Funny story about two domain names that caught my eye yesterday. Around lunchtime I opened up the Snapnames Blogger Auction catalog to find that the domain name BlogTech.com was bid up to about $400 ( I think it closed at $550). Although it’s still more or less just a good brandable .com, I thought it would go a bit higher. After lunch I went over to the post office, in my PO Box was a post card which you may have received as well. The card was from Domains for sale at 526-2462.com which is owned and operated by Scott Lawton. The postcard was specifically advertising the domain BlogSearch.com for sale at a reduced price of $125,000.
A couple things to ponder. What does this say about the valuation model that domainers have for their inventory? Here we have two similar domains with a hundred thousand plus price difference being promoted on the same day? Basically, it says there is no valuation model that we follow! Of course BlogSearch.com has far better keyword metrics and is also a pr3 webpage but how much better is it than BlogTech.com?? I definitely think that BlogTech.com still went for reseller price yesterday but I would never value this domain in the six figure range nor would I BlogSearch.com.
I’m curious why the owner of BlogSearch.com decided to send postcards out to domainers..? Yes, we are in the same business and domainers buy domain names .. but not grossly overpriced ones. I commend these guys for stepping out of the box and trying a new marketing approach though. I feel postcard advertising like this could be very effective if the target audience is more carefully selected. Good luck to 526-2462.com with the sale and thanks for the postcard but for future reference, I am not an end user. 😉
I got the same postcard about a week or two ago as well. Nice idea, wrong target of buyers IMO.
One reason they may have sent it to “domainer bloggers”… so somebody would write about it. 🙂
I used it to start a nice campfire the other night. The glossy paper doesn’t burn well.
Lol Jamie.
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They had to have spent more on the postcard advertising alone than the amount that BlogTech.com even sold for. Of the two I actually like BlogTech better, it sounds like the name of a site that I would be more likely to visit (blogging tips, technology, plugins, toolbox??) BlogSearch I see as maybe an ultimate RSS Aggregator or something? Put it this way, I would rather launch development project on BlogTech.com.. congrats to the new owner.
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@Mike: a belated thanks for the coverage, even if skeptical!
> BlogSearch I see as maybe an ultimate RSS Aggregator or something?
Yes, that’s the general idea. I think that blogs, Twitter and other forms of social media will continue to grow in importance, and that a dedicated search engine could add lots of value by putting the results into context. Blogs generally have a more specific structure than a generic web site, with dates, tags, blogrolls, etc.
I actually received a nice offer from a domainer several years ago, but at the time I was still hoping to develop the site. That’s no longer very likely, so I decided to see whether postcards were a good way to put the word out.
@Scott – Good to hear from you! I agree that BlogSearch has very good potential but I believe the value is at its peak right now as the net is still evolving and social media combined with demand for visual (video) media could kill popularity of the classic Weblog. I am waiting for new catch phrases to come out b/c Vlog hasn’t been that well received.
The timing of your comment was just funny, it came in and I checked it just minutes after receiving your postcard advertising FeatherPad.com for sale! I really like FeatherPad.com and IMHO it’s more likely to sell. Nice job on round two of your postcard advertising. Maybe you could share a little info.. how many postcards do you send out? are you sending postcards large corporations/organizations as well? will you be advertising names from your portfolio regularly like this? Thanks for stopping in Scott and definitely let us know if you make a couple sales from your innovative advertising approach.
Best,
Mike
> social media combined with demand for visual (video) media could kill popularity of the classic Weblog
Possible, but I think Twitter is casual conversation rather than a replacement for blogs. And video is too much work for the creator — and hard to skim for the viewer.
In any case, a “blog search” engine would have to search Twitter too. But I think that domain is much better than SocialMediaSearch.com.
> I really like FeatherPad.com and IMHO it’s more likely to sell.
And yet a commenter elsewhere called it “bottom of the barrel”. 🙂 That’s the funny thing about domains that are a cross between descriptive (“lightweight tablet”) and brandable … opinions vary widely.
> Maybe you could share a little info.. how many postcards do you send out?
331 US, 106 international. Even though the US ones passed the postal service “change of address” service, over a dozen came back.
> are you sending postcards large corporations/organizations as well?
I included several large Web companies (mostly for the BlogSearch card). For FeatherPad, I clearly “should” try to find brand managers at computer & mobile companies and their ad agencies … but that’s much more difficult than assembling a list of domainers. With luck, one of the domainers I reach has good contacts.
Cheers,
Scott
Thank you Scott. Best of luck on your sales!
Interesting to note that the new owner of BlogTech.com is IREIT:
Domain name: BLOGTECH.COM
Administrative Contact:
Administrator, Domain, Internet Reit, Inc.
1177 West Loop South Suite 1300
Houston, Texas 77027
US
+1.7136287654