information My Toolbox

[S-B]

I figured I would share a few tools that I use everyday. Most of the tools are paid but they save me time every month and make what I do possible. There are free alternatives but I believe they are inferior.

eBates is a rebate program that pays you quarterly to buy products where you normally shop. They typically give 7-14% cash back at GoDaddy. Whenever I BIN something at GD Auctions, I do so with this program. It's easier to remain competitive when you are saving more money than the competitors are.

Dropping is a web application that pulls feeds for dropping/auctioning domains. I personally use the API to pull the feeds the morning of. You can chose to pull it for the following day as well, however, the feeds aren't complete. This is a great tool but it can take hours to sort through the lists, which is time some of you may not have.

Data is a business database that allows you to pull information on specific individuals or specific companies. It is great for outbound efforts and helps eliminate some of the guess work when looking for contact details. This website is also the cheapest I have found while also being the most user-friendly. It's worth checking out if you're serious about domaining.

Tout is an application that allows you to send customizable bulk email campaigns. More importantly, it allows you to track the emails. You are able to see the number of views, where it has been opened/forwarded to, and track sales. It's a must use for me. Just don't use it to spam.

DomainIQ is a must have for anyone doing outbound. I personally believe emailing domainers with a for sale domain is spam. I make sure everyone of my emails gets sent to a real enduser and this tool allows me to do just that. Further, it's vital (when conducting high value purchases) to ensure the domain has not been stolen. Using the history feature allows you to see who's previously owned it. You can bet if I was spending 5 to 6 figures, I would be contacting the previous owner to make sure it wasn't stolen.

Estibot is a great tool for quickly getting data on large groups of domains. If you are mining the drop lists daily, this is a must have. I won't argue with you about the appraisals, all I will say is I do not use them nor do I care they are there. I have the pro plan so I get the rest of their suite for free. It actually saves me money every month.

Do you have a tool that wasn't mentioned here? Share it below.

 

[Eric Lyon]

It's also handy to have a couple sales history tools for research purposes.

Here's a few that I've personally used:
DnSalePrice: http://dnsaleprice.com/SalePrice.aspx
NameBio: https://namebio.com/
DNPric.es: http://dnpric.es/

 

[Soofi]

Great read Shane & Eric

 

[DANEYAL]

Thanks for the very informative & useful post!

 

[Casey L]

I've never considered eBates before, I'll definitely be trying that out

 

[S-B]

It's also handy to have a couple sales history tools for research purposes.

Here's a few that I've personally used:
DnSalePrice: http://dnsaleprice.com/SalePrice.aspx
NameBio: https://namebio.com/
DNPric.es: http://dnpric.es/

To be honest, I rarely use those sites to value a domain. I'm a firm believer that every sale is the sum of a set of unique circumstances. They're great to convince someone of value if the data leans in your favor but I do believe valuing a domain should be based on gut and experience.

 

[Serengeti]

Thanks Guys , Thumb Up, it's appreciated.

 

[SirDrago]

100+ More tools in one spot.

https://moz.com/blog/100-free-seo-tools

 

[Bros]

Good tools. And from domaining POV Dropping.com and Data.com are pretty sick domains too.

 

[doubleU]

Archive.org - historical records and thumbnails of websites.

DomainTools.com - monitoring of WHOIS record changes and history caching.

Google 'Search' - web, news .....

Google 'Trends' - Trend analysis and ideas.

Google 'Translate' - language translation.

Google 'Adsense' (Keyword Tool) to get 'search volume' and stats of particular keyword/s.

Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)

 

[Eric Lyon]

To be honest, I rarely use those sites to value a domain. I'm a firm believer that every sale is the sum of a set of unique circumstances. They're great to convince someone of value if the data leans in your favor but I do believe valuing a domain should be based on gut and experience.

I agree, Sales history is only one of 25 different factors I personally use. It would be silly to only use 1 factor to encompass the entire value of a domain. With experience, some of the below factors are identified naturally/instantly, others may still require a little research.

