Have you tried to reach Snapnames customer service lately? Good luck. They never answer their phones and rarely respond to emails. In the event you are fortunate to receive a reply, plan on it being 3 days after the initial request.
I was once one of Moniker/Snapnames biggest cheerleaders. No more. What was once great customer service has vanished into thin air.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
How to Appraise Domain Names
Domain names are the real estate of the internet. A good domain name means that your website will be found and remembered more often than others. This can give businesses fresh leads and people notoriety. Many different ways exist to create a domain name, here are some ways that you should create and then appraise your domain name.
Steps
- Consider your audience. When selecting a domain and appraising a domain name, you will want to consider your audience. Does your target audience speak English? Do they know exactly what they are looking for? Do they even want to be educated? Selecting a domain is important and appraising one is very important if you want to sell it. Consider the audience that your domain could "touch"; how broad is it?
- Look at your competitors. Taking a look at what your competitors are doing can give you an idea for how valuable a domain is. Loans.com is owned by Bank of America, so if Wellsfargo wanted to buy that domain, most likely they wouldn't be able to do so. If you owned LOAN.com, which could be considered second best to Loans.com, I would take the fact stated above into consideration.
- Length is important. The more memorable the domain, the better. Being short in length can help with this part, and hyphens will often confuse people when they talk about your domain to others. Hyphens and typically, longer domains can detract from the value.
- Including a keyword. When selecting a domain name, appraise it by considering the presence of the keyword. The keyword should be also present when creating a new domain name. The purpose of including the keyword is to optimize the search engines. The keyword should not be too competitive nor have a too low competition in that there is insufficient searches for it globally or locally.
Friday, February 11, 2011
What Happens To Your Domain Name Portfolio When You Die?
Just like any other asset, domain names may have cash value. Ever wonder what happens to your Portfolio of Domain names once you die? You spent a long time and quite a few dollars building your Domain Portfolio. If you don't want to see all that effort go to waste when you pass away you should start planning now. Like many of the possessions you leave behind in your Will, a Domain Portfolio may have cash value.
There may be some things that you can do to ensure that your domain portfolio is not simply ignored and discarded as something worthless. Do you really think the executor of your estate is going to have any clue as to what a "domain name portfolio" is - not likely. Try explaining to someone unfamiliar with buying and selling domains and you may get a deer-in-the headlight look as if you are involved with some secret underground society.
When creating a Last Will and Testament it is a good idea to include detailed information that directs the executor to carefully read an enclosed letter that instructs them on what the domains are used for, along with a complete list of your domains and where they are registered, as well and the estimated value of each. This should also include contact info for the domain registrar along with a list of reputable domain brokers that can assist the executor in the valuation and liquidation of the domains.
As with any other asset that you have earned over the course of a lifetime you do not want a potentially valuable domain name portfolio to be cast aside upon your death because no one knows anything about "Domaining".
If you put together a simple plan and include it in your Will you will increase the chances that a valuable asset will not be overlooked and may likely increase the amount of proceeds that will be passed along to your loved ones.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
How To Really Profit From Domain Names
Have you heard about domain names that sold for over a million dollars? Inspired by this, you imagine registering a great domain name, hanging onto it for a while, and then selling it off to become the next multi-millionaire. It could happen, but don`t count on it!
First of all, many of the truly great domain names are already taken. Second, the dot com bust took some of the wind out of inflated domain name prices. (If you sell your domain name for millions of dollars worth of stock in a publicly traded dot com flop, what is the name really worth?)
The cybersquatter buys domain names totally on speculation. Sometimes he will register names of famous brands, companies, or individuals. Time and again, these domain name speculators learn the hard way that they must respect intellectual property rights. They hope that some large corporation will pay big bucks to them for the use of the company`s own (already trademarked) name. Instead, they end up with threatening letters from a law firm for their attempts at extortion.
However, you can still make money from domain names if you are sensible in your approach. Here are some suggestions on ways to profit.
1. Affiliate Programs: Use your domain name to promote an appropriate affiliate program. Either redirect to the affiliate site or write a review that links to them.
2. Informational Sites: Create content and then profit from it by earning advertising revenue through Google AdSense or a similar program.
3. Redirect to Your Own Site: Some reasons you might want to do this include preventing competitors from using a particular domain name and benefiting from searches some users perform by domain name. (For example, if they wanted to order flowers, they might just type "flowers.com" in their web browser. You could get some traffic and sales this way.)
