VentureBurn.com just highlighted a domain name investor success story and this time it wasn’t about a .com but about a ccTLD, Co.Za the country code for South Africa.
The investor is Stephen Gorman, Founder of digital marketing agency, Push Digital.
“As Africa continues to come online, it is likely to follow the trends seen in the early 90s in the developed world. ”
“A quick look at Sedo and it seems that some enterprising entrepreneurs who have already bought and listed sex.co.za on Sedo, have received 18 bids for the domain so far. The kicker? Sex.co.za is registered to an American company”.
“Gorman has a hefty domain collection. He has built up, managed & optimized a personal domain portfolio of more than 70 sites which he claims to be worth US$800 000 and generates an approximate affiliate revenue of US$55 000 per annum.”
“Gorman reckons Africa’s domain name business is starting to become lucrative. ”
“For example, since 2010, Gorman has been developing Fly.co.za and has netted a profit of over £50 000 for Fly.co.za & Fly.co.ke, the Kenyan version of the site, he says. To put things in perspective, Fly.ca is currently listed on Sedo for US$10 000. ”
“According to Gorman, the South African industry has seen six figure sales in 2012, but that the public remains largely unaware due to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).”
“South Africa is unique because it is one of the only “English speaking” countries outside of the US, UK and Australasia, which gives some universal value to the domains. Investors in America can buy a domain and develop it into a revenue generating site without having to use translators. It’s not often you have this options with ccTLDs,” says Gorman.
:Gorman also has a talent for spotting fix-me-up domains. Like flipping houses, he has for example, developed and sold MedicareConsumerGuide.com to E-health insurance; one of the largest insurance firms in the US; successfully achieving site ranking on the first page of Google.com for terms that are relevant to Medicare. Generally only .gov sites and end users occupy these positions. Gorman sees similar opportunities starting to emerge in Africa”.
“Very simply, Gorman is encouraging entrepreneurs to sit up and take notice, there is money to be made within the microcosms of the domain industry.”
“A premium domain is worth a lot more when developed into a site offering people something that they really need.”
“Now, how about that .africa TLD ICANN?”…
