I’ve had a good amount of success with DogWalker.com, and there are around 250 paying advertisers on the site right now (maybe more). Nearly all of them pay annually using a Paypal subscription, which is connected to my company. As every business owner knows, recurring payments can be an important revenue stream (just ask Domaintools, Apple, and every other company that employs auto-renewal subscriptions).

Perhaps due to the website’s success or the fact that it’s a very good domain name, DogWalker.com has been my most inquired about asset. Offers from entities ranging from dog walkers to large companies outside of the domain space have inquired about buying the domain name and website. As with everything I own, there’s probably a price for which I would part with it, so I’ve thought about the feasibility of selling the website.

The Paypal account I use to collect payments is associated with my company, and it is attached to bank accounts, email addresses, and websites that aren’t related to the DogWalker.com website. I’ve searched, and there doesn’t appear to be a way for me to automatically change the billing/subscription email account for the current advertisers without having to get them to re-subscribe.

Herein lies a big problem. If I were to sell the website, the buyer would have to contact all of the advertisers with auto-renewing subscriptions and have them sign up again on a different system. It’s not the end of the world, but as my experience tells me, the cancellation rate could be significant, and it would wipe a considerable amount of recurring revenue from the books in the future.

If you build a website and use Paypal or any payment collection service, make sure it’s independent of your other websites, email addresses, and separate entities. If I end up selling the website, it will be a process to convert the current advertisers.

I am fairly certain that I am going to spin off this website into its own entity in the near future, and it will have a separate bank account, payment account, and be completely independent of my other businesses. Had I known that I would have this many advertisers in less than a year, I would have done this from the start. I have also learned that there are tax advantages to selling a business rather than selling an asset of a business, although that’s not something I am entirely familiar with yet.

When Oversee.net announced the one-day DomainFest event in New York, I didn’t think I was going to attend due to previous travel obligations. After speaking with a few friends who were coming in to NY specifically to attend the conference, I made sure I would be back in time, hopping on a red eye flight and arriving a day before the conference.

I am very glad that I was able to make it. There was an announced crowd of about 200 people, and there was never much down time during the day and evening prior to the show (there were a couple of private parties and random get togethers). I don’t usually attend panels and speakers at conferences, and last week’s conference wasn’t much different. I spent the sessions just outside the ballroom catching up with friends and colleagues.

The Expert Networking session in which I participated was well done. It lasted for two hours, but it didn’t feel like it was that long. I had the chance to meet with several people whom I had never met, and also met with a few people who read my blog, which was very cool. I know others who were less interested in this were in private meetings or were talking outside of the ballroom.

The live auction is usually a highlight of a domain conference, and although CNN and the New York Post were in attendance to write articles, it wasn’t as exciting as usual. A couple of big sales I heard were going to be made never materialized, and it seemed like many of the names were far overpriced. The auction houses are keen on bringing new inventory to market, but many of these names are still priced unrealistically, probably a reason why they weren’t in auction previously. Knowing Monte and his team, I will not be surprised at all if a couple big deals are announced in the next few days or possibly weeks.

One thing that was most impressive to me was the diverse turnout. Many of my friends from outside the area didn’t attend, yet there were still 200 people who showed up. Not only were domain investors and service companies there, but others were there as well – many of whom are only somewhat involved with domain investments.

This morning, CNN posted a video article with auction coverage, so you might want to have a look when you have a chance.

All in all, this was a great conference.