So I purchased this one about a year ago for $x,xxx and secured all the other gTLD and few ccTLD’s to cover my ass because I thought I had a perfect project to launch on this one… Was really excited and all. Well, it’s been a while now and as you can see… There is still nothing on this domain.Ooops! Totally forgot about it.

I like to play around with words in general, so my logic is… Some domains can be referred to as doughmains if they are worth a lot of dough… You know what I mean or is this all non-sense? LOL   I’ve worked with the fella who owns Domains.com actually, he is a great guy… and I think Doughmains.com is the next best thing to Domains.com for a unique service for industry insiders… Yes, you have to be creative and do a lot of branding, but I think there is potential. Who knows?!

Anyways… I am trying to figure out what exactly to do with this one in 2011. Scrapping my original idea and I am looking for some new ideas. Lets hear em!

When it comes to domain sales, it doesn’t matter what the proper wording is… Just try to sell as many of your domains to the buyers that you do deal with one way or another… So, this weekend I had an “end-user” contact me out of the blue in regards to CalgaryTourism.org which was a hand reg… So we bargained a bit back and forth and then agreed on a fair price. I have hundreds of these tourism domains, and am not attached to a single one. Easy decision.. Sell!

Once that deal was done with, I immediately offered him two more similar domains that are in Canada which there is a good chance he would be interested in acquiring as well if the price was right. So I said I have VancouverTourism.org and TorontoTourism.org as well… I gave him a nice price on both, and it was a done deal… Quick and easy. Everybody is happy. Win-win.

“Upselling is a sales technique whereby a person induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale. Upselling usually involves marketing more profitable services or products, but upselling can also be simply exposing the customer to other options he or she may not have considered previously. Upselling implies selling something that is more profitable or otherwise preferable for the seller instead of, or in addition to the original sale. A different technique is cross-selling in which a seller tries to sell something else.

In practice, large businesses usually combine up-selling and cross-selling techniques to enhance the value that the client or clients get from the organization in addition to maximizing the profit that the business gets from the client. In doing so, the organization must ensure that the relationship with the client is not disrupted.”

That is a quick summary of what this is all courtesy of Wikipedia… So if you haven’t been doing this so far, I’d suggest you get familiar and give it a try. There is a lot of money to be made up-selling and cross-selling domains. I’ve been doing it forever now, as I always prefer to do bulk deals.

I’ve been meaning to write this kind of a post and address a topic that’s been on my mind for like almost 2 years now… Not sure how to do it without hurting some people’s feelings and ruffling a few feathers. Probably impossible. Anyways, I’ve written and re-written it maybe a half dozen times. Shit! I still am not ready to release it… But may do so one of these days. What the heck.

Now back to the question. It’s short and simple… Really. Who is going to put us (domain industry) on the map for good… WHO? Unfortuantely it won’t be Rick Schwartz… Rick Latona… Frank Schilling… Kevin Ham and all those so called domainer rock stars. I have nothing against them personally, love what they do and what they are all about but truth be told.. They alone don’t have the resources. Not even close. It’s an impossible task.

We have this huge problem on our hands because there is a disconnect between many of the companies at the top of the chain. Not too many of them are thinking big anymore and how they can pool their resources in order to breakthrough… They are in their nice little comfort zone.. Pretty much used to the same old grind and routines, year after year after year… Who is stepping up as of late?! Very few companies / people.

It sucks… But there is hope I think. So do you get where this is going?

It’s right about that time of the year, few more weeks and 2010 is history… It’s almost over pretty much and for me a good opportunity to reflect on things. Overall, it was pretty shitty in my book because a lot of bad shit happened. Got nothing to complain about on the business side of things though where all is well and as busy as ever but everything that goes on behind the scenes with what matters most in life and that is family and friends… This year was pretty bad.

Seemed like every other person I know had 10x of the usual drama… Sicknesses… Hospitals… And the worst things of all is a few death’s in the family. Argh. Has been a pretty stressful year with everything that you can only imagine and then some but it is what it is. That is life. I am really looking forward to the new year, hopefully it will be better than 2010… I am starting to prepare mentally and get re-motivated and somewhat excited for what is to come.

It’s so damn easy to get outta touch with what matters most in life for anybody who does biz almost exclusively online and in this virtual world… Everything that goes on here can be extremely overwhelming. Easy to ignore and forget the little things which are actually the most important. All I gotta say is that you better have somebody keeping you in check, be it your girlfriend, wife, brothers, sisters, friends, etc. Everybody needs a kick in the ass… I get mine on a consistent basis, hopefully you get yours too. It’s good for you. Really. Be greatful!

After thousands of affiliate powered sites being launched for hundreds of clients over the past 6 month’s or so, we have decided on a price increase come new years. Why? Simple.. So we can focus more on the “serious” clients and provide a more advanced and a superb one-of-a-kind service. We’ll be adding some new exciting features as well based on all of the feedback that we have received and started implementing already.

Now is the last chance to get in on the $150/site rates… January 1, 2011 prices will be increasing to $299 per site. You snooze you lose.

Best offer over $999 gets all 19 of these exact match product domains with nice search numbers and development potential.

• ArmExercisers.com
• StrengthTrainingBars.com
• WorkoutBars.net
• FitnessBenches.net
• ExerciseDumbbells.net
• HandStrengtheners.net
• FitnessKettlebells.com
• LegMachines.net
• PowerCages.net
• PowerStands.net
• PushupStand.net
• SkiMachines.net
• VibrationPlatforms.net
• StepFitnessMachines.com
• StepPlatforms.net
• FitnessPlanners.net
• DipStations.com
• DipStands.net
• ExerciseHomeGym.net

Leave your offer in the comments section. Prices valid for next 48 hours only.

Man, this is some pretty cool technology to be used on geo sites but at the same time very scary if it is to be mis-used. Freakin Google and Firefox can now pinpoint the location from wherever you are surfing the net literally by 10 – 15 feet. No GPS required anymore like with mobile phones and any other electronic devices. Just an internet connection. Test it out for yourself… Ahh!!

So how does it work? Good question…

When you visit a location-aware website, Firefox will ask you if you want to share your location.

If you consent, Firefox gathers information about nearby wireless access points and your computer’s IP address. Then Firefox sends this information to the default geolocation service provider, Google Location Services, to get an estimate of your location. That location estimate is then shared with the requesting website.

I’ve tried this on a few computers now, at various locations and the damn thing is as spot on as can be down here in NY and NJ. Even better than the iPhone built-in locator at times…. Definitely going to try to incorporate this technology on a few localized sites in the near future. Cool stuff

On any given month I get quite a bit of search engine traffic, but November saw a record number via Google and all these people apparently were looking for info about Epik.com and/or Rob Monster. About 80 different keywords brought in boatloads of people.. Here they are in alphabetical order. Some were searched by the dozens, while some were only one timers.

1. anyone use epik.com
2. bad experience epik networks
3. buy epik bucks
4. buying a site from epik
5. buying a website from epik
6. cant sign into epik.com
7. does epik develop .me domains
8. domainstryker epik fail
9. duplicate content epik.com
10. epik adsense wishpot revenue blog
11. epik banned from google
12. epik blacklisted
13. epik bucks
14. epik de index
15. epik deindexed
16. epik deindexing
17. epik delisted
18. epik delisting
19. epik development experience
20. epik development platform
21. epik development platform forum
22. epik development sucks
23. epik domain
24. epik domain development
25. epik domains
26. epik duplicate content ip
27. epik earnings
28. epik earnings page
29. epik fail
30. epik failed interview
31. epik funding
32. epik google
33. epik is shit
34. epik minisites
35. epik networks bankruptcy
36. epik news
37. epik platform
38. epik platforms
39. epik portal sites banned by google
40. epik portals
41. epik product portal
42. epik quick sites
43. epik revenue sharing
44. epik rob monster
45. epik rob monster premium domain development
46. epik site banned google
47. epik sites banned
48. epik sites deindexed
49. epik sites deindexed google
50. epik sites deindexed news
51. epik sites or site rob monster
52. epik stats
53. epik the same ip
54. epik white label
55. epik.com alternatives
56. epik.com ban
57. epik.com banned
58. epik.com blacklisted
59. epik.com costs
60. epik.com delisting
61. epik.com domain
62. epik.com earnings
63. epik.com ecommerce
64. epik.com or datafeedscripts.net
65. epik.com reply
66. epik.com stats
67. epik.com sucks
68. epik.com testimonials
69. epiks business model
70. failed application epik
71. failed epik renewal
72. google bans epik
73. google epik
74. how does epik make money
75. how long until epik accepts you
76. portal epik product
77. rob monster epik deindexed
78. see stats epik.com
79. serps.com epik.com
80. turn around time for epik
81. where does epik get its information
82. wishpot and epik

