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Gary.com has naturally become more centered on the business of domaining, and there isn’t really the room or relevance to blog about family life here anymore. I have also acquired a number of regular readers interested in domaining, who must find it strange that pictures of my kids and posts about their progress keep popping up here and there around the site. And so I have decided to move my domaining exploits to another site, which is already a website dedicated to the trading of domains, Domainnamez.com.

I will be moving all the domaining related posts from Gary.com over to the new site as of today, and deleting them on here so there is no duplicate content floating around. I feel this is a positive move because it is one inspired by the wonderful response I have gotten from people reading my domaining posts, many of whom have got in touch via email and communicated with me via Twitter.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, or indeed someone who has surfed in for information regarding the domaining industry, I hope you will follow me over to Domainnamez.com  and join in the conversation at my new home.

Thanks for reading.

Gary.

1. No One Ever Got Rich Without Taking a Risk

A wise person once told me this, and I’ve never forgotten it. A risk doesn’t need to mean putting big money on the line either, it can simply mean just going outside of your comfort zone, doing something others aren’t prepared to do. Ask any successful business person about the defining moments in their success and they will always highlight a risk element that turned out to be a big winner.

2. Dont Kill Your Ideas By Thinking Too Much

A person who thinks too much only ever thinks about his thoughts, those are wise words by Alan Watts. Start doing and stop over thinking everything. Sure, carry out due diligence on ideas and investments, but like I have said so many times, learn to use your instinct.

3. Be Patient

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your empire be. Remember that the majority of people quit before they succeed because they don’t have the patience to wait for the good times to arrive.

4. Be Mindful of The Feelings of Others

Treat others as you like to be treated; just because this is business doesn’t mean you need to dominate or mistreat to get ahead. I have always found that being myself and being mindful of the feelings and situation of others, has yielded not just success, but success with an heightened feeling of reward.

5. Celebrate Your Achievements

The problem with success is that the goal posts keep moving further back. You reach one goal but it is never enough, you think bigger and better and strive for more. Let go of the striving when you reach a landmark in your success and pat yourself on the back. Take time out to recognize your achievements and celebrate them with your loved ones.

6. Don’t Choose Business Over Love

Talking of loved ones, make sure you don’t neglect them during your quest for success. Closing the laptop by 7pm each evening to put your kids to bed is equally as important as opening it at 10am to start work. Similarly, resisting the urge to check emails when on holiday with your family is massively important in terms of not infringing on quality time. Spend as much time cultivating love with family and friends as you do on building your business and you will succeed twofold.

7. Never Close Your Ears – Remain Porous

There is always someone who can teach you something, and often you will meet such a person in the most unlikely of places. And for this reason it is important to keep your ears open all the time. Life is one big lesson, one where we never stop learning. Remain porous.

8. Know When The Day is Done

Over stretching yourself is counterproductive to success. There comes a point in the day where your mind begins to slow down and needs to rest. Work hard at your most productive and rest properly when you need to recuperate. Sleep is important for your health and your ability to handle the work-family balance. Recognize when your body has had enough, close the laptop, empty your mind and rest. Tomorrow is another day; better to work 8 hours at optimum level than 12 at half pace.

9. Don’t Worry Your Life Away

Quite rightly your business is your baby, and as such requires constant nurturing. But don’t spend your life worrying that your business will fall apart if you leave it alone for 5 minutes. Indeed, if this is the case, the foundations upon which your business is built are shaky and need maintenance. Worry thwarts creativity, affects health and causes stress. Learn to let things go and enjoy the rough and the smooth.

10. Have Fun Spending Your Money

You can’t take it with you, thats for sure, so enjoy spending it. Be generous where possible and never be stingy with family or friends. The more you attach yourself to your money the more likely it is to leave you. Be sensible with money but fair, be generous but equally as thrifty.

While the dream might be to work as little as possible and make as much money as possible, if you aren’t disciplined in your approach to home working you will never realize the dream. So how can you become more productive without making work seem too…well, work-like! Here are a few tips I’ve implemented in my own life to help you maximize efficiency and ensure family and friends respect your work time and space…

1. Keep a To Do List

Almost forgotten but by no means redundant, the ‘to do’ list is the ultimate work from home tool. This underestimated, simple, practical and motivating old skool organization method allows you to keep on top of things, empty your busy mind on paper and ensure you forget nothing. However, the ‘to do’ list is useless created on a laptop, smartphone or tablet; it must be handwritten and stuck – ideally on a Post-It note – somewhere on your desk. Add the next day’s ‘to-dos’ before you shut up shop for the day and tick them off as you get them done.

