Urban Domainer

I have decided on a new strategy because change is good. ( I am actually rewriting my last post from a month ago, It’s July 9th today) I am cleaning house and have sold many of my domain names on ebay of all places. There is definitely a buying market, it’s just that everybody wants a deal because there are wayyyy more sellers than buyers. So selling cheap is the nature of the beast right now. It’s just like the real real estate market right now, no surprise there! I do however have a lot of faith in domain names no matter what the economy looks like, so since we are still on the ground floor of this relatively new market I am going to sell all but a few really good ones and focus on getting just a few quality ones that have higher value, kinf of like moving up the domain food chain!

There has been a lot of talk about development among the domaining community. For awhile now I have simply read these posts then just filed them away in my mind but not ready to deal with the idea. The irony here is that I am a web developer so you would think I would naturally embrace the idea but not so for me.

I have been developing for a long time (about 13.5-14 years) and as I have grown aesthetically and technically I have developed a level of perfectionism that is cherished among my client base. However this level of development gets me into to trouble as a domainer. I get overwhelmed at the thought of spending 3-6 months developing one domain name without a definite pay check. So as you can see I need more insight. I have come across a few blogs that suggest the ‘keep it simple’ method such as domainflipper.com who is capable of developing a domain name in one day. (Not sure I can do that). Then there is the Elliotsblog.com type, who spend a lot of time on one domain that has taken many months to develop and nurture (lowell.com)

So I guess what I am asking is if anyone knows the approximate breakdown of revenue, cost, time, etc. of the different levels of developing a domain name for yourself? And certainly an example of something in the middle of these two options?
Thanks : )

I can’t remember which blog I read it on but it gave a good break down of what is ‘generally’ considered a valuable domain name. Made a lot of sense and I am sure most of us have made purchases that we look back on and think to ourselves, ‘What was I thinking when I registered that?’ So since it is actually spring I am going through my list and doing some research to see if what I purchase is worth holding on to, should I sell it or just simply throw it back into the proverbial domain ocean? I feel pretty good about most of my purchases, my biggest regret of course is that I wish I had the mindset as I do now as I did when I first started registering domains back in 1998. I was young and very busy and really didn’t have much money (and back then they were $100 a year, ouch) but I bought what I could and I think I purchased about 20. A few good ones and some that are still not worth what I paid in registration all these years, so live and learn. I have grown up quite a bit since my first registration and making much better choices these days, so life is good and I am very grateful to have had the insight when so many others thought domains a waste of my time and money.