= Where do you find the buyers? =

[JohnnJohnn is verified member.]

I mean end-user as you don't make much money by selling to each other on these forums.

The only way to make good profit is to sell to the end users but finding them is the big questions.

I combine a list of contact information of people bought names from me from:
- Who is
- Sedo, Afternic, etc....

and contact them once every two or three month to see if they need to buy more names.

What about you? Care to share where do you find the retail buyer?

Thanks,
John

 

[Raider]

I never go looking for end users, I wait for them to come to me....I'm sure most disagree with this approach, but it works for me.

 

[JohnnJohnn is verified member.]

How? from who is information?

 

[Gerry]

Good post, Johnn. Be interested to see if there are strategies that work.

I have had a couple from cold contacts. If you have a good acronym domain (check using an acronym tool) like an LLLL.com and there are many listed, some may have exceptionally long URL's.

Show them the short version and BAM!

They like it!

Have not had the time to do this in quite sometime but it has worked in the past.

And like every thing in this business, you may have to put some effort into it.

 

[jmizel]

Sell? I'll never sell! LOL!

Good question John. So far, I've mostly been on the buying end, but I have approached a few larger companies with select traffic portfolios targeted to their industry. Basically, I contacted the marketing department as opposed to the Whois contact since I was selling current and future visitors and branding, which marketers can relate to.

My alternative pitch is to let them know that a competitor could come along and pick the names up, permanently claiming the type-in and expired traffic that could be theirs. One guy said he wasn't interested, but to let him know before I sell to his competition

Haven't closed anything yet, but then again I'm picky about the price, and the offers, while real, aren't even close to what I think I can get in a few years.

I have had a few buyers contact me, but only with the usual $50 joke offers.

Jonathan

 

[Raider]

How? from who is information?

Parked or Whois.....I find most whois inquires are usually from resellers.

Got 1 today from a realtor using the parked inquiry.

 

[Togoodhlth]

I would say 90% of the names I have sold have been through the buyer contacting me.
usually it is via email but I have also had many phone calls. I actually like it better when someone calls me to inquire about a name.

I have emailed/called potential end users in the past. I never had a big sale via email and it's typically hard to get to the right person via phone.

Overall most of my sales come from sedo or people who have searched whois and by far my highest offers have been from people contacting me.

 

[DomainBuyer2007]

Thanks for the thread Johnn. I've tried inquiring via emails and calls but somehow I've never been able to reach that "decision-making" person. The desk working telephone people always follow their orders to send "thank you but not interested" responses asap.

 

[redomainer]

I've had some good experiences lately pursuing licensees. I buy industry-specific domains for around $300, Google the firms in the industry and individually e-mail the sales people in the firms.

I've been able to sign 8-10 year licensing agreements with two people so far and I require the entire contract amount ($1500-$2000) to be paid up-front to avoid the hassle of monthly/yearly billing. The sales people are thrilled to license the domains and are both having websites built and will prominently advertise and promote the domains that I own. They have the rights to use very brandable domains and they'll make more money.

I'll win because I recoup the cost of the domain plus a nice profit and someone else spends thousands of dollars building up and promoting my domains. At the end of the license, I can re-license to the same person OR one of their competitors OR sell the domain for a lot more OR buy the website for next to nothing from the salesperson and refer the traffic out to others in the industry for much higher profits. It's a win for me no matter what and a win for the sales person that gets to use a great, brandable domain.

It does take A LOT of work and time though but the rewards are/will be worth it. I'm considering hiring a virtual assistant to do the "heavy lifting" marketing work for a nominal hourly fee or a cut of the up-front profit.

I had a hard time finding a good licensing agreement for domains and I'm surprised I don't see more about licensing on the forum (maybe I need to look harder). My brother is an attorney and helped piece together a decent agreement from the few licensing agreements I could find online.

Does anyone know of a good site with sample contracts and ideas for those of us that license domains?

 

[DomainBuyer2007]

Nice going Bill.

Good Luck. Find college freshmen to do the "heavy lifting".

 

[JohnnJohnn is verified member.]

Thanks for the thread Johnn. I've tried inquiring via emails and calls but somehow I've never been able to reach that "decision-making" person. The desk working telephone people always follow their orders to send "thank you but not interested" responses asap.

When sending email make sure that you are not using free email: gmail, hotmail, etc... as they will be in the spam folder.

