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discuss What's your domain "thing"?

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HotKey

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What I mean is, is there a personal rule that you follow or have implemented into your domaining journey? And you stick to it, no matter what? Perhaps its a certain criteria for what or how you buy or sell. Maybe a strict rule of only sticking to .com or new gTLDs. Or something more unique, something not likely adopted by the masses. Perhaps your domain thing is focusing solely on certain niches or trends, and moving on when things become crowded and over-saturated. Maybe you have a thing for certain numbers, ccTLD hacks, emojis or LLLL dot-whatevers? Is your domain thing that you never, ever do business on the 13'th of the month, or you will absolutely unequivocally only buy domains that have the letter "e"?

Whatever your domain thing is, if you care to share, I think it'd be great to see the diversity, or commonality, of what some of our absolutes are when it comes to domaining. And be great to provide an explanation as to why it's your domain "thing".
 
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So one of my domain things is, I never, ever absolutely ever register or buy a domain that expire in March.

Why? We all deserve a break. I think most of us work extremely hard throughout the year monitoring drops and auctions and new releases to build our portfolios. I figured why not have a month where I can just sit back and say "fudge it", enjoy the fruits of my labour, perhaps close a sale or two and tweak my existing names. March was the month I chose, and have never looked back, stuck to the rule.

I love the end of February for this reason, and so does my bank account. :)
 
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Like the have a month off idea - almost made it through January with this intention (3 days short!) There's always next year I suppose....

EDIT: Just double checked and I was 10 days short!.....:xf.frown:

Mine is never to buy number domains, don't know anything about them, don't want to and they do not inspire me in the slightest
 
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Like the have a month off idea - almost made it through January with this intention (3 days short!) There's always next year I suppose....

Mine is never to buy number domains, don't know anything about them, don't want to and they do not inspire me in the slightest
Man- so close! 3 days, aarg. Hopefully you can sell it by then.

It's a challenge, an entire month. It's almost a foolhardy rule, really.. bound to pass up some real gems.
 
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What a great idea for a thread!

Mine is never buy a domain name that I would not be happy to talk about with family and friends.
For example I never handle adult names. I totally respect that it is a legitimate area, but if my grandchildren in a few years time were to stumble on my domain portfolio, I want every single name to be something they would view as something to be potentially proud of owning. It is just me. I have stuck away from some other areas like negative politics, addiction encouraging niches, get rich quick, etc. for same reason.

Kind of the corollary I love names with positive emotions, even when I realize that in some cases significant value sales are probably unlikely. You will find happiness, kindness, dreamers, fitter, innovators, memories, mindful, etc. among my names in one extension or another. I am also a big fan of fun!

Bob
 
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Man- so close! 3 days, aarg. Hopefully you can sell it by then.

It's a challenge, an entire month. It's almost a foolhardy rule, really.. bound to pass up some real gems.
LOL even worse I checked my records and it went out to 10 days! It is an addictive hobby for me, but I watched a good video @Alvin Brown did about managing your portfolio and a good recommendation was to have 1 month purchasing and 1 month off - which I thought was good advice.

I might be able to do it - but if I have one busy month, the following one will be far less busy
 
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So one of my domain things is, I never, ever absolutely ever register or buy a domain that expire in March.

Why? We all deserve a break. I think most of us work extremely hard throughout the year monitoring drops and auctions and new releases to build our portfolios. I figured why not have a month where I can just sit back and say "fudge it", enjoy the fruits of my labour, perhaps close a sale or two and tweak my existing names. March was the month I chose, and have never looked back, stuck to the rule.

I love the end of February for this reason, and so does my bank account. :)

Great idea I urge all domainers to adopt March as a domaining vacation month ..
so that I can get all hanging fruits for myself :xf.grin:
 
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I have little secret, watch auctions during national holidays!
I got several 4Ls for $75 during Christmas last year!!
 
