I am in the process of developing a debt-related mini-site. I am writing the articles for it and would like some keyword research related to debt so I can mine the long tail and dominate the long (but high paying) keywords. I want to target some low hanging fruit keywords that others may not notice. The competition will be less, and my site will hopefully rank higher.
Can anyone recommend a place to get a large list of keywords for a good price?
My "Relentless Attacks" on Unique Extensions
I was looking in my trackbacks today and saw a trackback from a blog to my post “.Mobi Meltdown” where I linked to another blogger with whom I agreed about .mobi names at the TRAFFIC auction. I was going to respond in the comment section of that person’s blog, but I ended up writing quite a bit and figured I would give my thoughts more exposure rather than burying them at the bottom of someone else’s blog.
From DomainerDeveloper.com:
“I must reiterate that I find it disenchanting and absolutely remarkable how so many credible, domain industry veteran investors appear to still be missing the mark when it comes to understanding these fascinating domain extensions. Instead of exploring the many possibilities and communities that are building up around these unique extensions, they continue their relentless attacks.”
First off, I disagree that I have been a source of “relentless attacks.” Before last week when I asked “Is There Money in .Mobi Development,” (which only received one affirmative response with hundreds of page views) the last time I even mentioned anything about .mobi was a February 7th post where I was commenting on someone else’s post about the trouble facing .mobi in getting consumers to recognize and adopt the extension. Prior to that, my last mention was way back in December – a lifetime in this business. If this is considered relentless, that’s pretty weak.
Aside from this inaccuracy, I must ask one important question. Why would I care about .mobi or .any other extension when I can do the same shit with my .com names? If I believe many mobile users are navigating to my websites, I can make sure the mobile browser is detected to give the visitor an optimal experience. Whether I own the .mobi or not, my websites can be mobile-ready, just like thousands of other large companies who may not have even heard of .mobi (or own their .mobi names for protective purposes).
I don’t have the time or bandwidth to develop more than a few domain names at a time. Why would I want to mess around with an unproven extension when I can stick to .com? I am sure there are plenty of people who have plenty of time to experiment and try to earn a return on their investment, but I don’t have the time or the desire to become a .mobi missionary.
At this moment, I don’t envy people who paid mid 5 figures recently for .mobi names to see the 13 “premium” names sell for no more than $18k at last week’s TRAFFIC auction. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, people like Rick Schwartz can afford to take a $200,000 gamble on a .mobi or .whatever domain name. If he hits paydirt in 5 years, people will still probably be jerkoffs to him, but it is his prerogative. I don’t see a very active market for .eu domain names, and I am not familiar with too many that are developed, although there were many people who spent thousands of dollars on those names.
When I buy a domain name for development, I make sure the name is as liquid as possible in the event things don’t work out. If I wanted to sell Lowell.com, Burbank.com (currently under development), WeddingEntertainment.com or a few other names I own, I could make a profit because I bought them for fair prices. If I paid $25k for a non-“premium” .mobi name, I wouldn’t be happy at this moment knowing what these recent “premium” names did. That was the point of my last post.
Sure, maybe 5 years from now some alternate extension domain owners will hit paydirt. IMO, it would have been smarter to invest in more liquid domains in the .com extension either for development or to flip. Are condo investors in Vegas or Miami happy when they see much lower comps on similar condos that they own? Are they willing to wait out the market? Some are, but many are just trying to not lose their shirts when they sell rather than waiting out the market.
Sure, maybe I am “missing the mark,” but I think we are aiming for different things.
Guest Post: Keepin It Real & Keeping The Money Coming In
The following post is courtesy of a friend and well-known, but private domain investor. He gives some strategic advice which he adheres to, and it makes him quite a bit of money. When I first started out in the domain industry, my strategy was to sell as many names as possible for thin profit margins. It takes a lot of $30 domain sales to make good money. My friend has generated PPC revenue (correction from earlier) for a few months, and then sold his names for a revenue multiple.
“This past week I sold a total of 9 minimal income domains for $2,450. I paid a total of $61.85 for them (all were reg fee). In the year I had them they made about $800 in ppc income. So my total return on a $62 investment was $3,250 with a net profit of $3,188. That works out to a 5,142% ROI. Sure I could have held them instead of selling like others try and wait till they find a 10x buyer, but odds are I’d be waiting a much longer time and would have to invest more of my time in continued marketing which has a cost factor to it and if you do that you don’t keep cash flow coming in. You want your resell domain properties to flip fast. Time is money. There’s nothing wrong with pricing to sell at 2x or 3x. It works. It moves inventory quickly. It’s the way to keep constant high profit cash flow coming out of your portfolio with enormous ROI’s.
