In the past, I discussed developing mini-sites on good domain names to generate revenue using Adsense instead of parking the name. The logic was that the traffic to the mini-website would grow as it begins to rank in search engines, whereas parked domain names won’t typically see an increase in traffic unless it’s related to a specific event or hot trend. Domain owners could quickly develop some of their domain names and increase the revenue generated.
I was reading Morgan’s Blog today, and he gives a great example of why development can exponentially increase the value of a domain name. He registered StimulusChecks.info at the end of April, and he built a relevant website with valuable information. Because he is providing value in the form of good unique content, Google has rewarded the site and it is ranking well for related terms. As a result, the name is making about $10/day in revenue and receiving around 200 visits/day.
Because of the nature of this topic, I would venture that the big traffic spike might flatten out in the next few weeks, but without a doubt, Morgan will make a great profit from this project. If he does this on other decent domain names focusing on relevant topics, he could generate a strong passive revenue stream that will continue to grow as he builds his network of websites and links to all of them.
Another great mini site was set-up by Aaron Kuroiwa, owner of FlipSquare.com, a new domain sales venue. Aaron registered AlcoholTreatmentClinics.com after seeing it in my list of domain registration suggestions for charity. Aaron wrote articles and built a the website that ranks highly in several search terms. The site averages about $3/day in revenue and is growing – not bad from a new registration to a mini-site that probably took a day to build.
These are just two examples of thousands that are out there. I will be rolling a few out in the near future (when I get some free time from developing Lowell.com and Burbank.com). While this certainly isn’t meant for every domain name, it might be a good option for strong keyword domain names that aren’t earning strong revenues. The ability to scale is important, and domain owners can scale with this. One recommendation I can make is that a person should link all of their sites in order to boost each of the sites’ rankings. As they continue to grow individually, the entire network will grow as a result. A final suggestion is to develop sites in which you have an interest. Since writing articles and finding information can be boring, I think it’s important to build sites about things of interest to you.

I know many people who make money from developed or parked domain names in the .com, .net, and .org extensions (myself included in the .com and soon .net). I haven’t spoken with anyone who has made money with .mobi names – other than a couple people who were very happy when they flipped a name to a speculator for a profit. Maybe I am just not networking with people who are doing big things with their .mobi names – a distinct possibility.
That said, I am wondering if any domain developer/investor has a financial success story around the development of a .mobi website (either generating revenue from direct to advertiser sales or even PPC). I don’t want to turn this into any type of pissing contest, but I am interested in knowing if there is money to be made in developing or parking .mobi domain names.
I am sure there is some traffic on the great one-word names like news.mobi or traffic.mobi or directions.mobi, but I am wondering what type of return people are seeing on these names. I am looking for independent investors and developers (like myself) rather than on large companies whose mobile websites can be reached using .com or .mobi (like BOA).
I paid a considerable amount of money for Lowell.com and Burbank.com knowing how I would develop these names and knowing the approximate amount of time it would take to earn a return on my investment, but I have no clue about .mobi. It’s been over a year and a half since the launch of .mobi names, and I would like to know if money has been made with development.