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Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

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Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#181

Post by pc86 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #99
pc86 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is making money a questionable financial motivation? I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson. It's so they can make $3 off your Amazon purchase. For all the talk of side projects and acquisitions and growth hacking and SEO, HN tends to have an inherent distrust of anyone attempting to make money online by any w…

> I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson. It's so they can make $3 off your Amazon purchase. You'd be surprised. That's what differentiates the ad-based Internet from the good old Internet "by people, for people". Personally, my way of searching for / evaluating a product is to find a legitimate (not sponsored) community…

> the good old Internet "by people, for people"

Just like the good old days of America?

Neither was as great as we would like to think it was.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#182

Post by vinceguidry »

Whitestrake wrote: post #167
vinceguidry wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're putting the cart before the horse. Going by domain name is the equivalent of planting your business on the side of the highway. You're going to get a ton of traffic just based on walk-ins alone.

What about taking the generic domain name and redirecting to a domain name for your actual brand?

Unlikely to work half as well.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#183

Post by vtlynch »

pc86 wrote: post #71
vtlynch wrote: post #3

>I immediately gravitate towards the keyword descriptive dotCOM. It instantly exudes trust & authority Strongly disagree. As a result of this type of thinking, I find that the majority of "keyword descriptive dotCOM" domains are usually click-bait or shady content marketing. Sites like "VacuumReviews.com" are almost always full of content focused on SEO not quality, and questionable financial motivations. But I guess…

Since when is making money a questionable financial motivation? I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson. It's so they can make $3 off your Amazon purchase. For all the talk of side projects and acquisitions and growth hacking and SEO, HN tends to have an inherent distrust of anyone attempting to make money online by any w…

>I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson.

There are literally dozens of sites for every niche and topic where people are writing about it for personal satisfaction. Rather shocking you would think that given the number of personal blogs that pop up on HN.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#184

Post by vtlynch »

conductr wrote: post #47
adventured wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The general public no longer types domain names. I partially disagree. My opinion is that the general public has learned to type the first letter/s of a site they've previously visited, into their browser url bar. The median Pinterest user on the Web is not going to Google to get to Pinterest.com, even if a small percentage of users do so. Typing those first letters into the browser has become radically more common…

I tend to agree with your view, or am biased because it reflects my pattern. However I would add, browsers (Chrome at least) have a bit of a dark pattern that pushes people towards a search making searches very common although not always needed/intended. For example, when I type the first 4 letters of my bank's URL, the omnibox has 3 suggestions prior to the direct bank URL even though it's a site I frequently visit…

>For example, when I type the first 4 letters of my bank's URL, the omnibox has 3 suggestions prior to the direct bank URL even though it's a site I frequently visit and google knows that. They want me to search "BANK NAME" because then I'm more likely to click on the top link which of course is an ad.

This is strange. For nearly every letter on the keyboard, Chrome's first suggestion in the address bar is a site I regularly visit. I.e. for p its paypal.com, for e its ebay.com.

There are almost no cases where the first suggestion isnt a direct URL. I wonder what settings differ between us.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#185

Post by OJFord »

biot wrote: post #116
azdle wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think I need to get away from the term 'access system' everyone I've asked didn't get it and I think that was the main part of the confusion. I'm thinking something more along the lines of "Can your front door call you? Let the ninja get it instead. Knock.Ninja can open the door for guests and deliveries automatically in any building that uses phone-based entry request systems." That still gets too technical…

"Receive a phone call from your building's front door directory. Let them in with the push of a button." Though doesn't this already exist for every building? Certainly it's standard (required?) for multi-unit residential buildings.

That's not what this does though - it hooks into a system like that to automatically let in certain people at certain times, as a one-off, or until the owner/tenant next returns, etc.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#186

Post by macca321 »

hrayr wrote: post #8

I sometimes buy domain names on my phone, late at night, in my bed. Usually after hours of laying in bed building out a business in my mind and iterating over and over to see where it leads. Buying the domain name seems to be the last step in the processes, it helps me sleep. I look at the list of my domains every once in a while and pick ideas to work on, but sometimes I have no idea what drove me to buy them, like…

I made a thread for this a while back, its a fun read

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9334927

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#187

Post by logfromblammo »

thewavelength wrote: post #177
cblock811 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually watched a friend google Facebook and go to the website through the results... It seemed so strange to me. Maybe some people have become trained to do that? I've only seen it once but it stuck with me as odd.

Lucky you. Even informatics students go further: 1. Type google.com into the address bar. They don't know that modern browsers can directly redirect search input to your favorite search engine. 2. Type the domain (including extension) to the google search input. 3. Click on the first link. I honestly fear the future.

The most horrifying part is that they probably do this every time they want to visit that domain, and don't even know what a bookmark is.

Never mind about writing link1link2... and using a simple list of their favorite links as their home page.

My only consolation is that when these people grow up and have some money to spend, the HN crowd will all look like Odin, with all the magic we can work using our mastery of the runes. I bet I sacrificed some of my eyesight by sitting too closely to old, low-res CRT monitors, too.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#188

Post by mikejarema »

eightturn wrote: post #137
mikejarema wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the process to assess whether a domain is on the naughty list?

something simple.. you can simply go to google and type site:domainnamedollarstore.com (example) if google returns no results = no bueno

Thanks... but is that the extent of it?

I'm familiar with this syntax but thought that Google's punishments take the form more of a sliding scale (which diminishes general authority or prevalence for certain searches) than a binary system (good/show, bad/hide). And that simply checking the index as above wouldn't reveal too much actionable info. Eg. if a domain is categorized as having adult content.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#189

Post by swalsh »

erikb wrote: post #144
swalsh wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own meatgalore.com, I thought it would be a cool idea to have a business that sold rare meats and cuts online... but never really got the supply chain worked out. We should link to each other.

Have you heard of the money making machine called "gay porn industry"? Just a suggestion.

Something tells me I need more than a great domain name to get into the industry.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#190

Post by Cpoll »

azdle wrote: post #50
Cpoll wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always heard it being called a "buzzer" (unless I'm misunderstanding the service). I also think the hook should be short, followed by a bullet-point of features. Knock.ninja handles your building buzzer for you. * Works for any building with a phone-based lobby buzzer. * Manages automatic-unlock codes. * Starts the coffee machine as soon as your guests buzz up. * Whispers to you in your sleep.

You're getting it right. The problem with terms like "buzzer", IMO, is that they're super generic and very regional. But I suppose it might be more generally understandable than what I've got, I guess I should try it on a few people.

> The problem with terms like "buzzer", IMO, is that they're super generic and very regional.

Yeah, I was thinking that too.

If you want to get really cute, you could localize it based on IP Address :)

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