For many creatives, the primary goal is to make their hobby into a career. The pathway to discovery can seem challenging, but there are some simple ways you can increase the chances of getting discovered and having your business take off. Smart Choice Domains encourages you to try out some of these six ideas to get started.

1. Start a YouTube Channel

YouTube is one of the most popular websites around. Hootsuite statistics show that over a billion unique visitors access the website monthly and over half of them use YouTube daily. This makes it a prime first stop for showcasing your talents. Don’t just hope for the best, though. Make your videos more likely to be seen by using relevant keywords, branding, and YouTube cards.

2. Create a Website

Even if you haven’t started an official business yet, having a website establishes credibility and professionalism. It’s also an easy way to attract attention if you use blog posts. Blogging allows you to implement search engine optimization, which uses keywords to put you higher up on a list of search engine results. Post engaging, informative content on a regular basis to get more eyes on your website.

3. Get Active on Social Media with a Focus on Content Marketing

Social media is one of the easiest ways you can interact with people and have your creativity shared. Some of the best social media sites for creatives include Discord, TikTok, Instagram, and Patreon, but there are some newer apps that are popular in the artist community. Use social media not just to share your work but to network. Networking is a must if you’re trying to get seen. Based on the seven degrees of separation, you never know who knows who.

You likely will have several social media accounts to keep up with, so it can help to create personalized banners for any platform to visually tie your accounts together. An online tool can make it a simple process: just choose a template to start with, then customize it to your preferences, and then download it once you’ve created a design you like. Your accounts will be easier for your followers to recognize after you upload your new banner.

Much of your online branding efforts, from social media posts to initiating an SEO strategy for your website, is what content marketing is all about. Here, content is king when it comes to branding and growing your business. As a specialized area of advertising, content marketing should be a key element in your overall marketing strategy, so research the concept to ensure you're effectively using it. Turn to online resources like Cornerstone Content to help you learn what you need to know.

4. Hire Help

At some point as a creative, you’ll need to treat your work like a business, but your experience may not leave you feeling ready to start a new company by yourself. Fortunately, a formation service can help walk you through all the major steps you’ll need to take to establish your own business. They can also help you file the necessary paperwork to get you set up and ready to market yourself.

You don’t have to do all the work yourself. You can hire influencers to promote your art to a much larger audience than you have access to. Smart Insights notes that most marketers find the use of influencers to be an effective marketing strategy, but it’s all about hiring the right person for the job. Unfortunately, hiring isn’t always simple, but the right influencer will be someone who believes in you and will work well with you.

5. Attend Live Events

Not all marketing has to be digital. You can perform at coffeehouses, attend farmer’s and craft markets, or sign up for competitions to gain exposure. When you're at these events, having a business card can make a world of difference. This way, people will remember your name and be able to contact you about your work. Use both sides of your card to show off your personality and design it with simplicity in mind.

6. Collaborate

Once you have a website and a social media presence, take the initiative and reach out to brands or other artists that you’d like to work with. Bigger artists can make you more visible with one successful collaboration. Creative collaboration can be tricky because it’s often personal, but constant communication, transparency, and openness can make the process go swimmingly.

If you prefer to collaborate in person, it can be helpful to have a dedicated workspace at home. If you don’t have one at present, you may want to consider converting an unused room to that purpose. Keep in mind that any upgrades you do to your home can positively affect its value. Be sure to take before and after photos and keep receipts and records of the upgrade work that’s done. You don't have to keep your hobby to yourself. Sometimes, all it takes is finding the right person who can help your creative career take off. Use the above tips – including creating an effective website, optimizing content marketing, attending live events, and collaborating – to get more eyes on your work and increase the chances of you getting discovered.

It took me a few years to gain my momentum but I purchased a lot of different domain names, some many years ago, some recently, all of which I could see a website that would bring Realtors traffic, and that’s very important to a Realtor. The old days of knocking on doors, to get clients is slowing being replaced by more tech savvy Realtors using the internet.

I am offering my real estate domain names for sale, but on top of that I would be more than happy to help guide a Realtor in the right direction with that domain name, so they can take advantage of my 25 years of experience in the business.

The domain names are not listed in any order, just click on the one you like the most and it will take you to the sales page, now because I know times are tough and things are very uncertain, we have adapted and are offering several different payment options, first and foremost cash is always king, but if you are a little strapped, we offer a monthly lease, a lease with an option to purchase, or of payment options to help get you started.

