I'm Shane Cultra, Ask Me Any Question

[Domain Shane]

Lets have some fun. I promise to be open and honest with the questions if we can keep it civil.

A little background. I'm nobody special, just a guy that runs a nursery, runs a lot, and loves domains. I am part of team that runs DSAD.com, used to have a blog called DomainShane, used to be part of a little show called Domain Sherpa, sold my first blog WallStreetFighter to Break.com and Lionsgate Film, part of group that sold a show called WallStrip to NBC for $5 Million, and ran 20 plus marathons and 2 Ironmen in between then and now. Bought and sold a few domains along the way

Post any question and I'll have my team of assistants, just kidding, I'll do my best to answer it.

 

[D Haynes]

I loved being on DomainSherpa. As you may be able to tell, I have no problem being on camera. I have been on a weekly gardening show on TV for 20 years. But I really enjoy "shooting the sh*t" with Drew and Michael. We used to talk for hours before and after the taping and that's what I really miss. You will have to ask Drew about that. We haven't talked about it. We all at DSAD have touched on having our own show . Although I think we all have been successful, I think we lack the credibility of the big sales like Drew or Adam Strong would have. We are good at what we do but I think to have a broad show you need to have a full time domain investor on the panel

Hi Shane. I don't think lacking the big sales takes away any credabilty at all. In fact I (and probably most others here), would find a podcast talking about intermediate sales more relatable and therefore more helpfull. I dont own names that are going to sell for 6 figures, so when I hear drew taling about selling a name for 250K it doesnt really help me. Hearing about the smaller sales that I can achieve myself is far more interesting.

 

[Domain Shane]

LOL

@Domain Shane

My comment will be about your branding.

I think Domain Shane is better than DSAD as a brand.

Why did you changed it? Do you have plans to sell it in some point of time?

Seriously I think Domain Shane is a stronger brand than DSAD.

What does DSAD stands for?

My guess was Domain Shane And D....?

I get this asked a lot. Here is the long answer.

When I started my blog it was called DomainPantry. A fellow blogger who called himself Chef Patrick emailed me and said he was mad that my blog had a kitchen name and he since he was the Chef that I shouldn't use Domain Pantry since it would be associated with him. So I though about it and thought DomainShane had a nice ring to it

After several years of writing a guy came in to my nursery. Turned out he was a fellow writer of a domain blog called Accidental Domainer. He lived in Colorado but his family farmed a few miles north of me and he came back each year to help out so he figured he would stop by and say hello. Turns out his family works with my family and we actually have family members in common. (My aunt married someone from his family) Long store short, we had a ton in common from domains, to running, to background.

As I had trouble getting advertisers and he had none I suggested one day that we combine blogs so that we had more content. I would keep my advertisers and we would split whoever we got after that. We called the new blog Domain Shane and Accidental Domainer and kept it on the domain DomainShane

As we got going I realized I could use a break writing the list. I was spending 2 to 3 hours a day every day for 6 years and only missed 10 days or so. But it gave me no life and I wanted a break. So I put it out there I was looking for help. Along came Josh. He was amazing. I never seen a guy scan a list and put in so much time to hunting names. He took over one day and then took Tuesdays and Saturdays. (I caught up on a lot of shows and movies because of him)

As the blog grew and things needed to be fixed and changed I get really tired of working with different technical people. So I asked for some help from readers. That's how I met Travis. Travis is the smartest guy I knew from a technical standpoint. He codes with the best of them and is super organized. I think he's probably the best partner in anything I've ever had. And yet we hadn't met until Namescon. Talked every week but never seen each other's faces. Love the Internet.

So here we have four guys. Obviously the blog is much bigger than just me. And we all agreed to just give it a general name. We could have come up with something fancy but we just stuck with the original acronym DSAD.com since I already owned it. And its the domain space. Small enough that people will figure out who we are.

I have no plans on selling it but never say never.

 

[Domain Shane]

Thank you for going boldly where no forum member has gone before.

There is a recent thread on "XR" domains; fad or future?

I am a brand kind of guy. Meaning XR certainly can be big in the future but will companies that want to spend money use that in their name? VR people have gone a different route. Bitcoin and coin companies are the opposite and do. Good brands can be used for anything including XR. That being said. Buying 50 of the best XR names and paying renewals is not the worst way to spend money that I've read here

 

[Domain Shane]

How do you make time for fitness, running a business, website, buying/selling domains etc?

