Get Rid of Unprofitable Businesses

Hey c'mon guys! I mean, it happens. You purchase a keyword-rich domain and have high hopes of converting it into a cash machine, but your hopes don't get fulfilled and your dreams are shattered because of some twist or turn of events. And then, what will you do with the domain? Let it expire on its own? Most stupid domain owners would like to do just that. But I am about to reveal a secret here using which you can profit even from your 'dead' domains.

Instead of letting the domain expire on its own, and let someone else purchase the domain, why not sell it yourself and make some quick cash? You won't get paid a lot per domain if your domain has no pagerank or backlinks, but you will get paid nonetheless. To me, any money is good money. And here is an idea I used to sell a lot of my 'dead' domains within hours!

Okay, I must confess. My business plan a year ago was different from what it is now; and it is only natural. Obviously, I learned more stuff in 2007 than I did in 2006. So, as time went by and I learned new things, I realized that my existing business model is not what I would like to pursue. Just to give you a clue, my old domains were not branded with the word 'nuttie'.  That makes a BIG difference. Actually, I learned about branding myself only after I joined the Turbo Membership. But that's a different story.

When I realized that my old domains would be of no use to me, and most of them were about to expire in 2 or 3 months, I decided to sell them. These domains were either new or unused; as such, I had little or no hopes of selling them on the DP Forum. Even then, I mustered some courage and put up an auction. I was even willing to giveaway some of the domains for a buck or two. And mind you; all of them were keyword-rich. Some were niche-related domains and others were for internet marketing. And here is how things worked out for me:

I was barely able to sell two of my domains. I waited for days hoping to sell more, but nothing happened. That auction died a natural death. But then, every death is the harbinger of a new life, and likewise, this flop auction too gave me an idea.

I asked myself: why not give people a business idea for every domain that I list in the auction? The business idea doesn't necessarily need to be anything fancy. I decided to go by my gut and mention the idea or business model that prompted me to purchase the domains. Obviously, each domain was purchased for a different purpose. So, for every domain listed in the auction, I mentioned that 'purpose' as a business idea. So do you think this auction flopped as well?

If you think so then you cannot be further from the truth! Right when people saw that they can monetize each domain in a unique way, they purchased not just one, but two, three or four at one go! Yes, that is not a typo: people purchased my domains in pairs! And I was able to sell all of my 'dead' domains within 4 hours flat. To top it all, I was also able to earn about 5 positive itraders. :D

So, here is the moral of the story in short: if you have an under-monetized domain that you think is not bringing you enough profit, consider selling it at the DP forum, or at Sitepoint. And please list at least one business idea that people can use to monetize that domain immediately! Remember that the less amount of hard work involved in your idea, the better. People are lazy by nature, and they would want to set up a business with little or no hard work. They don't want to do any guesswork; they don't want to go through any trial-and-error. Accept it as a fact and take advantage of it. Give the market what it wants. If you are selling a shovel tell people what they can do with it (don't assume they  know it already), and you will be able to sell it faster! :)