it’s clear that your site isn’t a top priority and won’t be ready when expected.
Reward excellence – If the new website generates much more revenue than expected, you should want to pay a larger percentage of the earnings to reward success and encourage outperformance.
What else do you think is necessary when working with a partner?
Back by Popular Demand: Google Analytics Webinar
Last week, Buy Domains offered a free webinar called “Analytics for Your Small Business Website” and over 400 domain developers and businesses joined the discussion. Due to a scheduling conflict (DomainFest), I was not able to attend, although it was something I wanted to attend.
Because of the large demand and the fact that many people couldn’t attend who wanted to attend, Buy Domains is offering a second webinar. This isn’t going to be the recorded version from last week – it’s a live webinar. The details are as follows:
Date: February 10, 2009
Time: 2:00pm EST
Cost: FREE
To register for this event, visit the event registration website. I will “see” you there.
