Buying Dropped Domains: Aye or Nay?

Those who are in the business of buying websites or starting their own from scratch will know that getting a domain is one of the most important decisions you could ever make. However, I dare say not everyone knows everything there is to know about buying dropped domains. In this post, I shall give a brief overview about the issue of purchasing dropped domains and the pros and cons of doing so. 

Firstly, let me define the meaning of dropped domains. Simply said, dropped domains are domains that have expired either by choice or by accident. If a domain owner did not renew his or her domain, then you can snap it up immediately which can be VERY beneficial to YOU. 

How so? Let me illustrate this better by using the following scenario. Mr. A owns a PR 5 domain with a very nice list of backlinks. His domain contains a pronounceable keyword, all 5 letters of it too! To top it off the keyword has rebrandable value and sounds very Web 2.0. Problem is, Mr. A is quite the domain tycoon and has no less than 108 domains to his name so naturally he can be quite forgetful and eventually forgot to renew said domain. Along comes Mr. B and voila, he sees the dropped domain that used to belong to Mr. A and “inherits” it in a flash! All Mr. B did was search for dropped domains at sites like this and that, pay for the domain and he gets everything Mr. A has worked so hard for. Unfair but things like these happen.  

However, buying dropped domains is not entirely a bed of roses. You may get scammed in the process, especially if you signed up with shady looking sites that promises you ongoing lists of dropped domains for a “a minimal, montly fee”. Also, unscrupulous sellers will try to peddle you dropped domains that boast of high PR but in actual fact, have 0 PR and was just created yesterday. All they did was redirect the domain from another similar site to make you believe that the site you will be paying top dollar for is a high PR domain. 

So you see, buying dropped domains has its own pros and cons. My tip is to weigh them out properly and use your common sense when posed with the question whether or not to buy dropped domains. Good luck!

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Don’t Go Into a Saturated Niche

I used to think this kind of advice went without saying, but as I see more and more crappy web hosting businesses popping up throughout the internet, I wonder just what people are thinking.  There are already soooooo many hosting businesses out there, the quality, and the crappy.  Most people are already with the good hosts, such as Bluehost, HostGator, LunarPages, and DreamHost.  So, what is the purpose of creating yet another business in a field that already has it’s share of crappy ones, especially if you are going to do a crappy job with yours.  If you are going to start a business, stick behind it, and put forth 100%, otherwise yous will end up in the gutter with the thousands of others that did the exact same thing that you did.  I mean, look, if you want to create a high quality web hosting business, with top notch customer service, by all means, please do it, but don’t overextend, and don’t give up.  Business is slow for all new businesses, it’s just cliff you have to climb, and you’ll never get to the top if you give up.

Most upstart businesses that die off real quick are in already saturated niches anyway, becuase there’s no concievable way for them to compete with the giants of the business.  So, what’s the solution?  Simple, find another niche.  There’s a ton of business opportunities out there, but you have to be willing to look around and find them.  Personally, I just found a great business idea, that I’m working on capitalizing.  Of course, it’s in a very unsaturated niche, where most of the businesses in it do a crappy job anyway.  This is the type of opportunity you need to look for.  If you can find something like this, you’ll be a rich man (or woman) down the line, because you found the demand, and created the supply for it.

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Don’t Overextend

If you’re local small business, you should stay local, and small.  especailly in this time of recession.  There are many businesses that are going out of business because they have overextended throughout the time of prosperity.  They started offering more, and more services, which became more, and more outside of their original scope.  A good example of this is Circuit City’s Firedog.  Needless to say Circuit City is out of business now, and no it’s not ALL because of Firedog, but one has to wonder how many people actually used their service.  So, if you’re a local bakery, it’s not in your best interest to advertise in newspapers outside of an hour or so.  If you’re running a web design business, it’s probably not a good idea to hire a coder, unless many people have asked you for coding services.  Just because you think it might be more convienient for your customers, you have to think about supply and demand.  If there’s no demand, don’t create the supply, because creating the demand is hard work, and it normally takes up time that you don’t have.  Instead, you should look at supplying the demand that’s out there, which is this case, is only your design.  Just remember, business is all about economics, which is all about supply and demand, there should only be a supply if there is a demand.

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4 Lessons Small Business Owners Should Learn

1.  Your entrepreneurial mindset, assuming you have one, is not just a different way of thinking, it’s the only way. Let me explain, if someone with an entrepreneurial mind sets out to start a business, by obviously solving a problem or many problems, their business will turn out better than someone just in it for the money who creates your standard corner bakery when there’s another one right across the street.  Entrepreneurs tend to have a personal brand, that complements every aspect of there life while not getting in the way of the business or corporation side of things.  This is very useful to have, especially when starting a business.

2.  Problem = Opportunity.  This is what entrepreneurs are all about.  This is how they are born.  They see problems, and create a solution for them.  This can come into play anywhere, in any situation, such as an employee creating a new file system that works specifically for one company, but works much more efficiently than the previous, standard filing system that was in place.  Right now, the hot thing is taxes, in America at least, so a lot of people are offering accounting services, not just those big businesses, but people who have taken classes in High School and College who are seeking to make money by solving a current problem.  Today, it’s taxes and accounting.  Tomorrow, it’ll probably be how to live greener, or something else on a popular topic.

We entrepreneurs also have a lot to thank huge corporations and organizations for.  Without them not addressing the real problems, we would have to find something else to do with our lives.  Instead, there are many problems, with rather simple solutions, which can be easily implemented, which have been created and neglected by these huge businesses.  So, thank you bureaucracy and huge businesses for creating problems that we can capitalize on and fix.

3.  Run straight at something, and don’t try to sidestep it. This is applicaple anywhere, and not just small business, but it is still great to mention.  If you quit your job because you hate it, I’m sorry to say, but you’re probably going to hate every job.  Now, of course, there’s special situations, such as myself, but in general someone who quits their first job because they hated it will quit their second, third, fourth, etc., because they hated them too.  Don’t use leaving your company as a chip on your shoulder to start your own business.  Sure, this will give you the initial motivation, and the drive, but once it starts becoming succesful, you will probably start to lose your drive, and it’s probably not because the buiness you are running isn’t for you, it’s because it isn’t you.  Entrepreneurs don’t fail slowly, and don’t fall easily, they either hit the ground at 100 mph, and become road kill, or bounce off the ground at 50 mph, and keep plugging away for that day of gratification in the far off future, so if you’re the kind that leaves marks on the road, you probably shouldn’t even start your own business.

4.  You’re different, not better, not worse.  With this mentality, you may see your world completely differently.  You don’t need to look at other businesses and compare yours to their necessarily, because this creates the illusion that you might need what they have, or they might need what you have.  While the business world is like that, I ask you not to make it like that for yourself.  You’ll be a lot more successful by putting things into perspective and focusing on yourself, not others.  Instead of comparing your earnings, at least compare your customer satisfaction rate, because along with that, comes more money.

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