Domainer

What seemed like a waste of money to most people at the time.Make a healthy profit parking single word, generic domain names – without having to do any work to build or flip them.Have tens of thousands of domain names in their portfolio, and routinely sell a handful of their premium domains for five, six or seven figures.Are among the most respected people in domaining, seen by many as gurus of the industry.Have in some cases developed egos that match the size of their domain name portfolios.By now you have probably recognized traits of yours and of your domaining colleagues’ among the four types. What type of domainer are you? Are you more than one type? What type do you want to be?Do you think there is another type of domainer? Sound off in the comments and let me know. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe for updates (it's free)

The millions of domain names that are bought and sold every year have given rise to an industry of countless domain name investors. Despite their vast numbers, however, most domainers fall into one of four types: Freshmen, Hustlers, Builders and Aristocrats.EMBED THE IMAGE ABOVE ON YOUR SITEIf you have been buying and holding tons of domain names but have yet to consistently turn an annual profit, you just might be a Freshman; if you are a savvy dealer who flips domain names for profit, then you are probably a Hustler. Maybe you are a long-haul kind of domainer, a Builder who works to add value into a select few domains. Lastly, if you are enjoying huge revenues from one-word domain names you registered back in the mid-1990s, then you are definitely an Aristocrat.Which type of domainer are you?Type 1 – The FreshmanThe “Freshman” might present as a successful domain name investor but, in reality, is usually sinking money into domain name purchases without making a profit. Freshmen have yet to gain the experience required to reliably discern the “good” domain names and to develop sound revenue-generating strategies. Although they might have an impressive number of domains in their portfolios, they are likely not consistently covering the costs of maintaining that portfolio, let alone making a profit. With time, however, these domainers could develop into Hustlers or Builders.Domainers who are typical of the Freshman type:Are usually industry newbies; they know that there is money to be made through dealing in domain names, but have not found a consistent process for turning a profit in the industry.Are active on discussion boards and forums, contributing ideas, asking a lot of questions and responding (sometimes inaccurately) to questions from others, trying to put forth an image of authority.Buy and hold large numbers of domain

Monte Cahn emailed me today about the inaugural Domainer Expo. I understand it is an event that is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from December 6-7th at the Westgate Resort and Casino. Aside from an email a month ago from one of the event’s organizers, I had not heard about this event until receiving Monte’s email (I don’t believe Monte is involved with organizing the event).From the looks of it, conference organizers are expecting a large turnout. Quite a few domain industry participants are lined up as speakers. The cost to attend the event is $497 for standard passes or $697 for VIP passes.The event organizers put together a video explaining what attendees can expect to see at the conference:I will be traveling to Las Vegas for the ICA meeting in January, so I am not going to make it to this event in December.Elliot SilverAbout The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest.Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn