A book I just had to share…

Not to long ago, I read a book that seemed to affirm an idea I already held, but haven’t consistently applied. As you may have guessed by now, that book is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. The basic idea behind this book is that, too master a skill or to make a huge change in one’s life, one only needs to perform small steps every day. For example, if you want to become a great free-thrower in basketball, all you’ll need to do is devote five minutes a day to free-throw practice. Over time, your free-throwing skills will improve greatly.

I’ve also applied this idea to my life, though I invest more than a few minutes each day.

If you want to accomplish huge goals, just devote a little effort a day toward your goal.

Flipping domain names

Flipping domain names is quite a common way of making money on the Internet. It’s been around for a long, long time. “Flipping” in this case refers to the practice of buying and, later, selling a domain name. This is a basic “buy low, sell high” practice.

Typically, one of two strategies is employed in this industry.

1. Buy, hold, then sell.

This strategy involves buying a domain name, holding it for a while, and then selling it when a good price comes along. Of the two strategies, this requires the least amount of work.

2. Buy, improve, then sell.

This strategy involves buying a domain name, improving the website associated with the domain name, and then selling the domain name. This involves more work than the other strategy, but performing the work (assuming the improvement was performed wisely) will likely increase the value of the domain name.

Is flipping domain names lucrative?

Yes, it can be lucrative. But flipping domain names isn’t for the weak of heart. It’s a tough business. To make a profit, one needs to have great foresight, managerial skills, money, patience, and persistence. Being able to develop and market a website would also be invaluable.

Here are a few techniques that may aid you in you in successfully flipping domain names.

1. Watch the market

Observe the domain name market. Observe what domain names are bought and sold. What qualities and characteristics do those domain names have that make them valuable?

Typically, domain names like “God”, “Money”, “Music”, etc. will fetch a high price due to how well-known, descriptive, and desirable they are.

Needless to say, a random domain name like “75boxstreet” won’t be worth anything unless it is associated with something popular.

2. Try to buy short, and memorable, domain names

Domain names like “lime”, “pool”, “fox”, etc. may be good choices for beginning domain name flippers. These names are common, descriptive, and may be desirable provided one can find the right buyer.

3. Don’t spend what you can’t afford to lose

Realize that flipping domain names involves quite a bit of risk. You may not get any profit from selling a domain name because you. Most people barely realize any profit after putting a ton of work into improving and selling a domain name. Only spend a little money, at first. When you become more comfortable with buying and selling domain names, you can invest more money.

What factors influence a domain name’s value?

1. The length of a domain name

Shorter domain names tend to be more valuable.

2. Commonality

How common a domain name is increases its value. For example, a domain name like “God” is highly valuable.

3. Association

The associations attached to a domain name make it valuable, depending on the buyer. For example, the domain name “God” would be valuable because its associated with God or other deities.

4. Hits

Domain names that are composed of commonly searched for words are highly valuable. The word “Money” is often inputted into search engines. If a domain name was “Money”, it would be very valuable due to the fact that it is often searched for.

The key to online riches

If I were asked to provide the key to online riches, I would say two words: Internet traffic. What is Internet traffic? Internet traffic is, essentially, the amount of “hits” or “visits” a website or web page receives. Currently, this blog has had 1569 “hits” since its creation. That is this blog’s total traffic.

Most of the traffic isn’t even real traffic. This blog only has around 100 real visits by real people, which is very, very little comparatively. I’ve had this blog up for five months. For comparison, Youtube gets one billion unique visits per month. Quite the difference.

How does one make money from online visits?

There is much one can do to make money when one has a lot of traffic. Pay per download can be utilized, adsense and pay-per-click can be used, donations can requested, products can be sold via affiliate links, marketing space can be rented, etc.

Many, many things can be done once one has heavy Internet traffic.

Now, here’s the hard part. How does one get heavy Internet traffic?

How does one get heavy Internet traffic?

Here are a few ways. It’s important to note that knowing and using these methods won’t necessarily give one heavy traffic. However, using these methods will likely increase the amount of traffic one gets.

These methods vary since most Internet sites vary by design.

1. Post interesting stuff

2. Use back-links

3. Optimize keywords

4. Post frequently

5. Tag your articles/images

6. Give site distinctive features

7. Advertise site

8. Keep at it

Remember, there are innumerable sites on the Internet. Most of which are fighting over site visitors. It is very, very hard to get a lot of site visitors. It requires vision, intelligence, and, most of all, persistence.

Sharecash has failed me…

Somewhat recently, a Youtube video of mine was flagged and taken down. I asked why and I was told the reason. Sharecash wasn’t allowing my clients to access my file once they completed the necessary actions. This led to Youtube users flagging my video. Now, I don’t know if what happened at Sharecash was the result of a buggy web-script, negligence, or down-right mean spiritedness. I’m inclined to believe that the Sharecash site was simply bugged. I never received a reply as to why the site wouldn’t allow users to access my files.

I think my incident was an isolated occurrence since Sharecash is a well-known and well-respected PPD site. However, if you’re thinking about using Sharecash, you should consider my experience.