₦airaland Forum

If you noticed, I didn't really go in-depth in the recent posts. No time.

So let me talk about domain investing the zero capital way.
It is possible to be a domain investor without spending money buying domains yourself.
I've earned over $1000 this way within the last 6 months or so.

How?
Through Squadhelp.com!
Squadhelp is arguably the Number 1 branding firm in the world. People/Businesses turn to Squadhelp for names for their businesses / Products.
On Squadhelp, there are Creatives (anybody can be a creative) who participate in contests which are meant to supply these names suggestions.
In order to protect the unregistered names/domains suggested in those contests, SH decided to help creatives register (protect) those names suggestions. Then things changed, bla bla bla. The story is long, but let me cut it short here abeg.

What Squadhelp was doing then has now evolved into them having a marketplace for domains. Currently, there are over 80,000 domains on Squadhelp.

So how do you get involved in this?
You can submit/suggest unregistered BRANDABLE domains to Squadhelp. (Remember Squadhelp has a ready market for those names.).

They will review your submissions. If it makes sense and they like it, they will register the domains and create a logo for the domain.
When it sells, you get a commission of 25% (about $400+).
Currently, I have about 60 BRANDABLE domains at Squadhelp that I didn't spend a dime to register any. And When any sells, I get my 25% commission which is $400+.

Squadhelp use to be easy to get names accepted/approved as at late 2019 to early late 2020. But now they are a bit stringent with the quality of names they approve.
They however still approve names.

So if you are interested, sign up as a CREATIVE, and start suggesting unregistered brandables. But you must know what is a brandable. You can check names on Squadhelp marketplace to see examples of what they have listed. That will guide you.
Remember the tool I said can be used to check availability of unregistered domains: INSTANTDOMAINSEARCH.COM

Good luck!
Later...

temitopteas:
Good Morning. I like to ask what method is more efficient in receiving funds from squadhelp and how easy it is to setup a payooner account.Thanks

As a Nigerian, you can withdraw with Payoneer. I don't think you can withdraw with PayPal which is the only other option.

If you know what you are doing/looking for, you can visit the following websites to bid on domains which are being auctioned. You can read more about each platform by simply doing a Google search.

*Remember what I said about appraisals (knowing how to value domains)*

1. NameLiquidate.com (a reverse auction where price of domains drop from $900+ to $9)
2. GoDaddy auctions
3. Snapnames
4. Sedo auctions
5. Dynadot auctions
6. Namepros auctions (there's a section on Namepros forum where names are auctioned off).
There's always someone willing to sell for the right price.

Also note that in all of these platforms, we have the good, bad, ugly and terrible domains listed.

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I'll advise that before you buy domains either via auctions or private acquisitions from fellow investors, you do your research properly. Google search the domains on Google. See if anything bad has been written about the domain(s). Some people steal domains and try to auction it quickly. Do your due diligence.
I'll also advise you to make Namepros forum your friend. Visit Namepros often. It will accelerate your progress.

Other updates later.

Note: I am talking about domains generally.

The truth is that many of the really good domains have already been bought/registered.

Note I didn't say all. But trying to find a very good domains to hand register could be a very...

*Buying from fellow domainers.

For some domain investors, instead of looking for handregging opportunities, they buy already registered quality domains from fellow investors.

Domain appraisal before buying.

One important skill you need before trying to buy domains wholesale is ability to appraise domains. You need to know what price is right or appropriate for a domain. This is important so that you aren't ripped off/cheated.

One way to understand domain prices is to follow "sales reports". Namepros.com is a recommended site to see sales reports. That way you will see how much fellow domainers acquired their domains.

So how do you buy from fellow investors?

1. If you already have a solid domain knowledge (At least 1 year actively involved in domain buying and selling), you can simply make a public post on any social media platform where domainers can be found. Twitter, Facebook, nairaland, Namepros. You only need to mention the type of domains you want and watch your inbox full with hundreds of domains to choose from.

