by Kathy Burns-Millyard
For some reason, I love domain names. I think it's tied tightly to the creative side of me... I sometimes seem to come up with ideas like there's no tomorrow. And where there's an idea, there's a great domain name to go with it. Sometimes a really great domain is what inspires the idea itself.
Some of the things I've come up with over the years included: PalmPilotFiles.com - A Palm Pilot software site of course EBookCritique.com - This was going to be an ebook review site HomeOfficeFiles.com - Home office software and resources
I actually had a whole "files" theme going at one point: pocketfiles, pdafiles, softwarefiles... heck I don't even remember all of them now.
There's only so much time in a day though, and over the years I've forced myself to bypass hundreds of fantastic domains because I didn't have the time for them. You see, each time I'd give in to an impulse and register a great one, I'd then make myself justify that purchase. And justifying it meant I had to develop it, and make it earn its keep in my overall business strategy.
There've been times I've juggled 10+ developed domains all at once. As you might have guessed... this can cause a huge bottleneck. Dividing your time and attention between too many things causes all of them to be mediocre at best.
Recently though, I discovered a way to indulge my domain name passion... exercise my creativity without having to update multiple sites every single day... and make money from them too - all while barely lifting a finger.
I joined a service called Expired Domains. This service keeps you up to date on all of the domains that expire every single day. Using their tools, you can research these domains, and find some real gems. Not just creative ones either - but domains that have hundreds (sometimes thousands) of links to them from other sites across the web. Since the links are already in place, I don't have to spend time promoting the new domain and bringing traffic to it. That solves one of the biggest problems you run into when registering a new domain.
The second problem was continuous updates. If I followed my previous pattern, I'd be trying to develop all these new domains and completely defeat my purpose quickly because I wouldn't have time for them. So instead, I simply put up a search engine. Actually I don't even do that - I point the new domain to my existing search engine. This isn't what you'd consider a standard search engine though... because I earn money every time a visitor clicks a search listing.
Now I do have to admit that sometimes I'm sorely tempted. I'll find a really cool domain that immediately triggers a wonderful website idea and I have to force myself to not act on that. Much as I enjoy making great websites though, my goal this time around is to build up a solid hands free income stream. So, no matter how good the domain is, or how much traffic it's getting... I don't allow myself to develop them. The closest I'll come is pointing an occasional domain to one of my developed sites. Only if the domain has enough links, and/or it matches my target market somehow. Otherwise, it gets pointed to the search engine like all the rest.
Using this system I can now indulge my domain name passion without guilt, and build my long term income too.
Resources mentioned in this article: Expired Traffic: http://www.expiredtraffic.com/?GuruGazette PPC Income: http://www.searchfeed.com/rd/AffiliateInfo.jsp?p=11188&trackID=B6074113365
2004, Kathy Burns-Millyard. All Rights Reserved.
Kathy is the writer and editor of The Guru Gazette... a Unique and sometimes Sassy blend of Home Based business articles, news, advice and resources. http://www.gurugazette.com
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