Domain name speculation has to be one of the very best ways to
make money on the Internet. It's easy, fun, takes a very low
investment and has a huge profit potential. Businesses and
webmasters are always looking for high quality, marketable
domain names and will pay you big bucks if you have the name
they want. Many people are making a good living buying and
selling domain names. And you can too.

Below I will tell you everything you need to know, including
where to find good domain names that are still available for
registration (for as low as $14.) This used to be one of the
hardest and most frustrating parts of domain investing. In the
past to find good domain names you would have to search, one by
one, until one came up that was available. But now there are
research tools and compiled lists that do this for you! You can
also get lists of domains that have expired, due to non-
payment,
and have been put back into the available pool. More on this
below, but first lets discuss what makes a good domain name.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD DOMAIN NAME:

The suffix is the most important factor. .COM, .NET, and .ORG
are by far the most popular. Other alternative domains like
.WS,
.TV, .FM, are becoming more and more popular because they are
wide open. For example where you couldn't get DW.com you can
still get DW.ws (well maybe not anymore). For now, I would
stick
with .COM because they will be the easiest to sell.

Would a webmaster or business want it? Ask yourself that
question and if you can't instantly say "Yes!" than don't buy
it. Also the more generic the domain name the better. And
remember it is illegal to register a business name or trademark
that you do not own. This is called "cyber-squatting" and tough
laws are now in place to protect against this.

The shorter the name the better. These are the most memorable
and easiest to market. At the time of writing this, there are
only about a thousand three character domain names left. To
find
out how to get a list of these and four-character domain names
see below.

What names are selling? Do some research on Ebay.com or
Afternic.com (popular domain auctions) and see what names are
selling and for how much. Below are what some domains recently
auctioned for or have current bids at Afternic.com:

Internetbank.com $92,800
E-Privacy.com $35,080
eloans.net $6,060
Ez-HomeLoans.com $4,725
venture-capital.net $14,510
officetravel.com $2,625
qalaxycafe.com $1,890
a1restaurants.com $730
stormnews.com $765
SkinCleanse.com $2,885
LADoctor.com $15,000
MrAirline.com $15,000
Engineering.org $198,895.00

HOW TO FIND HIGH QUALITY DOMAIN NAMES:

There is a myth circulating cyberspace that all the good
domains
are taken already. And although it is true that thousands of
new
domain names are registered everyday, there are still good
names
to found. The best way to find great domains is to subscribe to
expired domain lists. These are compiled lists of the thousands
of repossessed domain names that have been put back into the
domain pool every day. They are available again for anyone to
register and contain some really great names; recently race.com
appeared in one and was snatched up by a lucky subscriber. As a
subscriber you will get first pick at registering these names.
There are two such lists that I know of:

Unclaimed Domains - http://join.at/unclaimed

DNSIndex Expired Domains - http://join.at/DNSIndex

These lists are literally worth thousands of dollars. To get
the
lists all you have to do is subscribe, which is easy and cheap.
Then each week you will receive a fresh list of expired domains
in your email inbox.

You may also purchase a custom keyword search in the recently
expired domain name pool from DNS research -
http://buy.at/DNSResearch .

Other tools to help you find great domain names:

DNS Research - http://buy.at/DNSResearch sells lists of all
available Dictionary Word .COM, .NET, and .ORG domain names.
They also offer lists of remaining three character domain names.

DNS Index - http://join.at/DNSIndex - sells lists of available
three character and four character domain names as well as
custom searches of the expired domain pool.

FREE tools to help you find great domain names:

DomainsWeekly.com offers a free weekly e-zine that includes a
list of over 200 high quality expired and available domain
names. The website also has tons of domain related links,
resources, services, news and more.

NameBoy.com has a great search engine that recommends available
domain names based on a keyword you enter.

NameU.com has a search engine that does pretty much the same
thing except you have to click on each name individually to see
if it is available.

DOMAIN REGISTRATION:

After you find some good domain names, you will need to
register
them. Not too long ago the cost to register a domain name was
$70 for two years. But with new regulations and the
distribution
of registering privileges the cost of registration has become
more affordable. Meaning more profit for you! You can now
register a domain name for as little as $14 for a year. One
place to do this is at DomainsWeekly.com

SELLING YOUR DOMAIN:

The most effective place on the Internet to sell your domain
names is on auction sites. List them first on Ebay.com,
Afternic.com, and Ezdomainauction.com. There are also domain
name brokers that will list your site for free, a fee when
sold,
a fee to list, or both a fee to list and when sold.
GreatDomains.com is a great high traffic site to list on and
you
only pay them only a small percentage when you sell your
domain.
If you have a good domain name, and your price is right it
won't
be long before a buyer bids or contacts you.

Many new domain sellers make the mistake of trying to sell
every
domain name for thousands of dollars. When, in fact, you will
do
much better selling more domains for a few hundred dollars.
This
way you will have a much higher turn around rate. Remember you
are registering the names for $14 and if you sell one for even
$200 that is still a huge 2600% profit!

CONCLUSION:

As you can see, domain name buying and selling is a good way to
make a great deal of money. It's very easy and you can do it in
your spare time. Get started today by subscribing free to
DomainsWeekly.com, subscribing to DNSIndex -
http://join.at/DNSIndex (instant access to expired domains) and
any of the other available and expired domain lists listed
above. Register with Ebay.com and Afternic.com and begin
selling! Good Luck!

About the Author
This publication was written by Wayne Ford,
http://www.DomainsWeekly.com
"And you thought all the good domains were taken!"