Buying Domains on Sedo

Posted by: Ian Comments: Be the first person to comment

Feb. 15

If you’ve checked out the footer on PPC Ian, you may have noticed that I own a small LLC, IJL Productions LLC. I actually plan to write a future article all about LLCs and why I think they’re a great business entity to separate your business from yourself, creating financial protection (in my humble non-legal opinion). However, today I wanted to discuss the launch of IJL.net, the official website of IJL Productions LLC and in particular my experience buying this domain name on Sedo.

I have been interested in launching a small web presence for IJL Productions for quite some time. In fact, I registered the domain IJLProductions.com over two years ago for that purpose. However, as a domainer, Internet entrepreneur, and a guy with an ego, I wanted a shorter premium domain that I could brag about. Thus, I decided to buy a premium three-letter domain on Sedo, IJL.net, and I’m looking forward to discussing my experience.

Why I Picked IJL.net

Net

Three letter domains are extremely valuable, especially the dot com and dot net TLDs. (I recommend checking out 3Character.com, a very useful resource for those of you newer to three character domain names.) Moreover, my business name starts with three letters, making a three-character domain name very relevant and professional. Combine these two factors with my own vanity (I wanted a premium domain name for the bragging rights) and I quickly decided that I wanted to own a premium IJL domain.

Upon more investigation, I uncovered that "IJL" was taken on all the major TLDs such as dot com, dot net, and dot org. IJL.net and IJL.org were both going to parked pages and were available for sale on Sedo, making them great targets for my acquisition. For those of you new to Sedo, it’s the leading domain marketplace for buying and selling aftermarket domain names!

I Started Making Offers on Sedo

From the beginning, my preference was for the dot net TLD (as opposed to dot org). Don’t get me wrong, I love dot org domains because they inspire confidence due to their nonprofit roots. I probably bought 30 dot org domains in the last month for investment purposes. However, my personal business is for profit and I wanted to make that clear. Moreover, IJL.net just has a better ring to it than IJL.org. However, dot net TLDs are far more valuable than dot org so I wanted to leave my options open. Originally, I made some lowball offers on Sedo. I think I offered $275 for IJL.org and $700 for IJL.net. Not surprisingly, the sellers didn’t even entertain these offers! I waited quite some time and didn’t hear back.

At this point, I raised my bids on both domain names. The seller of IJL.org came back with a rather aggressive counter offer. Since it was not my first choice, I decided to stop negotiations and focus on IJL.net. Even after coming in rather aggressively, I did not hear back from the IJL.net seller on Sedo. I decided to take matters into my own hands and filled out the contact form on the website asking the seller to take a look at my offer. Don’t want to go into too much detail here, but must say the negotiations took several weeks and were rather involved. I was actually quite shocked it took that long, but in the end I feel that both the seller and I got fair deals. The seller got a very fair price for this premium domain name and I got the three-character domain name of my dreams!

Buying Your First Domain on Sedo

If you’re new to Sedo like I was, I’m hoping the following guide will help you a bit in your first transaction, from the buyer’s perspective. Following is my personal experience buying IJL.net through Sedo’s system, step-by-step:

The first part is the fun part! Simply search Sedo using their advanced query function to isolate the domain you’re interested in purchasing. You get to see statistics such as the seller’s offer price (not all sellers list a price), the number of people that have viewed the domain’s page on Sedo (giving you a sense of interest in the domain), and the seller’s activity index (if they’re active on Sedo, that’s a good thing).

Important: Offers On Sedo Are Binding

Once you’ve isolated a domain name, you simply need to create a Sedo account and place an offer! Please keep in mind that offers on Sedo are legally binding. If the seller accepts, you are locked into the deal. I can’t underscore enough that you want to be absolutely certain before making an offer. Tip: When you’re making your offer, please keep in mind that Sedo will charge you an extra 3% fee as a buyer to use their service.

