What is the best way to make tons of money off of domain names?

im 17 and want to get into making domain names. my dad makes alot of money off of this, but i want to make the money myself with little guidance from him.

any ideas?

If your dad already makes money this way, you have a great mentor right in the house. Lemme say this…

First, don’t buy any ebooks or get rich quick domain junk…no matter how good it sounds.
Second, you are not too late. New people are still getting in and making money.

However…it’s not going to be quick and easy money. So here’s my advice.

Go to the two best domainers forums (Namepros and DNForum). Read the posts like crazy. Also watch what sells everyday to get an idea of prices. In this economy, it’s not easy any more to make quick money selling to other domainers. It’s even harder to sell them on Ebay. Don’t even go there. Much of the material you will read in ebooks (if you break down and buy one) or elsewhere was written about a market that existed a year ago. Things have changed. You can get great domains on forums and even Ebay for a fraction of their value. That’s why you don’t want to sell that way, unless you’re dumping names.

Instead, take advantage of the lousy market to find some great names. You’re strategy for a quick domain flip is to find names that end-users will want. If plenty of companies are using the words in your domain (especially keywords such as "baking equipment") then they are all potential buyers. Contact them with a short but very professional email. Some will ask "how much," and you are off to the races.

Some names, even with great keywords, may not sell. Domaining requires patience. In the meantime, you can develop a few of your best names into good mini sites and make money that way. With even less work, you can put up a one page site with a site map, and get it listed on Google. A name like houstondentist.com might get near the top of Google without too much effort. Assuming the name gets some searches, wouldn’t any dentist in Houston love to have it? And don’t demand 2000 or 3000 exact searches per month as some do. Even 100 searches per month is 100 potential new patients for any dentist in Houston every month.

So read all you can (the best stuff is freely available on the web), invest slowly and carefully at first (the typical newbie screws up by buying too many names – like I did), and make sure you get enough cash turnover to stay in the game. Good luck.

How to measure traffic to my "mis-spelled" domain names?

I have several domain names which are the "mis-spelled" version of my primary domain name (and all redirect users to my primary domain). But before I spend alot of money and renew all these domain names, I would like to know if any visitors are actually using these mis-spelled names. How can I measure this?

Basically your hosting should have plenty of built-in solutions that help to measure traffic, like Awstats for example.

Go to your hosting account and look for the Stats tools. You should have at least 2-3 available. They will give all necessary info about what keywords are used by the people who get to your misspelled sites.

How to Appraise a Domain Name’s Value

Knowing the value of an internet domain name is crucial in today’s business industry. Altough there is no exact formula to appraise a domain, there are a group of things to consider before putting a value to a domain. A majority of people will base their immediate appraisal on TLD extension, word length and keyword popularity but won’t really consider backlinks, brandability or emerging trends part of the equation. There are a few factors that a person must be aware of before they can feel they have thoroughly assessed the domain and attach a valid appraisal amount. The first thing a person can do to is recognize that there are many subtle components that need to be assembled and viewed as a whole to get a comprehensive perspective on the domain. It seems every domainer has their own method used to appraise a domain so I’ve listed a few factors that I feel are necessary in being considered before a domain can be appraised.

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TLD Extension

TLD or Top-Level Domain is the ending extension attached to a domain such as .com, .net or .org. The .com extension is considered the most sought after even though there are other TLD’s that are gaining huge popularity and acceptance. CC’s or Country Codes are also seeing their fair share of registrations.

Name Length

Now that all the 2, 3 and 4 letter .com’s have been registered, the letter count on a domain is fast becoming a huge factor in a domain’s worth. The desire for a short domain is at an all time high and values are steadily climbing due to the limited supply of shorter length domains. Seems shorter names are easier to remember and with that a value increase.

Characters, Numbers and Hyphens

Hyphens integrated between letters are often viewed as separators between keywords. Although there is much dispute whether or not the hyphens negatively impact a domain’s search engine optimization, there is considerable preference that a domain not include anything extra in it’s name. Number digits are beginning to see their popularity rise and can be included with relevant keywords or letters to make a great domain.

Keyword Popularity

Marketable search terms and keyword popularity are extremely relevant in appraising a domain name. The frequency of a given search term helps to indicate the brandability or popularity of the keyword. Generic word domains, such as flowers.com or poker.com are the strongest in their keyword popularity genre.

Traffic and Revenue

Traffic or visitors to a particular domain is one of the most important factors to consider when appraising a domain. More traffic usually means more revenue due to pay-per-click income and possible advertising opportunities, therefore increasing the value of the domain.

Brandability and Trends

Any domain that is easily memorable, short and non-descript is considered brandable and therefore increases it’s value. It would be easier for a person to remember TVrepair.com instead of the longer fix-my-broken-television.com . Not only is the first choice shorter and has better word flow but also there is less of a chance of someone incorrectly typing in the URL. Also keep tuned in to current trends that may seem to increase an otherwise meaningless domain into a treasure. An example is when Apple Computers began to incorporate the letter i into their products descriptions, such as iPhone, iPod and iLife.

Automated Domain Appraisals

This is a tricky one. Although I feel automated domain appraisal systems such as Estibot are helpful in assisting to appraise a domain, I don’t feel they should be the “end all” decision used to obtain a domain’s value. If used more as a reference tool, they can be one of the greatest resources that help determine an appraisal value. Any script/applications can have some bugs, especially ones with complex algorithms as Estibot. Make automated domain appraisals one of the tools to find an appraisal, not the only tool.

Future Potential Interest and Overall Appeal

As time goes by, new words, trends and fads explode onto the scene, and with each new word or trend created, a domain is born. Stay up with current events and become a regular visitor to news aggregate sites, such as Digg and domain industry specific DNHour to stay on the cusp of emerging potential interests.

Backlinks

I like to keep my eye on the number and quality of backlinks to evaluate an domain appraisal. While tons of irrelevant backlinks might negatively effect a domain’s search engine optimization, it can still be a positive thing for a domain names’ value. With more and more domains being “parked”, the links tend to lean towards relevant backlinks and therefore less likely to be bogged down in the SEO nightmare of page rank. And, it’s hard to argue that backlinks don’t increase traffic.

Relevance, Region Specific and other Fuzzy Logic

As said earlier, there is no exact formula to appraise a domain name, and therefore the not-so-exact elements must come into play. An example would be that veteran domainers tend to skew their entire method of appraising when it comes to country specific or region specific domain names. Different factors are incorporated to determine non-English domain word values and domainers across the globe are becoming better in detecting future potential interests in foreign markets. Another example is the continuously growing popularity of “long-string domaining”, or stringing multiple words or keywords to achieve a brandable and memorable domain name. TacoBell has ThinkOutsideTheBun.com and Amazon has the domain BuyABook.com. By definition, these would not be very valuable but that’s when the fuzzy logic creeps in. A domain’s value can be perceived in multiple ways.

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So keep in mind that even though there isn’t one exact correct formula being used by the domain industry to appraise domains, a reasonable appraisal can be determined by anyone if they keep all the factors in mind and how they each interact with each other.

I’d suggest you monitor the pulse of current domain sales by frequently visiting

DNJournal’s Domain Sales Chart. This will show you weekly and even yearly to-date domain sales for the industry. And don’t forget to visit the front page of Sedo to view ongoing live auctions. Each of these great resources will help you in creating your own customized method of domain appraising by seeing what domains are selling and for what amount.

Rudy Hernandez
http://www.articlesbase.com/domain-names-articles/how-to-appraise-a-domain-names-value-314729.html