Investing in "Virtual Real Estate" May Pay off

If you're going to invest in a premium domain name, my advice is to "park" it or wait a few years before using it. Virtual real estate is a GREAT investment since your initial investment of $20 or more might yield hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in the future.

Domain name holder Heidi Richards has 173

Do you plan on creating a website to advertise your company? Do you plan on making an electronic brochure to share with others? Want to launch a web-based company? Perhaps you've considered Virtual Reality (VR) investments purely as a financial move. These are all valid arguments in favor of researching available options for domain registration and development.

So, what exactly is this thing called "Virtual Reality?" A domain name is a simple, easy-to-remember name for a website (address) on the Internet; its corresponding IP address is merely a sequence of numbers known as Internet Protocol Numbers. By registering a domain name, you are essentially investing in a piece of cyber real estate with the intention of either building a website on it or flipping it for a profit at a later date.

The fact that they aren't "making any more of it" and that real estate typically increases in value over time and when renovations are made makes Virtual real estate very similar to the real thing. Since there is a limited supply of dot-coms (even though we haven't used them all up yet), we're probably getting low on creative possibilities. You still need to come up with a catchy name, and this doesn't even factor in all the made-up words that become dotcoms like Zoomerang and Google. Just as "location, location, location" is paramount in the real estate business, so too is a prestigious address of paramount importance in Virtual real estate.

The dreaded "what if?" The dreaded"what Use the search bar up top or the links down below to locate the desired dotcom. Many potential customers will opt to purchase a dotnet or other dot extension if they are unable to secure the desired one. If you aren't planning on promoting your new address heavily or the dotcom hasn't been created yet, I wouldn't recommend buying a domain that isn't a dotcom.

If you hold a domain name like romanceonabudget.net (which I do) and someone else decides to develop romanceonabudget.com, you may find that you are driving traffic to the dot-com instead of your own site. The two main benefits of owning a dotcom are (1) receiving traffic from those who type in your URL instead of the dotcom, and (2) receiving an offer to buy your dotcom from the owner of the dotcom.

I've had this happen twice, once when we sold the property and once when we didn't.

One option is to wait for the dotcom extension to become available and then purchase the dotnet or dotbiz extension. As part of my work, I keep an eye out for unused domain names that have just been renewed (for a period of one year or less) and may not have been registered with their current registrar for very long. I've bookmarked these links to keep an eye on whether or not they're updated.

People typically purchase URLs with the goal of either building a website or reselling the address. You may have to pay a hefty sum if the previous owner intended to resell the domain name.

If you have it and someone else needs it, you can be sitting on a goldmine. You might be able to buy the dotcom you've been following without having to go through Mouse J if they choose not to renew. Unfortunately, the domain name "HeidiRichards.com" was already taken when I decided to launch a website for my speaking and coaching business. I registered the domain name SpeakingwithSprit.com and launched my business website.

I bookmarked Heidi Richards and waited to hear back from the site's owner to see if he planned to update it. It turns out that name belonged to his first wife, and after they split, he lost interest in the property and did not renew the lease. After bookmarking the site for the first time, I waited 19 months before spending $15 on the domain name (which I have since renewed with WECAIDomains for $8.77 per year).

Investing in a Website Address: You are now prepared to purchase a domain name, or many domain names. Domain names are available for purchase from numerous trustworthy sources, including Moniker.com, www.WECAIDomains.com, and many others. Domain name reseller WECAIDomains.com offers prices as low as $8.77 per name when you register 10 or more at once. Because we register in such large quantities, WECAIDomains.com is able to offer domain name registrations at a discount. It is not essential to pay more than $10 per domain to register for a year, even though there are still services that charge up to $35 and more for the same basic service.

Alternatives to registering already-taken domain names: Even if the domain you want has already been registered, there is a secondary market for "used" domain names where you may be able to buy it. You might discover these domains listed through numerous sites such as afternic.com and URL Merchant (see resources below). You can test if a "this domain is for sale" page appears when you type the name into the search bar of your preferred search engine. A domain broker will do the legwork for you, finding the domain's current owner, negotiating a fair price, and facilitating the domain's transfer after the sale is finalized. You may speak with the proprietor personally. Assuming, of course, that the data is freely accessible. The WHOIS database and WECAIDomains.com both contain this data. The domain owner may be unwilling to sell the name at any price or at any time.

When investing in cyberspace, it's important to avoid stepping on someone else's trademarked name. Attempts to extort money from a corporation by purchasing a domain name that closely resembles one of their trademarks have resulted in successful trademark infringement lawsuits won by the trademark owner.

If you've considered everything else and still decided to buy a wonderful domain name, my advice is to "park" it or wait a few years before using it. Investing more than $20 in Virtual Reality might make you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in the future.

RESOURCES

URL: http://www.wecaidomains.com/ (WECAI Domains)

We offer domain name registration for only $8.77 per year, in addition to website design, domain forwarding, privacy protection, and many more services.

URL: http://www.whois.com/

Domain, Network Information Center (NIC) Handle, and IP Address Lookups Reveal Who Owns What with Domain Names and Who Manages Whom. It looks for newly available as well as presently owned domains.

URL: http://www.moniker.com/ They provide free domain name registration in the hopes that you will utilize their services to host your website (for a charge). They offer a wide variety of services, including website development.

URL: http://www.nameboy.com/ (NAMEBOY)

You can use this site to make up a "cool" domain name for your website, and it's a lot of fun. Simply type two phrases into their domain name generator, and it will return results for available, registered, and for sale domains from many registrars.

URL: http://www.afternic.com/

This well-known domain name exchange caters to brokers, individuals, and businesses looking to buy or sell a domain name. It's a one-stop shop for business information and resources, including an auction house and community appraisal boards.

GreatDomainNames is located at http://www.greatdomainnames.com/.

For about $65, you can advertise your domain name for sale on this site for an entire year. Once the domain name is sold, no further commission is owed.

Website Address Exchange: URLMerchant.com

Listing your domain names for sale with this service is free of charge, and they boast the lowest commission rates in the business. There is also an optional premium domain name showcase.

Use the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) at http://www.uspto.gov/teas/index.html to apply for a trademark online. To apply for a trademark electronically, use TEAS. The availability, registration status, and filing status of a Trademark can all be determined through a search. The procedure for accurately filling out an application for a trademark or service mark is also laid out in detail. It's a web-based application that lets you fill out a form and double-check that it's complete before submitting it. The application can then be sent electronically to the USPTO using e-TEAS. There is a $325 filing fee for each classification of goods and services.