Membership is FREE, giving all registered users unlimited access to every Acorn Domains feature, resource, and tool! Optional membership upgrades unlock exclusive benefits like profile signatures with links, banner placements, appearances in the weekly newsletter, and much more - customized to your membership level!

Domain Leasing Affiliate Program Proposal

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Posts
6
Reaction score
0
Afternoon All,

I've recently agreed to manage the domains.co.uk affiliate program and after discussions with a few affiliates and networks, we've come to the conclusion it's not a normal program

Domains.co.uk leases domain names on a rolling or fixed contract.

We've been building tracking technologies such as unique forms and click tracking (also looking into the possibility of custom phone numbers for affiliates to give out) but I've set up the program so if you know someone who is interested in a domain, you just simply cc me into an email with them and if they lease a domain name the sale is attributed to you.

We've been looking at what commission we should be offering and the proposal is 10% of the first months payment on a domain lease and then a rolling 2% on all further months.

I think this could be a nice offering, I know a lot of this program will be based on trust and feedback but I will be available via email, phone, skype, instant message and will keep you up to date with everything.

That's the current thought but I'd like to get your feedback on what would make you interested.
 
Whats the protection if I see I can get £100 / £20pm etc for ABC.co.uk and I email ABC Ltd who then kick off and DRS / go legal etc

What is the come back on me, the domain owner, you and the like?
 
who's the gormless looking jelly in the yellow t-shirt on the homepage - looks like he's been drinking and taking heroin all night..
 
who's the gormless looking jelly in the yellow t-shirt on the homepage - looks like he's been drinking and taking heroin all night..

Me thinks only someone who knows him very well could make that comment lol.

It's a great chance for a nice revenue stream for all those who call businesses already trying to sell domains.
 
Sounds interesting but the commission rate seems very low. After the lease deal's set up and running, the costs involved with collecting the payments should be relatively slight and - other than the opportunity cost of not having that domain name free to sell/lease to someone else - there are few other overheads involved. In other words, it's an extremely profitable business once the deal is closed. As such, I'd have thought you could afford to be MUCH more generous with the commish and still make money hand over fist.

For example, if it were 30% of the first month's payment (or more - why stop there?) and 10% ongoing that might actually start to look like enough money for affiliates to get truly proactive with their marketing. On a 500/month name, that would be 150 pounds for landing the "fish" and then 50 pounds a month for as long as it stays on the hook - and would add up to 700 pounds in year 1. At the same time, domains.co.uk would have made 5,300 pounds in the same timeframe for what is really very little effort (the buyer's been essentially walked in through the door for you) so it's win-win. And the more generous you get, the more it makes sense for others to devote energy and resources to the programme.
 
We've been looking at what commission we should be offering and the proposal is 10% of the first months payment on a domain lease and then a rolling 2% on all further months.

As Edwin says. The payback isn't enough and no Agency or Web Design company is going to be enthusiastically convincing and encouraging to a client for a paltry 2%.
 
who's the gormless looking jelly in the yellow t-shirt on the homepage - looks like he's been drinking and taking heroin all night..

ROFLMAO
it's snowing AGAIN here. 3 inches already, :mad:, needed something to make me crack up laughing
thanks Julian :D
 
With the sound off it looks like someone rambling on about last nights acid trip, reminds me of Super Hans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRS41-7MTSs

Sorry if I might have offended anyone, might have to explain my reasoning...

First of all I think domain leasing, renting or whatever you call it is a big joke... Why would you rent something, grow it and then have to pay more for it or give it back... If I had a company I would buy another domain and get it ranking, would give me something more tangible..

Secondly, I dont know who runs the toko but I think that having someone in a yellow tee explaining about your business on your homepage doesn't really make your business very trustworthy to people..
 
Last edited:
At 2%, forget it - I wouldn't be interested.

Like Edwin says, all the hard work is done in selling them it, then there is no real costs. The payoff needs to be significantly higher.

