Domaining MBA Monday: Admit It, You’re A Domain Collector, Now Fix It

Like most people who blog about domain names, I get a fair amount of emails from people who have bought more than a few names but just can’t figure out how to make money. The problem is they are working under the auspice that the more domains you have in your portfolio the more money you can make. Sadly this is often far from the truth. Only a fraction of the domain names out there have value, and many of the top investors have large portfolios of the best names.

That being said, I cringe when I hear someone say that all the good domains are taken, that is very far from the truth. The truth is that it takes time and solid research to find domains that are real investments, rather than, well, just another name to add to your collection. If you find that you have a bunch of domains but you aren’t making any money, there’s a good chance you’re a domain collector, not an investor. What’s always amazing to me is that people who aren’t making any money with domains keep buying more, if what you’re doing isn’t working then it’s time for a course correction.

Here are the facts:

All the good domains are not taken. If you think they are you’re just lying to yourself, that being said, the good domains do take a lot longer to find than the crappy ones, but there should be no surprises there.
  • Unless you have a solid track record hand-registering domains and flipping them for a profit you’re probably wasting your money hand-registering garbage. Focus on expired domains, auctions and private buys.
  • If you’re expecting to build a six-figure income stream spending only a few hours a week, sorry, you’ve picked the wrong industry, there is nothing “get rich quick” about Domaining. It took me three years working nights and weekends spending easily over 40 hours/week to build a six-figure business, if I was spending only 5-10 hours a week I think it would have taken 10+ years to reach that point.
  • You need to spend more time learning and less time doing if you’re failing. For some reason new investors think that they can get over the hump by buying new domains. Stop! Don’t buy any more domains, don’t repeat a failing model. Read, network, and do everything you can to learn how the people who are making money in the domain industry are doing it. Then you’ll probably realize that you were doing it all wrong, drop most of the domains in your portfolio and start anew.

So just like an AA meeting, think of this as a DC (Domain Collectors) meeting. The first thing you need to do is admit it, you’re a collector not an investor, now fix it.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton