So, the blog auction ended the other day and as of right now, there was no purchase. But that doesn’t mean it is officially over. The reason is the fact that apparently after your listing ends on flippa.com with no purchase, then your listing gets sent over to “private listings” for the next six months.

Now, I had a few serious bidders but it doesn’t seem as though any of them wanted to meet my reserve price so I am still here. I actually turned away a few paid reviews as well as a couple of advertisers in anticipation of a sale so I could send them over to the new owner but it looks like that won’t need to happen.

Luckily for me, there are companies that get response from my paid reviews and private ads that they continue to come back.

A commentator, Jon, mentioned that there was a drawback from why a potential buyer wouldn’t purchase DatMoney and its simply because I mentioned I was starting a new blog. I think there was a slight misunderstanding on that part because he (and I’m assuming others) thought it was just going to be a new entrepreneur blog. But I mentioned that it was going to be a more personal blog and not necessarily focused all on online entrepreneurship and making money.

I was just mentioning the fact of starting that type of blog so people can keep in touch with me if they wanted to. I’m hoping my subscribers stay with the potential new owner because I believe everyone has a chance to prove themselves. And if my subscribers approve, they will stay. If not, then it’s just like any other subscriber for any blog.

In addition, people subscribe for various blogs for different reasons.  But the most important part is the content.  So, if anybody was to take over and continued good content then they shouldn’t worry.

But I’m trying to get coordinated once again because I had a lot of switches I made, primarily with my hosting, e-mails, etc.  So, if you sent me an e-mail and I have yet to respond, more than likely I haven’t received it yet because some minor issues transferring my e-mails from my host to my computer. Update: If you sent me an e-mail to the datmoney account, you might have received a bounce back.  I believe I fixed the issue so please resend it.  Thanks!

Anyways, I’m still in talks with some private bidders but as of right now, I will stay be here. I will still be updating DatMoney. And yes, I will try to keep you guys entertained!

Stay tuned!  Don’t change that dial… or is it type in a different URL?

There’s less than three days left of my current blog auction and honestly, there have only been about four serious bidders who I have been chatting with and answering any questions they have. Though, one of them pulled out recently, which is fine. It was actually a friend of mine telling me that I should keep the site because I’ll probably benefit from DatMoney in the long run.

Like I said, if it doesn’t meet the reserve price, I will not sell DatMoney. It’s just as simple as that. Though, it seems as though I have a few people really interested. But let’s say I’m not holding my breath.

I was also having a few discussions with people and a lot of them brought up the fact that I spent money on the auction. I believe I spent about 50 dollars, give or take a few dollars on it. Everyone mentioned that it’d be money wasted if I didn’t sell the site. But in actuality, even if I don’t sell the site, you can look at it like I just paid for advertising.

According to my Google Analytics, I received about 339 visitors just based on the auction. So, if I spent $50, I got a pretty good click-per-cost ratio. For each visitor that I received, it cost be about $0.15. Let’s say if I were to advertise on a medium/big sized blog in a similar niche, I can tell you that the click-per-cost ratio wouldn’t be as good.

Usually, it’d be a little higher in cost. Probably someone in the $0.20-$0.40 range if the blog is pretty good.

For some of you guys that have been loyal to me for the entire time DatMoney has been around, don’t you worry. I actually started a new blog as a backup so you guys can still hangout with me even if I sold this blog. And I promise I’ll give good advice on that blog as well… though, it’ll be a little more personal as well. I may talk about some foods and crap I eat… but shhh… don’t tell anyone!

Anyways, we’ll see what happens in less than three days!

A lot of you guys expressed your opinions on my blog sale that is up for auction but I wanted to address a few things for those of you guys that are slightly concerned and don’t want me to sell. I will not sell DatMoney if the reserve price is not met.

Just because I put DatMoney up for auction, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will sell. I have a few potential buyers that had discussions with me privately but that doesn’t mean they will officially buy. Especially since I have a set price in mind and if I don’t manage to get that, I feel as though there’s no point for me selling the blog.

As you guys are aware by now, the main reason why I’m even selling is the fact that I need financial reinsurance just incase anything happens from my day job. But if the sale doesn’t give me that financial reinsurance, then there’s no point in selling, is there?

Plus, I’m a little hesitate on selling it to begin with.

Also, a lot of people are hesitate that the new buyer will change so many things and maybe not bring great content to this blog. But the few potential buyers that expressed interest, well, they already have blogs and have been working online for quite sometime. So, although the writing style may be different, the content, especially the helpful ones, should still be there.

Personally, I was never that fond of my writing style but if you guys enjoy it, that’s all that matters to me. I mean, there’s a reason why you guys are still around, huh?

But I would just like to say this again, I will not sell DatMoney if the reserve price is not met. And if it doesn’t sell, I’m just going to have to work 10 times harder on it. Though, it’ll be tough because of the time constraint.  But everything happens for a reason and if it doesn’t sell, I guess DatMoney was meant to stay with me to make money.

Anyways, I hope you guys don’t unsubscribe or leave me just yet. I may not even leave you guys at all. Though, the auction lasts for 7-8 more days so you never know what will happen… we’ll see soon enough!

Side Note: I’ll still be working online so I’ll still be around to help out if the blog does sell.  I’ll let you know my details if DatMoney gets sold.

Honestly, I didn’t want to put DatMoney up for sale but a few things have come up recently. I figured I’d address the issue because a few of you guys have contacted me on instant messenger about this already.

You can check out the auction at Flippa right now if you want. I only listed it for 14 days because I’m in a time crunch.

So, Why Am I Selling DatMoney?

