Domaining Business 101: Focus Is Important But Only If You’re Focusing On The Right Things

Confused Domainer

I had a great email conversation with one of my blog readers who agreed to let me share his story with the rest of you. Many of my readers reach-out to me for advice and as you know if you’ve emailed me before, I respond to each and every email I receive. Last week a reader sent me a very interesting email, he said that about a year ago he realized he was doing too many things, so he decided to focus on doing just one thing, the problem was, he wasn’t making any money.

The direction he was going was good, and focus is absolutely a good thing, if you’re focusing on the right things. His story is probably quite similar to many of you which is why I thought it would be a good one to share.

So let’s rewind to two years ago when the reader first got started in Domaining. He said he began the same way so many of us do, hand-registering tons of domains thinking that if juts a few sold for big bucks he’d strike it rich. Then, also like many of us, he found-out that pretty much everything he registered was garbage, he didn’t take the time to learn anything about what makes a domain valuable and ended-up with a nice domain collection, but not many investments.

Along with registering domains he was trying to build some out, park others, and sell others to end-users. He spent around 20 hours a week and made about $500/month leading to a very disappointing pay of $6.25/hour – yikes! So he decided it was time for a change and time to get more focused.

First he let all the junk he had registered drop, this was a good move. Then he decided to focus on only one thing, with the goal of doing one thing right, and then expanding to doing more. Seeing all the great opportunities in the expired domain market he started buying expired domains. This was his sole focus, once again he was spending 20 hours a week, but now laser-focused on buying expired names and selling them to end-users.

A few months later he had spent about $10,000 on expired domains and sold about $1,000 worth of domains. He didn’t get it, all the expired domains he was buying had multiple bidders, other people wanted the domains, yet he wasn’t making enough sales and was spending a lot more than he was making. Here’s the big problem, while he was focused, he wasn’t focused on the right thing. Yes, buying and selling expired domains can be a very profitable venture, if you take the time to do the research with each and every name.

This was the problem. While he was focused on doing just one thing, he wasn’t focused on doing it right. Instead he thought, “if other people are bidding on a domain, it must be worth at least 2x what he paid.” This simple assumption left him $10,000 in the hole while he was watching other Domainers make a killing flipping expired domains. What was he doing wrong?

I took a look at the domains he had bought, while there were some decent names in there, most were not a great fit for an end-user. He was more focused than ever, but by not focusing on the right things like doing the research, speaking to other people in the space, networking at conference and learning from others, he was actually repeating many of the same mistakes he made early-on.

It turns-out that I was the first person he had ever reached-out to, up until last week every assumption he had about flipping domains had come from, well, his own assumptions, rather than advice from people who make money doing it. We put-together a game-plan, I connected him with a mentor who is an expert in flipping domains (not me, this is not my expertise), I pointed him towards some great articles, and I recommended that he attend a conference like TRAFFIC to get the chance to network with and learn from other Domainers.

In just one week I have already seem him make some very positive changes to his strategy. He’s still focused on doing this one thing, but now he’s doing it right, or at least much better than before (this does take more than a week to learn!).

If this sounds anything like you, take a step back and ask yourself the all-important question. Are you making money doing what you’re doing, and if not, are you making any changes? Doing the wrong thing over and over doesn’t mean that eventually you’ll stumble on the right thing. At the end of the day if what you’re doing isn’t working, find someone who has done it and ask them for help. It is connecting with mentors, people who have done what you want to do that makes all the difference.

There are more opportunities to make money in the Domaining industry than ever before, and heck, we’re still just getting started. If what you’re doing isn’t working, don’t blame the industry, blame yourself, but do something to change what you’re doing, and do it now. There are plenty of people like me in the industry who are more than happy to help you get started or point you in the right direction and a conference, while seemingly expensive, is actually one of the smallest investments you could ever make.

So don’t live in a bubble, get out there, connect with other people, learn, grow, and share with others. Whatever you do, don’t waste your own time, because time is more valuable than anything that money can buy.

(Photo Credit)

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton