Starting out in the domain business? I may have an opportunity for you.
December 4, 2008 by Rick Latona
If you are new to the domain business or struggling to really get off the ground, I may have an opportunity for you.
I have many names that could be good directory names. For example, a name like EastLyme.com represents a tourist town with lots of hotels, bed and breakfast joints, condos and houses for rent.
I do not have the time to sign those small businesses up as advertisers but you might.
So, if you can afford a down payment, I will set you up with a lease to own contract where the name will be yours once you’ve made all of the payments.
I’m not a saint and I’m not doing this as a favor. I expect to make more off the name than if I sold it outright for cash now. However, I won’t set the terms unfair.
I have thousands of names that fit this profile. If you A) Have at least enough funds for a few hundred dollar down payment and B) are willing to put in the time to make the site something of more value and C) are interested in this proposition, contact me.
Do not contact me if you don’t fit A, B and C above.
We are also willing to do the web design piece of this for you. Essentially, we are looking for budding entrepreneurs. We will give you the tools you need to be successful but the rest is up to you.
Great idea Rick, I know your inbox is going to get a little crazy in the next 24 hours because of this.
So… let me get this straight. I give you a down payment… I do all the work to make the site profitable and you sell me the domain name for an inflated price. Why wouldn’t I just do the same thing with one of my own names?
Jerry, I won’t inflate the price that much and it’ll be a premium name. If you have premium names already, this deal isn’t for you. It’s for people starting out.
@Jerry
maybe because your name is not as prime as the one you’ll be putting a down payment on - just a guess, i don’t know.
How does this work out:
I put down $200…market it, promote it, get advertisers/ etc.
Who gets that revenue?
can I pick what city domain I want?
Rick, you should also clarify more what you mean by the following:
“We are also willing to do the web design piece of this for you. Essentially, we are looking for budding entrepreneurs. We will give you the tools you need to be successful but the rest is up to you.”
What are the costs and what kind of tools? What does the design include?
Thanks.
Lawrence, you would get the revenue. I just want my monthly payment.
RKB, there really aren’t any rules. We’d just work out something that made us both happy.
These are direction navigation cities, correct?
Can we test it out for a month? Like to do a bunch of sales pitches to drum up advertisers…then if it goes smoothly, continue…and if not, stop?
All w/o making any direct commitment or expenditure to you.
Lawrence, I have so many names it would be silly to limit this to only geo names. There are lots of types of names this could work on.
Testing may be possible. I’d reserve the right to make that call on a case-by-case basis.
I know the payments would vary wildly depending on the domain, but could you perhaps give me a ballpark figure for say EastLyme.com.
Cashflow isn’t at its best at the moment and just want to know if I’m out of my league.
Cheers.
Have any domains geo-targetted around the California Bay Area? Anywhere near SF?
Great idea, by the way, Rick!
This is an excellent idea for a financially stable (i.e. has a bare minimum of 6-12 months living expenses; including lease option payments; in the bank), real go-getter (who’s comfortable–or can get comfortable–selling in person and by phone) . . . and an opportunity they might otherwise never have in their lifetime.
This looks like a great opportunity for the domainer - What if you dont have ant development skills?
Are you offering the AEIOU team to help setup a mini-site to get you up and running.
Could you put up an example of costs ie. Robbie.com - $250 deposit - 24 months $500 - Final payment of $ 750
Love to hear how you are going to set it up.
Regards,
Robbie
I would be interested in knowing what Asian cities/countries you have.
Absolutely excellent idea. Is there a list of domains we can view?
I know this is a bit off topic but Rick who do you use to park your domains?
This is an an excellent offer.
Can you give some figures on how many domains are covered by a few hundred dollars? And also, if the downpayment is refundable in case the project is discontinued.
This is something I’ve also been thinking of recently, I have a few sites which are ready built and ready to promote - this is what I’m good at, creating concepts and building the framework so that the site is deployable and good to go.
What I don’t have is enough time to nurcher and promote sites, I suppose in a way “if I’m honest” the marketing aspect is probably not in my blood as I’m more of a creator and I love coding and design. If I were to pass on my ready built projects to people who were keen to take things on and do the marketing and development that would be a perfect solution!
They would take ALL profits from the site and pay the overheads “hosting etc.” I would simply charge them a reasonable rental for the domain each month, possibly with no fixed terms. And if they required assistance with further dev i could offer my integration/development services.
If anyone is interested in this, I’m prepared to show a few sites which I have in mind, contact me huw [at] oinkba.com
Thanks
Huw Williams
Oinkba Design
It’s all in the names and numbers.
IF you want this to go viral and take on a life of its own then it likely would be best that you post domains and terms specific to the domains “as a category/class” or specific to any higher quality domain. With greater transparency - and a clearer public understanding of the “domain” opportunity and opportunity cost - the blogosphere will do your promotional work for you.
In fact, if you really have some decent domains and decent terms you might be able to get people to bid on even better terms for you. Now that would be “art”, but if you can’t do it . . .
It’s not a bad idea for people who need to buy off some time, but I wouldn’t recommend it to beginners at all. Just like purchasing a car, there’s a difference between being able to buy your car cash and being able to just make the monthly payments.
Have you thought about using traditional sales and marketing ex-staff retrenched by all those media companies to help do this affiliate marketing? There are probably thousands out there now looking for some income to tie them by and these people have tons of business contacts.
Domainers generally are insular people who like to work the computer, not the streets
You may want to email Patrick Philips at iwantmedia.com or Jack Myers of jackmyers.com and tap his contacts there.
Now how do I found a list of domains of yours?.
M xmas.
Hey Rick, I just discovered DigiPawn and filled out an application. Thanks for giving people like me a chance to live our dreams. It took me years to find myself in the field and I am glad to be in the mix. This is a great business and I am glad to be a part of it.
I am a success story in the making. A few days ago, I had a vision that I would get over $1,000,000 in cash and that God was good. The mind is a magnet. Thoughts are things. I see it happening for me.