Wanted: Domain Appraisal dancers.co.uk

[domainseller200]

I have received a mid £x,xxx offer for this yesterday and it has got me thinking again.

I have always had the idea of creating a member based site - similar to what http://www.purestorm.com has done for Models and they currently have 18,600+ UK models on their website.

Dancing / Dancers have grown huge over the last couple of years with the popularity of all the prime time TV competitions on BBC, ITV and Sky such as

Dancing On Ice
Strictly Come Dancing
Got To Dance (http://sky1.sky.com/dance)
So You Think You Can Dance (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tqp9y)

Obviously these type of programs have created an influx of wannabes looking for fame as dancers, and also brought some real talented dancers into the public eye.

I have looked at the figures quite conservatively and looked at offering different levels of membership (both paid and free) aiming to get the average member paying £25 a year (which isn't expensive if it helped them to possibly be 'discovered')

£25 a year and 1,000 members signed up would be £25k annual income with huge room for growth and expansion, with the actual website pretty much running itself. This is the base target level and one I feel is realistically achievable.

Lots of ways to promote and raise awareness about the site also, by targetting particular demographics on both Facebook and Twitter.

There are no 'real' decent websites out there for this idea, and I think it could be a good opportunity to explore.

I would really appreciate some thoughts and views from others

 

[aaclapham]

This is one of those projects that will be time consuming at the start, but could take off if the press get a hold of it.

Its really shouting out for a partnership with someone in the dance industry - a name to give it some buzz.

Once established it will run itself.

Good luck

 

[domainseller200]

It comes down to whether you have the ideas, the time, the expertise, the interest and the appropriate finances to make, whatever you are vaguely thinking of doing, a success. Do you know anything about dancing? Do you have a portfolio or any examples of successful developed web sites, along the lines of what you thinking of doing here, that you can show us?

Thanks for your reply.

I don't need to showcase my portfolio of websites on here to show you whether I can make this a success or not. Those who know me, know of my involvement with some pretty successful websites already, and on even better domain names than dancers.co.uk and the level which I work at, and I am not trying to prove if I can do it or not - just looking for ideas really.

No I don't know anything about dancing, but I don't know anything about any of my websites which are successful, so that is not my main issue. I tick all the other boxes though, with the only other one being time.

Maybe a JV as Andrew suggested above could be a good way to go with it.

I don't need to sell it for the money, and this enquiry has rekindled my idea which I have now had for sometime, as the industry is becoming bigger and more popular.

Thanks again

 

[susannah]

It sounds an exciting project - all the more important to do some very hard-nosed thinking about the total expenditure of effort involved.

Handled well, it could become a hub for all sorts of things of interest to the thousands of people up and down the country who belong to salsa clubs, other types of dance etc

Would there be scope to link up with a company that sells dancewear?

Could there be a facility for wannabe dancers to post or link to clips of their dancing?

A forum where others could review the dancing that people post? And discuss dancing programmes on TV?

If your site could become a sort of hub that dancers and club members up and down the country log on to, with a lively forum, and useful info, then it could attract thousands of members.

Obviously the calculation to make is how much work would be involved, and whether the return justified that work, but that's obvious.

Have you googled around to see if there is ANY UK equivalent,because if not, then you may have intuitively identified a niche.

Personally, I wouldn't feel confident unless it was something I knew quite a lot about. I realise the skills needed for web and community development are separate to dancing skills, but if I was going to devote a huge amount of time, then I'd want it to involve something I was really interested in and could feel enthused about and sort of 'bought into'.

But I'm not doubting your ability. I guess with a lot of these things, it's not "Can" it be done, but do you have the conviction it will succeed to give you the determination to want to do it.

 

[accelerator]

It is a very good name and dancing is very fashionable. I am sure that a good website could get a lot of traffic, but it is the age old question of development effort vs return. There are so many ways it could be monetised, but as far as the dancer paid sign up goes, I can see issues with that, mainly that a dancer would not get any quality "leads". There is a reason why things like dance agencies exist because they serve/assist both the dancer and the employer.

However, other revenue models could be considered, e.g. advertising on user uploaded dance videos, but the effort/return might fall away.

I see where you're coming from on potential, but other web sectors are more easily monetisable. Still, it could do well. There might be some opportunity from dance business advertising.

Overall, a finely balanced decision on whether to sell the name.

Rgds

 

[wb]

I wouldn't sell it for four figures and if you don't need the money then definitely get it developed

There is one website I know of which focuses on modelling and is based on a similar membership idea. The website isn't overly special and it has 1000+ members at £20/year. The membership gives people a profile and access to the members area which I think is mostly just articles and jobs/competitions to apply for.

There was a programme on BBC3 recently called 'Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys' which according to the website says it's not available to watch online but it basically showed the lengths people will go to in order to get work dancing in music videos etc. I think the market for models is obviously stronger, however with the instantly credible 'dancers' domain and strong development it could be very profitable.

 

[domainseller200]

It sounds an exciting project - all the more important to do some very hard-nosed thinking about the total expenditure of effort involved.

