whosfirat-ga,
Okay, let?s answer your questions one at a time here:
1. ?I was wondering what is the best way to contact these people.?:
There are three basic approaches:
1. the telephone
2. e-mail/web
3. walk-in (preferably with previously made appointment)
When you contact them (using whichever method) you should have a brief
business proposal, outlining your domain name for sale, and the value
you think it would add to their business (why they?d want it in
addition to or in place of their existing domain, and perhaps what
they might be able to accomplish with it).
You state that you haven?t been able to ?talk? to someone who can
handle this matter. I visited the station?s website from the link you
provided:
[ http://www.thedenverchannel.com/index.html ].
Here?s a link to the station?s contact information page:
[ http://www.thedenverchannel.com/denvers7/222549/detail.html ].
Here?s the actual information from that page:
?KMGH-TV
123 Speer Boulevard
Denver, Colorado 80203-3417
News Tips: (303) 832-TIPS (8477)
Switchboard: (303) 832-7777
Call 7 For Help: (303) 832-2557
Assignment Desk: (303) 832-0200
7 Solutions: (303) 830-7777
News FAX: (303) 832-0119
Call 7 For Help FAX: (303) 832-0670
Job Line: (303) 832-0690
Intern Line: (303) 832-0690?
Note: there?s also a ?Submit Feedback? form on the same page where you
indicate your e-mail address and write them a message.
Although there is no one ?correct? method, here?s how I would go about
contacting them in order to approach them about purchasing your domain
name from you:
I actually called the Switchboard number listed above, (303) 832-7777,
and asked the operator, ?Who might I get in touch with regarding
interest in a domain name for sale related to your website?? and she
gave me the extension and name of their ?Webmaster?:
So, call (303) 832-7777, request Extension 676, and you?ll be
connected to their webmaster. Her name is Kim Nguyen.
Ask Kim who would be the appropriate party to speak with concerning
the matter of a domain name acquisition, if she is not the appropriate
party herself.
If you live in the Denver area, probably the best thing would be able
to have an in-person meeting where you could deliver a live
presentation, perhaps with a laptop-based MS PowerPoint demonstration.
If you?re not comfortable doing this however, or if you just don?t
feel it?s necessary, you could simply ask her over the phone where you
might send an e-mail description of your domain name proposal.
I think this would be the best way to go at this point, then you can
take it from there depending on what Kim says. If for some reason Kim
(the Webmaster) is completely unresponsive to your requests), then you
could use the Submit Feedback form on their contact webpage above.
Moving on to the next part of your question:
2. ?Let?s say I did reach them and what is the price that I should be
asking for that domain name??
The domain name re-selling market is not all that ?hot? right now. I
don?t think you should get too greedy, but rather just attempt to make
a profit. However, you don?t want to set the price too low, or it
won?t look like a serious product. I would start by asking for $1,000,
and if they?re interested in the name, but think the price is too
high, they?ll let you know. Keep in mind that although their current
domain, ?theDenverChannel.com? is pretty long and unwieldy, there are
lots of alternatives for a shorter domain with the number ?7? in it,
such as (and I didn?t check to see if all these are available, but you
get the point): clickDenver7.com, click-7.com, 7Denver.com,
Denver7.com, DenverNews.com, D7.com, D7news.com, Denver7-News.com,
news7denver.com, etc.).
Yes, 7n.com is nice and catchy, but when you consider the expenses of
re-tooling their existing site around it, converting their existing
site to the new domain, advertising the new domain, plus whatever cost
you ask for, you must put yourself in their shoes and ask, ?Is it
really worth it??
However, another angle you could take with them is that they could
keep their existing site as is and use 7n.com as a redirect to their
main page. Eventually, when as many people are clicking the redirect
link as to the main link directly, they could switch roles and have
the old domain be the redirect and 7n.com be the main site. A lot of
it may depend on how happy they are now with their current web setup.
Suppose they say they?re not interested in your domain name
whatsoever? First of all, before we move on to the next portion of
your question, if they do say ?no,? try and get them to give a reason.
This way, you?ll come away from the experience having learned
something, and that alone is valuable, because you?ll be that much
more knowledgeable for the next potential buyer you approach.
3. ?Let?s say that I couldn?t get any result out of this local news
channel what should I do with the domain name? Can you give me a list
of suggestions on the target audience??:
Supposing that this particular news station isn?t interested in your
7n.com domain name, the next logical step would be to approach other
local news stations around the country that are also on a ?channel 7.?
Also, by doing this, you?ll likely be able to refine your pitch as you
go from one station to the next, learning why each one declines the
name (if they decline it), and then adjusting your presentation or
pitch to address those concerns before you approach the next station.
If it should turn out that no news station is interested in the
domain, then you can target additional audiences, including the
general domain name market where you may find a buyer who has a user
for the domain name that you had not considered.
Besides news stations, you might find interest from tech sites as
well, such as web development, or gaming sites (?Nintendo? could be
the ?n??). ?7n? has sort of a techie feel to it, sort of mathematical
maybe, too. It could be a gaming site, a web design site, graphics
site, or computer parts shopping site. It also perhaps be a designer
clothing site as well, or even a music site. It?s so short and simple
that there?s apt to be many possible uses for it.
4. ?What are your
suggestions for site content related to this domain name, and how
would price differ with or without content attached?:
Should you decide to create website content on this domain name
yourself in an attempt to pique buying interest of the domain name,
you?ll probably want to make it something as general as possible to
appeal to a wide range of audiences. I would probably exhaust the
other pure domain name-selling ideas as discussed above before I went
through the trouble of building a whole site around the name.
If you built a site that managed to acquire steady traffic to it, then
that would add to the value of the domain name significantly, because
then you?d be selling not just a domain, but traffic and eyeballs as
well. The more hits the site as, the higher the advertising fees your
site can command, Also, if you cold get the 7n.com site ranking very
high on Google for certain mass-appeal keywords, that would be highly
in your favor when selling the domain as well.
If however you build a site around the domain just as a demonstration,
but it has no significant traffic, the only way this will help you is
if a potential buyer sees it and thinks, ?Wow, I want that site! Just
like that, I want it!,? which I don?t consider to be all that likely.
Probably your time would be better spent on marketing of the domain
itself rather than building a site around it, unless you have an idea
for a site that would bring in income on its own merit.
Below are some links which will lead you to further resources on this topic:
Google search strategy:
Keywords,
?domain name selling?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=domain+name+selling
?domain names?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=domain+names&btnG=Google+Search
?7n?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=7n
?7 news?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=7+news
(Note: the Denver station you provided a link to is the number one
result returned when searching Google for keywords, ?7 news?. It?s not
likely that they?ll want to do anything to jeopardize that ranking,
which may include switching domain names).
?domain name re-selling business?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=domain+name+re-selling+business
?2 character domains?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=2+character+domains
I hope you find this information helpful. If I have left anything out
that is important to you, please don?t hesitate to ask for
Clarification to this Answer?I?m more than happy to provide it.
Good luck with your web endeavors!
Sincerely,
omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
