According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, and also reported in Tech Crunch, Liberty Media has paid $100 million to acquire a controlling stake in BodyBuilding.com. Liberty Media is an investor in Internet holding company, IAC, parent company of Match.com, Chemistry.com, Ticketmaster.com, and many other category leading websites.
Bodybuilding.com hosts both a fitness social networking community/forum with 100,000 participants, and it is an e-commerce website with body building supplies, vitamin supplements and fitness clothing. According to the Tech Crunch article (citing ComScore figures), BodyBuilding.com received over 2 million unique visitors in November.
Domain investors often cite Hotels.com as one of the few companies that built an entire business around a category killer generic domain name. While this is certainly true, I think there are many other companies, like BodyBuilding.com, that have built strong businesses around a category killer generic domain name. A category killer domain name doesn’t necessarily have to be mainstream to become a $100 million business. Sometimes niche category killer domain names can be just as effective, as long as a solid business plan is in place.
Controlling Interest in BodyBuilding.com Sold for $100 Million
Domain Sale with Pricing
A few days ago I listed a large group of names for sale and asked for offers. I have since priced the remaining names. If you are interested in any of the names, please leave a comment or email me. They are all registered at Moniker for an easy push. This is listed on a domain forum, so first come, first served.
ARIZONAINSURER.COM – $75
ARKANSASSITE.COM – $35
BENSONHURSTREALESTATE.COM – SOLD
BOROUGHPARKREALESTATE.COM – SOLD
BRIGHTONBEACHREALESTATE.COM – SOLD
CHEAPESTPAINTBALLS.COM – $100
CHEAPTOILETRIES.COM – $75
CHRISTIANITYEXPERT.COM – $50
CHRISTIANITYEXPERTS.COM – $50
CHRISTIANITYTEACHER.COM – $50
CHRISTIANITYTEACHERS.COM – $50
CHRISTIANITYWEBSITES.COM – $50
CLUTZES.COM – $75
COMPUTERAUDIOCABLES.COM – $25
CREDITREPORTTRACKER.COM – $50
CROWNHEIGHTSREALESTATE.COM – SOLD
DELAWAREBUSINESSLOANS.COM – $40
DELAWAREINSURER.COM – $100
DELAWARESTOCKBROKER.COM – $50
DELAWARESTRIPPERS.COM – $40
DIGITALCOMPUTERSPEAKERS.COM – $40
DIRECTMAILLISTBROKERS.COM – $40
FLATCOMPUTERSPEAKERS.COM – $25
FLATPANELCOMPUTERSPEAKERS.COM – $25
FLORIDASUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
HANDHELDPORNS.COM – $40
HANDHELDVIDEOGAMING.COM – $50
HAVEBEENS.COM – $40
HEALTHCAREBARGAIN.COM – $50
HEALTHPHOBIAS.COM – $25
HMOCOMPANIES.COM – $75
HOTAIRBALLOONISTS.COM – $50
ILLINOISINSURER.COM – $100
ILLINOISSUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
IMMEDIATEALERTS.COM – $50
IMMEDIATECREDITSCORES.COM – $100
INTELLIGENCETESTERS.COM – $40
IOWASTRIPPERS.COM – $40
MASSACHUSETTSBUSINESSLOANS.COM – $40
MERLOTWORLD.COM – $200
MICHIGANFORECLOSUREAUCTIONS.COM – $40
MICHIGANSUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
MISSISSIPPISTRIPPERS.COM – $40
MOBILECOMPUTERMEMORY.COM – $35
NEBRASKASTRIPPERS.COM – $40
NEVADAFORECLOSUREAUCTIONS.COM – $40
NEVADAINSURER.COM – $100
NEVADAINSURERS.COM – $100
NEVADASUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
NEWJERSEYBUSINESSLOANS.COM – $40
NEWJERSEYFORECLOSUREAUCTIONS.COM – $40
NEWJERSEYINSURER.COM – $100
NEWJERSEYINSURERS.COM – $100
NEWJERSEYSHOPPINGCENTERS.COM – $45
NEWJERSEYSUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
NEWMEXICOSTRIPPERS.COM – $40
NEWYORKINSURER.COM – $150
NEWYORKINSURERS.COM – $150
NEWYORKSUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
OHIOFORECLOSUREAUCTIONS.COM – $35
OHIOINSURER.COM – $100
OHIOINSURERS.COM – $100
OHIOSUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
OKLAHOMASTRIPPERS.COM – $40
ONLINEHEALERS.COM – $75
ONLINEHOMEMOVIE.COM – $50
OREGONSTRIPPERS.COM – $40
OREGONTEACHER.COM – $50
PEEPSHOWBOOTH.COM – $75
PEEPSHOWBOOTHS.COM – $75
PENNSYLVANIABUSINESSLOANS.COM – $40
PENNSYLVANIASUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
PLASTICSURGERYWEBSITE.COM $150
PORTABLECOMPUTERMEMORY.COM – $40
PORTABLEMEMORYCARDS.COM – $50
PORTABLEVIDEODEVICE.COM – $35
REUSABLEMEMORY.COM – $40
RHODEISLANDLENDER.COM – $50
SOUTHCAROLINASITE.COM – $40
SUBPRIMEHOMELENDING.COM – $100
SUBPRIMEHOMEREFINANCING.COM – $250
SUBPRIMEMORTGAGEPROBLEMS.COM – $100
TEXASINSURERS.COM – $100
TEXASSUBPRIMEMORTGAGES.COM – $40
TRAFFICTESTS.COM – $25
TRUCKDRIVINGINSURANCE.COM – $150
WIRELESSHANDHELDCOMPUTER.COM – $100
WIRELESSHANDHELDCOMPUTERS.COM – $100
WORKERSCLOTHING.COM – $75
WYOMINGSTRIPPERS.COM – $40
Lowell Project: Building a Directory
On the Lowell.com Blog, I discussed the process of building a directory to go on the Lowell.com website. From choosing a data provider to selecting a script program to properly display the data, I wrote about the process of finding the resources to build a directory. If you are interested in learning more, please visit the Lowell.com Blog, where I am discussing the development of Lowell.com.
