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Ask HN: Domain name registration service for supplemental income?

1 points by logibly ↗ HN
Hi,

I work in a company but I feel that I have run out of passion for the company.

I intend to start my own product and consulting business, but before I can leave job, I am looking at ways to supplement my income so leaving hefty paying job is little easier :).

Target customers for my consulting is small/medium/startup companies. I was thinking if I can build a good interface for domain name registration and web hosting and direct my future customers to that. However I can only start consulting after leaving my job. So Question is in the meantime, can I run a domain name registration and web hosting business solely relying on SEO/SEM/PPC skills (I am pretty good at it).

I intend to generate ~$1500/month to help me quit job. I am looking for any other ideas you have too. This domain name service will offer good name suggestions/very end-user friendly interface for eg, to shift to Google Apps etc.

Later on I intend to tie into sell web hosting as well as ssl certificates on it.

I have 9+ years experience in web development(.NET/PHP/Angular),DevOps,SEO/SEM etc with quiet successful track record.

7 comments

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stephenr
Domain registration and re-sold basic web hosting are generally razor thin on margins - that's why most companies in those spaces try to "value-add" the fuck out of every customer.

Personally, I would instead focus on finding small (read: less demanding/time sensitive) clients you can take on part-time - this gives you a client base to start from when you go full time on it, and some extra income until that time.

logibly
Thanks for responding. Yes but even after paypal fees, there's 14-15% gap in retail and wholesale prices. And most of the UI of after purchase for domains is stuck in the 90s.

I was thinking of generating supplemental income with more scalable resource then hours. Even though it requires more hours, my hope is it will pay more going forward.

stephenr
Im not sure what registrar/reseller you use, but there are lots of companies who offer "better domain name management" and focus exclusively on the UI/UX and rely on a wholesale provider for the actual registration, renewals, etc.

> I was thinking of generating supplemental income with more scalable resource then hours

That's a smart idea, but if your supplemental income is not from hours, it inherently requires a lot more up-front time, and will constantly require support, which will cost you time/money.

logibly
Thank you, can you pls give me examples of those domain name sites that feature on UI/UX? Basically the management aspect of domains.

I am using Namecheap; there are tons of features it doesn't have that can be helpful.

stephenr
https://dnsimple.com/ - I have used them previously for personal and business use. Migrated anything I control off because they charge a yearly subscription (on top of registration/renewal fees), they don't (or didn't at the time) support DNSSEC at all and their only 2FA option is Authy, which is fucking terrible.

https://www.hover.com - My initial destination for some domains after DNSimple (and would have been for more too) until the whole "oh you want DNSSEC? $500 per domain please" shit storm.

There are doubtless others - I'm not saying they are the best service, I have clearly found issues with both, but they're very much aimed at the "fuck this domain shit is hard can't someone make it easier" segment the market, who have different priorities than me.

I don't know what Namecheap does/doesn't offer as I've never used them - what sort of features are you thinking about?

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andypatros
I have a domain name you may be interested in. I'm open to ideas. My email is apatros@stny.rr.com

The domain is buildweb.com