Seriously newbie question..

[Andysp68]

Hi all

I have a few questions which Im sure have been answered a thousand times before but Ill ask anyway...

Firstly, is it possible to make a living out of buying and selling domains in the current market (ie are there any left?)

What would be the running costs of setting up and running an income generating website instead of parking a domain?

How difficult is this to do and where can I find the resources?

If people are making money from setting up affilliate sites then why dont they just keep setting more up until they make a living or are they doing this already? If not what are the restrictions?

And finally I came across this site http://www.webbusinessesforsale.co.uk/ and Im trying to establish what these guys are actually charging for and is it really that easy to make money or is this just a way for these guys to sell their services.

I have recently sold a successful business and am considering a foray into the wonderful world of the interweb as my next venture, so I am just trying to get a feel for whats out there and where the new money is going to be made.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Andy

 

[accelerator]

Firstly, is it possible to make a living out of buying and selling domains in the current market (ie are there any left?)

For an experienced domainer with a good knowledge of internet markets, then yes. A novice would have to do their homework first, and it's getting harder because there are more people looking to do this.

What would be the running costs of setting up and running an income generating website instead of parking a domain?

£6 for a .co.uk domain name.
Around £15 for hosting the site if you look around.
i.e. this can be extremely cheap.

How difficult is this to do and where can I find the resources?

There is a lot of learning to do, key topics to Google are affiliate marketing and SEO, and of course you need to know how to put a website together. Most people start it part time in the evenings for additional income. It takes a lot of commitment and there is a small percentage success rate (around 5% at a guess), but the rewards are there for those that have the ability. Building up a good knowledge of what sells on the internet and internet usage patterns is critical. Keyword research will help you a lot.

If people are making money from setting up affilliate sites then why dont they just keep setting more up until they make a living or are they doing this already? If not what are the restrictions?

Yes, many are doing this already, slowly building the number of sites they operate. There are restrictions, the main one being your own skill and ability, but most people find time is a problem too, especially when starting out - there's a lot of learning to begin with, and you won't make much money for months, so you have to be very committed to make it.

And finally I came across this site http://www.webbusinessesforsale.co.uk/ and Im trying to establish what these guys are actually charging for and is it really that easy to make money or is this just a way for these guys to sell their services.

Sorry I haven't the time to look at this at the moment, but given the extremely low cost of running a website, if it's profitable then people should have a good reason for selling - of course I haven't looked at their business model yet, but I would say you need to learn more before even considering buying an out of the box site.


In summary, the internet is mainly chipping away at TV ad revenue and creating new possibilities for highly targetted advertising. Advertising has always been big business so you should take heart from that and know that the potential is there, but be prepared for a lot of hard work.

 

[Andysp68]

Thanks very much for the reply, I have certainly already learned one thing. Its a minefield thats for sure ;-)

 

[purg]

is it possible to make a living out of buying and selling domains in the current market (ie are there any left?)

I would said its unlikely

"make a living" from anything your talking about over £20k a year or your wasting your time. Its easier getting well over this from other jobs so treat domains as a hobby. Something to laugh about at the pub when you sell xyz and get the round in.
I would say the only way to make this fulltime is to get in the drop catching game. Basically you need the initial outlay but follow trends closely, park or design sites you catch while waiting to sell. Rinse and repeat.

Money from the very few big domains caught while being sustained by the many other little mini/aff/parked sites that have traffic.

 

[retired_member16]

I would said its unlikely

"make a living" from anything your talking about over £20k a year or your wasting your time. Its easier getting well over this from other jobs so treat domains as a hobby. Something to laugh about at the pub when you sell xyz and get the round in.
I would say the only way to make this fulltime is to get in the drop catching game. Basically you need the initial outlay but follow trends closely, park or design sites you catch while waiting to sell. Rinse and repeat.

Money from the very few big domains caught while being sustained by the many other little mini/aff/parked sites that have traffic.

Cant add anything to that, agree 100%

 

[Andysp68]

ok guys thanks for the input.

Ill move on to the next idea. ;-)

 

[Joe Davison]

You can make money only trading domains, but you have to start with money (or a loan, if you're comfortable with risk).