Top 3 Ways for Promoting One?s Web Hosting Business

In the present scenario there is a rush of web hosting companies, and it is stiff to find out the reliable one. There are many strategies one may use to promote his/her company.

The best ways are given below through which one can easily endorse his/her web hosting business. All top 3 methodologies, as given below can be used for any kind of business, not only for a web hosting company. Here there are:

1. Referral Program

It is an ideal way to interact with the new customers. One can modify the setup of the system to show his/her current customers in the mask of new customers. The facility of a special tracking id is possessed by the customer, by giving it; he/she can consult with anybody whenever necessary. This way, the customer receives a reward for the utilization of his/her id. It is too recommended that one should submit his/her customer an account where he/she can do the verification of figures of his/her campaign. One should sign up the user to the referral program so that they can start bringing more users to the site. One

Can use some ready made soft wares available on the web for the accomplishment of management and tracking mentioned at the top.

2. Recommendations or mouth publicity

It is quite similar to recommendable program, but the variation lies only in the fact that in this case the user does not get any form of reward on bringing new users. However, still it is a good route to promote one’s web hosting service. The customer satisfaction is the key thing which will bring more of the users, because only satisfied customer will tell positive views to other people, providing benefit to the host provider .Thus in other words one can say that, a happy customer is the root cause of a business to flourish.

The service host can ask a satisfied customer to submit a testimonial containing the praising views of the customer in respect to the hosting company.

3. Linking to Forum Discussions

There are several good forums, which include web hosting as a topic of discussion. One should join such forums and must share his/her views without forgetting to keep his/her signature along with URL below his/her designation. One can place along with the signature his/her unique weekly or monthly offers.

So, helping others on this kind of forums can send new customers on one’s website, straightly meaning more business for one’s web hosting business. However one should not just rely on any one’s advice rather should go there to post and ad, should become an active member and should also became part of the forum’s community.

Mentioned above are the first three routes which one should use to bring boom in his/her business. Using them will give sure results.

Several Ways and Means to Buy Expired Domain

Expired domain market is a busy place where everyone would jostle and rush out to find their own expire domains with sense of deep conviction. In reality, buying an expired domain is not as easy as you feel it will be! There are several reasons and causes that motivate people like you and me to buy expired domain. One of the best reasons for indulging in expire domain business is its ability to provide you very lucrative profits for the money invested into the business. Here are some established tips and suggestions that will teach you how you can buy expired domain in an ever-busy market place.

Generally, all soon to get expired domains go through three phases of life:

* Expired status, when the owner of the domain in question will have 40 days of grace period, when he or she can renew the domain again by paying a standard fee

* Redemption period, when the domain enters its decisive period of shut-down and the owner of the domain may need to cough up renewal fee, along with additional penalty.

* Locked period, when the domain name in question enters the deletion phase, which is usually 5 days long. And, on the last day, the name will be officially dropped from the database between 11AM and 2PM Pacific time. Soon after this time, anyone can register for the expired domain.

With these phases of expiration cycle, how does one buy expired domain? In fact, a simple search and buy method may not work in the real sense. There are smart entrepreneurs, who use better and quicker methods to grab the domains, before you actually do. It means that you may need to use methods similar to those used by these entrepreneurs.

Experienced people who are well versed in snatching expired domains always use smart methods. One such method is the “Drop Method” that promises you good expired domains. The Drop is that unpredictable three hour time period, in which the domain gets deleted from the registrar’s database and released back into the pool. If you feel that you can buy expired domain during the dropping process is very easy, you are sadly mistaken and confused. There are no fewer than three or four major services that specialize in snatching away all the good names that become available for sale.

To buy expired domain from a large pool of domains, you may wish to enlist the services on three major domain trading firms, so that you can hope that they will grab a domain name on your behalf. Three main expired domain name trading firms are:

* Snapnames.com,

* Enom.com, and

* Pool.com

All these three forms act and operate in a similar manner. They always use a network of registrars to aim at the ICAAN servers at frequent intervals and grab as many names as possible. As a normal rule, if you do not get your desired name, you will not pay a cent to them. All the three forms operate in slightly different ways and manner.