4. Product Sites: Create your own or sell someone else`s product appropriate to your domain name.
5. Park Your Domain Names: You might feel that your name has real potential for resale value. There are companies that will allow you to park your domain on their servers, advertise that your name is for sale, and split advertising revenue with you.
The trick is to generate traffic for your domain name. That traffic in turn will create revenue. Then, when you go to sell your domain name, you will have a few things going for you.
First, you will have a fully developed website. A fully constructed building on a piece of land increases the value of the real estate property. Similarly, the value of your domain name is enhanced by a complete and operating website.
Second, you have traffic. Just as a shopping mall with no traffic results in no sales, so a website must have traffic to generate income.
Third, you have income. An income property, such as an apartment building, can be appraised on the basis of its income (as well as other factors). Similarly, the gross income, net profits and cashflow of a website have value. For example, if someone offered you $1,000 for your domain name and website when it was generating $10,000 per day in profits, you would likely laugh at him.
You really can profit from your domain name investments by adding value and properly developing your web properties.
First of all, many of the truly great domain names are already taken. Second, the dot com bust took some of the wind out of inflated domain name prices. (If you sell your domain name for millions of dollars worth of stock in a publicly traded dot com flop, what is the name really worth?)
The cybersquatter buys domain names totally on speculation. Sometimes he will register names of famous brands, companies, or individuals. Time and again, these domain name speculators learn the hard way that they must respect intellectual property rights. They hope that some large corporation will pay big bucks to them for the use of the company`s own (already trademarked) name. Instead, they end up with threatening letters from a law firm for their attempts at extortion.
However, you can still make money from domain names if you are sensible in your approach. Here are some suggestions on ways to profit.
1. Affiliate Programs: Use your domain name to promote an appropriate affiliate program. Either redirect to the affiliate site or write a review that links to them.
2. Informational Sites: Create content and then profit from it by earning advertising revenue through Google AdSense or a similar program.
3. Redirect to Your Own Site: Some reasons you might want to do this include preventing competitors from using a particular domain name and benefiting from searches some users perform by domain name. (For example, if they wanted to order flowers, they might just type "flowers.com" in their web browser. You could get some traffic and sales this way.)
4. Product Sites: Create your own or sell someone else`s product appropriate to your domain name.
5. Park Your Domain Names: You might feel that your name has real potential for resale value. There are companies that will allow you to park your domain on their servers, advertise that your name is for sale, and split advertising revenue with you.
The trick is to generate traffic for your domain name. That traffic in turn will create revenue. Then, when you go to sell your domain name, you will have a few things going for you.
First, you will have a fully developed website. A fully constructed building on a piece of land increases the value of the real estate property. Similarly, the value of your domain name is enhanced by a complete and operating website.
Second, you have traffic. Just as a shopping mall with no traffic results in no sales, so a website must have traffic to generate income.
Third, you have income. An income property, such as an apartment building, can be appraised on the basis of its income (as well as other factors). Similarly, the gross income, net profits and cashflow of a website have value. For example, if someone offered you $1,000 for your domain name and website when it was generating $10,000 per day in profits, you would likely laugh at him.
You really can profit from your domain name investments by adding value and properly developing your web properties.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Will Wall Street start to invest in Domain Names?
It may not be too far fetched to find Wall Street develop an interest in buying premium domain names and have them packaged in portfolios that will be made available as investments similar to mutual funds.
Domain names are an ever present commodity that has been around for nearly 15 years and will continue to grow. Anyone who has a website is in need of a good domain to attract the attention of potential customers.
We have already seen a couple of top dollar names such as sex.com attract the interest of a number of big investors who where willing to put together a multimillion dollar deal to secure the name. Imagine building a portfolio of 20 of the most valuable domain names and offering them to investors.
The portfolio would be treated like any other investment. People buy shares of the Domain Name Portfolio. Like a mutual fund, the Broker would be responsible for placing a value on the portfolio, finding potential investors and overseeing all activities related to its growth and administration. Individual investors would become shareholders of the portfolio and be paid dividends depending on it's growth.
This scenario has been oversimplified to create a vision the possibilities of Domain Names becoming a widely traded commodity similiar to the many other products currently changing hands on daily basis on Wall Street.
Thousands of Domain names are sold and traded each day - some for quite a large sum of money. The Domain Name business is here to stay and has grown exponentially in recent years. It is one the the few investments that is a good hedge against inflation. The return on a good domain name far exceeds the return on many of the other investments available in the market today.