Another common question. In order to get it all done you have to get up early and not really do anything else. I also am pretty good at multi tasking. Although my wife and daughter may disagree. If I am writing I can't do anything else. But pretty much everything else I can carry on a conversation and work at the same time. I have to get up at 4:15 to get everything in. I promised my wife and daughter I would be there for every breakfast and every dinner. I have missed maybe 20 of those in 20 years. I am home from running by 6:45 every morning and I never work at the nursery past 7 pm. I come home and work on domaining every night and if I have some free time at the nursery I squeeze in domain work there so I don't have as many hours at night. I also work 7 days a week. We also have built a house that has a great room with an office, a kitchen and a tv room all as one so our family is always together. It works well for us. Everyone is different but if you read my blog you can see I have a pretty healthy family life. (at least I write that I do

I don't have a problem working 7 days a week because I truly enjoy what I am doing so it's not work. I have never had a boss so I feel only the pressure I put on myself and the need to support my family and the employees that trust in me to provide them opportunity ( I have 35 of those at the nursery and over a million in payroll to try and support). But everyone needs time off. I took that time today because I just ran a marathon this weekend and my legs are toast. So no running this week and that means I have a few extra hours a day this week to goof off. I figured I would spend a few of them having fun here

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane,
I was the one who had submitted instatrader, skinstorage and other names at one of the sherpa review shows that you were on with Michael Krell...
I remember you used to talk about one of your associates who sells brandables on Afternic and elsewhere several times a day.. ranging from a few hundred to $1500 or so... we never really got to hear from him in terms of strategy or if changing around the prices of the ones that had $299 to $1500 or vice-versa, sales increased, decreased or did the bottom line change in terms of total sales..

Josh was actually on the show a couple times. Ike or Josh is who I was talking about and he is one of my partners at DSAD. I can't remember how much detail he went into but he did go over some. He also talked on our blog about his 10,000 dot US purchased for $1000 and how he made $20K plus from it. Josh is a must if we have a new show

 

[Domain Shane]

Do geo domains have a future?

I think they will always have a future. I do think it has to be a marketable range though. I think city names are better than wider ranges. The good and the bad is the defined range. You know who your user is going to be but that's all you got. The great part of the Internet is the ability to sell to the whole world but a geo name cuts that down quite a bit


Monetize with parking or lander with pricing details?

All of the above. Lander with BIN and make offer. Listed on as many sites as you can. And definitely at Godaddy and Afternic. I like Efty's product. I also don't worry about parking revenue anymore. Only left names that weren't great names but paid for renewal in parking and didn't present a UDRP problem

Fixed price or make offer? (or both)

See above. BIN on all names under $10K


Thanks...and thank your family for allowing the time.

Salmon and sweet potato cooking 10 feet away as I type this

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane, do you miss the DomainSherpa show and will you be a part of the new DomainSherpa show?

I loved being on DomainSherpa. As you may be able to tell, I have no problem being on camera. I have been on a weekly gardening show on TV for 20 years. But I really enjoy "shooting the shit" with Drew and Michael. We used to talk for hours before and after the taping and that's what I really miss. You will have to ask Drew about that. We haven't talked about it. We all at DSAD have touched on having our own show . Although I think we all have been successful, I think we lack the credibility of the big sales like Drew or Adam Strong would have. We are good at what we do but I think to have a broad show you need to have a full time domain investor on the panel

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane!!! Thanks for starting this thread!!! You doing a great job!!!
What names would you like to purchase? What price range?
Thanks in advance.

I am pretty much in the same boat as half the industry. One word, two word dot coms. Names that are singular in nature and could represent anything. Like a few names I recently bought dustpan, propagation, uncomfortable. grassy Price range is $2K to $10K. But I am always looking for LLLL.com with great Western letters. i.e. no K,J, Q, Z, etc. And of course, looking for good prices like everyone else.

 

[Domain Shane]

Awesome stuff..... thanks for starting this thread.

Is it just me or are .org domains starting to get a litte more "stage time" on sales reports recently?

Dot org has a very defined use. And defined is always a good thing as long and what is being defined is in demand. I think the demand is there but there is a stigma of selling to non profits and do good organizations for a lot of money.

 

[Domain Shane]

Superb AMA!

What I love about DSAD is its heterogeneity. The more angles that a website has, the more value it can provide. DSAD is one of the few places to put that fact to pragmatic use.

