I went a bit overboard with the launch of my latest mini-site, TropicalBirds.com. Instead of a small site, as the “mini-site” moniker would seem to indicate, I decided to build a fairly large website filled with tropical bird information, videos, shopping affiliate links, and resources. As I was building the plan for the site, I decided that since it is an informational site, I needed information – the more the better. With hundreds of types of tropical birds, I figured I would build a site about some of the most common birds.
The website isn’t completed yet, as many of the bird articles are still being written. While some people might not like the strategy of launching a site with several unfinished pages, I don’t think this is much of a problem since the name isn’t in the Google algorithm yet, and the 404 errors shouldn’t harm the non-existent ranking. While 404 errors may look bad to some visitors, the type-in traffic is fairly small, so I am not losing out much here. I anticipate a “full” launch in about a week and a half.
So what’s the end-game with this site? As time permits, I will continue to add new pages, videos, and pictures to the site, growing the reach of it. I will be in touch with other bird sites offering reciprocal links in an effort to improve the search engine optimization of the site, and I will also be selling advertising space and links. Ultimately, my plan is to grow this into a revenue producing website with the Adsense and affiliate links. My 6 month goal is to earn a modest $10-15/day, which would make this a $36-50,000 website based on a 10 year revenue multiple. Ordinarily $10/day in 6 months would seem small, but the RPC for is fairly small.
If I have a dozen sites like this built, it will generate some passive revenue while increasing the liquidation value of my domain portfolio. Additionally, sites like these can be a fantastic test bed to try new things with Adsense placement, image placement, links and other things.
TropicalBirds.com – Mini Site Launched
Patrick Carleton Interview
I’ve been out of town the last couple of days, but I just read Patrick Carleton’s interview about the 2008 Geo Domain Expo. A number of people have asked me about the Expo, and I think this interview will shed more light onto why I am attending. If you are considering whether or not to attend, I think you should take a couple of minutes and read the interview.
SchoolVacations.com – Travel Related Domain Name
Up for sale is SchoolVacations.com with a low Buy It Now price of just $3,000. This domain name would be perfect for a student travel, spring break, or family tour company website looking to capitalize on school vacation travel opportunities. Every school has at least a few vacations, and families tend to do their travel during school vacations.
A Google search of “school vacations” shows over 130,000 listings, and there are also advertisers. There are even more listings and advertisers when you do a search without the quotations, which is how many people search. The BIN price is cheap, and the first person to post “sold” will get this great domain name at a fantastic price.
Associated Cities Membership & GeoDomain Expo Growth
What a great day today! Not only did I book my flight to Chicago for next month’s GeoDomain Expo, I also just heard from Patrick Carlton (Executive Director of Associated Cities), and Lowell.com was approved to become a member of Associated Cities. This is exciting news, and I look forward to contributing to that organization and learning from the members who have experience in developing and making money from their geodomain names.
I also had a conversation with David Castello who informed me that ticket sales for the 2008 GeoDomain Expo are 200% higher than last year. This is also great news because it means I can learn from and share with more likeminded people. I don’t know the exact number of people who are attending, but I hope they don’t run out of space! Knowing the Castello Brothers, Dan Pulcrano, Jess Bookstaff and many others in the geo space, I don’t think I am going to get much sleep during the conference.
If you haven’t had a chance to register for the GeoDomain Expo, I recommend that you do it ASAP. The cost of flying to Chicago is rising, so it’s in your best interest to book soon. The cost of attending the show is $695, which is less than most domain conferences, and the convention hotel is less than $250.
Register Domains for Charity
It’s been a while since the last post like this, but back by special request is another edition of Register Domains for Charity. Below are a few unregistered domain names I believe have good potential. Although I am not charging anything for researching these names, I am requesting that the person who registers each makes a donation to a non-profit organization.
ScrapMetalCenter.com
ScrapMetalCenters.com
ScrapMetalCollector.com
ScrapMetalCollectors.com
ConferenceCallingHosts.com
SterlingSilverBars.com
Fromager.org (cheese expert)
PrivateHelicopterFlight.com
PrivateHelicopterFlights.com
You don’t need to tell me how much was donated, but I would love to know which charity was helped, so please drop me a line after!
A few non-profits I recommend (with the link to make a donation):
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
ALS Association
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure for Breast Cancer
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Meir Panim
American Cancer Society
Turning Point (Domestic Violence Organization)
BC Children’s Hospital
Charities Previously Helped By Generous Readers of My Blog:
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
ALS Association
American Cancer Society
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Submitting Domain for Auction but Selling Elsewhere
I’ve wondered what would happen if you list a domain name for sale in a live auction (such as Moniker’s Live TRAFFIC Auction), and then you sell it elsewhere without the assistance of the auction house. For curiosity’s sake, it didn’t matter how the sale occurred or whether the domain name was actually included in the auction. I always wondered what the auction house would do if they found out the domain name sold elsewhere.
In reading a thread on DN Forum, it seems to have happened to someone, and Moniker sent the domain owner a letter asking for their 15% commission payment. Apparently, the domain owner had sold the name using Sedo, but when he the buyer hadn’t paid after four weeks, the domain owner signed an agreement to sell the domain name using Moniker. Almost immediately after signing the agreement with Moniker, the sale through Sedo was unexpectedly completed.
I am not a lawyer, so I am not going to give any kind of opinion, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.