Hi all. It’s my first post. Whilst I haven’t posted before, I do read the forum from time to time.
I haven’t seen many posts about cloud brokers recently.
I was wondering if many people had a cloud broker? Or received many/any applications on this? Does anyone have any idea how many people are doing this? Or have any feedback on how effective it has been for you?
I haven’t had any applications. Just trying to find out more on it.
Thanks.
Darpan recently said the Cloud Broker program as it is has not worked well.
SH is in process of re-imagining this service to make it more useful for the seller community.
In addition to re-imagining the Cloud Broker program, it would be nice if SH would give more incentives to any member of the creative community who submits another creative’s premium domain and sells it.
Currently, if a premium domain is submitted by a member of the creative community who does not own the domain, and the domain sells, the individual who submitted it only receives the contest prize.
However, if a premium domain is submitted to a contest by a Cloud Broker, and the domain wins the contest and is purchased by the contest holder, the cloud broker will receive the greater of contest award amount or 15% commission (max $1000).
So even though the service provided in case #1 is identical to the service in case #2, Cloud Brokers have a chance to earn more money.
I’d suggest giving generous rewards to all creatives in the community who help to sell another creative’s premium domain, not just cloud brokers.
I have had my account “OPEN” to cloud broker requests since it begun which was 12mth+ ago. I have not received one application. My portfolio is very small so i assume its of no interest to the professional brokers. At the beginning you could also apply to become a cloud broker but I have no idea how that has gone and how many brokers are out there. It would be good to hear if there is any success stories or an update on the program 
It is odd to me, especially on SH, that the interest to “broker” is so low. No upfront investment. I hope SH can adjust the program. Maybe “brokerage” is not the right term? “Account agent”? I don’t submit to contests myself, would be great to have someone with experience with that doing mine… (Domain brokers generally only pick the cream of the crop, names they can expect to sell through minor outreach with decent return. A brandable marketplace is generally not the best place for that.)
I think the description was too vague. I used to enter contests all the time, and had a decent win record. If there had been an opportunity like you mention, I would have been happy to help domainers enter their names into appropriate contests. But the cloud broker thing sounded more like agreeing to do outbound sales (outside Squadhelp), which I don’t even like to do for my own names.
I really don’t see any incentive to try and sell other peoples domains, we’re all too busy trying to sell our own, why would we promote other peoples for a small commission instead of our own at full price?
I’d like an additional reward for names won in contests that were submitted from the marketplace. This would encourage more users to submit domains from the marketplace. They win the contest prize plus $xx or xx%.
I’d also like everyone to have an affiliate link for all domains in the marketplace. That affiliate link should reward them if someone buys a name or starts a contest, the cookie should last 30 days. Many people haven’t set up social accounts because they don’t feel like they have enough names to promote. If they could earn on any name on SH, they would be more inclined to promote them.
Able, you read my mind! I do not love social networks, but I deliberately opened pages in some of them to promote domains. However, I still haven’t started filling the pages, because I don’t feel the return. If the mechanism you suggested would work, I would love to start it! However, at this stage, all efforts will be in vain.
Some creatives don’t have a large portfolio of names to sell and prefer to submit others’ premium domains.
And, some creatives strive to find the best brand for the CH regardless of who owns it.
If another creative sells one of my domains, I’d like to see them get a reward above and beyond the contest prize.
This was one of the thoughts behind the Cloud Broker program to begin with.
Thanks. Yes, it would be great to see a further push on cloud brokers, or something similar to replace it. It could be valuable for Squadhelp and sellers.
Yes, I also assumed the lack of applications from cloud brokers was because my portfolio was quite small. But it has grown a little, and still no applications. So I am not sure it is necessarily that. I actually suspect there may not be very many people doing this as cloud brokers, but that is just a thought, I have no actual information on it. Yes, it would be really good to hear experiences on this, and if it has been successful for anyone.