I know get to the Domain Names, here you go:

www.5DiamondRentals.com   www.ApartmentforRent.info   www.ApexApartment.com   www.Apple1RealEstate.com    www.Apple1Realty.com   www.AppleOneRealty.com    www.AvoidForeclosureinCorona.com   www.BargainProperties.info   www.CoronaListings.com   www.CoronaLoanmod.com   www.CoronaLoanmodHelp.com   www.Corona-RealEstate.com   www.CoronaRealEstateBlog.com   www.CoronaRealEstateHelp.com   www.CoronaRealEstateMarket.com   www.CoronaShortSaleBlog.com   www.DirectoryforRealEstate.com   www.HomeAppraisals.org   www.HomesforRent.info   www.ISOHomes.com   www.IsolatedHomes.com  

Some of my personal favorites with the above domain names are CoronaListings.com, HomeAppraisals.org, and I would have to say IsolatedHomes.com. Ok here are some more domain names for you to consider.

www.IsthisPropertyforSale.com  www.ListedbyKellerWilliams.com www.ListedbyKW.com  www.LocateRealEstateAgents.com  www.LuxembourgEstate.com  www.LuxembourgRentals.com  www.NewportBeachRealEstateMarket.com  www.OceanFrontProperties.info  www.Oregon-REO.com  www.PurchasingaHouse.com  www.RealtyVesters.com  www.RiversideHomeValues.com  www.RiversideRealEstateMarket.com

I like ListedbyKW.com, PurchasingaHouse.com, and RealtyVesters.com from the above domain names, for purchasingahouse.com I can see a simple informative website all about purchasing a house, what to expect, the highs and lows of home ownership. ListedbyKW.com would make a perfect website of all of Keller Williams listings in every state, with a simple lead capture form, it will bring in leads. Ok here are some more domain names to pick from.

www.SalemListings.com  www.SalemLoanModification.com  www.Salem-MLS.com  www.Salem-Oregon-Foreclosures.com  www.SalemOregonRealty.com  www.SalemOregonREO.com  www.SalemOregonShortSales.com  www.SalemRealEstateHelp.com  www.SalemRealEstateMarket.com www.SalemShortSaleHelp.com  www.Salem-Short-Sales.com  www.Section8.homes  www.SellingRealEstate.info  www.UsedLuxuryHomes.com  www.ValueReality.com  www.HouseSources.com  www.HouseSurge.com and last but not least www.PropertyClosures.com 

My favorites from the list above are SalemListings.com, UsedLuxuryHomes.com, and Section8.homes, I can see so much potential with all these domain names. We put prices on all these domains, but we expect to receive offers and are not offended by any offer within reason.

Choose your favorite domain name and let’s create a money machine for your Real Estate business.

I purchased eyeoils.com about 5 years ago thinking that one day I would start a simple blog or eCommerce shop about eye oils, and do some reviews, however I know nothing about eye oils, so with everything going on in the world today and so many people being home and potentially facing unemployment, I have been trying to figure out a way that I could help in my own little way.

Let’s start a simple eye oil business today, are you ready? My idea is to create a simple WordPress blog talking about the importance of using eye oils daily and how do you chose the right product for you, as so many people have different skin types, some need a tightener, some might what to get rid of wrinkles, like I said before not my field but you get the idea. You can easily add some Amazon, Mary Kay, or Avon products, so many different products out there that you can offer your new customers.

The positives to this business are many, but just to name a few, small niche product with high profit margins, which in turn means higher commissions for you. Lots of add on products to expand your business, cleaners, wipes, I think you get the idea of where I am going.

With everyone wearing masks and such how important are the eyes now, for me its always been the eye’s that made the first impression, so I believe that this business is a hit, and long term easy to run and manage, even if you end up going back to work.

So here is how I can help you start this business today, obviously I can’t build the website for you or do all the work, but I can help to guide you in the right direction as inexpensive as possible, to know me is to know I do not like to part with my money, and I can assume you don’t either. Please understand its not free to start an online business, but the key is keeping the expenses as low as possible, and I do have some experience with that part, as I have been working in WordPress now for about 5 plus years and have learned a lot from trial and error, so I can assist with minimizing the error parts.

The biggest part in buying your online Real Estate is the Domain Name EyeOils.com, which we can all agree is a very valuable name if your selling eye oils. The Domain Name is currently retailing for $19,200.00 which does not make it easy to start a bootstrapped business, so we are discounting the domain name and offering several different terms to help you get going right away. Discounted cash price will be $997.00, or you could do four payments of $300.00, or you could Lease to Own the domain for $150.00 down and $150.00 per month for twelve months, than you own it out right, or your last option would be to lease the Domain Name for $75.00 per month for as long as you operate and manage your business.

