Should I buy the domain? Your advise, please.

[Vikuna2009+]

I found a domain name in the interior design/decorating niche that is only two words (and very common). Its extension is a .com. According to Google keyword tool, it has 14,800 searches per month and somebody is paying $1 for those keywords.

Doing an exact match "keywords", it has 11,300 competitors in google search. On top of this, I LOVE the subject and would not mind writing and searching about it FOREVER, lol.

Should I buy it? (Maybe a 'stupid' question but I just want to hear your opinion).

Years ago, I dreamed about retailing these items but never had enough money to pull it off. Now I am off to researching whether or not there are any affiliate programs out there.

[I.M.Retired]

I think it sounds like an excellent opportunity. I would advise that you buy it very quickly before a domain taster gets it. I recommend never searching for a domain name that you might want to purchase unless you are logged in to your domain registrar's account and are searching for the name after logging in. That way you can grab the domain before the 'tasters' discover and grab it!

[Pat Ordenes]

Yes. of course you should!
you probably shouldn't need anyone's opinion or encouragement if you're even remotely interested in the topic....

[jencat]

Sounds good just do it it not very expensive to buy a domain name and you can host for 12 month under $100 give it a go.
Does the topic have commerciality
Can you use it for an affiliate site.

You can always sell it later

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by Val.S.

I think it sounds like an excellent opportunity. I would advise that you buy it very quickly before a domain taster gets it. I recommend never searching for a domain name that you might want to purchase unless you are logged in to your domain registrar's account and are searching for the name after logging in. That way you can grab the domain before the 'tasters' discover and grab it!

I use instantdomainsearch.com and never had a problem with them as far as 'tasting' goes. Thank you though for your tip.

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by jencat

Sounds good just do it it not very expensive to buy a domain name and you can host for 12 month under $100 give it a go.
Does the topic have commerciality
Can you use it for an affiliate site.

You can always sell it later

It is an item that is found in ANY home, lol. I'm off to see if there is an affiliate program for it, will report back.

[Vikuna2009+]

Well, I had my suspicions and it turned out to be right. Searched the first four pages of google and in this industry, does not seem to have any affiliate programs.

Now, not to give up on the whole thing, it might be a good idea to call them directly and explain the concept of affiliate marketing. Do you guys have any idea of a person knowledgeable in setting up an affiliate program (I sure don't know how).

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks.

[interplay]

Sounds like a great opportunity. If it is found in any home, you may want to check Amazon since they have just about anything for the home. It may be something you can promote with their associates program.

Tim

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by interplay

Sounds like a great opportunity. If it is found in any home, you may want to check Amazon since they have just about anything for the home. It may be something you can promote with their associates program.

Tim

Yep, will do. Have been searching for about half an hour now and can not find any affiliate programs within the niche. Thank you.

[Al Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

I found a domain name in the interior design/decorating niche that is only two words (and very common). Its extension is a .com. According to Google keyword tool, it has 14,800 searches per month and somebody is paying $1 for those keywords.

Doing an exact match "keywords", it has 11,300 competitors in google search. On top of this, I LOVE the subject and would not mind writing and searching about it FOREVER, lol.

Should I buy it? (Maybe a 'stupid' question but I just want to hear your opinion).

Years ago, I dreamed about retailing these items but never had enough money to pull it off. Now I am off to researching whether or not there are any affiliate programs out there.

Hi
If it's getting 14,800 searches a month, and you LOVE the subject, then don't hesitate write your own information, or get a ghostwriter to do it for you, if your gut reaction is yes then go for it.
Cheers
Al

[webwyn]

I think since you have a genuine interest in the area, and all other issues aside (eg: Trademarks etc), then I think you should get the domain.

What you do with it in terms of blogging etc is up to you. As for looking for an affiliate program, are you searching just the top results, or entering 'affiliate' in your keyword phrase.

On page 10 there could be a company trying to get to page 1, which may me yours.

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by webwyn

I think since you have a genuine interest in the area, and all other issues aside (eg: Trademarks etc), then I think you should get the domain.

What you do with it in terms of blogging etc is up to you. As for looking for an affiliate program, are you searching just the top results, or entering 'affiliate' in your keyword phrase.

On page 10 there could be a company trying to get to page 1, which may me yours.

Sorry, I lost you there I have not yet bought the domain since I can not find any affiliates so how could I be on page 10???