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Mine is never buy a domain name that I would not be happy to talk about with family and friends. For example I never handle adult names.
Great example. With you on that. I think the only way around that is to develop a "it's not personal, just business" motto for the adult side of things. But taking a stance and sticking to it really helps define our borders, allows to focus and grow, and where we stand morally.
Mine is never to buy number domains, don't know anything about them, don't want to and they do not inspire me in the slightest
And the irony is domaining is largely in part a numbers game, yet I'm sure you're not alone with not "getting" number domains- myself included!
 
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Two domain "things":

- stick to .com's and, on rare occasion, .org's... there aren't nearly enough hours in a day to venture beyond .com's! (n)

- stick to names I have ideas for and would like to keep and develop myself. Working on an AI system to develop minisites automagically based on a wide range of criteria. In the meantime, happy to sell as many names as possible to motivated end users for $ x,xxx or, on occasion, dump some at mid to high $ xxx... have $ 20,000+ worth of renewals to feed annually! :xf.cry:
 
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My "thing" is to .. Buy low and Sell high! ;)

Seriously though .. I rigorously go through the expiration auction lists each day to share my lists here and at NameCult .. as such I do invest heavily in terms of time. But the payoff is fantastic .. I find hidden gems that I know I'll be able to grab super cheap and likely even at closeout. Basically my "public" lists represent the top 0.5% of all expiring auction domains that day .. my personal "private" list is the 1% of that 0.5%! lol

So effectively .. in reality my "thing" is to buy at "below wholesale pricing". I'm extremely happy with my buys lately .. getting some absolutely amazing domains. Finally starting pay off as I'm off to a great start in sales in 2019 so far (in domaining .. the rest of my life is a disaster .. lol). I closed a $xxxx sale last week .. and just got the "buyer has paid" email on another $xxxx one today! January was good as well! :)
 
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My "thing" is to .. Buy low and Sell high! ;)

Seriously though ..
I think that's a "thing" we can all appreciate- seriously! :)
And congrats on your January earnings, not to mention the massive contribution of your domain lists in the expired section.
Two domain "things":

- stick to .com's and, on rare occasion, .org's... there aren't nearly enough hours in a day to venture beyond .com's! (n)

- stick to names I have ideas for and would like to keep and develop myself. Working on an AI system to develop minisites automagically based on a wide range of criteria. In the meantime, happy to sell as many names as possible to motivated end users for $ x,xxx or, on occasion, dump some at mid to high $ xxx... have $ 20,000+ worth of renewals to feed annually! :xf.cry:
Endless .coms, I hear you.
Can't wait for your AI system- as long as it doesn't learn to surpass us, lol. And keeping in touch with your names gives such a huge advantage in understanding which buyers to target.
 
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1. I am checking a number of specific auction / drop / snap sites everyday.
2. I am checking NamePros and a Swedish webmaster forum everyday.
 
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It's not so much of a rule,but I like to look at the daily namebio sales report each morning with a nice big cup of coffee.:coffee:It's kinda my morning "thing":xf.smile:
 
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My major rule is that I don't care about any other extension outside .com

I only have one .net and that's Freekick.net
 
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...Can't wait for your AI system- as long as it doesn't learn to surpass us, lol...
Huh? What would be the point of that? The whole idea of developing AI is to surpass us weakling, slowpoke, error prone humans! (Carefully supervised, to be sure) :cigar:
And keeping in touch with your names gives such a huge advantage in understanding which buyers to target.
Exactly right. Helps to negotiate, too! You should play only with what you understand and can do reasonably well. When you want to diversify, which in business (or in domaining) is usually a good idea, make damn sure you also expand your horizons (read: quickly learn all you can about what you are getting yourself into) :pompous:
 
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my domaining criteria for 2019, is after 20 years to bring it to a close. 63 now and living in the most lovely of retirement complexes. Time to get on with some healthy habits, have my home gym and some great friends . going to even buy a bike this summer..

Yes of course I'll probably hang-on to one or two .coms
 
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1) no more experimenting with ngtld's. Yeah there is money out there, but .com, .org and .nets are safer investments. I would rather spend hours going over .coms than trying to get clever with ngtld combos. I dont care if someone got lucky with a rare word combo, most of the ones you buy end up rotting in your portfolio.

