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
Oversee.net already had a profitable online ecommerce business with AboutAirportParking.com. So why did they buy AirportParking.com?
Learn how Oversee is diversifying their parking aggregator offering, how one site helped jump-start the content of the second, and how a differentiated website offering can be custom tailored to a different demographic group of customers.
Michael Cyger May 13, 2013
Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world. And the CEO of Chicago.com is preparing to auction off you@chicago.com and http://you.chicago.com to the highest bidder.
Hear how Josh Metnick acquired and evolved Chicago.com to its current form, and how “place identity” makes people want to own a piece of the city they reside in – for a relatively high fee per year.
Do you have a domain name that defines a product, service or industry – one that a company should want and buy from you if you could only reach the right person at that company with the right pitch?
Mike “Zappy” Zapolin is back to help you accomplish that task.
After walking through his methodology and the tactics he used to sell Diamond.com and Beer.com for $6 million and $8 million, respectively, we discuss three domains that are not as valuable, but are more representative of the domain names many of us have in our portfolios: Weights.com, QuantitativeResearch.com and NoFlat.com.
Michael Cyger April 29, 2013
You are probably like today’s guest: You learned about the Internet and domain names in 1995 or 1996, but domain names were expensive and “the good ones” were taken. Although Shane Cultra dabbled in domaining, he mainly considers his fruitless investment during that time to be part of his learning curve.
By 2007, Cultra had figured out what makes domain names “liquid” such that they can be sold more readily in domain name aftermarkets and auction sites. By doing so, Cultra earned six figures in 2012 from domain name investing – in addition to his full-time job running Country Arbors Nursery in Urbana, Illinois.
In this show, Cultra shares his methodology for determining and valuing “liquid domains,” as well as his sweet spots for buying and selling, and how he finds and sells through his favorite marketplace platforms.
Michael Cyger April 22, 2013
In the past, through its portfolio of category-killer, industry-defining domain names, ZipSmart sites hosted geography-based directories and allowed companies to own their zip code online for products and services and – in the process – to generate customer leads.
Today, with Google’s Panda and Penguin updates and with Google+ Places’ being prioritized at the top of Google search results, ZipSmart has had to completely rethink its business.
Jake Ackerman, the founder of ZipSmart, came on DomainSherpa.com more than two years ago to talk about his fast-growing company. We’ve caught back up with this entrepreneur to see how his business model has changed and hear about the challenges he’s facing today.
Michael Cyger April 15, 2013
Does Google have you guessing about your SEO strategy? Have you been slapped with a search engine ranking penalty, or worse, is your site not even showing up in the organic search results at all?
This interview with an SEO veteran covers not only the current state of affairs, but where SEO is heading and how to create great content for your business.
The days of thin sites, inexpensively purchased content and machine-generated websites are gone. Learn what you need to do in the future to have high-ranked sites by watching this show.
Michael Cyger April 8, 2013
In 1995, Richard Lau registered several domain names that he simply thought were cool, but never considered would be worth thousands of dollars. His portfolio attracted the attention of Microsoft, who tentatively agreed to pay $9,500 for one of his domains. That gave him an inkling he was on to something big.
Later, after spending 80 hours per week building one of the first 30 domain name registrars in the world, he was faced with stage A colon cancer and a series of unfortunate business liabilities.
In this biography, Richard Lau discusses how he learned the industry, tells some fantastic stories, and provides guidance to others that are just starting out.
Michael Cyger April 1, 2013
This tutorial takes you step-by-step through the Estibot.com domain name appraisal tool. You will walk away with an understanding of how the tool works and every aspect of the data it provides.
Also covered are five warnings about using Estibot.com that you need to know to avoid making a costly mistake.
Michael Cyger March 18, 2013
Procter & Gamble bought Gillette in 2005 for $57 billion, who sells replacement razor blades for more than $2 each but cost only 9 cents to produce.
Enter Luke Webster, who is disrupting this high profit margin industry by promoting the art of shaving with a straight razor. He is snatching up all the straight razor domain names and building operating websites with PPC marketing campaigns.
Michael Cyger March 11, 2013
The new top level domains that will launch beginning in 2013 create a unique investment opportunity. Indeed, private equity and venture capital firms are evaluating investment in new top level domains and domain name registrars.
Today’s interview is with one of the consultants helping investors outside the domain name industry understand this opportunity. Watch this interview to learn from a different perspective.
Michael Cyger March 4, 2013