Find Yahoo/DMOZ domains before they expire + more

[ccfh]

I just started a new subscription website {edit: now FREE!} and would like to offer a free, full version demo to get some feedback. Tools include unlimited domain monitoring, a search for yahoo/dmoz domains expiring in the next x months, and a bulk link popularity tool.

I've set up a full version account for visitors of this forum (the demo will be deleted in a few days). You can login at http://www.dnsexplosion.com/domains/member with username: {edited deleted demo...you can now sign up for a free account off the main page.}

Feel free to PM with any questions/suggestions or just leave any comments on this thread. Thanks.

 

[sponk]

nice, seems like you are using that DomainTrax script if I'm correct.

 

[ccfh]

Yeah sponk, it is the DomainTrax script..... I'm kind of surprised that nobody off the forum has really seemed to use the demo to do much monitoring or searches.

Also, do you guys think that $20 a month is a fair price for subscribers to pay for the service?

 

[Luc]

The scripts in use by many of these services are a bit "overused".

Anyone with a hosting account, domain and a few bucks can
buy one of these scripts on eBay and use it forever without
worrying about a subscription service.

I'll give you some feedback, and don't take this the wrong
way.

1. Your site will not be very successful because you've got a
ton of competition. There are hundreds of people trying to
sell access to these types of services for as low as $5/month.

2. The site looks like it was slapped together in about 5
minutes. I wouldn't expect anyone to sign up for such
a service. Very sloppy.

This is a bit hard to swallow but it's the truth. Don't get
your hopes up.

Good luck!
Luc L.

 

[ccfh]

I completely understand that, DomainRetriever. I never expected to make a ton of money...I was just hoping to be able to earn a little bit. I know that there are way too many services on eBay that are using the yamoz script but I haven't seen a ton of competing sites using the domaintrax script yet (I own both...there is a big difference in the scripts). And you are right....I did really rush the site since I was really excited after I installed the script. You've got to understand that I briefly thought this would be easier since the script was exactly what *I* was looking for (probably nodody else would see it as being as useful). I'd just spent a lot of time in previous months trying to figure out the best way to create a database of the future expiration dates for Yahoo/DMOZ names but couldn't find an easy way because of the way the whois system is set up (temp IP blocking for bulk inquiries and no expiration date data in the raw zone files). When I found out I could find these domains in a semi-automated way with this script, I really jumped on the chance to do so.

I do know exactly where you are coming from and as you may have guessed, I haven't sold a single subscription yet. I would like to know if you think that these changes are worth pursuing or if you would think that it's still most likely a waste of time.

1. Even before this post I planned on making some significant changes to make this site look a lot more professional when I finally have some time this weekend.

2. I plan on adding a feature that should hopefully differentiate the site from the competition. I'm planning on using the tools to help make 2 lists of all Yahoo/DMOZ domains expiring during the next month and updating this daily (manually).

3. Hopefully I can eventually start an affiliate program to help bring in users from a market outside of eBay and work more on figuring out what alternative promotion methods work the best.

Do you guys think these changes would be enough to be competitive? Also, would a price break attract more users or just decrease the perceived value of the service? (I'm guessing the latter of the two.)

P.S. Thanks for the honest feedback. This is the exact kind of unbiased response that I wanted and am glad that I bought the Platinum membership to post on this forum.

 

[Luc]

Honestly, I don't think it will be worth your time. There
is a lot of competition and the value of these services
go down every time someone buys the script, copies it
and resells it to tens of other people.

Almost every "domainer" has access to expired, expiring
Yahoo/Dmoz lists. This service WOULD have been gold 7
months ago.

I hate to discourage people from perusing their honest
plans but in this case, I don't think there is much money
to be made and the time you invest into this project may
not be worth the $$ (if any).

Best of luck!
Luc L.

 

[ccfh]

You know, DomainRetriever, you seem like the part of my brain that is the most logical but I just don't want to listen to because it's not saying what I want it to say. The thing is that I really, really don't want to just give up on this before I even try (I do that a lot it seems).

So, how about this revenue model:

I make the entire full featured service completely free. Then hopefully I get high enough traffic to earn enough thru registration and snapback orders to pay off my webhost and keep the site going. Does that sound reasonable?

 

[GiantDomains]

<edit>

removed.

<edit>

 

[Luc]

Feel free to PM with any questions/suggestions or just
leave any comments on this thread. Thanks.

I was not aware of the rule in this section of DNF.

The member asked for feedback, so I posted some comments.

Next time I will remember to PM when a user asks for
PM or REPLY on thread.

The fact that I am a competitor has NOTHING to do with my
comments.

Luc L.

 

[GiantDomains]

DR:

I was unaware of the posters request for comments. Please accept my apology.

CCFH:

I hope the comments don't interrupt your advertisement. It is very brave to ask for comments.

Good luck.

 

[Luc]

Please accept my apology.

No problem. I would have never posted my opinions if he
didn't ask for honest feedback.

It is very brave to ask for comments.

Very brave indeed. He's taking the comments very well
too (harsh as they may be).

The new concept seems like a better idea and I wish
you the best of luck with it!

Luc L.

 

[ccfh]

Honestly, I like the feedback... it's probably already saved me a lot of headaches by refocusing the goal of the site. A membership site would serve only a small market, while a free site will surely get a much broader audience.

What I've done is granted full access for all free accounts instead of running a subscription service. Right now, for a revenue model I'm looking at snapbacks, registration, and possibly in the future...a weekly newsletter. As far as the design goes, I'll be redesigning it soon to try to make it look a bit better.

I'm welcoming all dnforum readers to sign up and at least try it out. If you really, really don't want the weekly newsletter (still a long ways off probably anyway), then you can enter a fake email (no verification email required)...hopefully I can get enough members to make this project worth the time.

 

[insomnia]

$20 a month in my opinion is way too much. Kind of increases the cost of living then, since if you want a year of service: $240/year
Almost as much as high speed internet.

 

[ccfh]

yeah insomnia, i realized that too...that's why you can see I changed to the free model

 

[bveditz]

Just some thoughts on the script since I purchased it recently to look it over as a Server Side implementation. I currently run desktop apps that I made myself, as well as Domain Retriever which is quite handy. Anyway, I was looking at the script for my own personal use and not really as a resellable service and I already experienced a couple issues with it.

1. Basically, the system only notifies you when a domain becomes available, which isn't particulary useful. I didn't feel like waiting for their 'Enom' addition, so I added that myself which brought me to another problem.

2. The system registers that a site is available, however enom didn't (and further manual checking, no-one else I checked did either). Thus, even altering the script to instantly purchase it proved useless. Even with some more intensive coding changes to the script, I don't believe I'm going to be able to use it for any type of Domain Monitoring features.

3. Probably just me, but I couldn't get the CPanels Cron feature to run the script without errors, I ended up kicking off fakecron from my local machine every second (which takes about 5 seconds to run).

So, my thoughts on DomainTrax is that it would be handy as an incentive to keep people returning to your site, perhaps if you run a web hosting or domain name business. As a free service its a good promotion, but as a paid service it's doesn't perform well enough to make customers happy with their purchase.

Just my opinion...