It is a great idea to have cloud brokers, could work well for everyone. But I also have no idea on how the existing cloud broker relationships have worked out for those signed up to this.
I waited to respond to this string because I wanted to hear people’s experiences first. I am a cloud broker and I am fairly sure I am the only one. My partner is @New_Day_Brand who approached me to be his broker. I do a lot of marketing for him along with my names. I don’t do outbound and he knew that when we started. I do enter our names into contests, but I am very particular about what I will enter and he knew that, too. I do not think that I have been very effective for him, though. But I will keep doing it as long as we both agree to keep going. Working with him has been really nice and I want him to succeed. Working his portfolio into my marketing (which is extensive) has worked well. I know that I am driving traffic to his portfolio because I keep track of stats that I am able to see like clicks on Twitter, shortlists, and traffic to my own portfolio from my work.
I would have loved to have a broker to do outbound for me. I am not comfortable doing that. I would really love it if SH would hire brokers but I imagine that is a high ticket cost for them.
Hi dear Renee. I know that your amazing work drives traffic to my portfolio and i know you have other things to do in life. Outbound is a pain in the neck… Unless you have really expansive names to present to potentiel buyers. I don’t think it’s interesting to do such a hard work for a small commission. That’s why people don’t chose to be brokers on SH in my opinion. Contests pay more and if you’re really good at outbound u can sell ur own $1500 names. I’m happy with what you’re doing with my portfolio. It’s good and far more better than nothing. Just keep doing it. Thank you again 
You are a great partner, Aniss. Thanks for the post.
I’m looking for someone to submit my names to contests as a cloud broker, just the way @Commulinks is doing . I have a portfolio of 1200 premium names, and growing. Here is the link : https://brandarray.com/
I think Squadhelp is famous for its creative spirit of competition. But now there is a tilt towards the sale of domains. I believe we need to equalize the rights of domainers and creatives. Bring them closer to each other. It is necessary a priori to make any contestant a domain broker. If a creative offers someone else’s domain for a competition and the customer buys this domain, then the creative must receive not only the competition fee, but also a percentage of the sale of the domain. Let me explain why. I have a lot of domains for all cases. And I’m not interested in offering other people’s domains in contests. However, if I am confident that I will receive a percentage of the sale of the domain, I will do it more often. It will be unprofitable for me to cook in my own juice. Also I will be happy to share the profit with the creative that my domain offers for the contest, and this domain will be bought. My suggestion is that any registered SH creative has domain broker rights and receive a percentage of the sales.
I agree about percentage of domain sale. This would be a great motivation to submit premium domains owned by other.
But I feel that contests and premium domains do not go well with each other, each one of them is like a separate realm. Thats because usually when soneone opens a contests then he/she is looking for hand reg low cost domains, if he/she is willing to pay for premium domains then why openning a contest in first place? He/she can simply browse and pick a name.
This is the task of the creative, namely, to convince the CH that the proposed premium domain is the best name for his business.
100% right.
After watching my percentage plummet because premiums are NOT WELCOME in contests, I am extremely careful about what I will submit.
Contests and premiums are not compatible. Period. End of story.
And just exactly like this: When you submit a great idea that is unregistered, make sure you are ready for the dismay you will feel when you not only do not win the contest, but have your idea “procured”.
142 “procured” in 2018, 144 in 2019 and in 2020 almost there, only 117 “procured” domains. So no stress there, I think that by now we’re all used to it.
And I believe that business and art, in the sense that the sale of domains and the participation in the contest are compatible. And on our site it is easy to implement. If each contestant has a share of the sale of a winning premium domain, the number of domain views will increase. That’s why I allowed all creatives to submit my personal domains in contests. And I’m willing to pay for the risk of a drop in the percentile of any creative with a percent of domain sales. In my personal opinion, the institution of cloud brokers in a competitive arena is not appropriate. Each of us is a broker of our own and others’ domains when we offer them in contests.