I bought Sirius
Satellite Radio at 49 cents. I bought hundreds of thousands of shares and made
millions of dollars when the net was at the lowest point. I wonder about the
rumors on Wall St. lol
I bought that stock for
ONE main reason. I looked at the impressive list of companies backing Sirius. I
FOLLOWED THE MONEY!! I do that all the time. In anything. ALWAYS....follow the
money. I did the same with .mobi. What caught MY attention were the companies
backing it. Why would they do that? I also saw a POSSIBLE difference in .mobi
if it ever became adopted as a standard by these folks that were investing.
Taking $200k out of my pocket to buy flowers.mobi given my financial position
was no big deal to me. I have lost $200k in the stock market quicker than it
took me to write this SENTENCE! Remember iOmega.com, quepasa.com, etoys.com? It
was left over $$$ that I had nowhere to invest. Seems it became a big deal to
everyone else as rumors by those with an agenda were planted within minutes or
hours of the auction. To me it was just one transaction out of thousands that I
make.
Just to set the record
straight.
First let me clean
things up. Seems there are rumors circulating that I need to put an end to. The
only way to do that is to state the FACTS from the horses mouth so all the
speculation of what 'Really' happened are finally put to bed and the
record is set straight.
I get no kickbacks or
anything from .mobi whatsoever. Not a penny, not so much as a dinner. NOTHING!
The share TRAFFIC makes off the auction is our business. But we make the same
off of any sale off any extension. The only relationship is their sponsorships
which have been modest but appreciated. Before the TRAFFIC show in October 2006,
I had never met, spoken to, emailed or had a relationship with anyone at
.mobi. I didn't even know that .mobi was not spelled .moby. :-)
So let me take you
inside my mind over a year ago when I bought flowers.mobi. First of all I never
registered a single .mobi domain during the sunrise period. My interest was not
there until about a week before the auction or whenever Moniker announced the
premium domain list. See, when I speculate with domains of ANY extension, I
focus on one word domains or 2 very meaningful word domains. But if I am going
to speculate on any extension other than dotcom, I am going to buy premium
domains. So I decided to wait until the Moniker auction at TRAFFIC because that
was going to be the first time that PREMIUM names with that extension would
become available. I immediately picked flowers.mobi as the most valuable domain
on the list and one of the premiere domains in the space should .mobi take off.
So I decided before the auction I would bid up to $100k to get it.
First of all I think
even if .mobi takes off it will be very narrow. It won't be the same as .com. I
believe folks will concentrate on different things. So I decided that
flowers.mobi was the prize. However I was interested in many of the other
.mobi's because I wanted a stake in some of the best premium domains. If I am
going to invest in a risky new extension, I am going to do my best to get
domains I believe have the best balance of price and future.
So quietly I bought
Laugh.mobi for $3k, celebs.mobi for $2250 and a few others like
eat.mobi. early in the auction for about 8k. Then wow.mobi for $9k, gossip.mobi
for $5k, Fun.mobi came up. I had also wanted that as well. When it hit $95 or
$100k I dropped out. I also tried to buy party.mobi.
As I stated earlier, I
was going to bid up to $100k for flowers.mobi. I knew that the
flowers.com attorney was there and bidding. however I could not see him
and I have no idea when he dropped out of the bidding. Some of told me $40k
while others have stated $100k. I still don't know as I write this. I know
there are other big companies investing in .mobi and I
ALWAYS.....'Follow the money.' But when several others bid 6 figures
it created a 'Market value' and that gave me confidence to bid higher
than what I planned. Now a 'Floor' was established as 3 or 4
people in the room were willing to pay over $100k and 2 or 3 of them went to
$120k I think. Then I duked in out with my friends at EuroDNS. Their last bid
was $190k if I recall correctly. So what others see as this great risk, I see
as a domain that the market said was worth between $100k and $200k set by the
market not a worthless appraisal. Not a rumor started with somebody with an
agenda.
I had no idea what a
firestorm that would create until I began reading what was said after the
auction on the boards when I returned to my room late that night. The rumors
were flying. They just made stuff up. They were not even there but once someone
starts a rumor, the mindless followers spread it like wildfire. Everything is a
conspiracy to them. THAT was the REAL story. But they were too busy looking in
the grassy knoll for some BS that somebody with a motive planted. Not that it
is possible that I saw something different in .mobi than any other extension.
Something I really don't need to reveal here but I have even tho that's MY
business. But I am setting the record straight regardless and maybe some of the
mindless folks that talk out of their butts will learn something instead of
making it up.
But there is ONE thing
different and it has nothing to do with compliance or anything like that. Let
me put it this way....If there are 450 lemonade stands lined upon a street and
I wanted to do business where would I start? Some would say get some lemons and
a table and sell lemonade. I would say let me focus on grape juice and I
bet I will do more business than most of the lemonade stands in my first day
than those there for YEARS!. That's the best I can do at this point in
time. But just like .com, I reach a point of investment and I slow down or
stop. I decided that $500k-750k was what I would RISK with .mobi. Is it a
good investment? Ask me in 5 years. That is how long I expect it to be before
the seeds from my investment germinate or die. On the other hand, if I flip
them TODAY, the value of my investment has gone up and I will show that in a
minute.
