How do YOU market your domains to end users?

[Adam Dicker]

I just had a guy offer me $1,288 for a good domain, I responded with $28,888, he responded with $1,300 and a note that said "Show me your stats that validate this price".

I cancelled negotiations.

sedo is unfortunetaly mostly domainers, the only way an end user will find sedo is buy clicking the 'This domain may be for sale' link if there is one.
Nobody other than a domainer would ask for stats.

So, the point is, as long as we only list domains on sites that target resellers and domainers, we will need to get lucky to get an end user offer.

We need to market to end users to get a bite from a big fish.

So how do YOU market to end users?

...or do you just wait for them to find you, which if you have ever played hide and seek is no fun if nobody is looking for you.

Up until now, I have not done any marketing to end users but the time is right to start now.

-=DCG=-

[RobM]

I wait for endusers to come to me. You can't persuade people they want your domain if they don't. Agree with the sedo comments though. However I don't think it matters whether you list your domain or not or even where you list it. If people have to search to find it or stumble across it they are not endusers in my opinion. An enduser would have visited the domain directly and immediately seen it was for sale. It wouldn't matter which domain company was dealing with it.

[biggedon]

earlier in my domaining adventures, i contacted a few end-users via email and phone


my first e-u sale was to registerfly

i had hand-regged the domain "dropfly.com" and noticed that regfly was planning to start a dropcatching service

sent them an email and they bought it for $400 cash and $100 in reg credit

after that, i sent out a few more, but nothing really was biting


but during that time, ppc was kicking out big bucks, so selling wasn't a priority

now, i just wait for end-users

because in a way, i feel like it's spam to send out bulk solicitations

playing the waiting game, i have averaged about 3-4 sales a year, where at least one domain sells in five figure range.

although turnover may seem slow, it adds longevity to the remaining portfolio....which can make them look more attractive over time.

and of course, over time the prices go up

[Jilo]

I go through Google, Yahoo, Bing and LinkedIn and find a list of potential end users. I find emails for various people within the company and send out an email informing them my name is for sale.

I usually include a link to sedo, where my names are listed at fixed prices. It usually works well for me.

[Banned: theinvestor]

To think that only domainers care about stats is not accurate at all. Companies care about traffic. I know because i have dealt with a company in the UK and their main concern was traffic. They are looking to eventually come to Canada in the future and they are only willing to pay if i can prove the stats are there and if it will convert for them. They already own co.uk and .com. As of now they don't care much about .ca as they have not expanded in Canada but they definitely have an interest.

Don't always assume someone asking for traffic is a domainer. Cutting off negotiations that early without responding and you potentially lost an end user who was interested.

[hugegrowth]

The most motivated buyer is the one who contacts you first, whether through whois or a weblink.

I think more and more end users must be starting to use sales sites like sedo to search for a domain. Going to the aftermarket will become more mainstream. Even the guy who made the offer on your domain may come back with a higher offer.

Also, more domainers are becoming end users and if they see a domain they know can make them money, some of them will pay like an end user. Some end users don't want to pay much either - I get plenty of those.

The most time and cost effective thing to do is to make it easy for people to find you, a link on your site and visible Whois.

Spending time contacting various potential end users, dealing with replies, low offers, etc. sounds like a headache. I would only do it for domains that are generic and really suit a big company. Even then, by contacting them to sell a domain it could look bad in a dispute.

Dealing with lowball offers is just part of the game.

[Adam Dicker]

Don't always assume someone asking for traffic is a domainer. Cutting off negotiations that early without responding and you potentially lost an end user who was interested.

If they are really serious, they can also email me as the whois is not hidden.

... But a fair point on the stats.

-=DCG=-

[Gee]

end users usually consult domainers when they go buy big domains and sometimes they hire domainer to buy a name for them

some companies hire webdeveloper who are originally domainers and sometimes they ask them to buy domain for them

if they agreed on a domain together , the domainer will give you even better offer than the enduser as he is looking to make a deal at any price to get his cut

[katherine]

Unfortunately most end users are uneducated or just happy with their crappy URLs. Their existing domains may suck from a domaining POV but it's their name and questioning one's identity is not a natural thought

I tend to wait for end users to come, because you're in a better position to negotiate. Brokering domains is time-consuming and IMO is justified for top domains only. Let's face it, decent domains are not the same as premium domains...

Anyway it's easy to flip domains to end users for $250, selling for $2,500 is a tad more difficult and selling for $25,000 is tedious. I'm not too excited by the $250 sales because I make more than that in a day.

I have done a few things like advertising in industry publications (mixed success). Also I like to send snail mail (with good stationery) because there is no Delete button on my stationery and E-mail is very often perceived to be spam or intrusive (rightfully so).

my first e-u sale was to registerfly

i had hand-regged the domain "dropfly.com" and noticed that regfly was planning to start a dropcatching service

sent them an email and they bought it for $400 cash and $100 in reg credit

LOL I am amazed that they did at least ONE thing right

[INFORG]

Also I like to send snail mail (with good stationery)

Regular mail has some fantastic advantages, even for lower end names. Postcards are even cheaper, and can be done completely online too.
I did some mail research for a political project, and another thing I found increased response rate 10 times was using cool postage. Either custom postage using an image that matches your theme, or buying old mint postage on eBay (many times for about or less than face value). The cooler your mail, the more likely they are to read it!

