I just updated the list of top drop auctions on Snapnames. IMO, there are some pretty good domain names to be had, some of which have been selling far below end user values.If you are able to purchase commercially viable domain names at good prices, and you create a directory site or mini site on each, you can increase the value of them during the down market, while hopefully generating revenue.

I recently bought CabCompanies.com in a private seller auction on Snapnames, and I launched it a few days later. The website is a national directory of cab companies and limo companies. Although there isn’t much content (yet), it’s a decent starting point. I also paid less for the name and website than I think the domain name alone is worth.

I think my next project will be different and won’t use a database, I will find an industry with 5-10 industry leading companies that use affiliate programs. I will then build a site that discusses each company and provide an affiliate link for people to buy each company’s product or to visit the company’s website. When someone Googles “XXXXX companies,” my site will hopefully rank in the top 5 because it will be the exact match, and I will make money when people visit. It will almost be a ratings type site, but without the ratings

Anyhow, I am curious about what you think CabCompanies.com is worth as a standalone domain? Do you see any good domain auctions where you could build a site?

In lieu of posting this on eLance or other developer forum, I am going to ask for a web design and programming price quote. Please quote your price in the comment section of this thread. After I select a winning company, I will share the company name and price of the project. I will also share the timeline given by the developer.

Once the website is developed and launched, I will follow up with a post for you to see how the project turned out. I think this could be a good opportunity for a developer to show off his/her skills.

Project Scope for CabCompanies.com:

I want a clean but themed design for the site – obviously a checkered/yellow cab theme. I am happy to send comps of sites I like, but I want it to be fairly simple and minimalist, but with an updated look. I don’t want something that looks like it was done 10 years ago… I like TreatmentCenters.com (which I blogged about a while back) but with less info – and no need to scroll down.

On the home page, there will be a search box for people to enter their city and a drop down box to select the state, with a yellow checkered search button – or something thematic.

When the person enters the city and state combo, they will be taken to a results page which will list cab companies as well as the address and phone number for each. There will be Adsense on each of these pages as well – with the developer choosing the layout. There will also be a button where cab companies can email me to submit their info.

If there are no companies, there will be a box that says there aren’t companies, but it will also have Adsense as well.

This will all be database driven, and I will add the cab companies by hand, so there should be a very simple back-end where I can enter the cab company, address and phone number, and it will automatically be entered into the database.

The developer will provide a sitemap with all possible pages.

URLs will all be SEO friendly – like CabCompanies.com/california/burbank.html

If inexpensive, I would like this to be able to detect a mobile browser, which will provide a pared down version of the website.

Please let me know if you can do all or parts of it, and at what cost. I would like to have all bids in by Friday at the end of the work day – 5pm EDT. If your forte is not design, I can pay for the logo from a great graphic designer.

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