3 Easy Ways to Make Money With Spare Domain Names
By Kathy Burns-Millyard
Domain names are dirt cheap these days and so easy to get that it seems like everyone has at least one. Many online affiliate marketers tend to collect domain names though… either they have a new business idea and register a domain name for it, or they simply come across a fantastic domain which isn’t already registered.
So they register domains. In many cases, lots of these domains end up just lying around unused — there just isn’t enough time to develop every single idea you come up with.
You don’t have to let your unused domains just sit around gathering dust. There are actually many ways you can make money from them; here are three of the easiest.
1. Domain Parking — The fastest and simplest way to make money with an unused domain name is to simply park it at a service such as Sedo where you’ll be paid a portion of the click income generated from visitors to the domain.
This isn’t a way to make large amounts of money, of course, unless you have hundreds of extra domains lying around or you happen to have one with tons of traffic. It is a way, however, to at least let the domain name earn its keep. In other words, you can usually earn enough each year to pay for the registration renewal fees. And sometimes you’ll even earn a small bit of profit too.
2. Domain Redirection to Affiliate Products — Another very easy way to create a steady stream of income from unused domains is to simply redirect the domain to an affiliate product or program you’re associated with.
If you have a golf-related domain name for instance, simply point it to a golf-related affiliate product. This way, any time someone finds the domain online, they’ll automatically be taken to your affiliate link for the product in question. And sales can dribble in all year. If the domain has a decent amount of steady traffic, you can even make a decent monthly income with this method.
3. Automated, Self Updating Sites — This is actually one of my favorite things to do with unused domain names; it allows you to slowly grow a larger site which can increase the amount of money it makes over time, increasing the amount of traffic visiting it, and it will be a sellable asset in the future if you decide not to keep it.
Creating automated self updating websites can be done in a variety of ways, too. You can have a blog which parses RSS feeds about a certain topic, or you could have one which posts relevant affiliate products for sale. The site could also feature coupons and special sales or deals, or it could simply be a regularly updating directory on a specific topic.
Since the site regularly updates itself automatically — and especially if it’s published in blog format — it will generate search engine interest, backlinks from other websites, and organic traffic for you daily. And that traffic is likely to grow over time because your site continues to be updated regularly.
Kathy Burns-Millyard publishes the Affiliate Marketing Profit Tools blog where you can learn how to create an automated self updating site on your spare domains.
