DomainSherpa Review – August 24: InternetAccess.com, TMI.org, LimeGreen.com, HillaryForPresident.org…

41 Responses to “DomainSherpa Review – August 24: InternetAccess.com, TMI.org, LimeGreen.com, HillaryForPresident.org…”

1. Keith DeBoer says:

   September 24, 2015 at 6:42 AM

   Another great show. Thanks to all!!

   Reply
2. Gil Rosenbrier says:

   September 6, 2015 at 11:20 AM

   Mike,

   Just the best interview yet. You are reaching the top of this industry and as a Newbie I’m very proud to be following you as MY Sherpa. I couldn’t do better. Congratulations to you and your Sherpas.

   PS. I can’t get your schedule in Ft. Lauderdale, where I live. Would hate to miss any of your presentations.

   Can you help.

   Reply
   1. Michael Cyger says:

      September 6, 2015 at 12:33 PM

      Thanks, Gil. Very kind of you.

      I will be moderating a couple of discussions, with Fred Mercaldo and Adam Dicker. I don’t know if they’ll be recorded, but I’ll see if it’s possible.

      Reply
3. Towhid Zaman says:

   August 29, 2015 at 5:43 AM

   Felt weird without Adam and Andrew. Everybody was so shy to say something bad about domains today. I guess those are the two bad boys ;)

   Frank you are just too awesome!

   Reply
4. Dave says:

   August 26, 2015 at 11:02 AM

   I want to start by thanking all for their insights etc.

   1. Knowing that people use Estibot and them being a sponsor of your shows I wonder can you really be objective about the service they offer ?
   In your sponsor page video you promote them to be a place to get a value when in fact oftentimes the values they come back with are ridiculous (both high and low).

   Case in point: directadvertising.com which I purchased a few months ago.
   Esitbot value: $57,000.00

   Nothing has changed with the site and Esibot value now shows a $8,000

   Reply
   1. Michael Cyger says:

      August 27, 2015 at 9:45 AM

      They are a sponsor. We make that clear. One cannot be totally objective if someone else is paying them for promotion.

      Having said that, I have not found a better automated algorithm for valuing domain names. I ask many Sherpas what they use; they all use Estibot too.

      Does that mean it’s correct for every domain? No. Nobody says it is. Go watch the Estibot tutorial I put together and I tell you exactly what domains they don’t value well.

      Also, just like Google readjusts which domains are more valuable over time, adjusting rankings of websites, Estibot too readjusts values over time to become “smarter” about their valuations. This is likely the case of your domain name. Don’t place all your eggs in one basket…make friends in the industry and ask them for second, third and fourth opinions.

      Reply
5. Tim Culpepper says:

   August 25, 2015 at 7:01 PM

   Michael, great show as always…

   Shane, well done! The guy with the smallest house on the block absolutely dominated today’s “Name the Price” contest.

   Frank, your passion is contagious. Sounds like Uniregistry is about to rock the domain world. Looking forward to it!

   Monte, can’t wait for the 4.cn auction!

   Thanks to everyone. Enjoyed this one very much.

   Reply
   1. Shane Cultra says:

      August 26, 2015 at 2:16 PM

      Thanks Tim. I’ve decided to start looking for a bigger house now :)

      Reply
6. Judy says:

   August 25, 2015 at 3:22 PM

   I wanted to thank all of you for your honest, direct feedback on some domains in my small portfolio yesterday. Such a mix of takeaways for me: encouragement, validation, discouragement, agreement, thoughts confirmed.

   In my defense, it’s not that I’m a totally poor name creator. I bet I have 8-10 pages of single-spaced, 3 columns per page, lists of name ideas. 99.99999% already taken! One I tried was being auctioned by GoDaddy for just over $1 million. And, I know the advice is to look for a product, service, thing, or idea. But, then it’s confusing to see nonsense words (like “stufeapellet.com”) sell for 4-6 figures. (And, I still don’t understand the 4-5 letter or number names. Who buys these and for what purpose??)

   I agree that some of my names are way too long; I was uneasy when I bought them. And, glad to hear the Sherpas agree about the “.paris” names. I grabbed them when it was first released, with the idea that in a year or so, the value would increase – especially to a French investor/company.

   But, I do have other shorter names: “ReligiousSoul” (I see lots of commercial possibilities); “Kiltjoy” (Scottish buyer); “USInequality” (hot current topic & should remain so). And, they’re all “dot coms”.

   I would prefer not to have to handle registration transfer, escrow, etc. myself. What’s the best way to sell or auction names that a broker wouldn’t be interested in? Frank, would your new venture meet this need? Other selling companies or auctions?

   BTW – “HillaryforPresident.org” isn’t my favorite; I put the political names 1st because they’re the most critical, time-wise.

   Finally, I had planned to attend NamesCon, but I’m having second thoughts. I know everyone starts somewhere and has to learn the business, but how do you decide maybe it’s not right for you?

   Again, thank you Michael, Monte, Frank and Shane for taking the time to review, comment and offer suggestions on my domains!