What I found (through Alan Gardyne's website associatedprograms.com) is several companies that can help a company who does not have an affiliate host.

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by WordPro

Just buy the darn thing and work it out later.

If you delay, you'll be gutted if someone else pips you to the post.

You don't need to find an affiliate product, you could just create your own product and market that on the site.

Plus, do that and your list will grow too as a result.

Thank you! My gut feeling tells me to just charge ahead but money is REALLY tight. I DO have tons of experience in this decorating field but gave it up years ago due to carpal tunnel problems.

I'm a little rusty in the developments for the last few years but I can easily catch up. Yes, I can create my own ebooks easily but I actually wanted to sell the products trough an affiliate program, but in this industry, no affiliate programs available (after doing a 2 hour search).

I'm willing to do some more research on this, might take me in a different direction but that's ok, I know about anything related to my keywords.

You warriors rock and again, thank you for slapping me out of my 'rut'.

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by WordPro

What search terms are you using trying to find an affiliate program?

I can't believe that you can't find a decent one, I reckon I could find this for you, inside of 20 minutes max.

Since I know my keywords

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by WordPro

What search terms are you using trying to find an affiliate program?

I can't believe that you can't find a decent one, I reckon I could find this for you, inside of 20 minutes max.

Since I know my keywords REALLY seriously, this industry, HAVE NO CLUE about the power of affiliate marketing, Maybe, instead of trying to market their products, I should become a representative, marketing their products'

Any thoughts about that?

[lstoops]

Yes, get it and pave the way for this industry. Sounds like a great opportunity for you.

[FrontLineMentor]

14800 searches per month --> Exact or Broad?
Try use Estibot for the estimation value..
if more than $1k, why not take it?

[TyBrown]

It's $10, you might as well get it.

[LilBlackDress]

Oh my gosh grab it!
If you totally cannot find an affiliate program and Amazon has so many items...
then make it into an adsense site.
You are talking $10 right?

I just picked up a .info at Namecheap last week for $2.98 smacked on a static article and about 10 pages. Then I loaded it with adsense and popped an article on ezines. I made my money back plus within the week. The rest is gravy.

[SageSound]

Are you seriously worried about a $10 expense?

[LilBlackDress]

Originally Posted by Val.S.

I think it sounds like an excellent opportunity. I would advise that you buy it very quickly before a domain taster gets it. I recommend never searching for a domain name that you might want to purchase unless you are logged in to your domain registrar's account and are searching for the name after logging in. That way you can grab the domain before the 'tasters' discover and grab it!

Can you explain a little more on "tasters". How do they know what he is looking for to buy the name?

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by LilBlackDress

Can you explain a little more on "tasters". How do they know what he is looking for to buy the name?

Hi you all, sorry to report, but I've been "tasted" . Yep, the domain is bought by somebody, just within a few hours after me finding it. I seriously trusted instantdomainsearch.com but no more.

Well, I should probably not say that, it could have been a fluke but I am still deliberating. I have a special notebook with domain ideas and I will go through it tomorrow morning to see the percentages of taken/not taken. I will report back.

However, since my knowledge of this particular industry, I bet I can find another winnah! And, I will BUY it .

[BuildItForFree]

Without question you should buy it. I can't tell you how many times I waited to reg a name and then it was taken by someone else when I went to check a few weeks later. It's only $7 to reg so go for it!

[Dave777]

I'm sure you'll find a variety of misc. options and related specialty products to promote throughout the following resource! If you still have any doubts please pick me and let me purchase that domain name as per your stats and keyword research details...
#1 Affiliate Marketing Forum ::* ABestWeb

Dave

[SageSound]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Hi you all, sorry to report, but I've been "tasted" . Yep, the domain is bought by somebody, just within a few hours after me finding it. I seriously trusted instantdomainsearch.com but no more.

Well, I should probably not say that, it could have been a fluke but I am still deliberating. I have a special notebook with domain ideas and I will go through it tomorrow morning to see the percentages of taken/not taken. I will report back.

However, since my knowledge of this particular industry, I bet I can find another winnah! And, I will BUY it .

A large number of domain resellers are fronts for "tasters". What they do is they basically purchase all domains that are searched for on the site that aren't purchased within an hour or so of the search. They set up a parking page and monitor the traffic for a few days. They can get a refund for up to 5 days, but if the traffic shows they'll earn back their fee, then they keep the domain and milk it.

