Earning a living domaining

[essexway]

I am new to domaining. Although have been interested for a long time

I just wondered if its possible to make a living a from Buying & Selling domains? I have read on the internet that people are getting rich doing so...but have also read that theres no real money to be made from it, unless someone is lucky enough to have a rare much sought after domain.

Just wondering if I should buy more to eventually resell??

 

[springer]

'Domaining' done right can at the very least be a beneficial income stream. I highly recommend that you get George Marshall's book 'Get Out While You Can' in which he devotes a whole chapter to this.

It isn't difficult to find free-to-reg domains available that will sell for at least 3 times the reg fee. For a low initial investment your returns can be excellent. As an example, a few months back I registered horseracingresults.net for £5 and sold it for £300 a few days later. That is a return of 6000%.

 

[crabfoot]

Mind you, it is not immediately simple to find those domains with resale value. Learn what is good to resell by reading around and looking at auction results.

Sometimes you have to show the potential of a domain by putting a site on it and developing it, in order to get a good price.

Read the material on this forum and elsewhere, learn what makes a good domain name.

Don't rush off and buy a lot of domains that may later turn out to be unsaleable, and don't forget that, with some extensions, you have to wait 60 days before you can resell.

One helping hand - a premium domain usually contains a couple of keywords that people would say together naturally in conversation ...

 

[alex]

I've had some good sales and some big losses. It all comes down to experience and I'm happy to say that as I've become more experienced the losses have reduced and profit increased that said nothing is that easy so make sure you get a good understanding of your target markets and develop web development skills and understand SEO. There are plenty of resources to help you and although I'd say you'd need a reasonable amount of start-up capital to do it full time, you could probably increase your income by a couple of thousand with only a few hundred pounds. just beware, it won't get you rich quick!

 

[Edwin]

Yes, of course it's possible to earn a living domaining. Many people on this forum and elsewhere do just that.

At the same time, at the other end of the revenue scale, I would guess there are probably several times as many people who are basically "setting fire to money on their front lawn" in the sense that they are registering and renewing hundreds or thousands of domains with no real idea of what's good, what's bad, what's worth something and what's worthless, but who are persisting at it out of a wholly misguided feeling they're going to "get rich quick" out of it. The sad thing is many of these people will leave domaining thousands of pounds poorer and thinking it was all a scam, whereas it was actually their own lack of knowledge that tripped them up...

The advice you've been given so far is solid. Don't rush to register names. If you're buying from other people, try and concentrate on a few good names with solid value rather than grabbing at everything. Focus on "generic" domains unless you have a huge budget, as you may be sitting on "brandables" for years or decades before they sell (and most likely they will never sell at all). Avoid the siren call of extensions other than .co.uk and .com if you're really trying to make a go of it. Yes, there may be some money to be made from .org.uk and other extensions, but you need to be EVEN MORE experienced in domaining to do so. If you're buying to develop, then DO IT. Don't stockpile names you won't get around to, but buy 1 and develop it, then buy 1 and develop it, etc.

And if anything in what I wrote sounds confusing or unfamiliar, then the bottom line is you're not yet ready to start investing, and you need to do a LOT more reading and learning first. Reading costs nothing. Registering junk, on the other hand, has an immediate financial impact, and might even damage your chances of buying decent stuff down the road because you've blown your budget.

Good luck with it!

 

[expertc]

I would agree with previous posters but only with few small addition.

Yes, you can earn a living from domaining, but if you are new to it get ready to learn and invest. Earning a living from free to reg names is something next to impossible these days. But still, if you know what to do, then you can add nice income to your "main job".

Resellers with high-end domains build their portfolious over years.

And another small tip. Choose an industry, learn about it and concentrate on it. Till now the best profit margin I got is from selling domains for my main industry.

Good luck!

 

[cm1975]

Yes, of course it's possible to earn a living domaining. Many people on this forum and elsewhere do just that.

At the same time, at the other end of the revenue scale, I would guess there are probably several times as many people who are basically "setting fire to money on their front lawn" in the sense that they are registering and renewing hundreds or thousands of domains with no real idea of what's good, what's bad, what's worth something and what's worthless, but who are persisting at it out of a wholly misguided feeling they're going to "get rich quick" out of it. The sad thing is many of these people will leave domaining thousands of pounds poorer and thinking it was all a scam, whereas it was actually their own lack of knowledge that tripped them up...

