During all of the buzz around both NamesCon and Affiliate Summit you might have missed some news that I think deserves a bit of extra attention. Many of you know Above.com for their awesome parking optimization platform, however there are some things happening on the domain sales side of the business that might not have hit your radar.
Starting in 2014 Above.com will be hosting themed auctions and taking a unique approach that I think offers something different than I’ve seen before. Typically when an auction company runs a domain auction they blast it out to all of us, domain investors. Good market because sure we all buy domains, but let’s be honest, we’re not end-users.
With these new themed auctions Above is looking at partnering with companies in different niches to get your names in front of end-users who have a passion for that particular theme. Here’s an example:
Let’s suppose you love golf because well, unlike me, you might actually be good at it. Since you are really into golf you might visit a specific golf forum to talk to other people about golf. Now imagine if you see a banner ad for golf domains, you’ve always wanted to start that golf site, this could be your chance to get the right name.
I think this is a very cool concept and I’m looking forward to seeing where Above takes it this year. The idea of focusing on themed auctions and then partnering with sites that cater to end-users interested in this theme could really help domain owners increase liquidity. Currently Above has an affiliate themed auction running right now that goes until Feb 14th.
There are some nice names in this auction, a few of my top picks are:
MyCreditScore.com – this is a monster affiliate niche and “Credit Score” is one of the most premium keyword phrases out there. Since a lot of people are looking for their credit score, MyCreditScore.com really makes sense as a brand.
WebsiteAdvisor.com – a great fit for an SEO company or anyone who provides website reviews. I’d probably also want to pick up the plural while I’m at it.
AffiliateTrainer.com – perfect name for anyone in the affiliate space that helps new affiliates get started. You have your fitness trainer that gets your body in shape and your affiliate trainer who pumps up your online revenue.
YourCreditScore.com – already at $5,000 with one bid, owning this and MyCreditScore.com is a pretty amazing duo.
Cab.com – no bids yet and hasn’t hit reserve but it goes without saying that this is a pretty amazing name.
I’ll be on the lookout for their next themed auction and will share details with you as soon as I have them, for now I’ll be paying attention to their affiliate themed auction, and maybe picking-up a name or two for myself.
Photo Credit: kevin dooley via Compfight cc
