I’m one of those guys that still likes to read. Not just blogs, news articles, and my neighbor’s mail, but actual books. I still find there is a lot of value in books and I enjoy reading them. Mostly non-fiction. I’m a life long learner and I enjoy learning new concepts, new points of view, and new ways of thinking. I like reading physical, hardcopy books as well as ebooks on my iPad. One is just as good as the other as far as I’m concerned. The only real benefit I find with reading ebooks is that I can carry my entire library around with me pretty easily.
I have found that certain topics, however, are better covered online than in book format. Not that it can’t be done in book format, just that I haven’t found great books on these topics yet, and I’m always on the hunt for them. Domaining is one of those topics.
I’m really a pretty honest and straight forward guy. In fact, I probably lean toward being nicer and more honest than I should be. When it comes to reviews, I like to call it like I see it. I’ve reviewed a few domaining books in the past, but as a result, I honestly think that a reader is better off following a couple of the top domain name blogs rather than wasting their time on these. To date, there is one book, The Domain Game, that I recommend to anyone interested in domain names. More so for the history and great stories as opposed to a business strategy manual. There is one book on domain name flipping that has some value and its Domains 360. Other than these two, the well has been pretty dry.
I noticed a Twitter contact of mine, Darryl Lopes (@DarrylLopes), was releasing an ebook covering domain names so I asked for a review copy. Darryl obliged and hooked me up with a copy. Is WWW . COM – How To Get Started In Domain Names worth the read? Here’s what I think.
How To Get Started In Domain Names
To start off, I don’t know that I would call a 32 page PDF a book. I guess technically it meets the requirements, but I always expect a book to be something that take more than a single sitting to read through. The 32 pages includes the cover page, table of context, a few lists, some links, tables, etc. You can definitely get through this in a single sitting. But hey, wait, don’t let that deter you. Read on before you make your final decision.
The Intro
There are some typos and grammar issues in the intro, which typically gives the book an immediate black eye. I’m getting a little more used to seeing these in self published books but I highly recommend that anyone self publishing spend a few extra bucks to hire a proofreader, or at least have a couple of trusted contacts read through and point out the obvious. Especially if you are publishing in English and it is not your native langue. Credibility goes a long way when you are claiming to be an expert and use proper grammar and punctuation.
Setting that aside, we’re off to a good start. Darryl gives us some background on himself, pre-domaining and it’s interesting enough to keep me reading and sets the stage for his move into domaining. I think we all have someone who inspired us to get more involved in domaining, and this is true for Darryl as well. Who was his inspiration? Well, that’s up to him to tell you in his book.
Then the author drops what I consider to be the first nugget of insight with the following:
…most domain names you hand register have very little value unless you know what you are doing…
Damn right!! This brought me back to my early days where I went shit crazy hand registering names. Holy crap, they were horrible names!! But the author goes on to explain it can be a learning experience. He explains the bloggers he followed, the forum he joined and the result. All things I can attest to having as similar experiences as I began. He went one step further and became a broker at Uniregistry. Show off.
Next he started throwing around some sales tips that were… actually…. good! What? Wait? Am I actually sort of liking this book? And I’m only on page 10! I picked up a tip he calls “The Double Dial” that I wasn’t aware of. Hell, I’m no salesman by any means, but it makes sense. Again, I’m not giving away any spoilers here.
The Rest of the book
I won’t go through the remainder of the book in page by page detail, but I will tell you what I liked about it.
- Actual domain names the author bought and sold
- Clearly he’s got experience and not just Being his way though the book
- Real world examples of payment plans
- Solid sales tips
- Good resources sited
- Sample emails / templates (not sure I would use them all but sounds like he had success with them)
One main point I did not like.
- Too short, I think this author could crank out a larger, more expanded version with additional details, examples and tips.
I think Darryl Lopes has something to offer and his experiences as a broker likely bring additional examples and insights that he could share. This is definitely not an advanced course in domaining but it is a good read for those interested or just getting started. And if “sales” isn’t part of your DNA, there are some good tips there as well. I’ll be interested to see if Darryl follows this up with another release at some point in the future. Maybe SullysBlog.com will make it into the next version?
If you are interested in downloading a copy, visit this link at Gumroad.
Full transparency, I was not compensated for this article nor will I receive any affiliate commission for sales of this book.