Included in this I would also offer email support up to 3 hours per month depending on your purchase plan. Let’s get started today so we can make some money tomorrow.

If you have any questions, please reach out by leaving a comment or you can send us an email to info@smartchoicedomains.com

Thank you

Richard G.

Exclusive The domain onecloud.com is up for sale – and the upcoming battle for its signature could attract a seven-dollar sum.

That is the verdict of Andrew Miller, president at ATM Holdings. Miller is helping conduct the transaction having been contacted by an individual seller. The seller, who has owned the domain since the early 1990s and has worked as a senior technology executive, ‘had a very hard time deciding whether to let it go’, according to Miller, but relented after consultations and agreeing that the time was right.

“This is the most valid time I’ve seen because it’s private equity firms, venture firms… as soon as they raise a round of $20-$30 million, they go out and buy their category domain, or their exact match domain,” Miller told CloudTech. “I started to realise that in this space there are so many emerging companies, not only in the US but globally, and it’s a pretty powerful story.”

For dotcom domains, as Miller put it, there is “only one kick at the can”. With regard to the cloud industry, the battles for the best real estate were concluded the better part of a decade ago – or so many thought. Type in cloudcomputing.com, for instance, and you are taken to a Dell Technologies page. Dell had previously bought the domain before trying – and failing – to trademark the term ‘cloud computing’ in 2008.

The story of cloud.com is a somewhat simpler affair. A startup called VMOps bought the domain from a private collector, who according to a 2010 NetworkWorld article ‘wanted to sell [it] to a company he believed in.’ A year later the company, now rebranded as Cloud.com, was bought by Citrix, where it has stayed. In November 2011, it was reported that Citrix put a monetary value of the cloud.com domain at $18 million.

A cursory search reveals a variety of companies with valid claims at the domain. Arguably the most well-known is OneCloud.io, a provider of integration solutions for enterprise applications, with particular expertise in Oracle. Alternately, there is OneCloud Software, disaster recovery providers for VMware-based data centres. Or the Mozambique-based cloud service provider OneCloud. Or services firm OneCloud Consulting. Industry watchers may also recall several years ago the very similar name of Box’s enterprise app store.

Yet there can be many other potentials and possibles, Miller hopes. Following the example of Cloud.com, any cloud company with VC cash on the hip looking to rebrand their product may consider it.

As noted by fellow domain specialist Kate Buckley, perhaps the most eye-catching case study of this nature was smart home manufacturer Ring. CEO Jamie Siminoff bought Ring.com for $1m, rebranding from Doorbot, and noted how it was ‘critically important’ to the company’s success. “Putting it in dollar terms he said he would estimate the name turned out to be worth between $30m and $50m to the company,” DN Journal put it.

“[Onecloud] is a pretty powerful name for someone to take on at the beginning, or rebrand to as well, even if they’re not a product yet,” said Miller. “That’s why it intrigued me – it covers all.

“I see onecloud.com being a case study in two years,” Miller added.

Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their experiences and use-cases? Attend the Cyber Security & Cloud Expo World Series with upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more.

Read more: cloudcomputing-news.net

After all, if you were to end your business, you wouldn’t just throw away your extra products or materials — you’d capitalize on your investments and sell them.

In fact, there are people, and even businesses, who invest in buying domains on a regular basis. Whether you’re an investor with thousands of domains or just have one you no longer want to keep, you have options.

There are powerful tools available to help you get top dollar for your domain assets.

Still not convinced? Take a look at some of these top domain sales for 2019, courtesy of dnjournal.com:

Voice.com — $30 million California.com — $3 million Nursing.com — $950,000

You could be sitting on a gold mine. Will your domain be worth as much as these? Maybe not, but you never know! The best way to find out is to use some of these useful online tools to track domain names for sale. That way, you’ll have an idea of what your name might be worth.

Related: The top 25 most expensive domain names

Keeping tabs on domain names for sale

Before you list your hidden gem on the market, do some research and find a good target price range.

NameBio. The best single location for checking public domain name sales prices. You can even tailor your search to highlight similar terms found in your own domain name. You’ll be able to see firsthand how domains have sold historically, and these comps can give you a good estimate for your domain’s worth.

Estibot. This site attempts to give you an automated, free appraisal of your domain. Just be sure to use this in conjunction with outside research. It’s nice to have a quick answer, but watching historical trends and sales is always useful.

GoDaddy Domain Name Value & Appraisal. With over 20 years of domain aftermarket experience powering this tool, you can quickly and easily get a free estimate of what your domain might be worth on the domain aftermarket.

