Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

That option is the next step.

The job will be placed once I know what questions to ask, and how to evaluate the respondents.

But more importantly the questions remain: how to compensate, and how to measure success.

My questions are centered on how to select, evaluate and pay.

Thanks WMMA

Hello WMMA,

I am an VRE investor and domainer among other things and I can tell you that in the world of domain names there are not definite answers.

When it comes to Domain Names their value lies completely in the eye of the beholder. Don't get my wrong -you can use different parameters to guesstimate the value of a domain - but in the real world (especially in the current state of the global economy). Traditional pricing models and historical data - does not hold.

Here is what I tell people when they ask me - how much is this domain worth?

I tell them this: The real value of a domain is worth whatever is financially worth to you or the prospective buyer -and not one cent more.

You can argue that traffic, revenue, memorablity of the domain, TLD and other parameters play a role in the value BUT many of these parameters are either 100 subjective OR can be frabricated or manipulated (at least the metrics). Anyhow - even if they are real - the prospect it still going to offer you only what they believe is worth to them.

Anyhow, enough with the above. In case, you are wondering if I know what I am talking about - type MachineryZone.com --> That was my domain and I sold it last year for more than 50K.

On the other hand I sold a domain last month that was very valuable only for $2500. It all had to do with timing and the value of the opportunity costs of keeping/selling the domain.

Here is my advice. You will find that most domainers and virtual real estate brokers typically go to a set of sites to buy/sell/trade their stuff. Some of these sites focus on the cheap stuff others focus on the premium stuff.

Identify some of these sites and run an Auction with the following parameters (just to survey the market).

Reserve price: The lowest amount your willing to take.

Starting price: $20

Make sure that bidders can submit offers below the reserve. Do this in a few major sites and see what happens and the response. In you get 0 responses and interest, perhaps the domain is NOT as valuable as you think and you would be need to face reality and either keep or sell it for a more realistic amount.

If you get a few offers - what was the average amount? Try contacting site owners with other extensions or similar names and see if they would want to buy it. Also (if it helps) provide analytics and traffic data to see how much type-in traffic or regular traffic your domain generates.

Provide Social Proof:

- Alexa Results
- Domain Appraisals
- Sales Data of Similar Domains

Finally, there are many Domain Name Brokers you can call - like in GoDaddy.com, SEDO, etc. Call a few and negotiate the commision rate and see what they tell you regarding your domain.

Here are your answers:

Q:How to find someone to do the marketing?

Marketing can be a waste of money - domain name buyers typically frequent a few sites, go to those. The returns does not justtify doing a traditional marketing campaign targeting the masses to sell a domain.

Q: How to be able to verify credentials and, more importantly, to feel confident of their ability to reach my potential interested publishers?

Again its all about ROI - if you use a reputable domain name broker - the credentials will be ok. but I will tell you that no broker or marketer for that matter will contact all major publishers - in the hope of getting a commission that is not even a set amount. So the expected return would not justify the cost/effort.


Q: How to assess the plan they propose?
Its really not that complicated - you give them a minimum reserve price and pay an insert fee + agree to a commission. They will email or contact any prospects that they might feel are interested and possibly run classfieds/auctions for you. (compare offerings). You have to remember, you are not selling a multi-million dollar business just a domain. Unless you generate signicant revenue/profit from the domain on a monthly basis - your estimation of its value is probably too high.

Q: And how best to pay? Or perhaps stated differently, how to determine a price value relationship. 'what's it worth?'

Hopefully - I gave you insights in this above.

Thanks SME. I don't want a domain broker. I am looking at a marketing person to handle it directly.

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