Domain Names Can Translate Into Big Bucks

I own a few dozen domains. About 2/3 of those are typos (misspellings of existing websites), which are my best performers to date…performers meaning traffic-wise as well as how much revenue they generate. I park my domains using sedo.com, which is free of charge. Domain parking is simply a way to monetize your undeveloped domain name. Sedo features several tools you can use to beef up your parked domain including an aftermarket sales campaign. Their fee, I believe, is 10% of the sale price or $50, whichever is greater…but that’s if you decide to sell it. Fellow blogger, John Chow, recently posted about this practice in his blog…and how it has been successful for others. I recommend using GoDaddy.com since they have a few good tools for searching for domains, such as making suggestions based on your original search criteria. And they are among the cheapest as well.

There still seems to be a decent market out there for domain parking or speculative buying. And although the market isn’t as “available” as it once was…with a little dedication, you can find some good ones still available. In just about 2 months of parking, I’ve paid for all of the domains I bought…just 2 months ago. I have to say, though, that about 10% of my domains are unproductive; the rest carry the load as far as traffic/revenues.

The one beef I have is against those folks that “taste” domains. Sure it is currently legal, and a way to get ahead of the game. But those “tasters” simply register a domain for a few days (I believe 5 is the maximum holding period before they aren’t charged for the domain name), measure the traffic to determine whether or not its worthwhile, and then either release or purchase the domain at or toward the end of the grace period. This makes things too easy. For example, I backordered my blog domain, derrich.com, on GoDaddy for about 19 bucks. These guys had it for 4 days paid nothing for it. I guess I just proved that the greater fool theory is in fact true. Either way, I think something should be done about this to keep people on their toes.

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