Going into 2021 there’s one piece of advice that sticks in my mind

When it comes to domain investing I’ve always felt that we’re incredibly lucky (Domainers that is) for many reasons. One of those reasons is that people who make millions of dollars (or tens of millions of dollars) buying and selling domains readily share advice and help other members of the community.

Thirteen years ago when I started buying and selling domains my go-to blogs were Rick’s Blog, DNJournal, and Domain Name Wire, today they are still three of my favorites. While Rick isn’t writing daily on his blog I still go back and read past posts and I always look out for his tweets as that’s become a great way to get more insights from him.

One point that Rick has made over and over is that too many domain investors undervalue their domains, big time. Rick has developed a methodology that focuses on the costs a business would incur paying for a physical storefront for 10 years. I’ll be honest, the first time I read this it didn’t stick, I thought there was no way I could use that as a justification for domain value.

Fast forward to today, and like the post title says, it’s the one piece of advice I’m keeping front-and-center as we go into 2021. Rick recently wrote a great blog post celebrating his 25th year as a domain investor and continuing to hammer home this critical point. Below are two tweets Rick included in the post that I think are absolute gold.

For those who missed the news, three days ago Rick announced he had sold GoBet(.)com for $850,000. The offer went from $70k all the way up to the final sale price in 18 months. I think most of us would have sold this name for less than $100k. If you’re in the group of people that would have sold it for six-figures, my guess is you’d take the money and run at $200k.

You, me, and most other people would have left $650,000 on the table. Rick has always seen domain names for the incredibly rare and valuable asset that they are, and it all comes back to his analysis of what a storefront would cost the business over ten years.

Prices for good domains names is only going up, we’ve all seen it this year, and we’ll all see it next year. Going into 2021 I have Rick’s methodology cemented in my mind, and while I’ll be saying no a lot more than ever before, I’ve never been more excited for what I will end up saying yes to.

Thanks to Rick for keeping this mantra going, it’s such a great reminder as we close out the year and get ready for the next one. Don’t ever forget how valuable a domain is for a business, and don’t say nobody told you how to calculate that value – Rick has put together the ultimate cheat sheet, in public on his blog, now go read it!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton