Growing up we were always told to save and invest in real estate to secure our financial freedom.
Back 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago this was very sound advice.
However, with the real estate market becoming increasingly out of reach for many newcomers, and the share market a little uncertain, it is sometimes wise to look at other investment opportunities.
About 3 months before signs of the global financial crisis, I was talking with my financial advisor regarding the status of my investments, noticing that they were starting to slowly go backwards, and I asked him for his advice. He forewarned me that the market was about to take a big hit and I would be best to invest in other areas before I take a loss.
He made a few suggestions, but had no real solutions without me pouring lots of extra money into my investments, which would still be a huge risk.
I suggested that maybe I take my money and invest in the internet.
While this was a totally new concept to him and he could offer no advice in this area, I was quite confident and began putting some of my money into registering domain names.
Not just any domain names though, but good ‘top-level’ domain names.
Purchasing and managing a domain name yourself can cost as little as around $14 a year, and even doing nothing more than registering that domain name, I usually try and re-sell them for a minimum of $1500, which is a pretty good investment in my books, though it is not uncommon to make tens of thousands (or even more) for a single domain name.
Imagine if you could purchase a house, pay no rates, no maintenance and make a return 100 times what you paid for it after 12 months you’d be pretty happy!
You can even go a step further with that domain name and actually set it up as either a small commercial website, online store, or directory, so it is already ranking well on the search engines, plus making you some money, and you will usually find offers of thousands of dollars more for a profitable domain name are common.
There are plenty of very good domain name registrars where you can purchase great domain names at a very cheap rate, though before leaping in thinking that you will instantly make thousands of dollars with any domain name, make sure you do your research first;
1. Search for the most commonly searched keywords on the web and consider domain names that can be made from these keywords.
2. Check to see if these domain names are available.
3. Try and find top-level domains (eg, .com domains) rather than just local country domains as these rank much better.
4. Try and keep the domain names short and catchy. One or two word domain names usually get a better response.
5. Find out how you can make money from that domain name, such as linking up with Google Adsense, or building a small website to give the domain name more value, as well as covering all your costs associated with the purchase.
6. Find a good domain name reseller that can sell the domain for you. They usually charge a small fee for listing your domain on their website for sale, but using these services can often fetch you a lot more for your domain name.
For more information talk to Devision Design and we are happy to provide advice on choosing a good domain name, registering a domain name for you, and even how to set it up to profit from your domain name.
Registering a good domain name can be worth tens of thousands of dollars to you, and possibly a much better investment than your current share portfolio!
Article by Chris Bourke of Devision Design Australia, and the Web SEO Coach