I can tell you for a fact that NameCheap.com does NOT support "tasters". Nor does GoDaddy, but I don't like their Terms of service.

Even Network Solutions, the "mother" of all domain resellers, has its own form of "tasting".

So stick with someone like NameCheap. In five days, go there and see if your domain is available. Do *NOT* go back to the same place you went before!!! (I recommend you banish them from your memory!)

Even if it's showing as taken, keep checking back every day or so. I've seen names switch hands every couple of days for two weeks until they finally became available again.

So while you were worrying about whether you wanted to spend $10 or not on this domain name (which even YOU can get refunded within 5 days), someone else grabbed it right off the shelf in front of you while you were looking away and set it up to see if it attracts money. If it DOES, they'll keep it and you're out a lot MORE than $10 for your worries.

In the domain world, the motto is, "If ya SNOOZE, ya LOSE!"

BTW, the other thing I like about NameCheap over other registrars like GD is that if a domain you own expires, you have 30 days to "reactivate" it for the regular price. Most registrars charge you $100 or more to reactivate in the first 30 days, and $200 or more after 30 days.

-David

[barbling]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Well, I had my suspicions and it turned out to be right. Searched the first four pages of google and in this industry, does not seem to have any affiliate programs.

Now, not to give up on the whole thing, it might be a good idea to call them directly and explain the concept of affiliate marketing. Do you guys have any idea of a person knowledgeable in setting up an affiliate program (I sure don't know how).

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks.

You can use eBay to monetize virtually ANYTHING on the face of this planet. And amazon too is a great shoe-in for affiliate marketing. For example, I use ebay to profit from my Macgyver-themed site over at
Ask Owlbert (it's now basically a placeholder site).

At the very least, you can build a static site of a few pages and start building your list. The List Is All!

Hope you can find another name soon!

[Oscar D]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

I found a domain name in the interior design/decorating niche that is only two words (and very common). Its extension is a .com. According to Google keyword tool, it has 14,800 searches per month and somebody is paying $1 for those keywords.

Doing an exact match "keywords", it has 11,300 competitors in google search. On top of this, I LOVE the subject and would not mind writing and searching about it FOREVER, lol.

Should I buy it? (Maybe a 'stupid' question but I just want to hear your opinion).

Years ago, I dreamed about retailing these items but never had enough money to pull it off. Now I am off to researching whether or not there are any affiliate programs out there.

Yes, I suggest you buy it and test the domain out.

If I am unsure then I normally buy the domain and put up 5 articles and then do a little promotion.

Then after about a week or so I will revisit the stats and see if the site is getting any decent traffic.

I mean what can you lose by trying this? Only the price of the domain which is about $9. The question you need to ask yourself is what can you gain by trying this?

The answer to that is $$$$

GO FOR IT!

[Vikuna2009+]

Originally Posted by SageSound

A large number of domain resellers are fronts for "tasters". What they do is they basically purchase all domains that are searched for on the site that aren't purchased within an hour or so of the search. They set up a parking page and monitor the traffic for a few days. They can get a refund for up to 5 days, but if the traffic shows they'll earn back their fee, then they keep the domain and milk it.

I can tell you for a fact that NameCheap.com does NOT support "tasters". Nor does GoDaddy, but I don't like their Terms of service.

Even Network Solutions, the "mother" of all domain resellers, has its own form of "tasting".

So stick with someone like NameCheap. In five days, go there and see if your domain is available. Do *NOT* go back to the same place you went before!!! (I recommend you banish them from your memory!)

Even if it's showing as taken, keep checking back every day or so. I've seen names switch hands every couple of days for two weeks until they finally became available again.

So while you were worrying about whether you wanted to spend $10 or not on this domain name (which even YOU can get refunded within 5 days), someone else grabbed it right off the shelf in front of you while you were looking away and set it up to see if it attracts money. If it DOES, they'll keep it and you're out a lot MORE than $10 for your worries.

In the domain world, the motto is, "If ya SNOOZE, ya LOSE!"

BTW, the other thing I like about NameCheap over other registrars like GD is that if a domain you own expires, you have 30 days to "reactivate" it for the regular price. Most registrars charge you $100 or more to reactivate in the first 30 days, and $200 or more after 30 days.

-David

Thanks for the tip about namecheap, will go there next time. Well, if I got 'tasted', they are not going to give up that domain. Now I just have to come up with another one. Got my juices flowing (in the right direction).