US Election and Masks - Opportunities Abound...

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Aphex

(My thanks to Gordon for agreeing to post this and make it a sticky)

Hello all, hope this finds you all safe and well during these increasingly strange times.

Basically, I thought I would do a quick post as I have two highly current monetizable domains that you guys might well be interested in.

I am involved with my main bread and butter site amongst other projects so I don't have time to develop them out myself but they are ready to go for someone else and if you want to purchase, flip, sell on to a 3rd party and we can JV and split 50/50, open to all options essentially.

The first domain is www.ballotcounting.com. Briefly, this aged domain was registered back in 2003 and I have recently purchased it. As I very much do not need to tell anyone here or anywhere at this point, we are on the cusp of the most contentious US election in history this November.

Monthly searches for this term are currently in excess of 8,000 with a CPC for advertisers of $11.55. Several ideas can be used for this domain.

A buyer could build out a website to offer live voting news and results and monetize with Adsense, Amazon Associates, CPA offers, or even sell advertising space.

Just like the recent COVID-19 pandemic, websites that are set up to provide information, updates on the virus, travel information are making a killing with timely monetization.

As a bonus to any buyer, my business partner and I now run www.yourdailyniche.com and will offer an exclusive post-purchase consultation on how to best monetize this premium domain to maximize the value.

On the other hand, if you are simply looking to reflip the domain, ballotcount.com sold for $1,595.00

Godaddy appraised this domain at $1156 https://my.godaddy.com/domain-value-...counting .com.

The second current event based domain I have is www.curemaskne.com.

Essentially maskne is the new popular term being used in the media for facial mask acne. Its explained here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53468051

Since everyone is likely to be wearing masks for some time to come and also everyone is interested in not having maskne as a result, this is a great sub niche to be in. I will provide keywords, affiliate products to sell, the whole nine yards on this one to a buyer. I think personally this would be a great offer, reflip to an Instagram influencer in the makeup, skin care niche, of which there are a billion.

As I say, I simply do not have the spare time to traffic these out but someone else probably does. I'm reaching out to SOW pub as I know they are people here who are interested in timely monetization opportunities.

So as I say, if anyone wants to purchase, flip, sell on to a 3rd party and we can JV and split 50/50, let me know.

I will also happily take any questions you have.

Cheers guys.

Thanks Aphex,

Interesting post (and opportunity)!

It turns out, domain name selling is something I'm checking out myself at the moment...

I have a reasonably large number of domain names. (Currently over 300, I believe...)

Some are quite ancient (I registered tomorrowsnews-dot-com back in 2001 - for a planned project - which I never did... I liked the domain name, though, so I hung on to it for all this time)... Others are more recently registered...

We should probably have a discussion on this topic...

I know Ankesh Kothari has delved into this to some degree (though I'm not sure how much)... I bought a great report on it from him quite a few years ago...

Best wishes!

Dien

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Thanks Aphex,

Interesting post (and opportunity)!

It turns out, domain name selling is something I'm checking out myself at the moment...

I have a reasonably large number of domain names. (Currently over 300, I believe...)

Some are quite ancient (I registered tomorrowsnews-dot-com back in 2001 - for a planned project - which I never did... I liked the domain name, though, so I hung on to it for all this time)... Others are more recently registered...

We should probably have a discussion on this topic...

I know Ankesh Kothari has delved into this to some degree (though I'm not sure how much)... I bought a great report on it from him quite a few years ago...

Best wishes!

Dien

Thanks Dien. I am a fan of your stuff, I subscribed to the hidden business ideas newsletter previously.

I got back into the domain buying and selling thing recently, its quite an easy side hustle if you do it right, as with anything.

What I am finding again is that timely domains are a hot property, timing as always being a cornerstone of not only comedy but business.

Like I say given my current other trillion things to do list, I am short on time to flesh these out but they are a golden goose for anyone who has the time.

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

I have a reasonably large number of domain names. (Currently over 300, I believe...)
Dien

Flipping domain names used to be pretty popular. I've heard of a few people who tried to capitalize on company trademark names — it didn't go well for them. Patents and trademarks can be protected.

Vanity domain names can't. Never really thought of one for myself, but then years ago I get an email offering me stevemaclellan.com for $3600. It's a common name. I know at least four other people with the same name. Over-all there must be a few thousand.

You're apt to tick a few people off. I know I was. But you might make some money too. Then again, maybe some would be pleased.

It would take a lot of work though. You'd likely have to spend a lot of time scouring the web for people who matched the domain name. Otherwise you're just wasting your money.

Regards,
Steve MacLellan

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Steve MacLellan

Flipping domain names used to be pretty popular. I've heard of a few people who tried to capitalize on company trademark names — it didn't go well for them. Patents and trademarks can be protected.

Vanity domain names can't. Never really thought of one for myself, but then years ago I get an email offering me stevemaclellan.com for $3600. It's a common name. I know at least four other people with the same name. Over-all there must be a few thousand.

You're apt to tick a few people off. I know I was. But you might make some money too. Then again, maybe some would be pleased.

It would take a lot of work though. You'd likely have to spend a lot of time scouring the web for people who matched the domain name. Otherwise you're just wasting your money.

Hi Steve,

I'm still delving into this area, and learning about how it works...