2) no more wasting time with brandables. You end up buying too many of them that go nowhere and brandable site commissions are ridiculous. I see people with huge portfolios of BB/BP domains they end up trying to sell here for pennies on the dollar.

3) trends are fun for a few names, but get a dozen and walk away. I see people with 300 crypto or canna or VR or similiar domains and yet not make one sale. No thank you.
 
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What a great idea for a thread!

Mine is never buy a domain name that I would not be happy to talk about with family and friends.
For example I never handle adult names. I totally respect that it is a legitimate area, but if my grandchildren in a few years time were to stumble on my domain portfolio, I want every single name to be something they would view as something to be potentially proud of owning. It is just me. I have stuck away from some other areas like negative politics, addiction encouraging niches, get rich quick, etc. for same reason.

Kind of the corollary I love names with positive emotions, even when I realize that in some cases significant value sales are probably unlikely. You will find happiness, kindness, dreamers, fitter, innovators, memories, mindful, etc. among my names in one extension or another. I am also a big fan of fun!

Bob
I second all this; used to buy names if they matched only one criterion: I thought they'd make profit. Eventually that started to feel wrong in my gut/heart, so I started 'listening' to what kinds of names felt good to own, and let go of ones that didn't. Mostly now it's very positive names, whether they are spiritual, health, tech, money, etc, what I prefer is the positive ones, and not ones that just pander to - as said above - vices and porn and make money fast mindset. This isn't a moral thing, just a gut-feel thing... makes me feel better about my own portfolio and what I'm doing with it.

Also I do 'domain rescues', to pay it forward. I'll see a person's name, or business name, or celebrity name deleting soon, I do a quick bit of investigation and if it looks like they dropped it by accident, I'll try snap it. I'll put a 'not for sale' lander on it, then try contact the prev owner.

I don't make a 'mission' out of this because there are many of those dropping every week, and in fact I grab some of them to resell, just like we all do. So I just 'listen' again and when the stars all align and it feels right to do that for a particular domain, I go for the 'rescue' instead of the resell. I currently have one domain rescue in progress (they chose to wait until the 60-day transfer lock is up, then transfer to their registrar rather than signing up with Namebright, since this is a Dropcatch domain).

And I just completed another one yesterday, MollyQuinn /// com. It's an actress name, but I saw that it was a singer's site for many years. There were no obituaries or retirement notices etc, and she was young, so I figured it was an 'accidental loss' domain. We see those all the time... someone lets their web developer take care of their personal or business domain... and their web developer dies, or goes out of business, or they have a quarrel and the developer won't give it back, etc etc etc, dozens of reasons why domains are lost when someone else is in charge of your domain. I could have grabbed this for resell - like I said, it's not a mission or moral thing - but I like a small percentage of my domain grabs to be 'paying it forward', for the good karma. I only do it when that little feeling grabs me inside, I don't go looking for rescues.

Anyway - yes, this domain had been regged by her brother since the beginning, as a gift for her. He made some mistakes recently and lost the domain. They were all freaking out because it's her personal and business website. My 'rescues' are always free, so I don't even charge them my snap fee. They were pleased as punch to get the domain back for free.

Don't go patting my back; the next person, I'll probably take them to the cleaners ;)

So, there's two of my things: 'healthy' domains that feel good to own (for more than just their monetary value), and occasional domain rescues.
 
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my domaining criteria for 2019, is after 20 years to bring it to a close.

Yes of course I'll probably hang-on to one or two .coms
Wrapping it up after 20's years, something well-deserved. I wish you the best. Holding on to a couple, it would be impossible not to. Too bad you can't stick a domain name on a plaque to hang up.. closest thing would be printing out a certificate from NS I suppose.
My major rule is that I don't care about any other extension outside .com

I only have one .net and that's Freekick.net
Hear ya loud and clear- all other extensions get a 'freekick' off the net from you
1) no more experimenting with ngtld's..
2) no more wasting time with brandables..
3) trends are fun for a few names, but get a dozen and walk away..
Experimenting, learning what works for you and what doesn't, and finding your comfort zone. Thank you. A solid view there, on all 3 counts.
I second all this..
So, there's two of my things: 'healthy' domains that feel good to own (for more than just their monetary value), and occasional domain rescues.
Domain rescue, what a cool concept! I can see that being built on a .org.. a rescue mission for those forgotten names wandering drop street..
 
