This post meanders all over the place so indulge
me.
me.
I got on the web and the first day back in 1995 I learned I was a
'Webmaster.' WOW! Now what the hell was a webmaster? Damn, not in the
dictionary. It sounded important. Sounded very authoritative. Like the captain
of a ship but much more important. So golly gee, first day and there is so much
opportunity on the net that I am like an 'Admiral' since day one. Whoo Hoo!! Who
knew?
'Webmaster.' WOW! Now what the hell was a webmaster? Damn, not in the
dictionary. It sounded important. Sounded very authoritative. Like the captain
of a ship but much more important. So golly gee, first day and there is so much
opportunity on the net that I am like an 'Admiral' since day one. Whoo Hoo!! Who
knew?
Now I could write and go down two very different paths right
now. I can continue on this trend and that would bring you to 'Webmastering.com'
that I wrote in 1999 and still stands undisturbed or I can continue on with the title of this piece about us
all being self appointed.
now. I can continue on this trend and that would bring you to 'Webmastering.com'
that I wrote in 1999 and still stands undisturbed or I can continue on with the title of this piece about us
all being self appointed.
Ok, we all became self appointed. I became the self appointed
'Domain King'. Ron Jackson became the self appointed 'Historian.' Monte Cahn became the self appointed 'Web radio host' of Domain Masters. The list goes on and on and on. Point is, we saw a void and need and just filled it. We defined the job, defined the agenda, defined the reason to do it and defined the goal. We came at different points in time and just did whatever. I decided my duties were to spread the word of the power and
profitability of domain names and why they would become so valuable and so
important to the future of commerce and personal relationships even tho it would hurt my own efforts in buying domains
in the future. I decided that raising awareness and values was a more important
job. I went to early business forums and shared my vision on
domain names. I approached the real estate industry first. Within a relatively short time they would throw my ass out the
door, delete my posts and banish me from ever coming back. They even kicked my friend Serge out and deleted his posts. He challenged their minds and they were not up to the challenge.
'Domain King'. Ron Jackson became the self appointed 'Historian.' Monte Cahn became the self appointed 'Web radio host' of Domain Masters. The list goes on and on and on. Point is, we saw a void and need and just filled it. We defined the job, defined the agenda, defined the reason to do it and defined the goal. We came at different points in time and just did whatever. I decided my duties were to spread the word of the power and
profitability of domain names and why they would become so valuable and so
important to the future of commerce and personal relationships even tho it would hurt my own efforts in buying domains
in the future. I decided that raising awareness and values was a more important
job. I went to early business forums and shared my vision on
domain names. I approached the real estate industry first. Within a relatively short time they would throw my ass out the
door, delete my posts and banish me from ever coming back. They even kicked my friend Serge out and deleted his posts. He challenged their minds and they were not up to the challenge.
But eventually one group stopped laughing long enough to
listen. And when I bought Porno.com for $42k (Something unheard of then) they
actually stopped and listened. Mainly they listened because they thought I had lost my mind. The BRUTAL TRUTH was that I PROVED to this elite
group of early pioneers that MY TRAFFIC coming from MY DOMAINS via type in
traffic was outperforming their traffic by over 100X. You heard me right. Matter
of fact, early in the game I actually thought my calculator was broken. While
others were earning 1/10 of one penny per visitor, I was earning over 10 cents
per click per visitor and more. More than 100x the norm. It was easily verified thru
independent sponsors who saw what I saw and could no longer just ignore this
startling difference. Something Main Street and Corporate America has yet to
figure out and we are over a decade into this grand experiment. A decade later
and MOST folks have yet to learn what the adult industry learned in 1997. I can
only shake my head when I think about the BILLIONS in business these folks
pissed away by not learning the difference between targeted traffic and crappy worthless
traffic. Not knowing the difference between a website that could close a sale and one that could not. They pay the same for traffic and development and don't even know the difference!!! Keep putting
water in your gas tanks and paying for it and expect your business to take off.
LAUGHABLE!!
listen. And when I bought Porno.com for $42k (Something unheard of then) they
actually stopped and listened. Mainly they listened because they thought I had lost my mind. The BRUTAL TRUTH was that I PROVED to this elite
group of early pioneers that MY TRAFFIC coming from MY DOMAINS via type in
traffic was outperforming their traffic by over 100X. You heard me right. Matter
of fact, early in the game I actually thought my calculator was broken. While
others were earning 1/10 of one penny per visitor, I was earning over 10 cents
per click per visitor and more. More than 100x the norm. It was easily verified thru
independent sponsors who saw what I saw and could no longer just ignore this
startling difference. Something Main Street and Corporate America has yet to
figure out and we are over a decade into this grand experiment. A decade later
and MOST folks have yet to learn what the adult industry learned in 1997. I can
only shake my head when I think about the BILLIONS in business these folks
pissed away by not learning the difference between targeted traffic and crappy worthless
traffic. Not knowing the difference between a website that could close a sale and one that could not. They pay the same for traffic and development and don't even know the difference!!! Keep putting
water in your gas tanks and paying for it and expect your business to take off.
