The Rick Schwartz Domain and Traffic Blog RicksBlog.com...Home of the "Domain King"

A Life Changing Thought? You decide.

Morning Folks!!

Sometimes a simple phrase says more than a book of words. I heard something today that would fall into that category. A complete recipe from beginning to end and it is basic and simple.

Anything is a possibility

All you have to do is open the door

Create the opportunity

And move forward.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

How Doctors Almost Killed My Mother as She Fights for Her Life.

Morning Folks!!

I had to leave Las Vegas TRAFFIC early as my mother was near death. Death induced by doctors that DON’T CARE and a system that may or may not work. When it works, and it usually does, it is as good as it gets, but when it does not work, it is a nightmare.

So I send my mother and her girlfriend on 1 or 2 cruises each year since 1997 when my dad died. They are the “Golden Girls” and this would have been #27.  Each cruise they go on they get special treatment  because they have cruised more than any other passengers on the entire ship and almost always go with the same line. That’s good for at least a nice bottle of Champagne. So they sit at the Captain’s table and they get other little perks and upgrades that they really enjoy. My mom is 86 and her girlfriend is about 2 years behind.

Our nightmare began on January 10^th when she started the last cruise. She got sick on the ship before it even sailed. Went up for the lunch buffet and that was the last thing she basically remembers. She was so sick that the ship had to leave her in St. Kitts at a small hospital with very little equipment. 2 days later She was too sick and too weak to fly home. (Just yesterday I found out she was sick before she boarded) What to do when you are sitting 1000 miles away and no communications whatsoever? Who is her advocate? After 24 hours I was able to convince the insurance company that the insurance I purchased for her cruise now needed to be activated. They did perform and they arranged an air ambulance on a Lear jet at a cost of $17,000 plus other fees. But it worked and they did their job. We were confident that once we got her here we would quickly get things sorted out. They THOUGHT they had things done and they released her from the hospital prematurely and unable to even get out of bed. Still in pain and discomfort and not eating or drinking. My vibrant mother was withering away in DAYS! She even began to lose her will to live. My brother calls 911 and they readmit her. They just do nothing and release her. 48 hours more passes, now 12 days into this. Not eating, not drinking, getting dehydrated, no intravenous to keep her hydrated. She was dying but there was no reason for her to die. NONE! She had an acute attack but it was nothing chronic which to me meant it was totally fixable!

Ineptness was killing her. Not her age, not even her medical problem. The doctor was just too busy to pay her any mind or attention. Too busy to really take a moment to see what was happening. So I left Las Vegas early when I heard she was giving up.  When I landed my brother called and said he again called 911. He also left a voice mail for the doctor. Let him know what a jerk he has been. I was on the way home to pay a personal visit to the doctor. I was going with my brothers to his office to physically confront him. He has 2000 patients and we have 1 mother. If it were her time to die it would be one thing. She would outlast anyone reading this. Tough and strong and survived more than I care to divulge. I am not sure what I would have done had that event happened. I was prepared to be disruptive if I had to for him to either focus on my mother or not be a roadblock to finding another doctor that would.

Well, my brother’s angry voice mail to the doctor finally got his attention and he got into gear and showed up at the emergency room and a TEAM of doctors went to work on her. That was Saturday  (Jan 23^rd) and she is still not stable. More tests this morning. Each day getting weaker and the discomfort is evident. They finally believe they have it nailed down but her recovery is far from certain.  So many complications can set in and her initial problem is still not resolved as I write this.  So been a pretty rough few days and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. Each day we hope she turns the corner. That has yet to happen and at her age with no food for so long, time is against her until she can eat and start to regain her strength. We are hoping after the tests today she can try and eat and drink again.

Sunday the 24th and then again on Tuesday the 26^th were the toughest days. We were just praying the phone did not ring n the middle of the night. Our mother was dying and the system was killing her not her body not her malady. The system, the doctors that don’t communicate and the cracks that things fall thru were more than I can even write about. I started writing this about 2 weeks ago and it still goes on.

