We have all had experience with writing to end users. Whether it be a constructed well thought out sales letter or a generic template you personalize for each email or snail mail it is all for the same goal, sell your domain names. I have been asked quite a bit about how to not sound like a domainer and more like a professional looking to liquidate domain names.
I have picked up some great tips in the past months from Josh over at NameFlipper.com. I have analyzed how he writes his emails and to be honest they are genius compared to standard templates i see floating around the forums. The emails are always super short and straight to the point with out providing to much information. Kind like of setting a lure for a fish, you want them to bite but you do not want to start reeling in until you have them on the hook.
So that brings us to what type of tone you want to set in your emails. Well first off you do not want to sound like a domainer but rather as a professional in the technology sector. Whether this means saying you are a software developer or website creator they all sound better than the title “Domainer”. Just like everyone has seen around the community and it has been discussed a million times, the general population frowns upon domainers as a whole. No matter what you do we are not getting away from that stereotype in the near future. So projecting yourself as a professional in the technology industry gives you points right away and shows that you are willing to do business.
Bringing out the professional tone means that overloading with information is really just going to turn people off. You want to be able to give them a piece of what you are offering and then put the pressure on them to make the next move. For instance let them know you are trying to liquidate your domain for a fair price and if they do not respond in a certain amount of time that you will move on to the next candidate. If they are truly interested they will respond. Writing out details and trying to explain why the domain would be good for their business makes you sound desperate. Like i said if they are interested they will ask, no reason in writing a 5 paragraph email that is likely to be looked at as spam.
Now that you have the tone of the email set and the lure has been placed its time to cast the line. The signature part of your email is extremely important. This is where everything ties together and shows that you really mean business. Always include a business like salutation, i.e. regards or thanks. Up next include your full name. Under that your title, i.e. Software Developer. After the title put your company or website, try to make this a non-domaining website. Last but not least include your PHONE NUMBER. I can not tell you how many times i get calls over emails when an interested party wants the domain right away. Also do not forget to send the email from the email address that corresponds with the company listed in your signature, i.e. ExpandHosting.com – ross@expandhosting.com would be appropriate.
Selling to end users is not easy and is a very daunting task. It is something that i have been pushing quite a bit the past couple weeks and i do not average TONS of sales. Though when i do get a sale it is well worth my time compared to the payout. Sounding professional for me has changed quite a few things when it comes to end user sales. I see quite a bit more response, increase in amount of sales and an increase in the size of the sale.
If you have something to add feel free to do so.
Related posts:
- End-Users Part 3: The Contact
- End-User Follow Up Response
- End-Users Part 4: Negotiation
Today in the Lowdown at DNJournal.com: .Biz bags over $360,000 in an auction of 1-character domains (including $66,000 for a single domain), Sedo co-founders sell their remaining stock to the Adlink Group and the U.S. government loosens (but doesn't release) its leash on ICANN.
Sorry for the lack of blog posts this week. I have been busy getting ready for IzeaFest, which begins tomorrow night. The event will start off tomorrow night at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL (Howl-O-Scream) and end Sunday in Orlando, FL at SeaWorld.
What is IzeaFest?
Direct from IzeaFest’s website: “An interactive event designed to educate, inform [...]
Sedo just wrapped up their single character .biz auction today, pulling in over $360,000 on 31 domains, or an average of roughly $11,000 per domain. Andrew at DNW pointed out that E.biz was the top contender with over 20 bids coming in and a whopping $66,001 price tag. Several domains were not included in the auction including 0.biz, 3.biz, i.biz, o.biz and q.biz . All of the results are unofficial as Sedo has yet to close the deals, but links to the auctions can be found below.
It’s safe to assume that most of the bidding was driven by speculation. With the recent announcement by Overstock.com to acquire the O.biz domain, a certain credibility was given to these domains. I’m sure other registries will take note of this play. Often all it takes is one company/group to adopt something and a trend in speculation can be spiked. The .Biz extention hasn’t likely seen this much interest since it’s launch.
1.biz – $32,003
2.biz – $5,801
4.biz – $7,601
5.biz – $7,601
6.biz – $8,100
7.biz – $7,877
8.biz -$8,200
9.biz – $7,901
0.biz – Not listed
a.biz – $10,099
b.biz – $10,055
c.biz – $8,988
d.biz – $18,100 $26,110
e.biz – $66,001
f.biz – $8,250
g.biz – $9400
h.biz – $8,177
i.biz – Not Listed
j.biz – $8,250
k.biz – $6,900
l.biz – $7,999
m.biz – $15,611
n.biz – $8,001
o.biz – Overstock.com owns, wasn’t auctioned
p.biz – $7,878
q.biz – Not Listed
r.biz – $8,855
s.biz – $8,211
t.biz – $7,602
u.biz – $10,099
v.biz – $6,100
w.biz – $13,500
x.biz – $10,099
y.biz – $8,988
z.biz – $8,988
(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com
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Effective October 1, internet governing body ICANN will no longer be under the control of the U.S. Government. The Affirmation of Commitments signed today by the US Government’s National Telecommunications Information Administration and ICANN commits to allowing ICANN remain a private not for profit organization. It also declares ICANN is independent and is not controlled by any one entity. The commitment recognizes that ICANN is a multi-stakeholder model robust enough to review itself. Previous agreements between the US Government and ICANN operated under a three year time period, but this new agreement is not limited in time, essentially completely releasing ICANN from direct U.S. oversight. The U.S. has commited to remain involved with ICANN’s mission through ongoing support of ICANN through the GAC (Government Advisory Committee).
ICANN was created in 1998 for the purpose of “coordination of the Internet’s unique identifiers by the private sector through a not-for-profit organization where policies were developed from the bottom up.” A Memorandum of Understanding between ICANN and the US Government was created at that time and a Joint Partnership Agreement (JPA) between the two parties was renewed and revised over the last 11 years. According to the ICANN website “the Affirmation of Commitments places beyond doubt that the ICANN model is best equipped to coordinate this vital resource and places reviews of ICANN’s performance in the hands of the community.”
The move was one that many predicted as the close ties between ICANN and the US Government had come under fire by some in the international community. All reports indicate that this news has been welcomed by many in the internet community. Quotes from many in the community can be found on the ICANN website. ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom was quoted by the BBC as saying “It’s a beautifully historic day.” What the changes could mean specifically over time to the domain community as a whole is up in the air, but one could safely assume that the weight of US opinion on future endeavors by ICANN, such as the new gTLD launch, will have less of an impact than previously under the JPA.
(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com
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