Not exactly my first choice. And I know you guys have probably heard that from every single online entrepreneur that has put their site up for sale. But for me, the main reason is the fact that my day job isn’t going as well as I would have hoped so I’m trying to cover my tracks as a backup plan. If I can sell DatMoney, the money will cover me for a while.

Of course, I’m hoping it will sell for the reserve or BIN because if it doesn’t, I may have to reconsider simply because 1) I just don’t want to sell it and 2) there’s no point of selling it if the money doesn’t cover me for the next few months.

In addition, if I do end up leaving my job, I’ll have to take some time to figure out what I will be doing with my life. Maybe apply for some new jobs. Maybe work harder on my online business. Maybe do illegal things on the street. Haha… okay, that last one isn’t an option for me. But I’ll probably have less time to dedicate to DatMoney.

Anyone Interested or Know Someone Who’d be Interested?

Some people will agree or disagree with my prices. And I know everyone has their story behind what it should and shouldn’t be. But I value my site and I know the potential it has. Matter of fact, my best from this blog alone was probably like $1,000. So, if you multiply that by the standard 10x, that’s still less than the BIN.

But does anyone know someone who’d be interested in taking over DatMoney? Of course, I’d be willing to help out as much as they would need until they get situated and comfortable.

You can see the various ways that I’ve made money from DatMoney at the auction. Though, I didn’t include every single aspect, I was just trying to show the potential just based off of a few examples.

If someone helps me sell the blog at the BIN price, I will give you 2.5% of the price. That may not sound like a lot but I’ll be giving you the 2.5% that the buyer would be paying. If it sells for the BIN, you’d get over $200.

Anyways, I’m getting pretty sad just talking about it. Don’t worry, I’m going to try to get as many things done before and if the site sells. And yes, that includes an eBook, getting out all the passwords, etc, etc.

And don’t get sad just yet, I may not even sell the site if it doesn’t hit the reserve.

This is part two of the site flipping series and you guys should all know this one: How to pick a domain name and registrar. I’m sure a bunch of you guys still use dot blogspot blogs but technically you can’t sell those sites. And when I say “technically”, I think it’s actually against their TOS to sell it so accepting money then transferring is still illegal.

There are plenty of domain registrar sites to buy your domain name from and people prefer ones over others for whatever reason. I tend to go with reputable sites because I’m a name brand type of person (most of the time). I feel as though you get what you pay for. It’s almost equivalent to cheap hosting, in the long run you’re probably going to get screwed.

You guys should all remember my post “This is Why You Should NOT Get Cheap Web Hosting.”

Which Domain Registrar Do I Use?

Personally, I usually go with GoDaddy but with all the additional things that come with it, it gets expensive. I mean, keeping your information private, business stuff, etc. But the good thing about them is the fact that they always have coupons and discounts to save money.

The other one I started using half way through last year was Name.com. The reason why I started using them is because they started off at like $5.99 for dot com names. Next thing you know it just keeps inflating until $8.99.

Though, that’s still pretty cheap especially the fact that the private WHOIS (where they keep your information private) is completely free. In addition, you can use Google accounts with it as well at no additional charge.

So in the long run, you pay $8.99 and not $8.99 + $4.99 + $6.99.

How to Pick a Domain Name

Honestly, this all depends on the person. You can use just about any domain name if you know exactly what you are doing but essentially, you want to pick a domain name in which people would remember. You want it to be brandable and if you have a specific keyword/niche you’re trying to target, you might want to try to include that within the domain, if you can.

There are a bunch of ways and methods I use to pick a good domain name.

Use your Main Keyword as the Domain - Let’s say you already did your keyword research and say your main keyword is “Xbox 360 Cheats”, you would try to get “xbox360cheats.com”.

Of course, this is extremely hard because most of the highly searched for keyword domains are gone. But there are still a lot of them left. Plus, you can always try to go with something like “BESTxbox360cheats.com” that way you’re still including your targeted keyword within the domain.

The reason for this is because having the keyword in the domain name could potentially help you rank in search engines. I’ve done it a bunch of times on smaller sites and it actually works with very minimal linkage.

Shorter = Better? Not necessarily but if you can get a domain name with four characters or less, that is pretty rare. Honestly, if you can, I would consider just selling the domain name instead of creating a site for it. I’m sure you can get some decent money just off of that.

Brandable and Easy to Remember Domains - If you are creative (or lucky), you should have no problem with this one.

Like I mentioned, if you can get a short domain name then that’s golden. Unfortunately, nowadays you won’t be able to find a three letter or even a four letter domain name that is available. If you can, then you are one of the lucky few!

But just because it’s not short, it doesn’t mean you can’t get a easy to remember or brandable domain. You want to come up with something catchy, that sticks in people’s heads. Who cares if it’s corny or cliche, they will still remember it.

You guys remember “ListLunatic.com”, that was pretty brandable and easy to remember.

You Want to Avoid Words that Connect with Each Other with the Same Letter – For instance, “gamecodessite”. Notice how there are two S letters right next to each other. More often than not, when someone is typing that into their web browser, they’re going to forget about that second S. Which could possibly have you lose out on another visitor, subscriber, buyer, etc.

A majority of the time, I go to instantdomainsearch.com because it’ll tell you if it’s available or not instantly. Though, sometimes they aren’t 100 percent up-to-date but for the most part it’s pretty handy.

When it comes down to it, you don’t really have to have a great domain name to flip a site. Though, I almost always try to get a brandable domain name simply because it’s just another good selling point to convince your buyer on the worth of your site.

Anyways, how do you guys pick domain names and registrars? Let me know!