Domain Names: Early Adoption Period
 

A more mature market equals more opportunities for you.

Posted by Greenlight. (Reprint from NamePros.)

I'm one of those guys that has recently come on the "scene" I have been buying domain names through the drop listers the past 4 months and more aggressively the past 30 -60 days.

My background is real estate and I currently run a very successfull real estate investment/rehab business.

I can tell you that our business is very similiar to the domain acquisition and development business.

In real estate you acquire deals through a "suppressed" market that is created by financial distress, landlord headaches etc. In other words the only way to get a good deal in real estate is to make sure that supply/demand is out of whack for your negotiations.


The domain market is currently in my estimation the most suppressed market around, and is currently devalued due to market conditions and public awareness.

These type of markets exist thoughout history and the time to take best time to take advantage of them is during the "early adoption period"

The domain business is currently in the early adoption stage marked by the increased articles and awareness that SEO is key for website promotion and success. The most telling sign is that sedo currently announced the ability to borrow against domain names.

Real Estate was in the same position about 90 years ago, when people were just starting to be able to borrow money to purchase land/homes.

Large land owners 90 years ago are still the wealthy families today.

So yes it's not like it used to be, but money is starting to pour into this industry and will be 10 fold in just a few years ( if that long )

If I was in possession like many are on this forum of the knowledge and skills to acquire and make money off domain names, i would sink everything I could time, finances, education and acquire as many valuable pieces of domain "real estate" as you can and hold on for a few years, I would only sell for top dollar or to raise money to buy and hold more names.

I would do this until it hurts, trade in you new car sell you house or whatever it takes to be able to dump your resources into this market.

Again, markets like this happen rarely and to have knowledge of this market during the early adoption period is PRICELESS

Im not entirely sure what exactly early adoption means, but it's obvious that the best time to invest in domains was like 10-5 years ago.

Nowadays finding a good deal is quite difficult and you have to grow your portfolio slowly... you can't do the same what webfather did 10 years ago.

anyone got any good sites to use to learn more about the market of buying and selling domains ?

Early Adoption Periods don't necessarily come and go in a few years time. The author means that you haven't seen ANYTHING yet. Now is the time to scoop up some great names and settle into a holding period. I see good deals all the time. Just 6 months to 12 months ago people were naysaying "It's too late...", and slapping themselves for not jumping at the chance at some of these good names at the prices they sold for. Look at the DNJournal sales page for example.

Keep thinking it's too late. You'll look back in 1 year and have some serious regrets.

the DNJournal sales chart proves that good domains are high priced and in high demand. If you have a great portfolio, you may receive many offers and get very good prices for some of your domains. Ok, that's a fact.

But I was talking about buying domains from the owners who didn't really use them, and who weren't aware of their pricing or f.e typein potential.

That was so easier back then than it is now. I wish I was on the internet 10 years ago.....

It also proves that just 6 to 12 months ago, prices that seemed so outrageous and "high" are actually the prices you would jump at the chance to pay for them today.

ICQ me, I can point you to a few spots that can help.

you could have bought a domain for $5k from someone who registered it for $70 and who was happy to get such a "good deal" from you. But fact is that you were getting the great deal cause you'd make the money back in a month.

these were the webfather times, that was the real gold rush ( just like in the adult biz ) :upsidedow

That's a given.. and everyone realizes this. Everyone knows that if you jumped at domains in 1995 or 1996 and bought them off owners, they are worth so much more today. You're just stating the obvious, and isn't at all the point of the post.

The point is that you'll see in a short time how TODAY is still not too late and is still in the early adoption period.

Check out TRAFFIC.
http://www.targetedtraffic.com/

great thread. bookmarked.

and IMHO, there are still plenty of ways to jump into the game right now... and ways to do it without mortgaging your house or selling your car. but last time I shared any info like that on GFY, all the HATERS came out. :upsidedow

for all the newbies, all the info you need is out there. learn to read between the lines and you'll start realizing there are untapped markets and dimaonds in the rough...

follow the trends... or make your own. either way, you can win. how big you win is another matter.

i.e.
we just closed a very creative deal to acquire a domain name that I suspect will be worth quite a lot, and the deal was win/win for the original owner who had no idea what goldmine he was sitting on... so we decided to "help" him "help himself"... we are doing 110% of the development work and fundign the project ourselves and we split revenue with him. He's just as excited as we are at what the future will bring. more details later.

another example on a smaller scale, something anyone can do if they keep their ears and eyes open:

i bought a domain early 2005 for $6.95 because i believed it was going to be part of a larger trend. the domain is not a typo, very generic/descriptive, two words, not a trademark, etc.. it made barely any money last year.. some trends take a while to kick in, but when they do, you experience exponential traffic & revenue growth... keep in mind, $7, hand-registration... no one fighting for it... cause no one cared.



this domain generated next to no traffic/revenue from registration date or early 2005 until July 2006:
http://ismol.com/growth/c.gif


July 2006: 95% direct requests:
http://ismol.com/growth/d.gif


snapshot of July 2005:
27 visitors, $0 revenue
http://ismol.com/growth/a.gif

snapshot of July 2006:
??? visitors, $??? revenue
click to see for yourself
http://ismol.com/growth/b.gif


so for those of you out there that don't believe there's still ways to tap into the domain game for players of all $ize$, the proof is above.

if anyone needs any help, tips, or guidance, email me (sig) or if you need help parking your domains or selling them, just ask.


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very nice!

oh... and I forgot to add:

the domain offers have risen too.
From 01/2006 - 05/2006 = < 5 people
06/2006 = 3 people
07/2006 = at least 10 offers this month from buyers worldwide. I am sure there are many vc-funded startups mixed in there as well.

so there's plenty of room for new/existing domainers who wish to play the "parking" game or the "flip" game and don't have a large bank roll... so please don't mortgage your house or sell your car. :winkwink:

good luck to all.

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The author's main business was real estate so maybe he had a little extra incentive for suggesting to sell your house and pour everything til it hurts, into this market.
:1orglaugh

thanks god the real estate guys learned to use the interweb so they can show us all how it works!

too true. :1orglaugh

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See Sig to see the place to maximize your profits from your domains!

There's no money in domain names!

very true! like there is no money in seo.

Domain Biz is huge, and I think it is going to get even bigger!

Polish you are right about all the great one words taken, and its near next to impossible to get any good deals on them. But I think the biggest market is going to be in two word domains and even three. You can find alot of two words domains that make sense that are still available and alot of decent ones for sale on secondary markets like sedo that are good bargains also.

I have been buying and selling for a while now and I have narrow it down to 4 industries that I am buying domains in, this way I can have a decent amount of traffic within each industry and if be it develop a niche portal if I get offf my lazy ass and want to make more money than just parking them.

Good read Brujah,

Like I and alot of people have been saying for years - domains are real estate and there will only ever be 1 candy.com or what have you.. I can see a domain worth in the middle 5's to low sixes now being easily worth middle 6's to 7's in just a short time...

There are only so many choices that end users / companies have too chose from if they want a 1/2 way decent name...

time will tell I suppose :)

heh.. brujah is the first gfyer i can remember that pipped me at the post when mining domains a few years ago. Think i was overturing available goth domains into a nice organised list or something in '03 while he was busy registering. heheh.