25 factors:

1. Pronounceable:
2. Domain Length:
3. Premium Letters:
4. Developed:
5. Indexed:
6. Original Content:
7. Previously Developed:
8. Development Possibilities:
9. Revenue:
10. Target Market(s):
11. Keyword Value (cpc):
12. Keyword Competition:
13. Competing Sites:
14. Alexa Score:
15. Traffic and Sources:
16. Dictionary Word:
17. Language Match Extension:
18. Backlinks:
19. Similar Domain Sales:
20. TM:
21. Trend:
22. Age:
23. Similar Extensions Taken:
24. Brandable:
25. Previous sales history:

In some cases, there may be even more factors to consider than what's listed above. It's a good starting point though.

 

[S-B]

I agree, Sales history is only one of 25 different factors I personally use. It would be silly to only use 1 factor to encompass the entire value of a domain. With experience, some of the below factors are identified naturally/instantly, others may still require a little research.

25 factors:

1. Pronounceable:
2. Domain Length:
3. Premium Letters:
4. Developed:
5. Indexed:
6. Original Content:
7. Previously Developed:
8. Development Possibilities:
9. Revenue:
10. Target Market(s):
11. Keyword Value (cpc):
12. Keyword Competition:
13. Competing Sites:
14. Alexa Score:
15. Traffic and Sources:
16. Dictionary Word:
17. Language Match Extension:
18. Backlinks:
19. Similar Domain Sales:
20. TM:
21. Trend:
22. Age:
23. Similar Extensions Taken:
24. Brandable:
25. Previous sales history:

In some cases, there may be even more factors to consider than what's listed above. It's a good starting point though.

Agreed. I just think it's important to remember that end users don't go through a 25 step process when purchasing a domain. They go through a 1-step process: Does this fit my budget?

 

[Jelani Abdus-Salaam]

Agreed. I just think it's important to remember that end users don't go through a 25 step process when purchasing a domain. They go through a 1-step process: Does this fit my budget?

And how can you accurately guest what their budget is when you are evaluating a domain?

 

[S-B]

And how can you accurately guest what their budget is when you are evaluating a domain?

That's a complex question. It all boils down to asking the right questions and doing your research. I won't give a step by step guide though. It's taken me a lot of time to get where I am and I'm still learning.

 

[Name Trader]

Agreed. I just think it's important to remember that end users don't go through a 25 step process when purchasing a domain. They go through a 1-step process: Does this fit my budget?

What? They don't consider whether it relevant for their business

 

[Jelani Abdus-Salaam]

That's a complex question. It all boils down to asking the right questions and doing your research. I won't give a step by step guide though. It's taken me a lot of time to get where I am and I'm still learning.

Of course, just wanted to see your insight on that question as its a vital piece of information to the business. Thanks regardless for the info, got some new tools to use

 

[S-B]

What? They don't consider whether it relevant for their business

Touché. I was referring to inbound though.

 

[Name Trader]

Touché. I was referring to inbound though.

OK. That makes sense. They've already crossed that hurdle by the time they've taken the time to contact you.

 

[S-B]

OK. That makes sense. They've already crossed that hurdle by the time they've taken the time to contact you.

Exactly. Outbound is a little more complicated but I believe in an ideal situation it still should be a 1-step process because domainers shouldn't be contacting businesses who won't directly benefit from the use of the domain. There's a fine line between outbound and spamming.

 

[GoKaizen]

I only need 2 tools, my brain and my balls. :D

 

[TRY]

I only need 2 tools, my brain and my balls. :D

Those are also my biggest tools

 

[redesignunit]

i like to go with dropping tool quality post all time great Shane

 

[DNScholar]

I like Email Campaign site Tout.

 

[Cdomains]

To be honest, I rarely use those sites to value a domain. I'm a firm believer that every sale is the sum of a set of unique circumstances. They're great to convince someone of value if the data leans in your favor but I do believe valuing a domain should be based on gut and experience

Totally agree, and great post man!!

 

[Dominic Belley]

I did not know about Ebates.
It seems the return is now 15% at GoDaddy. I'll try it next time.