You don’t need a 4 figure domain name to build an internet business. In fact, I strongly believe you should start your internet business on a 10 dollar domain name. And really, the amazing part about internet businesses is that you don’t need to spend 4 figures on anything to build one. Your budget: $324.35 + time, energy, sweat and tears. That’s all you need. That overhead is NOTHING.
My stimulus check from George W. Bush was for $300. I took that money and bought hosting with a content management system and keyword research tool called Site Build It!. I built my Glacier site with that money and it’s now a cash cow, generating enough money for my wife and I to own a pleasant home in Louisville, CO.
Of course, that greatly simplifies things. Building a niche site from scratch takes a lot of hard work. It takes a LONG time. And it’s not guaranteed to succeed. But the joys of passive income are amazing.
If you decide to build a site on a great domain just because it’s a great domain name, then you’re likely going to burn out quickly. Instead, take a step back and go back to the basics. Focus on building a site in a niche you’re passionate about.
So often I get emails from individuals asking me, “Where do I begin? How do I start my site? What do I start it on?”.
Well, for one, read this post. Then, stop reading. Seriously. S-T-O-P. Don’t read anything else. Turn off your internet and start writing.
Remember, you don’t need a 3, 4 or 5 figure domain name to build a 6 figure business. I still make 4 figures a month with my Glacier site. Why? Because it’s passion driven with great content.
3 Things to Spend $300 on for Internet Business Newbies
There are too many get rich quick schemes out there. The fact is, if you’re building a business online, you are planning to get rich slowly. There aren’t any shortcuts.
You can go out and buy a $300 domain name and think you have a business, but you don’t. You have an internet business when you have a website built around keywords people search for. Preferably it’s a niche your passionate about so you don’t burn out too quickly.
You can go out and buy a few $97 courses and think you’re on the path to Internet success, but you aren’t.
The only thing that puts you on the path to building and profiting from an Internet business is by pounding away at the keys, writing content, and actually WORKING. Reading isn’t work. You don’t need to be reading this article right now. If you are and you’re thinking that you’re working then you’re lying to yourself.
You can be educating and learning, but that should be done in doses. So if this is the 5th article you’ve read on Internet Marketing so far today, then please: X this article out and go PRODUCE something.
Now, all that aside:
If you have $300 to spare, here’s what I’d recommend spending your money on. Consider it your own little stimulus check to get your Internet business off the ground:
- A .COM domain name at Name.com — because they rock. – $12.00
- A hosting account at Bluehost – 1 year – $83.40
- Market Samurai, so you know you’re writing content around keywords that matter. – $149.00
- A StudioPress theme, because they look good and are SEO friendly - $74.95
You’re now at a total of $324.35. That’s all you need to start your business. Would you have been better off spending that 300 bucks on a single domain name? Not in a million years. Because you still need to spend nearly $100 on hosting and a .COM domain name. And Market Samurai gives you a higher chance of success in this challenging business.
Don’t Believe Me?
That’s cool. Here are 3 success stories built on $12 domain names. Yes, there are success stories of businesses built on 3 and 4 figure domain names. Lots of them. But there are many more success stories from people building sites on hand registered domain names.
FeedTheHabit is an outdoor industry website with detailed reviews on outdoor gear. The team behind the site has worked hard in designing an attractive website that meets the needs of over 70,000 outdoor enthusiasts a month.
It’s an old site, with tons of unique content and sends mid 5 figures in sales to some of the largest, outdoor retailers in the country.
I know you’re asking — well, that site was built in the 90s. I want an example from today.
In that case…
This security guard training website is a product of Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. Pat is an E-preneur and one of the hardest working in the industry. If you haven’t heard of him, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.
According to Pat, SGTHQ generates around $2,500-2,800/month. It started as a ‘niche site duel‘ in August 2010 and now generates low 4 figures in passive income per month for him.
Not bad for a $10 domain name. Now that it is generating income, should he buy a more expensive one? Upgrade to SecurityGuardTraining.com, if it’s available? I would. But he didn’t need it to start.
Coolest-Kid-Birthday-Parties.com
Elad built his Coolest Kid Birthday Parties site on the same platform that I built my Glacier site, Site BuildIt! While I personally don’t believe the Site BuildIt! platform is the best choice out there (it just isn’t as scalable as WordPress), one thing is for certain: hundreds of people have used SBI to build a niche site on and earn enough from it to quit their day job. It works. Or rather, the people who buy into it make the platform work for them.
The success stories over there are numerous..