Handled well, it could become a hub for all sorts of things of interest to the thousands of people up and down the country who belong to salsa clubs, other types of dance etc

Would there be scope to link up with a company that sells dancewear?

Could there be a facility for wannabe dancers to post or link to clips of their dancing?

A forum where others could review the dancing that people post? And discuss dancing programmes on TV?

If your site could become a sort of hub that dancers and club members up and down the country log on to, with a lively forum, and useful info, then it could attract thousands of members.

Obviously the calculation to make is how much work would be involved, and whether the return justified that work, but that's obvious.

Have you googled around to see if there is ANY UK equivalent,because if not, then you may have intuitively identified a niche.

Personally, I wouldn't feel confident unless it was something I knew quite a lot about. I realise the skills needed for web and community development are separate to dancing skills, but if I was going to devote a huge amount of time, then I'd want it to involve something I was really interested in and could feel enthused about and sort of 'bought into'.

But I'm not doubting your ability. I guess with a lot of these things, it's not "Can" it be done, but do you have the conviction it will succeed to give you the determination to want to do it.

Thanks for your comments and input It is definalty a niche that is not being fully exploited, and this is why I am keen to do something with it - I just have lots of other websites which take up my time and also names with equal / better potential than this one.

You have given me some additional ideas, so I really appreciate your input

 

[domainseller200]

Given I don't know anything about you, or who you are, how else do you expect me, or anyone else that doesn't know who you are, to give you an opinion about your capabilities as a good developer? This is relevant because if I/we perceived you as a poor developer then one viable option would be for you to sell the domain name and make something from that. However if I/we perceived you as a great developer, and have had some brilliant ideas in the past, then I/we might suggest you had the capabilities to make this work.

Fair comment I suppose - PM sent

I'd be very surprised if you didn't have some understanding of the sectors relating to your successful web sites. Perhaps you're not an expert, but surely you know how to make the right decisions to ensure you getting a good ROI; unless it was all just pot luck?

Yes of course, but some markets are clear winners just from the size and value of the markets and being ranked for the correct keywords in those markets

I'd concur with that, given you've admitted that you don't know anything about dancing Otherwise you can develop it with the obvious (i.e. relevant affiliate links, video, social media and a forum) and then cross your fingers and hope.

If you looked at purestorm, you would have a better idea of what I meant in relation to dancers.co.uk

Give Louie Spence a call!

He was my first thought tbh ha ha

 

[domainseller200]

I wouldn't sell it for four figures and if you don't need the money then definitely get it developed

There is one website I know of which focuses on modelling and is based on a similar membership idea. The website isn't overly special and it has 1000+ members at £20/year. The membership gives people a profile and access to the members area which I think is mostly just articles and jobs/competitions to apply for.

There was a programme on BBC3 recently called 'Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys' which according to the website says it's not available to watch online but it basically showed the lengths people will go to in order to get work dancing in music videos etc. I think the market for models is obviously stronger, however with the instantly credible 'dancers' domain and strong development it could be very profitable.

Thanks This is my thoughts exactly tbh and I know it could do well if exploited and presented in the right way

 

[markb]

I say sell it on to someone who will actualy develop it. You've got much better domains which could earn you more if you developed them. I dont see this making a lot of money,unless, obviously you where to work on it full time and dedicate lots of effort to it.

 

[doodlebug]

Undev'd I would say 5k, it could earn good money PA but until then I am saying 3k to 5k

 

[markb]

On second thoughts i think this is a very good domain, if models (.co.uk) managed to sell for 100k for a modelling website then this should be worth 20k to 30k to the right buyer. You may have to keep hold of it for a while or do some agressive advertising of the domain.

 

[Blossom]

I only had a quick look at purestorm, but I think doing the same thing for dancers is a great idea. Possibly with more social networking links and maybe even separate accounts/business-style pages for companies, theatres, schools, groups, troupes etc.

Guess it would end up being Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, and myspace for dancers? Add in a shop and auctions/listings (must be plenty of obsessed parents out there wanting to sell/buy clothes and accessories for kids, not to mention all the affiliate stuff around the west end and local theatres could sell tickets on there too) and it would be massive.

 

[retired_member32]

youtube embedded into each profile so prospective dancers can upload themselves prancing about into there own profile,i would charge the dancers £XX per year and the agents nothing to enter....

it's a winner

 

[domainseller200]

thanks for your comments today guys - this is exactly what I was thinking / talking about originally. I honestly think it has great potential and could do very very well with the right input.

Thanks

 

[theonemanyuri]

I think it's worth developing, once it's initally set up and launched it will, as you say, pretty much run itself. I don't know how much income you make so i can't say whether it would be worth your time to do it, but £25k a year to me would definetely be worth the effort. More than the day job pays!

 

[kontakt]

nice domain

 

[Warren]

I sent you a PM with a suggestion for someone to contact for a Joint-Venture. It's a "dancing" celebrity that I happened to meet recently who has a lot of fans and a lot of traffic and is looking for some way to make money from his traffic online...could be a perfect match for this domain.

Good luck with a great domain!