Time well spent
Not much is ever really spoken about the monotony of many domain-related tasks, at least, not in comparison to the number of people I am sure scream profanities at their PC daily over another inconvenient administrative email required, or registrar ‘cock-up’ which needs to be addressed…
I guess the point of what I am trying to say is that not only is being a domain investor time consuming in terms of the amount of research required in finding names, but there are countless responsibilities/obligations/tasks - whatever you want to call them, that holding a portfolio of more than 50 or 60 names starts to demand. (sometimes I feel overwhelmed)
Of course, I am making sweeping generalizations here, and not only am I assuming everybody has a business involving more than just buying/registering names, slapping on ‘auto-renew’ and waiting for a buyer (if only it were always that easy), but I am also not acknowledging that most people, and I really do mean the majority, are better organised than me, which I am certain must be the case. I often think I have my ‘finger in too many pies’ as it becomes harder to remain focused, and I am sure as I roll out more and more developed sites demanding more and more time.
Ignoring these facts, and focusing on what I am trying to say today, I will state that there must still be a lot of domain investors, or domainers, who face a similar problem of having to attend to a number of repetitive tasks.
What am I talking about?
To enlighten the more organised of my ineptitude, and the less-experienced of the pitfalls which may befall them, I will attempt here to underline some of the many problems of time-management which can grow alongside an increasingly sprawling portfolio. The reason I want to do this is firstly, I am particularly bored today having spent a few hours since getting back from my shop organising, adding details and keywords to domains in my main site portfolio, and secondly, I think most people get into the domain investment industry by the lure of residual income, or at the very least the prospect of making good money from very little work. This is possible, but it usually requires a lot if time and effort to get to this position, and, as I am about to illustrate, there are many distractions to mean you must be focused and well organised to achieve your goal.
So, what tasks do i perform with upsetting regularity? (yes, upsetting, there is a lazy man on one shoulder too…)
Firstly, we have
Taking care of/managing domain registrations and renewals
Now this could well not be an issue if you have only a few strong names, or a small portfolio, but most of my points won’t relate to you either, (so you can read on smiling) but renewal management can be a real time eater. Obviously, there are ways you can avoid letting this task from taking over your life- so here are my (mainly unheeded) tips:-
1. Limit your names, have a concise plan and stick to niche’s which you can keep together, develop together or sell together. Names in similar niches are easier to monetise in bulk if you park names. You will also be more likely to serve your names with the best ads using just one or two parking providers- another time-killer.
2. Limit the spread of registrars. Now this is one I do have some difficulty over the years, which I wish I had controlled earlier. A few years ago, when I was beginning to see some potential in the industry as more than just a hobby, I was flipping domains quickly on forums, constantly re-investing profits in more, better domains. This flipping, plus the use of dropcatchers like snapnames, pool, enom and now namejet- led to me creating accounts with more and more various registrars, some of which I am sure I have never heard of when they email me now! By transferring names into one or a few registrars, your portfolio is easier to manage and your time is spared. Note here however, that transferring names in itself can become labourious if you don’t try and keep stringent tabs on where and when you need to do it (many names won at auction cannot be transferred for 60 days due to Icann policy and having just been “transferred” - this means you must wait and keep them monitored until you can do the transfer).
3. Set auto-renewal. Speaks for itself really, I’d recommend setting it up as the account default and checking each name is configured upon arrival in the account. Please note: If you do a lot of tasting, or register a lot of names, or have names at lots of different registrars, you may find yourself getting caught out renewing some you would have dropped if you don’t remain vigilant and take domains you wish to drop off of auto renew on time. One other thing that you may want to look out for is that many registrars offer a consolidated renewal date, allowing you forget about renewals for most of the time.
4. Use tools to lessen the load. There are hundreds and hundreds of tools available on the market, but many of them won’t drastically improve your time spent organising and managing your portflio. One I would recommend is the Domain Research Tool (contact me for a reduced price on this, but I am giving an honest opinion that this tool is worth the money). This tool has so many ways to help you bulk manage your portfolio that I would highly recommend checking it out.
5. Use spreadsheets. You will find it much easier to move data around in batches like this, which is what it is all about sometimes.
6. Remain focused. If I could get back even half the time I spent daydreaming, fun as it was, I am sure I’d be writing this on a beach.
7. Prepare for emergencies. The larger (and better) your portfolio, the more often the case that you can be involved in several transactions at any one time- if you get called away, it can damage your reputation and cause lost transactions- make sure you remain on top of necessary portfolio management and you remember to set aside time to answer emails you might have received.
There are many other considerations which must be given when you have a a growing portfolio. I would advise at all times keeping a well thought out portfolio, which should be well organised (I shall be returning to adding and editing names here after this post), but consider this when you price your names- a few years of renewals may not be just the $20 or so dollars in renewal fees per domain, if you factor in the amount of time spent configuring the domain - logging into change nameservers, checking parking details, adding to any sales sites like sedo.com or your own site - the list goes on; you come to realise there is a cost which you should be compensated for.
Make sure you remember this the next time a potential buyer demands you justify why your domain costs more than $x amount…
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