Although not new to making money online; I didn’t consider myself a “Domainer” until just a few months ago. My brief history is that I was a professional Magician, Mentalist and Motivational Speaker from 1981 to 2001. In 2002, I wrote and sold online an e-book called Secrets of a Millionaire Magician. Immediately following the success of that book I began speaking at Internet marketing seminars and wrote more books and created more courses on niche marketing.
In fact, in 2003 I “trade my rabbit in for a mouse” and became a full-time Direct Marketer and Coach to those wishing to increase their business using my marketing methods.
I knew a little bit about the Domain world from my involvement in Internet marketing and that famous article that Paul Sloan wrote in Business 2.0 a couple years ago. I also attended T.R.A.F.F.I.C in Vegas in 2007 to hang out with my buddy John Reese and learn more about Domaining. I didn’t really get it though. Why would anybody be crazy enough to pay so much money just for Domain names? I thought that gig was over. On top of that, they must be insane to just “park” them and not actually sell a product or service on the site. What a nutty crowd!
Last fall, at home in Vancouver, my wife and I were looking for a new house to buy and ended up looking at a house owned by this friendly fellow by the name of Vern. We didn’t buy the house, but I did enjoy some nice coffee and cookies while I was there. Anyway, as it turned out, this guy Vern was also in the Internet business. Yes, of all the houses in Vancouver for us to look at — we ended up in the home of Vern Jurovich. So after a brief chat, Vern gave me his card and we talked about “doing lunch”.
As it turns out we both belong to the same Country Club so we met there for lunch the following week. Yes, we were man dating. But not in the San Francisco type of way (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Now, for those of you who know Vern; I don’t need to tell you what a great guy he is. He’s one in a million. Seriously, have you ever met a nicer guy? And nice is just the beginning with him. Sure a lot of people are nice, but very few have the whole package. Funny, smart, easy to be with…I better stop going on about Vern or our wives might get concerned.
Anyway, he turns out to be one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met so when he suggested I go to Los Angeles to DomainFest and Las Vegas to T.R.A.F.F.I.C; and hang out with him and learn more about Domaining have fun and meet some cool people — it was a no-brainer.
DomainFest was the bomb! The people and the party’s were great. It was well-organized and informative. Did I mention the parties were great! I came out of DomainFest buzzing. I finally got it!
Now that I understood what all the fuss was about I registered some names the night I arrived home. Then, the next morning I bid on a bunch of names and bought them at auction for the very first time that week. I was hooked — yes, I was now a Domainer. Or, should I say a Domainoholic (already registered).
That was January of this year — just a few months ago. Since then I also recently attended Domain Roundtable in San Francisco. It was a great event too. In fact I had a nice time moderating the panel on Marketing and Advertising. It was fun being on stage for my new peers. Jay and his great crew did a top notch job running the show. The parties were amazing. The sessions were great (even when attended with a hang-over) — – and I even bought a few names at the auction.
I’ve made a lot of good friends in this short period of time. What a cool bunch of people we Domainers are! And a pretty bright lot too! And heavy drinkers! You see, I didn’t get it at first but now I understand. Domain names really are like real estate. Some names, just like some land, are simply better suited to be parked (undeveloped). Some names are like waterfront property – “they just ain’t making any more”.
Thank you fellow Domainers for being so cool! I’m happy to be one of you. Now I can add Domaining to my daily routine. Yes, I’m totally hooked. In fact, it’s been 30 minutes since my last domain registration. While I do feel a strong compelling urge to register again — – it’s getting late so maybe I should just sleep it off and hope it passes. Then again if I don’t get a domain hit now then I risk having names running through my mind all night and I won’t be able to sleep. Okay, that’s it I can’t stand it anymore, I’ll just register three more geo-targeted domain names before hitting the sack. Maybe I’ll spend a brief hour or two scouring over some of the auction lists now too…
I’m not much of a social networker, not the online type anyway. However, I’m so enthusiastic about my new friends and the domain business that two weeks ago I decided to start a social networking site exclusive for us Domainers. There’s a great group of people there and the topics of discussion are really getting interesting. This week, we surpassed the 100 member mark. Would you like to join us? I hope you will and you’re more than welcome to do so at www.SynergyDomainClub.com.
Source: Posted on TheConceptualist by Sahar Sahid -- Reprinted with permission -- May 2, 2008