During the 1980s, the internet was but an infant, and the selling and buying of real estate was where it was at for financial gain. Late night infomercials abounded with stories of how everyday people were making money by buying homes cheaply and reselling them quickly for profit. The secret never changed and is still the same today, it is all about location, location, location.

In the new millennium, the story is similar, but now pertains to buying and selling VRE, or virtual real estate. Those involved will tell you that this is one of the easiest and most gratifying ways to make money online.

Domain names, or in other words your address on the World Wide Web, are an easy way to profit from the internet. The most exciting part is that you do not have to worry about having to make huge investments. Worries about mortgage payments and all the other challenges faced with traditional bricks and mortar real estate are a thing of the past.

An average domain name can usually be purchased for less than ten dollars and be resold for several hundred dollars within a few days. Every day, people are buying and selling domain names through domain name registries, brokerages and auction houses in much the same way as stocks and bonds.

But unlike investing in Wall Street and the Dow Jones, the average investor can multiply their purchase price on the sale of a single domain. In fact, it is quite common to see a single domain that was purchased for $6.95 one day, sell for $2,000.00 or more in a matter of days.

In 2007, experts within the industry have stated that the domain name industry is fast approaching a $2 billion market. Even more astonishing is that these industry experts claim that this value will grow to over $4 billion by the year 2010.

Domain name speculation is becoming more than a hobby for some. Domain name expert and Canadian entrepreneur Kevin Ham began his domain name portfolio several years ago and has since grown his portfolio of 300,000 domain names into a $300 million empire. With average earnings of $70 million each month, Kevin is considered a master of the game.

One tremendously popular way of earning money is known as Domain Flipping. Everyday people are buying and selling domain names they think will have strong commercial appeal. Sometimes domains have just the right ring to them, they may have consistent traffic, or maybe have great content and products. The key is to find a good name and become a prime mover before anyone else does.

So just as real estate was the investment darling of the 1980s, it is likely that smart investors will diversify and add domain names to their investment portfolios now and in the future.