Greetings

atoklas · Aug 16, 2006

Hi all,

My name is Andy and I'm from Manchester in the UK. I'm working part-time right now and I thought that I'd have a serious go at domaining whilst I've got the time.

I'd like to ask though, do you think it's realistic to expect to make decent money working on my own and starting with zero knowledge? I'm willing to persevere and put in a several hours a day, but if I don't see any progress after 6 months or so then I may give up.

How many of you work alone? I just read about a company called Internet REIT. How can independent workers compete with companies such as them? And what about my limited knowledge. Does it take years to get good or could I do it in months?

Thanks, and hi to all,
Andy

grantw · Aug 16, 2006

Welcome to the forum, most people work on their own and most I guess have started with zero or little knowledge. If you are a coder then you could in theory be competing in months rather than years but expect a steep learning curve and a lot of frustation!

Read everything you can on this forum, especially the dropcatching section to give you an idea of whats needed - and dont expect too much help from the people doing it already

Grant

Admin · Aug 16, 2006

Welcome Andy,

This site should help you fast-track your knowledge gain on UK domaining, dont buy anything until you have done your homework!

Jeewhizz · Aug 16, 2006

Agreed. I bought some crap domain names when I started! So keep your eyes open for now and put that creditcard away!

Jee

paul · Aug 16, 2006

One thing that's hard to learn is what type of domains sells, some names you think are great will just never sell.

My advice would be to watch the sales threads and sites that report sales and try to see what sells more often. Try to filter out the one-off sales though. Think of the pixel example of last year, one person made loads of money from it and thousands lost money and time trying to chase a one-off phenomenon.

Also think about the people who might buy your domains, if the market is limited chances are you will find it hard to sell unless there is high traffic. As an example I registered dollsclothes.co.uk last year, sounded like a nice descriptive name at the time, but how many people actually sell dolls clothes

Anywho, good luck and welcome to the forum

atoklas · Aug 16, 2006

Cool. Thanks for all the tips.

Grant, you mentioned that it's easier to get started if you're a coder. Unfortunately I'm not. Does that mean I should steer clear of certain areas?

Also, I might try picking up some coding knowledge. What are the relevant languages?

THanks,
Andy.

rob · Aug 16, 2006

Its a benefit to be a coder if you want to catch, however to 'manually' register and trade names that is not needed

grantw · Aug 16, 2006

atoklas said:
Cool. Thanks for all the tips.

Grant, you mentioned that it's easier to get started if you're a coder. Unfortunately I'm not. Does that mean I should steer clear of certain areas?

Also, I might try picking up some coding knowledge. What are the relevant languages?

THanks,
Andy.

yes, you only need coding knowledge if you are trying to catch domains as they drop daily. If you're just buying up domains manually then you just need a good head for what may sell and patience. I recommend you get a copy of DNA which can scan large lists of domains rather than entering one at a time at 123reg or wherever. Be aware of the 1000 daily limit on .uk whois lookups tho :

http://www.domainpunch.com/products/dna/

good luck, grant

atoklas · Aug 16, 2006

thanks again

stender · Aug 16, 2006

Also, Everyone is talking from a domain dealing perspective. A lot of us on here buy domains with a view to building sites for them and placing affiliate marketing on it. I would advise looking into that too. That's the path i'm veering down as catching domains is pretty competitive and obviously everyone knows when the good ones are dropping and will all be going for it

Typo's are the other path.

And Welcome to the site.