Here’s a question that gets asked regularly by new investors: how can domainers make money? The majority of people who are attracted to this industry know of the seven-figure domain sales from investors such as Rick Schwartz, but they don't necessarily know the ways to make money through domain names on a regular basis.
Making seven-figure deals is out of the reach of most of us, and this lack of "easy money" ultimately makes some new investors quit the business before they've fully researched the many ways and means of making money through domain names. In fact, this post is partly inspired by an investor that contacted me last week, asking what the criteria of a million dollar domain was, and how they could get one of these domains.
Domain name investors can make money by using domain names in a number of ways. While there are many, this article will be concentrating on a select few:
Domain Parking
You’ll have no doubt seen domain parking in some form or another. It’s essentially a way of making money from a domain name without putting a full website on it. You basically permit others to place adverts on your site. For every click, you get a certain amount of money. Services such as Sedo or DomainNameSales/Uniregistry make this a very simple process, and you can have adverts on your domain name within a matter of minutes.
In the early 2000’s, this was a very popular way of making money via domain names, and owners of highly trafficked domains earned thousands of dollars per month with very little work required to maintain the revenue stream.
Now however, there are only a small number of investors that rely on domain parking as a revenue source. There are, of course, domain names that make their owners thousands of dollars per month, but to the majority of investors, these names are out of reach.
In my own portfolio, for example, I have several domains that earn their renewal fees each year, but I definitely don't rely on parking as a source of revenue.
Domain Development
Putting a website on a domain name can be extremely profitable. The combination of a premium domain name and high quality content can produce thousands of visitors per month that can either equate to paying customers, or can contribute towards your advertising income from the website.
Domain development can be relatively inexpensive, and requires a hosting plan one of the many web hosting providers, as well as some basic knowledge of coding. Content management systems such as WordPress take the majority of the work out of developing a website, so it's an accessible way of making some extra money.
There are several types of domain name development that can bring in revenue: lead generation, informational websites, directories and product sites.
Each of these website categories has clear revenue strategies, and if you own the right domain name, you can build something of real value. A good website that produces revenue and regular visitors also brings value to your domain name, meaning that if you want to sell your website and domain at any point, it may be more attractive to an end-user.
Domain Name Sales
Currently the most popular way of making money from a domain name is to sell it. Thousands of investors check expired domain name lists regularly to find suitable investment grade domain names that have a high chance of selling to an end-user at some point. There are many more investors that also regularly make domain acquisitions privately, with the same goal in mind.
Traditionally, the domain name sales model has been to buy a domain name and sell it to an end-user at a higher price. Throughout 2015 and into 2016 as the liquid Chinese domain market grew, the idea of selling to other domain investors became more popular as domain investors were buying and selling short domains at four-, five- or even six-figure prices on a regular basis.
Domain Brokerage
If you are good at sales, and have plenty of experience in handling the sale of domain names, you may wish to consider domain name brokerage as a way to make money within the domain industry. It's something that many investors do from time to time, and it can often be lucrative.
Domain name brokers typically earn anywhere between 7.5% and 15% of a domain name sale that they arrange, and while it's hard work, the ultimate reward can be satisfying.
This form of money-making within the domain industry isn't for everyone, and can require a tremendous amount of work to become successful.
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These are four ways to make money within the domain name industry. I feel that the point of this article is, hopefully, to show that there are plenty of ways to become successful within this industry, and that newer investors shouldn't become overly fascinated with the lure of impossible seven-figure sales from newly registered domains.
If you're creative and hard working, there are so many possibilities to become successful with domain names.
Making seven-figure deals is out of the reach of most of us, and this lack of "easy money" ultimately makes some new investors quit the business before they've fully researched the many ways and means of making money through domain names. In fact, this post is partly inspired by an investor that contacted me last week, asking what the criteria of a million dollar domain was, and how they could get one of these domains.
Domain name investors can make money by using domain names in a number of ways. While there are many, this article will be concentrating on a select few:
- Domain parking
- Domain development
- Domain sales
- Domain brokering
Domain Parking
You’ll have no doubt seen domain parking in some form or another. It’s essentially a way of making money from a domain name without putting a full website on it. You basically permit others to place adverts on your site. For every click, you get a certain amount of money. Services such as Sedo or DomainNameSales/Uniregistry make this a very simple process, and you can have adverts on your domain name within a matter of minutes.
In the early 2000’s, this was a very popular way of making money via domain names, and owners of highly trafficked domains earned thousands of dollars per month with very little work required to maintain the revenue stream.
Now however, there are only a small number of investors that rely on domain parking as a revenue source. There are, of course, domain names that make their owners thousands of dollars per month, but to the majority of investors, these names are out of reach.
In my own portfolio, for example, I have several domains that earn their renewal fees each year, but I definitely don't rely on parking as a source of revenue.
Domain Development
Putting a website on a domain name can be extremely profitable. The combination of a premium domain name and high quality content can produce thousands of visitors per month that can either equate to paying customers, or can contribute towards your advertising income from the website.
Domain development can be relatively inexpensive, and requires a hosting plan one of the many web hosting providers, as well as some basic knowledge of coding. Content management systems such as WordPress take the majority of the work out of developing a website, so it's an accessible way of making some extra money.
There are several types of domain name development that can bring in revenue: lead generation, informational websites, directories and product sites.
Each of these website categories has clear revenue strategies, and if you own the right domain name, you can build something of real value. A good website that produces revenue and regular visitors also brings value to your domain name, meaning that if you want to sell your website and domain at any point, it may be more attractive to an end-user.
Domain Name Sales
Currently the most popular way of making money from a domain name is to sell it. Thousands of investors check expired domain name lists regularly to find suitable investment grade domain names that have a high chance of selling to an end-user at some point. There are many more investors that also regularly make domain acquisitions privately, with the same goal in mind.
Traditionally, the domain name sales model has been to buy a domain name and sell it to an end-user at a higher price. Throughout 2015 and into 2016 as the liquid Chinese domain market grew, the idea of selling to other domain investors became more popular as domain investors were buying and selling short domains at four-, five- or even six-figure prices on a regular basis.
Domain Brokerage
If you are good at sales, and have plenty of experience in handling the sale of domain names, you may wish to consider domain name brokerage as a way to make money within the domain industry. It's something that many investors do from time to time, and it can often be lucrative.
Domain name brokers typically earn anywhere between 7.5% and 15% of a domain name sale that they arrange, and while it's hard work, the ultimate reward can be satisfying.
This form of money-making within the domain industry isn't for everyone, and can require a tremendous amount of work to become successful.
--
These are four ways to make money within the domain name industry. I feel that the point of this article is, hopefully, to show that there are plenty of ways to become successful within this industry, and that newer investors shouldn't become overly fascinated with the lure of impossible seven-figure sales from newly registered domains.
If you're creative and hard working, there are so many possibilities to become successful with domain names.
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