Domaining and Time Management

So I’ve hit the point this year where I am completely and totally overloaded. Many of you are in the same situation so we have a bit of a shared pain here. Although it’s not really pain, more like unbridled inspiration…right?

Domaining is one of the most addicting things out there. Come on, admit it, you were up at 2:00AM buying names on Snapnames! I joke but what I’m talking about here is a serious issue and one I continue to work hard to improve.

I think one of the biggest issues we face as Domainers is the vision we see for each of our domains. Most Domainers have a plan for their domains…but when it comes to executing on their plans it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of things you want to do…so you don’t do any of them!

As your portfolio grows it is easy to get to a point where you say, “Am I really making money here?”

This is the first step to taking control of your time – determine what it is that makes money for your business. For my business Domain Monetization is my main revenue source, followed by Domain Sales. I put about 80% of my time into development and monetization – this is how my business makes money.

However, as you all probably know, I’m doing a LOT right now and it’s not all development, monetization, and sales. I’m also running three blogs, working with Patrick on the Domain Masters show, running my own TV show and working hard to get the full 30-minute episode out the door.

Sounds like too much right? Well it is too much, but if you can manage your time well you’ll be surprised in what you can get done. No I have by no means perfected my Domaining time management, but I’m getting better.

Still – it’s important to be always improving and correcting your mistakes. So here are a few changes I’ve made lately to improve my time management and stay laser-focused on what brings revenue into my business.

  1. Development only takes place on the weekend. Weeknight now I focus on finding potential end-users for my domains as well as writing my blog posts and newsletters. This has been a great change as adding development to my weeknights was just too much. Since I do my best development work in one solid sitting a Saturday or Sunday works best for me and helps me stay focused on one task.
  2. Don’t buy domains without an end-game. I used to buy domains because I liked them and I thought, “Maybe I’ll develop this somewhere down the road.” Now I focus on buying names that I am either going to develop this year or flip to an end-user. I still have some domains with a long-term sales strategy but the focus of my domain purchases are names that I am going to do something with. It all goes back to my company motto – “Stop Collecting. Start Investing!”
  3. Write a list of goals I want to achieve each evening…then take two things off the list. This is a new strategy I’m working on, and I still have some improvements to make. I make some pretty long lists and have found myself struggling to meet all my goals. It’s much better to get less done at a higher-quality level than to meet your goals by rushing.

That’s probably my top three from this year and I’m still working hard on #3. My biggest goal for myself now is to actually spend the same amount of time that I currently do each evening and weekend, but do less. This may sound a bit odd in a world where the focus is “more, more, more” but I’ve always been a quality guy, and I see quality slip when I’m overloaded.

So now think about yourself. Are you up late every night buying domains? Are those names making money for you? Are you running a profitable business? Make sure you are managing your time well and doing more than just buying domains you think will be worth money – prove it to yourself and then focus on those actions that generated revenue.

Remember, you’re running a business at the end of the day. Buying domains is a lot of fun, but if you aren’t making money then you really aren’t running a business. So give my new strategy a spin, spend the same amount of time you do every day, but this time do less. You’ll be surprised what this can do for your business and your blood pressure 🙂

No time to spell/grammar check this post as I just flew across the country and it’s now 1AM in Toronto – time for bed! Yes I know you’re reading this in the morning but remember – I schedule all my posts so I can do them on my time!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton