This is a road side sign I came across today. I am not kidding. Somebody is offering the opportunity to hold a lamb for $5.00. It’s possible this is the work of cowboy domainer Brian Null, but I’m quite a ways from Missouri so I suspect it’s someone local.
That’s not to say just because someone sticks a sign in the ground they have a great idea. But you have to give things a chance. I give this person credit for looking for an opportunity to monetize. This how we should all be thinking about domains, but I suggest you set your sites a little higher. There is more than one way to earn money on domain names and it doesn’t hurt to be creative and try something new.
My 13 year old son recently made a purchase online. After some thought, he decided he could just as easily make and sell something similar, so that’s what he did. Fast forward a few months and he’s made some good money. More than any other 13 year old I know. I’m not going to share what it is he’s been working on because it is quite easy to replicate and I don’t want to spoil a good thing for him. In fact, his two brothers are now scrambling to find ways to make the same kind of money doing something just as easy, without stealing his idea.
Buying and selling domains is just one facet of domaining. There’s also the option of leasing. Beyond that, you could work out a deal to let someone use one of your domains for a percentage of the profit they earn on running a business on it (or you could be the one running a business on someone else’s domain). You can look for new ways to make the industry better, consulting, developing new tools or domain management systems. Maybe you have a new take on a domain auction platform. You just need to be creative and try different things.
As for my son, he found something that works well for him, but now he’s looking for ways to improve and expand on it. He’s looking for ways to increase his sales and get more and better product out the door. He sees the opportunity all around him. View domaining through that same lens. Look for opportunity all around you. Look for ways to make it better. You’ll find it.
2 comments
I had to google that “Hold Lamb”. It came up with several results, but i believe the most accurate one explained how to hold a lamb until they sell. Basically, Lamb boarding, like boarding horses. The individual shelters, feeds, waters, and cares for the lamb for the owners. It’s an interesting business model.
On a side note, I completely agree that there are unlimited opportunities for people to monetize an idea and set it in motion (On and off line).
“You just need to be creative and try different things” – yep +100%
I think this is where the newGTLDs are going wrong – “we’re like dot-COM, but we’re not dot-COM” is not a great message. They have some fantastic USP and should be pushing it instead of accepting the role of second class citizen.
We’re trying something a little different with human readable domain name, like gifts.for.men or tours.of.london – it might fly, it might not, but I think the industry needs to work to offer more domain based products and solutions, instead of just generic services.
Creativity and imagination are the key.