The sweet spot for a lot of the mailers appears to be the XXX price range though, so not for the high end stuff. It is a great avenue for young hustlers starting out in this business, that have more time than money. I recommend this approach to those starting up as a bankroll builder. There are lots of GeoKeyword.com's out there for reg fee or a little more that are easy flips.

[nielsencl]

Whoever contacts the other about a sale first generally has a small disadvantage. This is because the other person knows you are motivated to some degree. Contacting end users can work, but most already have a domain and don't understand why a $10 domain might be worth $100 or $1,000. There is much education of the public that is needed and a fair amount for most domainers.

Where do you go if you want a computer? Dell. Where do you go if you want a book? Amazon. Where do you go if you want to get a domain name? Yup, GoDaddy. The point is that there is no good place for endusers to find good domains. Ebay could be, but all I see is 99 cent trash and million-dollar, uh trash.

Researching and contacting end-users may be the best option at this point, but I just advise against harvesting emails and doing an email blast. You very well may be reported fors spamming, but if not you are not likely to get the results you want due to a lack of trust. Spend the time to look at the site of the person you are contacting and write them a short but personal email offering the domain. Tell them the price and don't make them ask. It will keep your price resonable and save time for everyone. And if you don't have a "company website". Spend the time and money to get one so you look more credible. Good Luck!

[Infoproliferati]

A lot of great insight folks. Helpful stuff

[David G]

Nobody other than a domainer would ask for stats......-=DCG=-

No question about it. End-users do not ask for stats. In fact, I never had one end-user in a lot of years ask about stats. A few times I offered them stats anyway and they would not even accept my invite to look at my stats.

[DomainSearch]

I grab them and hold them down.. I say "you gonna buy that name now pony up" that usually works.

Actually get the name listed the same as any mini site and have your own domain for sale contact form right up front. If they are searching they will find the name and contact you, if they check to whats one the sight of a name they want again they contact you. This avoids them having to figure out who sedo is? signing up, getting certified etc, sometimes a potential buyer just wants to call the owner and buy it, impulse buy.

If you hav ethe sight listed well, the competitors will see the domain in search and eventually look, if they see its for sale they may contact you. parked pages do not have the same effect, they try but there are too many and they do not really get indexed well .

[Gerry]

If people are asking for traffic stats, metrics, analytics, etc ... to me that is an indication of a more than 50/50 chance they are domainers and not end users.

Especially when they counter with wanting to know this , that, and the other. An end user typically will already have a business plan in mind along with a figure. Often, many start ups do not budget adequately for domain purchase. And, they are not aware of the domain aftermarket.

It may also be their PR or Ad Agency that has a taste SEO and online marketing asking those types of questions. They are also very adept at lowballing to get the name at a lower figure and pocket the excess funds.

How do I contact end users? I don't. Not anymore. Too much time wasted simply in the contact effort. Overall, I would say the response rate was hovering in the 5% range.

Today's endusers are going to be overwhelmingly new startups, especially in this economy. Rarely does the biggies come around looking for something different (yellow pages rebranding as YP.com, Facebook as FB.com). Those are the exceptions...not the daily offers and searchers.

I am more inclined to work with an enduser that approaches me and right off makes an offer or relates their business plan in mind. Yes, your end users do approach you. I perhaps have 6 to 8 names on the table in various stages of negotiation, or "I'll think about it" and so on. Nothing concrete with the exception of accepting an offer via sedo yesterday (won't hold my breath...UK chap who just registered as a user - historically for me, that is good indication of a failed transaction."

[Bill F.]

I can always make extra money by pumping out emails to potential end-users, and I have never been called for spam (though I make the effort to personalize each email, which means fewer mails sent out). The problem with that is twofold:
1- Time. Locating end users takes a fair bit of it. Then you need to find the right contact name, and actually send out the mails (the easy part). The response might be crickets chirping for 30 emails, or 3 responses for 7 emails, there's no telling. Still, there is a serious investment of time and grunge work for this approach.
2- Lower returns. As others said above, it tough to crack the $1000 mark when approaching buyers first. Most names sell for the 100s of dollars. On one hand, it's nice to get the cash turnover, and $400 back on a $20 name caught at GoDaddy isn't bad at all. On the other hand, many of the names could have gotten much more if I just waited for buyers.

Still, all said, cash flow is money you can use to buy better domains. And emailing end-users means you get more feedback from them, which can be instructive (not insert-your-head-here instructive, but instructive about end-user thinking). I think that approaching end-users is one tactic of many that can be used. I don't do it for all my names or all the time, but it's as sure a way of selling for some kind of profit that I know of - and some guys have turned it into an art form.

[biggedon]

Where do you go if you want a computer? Dell. Where do you go if you want a book? Amazon. Where do you go if you want to get a domain name? Yup, GoDaddy.

Where do you go if you want a computer? Best Buy, Office Depot or Staples.
Where do you go if you want a book? The Library.
Where do you go if you want to get a domain name? Yup, Enom or Fabulous.