Using these tools, you can get a better understanding of your domain’s worth. At the end of the day, all domains are unique. List your domain at a price that you would be happy selling at.

Posting domain names for sale

After you’ve checked the tools and are ready to price your domains, it’s time to actually list them. At GoDaddy, you have the option to list your domain names for sale via Premium Listings and GoDaddy Auctions.

Premium listing

Premium domains are listed with a Buy Now price, and once they’re sold they instantly leave your account and move automatically to the buyer. They show up for sale on GoDaddy when customers come to search for an available domain name to buy.

The premium domain will also automatically list your domain on the GoDaddy auctions in most cases.

GoDaddy Auctions

When selling a domain name through GoDaddy Auctions, you can list your domain name a number of ways:

Create a minimum reserve price

Using the traditional, seven-day auction method, you can sell your domain to the highest bidder once it closes — so long as the final offer meets or exceeds your price (this is similar to eBay auctions).

Sell without a set price

Using an offer/counter-offer setup, you can entertain bids and negotiate pricing to suit your needs. The domain name will sell only if you agree to an offer price from the interested party.

Related: 5 tried-and-true tips for buying and selling domain names for profit

Afternic

If you really want to supercharge your ability to sell a domain, Afternic is the option you should choose. Even though this platform is typically utilized by professionals, it’s open to anyone — and the cost is the same as simply listing your domain names for sale with GoDaddy. It’s a no-brainer for someone serious about selling their domains.

Listings through Afternic will appear on more than 100 partner registrars throughout the world.

If they are listed with a Buy Now price, they’ll also appear as a premium listing at GoDaddy.

Better yet, a Buy Now domain will appear on more than 100 partner registrars all over the world in addition to GoDaddy. That includes nine out of the top 10 most popular registrars. And to top it all, managing your listing is easy. Don’t worry about having an account across all 100 registrars — update, manage and handle your listing with ease with Afternic, and watch your domain spread across the network.

Listing at GoDaddy is good, but listing at Afternic is better. Along with the increased exposure, you get access to Afternic’s sales team — experts ready and willing to field questions from buyers about your domain name. They even help to seal the deal! And since Afternic is owned by GoDaddy, you’re guaranteed to get the same great customer support.

In conclusion

Have any domain names that are hiding in your account? Do some research and see what they could be worth.

Then, head on over to GoDaddy or Afternic and start listing. Why wait? Start selling your domains today and put a little extra money in your pocket.

The post How to list domain names for sale appeared first on GoDaddy Blog.

Read more: godaddy.com

Simply put, it's imperative that your site looks good, is exciting, intriguing even, as though a person has found clues to a treasure and is now obligated to pursue it until he has found it.

If you don't want to lose your visitors, you need to hold their interest, as if they're beholding a work of art. More visitors will follow, and there are many ways to attract them to your site.

However, before someone can visit and admire your site they should know what your domain name is to enter it into their browser.

From here on, we're going to discuss domain names, or web addresses, and how much they matter.

Why Do Names Matter?

Names are either remembered, forgotten, or, worse, ignored - all because it sounds bad, unimaginative, and irrelevant to the viewer. Ever wonder why parents find it hard to name their children, and how the right name can have great significance to their lives of their children?

It's just like that.

Names are important, and they must mean something- or represent something. There's no need to stress any further on that. That is the law of names. Names have their own survival of the fittest-either be remembered or forgotten. Words hold power, and so do names.

In the online world, having a distinct name on the web is important. The domain name will be among the first things the viewer will see to get a feel of your site if it's interesting and initially judge both its relevance and credibility. The domain name you choose will also matter for SEO.

Your brand name is an important thing as well; it must work together with your domain name. Your brand and domain name are attached to each other and cannot be separated; they must match.

The viewer will see everything as a whole, so the logo, colors, words, etc., on the site must fit well together. This is called "site aesthetics."

For example, if your site is about Asia, then it's best if it has the word Asia on it-say, TravelAsia.com-or, better yet, has a .Asia instead of a .com. Travel.Asia sounds a lot better. It's specific, concise, and easy to remember, and it sounds subtly entertaining without losing its professional tone.

Assess the value of your domain name. There are many factors to consider when determining the value of a domain. If you aren't sure how to do this, there are companies that make these assessments for a fee. Probably the most important factors to consider are traffic, length of the name and whether it is a dot-com TLD. Research the market value for domain names in as many categories as possible such as aftermarket domains, sounding domains, secondary market domains, high-value domains, and top domains.