LAUGHABLE!!
I love economic slowdowns. I love recessions. This event
FORCES people to actually work for a living. Look for new answers to old
problems. Look for new ways. ASK QUESTIONS! Stop and listen to the answer. They experiment. They work like their jobs are at stake because they are. As domainers with targeted traffic we are right on
their path once they figure out where their path is. So pull up a comfortable chair and enjoy the wait. They are on their way.
FORCES people to actually work for a living. Look for new answers to old
problems. Look for new ways. ASK QUESTIONS! Stop and listen to the answer. They experiment. They work like their jobs are at stake because they are. As domainers with targeted traffic we are right on
their path once they figure out where their path is. So pull up a comfortable chair and enjoy the wait. They are on their way.
Smart business increases their ad budgets during tough times
to keep their numbers as close to level as possible. Dumb businesses pull back
and that is the kiss of death. I can prove it. Let's look at Audi. They came out
with some super sports car last year and advertised the hell out of it. I saw it
in every magazine and every ad they ran. Ok cool. So I call the dealer. I could
feel the salesman's chest boast out even on the phone as he told me there is a 3
year wait to get one. He thought he was so cool. Little did he know what a moron
he was. He was so happy that he could not make a sale even tho he had a live one
on the line. So Audi set him up to look foolish and I took the opportunity to
laugh at him for sounding so proud about not having what I wanted to buy and
therefore made no money and thus wasted everybody's time. Why advertise when you
can't deliver or are at 100% capacity? It's the wrong time. You advertise NOW
when things are tough so you can stay afloat. btw, the funny part of the story
was a few weeks later they called me back and told me they could get me one. By
that time I had bought 2 other cars and my appetite for the Audi was gone. Great
job Audi! Almost as good as another time when I asked a salesman there what 0-60
was and was told 'Nobody really cares about 0-60 anymore.' I laughed in his
face, told him his cars must be slow not to answer that after he knew every
other stat and spec and walked out.
to keep their numbers as close to level as possible. Dumb businesses pull back
and that is the kiss of death. I can prove it. Let's look at Audi. They came out
with some super sports car last year and advertised the hell out of it. I saw it
in every magazine and every ad they ran. Ok cool. So I call the dealer. I could
feel the salesman's chest boast out even on the phone as he told me there is a 3
year wait to get one. He thought he was so cool. Little did he know what a moron
he was. He was so happy that he could not make a sale even tho he had a live one
on the line. So Audi set him up to look foolish and I took the opportunity to
laugh at him for sounding so proud about not having what I wanted to buy and
therefore made no money and thus wasted everybody's time. Why advertise when you
can't deliver or are at 100% capacity? It's the wrong time. You advertise NOW
when things are tough so you can stay afloat. btw, the funny part of the story
was a few weeks later they called me back and told me they could get me one. By
that time I had bought 2 other cars and my appetite for the Audi was gone. Great
job Audi! Almost as good as another time when I asked a salesman there what 0-60
was and was told 'Nobody really cares about 0-60 anymore.' I laughed in his
face, told him his cars must be slow not to answer that after he knew every
other stat and spec and walked out.
Told you I would meander on this post. Ok back to the
subject.
subject.
On the other hand, let's stay on this. The question is whether
Main Street and Corporate America will pull back on their advertising or are
they bold enough to increase it? Stay tuned because you will see before your
very eyes which folks GET IT and which folks don't. Their online sales are all increasing. Their brick and mortar sales are flat lining and will soon be in decline. The expenses of running B&M business is going to be devastating. Cost online is much lower with worldwide penetration. When will they finally shift the BULK of their resources online? If not now, it will never be as you will watch some big boys just topple over.
Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz.
Main Street and Corporate America will pull back on their advertising or are
they bold enough to increase it? Stay tuned because you will see before your
very eyes which folks GET IT and which folks don't. Their online sales are all increasing. Their brick and mortar sales are flat lining and will soon be in decline. The expenses of running B&M business is going to be devastating. Cost online is much lower with worldwide penetration. When will they finally shift the BULK of their resources online? If not now, it will never be as you will watch some big boys just topple over.
Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz.
Recent Comments