I'm assuming this is aimed at seo companies/web designers, who have a great chance to convince clients of the benefits of it before they start. If we do all the work, I think 20% ongoing is far more reasonable than 2%.

Otherwise, I'd rather just find them a domain on the aftermarket, buy it and add on a finders fee for doing the work.
 
First of all I think domain leasing, renting or whatever you call it is a big joke... Why would you rent something, grow it and then have to pay more for it or give it back... If I had a company I would buy another domain and get it ranking, would give me something more tangible..

If you need to ask why then you don't firmly believe in the large value of exact match short generic names, with that reasoning why should anyone pay £xxx,xxx for flowers.co.uk when xyzflowers.co.uk can be bought for £6.

Some either believe in the reasoning or do not... without either being 100% correct, you could buy a reg fee name & rank it or lease the best name and possibly get there quicker & easier, that can be justification enough. Nothing lasts forever, getting caught up with 'ownership' is not the point, at the end of the day every time you register a name you lease it for 2 years, a well worded lease can give you the protection you need and the benefits that other domains possibly cannot.
 
If you need to ask why then you don't firmly believe in the large value of exact match short generic names, with that reasoning why should anyone pay £xxx,xxx for flowers.co.uk when xyzflowers.co.uk can be bought for £6.

Some either believe in the reasoning or do not... without either being 100% correct, you could buy a reg fee name & rank it or lease the best name and possibly get there quicker & easier, that can be justification enough. Nothing lasts forever, getting caught up with 'ownership' is not the point, at the end of the day every time you register a name you lease it for 2 years, a well worded lease can give you the protection you need and the benefits that other domains possibly cannot.

I do believe in generics, I own enough generics to know the benefits and value of them, I simply don't believe in leasing something at an overpriced price and having to invest in it to get it ranking/promoted and then ending up having nothing in the end while the owner of the domain actually benefits from it.

Therefore I would rather settle for less and own the domain and spend the money which I would spend on lease on my own "xyz" domain on promotion and linkbuilding knowing that it would be mine and would give me future revenues without having to rely on an external party.

Maybe its just my way of thinking about business/economics/investing...
 
Hi all. Thanks for all the feedback so far. I am Harvey by the way, the crack head in the video :shock: - must admit, its not my best side! Potential reevaluation process on the horizon + a counselling session to restore some self esteem! :p Thank you! ;)

Whats the protection if I see I can get £100 / £20pm etc for ABC.co.uk and I email ABC Ltd who then kick off and DRS / go legal etc

What is the come back on me, the domain owner, you and the like?

Great question. First off, most of our domains are generics in any event, so this shouldn't come in to play very often. When it does, we have a process in place to ensure there is no come back. All the licensee's we sign up will have to qualify to lease the domain, and this will include checking for trademark infringement.

So for example:

We get an enquiry for Coast.co.uk (a ladies clothes shop). The enquirer is planning to set up an online fashion store. Unfortunately this would infringe on Coast's trademark and as a result would not qualify.

If the enquirer is looking to set up a Hotel guide, focusing on the UK coast line areas, then so long Coast (the retail outlet) has not filed for this trademark class (which in unlikely), then we are all clear.

We will exercise the necessary legal checks as part of the service. Our legal partners are Ashfords, who have a great reputation for their IP services.
 
In reply to ScottJ

Just an example... I read somewhere that seo.co.uk is for lease for £5k a month, which would mean £60k a year...

If I would have a seo business i would rather approach one of the well ranking SEO domains such as http://www.searchengineoptimisation.org/ and buy their domain for an ££££££ with an agreement that certain links stay in place for a number of years...This would give me and my business the security that we will be on an A location for a number of years without relying on a 3rd party
 
Last edited:
Maybe its just my way of thinking about business/economics/investing...

No, your spot on.

The leasing analogy they give with high street doesn't fit. If you move premises you can take your brand, IP and goodwill with you. With a leased domain as a core business operation you can't.
 
No, your spot on.