Keep financial reports and tax filings current and correct. Interested buyers usually want to buy immediately and will be put off if your information is confusing or they have to wait for a financial statement. If you have difficulty maintaining your records in a timely and accurate manner, you may want to consider using a CPA or a good software program for this purpose.

Consider the Market. Timing is everything. Pay particular attention to what is happening in your market niche and try to take advantage of peak times for sellers. Postpone selling if your market is experiencing a downturn unless you have no other option.

Avoid ambiguities. Correct anything that might seem unusual or confusing before you try to sell your domain name. Look at your site objectively. Eliminate complications, such as a mixture of revenue from more than one site. The simpler and cleaner your website is, the better chance of obtaining top dollar.

Be real in your expectations. Domains that sell for thousands of dollars are rare. There are tools available to help you accurately assess your domain's value. Use one if necessary and price it accordingly. If you are in a competitive market, you may be required to accept a noncompete agreement.

Use a variety of strategies to advertise your intention to sell. A few possibilities are:

• List your site with an auction site or other marketplace.
• Approach buyers directly.
• Put a "for sale" sign on your domain's home page.
• Contact your domain name registrar and ask about their sales tools.
• Make sure your intention to sell is extremely visible. Also, make sure all methods of advertisement contain multiple ways for prospective buyers to contact you, such as email, phone and chat.

If you follow the above strategies for selling your domain name, you will significantly increase your odds of obtaining the best price possible. Also, many of the strategies presented are helpful when buying a domain name.

It is important to note that there are many reasons that can warrant the buying of multiple domains. However, search engine traffic isn't among them. There are some things you ought to understand before buying those extra names.

Some of the reasons

Brand protection: usually, corporations will use different domain names so as to make sure that their brand is protected in the best way possible. This is something that smaller businesses can also choose to embrace. If you really want a name and don't want others to have it, you should buy it. If you feel that your brand is worth some protection, then you most certainly need multiple domain names.

Shorter email domain: there are companies with rather long domain names because of a long company name. A shorter name can be really helpful for word of mouth, emails and print.

Word of mouth: this is yet another reason why you may need another domain name. It may be very hard to remember a name, especially if they have dashes and when they are very long. If this is the case, you may find it helpful to get a shorter name that will be more memorable to put in your presentations, the business cards as well as when you want to tell people about it verbally.

Making it easy for the clients: To guarantee that clients find you easily, you may have to purchase multiple domain names. Usually, there are people who will add a.com to your domain name since it is more popular. It therefore becomes important to purchase more names for the sake of your clients.

Buying domains that have already been established: if you are a sharp domain buyer, then you may look for domains that are within the industry you operate in. The established domains come with real value. You can then enjoy all the authority that comes with them, including the traffic, which they may already be getting. Domain evaluation is not an easy feat and you will need to be very knowledgeable to do it in the right way.

The do's and Don'ts of buying domain names

It doesn't really matter who you are. There are something's that you should always be careful with when you are buying domain names. They are:

- Only buy domain names from unique sites

- Do not buy the domain name if you are not in a position to support it

- If it's boring, it may affect your business negatively and you may not even be able to brand it. Domain names should be memory hooks.

- Premium domains may look really interesting but always remember a domain name doesn't guarantee the success of your business.

One of the benefits of this business is that you only need to register or buy a domain name and not necessarily developing it or pulling traffic to it. You don't even need to put any content. Just own the domain - that's all. You may be wondering where and how to buy domains. You have two options to choose from and you can use both. The first option is to register through registrars and this is referred to as the primary market. Top registrars include GoDaddy, NameCheap, iPage, 1and1, Dynadot and so on. The price for registration varies from one registrar to another and there may be additional products added by each registrar.

The second option is to buy an already registered name and this is referred to as the secondary market. Examples of secondary markets are Sedo, GoDaddy, Flippa, Afternic, SmartChoiceDomains, just to mention a few. Pricing at the secondary market is a bit on the high side and this is determined by so many factors like the age, category, number or words, valuation of the names and so many other factors. However, it is important for you to note that a domain is renewable every year and you have to factor this into your plan when making purchase and sale decisions.

Furthermore, choosing the right domain name is very crucial to your success in this business. You don't just go ahead to buy a name you can think of. It doesn't work like that. It's not gambling and you need to be able to identify marketable names. You can visit news sites like TheDomains, Domaining, DomainInvesting and so on, to know the latest trend in the market. It is not easy to predict a name that will sell but if you get familiar with information about the industry, you will be better positioned to make the right decision. Typically, the best names are short, easy to remember, easy to spell, easy to pronounce and so on.