WHAT IS MEANT BY A MULTIPLE DOMAIN STRATEGY
You often hear bad comments about investors who hoard domains. The truth is sometimes the comments are being made by people who do not understand the power of domains.
Here are some good reasons behind having a multiple domain strategy:
1. To protect one’s brand especially where time and monetary resources have been invested over many years to establish the name;
2. To give the company or individual flexibility in its marketing campaign. This especially in “creative domain marketing’ where a company ignores its brand and uses a domain name to market itself, products and services, or a particular project, etc. See more on creative domain marketing here;
3. To avoid trademark infringements and lengthy court arbitration battles;
4. Purely for investment purposes. Especially in the case of DotCom, domains have proven to be a true store of value;
6. A multiple domain strategy can be used as a means to drive traffic to a website. For example BOA owns Bank.com which it points to the regular Bank of America site. People who type in Bank or Bank.com are redirected to BOA's site;
7. Multiple domains can be used as a strategy for customers to have different options of finding your business;
8. Typo's of a company's domain name can be used as a strategy for customers to find your business rather than being turned off by landing on a page that brings up an error message.
HOW DO I GO ABOUT BUYING A DOMAIN NAME?
Once you have decided your domain strategy, there various was to go about purchasing your domain name. First check to see if the domain you are seeking to register is available. You can check here. If the name is available then it is a simple process of creating a profile and paying for the name usually very credit/debit card or through Paypal.
Alternatively, you may contact a domain Registrar/Registry. One of the Representatives will more than happy to help. Be sure to have specifics such as address, contact numbers and very importantly the name of the person or entity meant to have title to the domain.
If the domain is unavailable, the domain aftermarket is a huge resource pool of names where you more than likely be able to acquire the name at asking or a negotiated price. Domain aftermarket services can be had at Sedo, Go Daddy, etc. Most entities also offer a Broker to assist in the sometimes tedious process of acquiring a domain name in the secondary market.
Another approach to acquiring a domain on the secondary market is to look up the Whois record of the domain and contact the registrant directly giving due consideration to the Spam Laws. If you find a willing buyer, then you may decide to take on the negotiations by yourself or you may just decide to retain the services of a competent domain name broker.
SAMPLE DOMAIN PURCHASE AGREEMENT
Go here for sample Domain Purchase Agreement. NB This not intended to replace proper legal advice.
VALUING A DOMAIN NAME
There are various ways to go about valuing a domain name. It's not an exact science and so even the most professional of valuations will involve some subjectivity. In the end it all comes back to a willing seller and a willing buyer. Notwithstanding, some of the more common ways of valuing domain names are:
1. Using the price of a previously sold domain taking into consideration the extension of the domain;
2. Paying for a professional valuation (approximately $20). Sedo, Go Daddy, offer professional valuations;
3. Paying for an auto generated valuation which is available immediately. Go Daddy offers these at between $5 - $6.
4. Submitting a request for appraisal on domain discussion board and using some method to arrive at a best estimate of the domain appraisal.
For the more enterprising you may want to consider:
1. The JOLLYJO Method
2. The Jeremy Padawer (JP) Equation
(The JP Equation is a bottom of the Interview).
HOW CAN I PITCH MY DOMAIN TO AN END USER
This is an extremely delicate subject given Spamming Laws that can get you into big trouble. Be very certain you are fully apprised before contacting any potential end user. If you are comfortable making the contact Search Domains For Sale has coined a terminology "Creative Domain Marketing" to describe the process by which many companies are now using generic or keyword type domains either with or without their established brands in marketing campaigns.
Clearly if you understand this concept well and have researched any success that these companies have had, then you can include as a part of your pitch to get an end user interested in your domain.
Go here for Blog post on Creative Domain Marketing.