I am SOOOOO part of this group.... It's like donuts or candy... so much to choose from, so much passion behind you, so much "Creative Intent" when you see a domain.
Some People see "generic" while others see "branding"
Some people deisre "type-in" while others see "search traffic"
Some people crave Parking Pages when others thrive on Creative Websites.
We all can't figure out why people don't see or can't see the "vision" we have for these domains. They dismiss them offhand because they are not "generic" enough... when generic is exactly opposite of what we want, which is "unique", "brandable", "engaging" and Fulfilling.
I see, I fall in love with the potential, I buy. As a result, I own more domain than I can possibly develop with a job and other time restraints.
I feel your pain guys... I do. I'm ad addicted as you all are.
As of right now, I have... like you all... Hundreds of domains that I've not done anything with because of "life". The creative potential in these domains is unrealised because I have not done what I bought them for. And still, I buy more...
Here's what we should do:
1 - Seriously revise our list into domain that we SHOULD develop and those we shouldn't
2 - Form a group to pormote and support each other and keep ourselves on task.
3 - Not rest until we've realized the potential in the sites we have.
4 - Don't BUY ANY MORE until we have finished what's on our plate right now.
Like you all, I have many ideas and many of them are focused around this issue... a way to resolve my current situation with domains.
To that end, I have done the following...
1 - Set up a site, TopDollarNames.com at which I put all the domains I haven't yet developed. If they sell, then that's one less domain for me to develop and the revenues help me develop others on my priority list.
TopDollarNames.com is linked to by serveral PR5 and PR6 domains I have so the intent there is to increase its page rank and give it better exposure in search engines. A complete ad and SEO campaign is behind it.
This will give value to the domain that are there, hopefully some traffic and certainly some exposure.
2 - I've stepped away from my primary job to work on these domains and get them up and running. I'm designing web pages and hosting them just as fast as I can.
To that end, I have secured my own server, purchased 1000's of dollars in Develpment software and am putting my skills to work pushing through the mountain of domains I have to develop.
In order to help me stay on this task, I am also building sites for others like me (and you) that need CHEAP yet expensive looking domains put up for your websites. Also hosting them for less than $9 per month with all the bells and whistles (email, high bandwidth, lots of space, BB services, Stats, etc).
I have a huge list of domain I currently host and have developed if anyone is interested in seeing them.
3 - Make designs that are ecconimical and easy to maintain. Everyone that has seen my sites (like GoPC.com for instance) loves my work and can't believe I build these for the price I do. The nice thing is that they are easy to maintain once they are up and running.
At this point, full time, I can put out many sites a week... good solid sites that you can be proud of, that finally realize your dream and vision.
More extensive sites... sites with flash or database driven effects or whatnot... are a different deal. They do take more time and efforts but can also be an ongoing developement project. The important thing is to make your presense known with a high quality, nice design and start from there.
4 - SEO, submissions, indexing and ranking. Once completed, get the sites out there where people can find them... in the search engines. Like you, I believe in the value and potential of search traffic. I can't, in good faith, base the future and value of a domain on type-in traffic alone. SEARCH traffic yeilds great results, revenues and value.
5 - Get Adsense or other PPC ads up on the sites. Of course, Affiliate Sales make sense too if applicable. This way, there is revenue taken from the sites indirectly as well as directly if your concept happens to be retain in nature.
6 - Build strategic partnerships to create growth and value to these sites. I've been talking with some folks about converting ViralTrade.com into a Google Bombing system by which each of us in the group take turns isolating a keword link to one of our collective sites and FORCING it up the search engine ladder through this "google bombing" technique. If you've never heard of it, google it up and you will see... it's POWERFUL, it WORKS and Google has no intention of doing anything about it.
It is how searching the word "failure" and getting the official White House .gov "President Bush" thing happened. This is the result of an effective Google Bombing campaign.
By doing this as a group, we can get better rates, better service and faster escalation through Page Ranking and Search Ranking.
So... here's the deal.
I'm perfectly willing to help all of YOU reach your design goals and revenue goals as long as you are willing to support my efforts in some way.
We'll call it a Co-op. Some of you have programming skills but little time. Others can write. Some just have money... doesn't matter.
I will build sites for literally pennies on the dollar and in some cases FREE... provided I can recoupe some costs through PPC ads or something. You list your domains at TopDollarNames.com and join the ViralTrade effort and we all, together, can realize our goals of developed sites with little or minimal cost.
This is a rough outline but basically is my plan of attack.... what do you say?
GoPC