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my domaining criteria for 2019, is after 20 years to bring it to a close.

Congratulations on 20 successful years in this challenging enterprise @BaileyUK and every best wishes as you concentrate on different things going forward. It is always wise to be open to taking new paths in our lives. Thank you for your many wise contributions to NPs, and I hope that your goal of reducing the portfolio this year is successful.
Bob
 
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my domaining criteria for 2019, is after 20 years to bring it to a close. 63 now and living in the most lovely of retirement complexes. Time to get on with some healthy habits, have my home gym and some great friends . going to even buy a bike this summer..
Yeah, well, feel free to share what meds are you planning on taking to get yourself off the domain train, un-hooked, after 20 years? Especially if it was a good run... :xf.wink:
 
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I second all this; used to buy names if they matched only one criterion: I thought they'd make profit. Eventually that started to feel wrong in my gut/heart, so I started 'listening' to what kinds of names felt good to own, and let go of ones that didn't. Mostly now it's very positive names, whether they are spiritual, health, tech, money, etc, what I prefer is the positive ones, and not ones that just pander to - as said above - vices and porn and make money fast mindset. This isn't a moral thing, just a gut-feel thing... makes me feel better about my own portfolio and what I'm doing with it.

Also I do 'domain rescues', to pay it forward. I'll see a person's name, or business name, or celebrity name deleting soon, I do a quick bit of investigation and if it looks like they dropped it by accident, I'll try snap it. I'll put a 'not for sale' lander on it, then try contact the prev owner.

I don't make a 'mission' out of this because there are many of those dropping every week, and in fact I grab some of them to resell, just like we all do. So I just 'listen' again and when the stars all align and it feels right to do that for a particular domain, I go for the 'rescue' instead of the resell. I currently have one domain rescue in progress (they chose to wait until the 60-day transfer lock is up, then transfer to their registrar rather than signing up with Namebright, since this is a Dropcatch domain).

And I just completed another one yesterday, MollyQuinn /// com. It's an actress name, but I saw that it was a singer's site for many years. There were no obituaries or retirement notices etc, and she was young, so I figured it was an 'accidental loss' domain. We see those all the time... someone lets their web developer take care of their personal or business domain... and their web developer dies, or goes out of business, or they have a quarrel and the developer won't give it back, etc etc etc, dozens of reasons why domains are lost when someone else is in charge of your domain. I could have grabbed this for resell - like I said, it's not a mission or moral thing - but I like a small percentage of my domain grabs to be 'paying it forward', for the good karma. I only do it when that little feeling grabs me inside, I don't go looking for rescues.

Anyway - yes, this domain had been regged by her brother since the beginning, as a gift for her. He made some mistakes recently and lost the domain. They were all freaking out because it's her personal and business website. My 'rescues' are always free, so I don't even charge them my snap fee. They were pleased as punch to get the domain back for free.

Don't go patting my back; the next person, I'll probably take them to the cleaners ;)

So, there's two of my things: 'healthy' domains that feel good to own (for more than just their monetary value), and occasional domain rescues.
so you pay to registering the domains $8-$69, and give it for free to previous owner? or usually they give you some money by they own as thank you?
 
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so you pay to registering the domains $8-$69, and give it for free to previous owner? or usually they give you some money by they own as thank you?
Sometimes they offer, but I don't take any payment. I do it for the karma. The singer offered to send a CD but I said my gift was free.

I only do it once or twice a month, not like I'm going broke doing it :)
 
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My domain name thing is --- "innovative domain names keeps me crazy. I love creative domain names and ideation process, they give me an opportunity to think about new business areas that others are not aware. I have a business development plan for every single domain that I own and I sell few of them to generate cash flow."
 
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