I struggled for the entire time whether to post any of this. It is very personal, yet I want everyone to know what you are up against. You cannot trust the medical system to provide good care unless you have an advocate and watch them like a hawk. With my mom close to death I just broke down and did not know what to do. The system we all believe in was failing her. I was trapped with no answers. Then I just cried out NO! NO! I was not going to stand by and watch this. NO WAY! I solve problems for a living. I solve every other problem, I must solve this one because no problem ever meant more and if I were really good at what I do then this was the moment it all was for. Earlier in the day I tried to get her a private nurse. 8PM and with all that was going on I noticed they never even called back. So desperate I tried another route and luckily I got a call back 10 minutes later.

I told them I needed my own "Nurse Ratched" to scare the doctors into doing their jobs. For those that don't know, she was the nurse in one of the greatest movies ever on the screen. "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" with Jack Nicholson. Pretty damn mean and nasty nurse. But I need one of those to put every doctor she had on notice that this was not going to be business as usual. Put them on notice that we are watching and you are going to CARE! My mom is not just another piece of meat and I don't give a rats ass that you have 2000 other patients, I have ONE mother.

At 8am the next morning my mom's private nurse arrived. I did not tell my brothers. I just did it and hoped everyone was on board. They met her, they loved her and now my mom had somebody actually tending to her needs. The hospital is just so understaffed that there is no time for actually nursing anymore. It takes hours to get the simplest of things and sometimes days. The doctors are so callused they just don't care. They see she is about to be 87 and would rather call a mortuary than a specialist. I write this because everyone needs to know what they are up against. It is cruel out there and you must be loaded for bear.

So the nurse was great. She basically nursed my mom off of the death bed the fucking doctors were sentencing her to. Without the 6 of us and the nurse, my mom would not be alive today. We were not sure she would survive on Sunday night and then again Tuesday night. Today (Thursday the 28th) she seems to be on the mend. It would not have happened without this private nurse. She was dying until she arrived on the scene. 

No insurance will cover this. Not really. There are some fake stuff out there. But when you have a NEED, it is useless. The cost is high but life cannot be replaced. The system is failing and I watched what they did to my dad in 1997 and I watched what they almost did to my mom in 2010. 

It was not easy to find a private nurse that was qualified and licensed to do what we needed. We lucked out and now just one week later instead of a funeral she is eating, walking and getting stronger with every passing day. It has been a very tough few weeks and an ordeal I wish on none of you. Had the doctors continued to be in control and doing what they were doing, there is no possible way she would have survived given what we were witnessing. Sense of urgency? Completely foreign to a broken system. Things that were ordered to do on one day was not done until the next. We saw this over and over again. The nurses on staff were great but all trapped in a bad system, understaffed, over worked and full of roadblocks and uncaring doctors that manage things poorly and fail to communicate. The hospital itself as a facility is one of the top 50 and a non profit. But a hospital is only as good as the doctors that use it and the management that controls it. This is difficult to post, but I think everyone reading and all my friends need to know what to expect when doctors lose their passion to save their own patients and a system that has no backup but YOU. I thank the domain business for giving me the resources to pay tens of thousands of dollars it took to save my mom!! Dollars the "System" would not spend. The system would rather bury her. Friday she started to really turn the corner. By Sunday she was sharp, alert and eating pizza. She will be home this afternoon after 3 weeks of hell. Thanks to a great nurse and possibly a story that Joseph McClendon III shared at TRAFFIC just a few hours before I left that made me refuse to accept what was happening and maybe bend destiny just a tad.

Rick Schwartz

My mom on the RIGHT. Her traveling friend on the LEFT. Our families have been friends for 44 years.
 
 

What a difference a year makes. Obama gets STUNNING Message?

Morning Folks!!

In business we are all salesmen. If we own or operate a business you are a salesmen. Now there are good salesmen and bad ones. Ones that know how to close a sale and get a result and those that can’t.