Being a Successful Domain Investor
What sets successful people apart in the domain investment business?
Sure, it helps to have money coming into the industry, but I don’t think this is what determines whether or not someone will be successful. I see people spending lots of money on poor names (in my opinion), and I know that it can be easy to go broke quickly if names are purchased without a solid plan or reason for buying. A buying, selling and monetizing strategy is necessary to have success in this business, and successful people have been able to implement such a strategy – whether on paper or in the person’s head.
I heard from an acquaintance yesterday who has had great success in the domain investment industry, and aside for being very happy for him, I was thinking about what made him successful. Is he the smartest person I know? Definitely not (no offense). Was he wealthy when he got started in the business? Not at all – in fact, he started investing with under $1,000.
So what do I think it is that has made him successful so far? He listened to everyone that offered him advice about the domain business. Instead of talking, he was listening. He knew others had spent months and years learning, and he was able to flatten the learning curve quite a bit. He never gets caught up in the fray of some forums, and he always comes across as professional. He maintains a low profile and doesn’t like the limelight. I would also bet he could name half of DNJournal’s YTD Sales Chart with a low margin of error. He knows his $hit in the business because he never stopped learning. There are tons of great resources out there for people just starting out, and thee are many people willing to mentor.
The purpose of this post is to let the people just starting out in the business know it isn’t difficult to become a successful domain investor. If you keep focused, listen, and learn as much as you can, you will be successful in this business. If you have a chip on your shoulder or take short cuts, you won’t be happy with the results. Sure, it may take a while to really “get it,” but once you’ve got it, you will be happy with the results.
The Weather Channel May Be For Sale
According to Red Herring, Landmark Communications, the owner of The Weather Channel and all of its associated properties, is putting its Weather Channel assets on the auction block. The article referenced a $5 billion price tag that was suggested to Landmark Vice Chairman, Richard Barry.
I believe one of the best assets of The Weather Channel is their domain name, Weather.com. People don’t necessarily navigate to Weather.com to specifically visit The Weather Channel. They navigate to that domain name to get a weather forecast, and as long as its accurate, the provider of the forecast isn’t important. This is a category killer domain name, and it draws tremendous traffic.
According to Nielson/NetRatings reported in Financial Post, Weather.com received almost 33 million unique page views last November, which is more traffic than Facebook or CNN received that month. Additionally, millions of people look at Weather Channel widgets found on independent websites every month.
This is all positive for Landmark, and I would think several global companies would be interested in acquiring The Weather Channel portfolio.
Evaluating Affiliate Risk
The New York Post had an article the other day about the plane crash that Travis Barker and DJ AM survived. As a result of the crash, lawsuits were filed against everyone from the estates of the pilots, aircraft manufacturer, tire company, and flight brokers. Just about everyone who had a hand in planning or executing the flight was probably named in the lawsuit.
One tidbit I noticed was from Clay Aviation, which said they didn’t operate the plane that crashed, but were the brokers for the flight. That got me thinking about our affiliate websites and potential liability if something happens. We live in a litigation-happy country. People file or threaten lawsuits for anything and everything, and our websites could be exposed to even greater risk when offering products or services administered by other companies.
It’s important that website owners and operators evaluate the risk of offering other company’s products and services, and they need to take steps to mitigate the potential risk. Whether you would be liable for any part of an airplane crash that was booked on your site or not is something a court would ultimately decide. You need to be able to finance a defense, because it could be easy to be added to a large lawsuit.