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Use Caution When Buying Typo Drops

Elliot Silver
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4

I’ve been looking at dropping auctions more regularly on NameJet and SnapNames, and I frequently come across generic typo domain names that are enticing. They seem generic enough that they would avoid any type of trademark violation, and they could potentially get traffic based on some analytics I’ve done. These are typically misspelled words where one letter is replaced with a letter that’s next to the correct letter on the keyboard.

Today I found a typo domain name that I was considering, and I went to the website to see if I could find some analytic information – like Compete.com traffic. When I got there, I saw that it was a porn site, and it got me concerned. I know that a domain owner may not be liable for what a previous owner did, but that wouldn’t necessarily stop a company from filing suit under the assumption that you had something to do with its prior usage.

Now if you are sued for misuse on a high value domain name, that’s another story and a cost of doing business in most cases. However, if you are sued because of a cheap typo name you bought hoping to make enough PPC revenues to cover the drop price, you have to ask yourself if it’s really worth the effort.

Furthermore, you should ask if the domain name is really worth acquiring if it’s currently a porn site, as it wouldn’t make sense for the domain owner to monetize it this way if it received traffic (it’s unrelated to porn).

NY Domainer Get Together – 9/24

Elliot Silver
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If you live in the New York area, mark your calendars because we are getting together on September 24th at 6:30pm at the Boat Basin on West 79th Street and the Hudson River. There are no special requirements to attend, and there is no admission cost (although it’s a cash bar).

If you are interested in sponsoring the event via buying pitchers of drinks or appetizers, shoot me an email or simply show up. Past events have drawn around 40-50 people, and they are always relaxed. There’s no need to know anyone beforehand. If you live in the New York area, and you are a domain investor or work in the domain space, this is a great chance to meet like-minded people.

Please drop a comment if you can make it – and I will add your email address to the Evite I am going to send out shortly. See you there.

Protect Your WordPress Blog

Elliot Silver
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I was viewing a friend’s website on my Blackberry the other day, when I noticed a bunch of random unrelated links above his header. There were Viagra links, Honda links, Cialis links, Acai links…etc. You name the affiliate link, and it was probably there. When I visited his site on my laptop, those links were nowhere to be seen.

Several months ago, I had a similar problem, which my developer diagnosed as some sort of code injection. This was attributed to my not upgrading to the latest WordPress version (currently 2.8.4). Basically when security flaws are found, WordPress closes those holes in the next edition, and site owners need to upgrade ASAP. Because hackers and other malicious people can then learn what security flaws were found in the previous version, they can exploit those flaws in blogs and websites that aren’t running on the most recent version.

In any case, it can be a bit tricky to remove the cause of the malicious links, but it’s important to do so, otherwise your site is leaking “search engine link juice,” and those links can be harmful. This doesn’t even consider that other areas of your site may have been attacked, which can cause other problems. Simply upgrading to the newest version of WP may not help, as the malicious code will still be there.

One of my the best things for me is that the person who manages the technical side of my blog is knowledgeable about programming and WordPress, and he has been able to help me with errors (both human error and a malicious hacking attempt). If you don’t know of a capable person, it would be wise to find someone smart that you trust who can help you at a moment’s notice. There are also plenty of resources on the web that can help you, but sometimes the fixes are complicated.

Always be on the look out for strange things that happen with your blog’s performance and layout, and if you notice something funky, don’t just cast it aside. Search Google, Twitter, and WordPress to see if other people are facing the same issues. Stay on top of WordPress or other platform updates and security warnings, and you may help prevent damage to your website.

Re-Purchase Your Sold Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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There have been a few times where I sold domain names for less than I wanted to sell them. The majority were sold as parts of bulk deals that wouldn’t happen without those specific domain names, and I wanted to close the deals at the time, so I included them. I can’t say that I’ve regretted any deals done in the past, but there are a few domain names I’d love to have back in my portfolio.

With the economy performing poorly and many domain owners looking to raise capital (who isn’t?), now might be a good time to repurchase some of these domain names, perhaps at an even better price than you sold them.

The first thing to do is to check to see if the owner has spent time or money on developing a website on the domain name. If not, you may be in luck, especially since the domain name probably isn’t earning as much revenue as it once was. Send the domain owner an email asking if he would consider re-selling it, and make him an offer.

There will be a fine line between lowballing and trying to get your domain name back for its adjusted market value. Just be cautious, as you don’t want to lowball one of your former clients, as this might lead to future lowballing on his part. I’ve recently bought back a few names that I had sold within the last few years, and now might be a good time for you to do the same.

Health/Auto/Car Insurance Domains

Elliot Silver
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3

In light of the recent insurance domain name sales that ranged anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars (including some of my own last week for less), I am listing some other health insurance, auto insurance, and car insurance domain names for sale.   They are all registered at Moniker for a quick and easy push.

The cities are all medium to large, each name is $500, or the entire set can be purchased for just $3,600.   See below for city information.

AtlanticCityHealthInsurance.com
FairfaxHealthInsurance.com
HiltonHeadHealthInsurance.com
HobokenHealthInsurance.com
JupiterHealthInsurance.com
LawrenceHealthInsurance.com
LynnHealthInsurance.com
QuincyHealthInsurance.com
RockvilleHealthInsurance.com
TrentonHealthInsurance.com

JupiterAutoInsurance.com
LawrenceAutoInsurance.com

AtlanticCityCarInsurance.com

Population info for cities listed:

Atlantic City, NJ – 35,770 (268,000 if you count the metro area)
Fairfax, VA – 21,498 (1,015,302 in Fairfax county)
Hilton Head, NC – 33,838
Hoboken, NJ – 38,577
Jupiter, FL – 39,328
Lawrence, MA – 72, 043 and Lawrence, KS – 90,520
Lynn, MA – 87,122
Quincy, MA – 91,622
Rockville, MD – 60,734
Trenton, NJ – 82,804

Reach Out & Ask a Domain Investor

Elliot Silver
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As the saying goes, “ask and you shall receive,” can be applied towards speaking with entrepreneurs, including domain investors. Have you ever wondered how Richard Douglas was building some of the features on Oakville.com? Have you seen Adam Strong’s name in the DNN masthead and wondered, what the heck does Adam do other than write news articles for Domain Name News? Want to know how Warren Royal became the king of bobblehead dolls?

Fortunately, these questions can easily be emailed directly to the source of your answers.

One of the greatest things about the domain industry is that just about every person is accessible, and most are happy to share information with others. There are obviously questions that would be off limits, but you wouldn’t go asking these questions of someone at a private party either. If you tell the person who you are, what you are up to, and ask nicely, you will probably receive a thoughtful response.

The Whois directory is good for more than just domain look ups. It can also be used to find out the company name and contact information for people in the domain business. Check out their corporate websites (if applicable) and send an email if you have questions. Don’t expect to receive an answer, and don’t be rude if you don’t get one either. Although many people like to remain private or are too busy to give a thoughtful response, there are others who will happily answer questions.

Just one piece of advice – from someone who has made the mistake of doing this and someone who is frequently on the receiving end of this – don’t start off a conversation by trying to sell something.

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