Well there are the
facts. I get no preferential treatment from .mobi. I get NOTHING WHATSOEVER in
return. Not even a Christmas Card. lol But if I get one, I will let you all
know. I just buy things at one price that I believe their value will go up in
the future. I may be right. I may be wrong. That is what investing is all about
and I ain't done that bad for myself over the years. If folks decide that since
Rick Schwartz is buying .mobi they should too.....that has nothing to do with
me. They may buy because I buy but they do it silly and blindly if that is the
only reason. I just have a hard enough time taking care of my own business
and my own concerns and wiping my own butt in the morning to worry about the
other BS, rumors and such made up by folks in this business that have a motive
and an agenda.
Lastly.......
Some folks think that
just because I run a tradeshow, just because I have a private forum, just
because I am who I am that I should not be allowed to bid at the TRAFFIC
auctions. Well to those folks, I would say I never abdicated my being a
domainer when I decided to share my knowledge and promote the industry. I take
folks on the boat I created and the next thing I know I have to deal with folks
trying to throw me off my own ship. I am a domainer. I have been a domainer for
a dozen years. I am going to continue to buy domains whenever and wherever.
That includes TRAFFIC and the Moniker auction and any other auction I feel I want
to participate in. Those that don't want me to bid because they perceive that I
have an unfair advantage are wrong. I am a domainer just like them. The next
thing they will complain about is my bank account has millions more than they
do and so THAT gives me an unfair advantage. To those folks.....GET OVER IT!
Work hard, make good decisions and get rewarded. Every second you are minding
MY business, you are ignoring yours. Does THAT sound like a good decision? A
good investment of your time? It sure looks foolish to me.
As far as Sahar and the
'rest of the story.' I have no idea what he is referring to. It could
be something simple like all the publicity the flowers.mobi sale created.
What's the value of that? But I will ask him before I finish this just to see.
(Already revealed above)
Anyway, that's the real
story from the horses mouth. Take it or leave it, those are the FACTS. If you
want to make up lies in the face of facts, knock yourself out. But don't expect
me to allow you to get away with it. The industry now knows the story behind
the story. I may have written it earlier but I was still actively buying .mobi
and was not in my best interest. Now I have the stake I want and it's on to the
next investment. And that is what it is.....an investment that may or may not
pay dividends. Those that say I am promoting .mobi are making it up. Look at
any of my posts about the extension. They are well balanced. They show BOTH
sides of the coin. I have no idea if .mobi will be a hit or a bust. If it is a
bust I lose up to $750k. If it is a win, then who knows. I like bets with
'Who knows' based on my gut. Some go to Vegas and gamble, some do it
on Wall St., I prefer to do my own gambling on my own business using
a gut instinct that has served me well.
And in the interest of
full disclosure. Jim McCann the CEO and Founder of Flowers.com will be our
keynote speaker at TRAFFIC in Las Vegas. So now you will have some other
conspiracy theories to make up and talk about. I hope you will be more creative
with this one. Do you think I should wear my Flowers.mobi shirt to dinner?
Deliver flowers to his room from FLOWERS.MOBI? Have the limo pick him up with
Flowers.mobi all over the sides? Nah....not my style. I'll just enjoy the talk
from a guy who has walked the same path as us and has one of THE greatest
success stories of all time to share. I will learn more from his words than the
$200k Flowers.mobi cost me and I will still own the domain name. Besides, I
would rather discuss Candy.com with him. Shazaam!
Now that we took care of
that, lets peel back the NUMBERS. The numbers tell all. Numbers don't lie....people have agendas. People make things up. But numbers tell a story. A story most are AFRAID to look at and even more afraid to understand. My best business friend is numbers.
If you read my comments
I have always addressed both sides of the .mobi debate. I am in the middle. I
admit I am not smart enough to know what others THINK they know. I know to trust the numbers and tune out the bullshit on both sides. Whatever extension folks focus on there is
a narrow line between just investing in the extension and promoting that
extension. IDN won't be big because somebody says so. It will be big when/if
the market says so. When the numbers say so. Same with .tv, .biz, .info .whatever. It will be big when Ron
Jackson's chart shows it is big. Shows by real world, verifiable sales. In 2007
so far of the top 100 reported sales 91 are .com. So dotcom is KING, not
because I say so but because the market says so. Of the 9 that were not
.com......2 were.mobi.......3 were .net.........1 was .org.........1 was
.info.......and there were 2 country codes, .co.uk and .de. This covers domains
with reported sales from $82,000 to $9.5 million so far in 2007 as of last
week.
Then we can jumpover to
the 'Global contenders. Their range for the year is $15,000 to $300k. Here
is the BIG answer. Of the top 100 there are 28 .mobi's occupying those spots.
.net = 43
.mobi = 28
.org = 16
.info = 9
Lastly the country
codes. With the exception of two 6 figure sales, the range was $10-$85k. That
also included .cc, .tv IDN and some 335 individual country codes competing for
this spots. So if you just sit there and study Ron's page and FOLLOW THE MONEY,
it is pretty easy to pick the finalists. You pick them from REALITY by sales
not wishful thinking by me or you or anyone.
Here are the extensions
in the order of what the MARKET says by actual real world reported sales.
.com
.net
.org
.mobi
.info
Then .co.uk, .de, .tv,
.us, idn
http://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm
Follow the money, look
at the numbers, gage the market, don't listen to rumors. The newest extension
on the list is outperforming extensions out for many years. THAT is the
reality. They may become another 'Tulip' run. But at this point
nobody can say definitively either way. Those that think they know on either
side, know nothing. It's just too early to tell.
Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz
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