Another common way to buy expired domain is to approach the soon-to-expire domain owner and ask, if they can transfer the domain name to your name. Yet, another way is to participate in a regular domain auction and buy an expired domain at a very high price. Whatever the way you chose, your main goal should be picking a good and decent domain at an affordable price; to buy expired domain name from the open market, you will also need to know how domain trading business works and operates in the real sense.

Ways to Get a Dependable Web Host

If one’s new website is all set to upload, the next desirable thing for him/her is a web host. Conceivably he/she already possesses a web host, but uptime and support are lacking. With several scattering web hosts all around how can the users choose an ideal one? One should be aware of what can go wrong and what to look out for, and investigate prospective web hosts cautiously.

Mistake, which may appear with web hosting

Excessive downtime:

It is inevitable that problems arise in the course of time happen, but even in the condition in which they don’t appear server maintenance results in a minimal amount of downtime. One can not only hope a dependable web host for well maintenance of his/her servers, but also expect monitoring the servers and fixing of problems immediately. With the type of web host one want to avoid, however, his/her site may be down for days.

Features that cannot be put in use:

Once the email of the user doesn’t work, his/her business shuts down. Problems related to databases and other features can also deliberate down or stop his/her business. Such problems are taken into consideration by several web hosts, but a few don’t concern to give high priority on keeping not only the user’s site online but everything working as well.

Ghastic support:

The response time taken by the dependable web hosts to answer tech support questions is utmost a single hour. Other web hosts, however, have been recognized to take several days to give response. And when those responses come, often they’re canned responses that don’t deal with the issue.

Poor communication:

If proper level communication skills are present, it supports people to restrict problems from becoming bigger problems. As told, “Everything looks fine here, so the problem is solved,” promotes irritation. Thus, one’s site can shut down because it has used plenty of resources rather than the web host contacting him/her about the problem first.

Troubles of Billing:

Yet problems persist even after user cancels his/her account. A number of below dependable range web hosts don’t repute their refund policy. Others do not discontinue the automatic billing even after cancellation of account.

Things to watch out for:

One should consider the following as the red flags to warn the user of possible problems that can come on their way.

Untenable pricing:

If the pricing looks to the extent of superb to be true, it perhaps is. Will it be sufficient to pay for server maintenance and tech support? One gets similar what he/she deserve to pay for.

Limitless bandwidth:

There is not anything which is really unlimited in real sense. If one signs up for an account offering limitless bandwidth and then uses a lot of bandwidth, anticipating having the plug pulled on his/her site. The web host may locate further excuse for discontinuing his/her account, but “unlimited” classically represent that “as long as you don’t use a lot.”

A website with unprofessional look:

The user foremost consider how much effort the web host is putting in providing a usable website along with informative content. Does it really mean that user has got full confidence in the web host, or is it overwhelmed of unsubstantiated statements and grammar and spelling mistakes? A web host doesn’t require being a specialist in spelling insertion, of course. But if the company hasn’t advertise much enough to the user about their services, will they be meticulous about matching the clients’ requirements?

Way to research web hosts:

It is quite easy to look out for web hosts. Search engines can be one of the ways to went on the websites of thousands of web hosts. But short listening after going through features and price, how can the customer look out which web hosts are reliable?

Interpret particulars of web host package and TOS:

If the host provider is offering hosting packages with huge amounts of disk space and bandwidth for quite cheap prices, that means something is fishy around. One should not expect that company to be well equipped with enough money for maintenance and support.

If one wants to be sure that he/she can get a refund if he/she want one, should ensure what the Terms of Service (TOS) signify about refunds.

One should examine the web host forum:

User should be aware about the questions like, what is the ambience in the forum. Are clients’ questions answered satisfactorily? The user should not be anxious on seeing a problem but in the condition when they don’t. It is quite common that, some web hosts remove posts that don’t demonstrate their company in a positive light. But if posts about problems stay in the forum, the user can easily monitor the way the host use to tackle the problem.

