This is Michael Mann. Last week, in a binge lasting less than 24 hours, he registered 14,962 domains. He plans to sell them on to the likes of you and me, at an inflated price, to make a bucket load of cash — which is how his company manages to pull in over $US400,000 every month.
Mann set up shop as a domain reseller in the late 1990s, when he lucked out and made $US50,000 from selling on a domain he originally purchased for $US70, reports CNET. Since then, he’s been unstoppable. He built up a company called BuyDomains that he sold in 2005 for $US80 million. Now he’s set up DomainMarket.com, a business that brings in about $US400,000 a month.
It’s not all complete guesswork or computation, either. While much of his business is automated, using filters to pick out domain names based on Google-friendly keywords, in the end Mann actually chooses which domains to buy. He explains to CNET:
“We have a filter, but I’m the world’s most efficient human filter for this sort of thing. I don’t think anyone can read huge lists of domain names as quickly as I can and understand what they’re reading. I’m a pattern reader. It’s a huge pain in the arse, but it’s what I do for a living.”
Once he’s chosen which domains to buy, the purchasing is completely automated. In this last buying binge, he’s bought domains like CeoHealthClub.com, ChineseFoodCatering.com and BaptistChurchCamp.com. He hopes to turn his $US100,000 outlay into a small fortune; looking at his track record, it seems likely he’ll succeed. [CNET]
Image: Facebook via CNET