Get ahead of the game with your next domain

Domain BugIt might come as no surprise to some of you but I have to say I have caught the domain bug, it is a bit like gambling on future events really and for me I am happy to place money on the fact that these are land prices that shall rise in value for some time to come.

I’m never really content just following a huge crowd of people on safe bets when it comes to making money, in the world of making money online through website and domains I think it is fair to say there is a very large crowd nowadays and it is growing all the time. Most forums are so heavily diluted with poor domains and duplicate turnkey sites it’s hard to see anything of value at times. What I have done recently applies to possible website ideas as well as looking to put some money down on domain names for future profit.

The only way to really get on in my experience is to get away from the crowd, so if you are property developing then you want to find sites for sale or possibly for sale without them hitting auctions and the open market. The same goes for domain names. So the answer as I see it has been to get ahead of the game a bit more, today is the day to make moves for tomorrow and as always all the information you ever need is out there…somewhere!

A good approach is to find and bookmark some extremely niche scientific journals and finance websites, doesn’t matter what the topic is, if you can find sites aimed at industry experts you can find news and information on what may be up and coming, popular or likely to happen in the next few years. This in itself can be a risk, lots of future technology is speculative but if you think, consider and research wisely you could get a jump on the competition.

These ideas could be used for mini sites, small websites, information & news portals or just buying good domains on the basis that if they take off then demand will make your acquisition much more valuable.

Key point to keep in mind is to stay away from trademarked terms so if you read about a new up an coming product, service or technology go for the generic description of it rather than a name that could end up in a legal battle.

IdeaFinding these sites is the first step and something you have to do yourself, if I made a list they would no longer be of value to me or you, for example a good site albeit quite commercial could be something like New Scientist, I read an article on how light bulbs would be phased out in the UK by 2011. A quick Google shows the alternative that is growing for light bulbs will most likely be LED Bulbs. LED light bulbs last for around 10 years and use a tiny fraction of power compared to the inefficient light bulb.

Only 5 per cent of the electrical energy fed into the bulbs generates light, the rest is wasted as heat. A 25 Watt halogen spotlight for example can be replaced with a 2 Watt LED spot light bulb

A good time to purchase Led Bulbs I think, which I have done from its previous owner who has made a great markup on his initial investment, while the technology grows the domain could be used for an information website that can get indexed and rank in Google adding to its end user value if I decide to ever sell it, or could turn into a full online shop if I struck a deal with a supplier or drop shipper.

If you have friends or know of people in specialised industries try and find out whether they get any publications or magazines and ask to be kept abreast of future technologies, it is feasible to create a domain portfolio today for a relatively low amount that could bring rich rewards in a few years time if you work wisely.

It would be nice to be further ahead of the game and get domains at reg fee but just because it’s already registered doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity to buy the domain and resell it later or develop depending on your budget and skills.

About Scott Jones

Scott hails from the north east of Scotland and started earning online at the end of 2000 building websites for local businesses during which time he won an award from Lord Alan Sugar for Excellence in Enterprise. After having quite a bit of success with domaining Scott mainly runs educational evergreen websites which generate over 3 million visitors per month but is always on the lookout for a fresh thinking out of the box way to turn a buck. Follow on Twitter.

Comments

  1. Reg fee is always the nice way to go, but I would be willing to pay more for something if I spotted a good one.

    • I have been a casual domain name watcher for years, never put too much into it until recently. I was surprised to find http://www.hightekcar.com available. So I started a little site to write about interesting cars and such. I have a tough time buying domains that are not at reg, first time can be intimidating when there are still so many reg names available.

  2. I am in the process of writing an article on how to select profitable niches that can generate a lot of money. However after reading your article I have to say that you have given me a couple of extra ideas. So thank you scott.

  3. Being willing to take a risk on upcoming trends is vital. I’m not so good at that myself, but the success of sites created back when the iPhone was just a rumor makes me want to push the envelope more.

  4. The guy who registered iPhone.com 12 years ago sure is happy he did it.

    http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/07/iphone-now-owned-by-apple/

  5. Again nice idea & a good example of thinking outside the box :) Keep up the good work

  6. Thanks for the tip on using friends in professional careers. Now I can give them something to do with all of the junk catalogs and trade magazines they get and throw away.

  7. Hi,

    Good to hear you have caught the domain bug, just remember - read read read and dont be too eager to spend :)

    Cheers,

    Rob @ @ hey.co.uk

  8. I’ve become somewhat of a domain collector recently and I agree with your strategy in finding hidden gems that might offer longterm profitability. Perhaps another good place to look would be recently registered patents - oops trade secret.

  9. wow, what a great idea. I hadn’t really thought of reading up on tech journals to get domain name ideas, but now I think I will

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  1. [...] at Self Made Minds writes about How To Scout Out Domain Names Valuable In The Future - He has a couple of great ideas that I had never of thought of.  I will definitely have to [...]

  2. [...] last July when I commented on my discover of led bulbs from the New Scientist in a post about getting ahead of the game. The fact of the matter is that even when you come across future technology chances are someone had [...]