User should examine web host reviews:

There is no lack of cases in which, client feedback at the web host’s site perhaps may or may not be legal. One could not ignore the possibility of manufacturing of feedback and tracing it from other sites. The user should inquire about that via different web sites.

There are several forums which permits people to post their web host reviews. While reading the reviews, one should deem the poster’s credibility. A few people knock their hosts just because of the reason that they’re unhappy about somewhat. If the host posts in response to a problem, the user should inquire the way host tries to resolve it.

Inquire about the background of the company:

The page which displays the points like “About Us” or “Company Background” should disclose the answer of following questions.

1.) The experience of the company in this sector. A new company perhaps is excellent, but it’s good to keep in mind that an ample of businesses fails within the first year.

2.) Does the company use to publish a privacy policy? And does this policy clearly protect clients’ privacy?

3.) Where are the servers located? Ideally, they should be in a datacenter, and not in someone’s basement.

4.) About the server uptime statistics? If the web host doesn’t publish a link to a server uptime monitor, one should ask for a link to one. Uptime of about 99.7 percent or higher is usually considered good.

5.) Does the company publish an address? The user perhaps should not be in the need of it, but when he/she placing his/her company website in another company’s hands, it is his/her right to know that the company is legal and handy.

Email pre-sales queries

Response to user’s pre-sales questions will tell more than enough about the web host. One can easily judge how fast the company responds and about their communication efficiency. One can ask questions about any of the above points as well as questions precise to his/her requirements.

There is no doubt, that, Finding a dependable web host spends time, but dealing with problems and moving one’s site rather takes more amount of time. The time spent searching for a reliable web host is a worthwhile investment.

Thoughtful Ways to Market Your Expired Domains

Now that you have a pack of expired domain names that you believe are your potential money spinners, your immediate next task is to act on those domains quickly to start gaining some amount of income. There are many ways of earning money from your expired domains depending mainly on how you are planning to expend and in what way you can promote those domain names. Here are some time tested methods that will help you create a solid pool of gains from domains expired.

Just sit on your domains and expect some future buyers to come and buy them! This seems to be the simplest and easiest way to market and sell your domain. Just do nothing and don’t put any extra effort to sell the domain. Here, you may be waiting for some potential buyer to approach you, see that you are the legal owner of the domain and later send you an offer to purchase it transfer of ownership. Using this method is quite safe and secure as you are not spending any money on advertising and promotion. But, the chance of selling your domain for a reasonably good price is very slim and you may never even sell your domain even after months. Unless you have a great expired domain name, you may simply fail to dispose off the domain expired for a good price.

The next obvious step is to retain the expired domain with you and create a very simple web site on it and promote it by floating a short message as “This domain is for immediate sale. Please contact xyz@abc.com”. You can list the names of your domain names on the web page created and hope for a better price sometime in the future. Though this method is fairly simple and straightforward, you may not really hope for an immediate sale as there are thousands of web sites like yours that throng the internet. However, if visitors find your web site and get impressed by what they see, they may decide to contact you with a request for a domain or two at fairly decent prices.

Domain flipping is an attractive and efficient expired domain gains method that can bring you very handsome income over a period. If you are ready to devote a considerable amount, energy and money to market and sell your domain names, then it is possible to convert your expired domain into a fully functional web site containing some products, services or affiliate links that leas to other web sites. The most ingenious way is to develop and promote the web site with key word enriched text and content and place a notice somewhere on the front page of the site to inform that the site is up for sale. The site that you develop over the domain expired should have some minimum requirements like:

Good and useful text
SEO enabled text with very good keywords and meta data
Marketable products and services
If possible, links to affiliate web sites.

The main benefits of hosting a web site on domains expired are:

Increased traffic and links
Increased chances of selling the domain
Combined advantages of selling both the domain as well as the content of the website.
Selling traffic and links

The last method that you can use to dispose of your expired domains is to employ the following series of steps:

Contact various brokers and ask them help sell your domains on a commission basis
Send a series of e mails to interested parties who can buy your domains.
Contact corporate and business houses with an attractive offer
Put the domains under auctions on famous auction sites
Use the power of domain parking to make some income from your domains expired.

