Hope you are having a nice Saturday and that it is the start of a good weekend for you. Here are a few updates:
- It’s been an interesting few weeks in the domain business. Lots of controversy on a few different issues. As domain investors, we always need to keep our ears perked and believe that everyone is looking out for their own best interests. It’s sucky, but that’s the nature of this fairly transient business where anyone with a few dollars can invest in domain names.
- BigJumbo and Domain Sherpa are each giving $5.00 to Ronald McDonald House for every person that becomes a fan of BigJumbo on Facebook (up to $500/each). Â There are now 192 fans of BigJumbo on Facebook, and before the special offer there were 139. Â So if 239 (47 more) fans “like” BigJumbo by the end of the day tomorrrow, Ronald McDonald House will get $1,000! It’s an easy way to help this great non-profit.
- Despite having the best month in a couple years this past January and doing steady business in February, March has been pretty dead for me on the domain sales front. I sold a couple of names but that’s about it. I haven’t really bought much either, but if you are feeling the pinch, it’s not really isolated to you.
- I’ve taken quite a bit of flack in private (and in the comments) for  my article yesterday, and I am sure a portion of it is deserved. I was defending the reputation of a company that has a bunch of names that contain well known trademarks and had them listed for sale. I know I was told the names were registered by accident, but it still does look bad for domain investors and makes it easier to label our activities as squatting. I stand by what I wrote, but I can see why some people are upset.
- DogWalker.com hit a pretty big milestone this past week – it’s 500 paid advertisement. Â I’ve worked on the site more than I imagined when I started, but things have been going well. It’s very cool for me because it’s the first real site of mine that has taken off like this (excluding this blog) – both in terms of traffic and revenue. DogGroomers.com has not been as successful yet (still only in month 4), so I need to reconcile why dog walkers keep signing up and dog groomers are reluctant so far.
Nice ad sale on Dogwalker.com!
@ David
Thanks! I am excited about the number of listings. There are around 400 active listings right now on the site since some listings from last year have expired and not renewed. Including new ads and renewals, it passed 500 this week.
Congrats, 500 in four months sounds like a lot. Out of curiosity, since I can’t see more info without registering, how much are you currently charging for a listing ?
Nevermind, see it now, $49 sounds like a reasonable price point. Awesome.
@ M
Thanks… DogWalker.com has been up for just over a year… First launched in December of 2009. DogGroomers.com has been around for a few month.
Just had another sign up today if you happen to be looking for a dog walker in or near Boston 🙂
http://www.dogwalker.com/doggie-walks-boston/
Your creative and you have the assets (Domains) Why not see how cheap you can get people to sign up via facebook ads. If you can help them acquire the same quality fans for cheaper you can donate the proceeds to your non profit.
@ t
I could do that but I don’t want to violate the spirit of the offer.
Nice website, very straightforward. Do you charge yearly and how to you process payments?
@ Good
Yes, annual billing via Paypal.
A question, Elliot. – I see you have some folks signed up in zip code 90210, for example.
Do you manually add their listing for them into DogWalker.com (and the graphic for their company), or is that somehow auto-generated when they submit their info. Thank for clarifying.
@ M. Menius
They add zip codes (up to 25), service areas like towns/neighborhood, and primary city.