You may think that thousands of people are flocking online daily to seek out their rightful place among domaining giants who have created a virtual empire of passive profits.

But while they may be looking into it, many prospective domainers are too intimidated to actually do anything to stake their claim. The primary reason? They don’t know how to go after that domain name with a unique slant or have the large monetary resources to buy a “super premium” domain name like porn.net that sold recently at a Snapnames for $400,000.

Many newbie domainers believe that if one person is already successfully selling domain names, then there’s no room at the top, so they drop their dreams and return to the shackles of a 9-5 daily grind in corporate America (or elsewhere in the world).

Is it possible for an unknown to break out onto the scene and become a hit based on what they know that’s better or different from what Big Guy Guru has to say? Of course it is.

But in order to do this, the domainer has to come onto the marketplace with insurmountable confidence so that his or her target aspirations will become successful.

A guru isn’t someone who knows better how to do something. A guru, in the domaining world, is someone who did it in an original fashion and/or someone who has been earning a living steadily online for a long amount of time and therefore knows his or her “stuff.”

A little guy may be new to the world of domain names, but that doesn’t mean he or she hasn’t worked online for months or years to learn the ropes. If you were able to come online and learn domaining well enough that it allowed you to succeed in a short amount of time, then that makes you a guru in your own right.

Many people are, in fact, turned off by the word “guru” and get bored of reading about someone’s expertise. Fresh is a good thing in the world of domain names, so before you throw in the towel and call it quits, make sure you at least give your dreams a shot at success - the world of domain names isn’t really that hard. Find your niche and stick to your guns, there is still earnings to be made!

Remember that enthusiasm boils over - so if you believe in your skills and domain marketing, then it doesn’t matter what niche you’re targeting for your efforts – your custoemrs will soak up your attitude and carry the torch for you into the realm of profits and guru status yourself!

The first type of free domain name is known as a third level domain name.  This is a domain name that is commonly distributed by free web hosting companies or affiliate programs.  Yet, there is a downside to this type of domain name.  This downside involves the first level domain name, (usually the company’s name), having to be a part of the third level domain name.  For example, consider a website created with Geocities.

If a webmaster chooses ‘web hosting’ as their third level domain name, the following would be the syntax: Geocities.com/webhosting.  Such a domain name is not very convenient for potential visitors, so webmasters may want to consider redirecting these types of URLs to other versions of free domain names.

The second type of free domain name is a first level domain name that contains an extension that is not as popular in the Internet world.  Examples are the types of free domain names offered by Dot.tk or Free Domain.co.  The extensions offered from these companies are .tk and .co.nr, respectively.  These are far from a .com or a .net, but they are not as cumbersome to use as a third level domain name.  The main key is going to be making sure the initial domain name is short and easy to remember, so potential visitors won’t be as offset by the unusual extension.

Finally, there are free domain names with extensions that are more commonly used such as .com or .org.  To find these a person has to do some sleuthing.  Sometimes individuals will offer them for free, since they were about to expire anyway.  A person can try to find these situations through message boards dedicated to webmasters.  Other times companies will offer these types of free domain names because they are getting free ad space.  What happens is every time the free domain name is used, a pop-up ad will show up on the person’s website.  This is how the free domain name company gets their revenue. 

In conclusion, free domain names can be an excellent alternative for someone needing domains for several websites.  The best ones are those in which a person can get a first level domain, though a third level domain name is better than nothing.  To sign up for a free domain name, one can search for free domain name companies on the Internet. 

What is an expired domain name?  An expired domain name is a domain name that never got renewed by its owner.  This could be for a variety of reasons such as disinterest in the original website, lack of funds or something more serious, such as an owner’s death.  Whatever the reason when the renewal fees aren’t paid, the expired domain name sits out in cyberspace still functioning as any other domain name.  There is just one difference… an expired domain name doesn’t have a website attached to it, so it instead points to a 404 error page.

Indeed, it is a waste of traffic when an expired domain name points to a 404 web page.  Many domain name companies have realized this, which is why quite a few sell expired domain names either through a regular, upfront sale or through an expired domain name auction - we here at AJL Domains specialize in expired domain name auctions.   The prices for these domain names can range from less than $100 to over $10,000 - although it is becoming increasingly very difficult to catch an expired domain name worth a large sum of money.  Some of these sales may even include a website.

So, how does a webmaster know if an expired domain name is worth buying?  First, they need to check to see the Google page rank of an expired domain name.  To do this they need to download Google’s toolbar and then type in the URL of the expired domain name.  The toolbar will then let them know what the page rank is.  If the page rank indicator is gray, the expired domain name must be avoided since this means the site has been banned by Google.  Otherwise, it should be okay, though webmasters should also take into consideration the actual number associated with the page rank.  If the number is between 6 and 10, they should strongly consider buying the expired domain name.
Secondly, webmasters need to find out the Alexa rating of an expired domain name.  The Alexa rating determines how much traffic has actually gone to a domain name.  If a website has not received a significant amount of traffic, it will not have an Alexa rating.  To determine the Alexa rating for an expired domain name, webmasters need to visit Alexa.com.

