Jay Gaulard Blog

Buying and Selling Domain Names

Friday, March 21st, 2008

The more I look around, the more I learn that the domain name business is big business.

As I told you yesterday, I am trying to scoop up a bunch of different extensions for the domains I already have. It’s working out pretty well, but I have hit a little bump. I already bought up most of the available ones and now I have to enter the market of second (or third) hand domains. That is when it gets expensive.

Let me give you a little example…a guy called me a few years ago to offer a .com domain that he was selling. This was a hot name and he was looking for $50,000 for it. I almost started laughing when he told me that. I think I offered him $300 and went off and did something else. As it turns out, I am kicking myself. I have a feeling I am going to be seeing this domain in action soon because someone out in Las Vegas just purchased it at auction for $135,000. Why was, or is, it worth so much? Well, it was first registered in 1996, so it has some age. Also, it rolls off the tongue extremely easily and is two very powerful keywords. It’s also quite descriptive. Those things alone give it a lot of value. I talked to the seller last night and he mentioned that he does have another .com for sale that I would be interested in. He wants $50,000 for it. This one is definitely not worth what the other one was, but it does give me pause. Honestly, if you can get a well known .com that was born back in 1996, $50,000 is not too much. You do need to do a little research first.

Yesterday, I put a bunch of bids in for multiple .com and .net addresses. I did receive an email back telling me I could buy a .net for $2,688. I am going to have the name appraised today to see if it has been blacklisted or anything like that. I believe it was first registered back in 2002, which isn’t bad.

What’s the benefit of purchasing a used domain name? The answer is Google. Google likes “aged” domains. You can set up a site and not have to wait for Google’s aging filter to do its thing. Also, there may be links to the domain already. So basically, if you get a used domain, you could set up a site and have it indexed very quickly to start making money fast.

I am going to buy a few more today and then call it quits for a while. The guy I spoke to last night is also looking for $50,000 for a little known extension that will become very popular. This is for the same domain as I was talking about above.

What I do know is this…if I buy a bunch of these names now and sit on them for a few years and let them age, I can send them to auction and sell them for some $$$. From what I have been learning, I do have quite an investment already. Just remember…if you are going to get into this, you need to buy domains that people will actually want in a few years. I am not sure how many people would be interested in jaygaulard.com. There are also huge price variations with what the name consists of, like one word, two words, hyphens, etc…

What Do These Top Level Domains Mean? List of TLDs

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

I have been purchasing quite a few domain names lately. At last glance, I own 78 of them. Over time, I am taking any confusion out of who owns the real domain by scooping up as many different extensions as I can. I have noticed a disturbing trend of domains being bought and sat on…or cyber squatted. Well, this has been going on forever, but now they are buying even the not-so-popular ones. Little by little, I keep on buying them, until I have them all. Sure, it may take years (it already has), but I will get there. I check what’s available every so often.

I do limit myself to the more popular ones though. I go after .com, .net, .org, .us, .info and .biz. I also grab often mistaken spellings of the same extensions. Some may think this is a bit extreme, but I have stopped listening to people. My extremeness has gotten me this far.

Anyway, today I bought eleven new domains. They were .info and .biz. As I shop for these things, I often wonder what they mean. Are they for specific purposes, like they used to be? I will admit, the requirements to purchase a particular domain extension are becoming quite relaxed. I learned a bunch by looking through the list of internet top level domains.

If you take a look at this list, you will notice that extensions that used to be for a particular purpose is now open to everyone. The .govs are still for the government though. I think that anyone can buy a certain domain extension, but if challenged in court, you need to provide proof that you are what the domain is meant for.

Domain Name Ideas

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

You may be aware that I have come up with some funky domain names in the past. I really don’t put all that much thought into them because my marketing doesn’t require catchy names. If I began marketing on television, perhaps I would ponder them for more than a day. Actually, back the day, “Google” and “Yahoo!” probably seems pretty silly.

I got an idea for another website this morning. I began my usual routine of coming up with a domain name. Then, I thought, “Why don’t I do a search for a website that gives ideas for just this?” So I did. I searched Google for “domain name ideas.” The first result was the “Domain Name Generator” at makewords.com. I messed around with it for a little while and got some ideas. I am not sure I am going to use any of them, but by using this website, you can see what is still available and what’s not. You can also do some in depth research on any domain name.

I just thought I would share this with you. No thank yous necessary.

Notice Anything Different?

Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Ok, fine, I put the word “Jay” in front of the domain name for this blog. In other words, I moved this blog to a new domain.

Why? Because it was becoming apparent that the Gaulard.com domain is all business these days. I have business stuff on that site. I kinda didn’t want someone who I deal with business-wise thinking that I install crown moulding for a living. It may get confusing. So, now we have JayGaulard.com. Ye Haw.

There you have it. Welcome.

Synonym Finder

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

I am not the most creative person, especially when it comes to thinking of good domain names. I usually use the most descriptive term that pops in my head at the time. That’s not good when I am trying to make things “catchy.” I don’t think “dogbedsandothergoodpettoys.com” is a very good domain name.

So what’s a guy to do? Well, I had a nice creative idea to help solve this little problem of mine. I would use a nice “Synonym Finder.”

Remember, synonyms are different words with identical or at least similar meanings. So, from now on, when I think of a lousy domain name, I can just play off of my original idea and find a suitable synonym.

Is Someone Tasting On Your Domain Name Idea?

Monday, August 27th, 2007

Say you have the next best domain name. Say you go to a domain name registration website and type your domain name idea into the little search box. Hey, it’s available. You wait a few days to muster up all the hard cold cash it’s going to take to get this bad boy. You get the cash and go back to make your dream come true. This time, when you search for your domain, it’s gone. That is…it’s taken. Someone already bought it.

Why? Well, I guess there are many reasons. I read this article on the web earlier today. I though they hit the whole thing right on the head. They say it’s called “Domain Tasting.”

Wikipedia says that these domain tasters are using the five day test drive of a top level domain to see if it has any marketability. I can’t imagine a domain having any traffic if it’s brand new. Most of those good ones are gone. I bet they are after the ones that have already been purchased in the past, but let expire.

This actually happened to someone I know. If it’s happened to you, go ahead and re-search the domain to see if it’s come back available. If it is, this time, grab it.

Registering Your Domain Name

Monday, August 27th, 2007

Get ‘em quick. That’s my advice. Where? You can register a domain name right here.

You know, that’s pretty funny. I wasn’t going to make this a pitch for my domain name registration service. It just happened. I was just sitting here with Laura reminiscing about when I bought the domain name, “Gaulard.com.” I know, it was a little strange when I bought it. I think Laura thought it was funny because it was my last name. Well, would it be funny if Bill Gates registered “Gates.com?” I think not.

Actually, I think it’s becoming quite fashionable for someone to register their last name, that is, if it’s not a very popular one. I mean, I think Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones may have some trouble.

Back when I registered Gaulard.com, I never in a million years thought anyone would ever register any other Gaulard domain name with a different extention. I thought I was in the clear. Well, guess what? Good thing I got it when I did, because both Gaulard.net and Gaulard.org are taken. By who? Probably some long lost cousins in France. I think one of them emailed me once.

So, what’s the lesson here? If you think you should register a domain name, even if it’s wacky and wild, go ahead and do it right now. If not, someone else may beat you to the punch.