Staying Afloat in 2011

As domain income gets tighter and tighter people are looking for creative ways to fund their domain portfoilo expenses. There were a couple of really good articles in the past month that gave people tips on how to do this.

Rick Schwarz posted an excellent article on his blog giving newbie domain investors advice on how to start in this business. This was one of the meatier articles I've read from "the king" and I recommend it to both beginners and seasoned domain investors.  Rick provides 36 tips, starting with

1.     You are planting a SEED not buying a domain name.

2.     You are staking a claim not buying a domain name.

3.     Seeds take time to germinate, mature and bear fruit

4.     You are planting trees not grass.

5.     This is a 5 year plan

Read the rest of his tips here.

Rob Monster of Epik gave us examples of six people using his service and their strategy for developing domains. These models can be applied to platforms such as WhyPark and SmartName in addition to Epik.  Monster tells the story of the following people:

The Empire Builder – Kenny Hartog
The Merchant – Oliver Hoger
The Stager – Morgan Schwartz
The Gardener – Todd Johnson
The Prospector – Aaron Wilkenson
The Bandit – Braden Pollock

Read more of what he has to say on his blog.

Development to be Showcased at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

I'm getting tired of just writing more about how parking income is flat and development is too difficult to do on a large scale.  I'm still bullish on WhyPark, Epik, and SmartName as companies who offer scalable development options that are almost as simple as parking.   If you are attending T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in Miami Beach later in October you can hear a panel discussion of the issues involved in developing for today's markets.  The agenda lists the program as: 

Where the Hell are our Developing Partners?
Isn't time to think a little bigger?
A little more long term?
An all out informal and frank discussion of what we have done right, what we have done wrong and where to in the future as folks diversify into other avenues and parts of the Internet.

- Ted Olson Manager Smartname.com
- Rob Monster Epic.com [sic]
- Craig Rowe WhyPark.com
- David Castello
- Michael Castello
- Dan Warner DomainAdvertising.com

The price is pretty steep though, almost $2000 just for registration.  The rooms are steep too - but Owen Frager can get you a room for $60, so no excuses there.  (I'm skipping it, though.)

WhyPark Debuts Domain Apps

WhyPark announced in July that they have new "Domain Apps" that can be installed on WhyPark domains.  These widgets are automatically installed, either on the home page of the domain or on a separate page.  

Domain Apps let you instantly add relevant widgets to your domains, and in some cases you earn money from the app. The comparison shopping feed is one example that lets you earn money.  The full list includes:

• Comparison Shopping - perfect for product domains
• A Hotel Directory for your area, great for geo-domains
• Local Business Listings - good for categories or geo-domains
• Online Flash Games
• A Twitter stream about the topic of your domain
• Weather for a given city or region
•  A Web Directory:  "Develop a new revenue stream by including a paid directory on your domain. Customize categories and subcategories and charge a monthly listing fee."
•  YouTube videos based on keywords related to your domains.

The apps are easy to install, but I have run into problems on some of my domains.  The apps are reported to be installed, but they don't show up.  It turns out that domain apps don't install if you are using AdSense or another third party monetization mechanism.  You need to be using the WhyPark/Parked feed.  I find that this feed does not target quite as well based on content as the AdSense feed on many of my domains, and that income is better with AdSense in many cases,  Your mileage may vary, of course.  

All-in-all, Domain Apps are a great new tool to easily create landing pages with custom content that makes your domains shine.  In some cases you may even make some extra money.

Epik plans a Monster Conference

The Edgewater Hotel
I could have just as easily said that Monster plans an Epik conference.  Venture Capitalist and Internet entrepreneur Rob Monster is working to build a platform that supplants domain parking.  

His Epik platform primarily uses tools from EvoLanding to create a semantic web of sites that feed traffic into one another.  He recently announced the first Epic Developer's Conference.  The early bird registration for the event is just $595 and ends on July 15.  The event itself takes place in Seattle September 15th - 17th at the Edgewater Waterfront Hotel.    

For more information visit their site at the Epik blog.

More on WhyPark Development

WhyPark is actually a very sophisticated platform that lets you create almost any type of site you want to.  You do this by editing the layout of your site using their editing tools. When you go to edit a layout you will see two windows - one for the stylesheet for your site and one for the HTML content.  This gives you the ability to edit your site at a very granular level.  Some blocks of content - such ad the main article list and the ads above and below - are not individually editable, but you can choose to omit them entirely if you want to by removing the [[mainbody]] tag.  (You will almost never want to do this.)  Most normal HTML will work with editing your layout.  You can also use a bunch of "placeholders" as short-cuts to special pieces of content.

Site Placeholders:

According to WhyPark placeholders are "used to insert the dynamic pieces of your sites into your layout. They add functionality and provide a simple way to move functionality around within your layout."  Use the double square bracket terms listed below when you are editing your WhyPark site's layout:

• [[domain]] Inserts your domain name into layout.
• [[forsale]] Insert a link to sell your domain. This placeholder is replaced with a link to an inquiry form where buyers can contact you.
• [[image]] Insert the default small image for your site's category
• [[imgHeader]] Insert the default header image for your site's theme or category
• [[imgMedium]] Insert the dynamic 385x261 image
• [[mainbody]] The main content for every page which includes the full articles, custom pages, etc.
• [[newsletter]] Insert a sign up link for your newsletter. This feature is only available with subscribers to the Managed tier of service.
• [[related]] Insert the related articles. Related articles show a title and summary of an article on your site to keep users engaged.
• [[rssfeed-in]] If you have an external RSS feed associated with your site, insert this placeholder to indicate where the content from it will be displayed. This feature is only available with subscribers to the Enhanced and Managed tier of service. It may take up to 24 hours to see the first data from these feeds.
• [[rssfeed-out]] Insert a link to download your RSS feed. This feature is only available with subscribers to the Managed tier of service.
• [[sitename]] Insert the name of your site as defined in your main site settings.
• [[textads]] Insert text ads you've setup for this site.