Whatever the method you use, just remember that periodic disposal of domains expired will help you maintain rhythm and flow in your business. But, never ever dispose of those domains that you feel are very good and worthy.

The Ways by Which One Can Choose a Web Hosting Company

These days, anybody can afford to order a feature-packed web hosting plan for next to nothing; however, cheap price cannot said to be the decisive factor which one should have to considered while purchasing web hosting services. This article provides a lesson of not considering the best price and features as the only passport of getting a good web hosting company but also emphasizing on reliability and honesty. If one is investing his/her money and effort into finding paying customers and he/she wouldn’t like to lose them in the condition just in order to save a few dollars per month on a web hosting service.

If a user is searching for a web hosting company, it is not a matter of concern that it is just for the inception of a web or the move of an established site; the user has to widen his/her thinking area before coming to a judgment that along which company he or she has to go with:

Customer support

Website hosting service is not restricted just to storage or bandwidth. Lacking customer support, a top-notch service is also nothing. If one is owning a business website, it is both duty and requirement of his/her hosting provider to be available for the service- 24/7, as any time any sort of technical fault may arise; neglecting it the hosting provider may suffer from serious shortage of customers and money.

Downtime assurance and service monitoring

It is a minor inconvenience to go down when it is a case of personal website; but it is serious when it comes to business website. Can anyone guess how much amount of profit would he/she lose if his/her site had been down for a week? As it is a trend of spending a large amount on advertising the website a long downtime can be lethal for today?s companies.

Basically, there are two rules upon which one can relay:

1. One should check if there is an uptime guarantee offered or not. An ideal service-oriented provider will not only give a money-back guarantee, but also offer a discount or free service as compensation for downtime. A company which avoids taking such liability will not provide an ideal service.

2. One should not go with a company claiming 100% uptime, as there is no such thing as a server with 100% uptime. If anyone ever announces that their server has a 100% uptime; one can easily conclude that they are either lying or they don’t perform the necessary upgrades that avoid a machine from being compromised.

Reputable web hosts will post statistics on their site, the remedial solution for the questions like for e.g., what is the frequency of interruption. How about the average percentage of downtime? If these aren?t posted, ask; if the answer isn?t forthcoming, that is not going to be a good sign. If one still likes to go with a host which doesn’t monitor servers, one has to do it by his/her own.

Backups

IS there any host who is safe against different types of technical and programical failures, the answer is NO! So, one should make sure that the company runs scheduled backups. The other probable advice would be that one must always have a backup of his/her website himself/herself, as one cannot predict what exactly is going to happen next. CPanel, currently the most popular web hosting management software, has a very comfortable backup-making tool. Which allows the user to backup files and databases quickly and easily, so backups are not a long head ace.

Acceptable use policy

Web hosts may have 200-300 or more clients per server; one cannot predict the exact number, as companies possess different hardware; while, each hosted website has different resource usage. One cannot ignore the probability of that a few of those customers host illegal content. There are several web hosts who have had their servers unplugged, resulting in their clients? websites going down. Definitely ,one would never like to put his/her business at risk and locate the website hosted on the same server along with illegal pornography and software sites, so to avoid such types of problems one must check host’s acceptable use policy to find out, whether the host takes care of what’s hosted on their servers or not.

Hosting one?s site on an uncared-for server will also result in a low speed. If somebody on the same server sends spam, the server’s IP address will be blacklisted and he/she will have serious problems as recipients would stop his/her receiving emails. Spam is being sent almost everywhere, so having one or two red records isn’t that bad; but, if there are more, it may become a problem later on.

