Buying and selling domain names online is like flipping real estate — only you won’t lose hundreds of thousands if there’s a bubble. You buy the domain names low (as little as $7 for  a year’s registration) and, if you’re lucky, you can sell them to interested buyers for hundreds or thousands. Here are some tips to keep in mind when buying domain names to make money online, either by using them to sell advertising or by selling them later -

Be Fast

What if you had registered bestbuy.com or walmart.com 20 years ago? Or what if you had registered even more generic names such as love.com or cats.com? You could have made thousands of dollars selling them. If you think of a good domain name, search for it and register it right away if it’s available. If it’s a good domain name, it won’t be available for long and you’ll have missed your opportunity.

Be Topical  

Think about what’s happening in the news and in pop culture, and then search for potential domain names. For example, after the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, multiple domain names were registered such as japanearthquake.com or haitirelief.com. Register domain names quickly based on current events, political issues, popular trends, celebrities, and much more. It won’t be long before someone wants to buy these domains from you to develop them.

Be Creative

Sometimes, a simple word or topic is all it takes to register a lucrative domain name. Browse through the dictionary and consider simple nouns or verbs — such as run.com, fruit.com, or even doors.com. If you want to try different variations, take a look through the thesaurus. Then start combining words to expand  your reach — such as happydogs.com, woodfloors.com, or freemoney.com. Simple ideas with broad appeal can have lucrative potential.

Stick with the Standard

While there are many extensions available for your domain name — .net, .biz, .org, .info, and so on — .com is still the most lucrative of them all. Don’t waste time registering sites such as walmart.biz or sex.info. No one will try those extensions first. Everyone will always start with .com, and that’s where your true earnings potential lies.

Sell Your Domain

There are many ways to try to sell your domain once you have purchased it. You can place a “for sale” ad on the site itself, the quickest and most efficient way to sell the domain. You can also list your domain for sale on forums such as Name Pros (www.namepros.com) or DN Forum (www.dnforum.com), or on sites such as Sedo (www.sedo.com) and Great Domains (www.greatdomains.com). If you have a really great domain name, the buyers will find you.

Park Your Domain

While you’re waiting for a lucrative offer to come along for your domain name, you can use the space to sell advertising and make a profit. Parking your domain allows you to populate it with advertiser links, which will earn you affiliate revenue based on clicks. You don’t have to develop the site with content. Some popular parking services include Sedo (www.sedo.com and Fabulous (www.fabulous.com).

Have any of you had any experience with buying and selling domain names? Tell us your success stories in the comments!

Author Bio:

Erinn Stam is the Managing Editor for online nursing case manager programs. She attends Wake Technical Community College and is learning about nursing career opportunities. She lives in Durham, NC with her lovely 4-year-old daughter and exuberant husband.