People who know what they're doing avoid "live" trademarks like it's toxic. The reason why is because the trademark owner can usually legally take your domain name away, and not have to pay you a cent... So financially, it makes sense to avoid any live trademarks.

But domain names people do register for resale can be divided into multiple categories...

Exact match domains are a big category. These are domain names that match exactly popular search terms people might type into Google.

As an example, people do type in "poison ivy rash" into Google. So, PoisonIvyRash.com would be an exact match domain name, which could be of value to someone selling products to help deal with poison ivy rash. (There is no trademark issue here... In this case, poisonivyrash.com is already being used.)

Another category of domain names are search engine optimization (SEO) domain names. These are expired domain names which have a lot of existing good links going to the domain name. These could have resale value because of the existing traffic. (But you have to avoid those with a lot of "toxic" links going in - as that will hurt the Google ranking...) The final buyer of the domain name would probably create a new website at that site which is designed to benefit from the existing incoming links...

A third category are brandable domain names. There are several resale markets focusing on these. Three such places are Squadhelp.com, Brandbucket.com, and Brandpa.com.

Domain name sellers can list their domain name in one of these places. The website (Squadhelp etc.) will create a logo, which sells along with the domain name.

As an example, I typed the word "poison" into Brandbucket, and some of the possible "brandable" domains which I could buy which came back were "Poixen.com" ($2,875), "VenomVentures.com" ($3,595), and "Vynom.com" ($1,995)...

So there you have it!

I'm still a "newbie" at this, though...

Best wishes,

Dien

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Steve,

I'm still delving into this area, and learning about how it works...

People who know what they're doing avoid "live" trademarks like it's toxic. The reason why is because the trademark owner can usually legally take your domain name away, and not have to pay you a cent... So financially, it makes sense to avoid any live trademarks.

But domain names people do register for resale can be divided into multiple categories...

Exact match domains are a big category. These are domain names that match exactly popular search terms people might type into Google.

As an example, people do type in "poison ivy rash" into Google. So, PoisonIvyRash.com would be an exact match domain name, which could be of value to someone selling products to help deal with poison ivy rash. (There is no trademark issue here... In this case, poisonivyrash.com is already being used.)

Another category of domain names are search engine optimization (SEO) domain names. These are expired domain names which have a lot of existing good links going to the domain name. These could have resale value because of the existing traffic. (But you have to avoid those with a lot of "toxic" links going in - as that will hurt the Google ranking...) The final buyer of the domain name would probably create a new website at that site which is designed to benefit from the existing incoming links...

A third category are brandable domain names. There are several resale markets focusing on these. Three such places are Squadhelp.com, Brandbucket.com, and Brandpa.com.

Domain name sellers can list their domain name in one of these places. The website (Squadhelp etc.) will create a logo, which sells along with the domain name.

As an example, I typed the word "poison" into Brandbucket, and some of the possible "brandable" domains which I could buy which came back were "Poixen.com" ($2,875), "VenomVentures.com" ($3,595), and "Vynom.com" ($1,995)...

So there you have it!

I'm still a "newbie" at this, though...

Best wishes,

Dien

Just a couple of notes to add. Valuable match domains (ie: snowtyres.com or electricbikes) and one word domains are long gone and not available anymore and have been all registered probably since 2000-2005. Decent quality domains are usually only available throu auctions and are bought on the 3-4 figures range.

Regarding brandables, there are lots of smaller sites or marketplaces that might be worth to take a look as they are not as crowded as big ones like Squadhelp or Brandbucket: Namerific.com, Nameics.com, or Brandroot.com to name a few.

Also, as far as I know, it's not easy to be profitable. I've read several times the average sale ratio is 1%-1.5%, and that's for people who know what they are doing. Not a big expert, though.

Just my two cents.

[Dien Rice]

Hi Nicoleanne,

Thank you for your valuable and important post!

Originally Posted by nicoleanne

Just a couple of notes to add. Valuable match domains (ie: snowtyres.com or electricbikes) and one word domains are long gone and not available anymore and have been all registered probably since 2000-2005. Decent quality domains are usually only available throu auctions and are bought on the 3-4 figures range.

It's true that most professionals in this area (in my observation) buy their domains at auctions... They'll pay 3-4 figures, but sell for many multiples of what they pay... It's actually possible to sell for 100x what you pay (in some cases)...

Regarding brandables, there are lots of smaller sites or marketplaces that might be worth to take a look as they are not as crowded as big ones like Squadhelp or Brandbucket: Namerific.com, Nameics.com, or Brandroot.com to name a few.

Also, as far as I know, it's not easy to be profitable. I've read several times the average sale ratio is 1%-1.5%, and that's for people who know what they are doing. Not a big expert, though.

Just my two cents.

I think you're on the money!

It's true that many only sell a fraction of what they buy... But (if it's a valuable domain name), they'll hold on to it and pay the yearly fee (of ~$10 or so per domain name)... Sometimes for years, until it sells...

Most play a "waiting game" and wait for the right buyer to find them...

Other's use "outbound marketing" and email people who might be interested in buying the domain name from them... (They usually sell it for less using this method, but by making more sales, they get more turnover and can make steady cash...)

Others hang on to some of their domain names, and develop them into businesses... (I will probably do that with some of my domain names!)

I've made a few thousand dollars in sales since I wrote my first post on this many months ago... But I probably spent a similar amount! (However, I have a lot more domain names to show for it...)

Best wishes!

Dien