Archive for March, 2007

Buying and Selling Domains

One of my first posts on Derrich.com was about how I’ve invested in domain names. I own about 50 domains not including every derrich.xxx I could scoop up (yes, I own them all…muahahahaha!!!). Not alot in the whole scheme of things, but definitely a start. I park about 40 of those for free at Sedo.com. Well on Monday, I received an email from Sedo notifying me that an offer had been made on one of my domains, vinoaficionado.com, for $60. Needless to say I was pretty excited about the offer, just not about the amount. I should have taken a page out of my stock market rule book: Don’t be greedy. I counteroffered for $500, which was declined.

Sedo will sell your domain on a commission-based schedule…not much different from other domain brokers. So, on the $60 offer, I would have actually made $54 considering that by simply parking my domains, I’ve already recouped all of the expenses associated with buying the domains by parking them for free with Sedo. Anyway, for most non-foreign domains the commission is 10% when you park your domain with Sedo. Gregg Hawkins wrote an excellent article about how to park your domains with Sedo. Check it out.

Buying domains can be highly-speculative, but if you stay on top of those domains changing hands, or of new trends and new sites, you can really benefit from investing in online real estate. About half of my domains are typos, and those are also my most profitable with regard to domain parking. Sadly enough, my menshealth[dot]com typos were getting more pageviews than Derrich.com in its first two months of existence. But after a few push-ups and crunches, Derrich.com prevailed.

Get In On This Trend
The growth in domain values for CO.UK domains has surpassed that of .COM domains for the first time. According to an article written in DomainNews.com,

Annual statistics for 2006 compiled by domain marketplace Sedo and DNJournal, the domain industry trade magazine, reveal a surge of 153% in the value of all published .CO.UK domain sales worldwide, in comparison to a growth of 79% in 2005.

Well, that got me started looking. And I recently bought 7 new CO.UK domains, one of which was trialbyjury.co.uk. In 3 days, it had already received over 30 hits. The average is just under 9 hits a day right now. I also tried buying yourhealth.co.uk, but due to an error, the order was not processed. Anyway if you’re interested, catch the rest of the article at DomainNews.com about the growth in .CO.UK domains.

How To Catch The Next Trend
Recently, I’ve subscribed to the DomainNews.com and to the DNJournal.com newsletter. I also subscribe to the Sedo newsletter to stay on top of aftermarket domain sales. Sedo realized the greatest amount of market share for aftermarket domain sales for 2006.

Feel free to add your suggestions to get the latest domain news.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I’ve Got Your Stock Picks Right Here!

Back in December, I decided to feature some stocks that I own, or monitor regularly. My three choices were included in a list by SmartMoney Magazine of where to invest in 2007. A few months later, I decided to posit 6 stock picks under $10 of my own. Since then, I’ve been asked by some of you to continue to come up with a list…and for a little advice based on your own picks.

Coincidentally, Blain Reinkensmeyer emailed me this weekend asking me to choose two stocks for his weekly stock picking contest. Blain’s blog, Stock Investing 101, is a contestant in the 2007 Bloggers Tournament and he’s the Top Commenter on Derrich.com. The purpose of the contest this week is to “try to beat out eMom though there really is no true purpose”. I’m game. eMom is fellow MyBlogLog-er, Wendy Piersall. She claims she’s “not much into the stock market“. But we’ll see about that. Ok. So I’m a little intimidated. What can I say?

Derrich.com Stock Portfolio
On the main page, I’ve included a new section in the sidebar called “Stock Watch”. Included in that list will be every stock I’ve mentioned on Derrich.com. I’ve decided I’d also begin keeping track of the portfolio as if I were purchasing each of the stocks. For Blain’s contest, I chose Braskem S.A. (NYSE: BAK) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO). I’ll go into more detail as to why in another post. I have not yet entered them into my chart, which I’ve included below. It reflects the stock price as of the market close on Monday, March 26.

View today’s trading activity on the Yahoo! Finance widget located on the main page.

Whether or not I actually own them, I will simulate buying and selling of the stocks in the Derrich.com portfolio as if I did own them in order to keep track of returns. Each stock will be bought and sold in 100-share increments. I will also limit the portfolio to 25 stocks at a time. Don’t forget, I’m not a stock broker, nor am I a financial advisor. Just a stock market aficionado. Follow at your own risk. Muahahahaha!!! *cough*cough*

Popularity: 3% [?]