   Reply
   1. Freddie Compier says:

      August 31, 2015 at 1:47 AM

      Hey Judy,
      I think it is great you threw yourself before the lions to get honest and constructive feedback. And it is even better that you are able to accept that the long names are not good. In this post you mention shorter dot coms. I agree with you that they are far better. Nevertheless I do think you misleading yourself when you write:

      ” (I see lots of commercial possibilities)”

      Because it is too easy to see tons of commercial possibilities in almost any name. However possibilities does not make a name profitable. It is scarcity that drives the prise up and a domain has to be desired by a specific buyer. Or as Andrew put it in a previous show:

      “Get names that people just don’t want, but that they need”

      This gave me great insight. I think without this insight a newbie domain investor will end up sitting on an imaginary pot of gold and very high annual renewal costs.

      Good luck,

      Freddie

      Reply
7. NinjaDomain says:

   August 25, 2015 at 10:49 AM

   Thanks for the show! %%-

   Reply
8. Matias says:

   August 25, 2015 at 7:21 AM

   Rinoplastia is not a typo, is the correct spelling in spanish for the word Rhinoplasty

   Reply
9. Aaron says:

   August 24, 2015 at 10:38 PM

   Awesome show guys. I always love to hear the different Ideas and thoughts you all have.
   On another note Frank said let me know who you want to see and we will have them out to the Cayman s… So everyone should tell him that you want to see Aaron. Frank you can send the Jet to The Scottsdale Air Center whenever. Great show everyone! Thanks for your time.

   Reply
10. Karim Nasser says:

    August 24, 2015 at 4:20 PM

    If anyone can sell rhinosplastla.com it’s Frank. This tells me that it isn’t enough investing in domains, the key is knowing how to sell. Good thing we have brokers to help out.

    Reply
11. Daniel says:

    August 24, 2015 at 3:21 PM

    Frank’s energy is contagious, I can see why he is so successful. Super passionate about all his businesses and believes they are the best (because they are).

    Reply
12. Paul Stahura says:

    August 24, 2015 at 3:13 PM

    great program!
    remotecoach.com was good sale (for the seller), I wonder who owns remote.coach

    Reply
    1. Shane Cultra says:

       August 25, 2015 at 9:06 AM

       I see what you did there. I guess I have to prove it was a good buy for the buyer as well :) And I will. PS, the seller was Godaddy on a “forgot to renew” auction aka expired. Its always a good sale for them.

       Reply
13. Douglas says:

    August 24, 2015 at 11:43 AM

    Always good to listen to these, and some great names. This industry is great because there are people willing to share.

    Reply
14. Noor Manji says:

    August 24, 2015 at 5:03 AM

    Can I ask a quick question from each of you?

    Frank – Will DNS ever start any auctions like godaddy or Sedo? Any plans of starting an outbound sales division for the domains parked at DNS?

    Shane – What do you think we should do with 5N domains, I have seen some numbers which I will not even attempt to understand.
    some have sold for 300, and very similar numbers have gone for as much as 7 grand. Do you think we should sell now while they are hot or should just wait a bit?

    Monte – Are you still accepting names for the Chinese auction? if so, are you accepting .cn names or just .coms?

    Thanks again.

    Noor Manji

    Reply
    1. Shane Cultra says:

       August 24, 2015 at 6:51 AM

       Noor,

       It really all depends on your entry cost. If you own and had a good entry last year I am a seller. On repeating good numbers I am a buyer, and would be a holder of non four 5Ns that were purchased recently. Just my opinion, others may dissagree

       Reply
       1. Noor Manji says:

          August 24, 2015 at 7:07 AM

          thanks Shane, appreciate the quick reply and advice.

          Noor.

          Reply
    2. Monte Cahn says:

       August 24, 2015 at 10:07 AM

       Hello Noor,

       Submissions for the Domainfest / Macau auction were closed on Aug 15th. However, do send me over what you have and the absolute minimum reserve prices. We may have more auctions in China and have other sales and brokerage opportunities before, during and after this auction.

       We will also be calling for super premium domains in September for the NamesCon live and online auction that will take place on January 11th 2016. We will start marketing for that auction in early October.

       My email is monte@rightofthedot.com

       Reply
       1. Noor Manji says:

          August 24, 2015 at 10:35 AM

          thanks Monte, email on the way.

          Noor

          Reply
    3. Frank Schilling says:

       August 24, 2015 at 10:50 AM

       We may move to auctions in 2016 if our customers demand it. However we think greater liquidity comes from:

       1. parking pages with sales links that do daily intake of leads as they come in (like the for sale sign selling your home)
       2. Syndication of your name for sale across other registrars.. Something we will do using our Uniregistry relationship (recall that all registrars for the most part are accredited with Uniregistry) If a user searches for your name at another registrar and that name lives at Uniregistry we will be able to syndicate it on a buy it now basis across other registrars and transfer it using the Uniregistry Market.

       These features don’t give the time certainty of an auction but auctions pretty much guarantee lower prices on all but the hottest few domains. Again, if our customers demand auctions we will likely roll it out in 2016.