Infinite bandwidth and web space

If one talks about the adage “you get what you pay for” it ideally suit for the Web hosting industry. One should not fall in the craters created by the hosts like for e.g., unlimited allowances, as there is neither unlimited bandwidth, nor unlimited web space. Host’s pay for each GB of bandwidth themselves. One can think that hard drives are free but they aren’t. They are just a mirage to attract customers. The average website doesn’t use more than 1GB of bandwidth per month; the customer is satisfied as he/she bought something “unlimited” and through this host automatically receives a new customer, on whom they don?t need to spend more than $1-2 USD per month. But for imagination what would happen if one person had a website, burning much more bandwidth than an average site does, and he signed up with a hosting company offering unlimited traffic? The host would simply suspend his account and tell him, that it was via too much bandwidth. There even several companies there which offer unlimited bandwidth for the user and have a statement on their requisites of service, explaining that unlimited bandwidth means 40GB which they actually mean, for example.

Will someone really own his/her domain name?

If a user buy a domain name together with a website hosting package, he/she must make sure that the host is registered the domain name under his/her name or not. The name usually should be written in their FAQ, but, if there is no such information is provided, the user simply needs to take a step and contact them. This will also give the user a chance to detect whether their customer support team is fast enough or not. If the hosting company registers domains under someone else’s name, the user may have to face the challenges switching hosting providers later. If the user is in such situation, he/she have to file for a Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which costs much beyond both domain name and web hosting service together.

Control Panel

A necessary tool for easiness and for regular maintenance, including, email mailbox additions/deletions, password resets, web additions, web count reports, statistics etc. This tool is unavoidable if the site is meant for any sort of business. That is why it is currently the most demanding web hosting management software. It is behind the screen role of a next-generation web hosting control panel system that allows a user to manage his/her domain through a web interface. The key idea is to transfer as much of the control of managing users web site to him/her; So one can say that, user have the ability to manage all the dimensions of e-mail, files, backup, FTP, CGI scripts, web site statistics, etc.

Value-added services

In the regular interval of time, hosting companies offer diverse sort of value-added services in order to give themselves an outstanding look. Of course, these are an advantage, but customers forget that many of the services cannot be applied in any of the field. But still some of the valuable features are mentioned below:

1. Auto-installer script ?

Play a role saving the user?s time if he/she is going to install a forum, image gallery, content management system, etc. Installation procedures on an auto-installer script can be done in seconds and can be easily performed by novices by avoiding difficult tasks generally related with installations.

2. Online website builder ?

Mainly dedicated with showing the way by moving on which the user can design a website in a few minutes without having any creation software and knowledge. One very powerful website builder established in the market is Site Studio; this quality based editor allows for ease of use, full control of color schemes and themes, one-click publishing, and a collection of templates to brought into use.

The last tip

The purpose of this article is to feel the users that price and allocations cannot be given reference over importance of quality of service; if the user possess limited budget, then the price can be a valid criterion, but if not, it should not be given much importance.

By going through this article and asking questions, one can narrow down the list of web hosts to the extent where the user by his/her own can make the judgment between what is right and what is wrong

15 Ways to Become a Better Domainer

The competition in the domain industry is steadily increasing as more and more people are becoming aware of it’s global impact in today’s financial marketplace. Professional investors and huge corporations are staking their claim of this internet real estate and have turned this once primitive name exchange into a booming multi-billion dollar industry.

Today’s domainers are needing take their domain investing to another level in order to have continued success and profitability. Below are 15 Ways To Become A Better Domainer.

Utilize the forums

As I’ve said in previous posts, the importance of domaining forums in the domain industry are vital and serve as a great resource for beginners and professional domainers alike. Whether you are looking for some honest appraisal opinions or asking questions that only another domainer would know the answer to, the domain forums are there to assist. 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, this constant stream of domain information has shaped many beginner domainers into today’s greatest professional domainers. If you’re not a member of a domain forum you should greatly consider joining one today.

Are you a domainer or a domain developer?

Are you buying domains for quick profit sales? Are you buying domains for the long-term traffic revenue? Are you buying domains to develop and birth new traffic? Whether you choose to do one or all three, you must come to terms and clarify a solid game plan when it comes to your domain investments. It’s reasonably okay to have a few domains being developed but your overall strategy needs to take shape and be narrowed down to a specific objective. Developing a domain name takes time, effort and more time, but the possible payoffs are always huge. Buying domain names in bulk for quick sales is also profitable but relies more on a constant sales initiative to be successful. Either way, you need a tactical approach on how you want to market your domains.

