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Why I Like GeoDomains

Elliot Silver
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Based on my recent acquisition of Burbank.com, mini-development of Salinas.com, and recent launch of Lowell.com, you can probably guess that I like geographic domain names. I do have several other non-geographic domain names, so I am not just a geodomain buyer/developer, but I happen to really like these names. There are a number of reasons for this, and if I haven’t stated my reasoning before, I am happy to do so here:
1) People are always looking for information about large cities or tourist hotspots. Judging by the type-in traffic my geographic domain names receive, I can say for certain that people look for city information simply by typing the city .com domain name into their url browsers. Whether they are looking to move to the city, looking to visit the city or looking for information, the goal of my development projects is to offer all of this and make it easy for them to make travel plans for find a place to move. I am sure good PPC could be made, but that limits the growth of the domain name. While developed geodomains may take some time to develop and generate revenue, the upside is much greater than with PPC.
2) There are no products that I need to sell with a geographic domain name. Geodomains are almost always informational, so there is no inventory, fulfillment, or customer service to worry about. Sure there is client management, but I will get to that in a minute. Geodomains can be a great source of information, and if it is presented in an easy to read format, visitors should return.
3) To generate the maximum amount of revenue, relationships need to be established with local businesses. Unlike other types of product/service related websites where potential clients are located around the country (or world), all of the businesses I will be reaching out to are located in the same general vicinity. I can and will meet with local business owners and managers, explain why they need to advertise in the local directory, show them that their neighbors are advertising and try to convince them to advertise as well. Maybe it sounds easier said than done, but if the pricing is competitive and the businesses receive a return on their advertising dollar, the advertising will sell.
4.) Once a geodomain business model is successful, the model can be replicated in other city .com domain names fairly easily.
5.) Travel, Job, Ticket and other similar affiliate sites were practically made for geodomains. Most will actually help you create a white label solution so the affiliate site is fully integrated into your geodomain. While jobs.lowell.com might not look exactly like Lowell.com, it is pretty close.
6.) There are always people who are fully committed to their city. If the domain name is beneficial to the city, others will be very willing to help. With Lowell.com, I worked with a top photographer who not only provided images, he also gave me some great advice about things that should be included in the website. He is also going to introduce me to some of the city decision makers so I can introduce myself and let them know I want to help the city.
I don’t think geodomains are any easier to develop than any other type of domain name. I do recommend that the owner have a tie to the city he wants to develop and that the city is large enough that it can be fully developed. With smaller, non-tourist towns, it can be more difficult to get enough advertisers to generate revenue. One of the most important things to remember is that the website should not only reflect the personal tastes of the owner, but it should also be reflective of the city.
For now, I have enough geodomain names in my portfolio to keep me very busy with development.

Top Notch Domains, LLC Acquires Burbank.com

Elliot Silver
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Top Notch Domains, LLC, a New Hampshire based domain investment and development company has acquired Burbank.com for an undisclosed sum. Burbank is one of the fastest growing cities in the state of California, with a population of over 100,000 residents. Previously, Burbank.com was used as a private Burbank news website.
The city of Burbank is known as “the media capital of the world,” as many of the largest media companies have headquarters or significant production facilities in the city, including Disney, Warner Brothers, and NBC. Burbank is located approximately ten miles from from Los Angeles, and it is home to one of the fastest growing airports in the US. It has beautiful homes, is a center for business and has a strong economy.
“We just launched our first geodomain website, Lowell.com, and I am looking forward to the development of Burbank.com,” said Elliot Silver, President of Top Notch Domains, LLC. “I am excited to fly out to Burbank on Jet Blue – non-stop from JFK, to begin researching this great city.” The company anticipates that a mini-site will be developed in the coming month, and Burbank.com will be fully developed by the end of Q3 2008.
Top Notch Domains, LLC also owns Salinas.com, which is currently being built into a guide of Salinas, California, a city of around 150,000 residents in California’s wine country. The company recently put the name for sale, but is reevaluating their position.

