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Free Domain Name!

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As you know, I love to speculate on domain names. When I find a great keyword domain name that is unregistered, I generally register it or email it the idea to someone who might have an interest in that particular vertical. Lately, I’ve been slowly trimming down my domain portfolio, as I know it will be impossible to develop everything.
I’ve put many names up for sale in the $25 – $250 range, and I’ve seen moderate success. However, I am going to take it to the next step and give away some average names from my portfolio. While I don’t consider them to be gems, when I initially registered them I believed (or still believe) that the keywords were/are strong. Many of the names may be ripe for development, although they don’t receive much traffic now. Anyway, I will be giving away some of my domain names periodically throughout the next few weeks.
The first person to post “I’ll take it” gets the name. The only caveat is that the name must be pushed to another Moniker account. I don’t want to take too much time worrying about the EPP/authorization codes for a transfer to another registrar.
And the first domain name I am giving away for FREE is…
DelawareStockbroker.com

Reader Question: Owning .org But Not .com

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From one of my readers:

“Elliot, whats your take on MatchMaker.org (made up name) and how badly the lack of .com will affect it? I am already established idea of what i want to do with that, it will be similar to your model of lowell, giving them basic [listings] for free but frills and reviews of business will come with price tag.
Basic premise of concept: Break down matchmakers by state, and maybe cities as sub category of states? I am thinking of putting everyone in for free with basic contact info (email) and just a name of company, and then notifying them that their page is up and about extra features they can get. So everyone gets a free page but after that comes extra features. While they can pay for frills of being reviewed, to add link to site, add write up about them self and what they do, background check. (due to .org directory, in public eyes reviews will seem more credible, even more then if it was .com or another category)
Whats your thoughts on monetization of it? How lack of .com will affect it or other extension affecting it?”

Depending on the industry you are in, owning the .org can sometimes be better than the .com. In the dating industry, I think the .com is much better and holds more credence, as people know it to be a for-profit industry. However, if you would form an organization of “matchmakers,” the .org wouldn’t necessarily be bad, but I think you would have to offer more than just a directory. You might have to sponsor events or offer tools to the match makers who would want to join the organization.
In terms of branding, I discussed something similar when the USPS nationally branded a .org and didn’t own the .com. People have short memories, and many will automatically assume it’s the .com – or they won’t even realize the .com and .org are different, so they just went to the .com. The USPS eventually bought the .com, but they probably got lucky because the name wasn’t what I would consider a premium generic name. I am sure they paid much more when the bought it after the fact, but the premium was only because they needed it due to traffic loss, and not name value.
With your example, the .com would already be considered a premium generic dating name (I know the actual name but refrained by request). Because of this, the .com already has inherent value, so if you brand the .org and lose traffic to the .com, it will only serve to increase the value of the already valuable .com. If you plan to grow the business and significantly fund it, I would advise buying the .com. If you plan to run it like an organization of “match makers,” where you are providing a valuable service, you may be ok with the .org, but you will still end up losing traffic to the .com.
The more you brand the .org, the more traffic you are probably sending to the .com, thus increasing the price to acquire it. My best advice would be to speak with the owner of the .com (knowing that its a parked page), and see if you can buy that. It will help you brand your business now, and will save you lots of money down the road. If he is unwilling to sell, I would also recommend making a lease to own offer, so you can hedge your bets if you decide to exit the business or rebrand. You will pay more, but at least the price of the .com won’t increase due to your branding efforts.
In your industry, there will always be “burn down value” for the .com, and much less for the .org. It can only enhance the value of your business if you have the .com, and it will prove that you own the market.

Enjoy Elliot's Blog from Your Mobile Device

Courtesy of MobiEnthusiast.mobi, Elliot’s Blog is now available to read on your mobile phone. Although my blog is available on most mobile web browsers simply by typing https://domaininvesting.com, following this link from your mobile browser may make it a more pleasant experience.
Just remember, don’t surf and drive!

CircleID: ICANN Fee Will End Domain Tasting

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According to a post on CircleID this afternoon, the ICANN Board of Directors held a vote to impose the non-refundable $.20 fee on ALL domain names registered from the moment of registration. The unanimous vote which took place on January 23 was noted in sections 5 and 6 of the ICANN meeting minutes, which were recently distributed. According to the notes,

the Board resolves (2008.01.04) to encourage ICANN’s budgetary process to include fees for all domains added, including domains added during the AGP, and encourages community discussion involved in developing the ICANN budget, subject to both Board approval and registrar approval of this fee.” – Preliminary Report for the Special Meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors

By charging a fee on all registrations, people will be much less likely to buy large amounts of domain names with the intention of dropping the unprofitable names. This should close the loophole that was created to protect people who registered a domain name in error. In exploiting this loophole, some people were buying thousands of domain names (and more), keeping them for under the 5 day grace period to test the traffic, and dropping the names that didn’t receive traffic. This led some companies to register and monetize trademark domain names and quickly drop them to avoid being detected.
Dell recently filed a lawsuit against companies they believe engaged in this act, and the case is still pending.

TreatmentCenters.com – $100k Domain to $1Million Website

TreatmentCenters.com is a great example of a company buying the domain name they needed and building it into a million dollar website. TreatmentCenters.com was sold for $100,000 by Afternic/BuyDomains as reported in DNJournal. This domain name informs visitors about exactly what they will find when they type it in to their browser, and it doesn’t disappoint upon arrival. For this business model, there probably aren’t any better domain names out there.
Using a directory model, TreatmentCenters.com provides paid and unpaid listings for various health and mental treatment centers and counselors throughout the country. Visitors can search by condition, by state or by provider name to find what they need. When a website like this is able to provide names, addresses, contact information, and data on the topic of interest to the searcher, it builds stickiness, and the searcher will probably return. This provides a positive experience for the visitor, and it also provides an ROI for the advertiser.
Kudos to the people behind TreatmentCenters.com! This is an aesthetically pleasing, well-functioning website, and it looks like a million bucks! I hope to emulate it with some of my entries down the road – including Lowell.com.

Domain Appraisals: What's The Value?

Domain appraisals can vary by huge amounts depending on where they are done. Whether using a professional service like Moniker or Sedo, or asking for a free appraisal on a domain forum, the amount of the various appraisals can vary by tens of thousands of dollars and huge percentages. People often wonder if appraisals are motivated by outside factors – either by people wanting to buy a domain name, so the appraisal is much less than they sincerely believe, or they want to sell someone a domain name by convincing them the name is worth much more than name would actually fetch.
For the sake of curiosity, I would like to know how much deviation there is when domain investors look at one name and place a value on it. I am reaching out to you to give me an appraisal on my DebtCollectors.com domain name. I don’t plan to publish the appraisals (or post the names of the appraisers), but I will give the average and the outliers. I know how much I paid for it recently, and I have an idea about how much it would sell for if I would put it in auction.
I know there are various factors that can play into a domain’s sales price, including the buyer, the seller, the market conditions and the venue, but I am looking for a single dollar figure. Not only do I want to test my own ability to value a name, but I want to see what others think in an unbiased venue.

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