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Dumb Domain: Xoom.com

Elliot Silver
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10

Subscribe to Elliot's BlogI was watching the Fox Sports channel with my brother, and I saw an ad for Xoom.com, a global money transfer service. While their demographic targeting was smart (we were watching a soccer match), the domain name doesn’t pass the tv or radio test. Apparently, “xoom” is pronounced, “zoom,” so the announcer sounds like he is saying “goto zoom.com” when in fact, he wants people to visit xoom.com.
This is a major reason why those brandable web 2.0 domain names del.icio.us, flickr.com, and now xoom.com don’t really make sense and could cause major confusion.

Is Dark Blue Sea Dropping Domains?

Elliot Silver
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11

Subscribe to Elliot's BlogI am not an active bidder on Namejet at all.   In fact, I’ve probably backordered less than 15 domain names there it total – with about 10 in the last few weeks alone. One day a couple of weeks ago, I decided to use “Lowell” as a keyword to see if there were any pending drops happening that might help bolster my Lowell.com network.
Lo and behold, I saw LowellRealEstateAgents.com dropping. I had previously picked up the .net for registration fee, but Domain Active (a subsidiary of Dark Blue Sea, parent of Fabulous) was selling the .com for more than I was willing to pay.   Since the difference in their price and my expectation was so far apart, I didn’t even inquire about it.   Surprisingly, I placed a backorder and was able to acquire it for just $69 as the only bidder.
A couple of days ago, I was doing some Namejet searching and I came across CheapEntertaining.com. While it’s not a cream of the crop name, I think it is fairly strong – especially in light of the tough economic times. I was the only person who backordered the name, and I was able to acquire it for $69. I did a bit of research, and I found that this too looks like it was owned by Domain Active.
Clearly the name wasn’t making much money as a parked domain name, otherwise they wouldn’t have dropped it.   However, I think this is a pretty good name for just $69. Now is a great time to keep your eyes on the dropped lists. Some scanning programs may not pick up on the good names that don’t look like they’d have strong revenue stats.   IMO, it sometimes takes a gut instinct to see a good domain name.

Domain Investors Face Liquidity Problems

Elliot Silver
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Subscribe to Elliot's BlogAny way you look at it, the economic situation is impacting nearly all domain investors. Less PPC and somewhat lower sales means even less revenue for the many in the industry. Without these two revenue streams being at full strength, it’s getting more difficult for domain investors to pay bills. Since you can’t pay your bills with domain names, liquidity problems are something that many domain investors are facing.
If this is the case for you, there are at least two viabile options – both of which involve using your domain names as leverage. Domain Capital and Digipawn are two companies that are willing to give loans to many domain owners with their domain names as leverage. These companies are domain experts, and they are able to value your domain names for lending purposes.
If you are in need of a loan, visit these companies’ websites or drop me a note and I will send you an introductory email.   I don’t work for either company, nor do I receive a commission for referrals.

BuyDomains.com Offers Free SEO Webinar

Elliot Silver
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0

Subscribe to Elliot's BlogWith more and more domain investors beginning to develop their domain names (or exploring development options), I wanted to let you know about a free SEO webinar offered by BuyDomains.com. The webinar, which will take place on October 23rd at 2pm, is aimed at small to medium sized business owners who are looking to grow their web presence. The details are as follows:
SEO for Small Businesses

  • The relevancy and importance of targeting the right keywords
  • Why page titles and meta data matter
  • Domain & URL structure advice and tips
  • Internal & External linking
  • How Webmaster Tools can help your site
  • Tips on site structure for local search
  • The importance of directory listings
  • Content, content, content!

To sign up for the webinar, register on Namemedia’s website and you will receive log-in information via email. This could be a good way to learn some SEO tips at no cost and with no obligation.

Domain Convergence Live Auction List

Elliot Silver
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6

Subscribe to Elliot's BlogBelow is the list for the FUSU Domain Convergence Live auction, which will be held on October 8th at 4pm EST. Internet bidding is available through http://dc.fusu.com. Domains that are not sold at the live auction will go to an extended 7 day Internet auction.
The list of domains in the auction and their reserve prices (minimum price at which they sell) is attached.
Domain Reserve
CanadaTrademarks.net $0
downloadpdfs.com $100
CanadianProduce.com $0
ArchiveSolution.com $1,000
Encrypt.com $75,000
PainKillerDrug.com $0
ChargerKits.com $0
kuq.net $1,000
uDonate.net $2,500
BankAdvice.com $1,000
ExpiredNames.com $7,500
NameBrokers.org $1,750
MrDomainer.com $500
BuyLand.ca
Trips.org $14,000
dk.org $50,000
Warning.net $15,000
CanadianPub.com $0
Wildlife.ca $2,500
TorontoBiz.ca $1,000
TorontoStreet.com $2,500
AlbertaForum.com $5,000
IndianCanadians.com $2,500
CelebrityNews.ca $200
FamilyLawAttorney.ca $2,250
FamilyLawAttorneys.ca $1,250
PlayCards.ca $1,500
Crisps.ca $5,000
Mcanada.com $750
TheCanadaStore.com $500
Climb.ca $2,500
PeoplePosting.com $750
Her.ca $3,000
Ross.ca $1,500
Consulting.ca $15,000
Quality.ca $4,800

Part Two: So What is a Click Really Worth?

Elliot Silver
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10

Subscribe to Elliot's BlogWith apologies for stealing Mike’s title, I wanted to show another example of the great point he made (and one that many others have also been saying). The main reason why I am developing some of my websites is because I want to generate the most revenue per visitor.   I believe there are 4 levels of doing this – the top 3 of which can only be harnessed by developing a domain name rather than parking.

  1. Selling your product or service to visitor
  2. Selling another company’s product or service and earning a commission
  3. Selling advertising space directly to a company who sells that product or service
  4. PPC advertising

While I was reading Mike’s post about what a click is worth, I received the following email from one of my developed websites:

Hotel Name: Doubletree Hotel
Note: There may be a time delay for this reservation to be reflected in the property’s reservation system.
Map/Driving Directions Local Weather
Reservation Details
Check-in date:: Friday, October 10, 2008 Check-in time: 1500
Check-out date: Sunday, October 12, 2008 Check-out time: 1200
Number of rooms: 1
Number of nights: 2
Number of adults: 2
Room description: 2 Double Beds Non Smoking Non Refundable
Rate Information
Room #1
Rate type:
Rate breakdown: 134.10 USD for Friday, October 10, 2008
134.10 USD for Saturday, October 11, 2008
Total rate: 268.20
Taxes and fees: 42.90
Total (1 Room): 311.10
Payment Information: $311.10 USD charged to your credit card to secure this special rate. This amount includes room rate, tax recovery charges and applicable service fees and extra person charges, if any. Hotel rates are based on double occupancy unless otherwise noted. Charges for extra persons and / or children may apply and will be due directly to the hotel at the time of check-out.

It can be very difficult (if not impossible) for a domain investor to build and manage a completely separate company on one of his domain names (see Bobbleheads.com as a great example of a business run by a domain investor). A business owner needs to be passionate about his industry, and running a business takes a tremendous amount of time and effort.
However, there are happy mediums between running a full business and operating a pay per click website. Mike illustrated how a click that would have earned him $1.00 turned into a $300 sale. Likewise, my hotel reservation would have yielded a $1.00 click, but now I made 10-20x that on the sale. While obviously the conversion rate needs to be 10% or higher for this particular sale to make sense, most of my hotel reservations yield greater returns.
Depending on the product or service our sites promote, we really could be giving away the house when we park domain names.

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