Draft the email and check for all grammars and spelling. Also, include a phone number and a business address to assure them that you are professional.


John

 

[DomainBuyer2007]

Thanks for the tip Johnn!

I use my university email address and contact info to show that I'm legit and a real person buyers can be certain of. I mean, I do get a response but just can't get through to the "Managers" and am just put off by paper pushers. What I would like to learn is how to get through that barrier and show my ideas to the guy who can take decisions. And, for a guy starting off just a few months ago and without contacts, it's gotta be tough!

 

[DomainMagnate]

I've tried to contact end users among those who own similar domains, who advertise on adwords for similar keywords and just by checking the keywords in google. Also tried a few other tricks. Except for some minor sales, so far with no results :disappointed:

Most end user sales happen when someone contacts me about a domain by email, or through forums when I happen to find someone willing to pay a bit more for the domain as they have some development plan for it.


~MG

 

[Busynic]

Nice thread John.

I like Bill's approach to licensing domains - I think long term that has some enormous benefits.

The question of finding end-users is a changing and variable landscape. More and more end-users are finding their way into the traditional "domainers" territory. Sometimes you will be hard-pressed to know what their intention is (unless you have some industry knowledge of the players and what they are doing).

The best advice that I've been given is look to some of the fastest growing companies in the US and in industries that typically heavy on engineering. Why? Engineers - particulary in the energy fields have a very traditional mindset that has not quite caught up with the leverage of online activities.

That is changing and will continue to change for many years. That doesn't mean they are going throw "silly" money around, but if they like what they see and have it presented in a way that gives them some clear "upside" then you have a good shot at getting positive interest.

Look deeper than just the news to find the trouble spots. Globally we are in an age where technical hands-on skills have declined dramatically, yet the need for them has increased beyond comprehension.

I'm not sure where you live, but if I called a plumber to come fix a few pipes, the going rate is about 160 an hour........ Man - that's before the actual problem is identified....

So, for domain name end-users, look beyond the obvious. There are quite often deeper pockets floating around, but they are getting smarter all the time.

The good news is that you won't find much of an argument over $1000 here and there. The comment on going to the marketing department was a good one, but don't stop there. Try and send something to an owner or the CEO. Why? 9 times out of 10 they are shielded by great screening processes, however have the raw passion and desire to see great deals. They generally built the company and have an innate and profound association with everything that happens. Overtime the layers of middle management "protect" and "insulate" these guys from what they like doing (being creative and innovative).

In summary - don't be afraid to go to the top and don't accept that because a company has not responded they are uninterested. Companies build layers for reasons, but that doesn't mean the decision makers are untouched by raw potential and enthusiasm.

As a word of caution though, if you go to the top, know what you want and don't "F" around. You'll get a reasonable hearing if you can sum it up in a page and don't fill your approach with a lot of BS.

Of course, this is just my 2 cents worth of thoughts - works for some - not others.

The main thing is that end-users are closer than you think...........

 

[JohnnJohnn is verified member.]

The licensing idea is a good one!

You can try right at your own town where you live. Hundred of businesses in every town don't realize the importance of domain name & website.

Connect with a webmaster and provide them with one stop service: domain & website..

 

[HomerJ]

i do list my phone #, but not my adress in correspondence. why? because i work out of my apartment, and i don't think that an apartment # looks very professional as a business address.

Raider, how do you find end-users through parked? traffic analysis does not seem to give any indication of who is viewing my domains, other than counry of origin and keyword/search

also, can anyone tell me, if my domains have a privacy guard, is this inhibiting end-users from contacting me about my domains? the privacy service should forward any email to me, so i never thought it should be a problem?

 

[dcristo]

Connect with a webmaster and provide them with one stop service: domain & website..

Spot on!

If you haven't got a truely premium domain name, development will make it a lot more appealing to an enduser.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

I agree with Raider - park and wait - that's for minimal effort. I can't be bothered to market what I've got -- whoever wants any of it will find me on whois. As far as whois privacy emails are concerned, they arrive in your inbox.

 

[JohnnJohnn is verified member.]

Any more ideas/tips?

John

 

[Credit]

Put the name on auction with a reserve you want.
Google for the companies you think might be interested, send each one a "catchy email" saying how important this domain would be for their company, and how their competitors are interested. If you email 50 companies, the chances are some of them will be bidding..