One year ago today was possibly the most historic day any of us will live to see and I blogged about it. A young, energetic black president taking the oath of office. From slavery to the presidency. We have a lot to be proud of. But as salesmen by trade this has to be the worst sales event I have ever seen. With goodwill that I have never seen in all my life, with an opportunity unprecedented in history what can I really say? Here it is…He blew it!

Broken promises without explanation or even a good reason. Over reaching the likes we have never seen before. And a deaf ear for the majority who are justifiably concerned.

So it all came to a crashing end last night with an earth shattering victory for a seat held by Democrats for nearly my entire lifetime.  The bluest of blue states even rejected the nonsense going on in Washington. Ted Kennedy is spinning in his grave.

The bi-product of all this is that folks are once again talking politics with a much more open mind. While things may be more divided than ever in Washington, the same cannot be said for the heartland. People are becoming more and more united against the waste and corruption we are seeing.  Sickening is a word that comes to mind. We sit and watch our way of life be challenged at every level. Sorry, I don’t feel guilty for living well because I work very hard. Since when is success punished?  Since when is it ok to not listen to the electorate?

So just one year later and the President, who is very likeable, cannot keep saying the same things when we see this stuff with our own very eyes.  One year ago today we were all filled with hope. Well, that was all it was, hope. I can only hope the election last night and the losses in New Jersey and Virginia will finally get the message thru. We are Americans for a reason. We rejected the European style of life and government 234 years ago and it is great to see that even in the most liberal state in America they did not lose sight of that. That was a stunning defeat for Obama as it was a referendum on his policies and  even in Massachusetts it was rejected in no uncertain manner.

Healthcare? Certainly it needs to be updated. But I sure would sleep better at night knowing 80 Senators agreed on how to do that then some new social program that punishes success and rewards those on the sidelines. Terrorism? I wish the president would be as passionate about our rights and protecting us as he is in protecting these PRICKS that want to kill us. WTF is wrong here?? There is more torture on TV than the Military ever thought of! 

So my wish is that the President stops ignoring the folks and starts to have some success.  Where are we a year later? Other than the wasteful stimulus, this transformational President has accomplished nothing in his first year. Nothing.  The only thing he has accomplished is wasting the great opportunity he had and turning the bluest seat in the Senate, RED after 52 YEARS! 12 months ago you could have gotten 1 million to 1 odds against that happening. Today, it is a reality and it did not happen by accident. Obama's liberal plans was rejected by the most liberal state in the country and that is a huge event. Even liberals want to be protected from these terror attacks and I GUARANTEE that if it was your wife, mother or child that the terrorist had information about and could save their lives with it, that ANY METHOD would be fine as long as you got the info before it was too late.

In the next days ahead we will see if the President and Congress get the message or are still tone deaf. No matter which side of the political spectrum you are on we all want to have these folks make decisions in OUR best interests, not THEIRS!

Sorry, I don’t like a country that has 2 groups. One that carries the water, and those that drink the water. Sorry, this is 100% bullshit. It is one thing to help the helpless; it is another thing to help folks that deserve no help. Somewhere along the line, the oldest law of man has to be the key. “Survival of the fittest”.

Some think compassion is giving a guy a fish so he can eat today. That is not compassion that is dependency. Teaching a guy to fish is compassion. If he is not interested in learning, that is NOT your problem and it is not my problem and the government needs to learn it is not their problem either..

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

My First T.R.A.F.F.I.C. as an Attendee and I Can't Wait! Here's Why!

Morning Folks!!

This will be the first time I am attending TRAFFIC as an attendee. No more getting in 5 days early to prepare for the show. No printing badges and preparing registration. No getting all types of last minute emergency emails. No floorplans, diagrams, setup or breakdown. No pressure to perform. Just a few relaxing days in Las Vegas with the brightest guys on earth and their families. I am looking forward to having free time and meetings with productive outcomes.