The strategy then is to not be greedy if you want to make money in the domain biz. Make a profit, but make it possible for the next buyer to make a profit too. Where else can you make a 5,000% ROI??? I know of no investment that can do that kind of number on a reliable continuous basis week after week, but domains can if you keep your prices reasonable to sell quick. That’s the secret!”
While I plan to keep the domain names I build into mini-sites, I think my friend has a smart strategy to produce a growing revenue stream. The buyers of his names/sites will benefit from his legwork – it’s a win/win for everyone.
Planning to Attend a Conference
As I am preparing to attend the GeoDomain Expo in Chicago in July and the TRAFFIC conference in New York in September, I would like to offer some advice to those who are planning on attending. Most conferences are expensive, and coupled with airfare and hotel registrations, it’s important to take a few things into consideration before attending.
Usually it can save quite a bit of money by registering early, so I recommend reviewing the upcoming conferences far in advance and using the early bird registration option. Most of the big domain and related conference websites have the dates and locations of upcoming conferences many months in advance. If finances are a big issue, try to attend a conference closer to home to avoid paying airfare.
In the past, I’ve used Farecast to find the best prices on airfare. The cool thing about that site is that it gives prices for various airlines, and it recommends whether you should buy the tickets now or wait based on their experiences. I’ve also found that you can save money by booking your hotel using the special conference rate, which is usually less expensive than you can find elsewhere. If the conference is in a big city with good transportation, you can usually save money by booking at a different hotel, but make sure it’s close enough (and safe enough) so that you can get home in the wee hours of the morning. I wouldn’t recommend staying in the Lower East Side during TRAFFIC, for example, because you will spend much more than you saved on cab fare alone.
As most people will tell you, conference attendance is about networking and meeting with old and new friends. Most of the panels offer valuable information and advice, but the primary reason I attend conferences is to meet with friends who I might see only one or two times a year. I would recommend reaching out to people with whom you want to meet to let them know you are planning to attend the conference. It’s likely that the person or people will be more than will to meet and chat with you at some point during the conference. While it’s nice to have a short conversation in passing, it’s even better if you make plans to speak ahead of time.
For the GeoDomain Expo, I am excited to listen to the panels and learn as much as I can. While I’ve received a tremendous amount of advice from the Castello Brothers, Rob Grant, Jessica Bookstaff, and several others, I am not an expert geodomainer yet. I want to learn how I can operate and grow my two geodomains, and I want to meet with the companies that offer products or services to help develop my geodomains. Take some time to scope out who will be in attendance and who will be speaking on the panels. If you make plans to go “off campus,” make sure you aren’t missing a panel of interest. Make appointments with sponsors and other exhibitors if you want to learn about the company or products. It’s usually easy for them to take a few minutes outside of the exhibition hall, but you should ask ahead of time so they can be prepared.
I am getting excited to attend the GeoDomain Expo and TRAFFIC. I’ve only attended a few conferences, but I’ve never, ever been disappointed with them. Each conference is a unique experience, and I think they are well worth the expense if you are serious about the industry or want to get serious about the industry. Almost all of the serious domain investors and developers attend the conferences, and it’s a great opportunity to learn from the professionals in a personal setting.
.Mobi Meltdown
Jeff at DomainBits has an insightful post on his blog today.
“Here are some other interesting comparisons: mortgage.net sold in 2006 for $149K versus mortgage.mobi for $18K now. Sales.us sold in 2006 for $8K versus sales.mobi for $10.5K – yes, that’s right – .mobi is only doing slightly better than the anemic .us market was doing two years ago. Films.tv sold last year for $8,600 versus films.mobi for 10K now. Boats.org sold two years ago for $50,249 versus boats.mobi for $6K now. Forsale.org sold last year for $12K, forsale.biz sold in 2006 for $3,550, forsale.co.uk sold two years ago for $14,692 versus forsale.mobi for $5K. Show.org recently sold for $13K versus show.mobi for $5K.”
I can’t say that I disagree with him at all. Surely a warning sign to investors in alternative extensions. Personally, I would hate the be the guy who speculated on average or poor names in the $x,xxx to $xx,xxx range, because those are surely suffering in value. Check out the rest of his post when you get a chance.
Exhibitionists.com – Final Price Cut
I have decided to drastically reduce the price of Exhibitionists.com to make a quick sale. This is a great category killer niche domain name, and it does receive traffic. I am not sharing traffic or revenue stats, as I have the keyword set to something other than adult-related.
The original price of Exhibitionists.com was $45,000, but I am now reducing the price to just $24,750 for a quick sale. This is posted in a couple different areas, so the first to respond will get this great category killer domain name for a hell of a price. Names like these don’t come on the market often, and certainly not at a price like this.
To buy it now, either post “sold” in the comment section or drop me a note. We can finalize the payment after the Memorial Day holiday.



