A few weeks back, I picked up bells.org on the drop. I grabbed it because it's a short keyword domain name with a decent exact global monthly search volume of 27,000 and cpc of .49 cents, depending on where you look. I haven't owned, developed or sold any .org names in the past, but I couldn't resist this one after seeing it on Shane's drop list. Now that I've had it and tossed around a few ideas, I'd like to ask you what your thoughts are. Here are a few things I am thinking of, but open to suggestions.
1. Flip it
Initially, I was thinking I should just sell the name. There are plenty of companies by the name of "Bell" or "Bells," not to mention family surnames. It could make a cool short email address if nothing else. I think it's worth more than I paid for it.2. Develop it
I've been interested in setting up an e-commerce / drop ship site and this might be a good one to start with. There are a couple of options here. First, there are those huge bells you see in parks and churches. I'm sure those suckers are pretty expensive (and tough to ship). Another option could be smaller bells, hand bells, collectible bells, and electric bells. I haven't done any drop shipping before, so finding a good partner may be difficult. Another challenge here is that .org has historically been used for not-for-profit organizations. This is changing and there is a push from Public Interest Registry, the official manager of .ORG, to raise brand awareness as I reported back in July. Another favorable fact is the success Morgan Linton has had with kayaking.org (although I don't know the specific figures).3. Hang on to it
There's always the option of just hanging on to the name for future use. Be it for investment or for future development. Seems like a safe option, but not too much fun.4. Build a mini site on it
I have also though about just developing a few pages of content and working on some pay-per-click ads. I need to experiment more with this type of monetization and I'd expect this domain to rank fairly well.What would you do if you had this domain? One of the options above or something else? Let's assume dropping it is not one of the options I'm looking for here. I'm look forward to your comments on this one. Whichever direction I go, I'll blog about it along the way.