One of the things I am looking most forward to is meeting Joseph McClendon III

The reason is because it was Tony Robbins that changed my life. I have written many times over the years about the cassette tapes I bought back in 1992. It was like a set of 20. I failed. I made it thru only the 4^th tape and that was so life changing that I have never looked back. I just love when folks can’t figure out how this stuff relates to domains. I think maybe because domaining is the only business they have ever been in and they don’t quite grasp that success or failure comes from within and your habits (Bad or good) are your destiny. That it transcends the product or service or business you have. That your mindset will determine your success or failure before you even begin. Also identifying the very thin line between failure, success, determination and wasting time by going down a dead end.  Knowing when giving up is because it is time to give up or there is just a lack or perseverance or no chance of your vision coming true.

Excuses in life are easy to make up. Excuse makers focus on excuses. Failure never has to be excused or blamed on others. Failure is only bad when it is due to your own laziness or lack of effort or sloppiness or other such error caused by a thinking pattern that did not serve you well. You have the control and ability to teach yourself anything you want. Including success which in many cases is taught by failure itself.

So when I get on that plane, my entire focus will be different. My approach may be the same because once you learn that it is with you every second of every day. What makes TRAFFIC so special is the invisible recharge you go through when you hang with energized folks that are walking serial success stories.  They see things others don’t. They react when others ponder. They perform while others talk.

So a unique group presents unique opportunities at a unique point in time. That produce unique results. That is just one of the formulas that makes TRAFFIC different and this TRAFFIC will be like a breath of fresh air with a new format but using the same formula. An invisible formula that can’t be copied because it has many formulas inside other formulas and wrapped up with a shared vision.

TRAFFIC means business and I am one excited guy to be able to actually go to TRAFFIC and focus on nothing but deal making, partnerships and other innovative ways to make BIG things happen in 2010. Life changing things. The only difference is I will be focusing on life changing things for myself for the first time since 2004 and I am gonna have a GREAT time doing it. Everything many of us have done until now were nothing more than preparation for the next 5 years. We have survived a bubble and a collapse and watched institutions crumble while we got stronger in the process. We are coming to center stage at a precise moment and the bi-product of the current economic conditions is that it is now universally agreed that the Internet is the future. A far cry from the bubble of 2003 when newspapers, TV stations and Main Street did everything in their power to discredit this medium. Now they have joined and embraced the Internet and 2010 is the FIRST year of the "New Economy". What has happened until now does not even count. Training wheels on a rocket ship. Prepare for liftoff!

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Bite Me and I will Bite Back.

Morning Folks!!

Tia Wood made an interesting blog post about me and how I operate the other day. She articulated things I never could and then I did my best to follow up with the following comment. I am sure the folks the post is intended for won't give it a second thought. They do, one at a time. Not in mass. But for the umpteenth time over too many years to count I will try and explain how I see things. 

"If I drive a Ferrari and a guy has a 15 year old junker, I will share my story of how I got the Ferrari and what I believe and how I see things but don’t expect me to get into the junker if I am not stranded. I already had my share of junkers. I was already where others were. All I can do is share what I personally learned and believe. I can’t force anyone, nor do I want to. I can lend a helping hand when I have time and willing to pull others up. But I do get annoyed when I lower my hand and others try and pull me down. THOSE are the people I have no time for. The time wasters with bad attitudes that are mad at everyone else for THEIR shortcomings. THOSE are the people I avoid in the domain business and in life in general. Pretty simple. The only ones that get offended are those very people. So they stick out and it makes it easy to exclude them. When they figure it out, they are included. I say it out loud and in writing because that is the foundation of my belief system. Surround yourself with people that pull you up not the ones that try and pull you down. SIMPLE! People that pull you up NEVER get offended by that or have to make snide comments. It only reflects badly on them. So what we see, they don’t. That’s the magic of life."