Asks:

1. What motivates you to work so long and hard? AFAIK, you're in the top 1% of earners in the United States ($430,000+ per year). What keeps you going?
2. What's one thing you'd tell your 20-year old self that isn't lottery numbers or alike?
3. In 10-20 years, what would be the Utopian domain industry, IYO?
4. Is there more opportunity with domains or Wall Street, IYO?

Did I get too covetous with 4 questions in one post?

Kudos on creating this AMA!

1. I am motivated by a few things. Most importantly, I like doing it. I love the business of domains and I love the hunt. I also love what the extra money does for my life. I can buy whatever I want, when I want. Doesn't mean I do but it does allow me to travel a bit more and buy things that I normally wouldn't. My wife also is very supportive. She says I don't have to help around the house much as long as I'm working and emotionally there. The second I sit on the couch though. Watch out. She is all over me to help.

2. I would tell myself that I have a bad thyroid. I didn't find out I had a bad thyroid until I was in my 30s. Once I started taking the pill to fix it I had 50% more energy and lost 40 lbs. I started running and started blogging. All within months of fixing it. If I would have fixed it in my 20s I would have accomplished twice as much as I have now

3. That's a tough one. Utopia sounds so boring. I can't ever see a time where there's not good and bad, hardworking and lazy, rich and poor. As for domains, I just hope they are still in the same form they are now and very very valuable.

4. Wall Street easily. But the barriers to entry as so much lower for domains. The risk/reward is probably better in domains but a skilled market player is a lot richer than the best domain investor.

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane,

Good to see your AMA, great learning for those inclined to do so.

Ironically you and me started at the same time, though you seem to have done way better because you stuck to .com. I wish I'd done the same, but then hindsight is always 20:20.

Here's my question: If you were to start today, knowing what you know now and with a small (say $5k) budget, how would you go about it?

Always been a fan of your work btw, even when I didn't agree with what you're saying, your level of candour is rare in any industry, specially this one, so keep on doing what you're doing, congrats on your success, cheers!

Thank you for the kind words,

If I were starting over I would flip names. I would buy them on the forums, in auctions. Look for names that didn't go for as much as I thought and then flip them. Making a little on each. Which names? It's hard to be exact but a name that perhaps sold on Flippa for $300 and flip on Namejet for $500. Or buy a LLLL.com here and put it on Godaddy. There is some opportunity there to make money. Just have to know the markets and wholesale value. I see people doing it all the time. Because they buy spots on my list to promote the flipped name. It's not huge money but with time you can build up a bankroll to build a portfolio that you wait for higher prices but don;t need to flip them for cash

 

[deez007]

Awesome stuff..... thanks for starting this thread.

Is it just me or are .org domains getting a little more "stage time" on sales reports recently?

 

[Domain Shane]

Oh, I see. Would be nice to see you in the "new" show. I'm quite a little confused but it seems that Michael literally stopped the show over night without informing the Sherpa panel in advance. I hope that the new show will be as informative and interesting like it used to be. I'm a huge fan of DSAD too, so I wish you all the best!

I wouldn't say it was overnight. I own a business too. He and I pretty much work 12 hours plus a day. When someone works that much you often ask yourself, "If I had enough money would I continue to work this much?" The answer is realistically, no. At least I would take a big break/vacation. Michael has had a few recent big domain sales that change his financial status. Add the hard work, the hard time people gave him on the forums, Rick Schwartz calling him out, and the relatively modest income of the show, and you can see how easy it would be to wake up and decide you're done.

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane,

are you interested in cryptocurrencies and do you invest in crypto/coin related names?

Thank you

I pretty much watch crypto/bitcoin prices all day every day. And yet I have zero dollars invested in crypto. I believe crypto has a great future and I absolutely plan on trading it. Just haven't . I am in the same boat right now with crypto domains. I didn't get in early enough so the prices are a little high for me to start buying now. I do think there is great opportunity to scalp names if you can find a good price on one. Pretty much anything sells with bit, coin, crypto, or wallet in it right now

 

[Domain Shane]

What's one of your most fun(ny) party or dating stories? (Man cave talk. Cover your wife's eyes!)

