Closing The Deal

One of the biggest hurdles people have when selling any product is the ability to actually ask for the close, or as I always say, ask for the check. Whether you are selling domain names or selling encyclopedias door to door it really does not matter you still have to close the deal.

The problem many people have is confusing the ability to get someone interested in your product with actually closing the deal. At one point in my career I was the same way, I could get them interested, just waiting for me to ask to close the deal, but I just could not get past the stigma of asking someone for money (and that is where alot of this comes from, it is ingrained in most people not to feel comfortable asking someone for money). But when you are selling a product (domain name) you have to close the deal, you have to take the money or it does not matter.

In many cases this is confidence as well, you have to believe in your product to get to the closing process, but you really have to have confidence to actually ask them to write you the check, wire you the money, or Paypal you.

Many people mistake having a great personality and being able to talk well in front of people with being a good salesperson. Unfortunately that is not the case, I know alot of really great people that are a blast to hang around, people love to listen to them, but they cannot actually close the deal. This is the biggest problem I have when people refer sales people to me. I can tell in 5 minutes if they are going to be comfortable with closing the deal.

When it comes to domain sales I think the real reason a lot of people try to do it through email is that there is no verbal communication or personal connection to overcome to ask for the close. If you are not from a sales background and have top domain real estate it is likely a good idea to use a domain brokerage service if you want to get the top value out of your top properties. They are not afraid to ask and they know how to stick to their guns to get the most value.

So, next time you are selling a domain name or website keep in mind you are selling a product, they are getting something in return, do not be afraid to ask for payment. It is the only way business gets done.

Optimizing Value Of An End User Domain Name Purchase

When selling a domain name to an end user you need to approach the valuation much differently than when selling at wholesale prices between domain investors. Our domain properties are key real estate properties and need to be treated as such when working with a possible end user.

As domain investors we tend to have domains that span many industries and as such do not necessarily think about the true value our names may have to the business acquiring our domain. When the real estate industry is in good shape commercial real estate agents can look at getting the top price for their property, we are no different with our "domain" property.

Earlier this week I had a contact from an end user looking to acquire one of my domains, it was a geo targeted .NET name in a hot tourist area in a very strong niche. So from the beginning I knew that there was solid value in the domain, but now it was time to evaluate what the true value was to the buyer.

First step was I noticed they indicated they wanted to buy my "website", this is something I have been noticing from buyers that have came from my minisites, they want to buy my website, not my domain name. This is key, they are viewing it as more than just a name, this adds value.

The other thing I noticed is that they person had their logo, title, etc in their email signature. This validated them as a company and what was really nice is I am familiar with their location and their business from visits to the area they are in. This also allows me to focus on speaking the value to their business since I know they are a real business and not just someone looking to buy a name on the cheap.

Before sending though I did some quick searches to determine if they were buying Google Adwords ads or if they were showing up in search results for the name they were looking to purchase. They were not...

After all of this I was able to set a price, although we all like to make the other side make the first move in many cases I find it more productive to set a price and negotiate from there. That is what I did in this case. The person is now taking the offer to the owners of the business (which is a nationwide firm).

Now, to make sure you get the most value it is time to start a bidding process, I went to Google once again to determine the Google Adwords customers targeting the related terms. I was able to determine the top companies that would be interested based on that. I was lucky enough to know the area and business they are in so that helped me focus on on several that I know are considered top players in their field. I then either sent emails or made phone calls to these businesses (asking for the Director of Marketing in most cases) to inform them that offers have been made for my "website" and I wanted to allow them the chance to bid on this property as well.

At this point negotiations are ongoing, but based on all of the above, and selling like a website instead of domain I have been able to increase the value and number of betters which increases the chance of success. Hope one of these tips helps you in some way.

UPDATE: Teendomainer also wrote a great post that you should read concerning selling to end users who have contacted you.

