Domain Monetization

I’d like to start this post out by saying that I haven’t mastered the art of domain monetization, but I have been fortunate enough to use a few of the services out there to know which work for me.  Perhaps this will help you during your hunt for finding a good service to park your domains at.  When it comes to domain monetization I hear some of the older domainers saying that it’s just not how it used to be.  Yesterday, infact I came across a gentleman at my Los Angeles Hosting Group meeting who happened to be a developer and a domainer.  He mentioned the days of selling domains for good money, now he was kind of scrambling around to find out how he could best monetize some of the domains he registered several years ago with the least effort possible.  I mentioned that he could probably benefit from using one of the following services:

NameDrive (I am a frequent user of this domain parking service.)
Sedo (I used to utilize sedo, now I only use them for the auction portion if needed.)
Parked (Never used the service, but I have heard great things about them.)

I haven’t made much directly from domain monetization services like the ones listed above, but I have found them convenient for gathering statistics on a domain, without having to do much of anything.  NameDrive has been a great resource for me.  I have sold a couple of domains based solely on the stats / earnings that I have generated having my domains parked at NameDrive.  I pretty much use this parking service as a means of jumpstarting interest on a domain and showing interested parties that there is potential in a given domain.  I was able to sell multiple domains over domainstate and namepros using the following method:

1.  I would park a domain at NameDrive for a few months, normally interested buyers that I have dealt with want to see at least a three to four month track record for a given domain name.  You will scare a great deal of buyers away if you are not able to provide this.

2.  Once you have had the domain parked at the service for a while, start to put the buzz out there on forums such as dnforums, domainstate or namepros.  Let people know that you have a domain name which is potentially generating both revenue and traffic stats.

3.  After putting some buzz out there about your domain, post in the sales section that you are looking for offers on each forum.  Make sure you post in the proper section which normally pertains to the type of domain you have, for example if you have a domain receiving 5,000 uniques a month this would normally be considered a traffic domain, so post accordingly.  While posting make sure to take a screen shot of your earnings for the past three to four months.  Here is an example of a screenshot that I had taken for a domain that I recently sold:  http://i30.tinypic.com/160wvnd.jpg

If you are unsure of how to take a screen shot, simply open your browser window to your domain parking services stats area and click the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard.  I normally use Adobe Photoshop to paste my screen shots into, if you don’t have this program use Microsoft Paint, which is readily available on most windows based platforms.  From Paint you can paste your screen shot into the program and crop it as needed.  Once you have done this save the file in a web format like JPEG and simply upload this file to a image hosting service.  I tend to use tinypic.com because it is simple and always works for me.

4.  Next step is to be patient and wait a while for the offers to build up on your domain.  You will most likely be contacted via PM or replies within the thread you posted.  Make sure to be attentive, but don’t drive yourself crazy checking every hour of the day if someone has posted an offer or has expressed interest in the domain.  Keep in mind most people contacting you in regards to a domain via a forum will try and low ball you or waste your time.  You want what I have called the 2 percenters, these are the ones that purchase the domains swiftly.  When I say swiftly they don’t ask much as far as questions are concerned, because the stat screen shots do the talking for them.

5.  Once one of these swift domainers come flying by, make sure to ground them for a bit.  Allow them to chase you!  This is where the fun comes in, you can tell one domainer that you received an offer from another at whatever that price may have been!  Sometimes you will get money that day, simply by doing this.  They feel pressured to buy the domain and in the end it is business so the domain should go to the highest offer.  Once you receive an offer that suits your needs, use one of the many services out there to collect your money.  If a domain is lower than $300 dollars, feel free to use Paypal, I have done this many of times and have not had a problem.  If a domain is in the realm of $500 or above, I would look to utilize some sort of escrow service.  Escrow.com is a site that comes to mind!  Great service and reasonably priced, best of all your money is in good hands and doesn’t pose a potential risky investment if someone does abide to the rules you have set.

Anyhow, I hope this helps a great deal of you out there.  When I started domaining several years ago it was a total blur and guides like this were always shaping the way that I conducted business.  Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Best Regards,

Jason Thompson