Lowell.com is Launched

Elliot Silver
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There is still some work to be done, but I am happy to announce that I have launched Lowell.com! While my developer and I are still working out some of the kinks, we are at a point where we are able to release the first version of the Lowell.com website. I know it’s not perfect and many tweaks will need to be made in the coming days, but this is all a learning process for me, and I hope the launch of the site encourages others to develop some of their domain names.
There are still some grammatical, SEO, linking and other various issues, but I am comfortable enough with the presentation to launch it. If you notice anything funky – be it grammar, punctuation, spelling, links…etc, please be kind and drop me a note. This is my first “real” website aside from my blog and corporate site, so the learning curve is still pretty steep.
I would like to thank everyone who helped me by giving fantastic advice and recommendations. I really appreciate it. And to those people whose emails I haven’t responded to in the last couple of weeks, I apologize. Feel free to send them again and I will try to respond more quickly.

DomainingTips: Making Money from Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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Some solid advice on DomainingTips.com on how to turn average domain names into valuable revenue-producing domain names. People often complain that they were too late in the game to get the “good names,” but this proves there is no such thing as being late in the domain industry. The successful entrepreneur will learn how he can make his domain names profitable rather than lamenting about what could have been had he only known about domain names years earlier.
Timing is important, but it isn’t everything. There is no easy money in the domain industry, but the article gives a step-by-step guide to one way to make money – even if you started today. If you want longevity in the industry, you need to find a niche that works for you, and there is some good advice in the article.

Deal of the Day – TaxGuide.com & TaxGuides.com

Elliot Silver
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TaxGuide.com and TaxGuides.com have sold at the BIN price.

In 5 Years… My Perfect Portfolio

Elliot Silver
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I was having a philosophical domain discussion last night about the future of the domain industry and where domain investors stand. This got me thinking about “my perfect domain portfolio” and my plans for the future. While we all tend to focus on the short-term, I think it’s important to think further out and set some long-term goals. I know this well help me stay focused on the bigger picture when dealing with present issues.
With that in mind, I would like to share what I think is “my perfect domain portfolio” in 5 years time. I cannot say whether this will still hold true in 5 years, but it is what I am visualizing at the moment.
I will have 2 fully developed city .com geographic domain names that are benefiting each community and the advertisers. I would like both domain names to be cities of between 100-150,000 people, as I believe a city of this size will benefit from a well-developed website. I think it would be much more difficult for a website to have an impact on a larger city, and as much as money is important, I believe a nice living can be made in the mid-size cities. I want to establish strong relationships in both cities, and I want each website to be well-received and beneficial to each city. I believe I have started this with my Lowell.com website, which is still being developed.
I will have 2 developed product/service based websites. They won’t necessarily be full businesses, but they will be in a niche that I find particularly interesting. Perhaps a wine or travel related website would be one of these. I hope this could be a fun website I will enjoy managing and be able to work on as more of a hobby than financial endeavor. Hopefully the geo-domain names will generate enough revenue to be able to do this without worrying about generating revenue on these pet projects!
I will have 15-20 domain names of friends and family. Some of my friends don’t really understand domain management, but they know they need (or will need) their domain names in the future. I am holding a few domain names for friends at the moment, and I imagine I will hold more in the next few years as friends get married or take on new challenges in life. For example, my brother is a law student, so I own a domain name that could be relevant to his law firm down the road.
I will want to own 10-20 speculative .com domain names. These are pure speculation that the topic would be of interest to someone or me down the road. These could all be names I keep in the hopper for my own development needs if I wish. They will all be in areas of interest, and I won’t be inclined to sell them.
As some people have seen, I have been selling names from my portfolio more quickly than usual. One reason I am selling them is because I acquired a large geographic domain name a few days ago (that I have been looking to acquire for over 2 months). This new name fits into my 5 year plan, and I need the funds to offset the high acquisition cost. A second reason I am selling is because I know I won’t ever get to develop the names. It’s not a matter of not wanting to develop them, but rather the time it would take.
The opportunity cost of keeping these domain names is greater than if I sell them and use the funds to pay for other expenses. Sure, I am probably getting much less than I could get down the road, but I know the funds I use from the proceeds of the sale will be more beneficial today to help position me to reach my goals in 5 years than they would be if I held on to them. As domain owners, we need to look at the costs of selling vs. the cost of not selling and see how that will affect our 5 year plan.

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