Now just to set the record straight, I have nothing against Rob Monster. All of my “rants” last month or whatever you wanna call them had to be put out there.. Somebody’s gotta keep it real. It’s never personal… Just business. I think Rob Monster is a good guy overall, and he is definitely no dumbass because he is messing around with keyword domains after all. Gotta give him a ton of credit just for that. Domains are like gold… As for the previous “Epik” mass development strategies, that is a whole different story.

Domaining is very similar to playing the lottery but ultimately the end-result depends on your ability to shop around the domain during a set time frame and hopefully get it sold one way or another. How much? Whatever you can get… The market will set the price. You always hear all this talk about end-users all the freakin time… Blah!!

They rarely come knocking on your door, and you simply cannot rely on that as your main source of income. Especially not for your hand regged domains. Those are long shots… Dude. Get real! Unless your name is Frank Schilling or Kevin Ham who got end-users all up their ass 24/7/365… Your domains are long-shot lottery tickets, and  not even the most promising ones at that 

Look, it does happen… You can get lucky a lot more than once or twice in this game if you have the right keyword domains, but you gotta put in the hard work to be truly successful. I see most domains exactly as lottery tickets, with yearly expiration dates and an easy given option to renew if so desired. Most domains I buy I usually try to flip within a couple of month’s nowadays. I am not in this for the long run.

So when I get an “end-user” contact me out of nowhere for a hand regged domain such as LAXSTORE DOT NET the other week, I say “$499 and it’s all yours” and a few days later we have a done deal. Literally 5 minutes of work involving a few e-mail communications… You take the money, forget about that domain and move on-to the next deal.

Then I had another “end-user” sale last week from a guy who inquired about AVVA DOT NET. We bargained a bit back and forth, but ultimately met somewhere in the middle and made the deal happen at $800. It took a bit of hand holding to get the transfer completed as it sometimes does with people who aren’t that technical or familiar with the process, but probably 20 mins total of work put in… Still, not a bad result right?

The end-users are definitely out there, for all kinds of domains… Even .net, which is often overlooked by many domainers who call themselves pros… Problem is I don’t know too many domainers that make a lot of money or most of their money on end user sales because there isn’t a ton of them.

It’s up-to you to make the most of your domains, and that is done by marketing and listing them everywhere where it makes sense to. So what that it didn’t sell first or second time around and it’s been a few month’s? You try again next month, and then next month… You have one year. It’s a different pool of buyers every day pretty much. So if you do have a good domain, keep going at it. Don’t give up… But if you do not get any action, in other words not even a lowball offer or maybe even a trade… Well, that means you got crap. When the renewal time comes around, you should know what to do

Here comes a new tax law for online sellers / merchants. Starting in January of 2011, all U.S. payment providers including PayPal will be required by the IRS to report sales information about certain merchants.  This new law basically applies only to those receiving $20,000+ and at least 200 payments per year. I suggest everybody takes some time to read what it’s all about and get familiar with it if you do a lot of business via PayPal.

Under the new legislation, PayPal will be required to report to the IRS the total payment volume received by PayPal customers in the US who:

* Receive more than $20,000 in gross payment volume in a single year, AND
* Receive 200 or more payments in a single year.

The IRS changes will apply to all payment providers, including PayPal. They will take effect on January 1, 2011, with the first reports going to the IRS in early 2012.

If you meet the stated thresholds, you will be required to verify your identity by adding a SSN/TIN/EIN to your existing account. If you are currently using a Personal or Premier account, you will be required to upgrade to a Business account.

Big changes coming without a doubt… You can read more about this new law right over here.