The leasing analogy they give with high street doesn't fit. If you move premises you can take your brand, IP and goodwill with you. With a leased domain as a core business operation you can't.

I'd disagree, you can move domains quite easily, much much easier than moving physical premises with a 301 for 6 months. But this is taking Dom's original post off topic somewhat, good luck with the aff program Dom.

In reply to ScottJ

Just an example... I read somewhere that seo.co.uk is for lease for £5k a month, which would mean £60k a year...

If I would have a seo business i would rather approach one of the well ranking SEO domains such as http://www.searchengineoptimisation.org/ and buy their domain for an ££££££ with an agreement that certain links stay in place for a number of years...This would give me and my business the security that we will be on an A location for a number of years without relying on a 3rd party

I believe SEO.co.uk is actually leased out now by a big player in the field.
Everyone can have a different approach and still be right, I would say you would still be relying on a 3rd party, a registrar to renew your newly bought but cheaper name and Nominet, nit picking I know, I guess it's risk versus reward and I am a risk taker so see the benefit, others would be wise to be less so and have more control, I can see both sides.
 
Last edited:
I'd disagree, you can move domains quite easily, much much easier than moving physical premises with a 301 for 6 months. But this is taking Dom's original post off topic somewhat, good luck with the aff program Dom.

It's not about moving domains as such, its when the lease expires and you no longer have the domain name.
 
I'd disagree, you can move domains quite easily, much much easier than moving physical premises with a 301 for 6 months. But this is taking Dom's original post off topic somewhat, good luck with the aff program Dom.

Can you? I would say it is much easier to move property then moving an online property(or leased property in this case)... Anyway, interesting discussion but yes, we might be spoiling the topic like you said so will shut it and give the thread back to Super Hans :)
 
Here's the other side of the picture: if you're already spending major money on PPC, then swapping out your existing URL in the ads for a perfect exact-match domain can significantly reduce your costs by increasing your CTR and therefore dropping your CPC. My case study proved that conclusively, and others have backed up that finding too.

So you lease a domain for a few hundred to a few thousand pounds a month, but you might make that back within days of "switching it on" in what you save on your PPC costs, depending on the market and the CPC you're currently paying.
 
I'd disagree, you can move domains quite easily, much much easier than moving physical premises with a 301 for 6 months.

Well the only way you could 301 it was if you kept renting it. As soon as you stopped renting and the 301 was killed, you'd lose all the traffic and links coming to it.

So if you own a domain, you can easily move yeah. If you are renting it, its nearly impossible.

How is the pricing structured? I'm assuming the renter can keep the domain as long as they like, so how exactly are price increases calculated, and how often?
 
Hi all. Thanks for all the feedback so far. I am Harvey by the way, the crack head in the video :shock: - must admit, its not my best side! Potential reevaluation process on the horizon + a counselling session to restore some self esteem! :p Thank you! ;)

It struck me more like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDXFVTZCZwI where a new business idea is floated.... "ive got something lucrative lined up...."


Great question. First off, most of our domains are generics in any event, so this shouldn't come in to play very often. When it does, we have a process in place to ensure there is no come back. All the licensee's we sign up will have to qualify to lease the domain, and this will include checking for trademark infringement.

So for example:

We get an enquiry for Coast.co.uk (a ladies clothes shop). The enquirer is planning to set up an online fashion store. Unfortunately this would infringe on Coast's trademark and as a result would not qualify.

If the enquirer is looking to set up a Hotel guide, focusing on the UK coast line areas, then so long Coast (the retail outlet) has not filed for this trademark class (which in unlikely), then we are all clear.

We will exercise the necessary legal checks as part of the service. Our legal partners are Ashfords, who have a great reputation for their IP services.

...and if it was coast the clothes lot, would you try and get a specialised agreement in place?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

The Rule #1

Do not insult any other member. Be polite and do business. Thank you!

Members online

Premium Members

New Threads

Our Mods' Businesses

*the exceptional businesses of our esteemed moderators
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
      There are no messages in the current room.
      Top Bottom