A Few Days Away, A Couple Domains For Sale and A Busy Week Ahead

I took an unplanned few days away from the laptop (well not 100 percent but close). After driving up to meet my business partner Friday the family and I decided to keep it going and spend sometime with some family in that part of the state and disconnect a bit. Good times, even if talk does turn to business more than planned. When you are excited and having fun it seems like somehow or another even when disconnecting you can get back to business.  Sorry to a few of you who I had planned on connecting with over the past couple days but had to put the calls off until tomorrow. Appreciate the understanding....

I have a couple names currently either headed to auction or in auction right now, here they are:

Smartphone.ME - With the current auctions for .ME continuing to do well you might want to grab this one while you can. Smartphones.com sold for $95,000 not to long ago to give you some idea of interest in this term. The auction ends in less than 12 hours at sedo. Smartphone.me Auction

StilettoSandals.com - This name will be on auction at Bido August 11th. A very solid product term to say the least. Heres a link to the auction: StilettoSandals.com auction.

Well, after getting a little breather its a long week ahead. I expect this week to have some interesting outcomes and to maybe have some announcements unrelated to Missouri.me coming out of the meetings to come that may interest many of you.

Back to my take a breather weekend. Hope yours was great!

It’s Better Than Real Estate Stupid

When explaining domain names and their value to people I usually start with a real estate reference, billboard location reference, etc and then go from there in how a domain name is even better for various reasons (probably should do a post on that....).  Well tomorrow it will be really interesting since I have to actually explain this to an end user buyer who has investors from the real estate community. Let me explain a bit.

Early last year I picked up an expired name that only someone local to St. Louis, MO would get the value of, but if you were from St. Louis you would get it in a second and if you happened to be in the entertainment or live music business you would get more attention from this name based on its history than almost any other. Plus the links to the name were from some of the top radio stations, etc in St. Louis and the region.

Well, in August I received an unsolicited email from someone interested in buying the name. The person was launching a business and was using the exact same name as the name I had based on the history that I mentioned earlier.  We negotiated a price, he budgeted for this in his plan and then he went to get financing. After initial approval the economy did what it did and the deal got put on hold. Thats fine the name pays for itself in ad revenue per month.

Fast forward 5 to 6 months and I get an email this morning saying that the project is back on and he now has external investors (from the real estate community) that are working with him to launch in July. He gets the value of the name but "the investors do not think the expense is necassary".  I almost laughed, people in real estate, specifically commercial real estate should get the value more than anyone outside our domainer community. Its all about location and thats what I have for them.

Now, let me say, I think domainers are naive many times when complaining about people just not getting the value of x name or y name. But in this case (and I wish I could release the name and it would make sense) there is no other name that works, period. It is the brand in this case. 

I sent back an email outlining that we could discuss this tomorrow and that the value of high end relavent domain names are still high even during this down turn (and referred to DNJournals YTD sales) and that every type in visitor or linked visitor they miss is a customer they missed out on. 

I am actually looking forward to the dicussion outlining why the category killer domain is valuable to their business, should be an interesting conversation if anything.

Sell Your Domain Name For Free

Ok, thought I would give people the chance to try something a little bit different.

There are many different avenues to sell your domains but I hear people complain all the time that their name is buried in the thousands of other names on the various auction sites or forums.

Also, many people want to be able to give a direct pitch to their prospective buyers, really give a sales pitch rather than just typing a few lines of stats but really not being able to verbalize in a forum post why they think their name is something someone should buy. Well now is your chance to change that.

For the first 5 people that are interested in trying this I will give you the chance to showcase your domain name here on BruceMarler.com for free. The video can be up to 2 minutes long, you can have anyone you want do the pitch, the 2 rules outside of that are no nudity (obviously) and no cussing.

There really is no downside. Many people are better in front of people than behind a screen typing, this is your chance to show that (or let someone else show that).

The video will be posted to youtube.com and have an embedded link here on the site. Each post will have its own contact form so all interested buyers will be able to contact the seller directly.

If you are interested in selling you domain here please contact me by selecting contact me in the menu bar above.

I do reserve the right to reject a name depending on content or extreme adult nature.