The Common Denominator in These Internet Businesses
And the one common denominator: they all built websites around their passion. They took a crappy domain name, sometimes hyphenated to death, and built a successful business off of it.
So yeah, I think you should build your first internet business on a 10 dollar domain name. Otherwise you’re throwing money away that could be used on more important services, like Market Samurai or a StudioPress theme, or even a SiteBuild It! hosting package.
In the end it’s your call. But don’t fudge the call and build a crappy website on a 3 figure domain name. Figure out your passion and go from there.
What are your thoughts?
That's Me!
Yup! That's me. Perry Rosenbloom. And I'm smiling because I know you're going to succeed online, too... especially if you sign up for my newsletter right below...
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Perry,
Let me begin by saying, I think this was my favorite domaining blog post this year. It’s truthful, direct and gives hope based on facts. It also shows that you don’t need to go ALL out on the name to create the business, or foundation at least. You just have to work at it, the correct way. Very well put, this post has been bookmarked and shared!
I have identified a name I recently acquired to pour my time and money into finally and am ready to rock in 2013. Development proposal received, theme selected, keywords identified, content being written, and more ideas being put on the board for this name. This post just gets me even more pumped! Thank you.
Happy holidays!
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your kind words and support! Always great to get positive feedback on an article
Congrats on your recent acquisition. Would love to hear more about it.
Happy holidays and here’s to a healthy and prosperous 2013!
~ Perry
No problem, shoot me an email. I like that you are staying commited to QUALITY posts with USEFUL and FACTUAL content. Keep the fluff for the other bloggers who mostly regurgitate. Keep these kinds of posts coming man!
To all of our success in 2013!
Wil do
Thanks again for your support, Mike
Perry this is another awesome, inspiring and truthful post. This is exactly what is missing in the online marketing and make money at home blogs. Everyone promises get rich, no one teaches, get slowly. As we know it is very rare to make money quickly using these techniques and tools.
Treating it like a job is exactly right. I think we talked about this before: one cannot hopping around Google looking for tips, tricks and neat ways to get high PR backlinks all day. This only leads to stress, laziness and inactivity, all of which translates into zero income. It is a job and must be treated as such.
For me, this part had been the hardest in the past but once I started scheduling tasks that needed to be completed, charting goals and visualizing where I needed things to be, my websites became profitable. Not only did they become profitable but they became steady and increasing.
$300 can really get you a lot of great stuff. Screw all of the software, classes and ebooks. I would go to Themeforest.net (my favorite for Wordpress) and get myself a nice theme for $50. I would then take another $20 and get some killer plugins that really promote conversions and help your website stand out from the crowd.
I pay $47 every six months for hosting and it hasn’t steered my wrong yet. After I’ve got a domain name and about $120 left I would use the rest to outsource getting some content written. I don’t like to share where I get mine because it does give me somewhat of a competitive advantage. However I will suggest you can buy services that are not related to SEO and are not spun article writing for your blog or website that can translate into quality content. You just have look around and work at it.
Hey Scott,
Glad you like it! Thank you very much for your support and kind words.
‘Neat ways to get high PR backlinks’ — One of the most popular phrases that sends Google traffic to SEOSherpas is ‘Free High PR Backlinks List’. Come on, people! There’s no such thing lol.
Interesting point about what was the hardest part for you. Personally, I find the hardest part is persevering through the early stages of a website when it makes barely anything. Congrats on your success with your sites and sticking through it all.
Personally, I tend to avoid Themeforest for sites that will be heavily reliant on organic traffic. A lot of Themeforest themes have major SEO mistakes and you need to edit the backend PHP to fix it. For instance, a site I recently built for a client was through a Themeforest theme. Very professional and sleek looking. But it used H1 tags in the sidebar headings. Not cool.
And I agree about spun articles. Waste of time, money and effort.
Cheers,
Perry
haha only website telling me to stop reading all his articles and do some work. Pretty much what i know i should be doing but im not.
Anyway great articles, think im on the right track to starting my own blog in my passion niche. I have 5 posts of 700-1500 words up at the moment but I just started it a few days ago.
Also I just realised the domain I bought has been around since 2006. How much of a factor will this have with seo?
btw I found your blog from spencers nichepursuits and I found that from smartpassive income I think.
Hi Rich,
The only way to get there is by throwing in the effort. And 5 posts of 700+ words is great! Congratulations on getting started on it!
I wouldn’t concern yourself with domain age. Google knows when a domain is dropped, changes hands etc. It will likely have minimal, if any, impact on your site.