2. Buy/Make a “Do Not Disturb” Sign

When you’re working let family know you are in the zone by putting up your “do not disturb” sign, either hanging on your door or highly visible on your desk. This sign means only urgent “have you got a moment” queries will be accepted. Make sure household members know that when this sign is in effect a disturbance is a sin unless it really can’t wait.

3. Set a Work Day Routine

Sounds scary, right? But this routine need not be 9-5 like an office, because after all, that would defeat the object of having the freedom of working from home. However, it is important to recognize that often we get so out of routine it becomes unproductive. So schedule a routine that maximizes productivity but still provides you with that same air of freedom. So perhaps 3 hours work in the morning, and then a break for gym and lunch, 3 hours in the afternoon, and then pick the kids up from school, and then an hour’s email sorting after dinner. Do whatever suits you, but remember, the more of a routine you have the more likely you are to be productive.

4. Don’t Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today

Not having a boss breathing down your neck can make you a little lazy. Having the power to say, “Ahh, to hell with it, I’ll do it tomorrow” can impact negatively on the success of your work online. Why leave something until tomorrow when you know full well you can do it today with a minimal amount of effort? If you really don’t have time, put it on the ‘to do’ list.

5. “Tidy Office Tidy Mind”

This encompasses a number of things, but mostly this is about mindful work practice. Just because you aren’t in an office environment doesn’t mean you should neglect your workspace and organizational skills. Make sure you incorporate the following 5 things into your office routine.

- Keep emails organized by using folders to sort different projects/correspondence.

- Don’t be lazy and save everything to your desktop with the promise that you’ll get around to sorting it out one day (it’ll take you ages to find anything).

- Put your office to bed at the end of the day by leaving papers tidy and desk items neatly in order.

- Shut your computer down and turn off the power to ensure your space is carbon friendly.

- Keep your office space clear of non-work related items that may become a distraction >> keep the PS3 in the living room

Time to get some work done!

Some domain names are that desirable you can guarantee an individual or company will come knocking. There are times when there is no alternative for a business and they must acquire the domain you own for branding purposes or to target a particular keyword phrase for their website. But some domains need a further display of potential, and the additional assets of a developed property with great content, diverse backlinks, and if possible, monetization, will attract a wider buying market. Previously I posted about the ethicalness of link baiting for clicks on parked domains. Well developing domains provides an alternative to that practice. Why bother sprinkling links for small ad click revenue when you can spend time increasing the value of your domain, and make money through Adsense of partner products until a buyer comes along.

Okay, so this is a different strategy to traditional domaining, and development may mean you need to list the site in different places for sale than you would a stand-alone domain. However, this won’t stop a domainer coming along, buying the domain, wiping the installation and parking it again. But it is worth remembering that you aren’t in the game to sell to domainers, quite simply because you will never maximize the price potential of a domain selling to another domainer – like you they are in it for the maximum profit margin.

Development means missing out on parking revenue, but where you lose the potential for money is actually greater. Some people aren’t tech savvy, and the thought of having a blank canvas isn’t hugely appealing. A desirable domain name with a decent design, content and decent rankings in the SERPs is a huge leg up the ladder for a person who wants a readymade package. Even if a person wants to change the design, Google will have already ranked the site and any backlinks you have acquired will remain. And without doubt this adds value to a web property.

Of course I wouldn’t want to develop all my domains, and some I know for a fact are better off parked. But there are a number for which I have an itching feeling development will bring a more lucrative sale. Recently I have been working on www.muaythai.net. It isn’t fully developed yet but it is progressing, and I already recieved one inquiry. Muay Thai is a massive industry, not to mention that the “Muay Thai” has an exact match search volume of 300,000. The domain itself is worth a nice amount on its own, and with the added content there it sparks ideas in the minds of potential buyers as to where they can take the site going forward. I had an affiliate sale on an associated product too, which is a great selling point, because even with a small amount of traffic money can be made. The domain is for sale if you know anyone who may be interested.