The advice you've been given so far is solid. Don't rush to register names. If you're buying from other people, try and concentrate on a few good names with solid value rather than grabbing at everything. Focus on "generic" domains unless you have a huge budget, as you may be sitting on "brandables" for years or decades before they sell (and most likely they will never sell at all). Avoid the siren call of extensions other than .co.uk and .com if you're really trying to make a go of it. Yes, there may be some money to be made from .org.uk and other extensions, but you need to be EVEN MORE experienced in domaining to do so. If you're buying to develop, then DO IT. Don't stockpile names you won't get around to, but buy 1 and develop it, then buy 1 and develop it, etc.

And if anything in what I wrote sounds confusing or unfamiliar, then the bottom line is you're not yet ready to start investing, and you need to do a LOT more reading and learning first. Reading costs nothing. Registering junk, on the other hand, has an immediate financial impact, and might even damage your chances of buying decent stuff down the road because you've blown your budget.

Good luck with it!

Wise words.

Also do not expect fantastic returns here on Acorn Domains. This is a fantastic place to learn about domaining and to communication with likeminded souls. Trying to sell on here is like selling ice cubes to the Eskimos.

Everyone on Acorn has domains, so you have to offer something better than they already have ..... which they haven't been able to sell.

So, buy good domains cheaply here and search out an appropriate buyer. Supply is big here, which drives the prices down. There are some real bargains to be found!

The best bit of advice so far is - "Don't rush to register names". Everyone on here has done it and it's not nice to be 2 years on and see those crappy names dropping having been a waste of money!

 

[rob1951]

so where do you suggest...

...do not expect fantastic returns here on Acorn Domains. This is a fantastic place to learn about domaining and to communication with likeminded souls. Trying to sell on here is like selling ice cubes to the Eskimos.

What mileage in approaching web-site owners with related names/products/services?
Is it right to assume that the US domain name auction sites are not so great for selling .uk domains?

 

[Bailey]

What mileage in approaching web-site owners with related names/products/services?

None - unless you have a really good generic domain that a business would die for

Is it right to assume that the US domain name auction sites are not so great for selling .uk domains?

Correct - there is no return for your efforts outside a UK based audience when it comes to .co.uks

As for making a living selling domains ? - It is possible. My one caveat, is stick to what you know or are willing to put the time in to learn.

I've said before that I believe somebody with the right amount of business acumen and forsight could enter domaining as an occupation today. I think the skills base actually required is far wider than most people appreciate though.

Purely as an overview you need a workable understanding of the basics.

*Business and business Law
*Sales & Marketing
*Negotiating skills
*A Computing or technical background.

Then there's all the web building & SEO knowledge that can work to your benefit

The thing is your very likely to be working on your own - so it can be catastrophic if you have any of the above missing and there really is nowhere to turn if things get a bit hair-raising. The knowledge in regarding the basics of Trade Mark law is potentially such a key to domaining I can never understand why individuals don't spend a week or two getting their head around the fundamentals.

If your going to make it work as a full-time occupation, (as opposed to a worthwhile sideline) step in gradually. If you don't have some history to give yourself the reassurance to take the risks then don't take the chance would be my advice.

On a personal but relative note, I will add for anyone that dosen't know - At a very young 50 I was granted a substantial Civil Service pension and other payments that I won't divulge - It's allowed me to literally expand a hobby. but, you wouldn't want the circumstance that gave rise - trust me

 

[theonemanyuri]

As everyone has said, don't rush into buying anything. I've been into domains / ppc / affiliate marketing as a hobby for around 8 months. In that time I've spent the vast majority of my spare time working on some aspect of my hobby.

Like most people I bought alot of domains which are crap, but luckily have made enough to cover those costs several times over and learn lessons from it.

I took a day course at work in xhtml and css which I've built on and I'm now fairly confident with most aspects of both. I spent a lot of time reading up about SEO and have recorded most of what I've implimented on most of my sites to try and learn for myself what does and what doesn't work. I've also spent a lot of time reading about all the different aspects of website monetisation and general web business and entreprenuerialship (is that a word?). Unless you get a reasonable grounding in all the different areas that combine to making you money on the web I think you'll struggle or at the least be handicapped well below your potential.

Again like everyone has said, it's no quick thing. Reading the blogs of some of the most popular domainers, making serious money has taken them atleast a decade in many cases. Reinvestment and perseverance are key. I don't anticipate being able to match my current salary from web earnings for atleast a year or 2 (and my salary isn't very good!), but doing it this way you get a solid idea of what works and you don't end up blowing huge sums of cash or being left without income.