2007 Bloggers Tournament, Round 3

Round 2 of the 2007 Bloggers Tournament had some close calls and a couple of landslide victories. At the close of voting, #3 The Thinking Blog had 1 vote while #2 Kineda had 2 votes. A tying vote for Ilker’s blog just after 12:01am CST. Good thing; I don’t have any tie-breaker rules yet. The competition gets closer as we swing into Round 3. Don’t forget — Voting for Round 3 ends Thursday, March 29th at 11:59pm CST.

VOTING FOR ROUND 3 HAS ENDED.

Campaigning Is Your Friend
Saman over at Samanathon.com was successful in using the banner method, which was developed by his Round 1 foe, Gary Lee. Samanathon.com defeated #8 seed, The Man of Silver, 33-9.

In the Technology & Gadgets bracket, #2 Gizmodo.com flexed it’s muscles early to thwart a late campaign run by #6 Gadgetell.com. I’ll refrain from including the score…ok, it was 1,066-74. In defense of Gadgetell.com, 74 votes was more than the combined total of other game in Round 2.

Same rules apply for campaigning. You must link to THIS post to earn the 10 points for Round 3. Good luck to the remaining participants, and thank you to everyone that has participated in the 2007 Bloggers Tournament.

Round 4
GAME 29: The Gamut winner vs. Technology & Gadgets winner
GAME 30: Blogging & SEO winner vs. Money & Finance winner

Popularity: 3% [?]

Peyton Manning Commercial on Saturday Night Live

I missed this weekend’s episode of SNL hosted by Peyton Manning, but apparently this is the funniest skit he did all night. I have to say I’ve been impressed with his recent commercials (Moooo-verrrs). I think you guys will enjoy this commercial spoof as well.

Video props [Brohans.com]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Go, Derrich…It’s Your Birthday!

Well, today is my birthday. *bow*bow* And I’m going to take a little break from my blog today, but I thought I’d at least leave you with something.

The Cure For Bloggers Block
In case it’s NOT your birthday today and you feel a little discouraged with your blog…beaten down by writers block, Dan over at TheWrongAdvices.com (Austrailia’s #1 slacker) has written an informative article about why blogging can be difficult and how to overcome blog burnout. Here are some of those solutions:

• Be yourself, write honestly and openly.
• Learn from successful bloggers, but try not to mimic them.
• Don’t second guess yourself, or obsess over what you’re writing.
• If you write it, they will come?
• The best way to make yourself successful is to help others be successful.

Dan goes into greater detail on his blog; be sure you read his solutions to blog burnout.

If that didn’t whet your appetite, Gregg Hawkins also has an interesting series of posts, each of which feature a different way to increase your blog’s traffic.

Birthday Presents Go Here
All I ask are two things: [1] Place your vote in Round 2 of the 2007 Bloggers Tournament, and [2] comments would be nice.

And here’s a Family Guy video for your enjoyment: How Old Is Meg?

Popularity: 2% [?]

I’m A Flipping Rich Top Commentator

Earlier this month, Derrik Dyka over at Flipping Rich had a Top Commentators contest in which he gave the Top Commentators a free TShirt. Derrik is a real estate investor from Minneapolis, Minnesota who specializes in multi-family properties. He breathes new life into old apartments and condos. He was featured in the June 2005 Personal Finance issue of Kiplinger’s as well as in the Winter 2005 Safe Investing issue of Kiplinger’s. And like me, Derrik is a car lover. His personal fleet includes a a 1969 Plymouth previously owned by Charlie Sheen.

Well, I received it last Tuesday and wore it all night. I’ve never worn a TShirt that attracted so much attention. Seriously. My son and I went to the mall, grocery shopping, and out to dinner. And, I’ve never had so many people try to read my TShirt. Nothing special about the shirt, but Derrik’s blog certainly has an intriguing name. My kiddo snapped a few pics for your viewing pleasure. He just turned 4, so easy on the photo quality critique. He’s taking them with my phone, but you should see him with a digi — the next Rebekka. Enjoy.

Popularity: 3% [?]

2007 Bloggers Tournament, Round 2

Round 1 was an interesting battle…and once again we have a few Cinderella blogs coming out on top. The Round 2 bracket is as follows:

ROUND 2 VOTING HAS ENDED.

This Is How You Campaign
Although he lost, Gary Lee made a valiant campaigning effort. He made a banner.

Make sure you vote for your favorite blog. Once again, competing blog can earn 5 bonus points by linking to this post and asking fellow bloggers to “Vote For My Blog in the 2007 Bloggers Tournament”. Voting for Round 2 ends Tuesday, March 27th.

Popularity: 2% [?]

BlogRoll

• Milk Was A Bad Choice
• CrackBerry.com
• Stock Trading 101
• For The Love Of Sports
• Project Spurs
• Busted Coverage
• WallStreetFighter

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