If I started in domaining today I would do it differently. I would have to do it differently even if I got into domains 6  months later than I did. The equation changes every day of our lives. Business does not stay still. It evolves and you have to evolve with it. But evolving does not change standard business principles and approach and attitude and behavior and many other things. That is the common thread and if that is flawed, everything you do is flawed because the foundation is not solid. Folks that are not making a lot of money in domaining can't blame anyone but themselves. I can see some getting red in the face just for saying something that is simple fact. Ok fine, blame me. Blame your mother. Blame the man on the moon. I am the one on the planet that has held you back. I am the bad guy. If not for me you would be a wildly successful. Just know that YOU are the only one that believes it and silly is the only word that comes to mind. YOU are in control of your destiny and you own it because you created it! A dose of reality is the way I give a helping hand and I can't help those that blame others for their failures or shortcomings. Until you get past that, you will never understand a word of what I am saying. Raise your game by stopping and thinking and accomplishing things and being deliberate. When you lash out, use that energy to pull yourself up because there is only one person on the entire planet that can hold you back and if you are looking my way, then you are foolish and it is time to adjust your attitude or suffer another year of anger and frustration. Want to be a winner? Then be a winner. It is your decision and I have no power to stop you nor desire. I do have a desire to lend that hand by posting in your face stuff that exposes the basic things that may be holding you back. Extend your hand and I will shake it. Bite my hand it and I will bite back. Attitude is everything and will determine your success or failure before you even begin your project.  

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Foreclosing on Foreclosure.com Part 2. Bankruptcy Foreseen? You Decide!

Morning Folks!!

My year started very interesting. I was stunned last week when Adam Strong advised me on New Years Day that Foreclosure.com parent company had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy just a week earlier. I read the story in the South Florida Biz Journal with my jaw hanging down. Man, did I dodge a bullet! Then another article appeared today in a second publication Inman.com with more juicy details and some history and a couple pending lawsuits. BIG lawsuits.

What jumped out at me the most was the $9 million in assets and the $27 million in liabilities. That seemed to dove tail with the value Brad Geisen himself put on this deal. $20 million. That deal would help his spreadsheet. It also helped to explain why his valuation was higher than my $16-$18 million. 

My attorney was labeled a "Deal Breaker" which in hindsight saved my bacon after 15 months of trying to get to a permanent contract while operating under an LOI. I was not happy that I spent 60% of the money they were paying me negotiating this deal and ended up walking away with nothing. In hindsight that was a small price to pay to protect and now save one of my most valuable properties. 

You can't say the motives behind what someone does but you sure as hell can speculate and when I do, I don't like what I see. It just reinforces how I do business and the power and freedom to walk away from a $20 million deal that would have turned out very bad. I am sure this is not the last we hear of this and whether they survive or not may not be up to them.

At some point I will write more details about the deal. I posted about the initial breakdown back in October "Foreclosing on Foreclosure.com". It started turning south in August when they defaulted on their monthly payment. I continued to send them traffic in good faith as I thought we were close to getting this nailed down. In fact, I was just wasting my time and getting jerked around. But better that than losing the domain name for pennies on the dollar. So what some may have thought was weakness when this fell apart as actually strength in walking away. What gets my dander up is in my heart I believe they knew this was coming and the fact they would not sign the deal that mirrored the fail safe in the candy.com spoke volumes. How could you not know in August, September and October that bankruptcy was looming just WEEKS later? I don't forget SHIT like that and folks need to know the skinny on all this.

Knowing when to say "No" and walking away has been my single biggest strength in business since the 1970's. Even when I could not afford to say "No", I did. Each time the future proved the decision to be a good one. Never give in to the pressure. It is your RIGHT and your DUTY to walk away from bad deals or deals that don't cover everything. Walking away from a $20 million Property.com deal (My biggest deal ever) only makes the domain more valuable and I feel 100% vindicated that I followed the advice of my attorney. It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made and until New Years Day, one I questioned daily and my greatest defeat is now my most cherished victory! 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz