Lottery Tickets

Lottery Tckets VS Domain Names

Finally I have it on good authority that what I have been saying for years now someone has finally written about it. Granted it is old news, yesterdays news in fact on “Domain Name Wire’s” blog whereby “Andrew Allemann” wrote an article about Lottery Tickets and Domain Names.

I will let you read his post in a moment but first I would like to reiterate what I have been saying over and over again, unless you have knowledge in SEO & Website Design how can you have knowledge how much a domain name is worth other than comparing past sales of similar domain names. Just because a domain was sold for xyz there is absolutely no guarantee your domain name will sell for a similar price. It all boils down the company’s marketing/advertising budgets. They cannot pull £1,000,000.00 out a hat just because you think your domain is worth that much. They would have to justify why the domain was worth what you were asking and they would also be accountable to the tax man (HMRC or IRS) depending where they live.

Obviously if they were a global brand then that would be a different matter but they still would have to explain such a high figure for a domain name.

I have got to the stage I copy and paste the following information to domain sellers as sometimes it simply does not sink in.

The problem with domain names if they do not have equity then unless they are one-word dot coms they will only be bought by domain investors rather than end-users for very low prices or maybe may never sell at all.

What I mean about equity is:

1) Developed Fully Optimised Website

2) A Website that Generates a Lot of Traffic

3) A Website that Sells a Product or Service.

I also believe that people need visualisation and need to see what you are offering them. By simply offering a domain name 9 times out of 10 people will not grasp the concept why a domain is worth a lot of money.

I in my own experience have had more success selling a domain name with a developed website as I offer that to the potential buyer as a full ready made package and trying to take it away it is like taking away candy from a child.

As for brandable words and you will find companies that are already established may not want to rebrand themselves, so the only way they would be interested is if this domain was generating a lot of traffic and they bought the domain for the traffic rather than for the domain name.

But to generate traffic a domain name needs to be developed and optimised. Start-ups on the other hand usually do not have much money to play around with so they will try to find the cheapest option and look for alternative domain extensions that meet with in their budget usually hand registering a domain that is half decent.

One also must consider the world economy right now and businesses are trying to keep their heads above water so the last thing on their minds right now is marketing or domain investing.

If you read the news blue chip companies are laying off their workers or closing their doors and some are even going into administration, so the overall outlook does not look good.

By developing a website, you will also attract competitors which you can turn into investors of your domain name. Please read what Rick Schwartz said https://ukdomainbrokers.ukwebsitedesigners.co.uk/?p=646

Acronyms and Brandable Domains are also very hard to sell so unless your domains have some meaning to the end user the chances of these domains selling are very slim and domain hacks are basically useless when it comes to SEO.

So you may have more luck buying lottery tickets than buying domain names.

Here is Andrew Alleman’s post:

The lottery ticket analogy

As a website designer and internet marketer I have found that intergrating the cost of a domain name within the website package is usually the best option and whereby a client pays monthly installments. They then can pay a fee at the end of the contract to take the domain name with him/her otherwise the domain name is leased to them depending on the agreement in place.

I always draw up contracts and people who do not sign, i simply do not do business with.

Eveything has to be black and white and above board so that there are no misunderstanding further down the line.

If anything the domain brokers world has given me wider opportunities and I have met some great people on this journey.

***My advice to you:

A word of caution Domain Name Hacking is best left for marketing purposes only and has little value when it comes to SEO as what ever country code domain extension you use, traffic will be generated from that country and if you are using word dot word domain hack it becomes very broad and has limitations on the traffic you want to generate.

Before venturing into the world of buying and selling domain names is to get background knowledge of website design, marketing and SEO. Do not give up your day job and do not spend money on domain names if you are going to struggle to put food on the table.