Starting your own website can be very frustrating.
There is one part of the process that really irks me – hunting for the right domain name.
I've spent countless hours doing that in the past with varying degrees of success and I’ve learned one thing: you need to have nerves of steel to do it!
I don’t – I can do hundreds of complicated and tedious things associated with building and marketing a website but hunting for domain names is my Achilles’ heel.
However, there’s a lot of money to be made in this niche.
Even though there are over 100 million domain names registered right now, there are still some good ones up for grabs. Mike Mann, a webpreneur who started his Internet adventure in the late 90ies, still earns up to $40,000 every month registering, buying, and selling domain names. In 2012, Mann bought up over 14,000 domain names in just two days!
It’s easier to make money in this line of work if you can scale it up like Mann did but this doesn’t mean that you can’t make money at a smaller scale if you’re smart and you know a lot about various niche markets.
Why is Selling Domain Names a Great Way to Make Money Online?
Domain name business might look saturated but there’s always room there for a savvy webpreneur.
There are several reasons why it’s a viable way to make money:
There’s a potential of hitting it big – mix of low cost, high value deals
If you can automatize the search process, you won’t be spending too much time on it
Sometimes owners don’t know the true value of their domain name and are willing to part with it for next to nothing
Who Can Sell Domain Names?
Patient people.
The process is very similar to sifting through mud in search of gold – if you’re not patient and you don’t know what you’re looking for you will either give up or miss out on a great opportunity.
It also helps if you specialize in a few niches, especially if you’re not going to do it on a level Mann does it. He’s mostly successful because he’s not afraid to spend money to earn it and he has the luxury of doing that. If you don’t have that kind of initial investment, you’re going to need to know a lot about the niches you are working in order to identify a good catch.
Where to Start
Every domain reseller has a unique method of operation so you will also develop your own, eventually.
However, I suggest you start by following these steps:
STEP 1 – Research the market – focus on several (or just one niche) and learn everything you can about it – how it ticks, why it ticks, what are people there looking for, and so on.
STEP 2 – Brainstorm – Find someone to bounce ideas off of and create a list of names you like – you can even use a domain name generator.
STEP 3 – Sort out the names – Godaddy’s bulk upload feature allows you to find out if any of the names you want are available – you might get lucky.
STEP 4 – Check domain auctions – most of the domain names you want will probably be taken and you will have to see if some of them are on sale via auction sites such as Sedo.
STEP 5 – Find the owner – you can use an auction site to contact the owner or you can reach out to them directly – use WhoIs for this, I recommend grabbing DomainTools to get the info.
STEP 6 – Contact the owner – just find out if the domain is for sale. Don’t use your real e-mail address if you have documented domain selling reputation online, that’s going to drive up your price.
STEP 7 – Figure out what you want to spend – short domain name cost more money and are worth more. The same is true for dot com names. Spend more on short, easy to spell names that are getting traffic.
STEP 8 – Negotiate the price – if the owner offers you the domain for a ridiculously high price, counter it – don’t overspend. If they underprice it, negotiate a bit so you don’t spook them of or get them to think they are low-balling.
STEP 9 – Close the deal – do this as quickly as possible when you have the right price to avoid them backing out due to buyer’s remorse or have them rescind the offer.
Recommended Resources
1. Domain Sites
2. Domain Auction Sites
Are you a more patient man than I am?
If you are, reselling domain names might be your ticket to success - businesses will always need domain names and a smart webpreneur with a bit of insight in the niches he's dealing in stands to earn a lot of money!