This post is the first in a multi-part “interactive case study” on domain flipping. By interactive I mean I’m seeking your advice on what steps to take and will give updates as this project continues. I have very recently acquired the domain name IndyDivorce.com. There is no website attached to it. However, I feel like it could be rather valuable for a local law firm.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t endorse divorce. However, the opportunity came along to snap up a domain name with the potential for high appeal to a select market. This is where this project begins.

I basically have 3 options:

1. Find an interested party to directly purchase the domain.
2. Turn it into a simple directory website listing local divorce lawyers in Indiana (and perhaps some articles on alternatives to divorce!) and eventually charge local lawyers a fee for an upgraded listing.
3. Do what YOU tell me to do.

What do you think? The point really is to “flip” this domain like you flip a house. I want to buy low, fix ‘er up, and then sell for a decent profit while still delivering a great value to the final customer.

I can’t quite figure out what is causing it. My guess is that it is occurring during the FTP process and either a file gets a wrong name or somehow gets swapped with another. I can usually correct it by re-uploading certain sections of my WP install, but I’ve never really paid attention to which files fix it.

As for FTP clients, I’ve yet to find one I’m absolutely in love with. I have a love-hate relationship with both SmartFTP and Filezilla. Both seem to serve me well about 80-90% of the time. Filezilla seems to handle transfer problems better (giving me more ability to retry failures without just failing again every time like SmartFTP seems to do). I suppose I want an FTP client that can verify that all files were uploaded exactly as they should for me. Kind of like when I burn a CD or create a ZIP/RAR archive–the program verifies everything afterwards.