I recently dealt with a start-up company called 3tailer, I had sold them the domain name Home Weather Stations dot com last month. I approached them first with the pitch. I didn't really get the price that I was looking to get for that domain, it was actually 5x less, but I ended up selling it and still for a nice profit at that so it's all good. It was more than a grand. I liked what the guys were all about at first glance so they got a great deal without a doubt. It was win-win for all. 3tailer bargained hard but they got the deal they wanted. They countered and I accepted without dragging things out. Quick and easy.
In their own words 3tailer is a company... "of a variety of eCommerce websites. We identify opportunities in niche markets then build websites to fill customers’ needs. We create the brands, do the marketing, and then provide the customer service all while forming strategic partnerships with various suppliers." 3tailer was founded in late 2005 by two friends and recent Appalachian State University graduates Jon West and Chad Ledford. They currently own 18 eCommerce websites which are setup pretty nicely.
So once the domain is sold, on the next day, Chad (2nd guy in charge) contacts me and wants to buy more eCommerce domains. Of course he does.. He got a hell of a deal on the Home Weather Stations dot com domain. I got him hooked. Great?! I tell him ok, I will send some over.. I let some time pass. Few weeks later I contact him and tell him that Home Weather Station dot com, the singular is still available for sale for only one grand. That is so cheap! Nope... He doesn't seem to think so or even care to reply. Not even a "no thank you" So, obviously I won't be sending over any other eCommerce domain names that we have for sale to him because he would just waste my time. I have this feeling that he isn't a serious buyer.. Or even knows what he wants or needs. So I won't spend my time dealing with them again. Ever.
If they do not understand the importance of owning both the plural and singular of an online generic website/brand name and company/business they want to operate online than we got nothing to talk about. Nope. I explained to him in my last e-mail that it would make most sense for one company to control and own both domains but they choose to go with the plural, which is what I would go with as well if I had to pick from the two, but not having the singular is dumb. Really dumb. If you are serious about running a business online and you are selling products, you especially need to have them both... Ideally. Here they had the chance and they blew it. I tried to explain to them and show them the light... But nope. There are a million reasons actually. If you don't know at least the top 10... Well, you need to learn. Got a lot to learn.
First of all, you do not want to let your competition operate the same exact business on a similar domain name. It would create a lot of confusion and you will lose out a ton of biz. It is a newbie mistake 101. 3tailer calls themselves eCommerce experts and seo consultants, directly on their homepage --- but I would beg to differ. They know some things... Well, the basics, but that is about it. They know to include the keywords within their domain names. They know how to drive organic traffic. How to build functional websites.. But they do not know much about marketing, product/service development and domain names. A lot of online retailers / eCommerce businesses don't actually.
Well, obviously they will learn. The hard way. They are a young bunch. They will figure it out sooner than later. Currently they drive more than 50% of their biz it looks like organically, through the search engines.. They have maybe a $10k/monthly budget for paid search ads... It would be wise to diversify and invest in more exact match keyword domain names and stop setting up websites on made up names. They leak too much traffic. Instead, focus on a couple of the sites that are already doing well from the 18 businesses you have. Grow those. It's not about quantity but quality. Stop setting up barriers and avoid the road blocks. Get on the fast track. Use keyword domains. Duh!
I deal with a lot of small - medium businesses who operate both online and offline as well as exclusively online and some of them either get domains or they just don't. It is very hard to educate many of them that don't understand the power of domains. They think that you are full of BS because you are trying to sell them something. You will say anything, right? I mean, that is how it is... Well, sometimes I do tell people what they want to hear in order to get them in a certain comfort zone and close a deal but a lot of times I am as honest and open about things as can be and I tell them just how it is but they ignore it all. It's too bad.
Selling domains is fun though. I still get some good clients for my SEO biz this way. It's how we "strike" a convo. It's how we get to know one another... It's a good method which I've been using for years to pull in biz. Still, a lot more times though I get ignored and I am sure people are thinking to themselves that I am trying to pull a number on them. I am trying to scam them or sell them a domain name for thousands of dollars which is actually worthless. Not really! But that is just how it is. Smaller businesses are paranoid. It's a fact.
A lot of people are clueless and obviously they won't believe just a random stranger who contacts them one day outta nowhere who wants to be friendly or "help" their biz. They will rather carry on with whatever they are doing or aren't doing and go on in the path they are on, which they are comfortable with and have been doing well, instead of listen or take advice. Human nature.
They trust themselves...and maybe their "inner circle" which is good. Understandable. There is indeed a lot of scams and frauds going on and especially on the internet, but you have to trust people when they put forward an effort to try to explain something or show you something. Kind of like a courtesy. You wouldn't want to be ignored, would you? Not everybody is evil and is out to get you. You have to stay positive and optimistic... If you don't, you may just miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime. They come to you when you least expect it and in ways that you would of never imagined. Do not dismiss everything. Pay attention... You never know!!
Observations at WannaDevelop.com
02/23/2010: Dozens of Amazon affiliate stores for sale.. Developed by DomainMassDevelopment.com 01/11/2010: Wanna be part-owner of DomainState.com with myself and a few others? Ok, read this now... 11/02/2009: FS gets it on with WP... It's about time, no??!?! 08/24/2009: If all else fails... Who is gonna pay the bills?!! 08/22/2009: Frank Schilling has the winning formula $$$$$$
