Hello folks,
Today’s interview is with Emil, the founder of King.net, Que.com, DomainString.com, among others. Emil is also a veteran member of NamePros forum (since 2003) and goes by TheWatcher.
Q: What is your name and what company do you represent? Website?
A: My name is EM @ KING.NET, Founder of QUE.COM Game Studio though my business is a network of web properties from Domain name registration services, Domain Branding, Domain Broker, IT Consulting and blogger at DomainString.com website.
Q: How long have you been domain investing and how did you get started?
A: I have been domain investing for about 13 years now. I started buying domains for personal use between 2001-2002, then it became a hobby of selling for extra income.
Q: How many domain names have you sold to date?
A: Just to be on the safe side, maybe more than 100+.
My primary objective of buying domain property is to expand my business network by owning premium domains to increase revenue.Q: Can you share one story of a successful domain name sale?
A: I have some interesting stories to share but Surface.TV is really special. I hand registered this domain back in 2005 using dot TV extension. This was at a time when no one seemed to care about the extension. I had listed it for sale at Sedo, and after 2 years of ownership I received an offer for $10K. I counter-offered for $27K and the broker accepted it. This was before Microsoft announced a new product called “Surface”.
Fast forward to 2015, you know who’s the using Surface.TV now.? Yes, Microsoft.
I have many stories like this when I hand registered a domain property or paid under market value and resold after a couple of years. I will write about it to share on how I did it, visit our business community at DomainString.com.
Q: Do you think there is still opportunity for someone new to the domaining business?
A: Absolutely! Plenty of ways to make money in domain business obviously from buying and selling, development, and the introduction of new gTLDs. But I prefer to invest in dot com, it’s a sure winner – liquidity and demand.
If you worry about not able to buy a premium domain name. I wrote an article on how you can afford to own a premium domain name.
https://domainstring.com/how-to-own-a-premium-domain-name/Best of all, you can start using small capital to start moving up in this business.
Q: What is your top advice for a newbie domainer?
A: Learn the business before you invest. Just like any other business out there, there are risks involved. The information is free – search the web. Many bloggers write on this topic.
You don’t need to pay a service to learn our business. If someone ask for membership to learn this business, search search search again. My point is, you do not need to spend a penny while you are still learning.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions. I am willing to share my humble opinion.
Q: What is your outlook on the domain industry?
A: It will continue to grow and expand. There are many new players (gTLDs) in town to help expose the value of a domain name to any business owners. It will become easier for us to justify the cost of owning a premium domain name as part of strategic business decision to launch a start up, authoritative leader or simply marketing your company brands.
Some new gTLDs will succeed and many will fail, but that’s business. We’ve seen this happened before. Overall, business is good.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to post your questions in the comment section below or send Emil a direct message:
https://domainstring.com/forums/forum/general/suggestion-feedback/
Thanks for sharing some of the incredible domain wisdom! Always great to see industry veterans share their opinion and perspective on the industry itself.
I agree with you when you mentioned the available information you can use to learn the business. It can be overwhelming but the simple approach is to learn something new every day then focus on sharpening the ax and gain more info on current trends and news.
Which new GTLDs do you find valuable and or interesting?
– Will
Hi Will,
Glad to know it helps.
Regarding your question which new gTLDs valuable or interesting?
This is my humble opinion and current status of my own portfolio. I have invested to some gTLDs that makes sense to support my business, now and moving forward.
For example. I registered http://www.robot.guru to replaced my existing hobby website. Of course, I can’t afford a million dollars asking price for dot com. And registered some for future deals. For this specific extension, as of this date I haven’t receive any offer. Though I think this is an excellent choice for professionals.
I registered a couple in .Technology, and I think it’s a mistake because of other extension e.g. .tech, .web or .website. I think this is an example of burning cash. I will probably let my domains expired.
For .buzz, I registered some due to it’s online appeal. A good marketing news when Oprah announced WhereAreTheyNow.Buzz website. I think its a good investment.
I also like .zone extension. I registered some products using this extension, and surprising I received good traffic.
I can’t list other domain extensions I’ve registered. My only advise, is make sure it’s manageable to your budget because it will be a burning cash for years before it mature or maybe not.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
EM @ KING.NET