Keep Your Cool During Domain Name Negotiations

After your offer is made, it’s time for the seller to ponder your offer. I believe sellers have up to 7 days to think over the offer and either respond with a counteroffer or decline the deal. I really want to underscore here that domainers, especially those who have been in the game a long time and who have strong portfolios, are expert negotiators. They will do whatever it takes to extract the full value for their domain name (and I can’t blame them!). As you negotiate, take your time, especially if the domain has little competition. Be fair and honest with the seller. At the end of the day, you need to feel like you got a great deal so please don’t go crazy, get caught up in the deal, and overpay. At the same time, you’re much more likely to get your domain name if you offer the seller a fair price. It’s all about balance and the art of negotiation!

After all the back and forth, hopefully the seller and you agree on a fair price. At that point, the Purchase and Sales Agreement is ratified and available for your download on Sedo. I recommend downloading it, taking screenshots, and printing it out. This is the document that outlines the transfer of title on your new domain name.

Also it’s now time for you to pay up. I truly enjoy leveraging Sedo because they act as the escrow company in your transaction. This ensures that your hard earned money is safe and that you only pay if you get the domain name. Domain names are expensive. There have been bad deals and thefts. Because you’re spending a lot of money on your domain name, I highly encourage you to leverage Sedo (or another alternative such as Escrow.com) to protect your investment. I have used Escrow.com in the past, but as a domain buyer I’m a bit partial to Sedo. Payment on my front was really simple. I had an existing balance in my PayPal account so I decided to pay via PayPal, a great option and much appreciated. With Escrow.com, I had to wire money in the past so I found the PayPal option much simpler.

Stay Patient During The Domain Transfer Process

At this point, it was time to transfer the domain. This process took a few weeks, longer than I had imagined. At the same time, I felt good about the transparency of the process. Moreover I appreciated the fact that Sedo assigned a dedicated transfer agent to my deal (who answered my questions very quickly). At the end of the day, the transfer probably took a bit longer because we were moving across registrars (from Enom to Moniker). Had I been transferring to another Enom account, perhaps it would have been quicker. In any event, here are some of the logistical details:

  1. Seller transferred the domain to Sedo’s escrow account on Enom.
  2. Sedo sent me the authorization code.
  3. I initiated a transfer from within my Moniker account and entered the authorization code. I also decided to renew the domain name for several more years at this time. My Advice: Always register your premium domains for at least 5 years, the last thing you want is for them to expire by accident.
  4. Moniker sent Sedo an email that contained a link they needed to click.
  5. I sent a heads up to my transfer specialist and he clicked the link, no problem.
  6. I waited a bit and Moniker sent me an update that the authorization code was incorrect.
  7. No big deal, I emailed my transfer specialist at Sedo and got a new one.
  8. I entered the new code and it was accepted.
  9. I waited about five days and got daily updates from Moniker that the domain was still pending transfer.
  10. The deal closed!
  11. PPC Ian decided to celebrate!
Premium Domains are Ideal For Pay Per Click

As you know, the name of my blog is PPC Ian. I’m the greatest PPC enthusiast out there! To close out, I wanted to tie this all back to pay per click. In my opinion, every great pay per click website deserves a great, premium domain name. Just think about it: You’re spending millions of dollars per year across your portfolio of sites. I personally see a great case for taking just a fraction of your PPC budget and investing it in premium domain names. Premium names will improve your click through rate and user retention. I hope my experience buying IJL.net via Sedo has helped you out as a first time Sedo buyer!

Image of Net © iStockPhoto – makkayak

Posted in: Domains, Investing | Tags: , | Comments: Be the first person to comment!

Online Marketing Diversification

Posted by: Ian Comments: 3 comments so far

Dec. 15

As an investor at heart, diversification is one of my favorite risk mitigation tactics. From day one, I quickly learned that diversification is your safety net when crafting a well-rounded portfolio of stocks. Today I wanted to highlight just a few exciting ways that diversification is directly relevant to your career in online marketing.