       Initially our focus internally is on completing our DNS migration to Uniregistry in this year.

       Reply
       1. Noor Manji says:

          August 24, 2015 at 12:00 PM

          thank you for the super comprehensive answer, this alone is convincing enough to move my domains to Uniregistry.

          Reply
15. Scott says:

    August 24, 2015 at 4:35 AM

    A question for Frank:

    Frank will the integration of DNS into Unregistery allow those Domainers will smaller portfolios to access the leverage the ‘awesome power’ of DNS?

    I like many others have a small portfolio of Domains. I am envious, miffed and frustrated by not having access platforms and sales channels such as DNS or Namejet.

    There appears to be exclusivity to DNS based on size of the portfolio you want to list and exclusivity to Namejet based on who you are, not want you wanting to list/sale.

    Thanks Scott

    Michael as always great show and content. Thanks Shane and Monte.

    Reply
    1. Frank Schilling says:

       August 24, 2015 at 10:44 AM

       The DNS platform presently has a velvet rope because parking and sales are bundled and sellers have the ability to communicate directly with sellers. The few instances where we’ve had to close DNS accounts revolve around people messing around or mucking with parking implementations to game their payouts higher or instances where sellers bad-mouth the buyer or treat the buyer poorly and that badmouthing reflects poorly on us because the buyer thinks the seller is a DNS broker.. In the new Uniregistry Market implementation we are improving the platform to decouple parking from sales which limits our potential liability from Cybersquatting actions because we can continue to police parking to run clean portfolios of generic names, but we can facilitate a sales platform to all sellers so they can act for themselves, using our infrastructure but independent from us.. When we do that the velvet rope will go away and the platform will be wide open for anyone to join. Your names will need to reside “at” Uniregistry to take advantage of certain features like Secure Simultaneous Exchange (SSE, escrow) finance payment plans and buyer credit card transactions. You will still be able to keep your names at another registrar and use the Uniregistry Market as a sales platform, but utility will be lessened. You should be able to sell more names, more frequently and for more money and more flexibly when your names are at Uniregistry.com – You have to pay your renewals anyway so this is a great time to transfer them to Uniregistry in advance of our roll out. We plan to launch the market internally at Halloween, use it internally for 2 months to thoroughly test it, and then release it on Uniregistry.com at Namescon.com

       Exciting times.

       Reply
16. Eric Jenkins says:

    August 24, 2015 at 3:56 AM

    Michael….

    Thank you for another outstanding show. Thank you Frank, Shane and Monte for taking the time to share. We can learn so much from what you have to say.

    Thanks….Eric Jenkins
    http://www.SpringCreekMedia.Com

    Reply
    1. Shane Cultra says:

       August 24, 2015 at 6:52 AM

       Thanks Eric for watching. Have as much fun doing the show as people do watching it.

       Reply
       1. Michael Cyger says:

          August 24, 2015 at 9:12 AM

          I think I might have more fun than the audience. :)

          Reply
    2. Michael Cyger says:

       August 24, 2015 at 9:11 AM

       Thanks, Eric.

       Reply
17. Noor Manji says:

    August 24, 2015 at 2:24 AM

    Wow, another great show, “master tips” from Frank as always.
    A very constructive feedback for Judy.
    Thank you Mike, Monte, Shane and Frank.

    Noor

    Reply
    1. Michael Cyger says:

       August 24, 2015 at 9:11 AM

       Thanks, Noor.

       Reply
       1. Noor Manji says:

          August 24, 2015 at 9:15 AM

          No Mike, Thank You.

          Reply
18. Jay says:

    August 24, 2015 at 1:47 AM

    hey Frank I have hundreds of domains and thinking of moving from my current registrar how can I contact you?

    Reply
    1. Frank Schilling says:

       August 24, 2015 at 10:52 AM

       You can reach out to sevan or frankp (at) uniregistry dot com if you need help with a transfer. We stand ready to help if you have any questions.

       Reply
19. Jay says:

    August 24, 2015 at 1:35 AM

    This is the greatest bunch of sherpas since Rick Schwartz was on thanks Mike and Sherpas.

    Reply
    1. Shane Cultra says:

       August 24, 2015 at 6:52 AM

       “This is the greatest bunch of sherpas since Rick Schwartz was on”

       …………………….and Shane :)

       Reply
       1. Jay says:

          August 24, 2015 at 1:35 PM

          c’mon shane everyone already reads your posts on Domaining. com
          ( Auction Picks ) etc. good stuff

          Reply
       2. David Gruttadaurio says:

          August 25, 2015 at 8:52 AM

          Absolutely agree, Shane. This was a great mix of experience, personalities and portfolio size. Not only did I learn a ton of great ideas but I don’t think I laughed as much on this Review as any other… sometimes the show gets a little tense when… someone else is on. Thanks Michael for a terrific show.

          Reply
    2. Michael Cyger says:

       August 24, 2015 at 9:11 AM

       Thanks for watching and posting a comment, Jay. Much appreciated.

       Reply