mentoring

[bb123]

Hi after reading through many of the forum post I came across one that sparked a thought.. which suggested getting a mentor ..

so how about some of you more experienced domainers taking on some of us new to domaining. not suggesting that you spend all day mentoring ..

I know we can ask questions in each forum ... but mentoring would give a one on one help which I'm sure would get us up and running much faster ..

cheers

bb

[biggedon]

Hi after reading through many of the forum post I came across one that sparked a thought.. which suggested getting a mentor ..

so how about some of you more experienced domainers taking on some of us new to domaining. not suggesting that you spend all day mentoring ..

I know we can ask questions in each forum ... but mentoring would give a one on one help which I'm sure would get us up and running much faster ..

cheers

bb

having a mentor is good, but the newb must ask intelligent questions


meaning if one decides to take you on, you can't be asking all the dumbest questions you can think of.

prove to the mentor that you've been reading, by asking specific questions to a post or position that intriques you.


try to formulate your thoughts, questions and even ideas you have into a rational model


something that makes sense


then you won't be seen as an annoyance.... someone who just wants to be "spoon-fed" information.



but i'm always open


imo...

[katherine]

I am not even sure this would work, because there are so many ways to skin a cat. There are plenty of possible approaches to domaining.
For example some people abide by .com only, others are into ccTLDs. Others invest in IDNs. Then you have all kinds of industries/niches to choose from, and predictive domaining too.
Also, you have the bolder ones who indulge in typo/TM names

I think the best way to benefit from the experience of others, is to learn from their mistakes, and skip those common newbie errors. It can be done.
We all have different views and interests, IMO the danger of having a mentor is being influenced and sidetracked, instead of finding your own niche.

There are a number of domaining ebooks available, some have decent info. Not making any particular recommendations, I don't have titles in mind.
A book that I found interesting for historical purposes is The Domain Game.

Just by spending time reading the forums, you should normally learn quite a few things. There is learning curve involved no matter how smart you are and it takes some time. The big challenge is to resist the urge to pull the credit card before you're confident about your strategy

[draggar]

I think the best way to benefit from the experience of others, is to learn from their mistakes, and skip those common newbie errors

I'll give the biggest one for free:

Quality over quantity.

Most new domainers go out and hand register dozens to hundreds (thousands?) of "cool" sounding domains. Say you go out and hand-register 100 domains at $10 each. That's $1000 up front and $1000 every year.

For that much you could get a decent .com domain, a good .net / .org domain or even some extremely good domains in other extensions - plus you only need to worry about one registration fee.

Rarely do hand registrations turn around into sales and most are in the mid $xx to mid $xxx range (unless you are extremely lucky).

Also, as Katherine said, there are many ways to go about it. Find a hobby you enjoy (and no, not domaining! ), get domains based on it and develop them with Wordpress, update with an article or two a week and throw some Adsense on there. This could give you a small but steady revenue stream. Why a hobby? You know what keywords are used in that hobby (for domains and SEO), you also know what people in the hobby looking for.

Oh yeah, and what she said again, read, read, read and wehen you're done reading, read some more.

[Acro]

A mentor is a paid service, with the exception of Mr. Miyagi

[bb123]

Thanks biggedon, Katherine, dragger, Acro


for the replies some very wise thoughts and suggestions ..

I understand there are many paths to take with domaining and many sub paths ...

I find reading through the forum very informative with just about every are covered but its trying to bring it all together in one of the areas at a time
like many other I have a few names that will go into the drop zone rather than be re registered for another 'maybe Ill do something with this name' year and a couple that I could develop which is my preferred way
I also have some names that I could approach end users with but what is the best approach without spamming them ...
do you have a blueprint/work flow for selling to end users, content developing, flipping names or sites?


biggedon says 'try to formulate your thoughts, questions and even ideas you have into a rational model'

this is exactly what I'm trying to do with one area at a time ...

Katherine thanks for the link to the Domain Game Book looks like could be a good read ..

dragger that is the one thing that keeps repeating its self is buy quality over quantity that has to be number 1 on my list ..

Acro I did try that but got ripped off ..

again thanks for your thoughts


Ben

[biggedon]

A mentor is a paid service, with the exception of Mr. Miyagi

well, i have received payment for advice, appraisals or just giving my opinion on certain issues:


in cash

in thank you's

and in, just feeling good after giving assistance


because what goes around.....comes around





imo...