2. If you are not good with appraisals there is a way to go about it. There are marketplaces that only list Domains they think are GOOD. So they've done some kind of appraisal. These marketplaces include Squadhelp, Brandbucket and Alter (all address in .com).
Now for a lot of reasons, there are domainers who are ready to sell their Domains listed on this "curated" marketplaces.

They mostly sell it from $30 upwards. So if you are are interested, you will simply make a post that you are looking for "domains approved by Squadhelp", domains approved by Brandbucket, etc. To smoothen the transaction, you simply create an account with those marketplaces (Squadhelp, Brandbucket, Alter) and the domain listing will be transferred From the seller to you after the transaction.

More info later... Manage the typos. No time to proofread.

Inspired by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson

Manas100:
not understood not working sir

See screenshot

Manas100:
Now I understand this

My NL pm doesn't work. Find me on telegram
t. me/FindFergie (close the space).

Pk01:
afternic they didn't want to review my domain,DAN i don't know theirs..can you recommend one for me?

It's good that you have listed on Sedo. List also on Dan and Point your nameservers to Dan.

Pk01:
Thanks boss..one more question my domain is now live at sedo..how can I know is up for sale in sedo marketplace

Go to sedo.com homepage and type your Domain in the search bar. If your domain is displayed, then it's live.

Curious... Why did you choose Sedo marketplace

Pk01:
Ok boss I can link namesavers to two or more market place?.. because I direct the domain namesavers to bodis parking..

You can list your domains at many marketplaces. But you can only point your nameservers to 1 out of all.

Apus:
Finally, the ice has broken. My first sale(through wholesale market place). Though little but we're getting there!! Grateful to God and everyone who has helped on this journey.

Congratulations
I know that feeling

Charles4329:
Good morning house. Please to the oga's in the house, can I list my domain name both in Alter//com and Afternic//com. I'm asking because I don't know if Alter's policy stops such.

Alter has partnership with many marketplaces like Dan, Sedo, etc. They help you list your names on those marketplaces. But Afternic is NOT a partner. So you CAN list on Afternic.

Send a message to their customer support showing prove of ownership. Or point your nameservers to their marketplace and contact them to do manual verification.

Next. I'll talk about Domain Investing for the big guys.

If you've got $$$. There's a high table for your in domain investing.
You buy big and sell bigger. What you'll be doing is buying already registered quality domains Domains from auctions, marketplaces, private acquisitions, etc

These kind of domains can easily be sold wholesale (reselling to fellow investors) to recoup your investment if there's any need.

These tutorial is just 1 of the ways we search for expireddomains on expireddomains.net. You watch them before they drop. You can also search for those already dropped by using the deleted domains options.

Sorry, no tutorial for that.
People who search for traffic domains, brandables, etc also have filters they use which are different from that used in this tutorial. You can play with the site (expireddomains) to see familiarise yourself with it.

Free advice: I usually don't bother registering Geo Service domains ( note I said Geo Service/product domains) whose WBY (creation date) is 1 year ago. See screenshot. Most times they were registered by fellow domainers and they must have done series of outbounding without it selling.

That should be all for now.

This tutorial was done with only 30 cities. I didn't find any good Domain containing the 30 Geo's I used.
What domainers do is that they bookmark several geo cities (grouped in thirties).
What I mean is that, since we already bookmarked/saved this 30, You will take another 30 different USA cities and create an expireddomains filter like the one in the example.
Bookmark it. Take another set, bookmark it. Take another set. Bookmark it.
So tomorrow, if you want to go through the process to see domains expiring tomorrow with the same keywords (cities) you used, all you have to do is to refresh the bookmarked/saved page. It saves you time.

Remember, When you see a domain you like on expireddomains, watchlist/Star it.

I have attached a list of USA cities grouped in 30's. A fellow nairalander freely made it available. See it below.

The results would load, showing names dropping today. Then you have to start going through several pages looking for names that are good.
You will find the good, bad and ugly here. So you really need to know how to spot quality Geo domains. That's why I didn't start with teaching how to use expired domains. Remember that it is not only you searching. Hundreds/thousands (maybe) of people are also searching for gems (quality expired domains).

