boxfish

Hi Guys,

I've been a member of the forum since July 2010 but I originally signed up to buy a domain to develop, not to become a domainer.

Since reading Frank's article and also domain competition I thought I would set myself a little challenge, to see how much I can turn £100 into over the next 12 months by buying and selling domains.

I've regged 4 so far and spent just over a quarter of my budget.

In the past I have regged a lot domains based on their number of exact matches on the GKT, but this time I decided to go down the other route that gets mentioned by a few well-regarded members on here, and was summarised recently in a tweet by Edwin:

Now ideally the _______ will have lots of exact matches to boot, but in my case they don't, however, I still see potential.

Of the 4 there are very few adwords results until you add the word company or service on the end and then there are quite a few. I took this as a good sign.

In your opinion do these names have potential or have I wasted £26.80 of my £100 budget?

The 4 names are (please don't mention them fully in the thread):



These are all fairly recent drops that nobody bothered catching. That mixed with the low number of exacts is what is causing my uncertainty.

Thanks

lancsman

Boxfish - Like you I am a learner here.

I start from a similar position.
I have allocated myself a fixed budget - mid £xxx - some not available at the moment, and 12 months to see if I can make it work.

I am researching a number of possibilities, and intending to spread the purchases / registrations over a range of market segments (although my long term preference is the Travel Industry).

Main focus is on .co.uk names, but have allocated a small % for more speculative options.

I also intend to learn how to develop simple sites, if only to show the potential to buyers. However - for me - with other committents and interests this is not a full-time activity.

Cannot really comment of the viability of the names you have started with, but wish you well. It will be an interesting thread to follow.

Good Luck

John

jonesyd01

I registered my first 21 (got one free with a hosting package) domains recently and sold one for £200 plus fees so I am in profit. However, what I have found is that unless you get a name that is commercial and with high exacts it's not going to go in the short term (but I am new to this so don't rely on my advice). I have tried to stick to areas that I know so if the domains doesn't sell in the short term I can develop into a websit in the long term which I have recently just started with http://www.dissertationproposal.co.uk

I wish you all the best with your ventures.

aZooZa

@Boxfish

I think you've done a sterling job with those four. I wouldn't want to try and develop and monetise them, but they look like very attractive end-user candidates. You have obviously Googled them to see who to approach

Best of luck!

jlm16

.

boxfish

Cheers Guys

I did google and tried to make sure the domain was either their main area of business or a very large part of it as this will give me a better chance. With the top domain there are only a couple of companies who I can find that are based in the UK but their current domain is rubbish so hopefully I should be able to get something for it.

I've also regged 3 more since, I think the bottom one is my favourite.



I have seen a couple of other domains that I like but I wouldn't of known how to find end users, or indeed if end users actually exist, so didn't bother with those.

I have £53.10 left now and I was planning to try and catch a domain, mainly as this is a learning exercise for me and I've not done it before.

I understand about booking it to be caught but how do I find out what is due to drop? Is that what Domain Check Engine in you sig does Azooza?

aZooZa

@Boxfish

Yes, that what DCE does in part. However I'd spend the rest of your money the way you are doing now. I would hazard a guess that if you're a salesman, you could turn what you have into four figures. I'm not being facile, and I'd love to sell you a service, but my advice is to continue the way you are. When you have your war chest, you can budget for activity on a more diverse basis. Just my 2p.

domainseller200

Well Done Ian ! you know how much I am a fan of things like this ! I think you will easily get into the £x,xxx with your purchases so far, they are some pretty good names for free to reg.

How do you plan on selling them ? have you get a strategy in place or are you just taking it as it comes ?

Are you going to approach end users ? just put them on Sedo ? create sites which rank ?

I will be avidly following your journey and can't wait to see some updates

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boxfish

Cool, thanks for the advice

Thanks Frank,

I'll only be approaching end users, some by email, some by phone. Some of these have been sat unregged for months so while I do think think they are good domains I think they need to be put under people's noses and the benefits explained in order for them to sell.

I plan to set up up a separate sales website where I can explain the benefits, the transfer process etc and also will put a landing page on each domain, explaining the domain is for sale and how to buy it etc. The landing page will just be a template that requires the domain name changing so shouldn't be much ongoing effort.

I managed to pick up another 3 names but starting to struggle now:



Total spend so far is £67.00, I can afford another 3 and one for a sales domain

GotLiveChat

How good are the existing links to those dropped domains? Pagerank? Directory listings?
With that info on hand, you may find it easier to sell to other businesses (especially traffic stats).

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