
The dude that built DudeRanch.com - eightturn
https://www.deepsouthventures.com/dude-that-built-duderanch-com/
======
gorpomon
I love reading about Deep South Ventures websites-- the projects are simple
but inspiring. They're kind of like the other side of the coin to YC-- they
make business seem possible but in a completely different way.

Heads up-- something on duderanch.com is putting a max-width on rows making
the site unreadble in desktop:

<section class="row row-3" style="width: 100%; max-width:
328px;">...</section>

~~~
erikig
I agree. I just finished reading this guide on how to build a profitable side
business and it is as practical as it is - eye-opening.

[https://www.deepsouthventures.com/build-a-side-
business/](https://www.deepsouthventures.com/build-a-side-business/)

~~~
michaelbuckbee
I agree, but with some minor quibbles specific to the HN audience:

1\. The ability to write software is an asset and the DSV type projects are
more software adjacent. Software has such great margins that it's much easier
to create a profitable business than anything that involves shipping or
physical goods (MicroSAAS, Dev Books/Courses, Themes, etc.)

2\. It's sort of left unsaid that much of the purpose of buying these "domains
you can make a business around" is to optimize SEO. And my honest feeling is:
well done, that's a huge leg up in ranking.

But there have been some changes to SEO (Google weighting factors and more
navigational searches) that have reduced the value of them.

Also, I think there's a strong argument to be made that if you're just
starting out today and have $20,000 you'd be better off today with:

duderanchjourney.com ($14 to register) + $19,986 in content, advertising, etc.

vs

duderanch.com ($20,000 to buy) + a blank page.

~~~
bhartzer
>> But there have been some changes to SEO (Google weighting factors and more
navigational searches) that have reduced the value of them.

Well, I've actually studied this a lot... and it's not that Google reduced the
value of them (Exact Match Domains EMDs). It's just that Google stopped giving
them more weight. So now all domains are given the same potential ranking
weight--even the new gTLD domains.

Bing, on the other hand, still gives more value to EMDs.

~~~
siruncledrew
I don’t doubt, but I was trying to find up to date information if Google
hasn’t changed their algorithm about this and couldn’t find anything besides a
reference to 2012 changes: [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/do-exact-
match-domains-s...](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/do-exact-match-
domains-still-work/283759/)

Is there a more up to date source?

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dewey
Also by the same guy and mentioned in the blog post:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19728132](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19728132)
"I Sell Onions on the Internet"

~~~
eightturn
hey, I know you! : )

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chmod775
I'm surprised he paid $20k for that domain name, and then made the site look
like this: [https://i.imgur.com/3XYXdo6.png](https://i.imgur.com/3XYXdo6.png)

That is Firefox by the way. I suppose it looks differently in whatever browser
it was tested at the time? Or maybe it is my adblock blacklisting wpengine.com
by default?

He could have hired a web designer/coder for a fraction of that price.

 _Edit:_

Turns out it is uBlock.

Don't use styles/JS from domains used for serving ads I suppose. That's
analogous to sending legitimate mail from servers that also tend to send out a
lot of spam.

You'll have spam filters/adblockers ruining your day.

~~~
eightturn
author here.. thanks for mentioning this.. try to fix this as we speak.. does
it still appear wonky?

~~~
jordanmoconnor
It still appears wonky, yes. FF + uBlock.

~~~
eightturn
thanks.. continuing to dig into it..

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walrus01
The wikipedia article for the origin of the word 'dude' is interesting as
well:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude)

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zapstar
What a wonderful and refreshing approach to entrepreneurship. I loved his
previous post about selling onions, and I like his strategy of picking a
domain first and then running with it -- the details will be filled in later.
Domain names have so much potential! They are so motivating initially -- and
he clearly follows through!

~~~
eightturn
thank you zapstar! Sorta like Bill Walsh (49ers coach) said (essentially)..
start on the right foundation and "the score will take care of itself"..
Domain names are such a great way to start a project off on the right foot..

~~~
zapstar
Absolutely! I’m using that exact strategy on my latest project, and so far, I
feel like I’ve started off on the right foundation!

~~~
frequentnapper
where can you discover and buy a good domain?

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GCA10
Any idea what the yearly gross income from duderanch.com might be? Or the
selling price at the exit?

I love the narrative. I'd love it even more if we had a glimpse of whether
this ultimately settled in as predicted ($25k/year) or turned out to be a
whole lot more rewarding.

~~~
ggcdn
I'll bet its more than the $664 USD this website valuator [1] reports, lol.

[1]
[http://www.siteworthtraffic.com/report/duderanch.com](http://www.siteworthtraffic.com/report/duderanch.com)

~~~
bhartzer
GoDaddy's appraisal tool values it at $7,628 [https://www.godaddy.com/domain-
value-appraisal/appraisal/](https://www.godaddy.com/domain-value-
appraisal/appraisal/)

Even though, in the same result, they report the comparables:

duderanch.com $17,949 heroesranch.com $7,500 urbanranch.com $7,000

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notmyfuture
I really love the whole story, especially the idea of the domain name being
like the "starter sentence" in a creative writing course. Much has been
written about constraints enhancing creativity.

In addition to the constraint of the domain name itself, the author also spent
$17,949 (taking 6-9 months to repay) which would help constrain them to focus
on just this one idea over that time.

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mylons
i really enjoyed the onions piece. it was inspiring, and i was checking those
domain auctions daily for awhile, then fell off.

edit: i enjoyed this piece too.

~~~
eightturn
thank you, mylons

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mcthornton
He should have tried westworld.com

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Based_Detroiter
Dude Ranch is not as fun as ram ranch!