My favorite is from a fraternity brother named Steve Luther. He was always telling tall tales, enough of which had been true to keep them interesting. He said he was sitting on the beach at South Padre drinking some beer when some police officers asked him for some ID. Being underage he took a beer out of the six pack so he would have a handle, grabbed the remaining five and started off into the ocean. He said he was an all-state swimmer so he got out pretty deep on the officers when they started chasing him on a jet ski. By the time they caught up to him he flipped over on his back, popped open a beer and said. "Sorry officers, International Waters!!"

 

[Domain Shane]

@Domain Shane - I admire your willingness to hold an AMA in the wake of this so called war on trolls. I know Drew refers to me as such, so I'm not sure if you include me in that same category. I don't know much about you, or DSAD, aside from what I've seen on Sherpa over the years. I do appreciate that DSAD has been vocal about calling out some questionable activity when they see it. For instance, (a) Raising suspicious of HKDN / Oliver before shillgate (b) Travis M. recently noted something didn't seem right about Sati.com being for sale for less than $10k after it had recently sold for $100k. DSAD published this prior to the creation of the NP thread discussing it.

On a prenote. That's Drew's war on trolls. I was merely pointing out that a few bad apples ruins it for everyone. I've never been a fan of anonymity. I have always felt you were given your face, your words, and your voice. To hide any of those for any reason other than security is showing lack of accountability. It's tough to fight shadows and I won't. I put myself out there everyday and almost every day I see someone write something to the effect they "despise" me. Nobody likes being despised but any time you write anything there will be someone who doesn't like your words.

I'm curious to know if you've ever had any ethical struggles from a journalistic level on what content you decide to publish -- especially that from private sources, or off the record conversations (both factual and/or speculatory)?

Now that you've been a blogger for several years, do you see yourself as a journalist? Have you taken any courses or read any books to prepare you for such an important and vital journalistic position? If so, any recommendations? I assume you receive leads on domain related stories every now and then, how do you determine what is enough information to blog about, especially when that information presented may be speculative and/or incomplete? Do you take the time to research it, or do you take the approach that if it won't make you any money, then it's not worth the effort?

I am absolutely not a journalist. I am a blogger. Huge difference. I would love to take the time and do more interviews and research stories. I see where you are going with this but I put my reputation and my financial resources in my words. If I say something that isn't true or damaging then you knew exactly where to find me. My name and information is plastered everywhere to find me. I talk every day to people in the industry. It has taken then years to finally quit saying "please don't post this" every time I talk to them. I don't feel a duty to call out fraud or write articles about the dark side of our industry. But I do have morals and ethics contrary to what is said about me in some comments. Generally when I see something I deem is wrong I take action. That action may not always be in prose or on the blog. I have a voice with my blog but that doesn't mean I always have to use it. That is the beauty of this thing. It's my voice, it represents me, and I am the one that is accountable for it. And as long as that is the case I will use it how I see fit on any given day. In short, I'm only going to say something in public I am willing to take the repercussions of those words.

 

[Domain Shane]

Welcome Shane.. we chat through Yahoo and I follow you on Twitter

More importantly you literally just bought the LLLL.com that I was trying to buy so we obviously have the same taste in domains.

 

[Domain Shane]

Hey Shane,

At first when I started reading this I said to myself, this seems a bit weird. I didnt think anyone would really ask any questions. As I read on, I am thinking of many questions I now have for you! lol



So here goes,

1) With your team of 4 bloggers who all add true value to the DSAD brand, how do you split the income DSAD makes? 25% times 4?

2) You have said before that your blog brings you 6-figures per year. Is that for the entire team, or for you individually? If your DSAD income is split 4 ways evenly and you are all making 6-digits, thats almost a half million a year. I had no idea that is even possible for a domain blog.

3) What is the best income maker on your site, The NameJet and/or GoDaddy auction picks afillliate incomes?

4) Since you are an Illinois guy like myself, how come you don't run the Bank of America Marathon up here in Chi-Town?

Thanks,
Vito

Thanks Vito, much appreciated

1. Very good question. So when Aaron and started working we agreed. Whatever advertisers I had I got to keep the money. We would split the new income. Unfortunately that hasn't worked real well because nobody wants to advertise with us because we're not a real news blog. Payoneer, Efty (they give me a free account), and any of the big guys skipped us so Aaron doesn't make as much as he deserves for his good articles. Josh and Travis get a percentage of the affiliate commissions we make from the list. So Josh can make four figures per month from the list. Travis gets paid for being the tech guy and keeping things up and running. People don't realize how much time it takes to keep plugins up to date, backups done regularly, and the site efficient. He gets paid a small sum plus a percentage of the list. I get the most and probably a disproportionate amount but I started the list before they got there and had a few good advertisers.