Finally, webmasters need to see how many websites are linking to the expired domain name.  To do this they need to put the command link: followed by the URL of the expired domain name into a search engine.  If a lot of links are returned, this is a sign that the traffic coming to the expired domain name originated from legitimate sources.

Parents are often plagued by more work at home pitfalls than those without kids, just because kids bring a new element into the mix that stirs up more opportunity for interruptions and sometimes means less space is available for the work area.

The first thing you want to do when trying to balance your home life with your domaining business is carve out a space that is dedicated to your ‘net marketing endeavors. It doesn’t have to be a lot of space – as long as you have a corner spot to place your computer and other online accessories that you use.

It’s best if you can have a space where you can go to work on your domain ventures without distractions, but this isn’t always possible. Personally, I need a quiet space to concentrate, especially if I am in “shopping” mode searching for domains to resell. If the noise is too much, you might consider setting off-peak hours, such as working only when the rest of the household members are in bed and you can concentrate on what you need to do.

Many domainers love the flexibility they have in working from home and on the ‘net. If the kids have a soccer game, you’re free to shut down the computer and take off on a whim. If your spouse wants to take off for a weekend, then being a domainer allows you to take your laptop with you and log on to check in from anywhere there’s an Internet connection.

If you’re just now considering a domain name business, and want to find an option that will deliver the most balance to your home with the least amount of intrusions, then you might consider parking domains.

Parking is one domaining option that produces a nice passive income. If you choose the right generic domains and park them, it can turn out to be a decent income and return on investment (ROI) with minimal effort. For example, I have a domain name, www.CashLendingCenter.com that is earning me around $20 per month because of the high paying keywords.

Let’s do a little math. Just one of my parked domains earns me around $20 per month. There are 12 months in a year so that is $240 per year. Not a bad return on a $7.05 investment, wouldn’t you say? Take 10 domains earning an average of $20 per month and park them and no you have $2,400 per year for a $70.50 investment. Need I say more?

Working at home takes balance - balance will come about through time, so take all precautions to automate your systems and outsource certain tasks to others.

I’ll write more on parking on a later date, I didn’t want to get too off track with this post. I get a little carried away sometimes when I start talking about parking domains!

Without a domain name, websites are specified by an IP address. 

 What is an IP address? 

It is an identifier that is used by computers or humans to determine the location of a server or website.  However, for humans, an IP address, (which is expressed in a numerical format), can be difficult to remember.  This is why domain names were invented.  With a domain name, a human can locate a website through more user-friendly words or phrases.  And although numbers can be a part of a domain name, they usually do not make up all of it, like what is seen with an IP address.

In terms of format, domain names have several parts.  The first part is known as the URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator.  The URL tells the browser what the domain name is going to point to.  This will usually be ‘http’, which means the browser can expect to locate a hypertext document.  In layman’s terms this means webpage.  In the rare cases the URL is not ‘http’ it may be ‘ftp’, which means file transfer protocol.  A webmaster would opt to use ftp if they would like visitors to download files from their server.

The second part of the domain name will be “www,” which stands for “World Wide Web.”  This phrase lets computers and humans know the site the domain name is pointing to is indeed from the Internet.  It is followed by the actual domain name, which can be a combination of letters, numbers or phrases.  A good domain name will be short, memorable and most importantly, search-engine friendly.  In fact, good webmasters tend to concentrate more on a domain name’s effectiveness with SEO, (or Search Engine Optimization), than they do its creativity.  To do this they make sure to choose a domain name that has a widely searched keyword. 

The final portion of the domain name has what is known as an extension.  This lets a person know a little bit more about a website’s origins.  For example, take .com, the most common domain name extension.  It stands for ‘commercial’, and was originally intended for organizations in that vein.  However, now the extension is used by virtually anyone looking to create a website.  And this is for good reason, since most web surfers will think about the .com before they would think about .org, .biz or .net.  Yet, don’t think the other extensions can’t become memorable either.  Consider Wikipedia.org which is a wildly popular website despite its .org extension - see my other posts where domain name extensions are discussed more at length.

Domain name extensions can also specify things on a geographical level.  An example are country-based extensions such as .fr, (which stands for France), or .jp, (which stands for Japan).  They can also be state-based, such as .ca, (which stands for California).  Both can serve as excellent tools for localized Internet marketing.

To get a domain name, a person can either: 1) get one from their web hosting company, provided they offer that service or 2) get one from a separate domain name company.  Price-wise things will vary with both options, though typically the cost will range from $6.50 to $35.

Here at AJL Domains we offer great generic domain names at very reasonable prices. Take a look around at our names for sale and auction and don’t hesitate to contact us!