Dissect your portfolio

I once spoke to a guy who boasted a domain portfolio of over 3000 names. After hearing how he was considering selling a few of his “best” domains, I offered to peruse the list and maybe assist with finding some end users that might be potential buyers. He agreed and the next day he sent me a list of about 1000 of his best domains that he was willing to sell. To my surprise over 90% of them were, in my humble opinion, not worth much more than the reg fee. I contacted him back and explained that I was only to find about 75-100 names that could possibly be decent sales. He was stunned. He declined and stated that my appraisal was not correct and thanked me for my time. 3 days laters, I received an email from the exact same guy asking for assistance in selling the 75-100 domain names I previously found in his list. Seems that during those 3 days, he spoke to a few other domainers and received the same appraisal and evaluation of his so called “best” domains. This guy thought since his domains contained popular words like gamble, casino, sex and technology that it automatically made his domains super valuable. What he didn’t consider was the multiple hyphens and terrible combinations of typos and keywords. Don’t be the domainer with a huge list of terrible domains just to brag about how large your portfolio is. Trim your “extra” domains and streamline by selling or trading and use the profit for investing in quality names that are earmarked for immediate revenue or immediate development. Be proud of the overall quality of your portfolio and not just the number of domains it contains.

Know your rep

I amazed on how many people I encounter that in the domain industry that have no idea who their representatives are for such companies as Sedo, Moniker, Go Daddy and other big domain powerhouses. The representatives of such companies exist to assist their members who utilize their services and are hands-down the quickest and easiest way to get something resolved if you feel a mistake has been made. If you have domains either parked or offered for sale with a domain company, I highly suggest sending a quick email to find out who your representative is and do you best to maintain a professional and courteous relationship with them. It’s easier to ask assistance from someone whom you know and knows you than it is to ask a complete stranger. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite domain rep at next years Domainers Choice Awards.

Stay clear of Trademark Infringements

This should be a no-brainer. Time and time again I see domainers struggle with the headaches caused by trademark infringements and bad faith domain registrations. Not only do most of the trademark claims filed at the WIPO result in the domain being transferred to the appropriate party, but it also indicates that your choice in domains is questionable and therefore proving that you are still purchasing non-quality domain names. Domains that infringe on trademarks are not quality. Ask any lawyer. Save your registration fee and steer clear of legal woes.

Auto-renew

Now that your portfolio is streamlined and contains only select domain names, you definitely don’t want to lose or let any of them drop and take a chance of someone else buying you lovely internet real estate. Do yourself a favor and set your domains for auto-renew at your domain register where purchased. It’s a terrible feeling to have someone else scoop up one of your prize domains just because you didn’t or couldn’t find the time to renew the registration. Visit this great article by the Daily Domainer that explains the life-cycle of a domain name and don’t let accidental “drops” happen to you.

Limit the hand regs

Hand regs or hand registrations are domains that are purchased from a publicly available source at a regular registration fee and are either brand new (never been purchased) or have expired and no longer owned by the previous owner. Go Daddy is a domain registrar that is popular with domainers and consistently used for hand regs. The possibility of stumbling along a unregistered domain is always there and the opportunity for someone to register a new domain name that never existed and create value to it is also conceivable, but in essence, most domain names that are hand regged are simply non-researched, impulse purchases that pad a domain portfolio with non-value names. Distinguish yourself as a profitable domainer and limit the amount of hand regs you add to your portfolio. One good way is to wait 24 hours before registering a hand reg domain and then re-evaluating before buying. You may lose a registration every so often but in the long run you will save on unnecessary registration fees and useless domain name ownership.

