You’re heard of house flipping. There are a pretty large handful of reality shows featuring people who buy, fix up, and sell homes at varying degrees and in varying styles. And at least the way they spin it on TV, these people make a killing. If you’re intrigued by this idea but come up a little short on power tool skills, you can apply the same principle to buying and “flipping” domain names for a profit. You won’t get rich overnight, but there is definitely money to be made. Here are some things you need to know before you begin:
Start With a Budget
You don’t want to go whole hog domain flipping at first. As with most businesses, it’s best to start small so you aren’t betting the farm on something when you’re inexperienced.
Pick a Niche
It’s always better to choose a business niche you’re passionate or knowledgeable about. When you choose a niche, you’ll be able to identify potential buyers and actually market to them — rather than waiting around for someone to find you.
Find Great Keywords
Before you start parking domain names, find active keywords that buyers would are interested in. The best way to make money flipping domains is to choose domains that are getting good traffic (around 10,000 searches monthly). Tools such as Google Keyword Planner or Niche Finder can help you identify these.When looking for keywords, keep these things mind: 1) Generic names are awesome. People can use them to describe new products and services when they put up their website. However, you’ll need to do some homework to make sure you won’t be infringing on copyrights or trademarks when you buy these domains. 2) Look at the timing. Website names that are tied to events in sports or the news have great potential for resale. 3) Business names that are hooked to locations can be sold easily.
Buy Existing Domains
You can make money with these, too. Look on Sedo for domain names that have good traffic, as well as backlinks. Also take advantage of names that have a Google PageRank less than 17 characters. Domains with numbers or special characters are harder to sell, so stay away from those.
Consider All Your Options
A lot of top-level domains can be sold at huge dollar amounts. But you don’t necessarily need a .com, .org, or .net name to be top-level. Newer options like .io or .us can also bring great profits with the right names. 
Build a Portfolio
Portfolios aren’t just for writers and designers. Building your domain name portfolio may take you months or years, but it can really pay off. When you’re fishing for names, look at its potential…even if it could be years down the road. A good strategy a lot of successful domain flippers use is to buy some high profile names and wait it out until value skyrockets.
Investor Beware
Just like any other investment, buying and selling domains isn’t without risk. The most common risk are: 1) Legal & trademark issues. If you buy up a domain that’s the same or too similar to someone’s trademark, you could find yourself in trouble. This is why it’s so important to do your homework. 2) The wait. It’s most common to have to wait months or even years before you can profit from any domain name you buy. Don’t get into this investment if you can’t afford to be patient. 3) Valuation. The values of domain names are very subjective. It’s not like gold or stocks where value is simple to determine. The value in your domains might be impossible to pinpoint until you actually sell them.
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