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The domain name industry is somewhat of a secret industry, but not by choice. The general public knows little about domain names and the players involved. It is a common misconception that “domaining” is a form of cybersquatting but the two are not at all the same.

What is Cybersquatting?

Cybersquatters infringe on existing trademarks for personal gain or diluting an established brand’s image. Cybersquatting is illegal and trademark violators can be reported through a process called UDRP. Brands can reclaim their domain names being squatted on with an agreement or in court. To prevent cybersquatters brands must register their trademarks with the Trademark Clearinghouse.

What is Domaining?

Dominers profit from selling domain names acquired fairly and in good faith. Their investments are made from experience and a great understanding of the domain market.

Whenever people first learn of domaining they believe they will be the next great domain investor (just ask any of our new employees ;)).

Here are some tips from our very own closet-domainer:

Closet domainer: A domain name investor who is in denial that he/she is indeed one. Common characteristics includes: owning more than 800 domains, holding debates at work about which domain name would be a better investment, always up to date on domain launch phases, needs an intervention.

  • Don’t follow keywords, follow your gut
  • Register 10 different domain name extensions to start playing around with and find different customers for each to see if you can sell them. You can start from looking at a list of the new gTLDs or these international domains.
  • Check out these sites: similarweb.com, estibot.com, flippa.com, namejet.com and this list of the top 10 domain appraisal tools.
  • Any domain name that makes sense and looks good is Premium

It’s a running joke around our office that he is a domainer but doesn’t consider himself to be one. Our question to you is when does one become a domainer? Tweet us @101domain with your response #WhatMakesADomainer!