Stay current with news and sales

To be successful is to be informed. The pulse of the domain industry is constantly evolving and therefore it is beneficial to a domainer to know exactly what is the next potential opportunity or trend being created within our industry. If you buy domain names, you are an investor. If you are an investor, you need to stay current with the news of your investments and other people’s investments. You can do this by monitoring the recent domain sales and news offered by many websites that are specifically geared towards todays domainers. One of my favorite websites is Ron Jackson’s DNJournal. You can find great articles, news and the popular Year To Date domain sales. You need to know what domains are selling, which domains are being bought and how much they are being bought for. Invest time in your investments and reap the rewards. Predicting the next big trend is priceless.

Blog around

Domaining blogs are sprouting up everywhere with domainers eager to share their experiences, setbacks, lessons learned and tips with anyone who wants to listen. We all need to take advantage of this free and useful information by visiting various domain blogs and getting another person’s perspective on our industry. And don’t forget to subscribe to their RSS feeds, if it is offered, and have all this new information sent directly to you to read at your convenience… for free. Subscribe to this blog here.

Diversify with other TLD extensions

While some domainers swear that .com is the only extension worth being bought, there are others, like me, who think it’s absolutely insane to dismiss all other TLD’s and only buy one flavor of domain name. The popularity of .TV and .Mobi and the ongoing success of ccTLD’s has risen and is playing a prominent part in today’s domain marketplace. Generic domains in any of these extensions are being recognized as a highly sought after commodity with no signs of slowing. Familiarize yourself with other TLD’s beside .com, .net and .org and evaluate your domain purchases on a global niche scale the next time you go to buy a domain.

Consider fractional domain ownership

Fractional domain ownership is simply a group of people that own a domain name and share in it’s profits, development and use. There is not one sole owner because it is owned by the entire group. Owning a portion of a high value domain is a great way for a newcomer to the domain industry to begin and understand the ins and outs of professional domaining and share in the profit growth associated with that certain domain. It also allows “regular” domainers to group funds together and own a very premier domain name without one person having to pay the entire purchase price. Look for this trend to boom in 2008.

Optimize your parked pages

Once you buy a domain name, it is up to you whether your domain will contain a fully-functional website that you can customize/adsense or whether you will “park” your domain and allow targeted content to automatically be placed and monetized per visitor. If you choose to park your domains, it’s imperative that you understand how domain parking works and how it can be optimized to bring better results. Sedo is a popular place for domain parking and allows users to see detailed stats and account information for each domain parked on the Sedo network. Revenue is shared with Sedo each time someone clicks on content on one of your parked pages and relies on consistent traffic to be a steady stream of income. Brush up on your domain parking information here.

Update your WHOIS information

The WHOIS database is sort of like a directory of purchased domain names that contains the owner’s contact information, purchase date and expiration of a certain domain. One use of this information is being able to contact a domain owner and inquire about purchasing the domain. Without the correct information in the WHOis database, a potential buyer may not be able to contact the current owner and allow an offer to be placed. Contact your domain registrars and make sure your WHOis information is current and correct. If you opt not to be contacted by potential buyers, you may consider using a service that purchases domains for it’s clients and keeps their information private. There is also an option to pay an additional fee at some domain registrars for private domain registration.

Contact more end users

So you have a great domain name that is considered gold in a certain industry. Great job. Now, if you have decided not to develop it and simply want to profit from a sale, I highly suggest contacting an end user. What’s and end user? An end user is someone who would use the domain name specifically for creating brand recognition in a certain industry. Here’s an example: Adam owns organicdogfood.com and Bob owns an organic dog food company in Texas but uses the domain BobsSuperGoodOrganicDogFood.com. Adam contacts Bob and offers a shorter, brandable and easier to remember domain name that can increase Bob’s exposure on the internet for people searching for organic dogfood. Adam has just contacted a possible end user. A domain name can usually be sold to an end user for more since it is valued more by the actual user of the domain instead of a regular domain buyer.

Change your views on the domain industry

Are there still opportunities to be successful in today’s domain industry? Yes.

Is there still time to take advantage of the booming domain sales? Yes.

Is it still possible for a domain newbie to come in and thrive even with a small initial investment. Yes.