Domain names are an ever present commodity that has been around for nearly 15 years and will continue to grow. Anyone who has a website is in need of a good domain to attract the attention of potential customers.
We have already seen a couple of top dollar names such as sex.com attract the interest of a number of big investors who where willing to put together a multimillion dollar deal to secure the name. Imagine building a portfolio of 20 of the most valuable domain names and offering them to investors.
The portfolio would be treated like any other investment. People buy shares of the Domain Name Portfolio. Like a mutual fund, the Broker would be responsible for placing a value on the portfolio, finding potential investors and overseeing all activities related to its growth and administration. Individual investors would become shareholders of the portfolio and be paid dividends depending on it's growth.
This scenario has been oversimplified to create a vision the possibilities of Domain Names becoming a widely traded commodity similiar to the many other products currently changing hands on daily basis on Wall Street.
Thousands of Domain names are sold and traded each day - some for quite a large sum of money. The Domain Name business is here to stay and has grown exponentially in recent years. It is one the the few investments that is a good hedge against inflation. The return on a good domain name far exceeds the return on many of the other investments available in the market today.
How Much is a Domain Name Really Worth
Every domain name investor is constantly asking: How much, exactly, is my domain worth? Its funny too, because if you review any one of the many domain forums you will see that the opinions on domain valuation vary tremendously. Which is why, in my opinion, you really shouldn’t take what they say in those forums all so seriously.
Not to say they don’t have value, just to say that it’s not going to give you a solid valuation system for the domains in your portfolio. Here’s why we recommend their domain name appraisal services. They have 8 points they cover in the domain appraisal process. If you are interested in paying for a professional appraisal there are a few online tools that will at least give you a snapshot of the amount of searches and type-in traffic that a particular domain name can expect to bring in. Though not a substitute for a professional appraisal these online tools can at least give you some idea of the domains potential prior to buying it. One of my favorite tools is Valuate.com.
Not to say they don’t have value, just to say that it’s not going to give you a solid valuation system for the domains in your portfolio. Here’s why we recommend their domain name appraisal services. They have 8 points they cover in the domain appraisal process. If you are interested in paying for a professional appraisal there are a few online tools that will at least give you a snapshot of the amount of searches and type-in traffic that a particular domain name can expect to bring in. Though not a substitute for a professional appraisal these online tools can at least give you some idea of the domains potential prior to buying it. One of my favorite tools is Valuate.com.
1. Dot. Value
The domain name market gives far greater valuations to Dot.com’s than Dot.net’s, Dot.org’s and any one of several other major extensions available in the domain name market.
2. Domain Name Recognition
Plain English words, spelled correctly, including slang, make more sense to people and are easier to impress upon an audience. They are absolutely the most valuable domain names. Names like autos4u.com have a second-class aura about them and are more difficult for people to read, recognize, and remember.
3. Domain Marketability
The number of people who are potential customers for the website that the name promotes is a significant component of domain name value. For instance, the domain name pizza.com rates higher, because essentially everyone loves pizza.
4. Domain Development Potential
A domain name that’s relevant to what’s being sold is more valuable, because it’s self-explanatory. For instance, we suspect that if we see a website with the domain name dietbooks.com, we will expect it to have something to do with books on various weight-loss schemes.
5. Domain Name Length
Short and sweet is generally the most desirable quality for a domain name, especially with most of the recognizable names rarely available. Single, recognizable words are considered better than multiple words pieced together.
6. Likely Domain Buyers
Who is the owner most likely to sell the domain name to should the owner end his or her use of it? This makes a great difference in the value. For instance, a name suitable for a physician but not for a medical organization will most likely be sold to a small business (i.e., a doctors’ practice). Doctors can’t afford to spend hundreds of thousands on a domain name. On the other hand, a domain like furniture.com might sell to a substantial corporation. There are plenty of large corporations associated with the auto industry that can afford to pay hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions for a domain name.
7. Traffic and Revenue
Websites that are receiving traffic have better value than those without traffic. Websites with substantial revenue (over $500 monthly) are valued much higher. (Please specify such revenue when submitting for an appraisal) A great way to get an overview of a domain in terms of ranking amongst the millions of sites on the Internet is by going to Alexa.com.
8. Current Market Trends
Domain names that are associated with current market trends, events and popular niches are often valued higher. This rating system, done by hand by some of the top domain experts online is why we suggest their services. If you really want to sell your domains, take the time to get a real appraisal done. You’ll be glad you did.