Let's continue with the tutorials

14. When you find a domain you think is quality, you "Star it" (watchlist). See my screenshot.

Please the domains I stared in the screenshot are just for examples. Don't register them. That's not a good domain.

15. At the top of the page, the second option where you see "marketplace domains", click on it and scroll down to where you see "Watchlist". Select it.

16. Domains drop as from 7pm upwards. So you keep checking your watchlist to see When the domains becomes available for registration. And you quickly do.

You can bookmark your watchlist, so you can visit it easily.

9. In the "listing settings", Go to named ending and select "ending today" to see names droping today. You can also put a future date of your choice to see names dropping on that day. Since we choose "ending today", names begin to drop around 7pm upwards.

10: Tick "exclude Domains on your Watchlist" and set Domains per page to 100.
11. Scroll up to the top of the page and click on the "Additional".
12. Go to "Original gTLDs" and tick[b] .com[/b] box.
13. Then click APPLY.

6. In the "end with" column, we put Services/Product (up to 30 separated with space like we did for the USA cities). Doing this will limit the result to only the specified Service/product. For this tutorial, I will leave it blank.
7. In the "domain name settings" columns, follow my screenshot example by ticking "only character", "no adult", and set the length of the domain to 20 max.
8. In the "dictionary word domains" section tick English, and set"word count" to 3 Max.

1.Create an account with expireddomains.
2. Click the second menu where "Marketplace Domains" is displayed.
3. Select "pending delete". It will load.
4. Click "show filter".
5. In the domain name allow list, paste the 30 cities in my previous post in the "Start With" box.

Finding quality expired domains.

Expired domains have different filters. You set the filters depending on what you are looking for.
Since we are talking about Geo+Service/Product domains, our filters will be set up in that direction.
We talked about our target Geo's being USA cities/States, etc. So first I'll be attaching a list of USA cities grouped into 30's. It was provided freely by a nairalander on another thread.
We will use that for the tutorial.

See attached file for lists.


EDIT: Nairaland not allowing me to attach doc file.

So I will just paste a list of 30 cities we will work with.


NewYork LosAngeles Chicago Houston Phoenix Philadelphia SanAntonio SanDiego Dallas SanJose Austin FortWorth Jacksonville Columbus CharlotteNorth SanFrancisco Indianapolis Seattle Denver Washington Boston ElPaso Nashville Detroit Portland LasVegas OklahomaCity Memphis Louisville Baltimore

safetim:
Thanks so much.
I shouldn't consider using it for the cannabis and cbd niche?

Just checked the name now. That logo shouldn't have been made for that name. Visit the domain landing page and chose the angry emoticon. Then they will tell you to 'Talk', that they will pass your message to the designer. Write what you want. Something like, "this domain doesn't relate to the CBD niche, bla bla bla.

Update the description first before you take the steps above.

Branduche:
So i have discovered one person using stolen foreign cards to purchase domains they own and still get paid.
Using different details, but same person is the buyer and seller.
Still hunting for the user Nairaland moniker

Drop the domain(s) the person sold through epik, let's join you to 'hunt'.

Some domain sales report go just make pesin

Edited

BloggingScope find me here on telegram

t. me/FindFergie (close the space)

safetim:
Good morning.

Please I need help on fixing description for a name at SH.
SageCove
Classified under Agency & Consulting
I formally used this description but I felt it'll be better for cannabis & CBD related stuffs.

"A strong and catchy name that expresses, wisdom, intelligence and veteran experience"

Please I'd appreciate your suggestions (on classification and description)

XYZ is a desirable and memorable name that is made of two words (Coined from two words), (derived from two words) (a blend of two words) Sage & Cove. This two words blends beautifully to form a brand name that expresses wisdom, intelligence and veteran experience.

