Some domainers are wondering why their domains aren’t selling, well for those of you reading this – I just discovered the secret! The cause-and-effect reasons, the deep dark information you’ve been waiting for, the super secret to make your domains sell like coke on a hot day!

Wait a minute, it’s not a secret. In fact, it’s common sense. Your domain isn’t selling right now because it’s sitting on a list and because you’re reading my post rather than making valuable connections with potential end-users. Don’t exit the window just yet though, I may not have the hidden secret for selling domains without work, but that’s because there is no secret.

Instead, I have a simple method you can follow to ensure that you are actively marketing your domains. These are the first steps to making the rest of your sales a bit easier, and for many of you the first steps to making your first domain sale. These five steps will get you actively marketing in no time.

Step 1 – Promote to Obvious Potential End-Users:

Some things are easier than you think, and simply making a couple logical connections might help you sell an otherwise dormant domain. Many domainers will stand there looking at you wide-eyed with a confused expression on their face – at the mention of an end-user. What do you mean end-user? How the heck am I supposed to find these end users!

Before you get too worked up, let me remind you that I’m talking about “obvious” end users. If your domain just happens to be GolfSaudiArabia.com then an obvious end-user would be in the industry of Saudi Arabia golf, or perhaps travel. When I search Google for “Golf Saudi Arabia,” a collection of private courses, clubs and organizations dominates the first page. So there is your first step – make the obvious connections, create a list of emails from these obvious potential end users, and let them all know what you have to offer. Project the value, and benefit in your offer and you might just make an easy sale.

Step 2 – Promote to Stakeholders in Your Keyword:

Now this may be a slightly confusing title, but the potency of this tactic is derived from the potential buyers “current” investment in a similar marketing venture.

For those who aren’t currently aware, a strong keyword domain can provide a distinguishable and permanent advantage for many companies. One major benefit to owning a keyword domain, is the potential optimization (higher rankings) in search engines. Let’s use the domain “AnalyzeROI.com” as an example. Want to know an effective way to market a similar domain?

Go to Google, open up another window right now and search the phrase “Analyze ROI” in the search box. On the right side you’ll notice a collection of sponsored links, the AdWords ads that companies are dishing out from 20 cents to upwards of 3 dollars just for a single click. These sponsored links, or potential buyers as I like to think of them, immediately provide you with a source of buyers for your domain. The added advantage is that these companies are already money for this keyword – why not give them the “once in a lifetime oppourtunity to capture that keyword, permanently. “

Step 3 – Using the Internet to Your Advantage:

Everyday it gets a little easier to spread the word, so why aren’t we all taking advantage of this?

The internet allows for instant and organized communication, from blogs and social networks to instant messaging and voice over IP(VOIP). A collaboration of users who have common interests gather in the masses to share their thoughts and hear others. So get in there!

Locate some blogs, social networks, facebook groups, twitter contacts or whatever you can think of to find and connect with people. Spread the word, if your domain is marketing related, then follow some marketing blogs, join a marketing social network and spread the word of your offer. Not only can you find user’s who have a common interest in your particular domain name (though maybe not the idea of domaining) but you are creating exposure and potentially increasing demand for your product. Leave some well-written posts or make lasting connections – the choice is yours, but there now you know one more way to get your word out there.

Step 4 – Create an Enticing Landing Page:

If you type your domains into the address bar what comes up? I would bet it’s a parked page littered with useless ads, or perhaps you’ve even found a nice affiliate template to scare aware traffic? For those of you who can type in your domain name and see something meaningful – you’re truly among the few who do so.

Alright, so clearly a developed website is going to be more attractive to a potential buyer than a collection of ads and a skyrocketing bounce rate. What if you can’t afford a developer, and you have little or no development skills of your own? Stop giving up, and start looking up – I’ve got a couple easy solutions.

Create a brief, but well designed landing page. Allow the potential buyer to envision themselves owning that domain, and being successful with it. Express the benefits, both instrumental and impressive, so that you can connect with your audience and plant a psychological hot-button. If you have absolutely no development skills, use a blogging platform like word press or blogger to create your content. These sites will provide you with tutorials to get everything going, and provide the crucial information you need to have your domain redirect to your blog page.

Step 5 – What They See Is What They Get:

It’s always important that your particular domain has something meaningful, whether it’s a copy written sales pitch or a collection of useful resources, the consumer needs to envision their own utility of the website, and how it can make them successful. So now you’ve spent all this work making connections and creating landing pages, but every time you search for your domain name, the old forum post pops up where a grudging appraiser told the world they would only pay $20 for your domain.

Most end users will look for third-party sources of information when making a purchase decision, especially a respectable investment like a domain name. If the search engines are topped with old forum posts or negative publicity – your potential buyer can find that information just as easily as you can. Now what? You could develop tens of websites and optimize them in Google to make your one domain look good, but really is it worth all that work? There is an easier way!

One tool I’ve used in order to sway the public relations of certain domain names is the use of press releases. There are numerous high quality newswires and press release networks, though many of them are expensive. You can find some great value in press releases, whether you look for an affordable press release tool or scout for a free one, a general submission of your press release will get indexed in Google.

Lately I have been testing a couple free press release tools, and while they seem to perform the task at hand, I am not personally recommending the use of them – though you’re welcome to contact me if you wish to discuss them more.

Now to recap, here is a checklist you can use to make sure you are actively marketing your domains:

1. Promote to obvious end-users;
2. Promote to stakeholder in a keyword related to your domain;
3. Use the internet to your advantage – make those connections;
4. Create an enticing landing page;
5. Ensure good public relations are tied to your domain name;

Next time you’re sitting around thinking that you wouldn’t mind some extra cash, for a little bit of your time – remember these 5 steps for success. Actively marketing your domains will fetch you a high selling price and likely at a sooner date. So stop letting your domains sit on a list, at the bottom of the pond – and actively market your domains so they can float above the rest.