If you buy domain names whenever you think of an idea… you just might be an internet marketer. Is your godaddy domain account growing out of control? Maybe it’s time to get help for your addiction.
Hello. My name is Jeff and I’m a domain addict.
I’ve come to grips with my addiction and tried to set boundaries. Unfortunately those boundaries just keep growing… It really is getting out of control.
The thing is… I really love it. Searching domain names is so much fun. Every time I find a really cool .com domain that’s available, I feel like I’ve scored a minor victory for internet marketing, even if I never use the thing beyond simple domain parking and advertising. Just having the name gives the feeling of opening up new windows for future projects.
I’m an entrepreneur through and through and I just love new projects. The problem comes when a person has so many projects there’s no focus left for the important ones. Focus and prioritizing are extremely important for the attention deficit internet marketer (which is most of us).
So go ahead and pick up those great domain names, but try not to get distracted by their glimmering potential. At least don’t let it distract you from the projects that will really make money.
I came up with a simple rule for buying domains. If I really want to do a project and I’ve done some research into it, then clearly I let loose and buy up all the domains I can. They are cheap after all.
But if I search for a domain on a whim, my rule is simple. If I have an idea for a name, and I find that name is available in its original form or the reverse of those words, then I always buy it. It just seems too tempting to pass up. But if I have to compromise, I try to let it go without digging too much. Even though the unearthing of fabulous, well-hidden domain names is my favorite part of the game.
The other thing I should point out is that although it is somewhat of a game to me, it’s really all about business. I don’t do this to build up a collection of interesting words, but rather to make money. I never get attached to any of my domains or even entire web sites. I’m always prepared to sell a domain or an entire project at any point in time, if the price is right.
This is about business, so I want domains that either have traffic coming to them already, or get direct navigation traffic if I’m not going to use it for a project in the next few months.
When it come to name variations, I try not to go overboard. The only situation where I buy many variations of a name is for a campaign that will involve a media outside the internet. For example, if a salesperson will be calling potential customers, I want all the possible variations on the name that prospect may hear or remember during the conversation. This is especially true if it’s advertised over the radio where they can’t see the text of the URL. But even if they do see it printed in a newspaper or on their TV screen where they can’t click it, I like to have a few common variations.
Someday we need to have a big meeting where we all light our candles and announce, “My name is Jeff and I’m a domain addict.”
