DomainSherpa interviews successful domain name investors and entrepreneurs – people we call Sherpas – who share their strategies and tactics to help you be more successful. Hosted by Tess Diaz.
Latest Interview
As of August 28, 2013, the new Google Keyword Planner replaces the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. It’s supposed to be an improvement, but most people don’t like change.
This DomainSherpa tutorial walks you through the new Google Keyword Planner, shows you how to find most of the same information as the Google Adwords Keyword Tool provided, and what the differences are between the two.
This tutorial also shows you how to use the Google Keyword Planner tool for SEO and domain name purposes.
Michael Cyger October 21, 2013
“I’ve got the brains, you’ve got the looks / Let’s make lots of money” – lyrics to a song released in 1985 by UK-based Pet Shop Boys.
That’s the same situation that many developers and domain name owners hope to achieve by forming a joint venture – combining their respective strengths to make lots of money.
But how do you progress from the “we just met” phase to the “we’re partners and wildly successful” phase? What if the domain name owner receives an offer to sell the domain that they can’t refuse? Or what if the developer fails to deliver on the timeline and thresholds that were agreed to prior to the joint venture?
All these questions – and more – are answered in this interview.
Michael Cyger October 14, 2013
Most investors in the domain name industry would be nervous to invest $185,000 in a single premium domain name.
But on today’s show we interview a 27-year-old entrepreneur who invested $185,000 not once, but three times this year, spending a total of over half a million dollars in application fees alone to register new top level domains.
This is the story of how a domain name investor built a registrar and is launching at least two (possibly three) registries.
Michael Cyger October 7, 2013
The hacker group Syrian Electronic Army was able to hijack the websites of the New York Times, HuffingtonPost and Twitter, redirecting traffic, causing lost revenue and confusing hundreds of thousands of people.
If large, established and high-tech companies like these aren’t safe, are our small business, ecommerce and publishing websites safe? Is our email safe?
Chief Technology Officer Bruce Tonkin from the sixth largest registrar in the world, Melbourne IT, answers these questions and tells us how we can secure our domain names from a similar fate.
Michael Cyger September 30, 2013
In real estate, the stock market or domain name investing, it’s an oft-stated business rule that you make your money on the buy, not the sell.
But how do you make sure you’re value investing like Warren Buffett in the domain name industry? What do top domain name brokers look for when buying domain names for their own personal investment portfolio?
Today’s interview answers those questions and more. Warning: this is a long show, but it’s well worth your time as there are nuggets of gold around finding generic premium domains, contacting hard-to-locate registrants, making offers and a new reverse auction sales platform that’s offering some great buying opportunities. Real buy and sell information, including pricing, is discussed.
Michael Cyger September 23, 2013
How do you maximize the revenue you can generate from a website using lead generation and no Google AdSense?
That’s the question answered in this interview focused on the insurance, home security and new-car buying industries.
Also discussed is the development of BestQuotes.com, AutoComparison.com and PetPremium.com, including business results (the good and the bad) and lessons learned along the way.
Michael Cyger September 16, 2013
If you run a business and own trademarks for your brand, products or services, you are likely going to be affected by the hundreds of new top level domains that will be coming available over the next few years.
For example, I’m concerned that I don’t have enough resources to register my trademark DomainSherpa in .app, .buy, .shop, .nyc, etc. Will others try to profit from the equity I’ve built in my company and brand by using confusingly similar domain names? What can you do to protect your trademarks and defend against potential cybersquatters?
Those are the questions we answer on today’s interview.
Michael Cyger September 9, 2013
Most domain name investors stick to buying and selling. When they do venture into development and monetization, sometimes they get burned.
That was the situation with Steven Newman and his $25,650 purchase of SportsPicks.com, a resource for sports betting information. But after a bad development start, Newman and his partner are now on the right path with a live website, a $1 million promotional challenge, a marketing program and revenue starting to come in.
Learn how SportsPicks.com is becoming an honest, trustworthy service provider in an industry that is often perceived as disreputable.
Michael Cyger September 2, 2013
Medical marijuana is legal in 20 states, but recreational marijuana is legal in only two states so far…one of which is my home state of Washington.
Based purely on a clinical interest, I found an entrepreneur who has placed a bet on recreational marijuana domain names and has built a fledgling web development and marketing business around the cannabis industry in the states of Washington and Colorado.
In this interview we learn what he’s done, how he’s done it and how you might want to do the same in your state.
Michael Cyger August 26, 2013
In today’s interview, Aron Meystedt describes valuation ranges not only for two- and three-letter domain names (e.g., AA.com, BN.com), but also for two- and three-number domain names (e.g., 16.com, 144.com).
While DJI.com sold for $300,000 and 114.com sold for $2.1 million, both in July 2013, one is likely an outlier. Find out which in this interview.
Also in this interview is an opportunity to sell LL.com, LLL.com, NN.com and NNN.com domain names through Heritage Auctions to their 800,000 registered users.
Michael Cyger August 19, 2013