Live Video Chat on Bido.com with Chef Patrick and Myself Today at 1EST

Packing up and getting ready to head to Bido.com for a live video chat today at 1EST. After a great trip to the West Palm Beach area I head home late this afternoon and could not think of a better way to finish it off than a trip to Bido.

We had a great local domainers meeting last night and enjoyed a nice dinner at Ruth's Chris, and determined domainers must all really like creme brulee.  In reality one thing that was great about last night was the mix of long time domainers and new blood coming into it now. Brian Diener is a great example of someone digging in and learning the ropes and between him and his friend Alex there can only be good things ahead.

Here are the people who attended:

John Holland

Stu Malloff - StupendousDomains.com

Brian Diener - TeenDomainer.com

Scott Alliy - FindASeminar.com

Bruce Marler

Patrick Ruddell - ChefPatrick.com

Well, headed off, if you look at the twitpics on the right side of my blog you will see a few pics from last night. It was a great time and we managed not to get arrested or detained:)

Begging for Mobile Interfaces for Domain Auction Sites

I have been a bit quiet on the blog front lately due some crazy travel schedules. When traveling I try to use all the tools available to stay connected and productive and have carried both a Blackberry and and Apple iPhone together for sometime but in the past week or so I killed the Blackberry and moved solely to my iPhone.

The iPhone provides a great platform for browsing and in most cases I prefer the full version of websites when browsing on it, but find when using sites that perform some sort of application (auctions, stats view, etc) I really would prefer a simpler, more iPhone (mobile) optimized interface for those times when I am not sitting in an airport and am actually running through the airport or walking from meeting to meeting.

So, all that brings me to the title. In most cases when entering an auction I like to set my bid at the amount I am willing to pay and move on. But in many competitive auctions or in days I am in multiple auctions at the same time on names that could go into the $X,XXX category I prefer to monitor and react to auctions based on the overall auctions I am in that day.

Considering that the Internet user in general is starting to perform more and more of their browsing from mobile devices and that many domainers in general seem to be a pretty mobile and tech savvy bunch I would think that the auction platforms would focus a bit of development effort into providing an optimized interface for those connecting to their site through mobile devices.

If Namejet or Snapnames either has a mobile interface I sure have not been able to find it when browsing on my iPhone. If someone reading knows of one feel free to correct me.

If the mobile interface was available I would not of missed out on somewhere around $5K of purchases I would of made this week. I am sure I am not the only one that would appreciate a mobile optimized platform for making and monitoring bids on names I am already in auction on, it really doesn't have to let me make backorders, simply monitor and bid on names I am already in auction with.

Anyone else wish for the same?

Domain Name Buying and Selling Do’s and Don’ts Part 3

OK, final installment of Domain Name Buying and Selling Do's and Don'ts. Some of the comments I have got through DM on twitter and in email from those that know me have been fun and actually have led to some fun ideas for future blog posts. Keep in mind these are mistakes that most domainers have made at sometime or another (myself included) and are meet to help not berate.

After todays installment I will leave this theme of posts for a bit:)

1) If you are selling a name based on traffic and revenue, DO make sure you test it at multiple parking providers first. Although I prefer Parked.com in most cases I find that certain names perform better at other parking providers (I do much better with adult names on SedoPro).   Now why it is important, I recently sold a name on 2 years revenue that at Parked.com was making approximately $20 a month. I tested this same name on SedoPro and it made $80 a month, thats a major difference if you are looking at a 2 year revenue multiple. $480 compared to $1920 just by taking the time to test on multiple parking companies.

2) Do NOT backorder domains at just one drop catcher. You will miss names you want guaranteed, it takes no more than 3 minutes to add the backorder on a second site (or even 3rd). I routinely use Snapnames and Namejet (to a lesser degree Pool) and have even on occasion use Godaddy backorders. If its a good name its worth the effort to cover your bases.

3) Do NOT ask for appraisals on forums, when I was a newbie I did this, its bad for 50 different reasons. Its not worth the effort.

4) If you are trying to move a traffic name be prepared to provide more details if its a name you are asking for more than $1XX on. I see people acting surprised when people want to see referrers, keywords, 3 months revenue, etc. If you cannot provide that is fine but do not expect to get the same revenue multiple that someone who can provide would get.

5) This one is more of an annoyance than anything, READ the forum rules before posting a for sale thread. The rules are there for a reason, the rest of us are abiding by them, you need to as well.

Thanks for reading once again. If you are into traffic names item #1 above is probably the most important one out of this 3 part series.