Diversify Your Campaigns Across Search Engines

Stocks and Bonds

I’ll start with the obvious one. In today’s search engine marketing landscape, it’s not uncommon to be dramatically over-weighted on Google. Just think about it: Google is the 800 pound Gorilla in the space. It’s only natural that search teams focus their efforts on Google first (it all goes back to leverage). However, once your Google campaigns are established, I’d like to argue that an incremental conversion from another search engine is worth disproportionately more to your company than an incremental conversion from Google.

It’s all about mitigating risk. What if Google changes their algorithm? What if Google gets too competitive? Anything can happen and I urge you to treat your paid search campaigns like stocks in a well-balanced portfolio. Diversify amongst all search engines including Yahoo, Bing, and second tiers – your employer will thank you for the added stability.

Diversify Your Team’s Skill Set

I’ve managed a multitude of search engine marketing teams over the years. There are two competing management philosophies that I’ve tested and experienced: Specialize and generalize. Under the specialize school of thought, each team member owns a particular task or search engine and acquires an immense amount of skill in that area. Under the generalize school of thought, each team member understands all of the search engines, campaigns, and skills, contributing across a broad array of projects.

You probably already know which one I’m going to recommend! Managers, please go the generalize route. Diversify each team member’s skill set. Every member of your team should understand all of the search engines, processes, and initiates. Going the diversified route keeps morale high (because it’s easier for everyone to learn new things) while mitigating risk in case someone leaves (you’ll have backups who understand all the details). We’re already in a specialized line of work and diversification keeps things interesting and leveraged.

Diversify Your Personal Skill Set

How do you rise quickly in pay per click search engine marketing? You become an absolute master of PPC while learning the other online marketing channels as well: SEO, display advertising, email, and PR. I’d actually go beyond this and also encourage you to learn sales as well, an incredibly valuable skill in getting to the Director level or above. There are rarely enough hours in the day to do this at work and I recommend starting your own small business on the side to acquire these diversified skills (check out my post on SEM moonlighting). Some other tips to diversify your skills and get on the fast track to promotion:

  1. Have regular lunches with people on other teams.
  2. Work on cross-functional projects that benefit both teams.
  3. Once you’ve been at a company long enough and have driven results, ask your boss for the favor of an "educational" week spent working on a completely different team for a completely different boss.
Diversify Your Private Company Investment Portfolio

Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed investment adviser and this is just for your entertainment. In my opinion, one of the largest benefits of working in our field is the ability to accumulate stock in rapidly growing private companies. I personally own shares in three private companies thanks to my 5 plus years in PPC. This strategy has already paid off quite handsomely. While it should never be your core reason for career transitions, this is a very important factor often overlooked. In my opinion, a well-diversified portfolio of fast growing private companies is every investor’s dream. SEM provides the perfect avenue to realize this diversification dream without having a million dollar bankroll to approach VC funds as an investor.

To close out, I encourage you to think each and every day what you can do to diversify. Diversification is a tremendous tool to mitigate risk while driving growth in your search marketing career.

Image of Stocks and Bonds © iStockPhoto – VisualField

Posted in: Investing | Tags: , , | Comments: 3 comments so far, join the discussion!

Investment Expertise Will Boost Your SEM Career

Posted by: Ian Comments: Be the first person to comment

Nov. 26

As you may know from my about me, I was co-president of The Charles R. Blyth Fund, Stanford University’s prestigious real money investment club. My passion for investments actually dates all the way back to my high school days. I’m still addicted to the game and can’t get enough whether we’re talking public companies, private companies, or even commodities. You may be thinking, "What the heck does this have to do with pay per click search engine marketing?" Surprisingly, it has a whole lot to do with your SEM career.

