I am now a full time domainer! (3.Viewing)

Ha, i think i bought a few from you, i'll add the badge.

rlm said:

I wasn't questioning you, just questioning the title. But yeah, having that GST/HST # is a very good indication.

Click to expand...

I like the Idea of...

Domain Name +WORD

Something that shows it's a real business not a part time job.
So long standing members that are serious domainers having a real business would get the badge.

Right now

Instead of Full Time Domainer > Domain Name +something that implies a business

Of course only verified members will get the badge.

To me, Full time domainer says you make a living at domaining as your full time business or "job".

MapleDots said:

I am currently liquidating two of my businesses and am now a full time domainer.

What does that mean for me?

It means I will have no other sources of income outside of that job.

I am doing well at domaining and looking at the numbers from my last 5 years I have decided the income is enough for me to make a comfortable living without having to devote any more time to other endeavors. I have to say I am excited about this especially because it frees me up to do much more travelling than before. Currently my online store and business were time intensive, I never really got time to myself without the phone ringing or someone showing up at the door.

Domaining is quite different, I had my latest sale while on holidays in Mexico and I did the negotiating over the phone sitting on the balcony of my room overlooking the ocean. If I only spend half as much time working on my domains as with my other two jobs then I will be exactly where I want to be.

So wish me luck and count me into the relatively small group of people on dn.ca that are full time domainers.

Click to expand...

Despite being a "full time" domain investor, I still have various other sources of income like capital gains, dividends, buying and selling things online, etc.

It would be my primary income, but not my only income.

It's nice because you can do it from anywhere, at whatever pace you like. The work I put in years ago is still paying off today.

I just sold a domain for $18K via GoDaddy buy service. The money hit my account today.

Brad

I have always liked buying and selling. I did it on eBay for years.

I like finding hidden gems. I like doing research and learning things.

I like not having a boss.

I like being lazy when I feel like it, which is quite often.

So, it's the perfect job.

Brad

I'm with you, I gave you the Full Time badge but am still looking for better wording

MapleDots said:

I'm with you, I gave you the Full Time badge but am still looking for better wording

Click to expand...

I always have a problem with labels like that.

Normally it can end up being pretentious, or just not true. Like when someone calls themselves a domain "expert" or their domains "premium".

When I was deciding on business cards, it took forever for me to decide what to put as my title. I ended up just going with "owner".

It was a little less douchey than some of the other options.

If someone asks what I do in the real world, I will normally just say I am a "domain investor".

If they are interested, it will normally lead to a longer conversation. If not, I move on.

Brad

DataCube said:

I have always liked buying and selling. I did it on eBay for years.

I like finding hidden gems. I like doing research and learning things.

I like not having a boss.

I like being lazy when I feel like it, which is quite often.

So, it's the perfect job.

Brad

Click to expand...

Exactly, I can sit on the computer putzing around with different research ideas, writing code to crunch data, responding to inquiries, all while still hanging out with the family and enjoying life. Or I can skip a half a day or even 6 weeks or whatever I choose. it is the perfect job. HOWEVER, it is a result of years and years of research and work, prudently and persistently re-investing, etc... So getting to that point isn't easy, but there was always that flexility all along the way which made it worthwhile.

DataCube said:

If someone asks what I do in the real world, I will normally just say I am a "domain investor".

Click to expand...

When say that it almost always leads to a lot more inquiries, like, "is that a real thing?" But it is the best and most straight forward answer.

I have opted to use the term "Domain Business" as the tag and it will sit right under the Business Name.

So to put the criteria to rest, what indicates a full time domainers is one or more of the following...

1. Does the domainers collect and pay HST
2. Is it a major part of their primary income
3. Has the domainers been in business over 5 years

Any or all 3 or more as we morph but basically it says to anyone visiting the board there is a registered Domaining Business which in most cases will add the most credibility to that person/entity.

@rlm @Rocmary @Eby @DataCube @MapleDots

We are the ones registered for this so far but the key here is HST so if any of us 5 are not registered for HST please let me know and I will remove the badge.

That is a pretty foolproof way of seeing that it is a legitimate Domaining Business

We can make exceptions to point 1 with point 2 and 3 instead, we can determine that on a case by case basis.

PS. I also decided to make the Business Banner the same colour as the verification badge, seeing they go hand in hand for double credibility.

That looks better

MapleDots said:

1. Does the domainers collect and pay HST
2. Is it a major part of their primary income
3. Has the domainers been in business over 5 years

Click to expand...

Can confirm all three.

rlm said:

When say that it almost always leads to a lot more inquiries, like, "is that a real thing?" But it is the best and most straight forward answer.

Click to expand...

I have found most people that are interested do more irregular jobs, or sales type jobs. Just more businesses or investment minded people in general.

If someone does a normal 9-5 type job, they don't usually care to know more.

Personally, I am always more interested in jobs if it is something outside the norm.

Brad

MapleDots


Since I am making a fairly dramatic change I have decided to change my dn.ca profile on twitter back to MapleDots

I always used the @ MapleDots handle but had dn.ca as the name and graphic.

I will continue to promote dn.ca daily but it's now more important than ever to get my name, profile, and company image back into the public domain.

Fantastic branding

I just thought I would post a quick update...

I have been mentioning in a few of my posts that I purchased a couple of large catalogs. I have accumulated thousands of domains, but on both catalogs I was asked not divulge who the owners were because they were well known in the industry. I have owned the catalogs for a little while and have been pruning and nursing them back to health.

I also bought a 3rd catalog with quite a few other extensions, a lot of which I have already dropped, especially the .nets.

That said I have amalgamated the 3rd catalog with one of my others (because they were at the same registrar) which means I run two plus my MapleDots bringing me back to three distinct catalogs.

One of the things I did was to assume the actual registrar accounts so I did not have to transfer the domains and I was able to drop what I did not want without incurring any other expense. Originally I was going to put everything under the MapleDots umbrella but I have decided against that because I now have 3 distinct accounts and that allows me to participate incognito in certain places using old established accounts that are not tied to MapleDots. It has given me the freedom to participate in places I have not participated at before without anyone knowing who I am.

A hint I will give you guys is....

A lot of the domains point to Bodis landers and I figured I would leave that. In fact some of my later auction wins have also gone straight to Bodis because it prevents the wins getting traced back to me.

Lastly let me give everyone some sound advice...

The members on this board hold thousands of domains, don't be afraid to engage them. Everyone has a set time when they buy or sell and if you nurse your relationships they often bear fruit years later. I have closed my biggest deals via direct message with board members. The trust factor is almost instant, a lot of times domains get unlocked before money changes hands. One domainer transfered a 50k purchase and I actually sent a business cheque to avoid additional fees. Where else but on dn.ca can you do that?

Use the tools available to you and don't just post and forget, engage and let one another know when you're looking to buy or sell. The tools were built for our community to flourish, all you have to do is use them.