Is there a domainer out there who doesn’t wish he had more end user sales? The value of most domains is largely based on their probability of finding an end user and the expected payoff from that end user. Pay per click revenue is great and can certainly be used as a lower bound for the value of a domain making money (or even a good estimate of value for a domain that is unlikely to find an end user, such as typo domains), however pay per click revenue (and what a domainer will pay based on a domain’s monthly revenue) doesn’t tell us much about what an end user might be prepared to pay. It’s not easy (or even possible in some cases) to predict with accuracy what an end user might be prepared to pay for a domain.

Today while browsing Namepros, I came across a thread asking members where they drew the line when it came to end user domain sales. At one extreme, we have domainers sending out thousands of unsolicited, highly untargeted emails. These domainers harvest email addresses of end users or even other domainers and then bombard them with emails advertising that their domains are for sale or that they’re looking to purchase certain domains.

At the other extreme is the domainer who takes the time to carefully research the market and the companies which take part in it. This domainer then takes the time to send out personalized emails to a handful of companies whom he believes the domain would best fit.

Judging by the emails I’ve received in the past asking to both buy and sell domains, I’d imagine most domainers fall somewhere between those 2 extremes — one extreme which I’d certainly classify as spam, the other which despite being unsolicited I don’t think many people would regard as spam. 

One type of spam I never appreciate is an unannounced telephone call. I have nothing against someone wanting to discuss domains over the telephone, however if I’ve never spoken to you, at the very least have the decency to send me a courtesy email and obtain my permission before phoning me (I won’t pick up the phone otherwise). 

For whatever reason, many domainers seem to think the more emails they send or phone calls they make, the more responses they’ll get. Domainers might think end users are stupid — they’re not and don’t think for a second most people can’t tell the difference between a bulk email (which will most likely be perceived as spam, if not a scam) and a personalized email. Rather than looking at your 1000 domain portfolio and setting a timeline on when you’ll have end users contacted on all one thousand, why not pick out what you believe to be your 10 or 20 most promising and give them a genuine effort before moving on to more domains?

Related posts:

1. Social Phishing
2. Pricing Domains, Web Development, Advertising
3. Finding End Users for New Domain Name Extensions