Shouldn’t Invest in Domain Names — Why You
Get rich quick or go broke trying.
A few weeks ago an account manager at a parking firm told me he was frustrated. I asked why, and here’s what he stated (paraphrased):
A lot of fresh people are coming into this industry. They’ll register a couple hundred domains and park them. Then they call a few weeks later and say “Why am I not making any money? I thought this is all I had to do”.
Fresh domainers get into the industry for a variety of reasons. But often times they read an article regarding someone who has made a fortune domaining. Most successful domainers I know will tell you it takes a lot of hard work and luck. But that’s not the image the press always notes.
There are a couple truisms I’d like to share for anyone interested in the world of domaining:
1. If you live paycheck-to-paycheck, you shouldn’t invest in domain names. Domains are not liquid. If you can’t afford to sit on your domains for 3, 10, or even 15 years, you shouldn’t register them.
2. If you registered a domain in the past few years, odds are it gets very little traffic. Your domains have been tasted, chewed, spit out, and tasted again ahead of you even registered them. Very few domains that the everyday domainer registers have any chance of garnering significant traffic. This is changing a bit, but don’t assume you can go out and register a hundred domains and make money from parking.
