Domain Names are Great Investments in Yourself

I am still recommending domain names for personal use but no longer as pure financial investments. Why not? I am seeing first hand and in the open market how difficult it is for twenty somethings to actually make money off domain names. Registrars like GoDaddy have built a brilliant industry in releasing new extensions over time to continue hype and purchases. Strategically some like .info are less than a $1 to register. Others get touted as the next big thing such as .mobi or .tv. In most circumstances these are trendy and brilliantly planned to make more money and keep you and I hungry for more opportunities. But who’s buying?

 

When’s the last time you had one of those 4 figures sales, better yet even 3 figures? How about your ability to sell a domain for more than you registered it for? Now with .XXX available to the general public they expect you to throw down almost $100 to register a .XXX domain name. Guess what! People are registering them like crazy, even people our age. College graduates are registering keywords just like domain investors have in the last 10 years registering .ws, .pro, .tel, .co, etc. only to find that they wasted their money many times over!

If you are still set on investing in domain names, of which I am no longer encouraging, you must stick with .com, .org, and even .net domains. Country code domain names are only relevant if there is a market there and a demand, no questions. The only ones worth investing in are keywords that are short and sweet. Those names that people will remember and have been registered before are the only ones worth owning.

Still don’t believe me? I am on Namepros.com each day checking the newest threads in the appraisals forum. Here new users register and list the domain names they just bought or registered anticipating veteran domainers to bless them with their approval and appraise these freshly registered domains as gold! This almost never happens. Its often sad and entertaining to read the veterans tear up these young domain investors.

That said you should still be buying domain names! Why? Because they are excellent investments in yourself.They are still a great alternative investment for you if you develop them like I have done with this website. When you buy a domain name to develop it you open up several wonderful opportunities for yourself.

• A fully functioning website of which you own the name is a powerful resume builder. Itshows that you have passion, dedication, and hard working mentality. It is especially true for a blog. I cannot tell you how many times I have already won over clients, hiring staff, and professionals in just the three months I have had this website running.
• Registering your name is a great investment in your future. Imagine how powerful it is to have your name as your email address, for example: contact[at}yourname.com This is a great way to have clients remember your email and stand out in the hiring process, much more professional than Gmail or Hotmail accounts. Register the .info of your name at GoDaddy for less than $1 a year.  If .com and .info are taken try to register .me which is unique and personable.

Think your resume stands out enough? Why not have your own email? Why not build your own website? Build something small, professional and easy to maintain. Think the others have an edge hooked up to LinkedIn and other social media? Think again!

In the coming weeks I will explore the options you have once you have purchased your domain name.  I will work through the process of picking a hosting plan, for how long, and with what extras.  I will later go over how to build an easy website with no computer knowledge whatsoever! 

Tagged domain names, Godaddy