2. So the six figures is a combination of domain sales and the blog. The blog itself is above mid five figures and six figures. My domain sales vary year to year but last year I had domain sales pushing six figures on its own. That was with a good sale of Trunk.com to Mr. Rosener who gave me a price too good to pass up at the time. So no, we don't get rich off this but it is a nice income. So no, not $600K, I wish and the guys do get paid, just not very much. They deserve more. Especially Aaron

3. Godaddy. Namejet and Sedo treat us well but Godaddy pays the bills.

4. I have run the Chicago marathon 5 or 6 times. Ran 3 hours 6 minutes in 2015

 

[Domain Shane]

@Domain Shane thanks for taking the time to do an AMA

Curious to hear you thoughts on the following:

What do you think are some of the next big future themes to come in domaining?
I mean new gtlds, the meteoric rise of CHIPS, or other themes

As someone who came in later to the game I find myself trying to ponder/anticipate
I would also be particularly curious about two topics:

• Domains in India (1/7 of world population still coming online)
• General threats to domain industry (apps, elimination of browser to access internet, AI)

Thanks!
DomainDepot

1. The future is a tough one. I see dot com still being the future. As those become too expensive I certainly see new Gs being used more and more often. As I stated before the hard part is the holding cost of those domains and knowing which domains will become popular. Popularity shifts on a dime. There is nothing that I feel strongly enough to go "all in" on except dot coms. But I am dabbling in everything else. I do think LLLL.coms go up from here. And one words dictionary will climb very quickly as the demand for them is off the charts. The fringes are a crap shoot. Just have to be watching daily to see sparks before the flames come

2. I don't believe in .IN. They will build on .com. They have a different culture than the Chinese and paying up for domains doesn't seem to be a big cultural trait in my eyes. Quite the opposite. They value good value and returns on their money

3. Threats. Changes in navigation are the obvious threat. Even with voice though, you have to have a marker. I think words and numbers will continue to be the markers. Branding and marketing have existed for thousands of years. I think that continues for quite a while. Apps are that. An application. They aren't websites.

 

[Domain Shane]

Thanks for sharing. Here's my question (hopefully the answer is educational to all):

You mentioned "threats" above. With a large domain name portfolio, you must get overzealous companies and trademark lawyers contacting you from time to time, to attempt to threaten your ownership of your domains, rather than buy them in good faith. How have you handled those threats over the years, and do you have any interesting "war stories" to share? How do you minimize those risks?

I have been fortunate that I haven't had any issues with companies at all. I have been removing my names from parking in order to avoid showing any intent on using other companies that share the name to make money. Also, many of my generics are horticulture related and proving I bought them for such would be easy in my case. In short, it is certainly a huge problem and I understand the importance of protecting generics, I have just been fortunate in that no reverse hijacking has come my way. And my portfolio is small. 500 names or so

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane,
you have daily lists of auctions running for years on your blog, covering Sedo, Godaddy and Namejet

my question: based on your experience, in 2017 Which auction platform is better for which kind of domains? 4L | Brandable | Generic | .com | .org | .net

Kind regards,
Halille

I think 4Ls would be Godaddy, CHiPs do well at Namejet but lower quality get buried there. Sedo has been showing some good results but the auction fee eats away at the total

Brandable is Namejet all the way

Generic Namejet, then Godaddy. Again Sedo can have good results since all the eyeballs go to your name
.net, org and the rest all pretty much Namejet

 

[GeorgeK]

In short, it is certainly a huge problem and I understand the importance of protecting generics, I have just been fortunate in that no reverse hijacking has come my way. And my portfolio is small. 500 names or so

Our portfolios are roughly the same size, so I'm pleasantly surprised you've had no issues at all over the years. Kudos. Saving those legal costs lets you reinvest in your business. Preventing those frivolous complaints (participating in the ICANN UDRP review working group, etc. to improve policies) would help others save those needless legal expenses too.

 

[Domain Shane]

The chicken or the egg .......... who really came first ?? (thanks in advance)

The egg, laid by a bird that was not a chicken

 

[ksusha64]

Hi Shane!!! Thanks for starting this thread!!! You doing a great job!!!
What names would you like to purchase? What price range?
Thanks in advance.