5 Years Ago, a Treo 650, Domaining, & Nelson Brady

Good Lordy.. Exactly 5 years I’ve been doing this.

Domaining.

5 {shakes head} years.

My first exposure was the expired domain market, and I remember my first auction well.

I was on the tail end of a bachelor party to Key West. We were driving back to Miami to catch our flights. We were in a rented mini-van. I was in the back seat. Headed north on the Seven Mile Bridge.

My Treo 650 browser was loaded. The domain was ArtHistory.net.

Not the prettiest name around, but that ain’t what I was after. I wanted its traffic. Traffic to monetize somehow.

The auction was winding down, and last second bids were beginning to roll in.

Bidder ‘meteng’ jumped in at $412, and so did I.

We both played ping pong up to $525.

Bidder ‘shimo’ said hello at $600.

‘Vaxis’ chimed in at $777.

I jumped back in at $1,005.

New bidder ‘xinamesx’ and I dance a tango up to $2,013.

I become lone bidder at $2,063 – until ‘border’ shows up.

They wanted the name as much as I did – apparently for the traffic as well.

We slap it out up to $2,513.

and take a breather..

We resume & exchange insults up to $3,500.

At this point, in the car, I’m talking to this bidder out loud.

“Give it up, you sum bitch.”

They didn’t seem to hear me.

The bid rose to $4,100.

Still just ‘border’ and me.

Weeks in advance, I had run the back-end numbers hundreds of times, but to center myself, I decide to do again. Projected traffic levels, guesstimate CTR, expected earnings, rough repayment schedule, parking vs development.

The name & bid level are still within my window.

I place a $5k bid, which raises the price to $4,200.

4 minutes left. Then 3.

Then 2, 1, and zero. ‘Border’ passes & I win for $4,200.

My congratulation email comes. And a phone call as well for confirmation on my first purchase.

I’m still in the backseat. I answer. On the other end?… is Nelson Brady. From the auction house – SnapNames.

He called to verify my new account and confirm I was real & not (you guessed it) a shill bidder.

That was my first domain as a domainer.

And now I’m 5 years in.

Over $100k personally invested.

Bootstrapped with +/- $5k of last months acquisition debt to pay off.

And still going. Lord willin’. For just one more day : )