@ highlighted part, just use any 1.
Then the classification, you can try these ones:
Agency & consulting
Education & Training
Tutoring
Motivating & Mentoring

Next: registering/creating/finding quality Geo+Service/Product domains using Expireddomains.net

LATER

Follow Up
Many times, end users don't reply to the first message. You might need to do a follow up. If you used template 1 in your first contact,
You can use template 3 for follow up. You use the psychology of price reduction to stir up interest

See attached screenshot below

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How much should I demand for my Geo+Service/Product Domains
You can set any amount of $$$ as asking price. However, be reasonable.
Sweet spot is $250-$750.
Remember, there's a high likelihood that the end user already has an existing website! So be reasonable in your pricing.
For domains with high traffic/backlinks, you've got gold in your hands. So you're free to demand a golden price for your treasure.

*Content of email*
Don't be a spammer!!!!!!!
Please note the guide in the previous post.

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If you open your email box, there are different folders.
Inbox
Sent
Outbox
*Spam*
There are certain emails that you will send and it will land in spam folder of the receiver. If it enters here, the receiver doesn't know you sent a mail. No notification. Also after 30 days it will auto delete.

Why will this happen? There are certain words that are usually used by spammers. You can Google meaning of spam.
Once your email address contains those words, they are flagged as spam and sent to the spam folder.

What are those keywords? You can ask Google.

However, the template I will provide will help you stay safe.


[b]Email Template1 & [
Email template 2/b]

I have attached a screenshot below.

Remember what I told you about nameservers? When the end user types AbujaWoodFloors//.com in their browser, they are directed to the marketplace (Dan//.com in this case) where you choose to handle the transaction.

Outbound Marketing

Let me make this clear:

It is not that you must outbound (contact endusers) before you can sell Domains.

In fact, many domainers hate outbound marketing.
They prefer to register a domain name and patiently wait for the right buyer (Inbound).
But outbound marketing leads to faster and quicker sales as long as you have a quality domain name.

Outbound Marketing 101

I already explained how to search Google for businesses that might be interested in acquiring your domains.

Scroll up to refresh your memory.

When Google shows you the websites, you will visit the website and look for where there is
*contact us*

Most times there will be email address and phone number.

You will copy the email address somewhere.
Do this for all the website related to the domain name.

Sometimes there is no email address on their website. Check if there is a Link to their Facebook page. Visit their Facebook page. You might see their contact email.
Copy it down somewhere.

*Outbound Marketing*

There is a thin line between outbound Marketing (sending cold emails) and Spamming. It is best not to cross that line.
Make sure the domain you are outbounding is a better version of that of the end user. Make sure the domain is also relevant to the business niche of the end user. You don't outbound a domain like ElectricVehicle//.com to a company selling flowers.

Important: Be respectful, and direct. Go straight to the point. Who wants to read 300 words of unsolicited marketing bla bla bla


Now that you know this. You have to be very professional in your outbound Marketing

1. Get a professional email address.

Adebisi4Luv1995@gmail//.com ❌ rubbish
AbuFati1997@gmail//.com ❌ rubbish
ItsYoungKid@yahoo//.com ❌ rubbish
KoolChild86@gmail//.com ❌ rubbish


FredDomainService@gmail//.com✔️ Good
DomainOffers1@gmail//.com ✔️. Good
JohnDomains@gmail//.com ✔️. Good
DomainsMD @gmail//.com ✔️. Good
Steve@Domainblabla//.com ✔️. Good

adesiku:
Fergie, which one is better between registering an expired domain or registering a new name for Geo domaining. Sorry for this question, I'm just a newbie

Around 90% of times when we (domainers) do outbounds for geo domains, we do it for their keywords. Ideally, any domain you are trying to outbound to an end user ought to be better than their current domain. Like an upgrade.
Now to your question
Handregging (registering a fresh domain) a domain with a popular keyword (Service/Product) is fine. Take note that some of those names you think are new might have been registered 2,3 or 5 years ago and dropped.

Registering expireddomains (freshly dropped/recently expired) with a popular keyword (Service/Product) is also fine. The advantage of expired domains is that some of those domains might have existing traffic and backlinks. Infact, the good ones hardly drop (as they are backordered). The good ones that weren't backordered are picked up immediately they drop. So if you want to fish in this 'waters', you must come prepared


In summary, if you see a good domain (either new or expired) available, register it. The so called expired domains were ones freshly registered.

Scroll up. Info updated.

More here.