Connect With Internet Executives on an Investment Level

Bull Market

I have a natural ability to hold lengthy conversations with executives. I’m very proud of my ability and it’s something that I’ve been leveraging since day one when I interviewed for my first PPC job in 2004. For a while, I didn’t really know why I had such successful relationships with senior executives. Now, I do. What am I typically talking to executives about? All aspects of investing!

At the end of the day, all executives are investors. All executives enjoy talking about investments. From my experience, all executives are passionate about investing in their personal portfolios, but let’s put that aside for a minute. Focusing just on the operations of your organization, executives are in strategic roles where they’re often making investment decisions for the company. They need to know the market thoroughly and are always thinking on a merger and acquisition level. From that perspective, it’s impossible to be an Internet executive without being an investor. Now, If you’re a passionate investor, you immediately have a common point of interest that you can leverage to make a great name for yourself and increase your odds of promotion.

Your Investment Knowledge Will Add Value To Your Company

Now, you may be thinking, "Ian, this sounds a bit superficial. So I’m supposed to shoot the bull with the executives about tomorrow’s hot stock and I’ll get promoted?" The short answer: Yes and no. There are two important takeaways here. As you get promoted, you’ll become a visible leader within your organization. You need to prove you can hold a conversation with the decision makers (and investing allows you to connect and prove your abilities).

Second, I truly believe your knowledge about investing will add serious strategy level value to your organization, which is exactly what leaders need to do. There exist a multitude of ways your investment knowledge could pay off greatly. I’d like to highlight just one small example next.

I’m passionate about sifting through thousands of small company stocks. One day, I took this passion to the next level by searching for small Internet businesses that could make great acquisition opportunities for my employer. I started frequenting sites like Buy Sell Website to find website investment opportunities. One day, I came across a perfect acquisition opportunity for my current employer. I drafted up a proposal and after our due diligence we ended up acquiring my recommended investment. Needless to say, this definitely helped my career.

Learning About Investment Essentials – A PPC Manager’s Guide

So this all sounds great, but you’re not sure where to start. First, there’s absolutely no reason to worry at all. You’re a pay per click search engine marketer. The tasks that you’re performing every single day are precisely the same skills that will help you become a great investor. You’re great with numbers, modeling, Excel, operating to a solid margin, and identifying growth opportunities. PPC is the quintessential operational role and it sets you up to become an investment superstar.

In terms of building your investment toolkit, following are my top pieces of advice specifically for those in pay per click search engine marketing:

  • As soon as you hit your stock option vesting cliff (typically one year after your start working for your employer), exercise at a least a percentage of your stock options. This will give you access to your company’s annual report, not to mention putting a little bit of your personal wealth on the line. Spend time reading your company’s annual report at length. You’ll learn a whole new dimension about your organization and will be armed with the very information that decision makers are pondering daily.
  • Know all the players in your industry, both public and private. You’re probably already familiar with your competition from the PPC landscape. Take it to the next level by researching them from a strategic investment perspective. A great place to start is Yahoo! Finance. The ties you’ll start forming between your operational knowledge and the strategy side of things are astounding. The ties will help you formulate and communicate your PPC strategy on a whole new level.
  • Read as many investing books as you can. I know, you have limited time. You need to make time. Robert Kiyosaki is a great introductory author and my favorite financial mentor. Over the years, I’ve read a huge number of investment books. Because you love PPC odds are you’ll get addicted to investment books like me!
  • Last, make sure to invest a few of your own dollars. There’s no better way to learn that putting your own money at risk. Never risk more than you can afford to lose and start small. Your company-sponsored 401k might be the best place to start. Then, consider a brokerage account and start investing in individual stocks. This experience will greatly reinforce everything else.

To close out, I want to underscore the importance investing as a tool to accelerate your SEM career. PPC and investing go and in hand. Armed with the two, you’ll start seeing major strategy opportunities and will climb the corporate ladder to become a PPC executive in your own right.

Image of Bull Market © iStockPhoto – Henrik5000

Posted in: Career, Investing, The Game | Tags: , , | Comments: Be the first person to comment!