Domain Name Buying And Selling Do’s and Don’ts Part 2

Getting ready to board a flight but thought no time like the present to post the second list of Domain Buying and Selling do's and don'ts. Had some good commentary on Twitter and email after the post yesterday.  Enjoy the second installment:

1) Brandables - Do not buy brandable anything, I do not care if it sounds really cool, is 5 letters long, and is .com. If you are buying hundreds or even dozens of these you could of spent that money on a quality domain that has value. If a group of guys buzzing on coffee are brainstorming ideas for names of a company and searching real time the chances of them a) hitting on yours and caring enough to buy it, or b) not moving onto to another idea on their whiteboard, are pretty much slim to none. TeenDomainer.com had a nice post on why not to do this in .ME, .INFO, etc today as well.

2) Do not buy 5 word .coms and expect to move them at prices that match single word .com prices. Its ok to buy a keyword rich 3 word domain, it has worked well for me on Minisites and for a niche product thats great. But do not buy MyCoolNicheProductNameInRed.org and expect it to do as well as a single word .com. I am amazed (amused) everyday by the names that are being pushed everyday on the forums like this. On that note.

3) Do not list everyname you own as premium. When I scan the forums for domains to buy it is almost an automatic ignore as soon as I see PREMIUM KEYWORD DOMAINS, or SUPER PREMIUM.  75 percent of the time those names are weak, very weak. And on another note...

4) Do not ignore the forum sales forums. Its a buyers market right now, there are bargains to be had. NOTE: This item may of been a bad idea, competition.....

5) Do NOT buy premium .TV names with $5,000 renewals unless you have a solid plan to recoup your cost with a site development. Not that I had any with $5,000 renewals but I did have one with a $500 renewal. Its was a very nice name that even fit the extension well. I dropped it, it hurt to do it, but at the end of the day it made since and with the money saved I was able to invest in a traffic name that actually makes a profit.

More to come, I post these for people to learn from my mistakes that I made early on when I got started, and from those that I speak with daily. Don't take offense if you are making or are have made these mistake. I may not have made all of them but some of these are from experience.

Domain Buying and Selling Do’s and Dont’s

Everyweek I make at least a couple Domain related transactions, whether it be purchasing a name on Namepros.com or selling a name through email or Sedo there is usually some negotiation that takes place. Rick Latona has a series of blog posts concerning general selling do's and don't which some people have a hard time accepting. People just do not like the truth sometimes, especially when it may be something new they are learing or even more so when it is something they no but just do not want to admit.

I came up with a list of more than 30 do's and don'ts  for when dealing with domain transactions but limited my list to 5 and will post more in later blog posts, some of these are obvious but for a newbie coming in or for someone who is simply new to any transaction based business I hope these can help.

1) NEVER, I mean NEVER accept the first offer. Even if you think the number is fair understand that its a starting point. When making a counter offer NEVER counter with your lowest acceptance price. Example, recently I sold  a name on Sedo for $2,000.  The first offer was at $750, did I counter with $2,000, no, I countered with $3,000. If I would of countered with $2,000 they would of offered something lower. This increased my transaction value by hundreds of dollars.

2) When buying names make sure you have the money to buy, do NOT string out the seller for days, weeks, months coming up with the funds. If you cannot buy it do not make the offer. Its ok to say no if the seller comes back with something that does not meet your budget, but once you commit you better be ready. I had a transaction string out for 3 months last year due to this. I had already posted a name was sold then the person suddenly kept having excuses for the funds not showing up.  I still had the name but the hassle was not worth it. Never again. (One exception, if you work out payment plans ahead of time)

3)  Do NOT believe the traffic numbers on Godaddy auctions. Its been proven time and time again that these numbers are not accurate and can be driven up by unsavory characters buying traffic to push up prices. Do your research, if you cannot figure out where the traffic is coming from then do not take the chance. I have seen many a name that showed hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors per month that after doing a bit of research could not figure out any reason why the site could be getting that much traffic. There are plenty of how-tos available on how to check for backlinks, Alexa rank, etc for a name. Save yourself some money and use them.

4) OK, so a funny but very true one, people make jokes all the time about buying domains when drunk. Seriously, its funny but true, if you have a list of 100 domains in your cart at your register of choice and you know you had to many Gin and Tonics do not hit BUY:) I say this one almost in jest but I am sure I have a couple names I have dropped (cancelled...) due to this.

5) Be careful not to jump on every overly hyped extension to hit the market. I will admit freely that no one has a crystal ball and some may actually do well. But if you invest all your domaining dollars in .TV, .MOBI, .ME, .TEL (let me emphasize that last one .TEL) you will not do as well as focusing your dollars on .COM, .NET, or .ORG. I have made my mistakes in this area, learn from my mistakes here. That said, I have made some large domain purchases in one of those listed above and am a believer (.ME for full disclosure). That came after people (money guys, marketing guys) caught on to it and actually funded a project based on the branding and possibilities of it. Note that it was based on MONEY not emotion. Domaining is a business not a hobby.

I am sure people will have either strong agreements, disagreements, or comments. Feel free. There are dozens more that could be listed.