Morning
folks!!
Since
I sold ireport.com to CNN I hear this chatter about 'I' domains. The
'I' part of the equation in the domain name is a very small part of
the equation. The power the 'I' had in this particular domain is
extremely powerful. But as the title suggests, it is not about the
'I' domain. It is about the 'C' in
'Circumstance.' Circumstance is what drove this deal and drives
almost all deals.
Now
let me peal this back a bit. CNN got the deal of the century. $750k was a
bargain. The value was close to $7.5M and I am going to explain why I plan to
get $7.5M as a result of this deal. First of all this may become the highest
profile domain to be sold and used in a very long time. CNN may advertise
ireport.com hundreds of times a day throughout the world. And each time any of
us hear that, it will remind the industry and then eventually the world about
this deal. The BARGAIN this deal will become in the eyes of the market. That
alone will raise values across the board as folks begin to realize what power a
domain, a great domain, can have to set you apart from the competition.
The
race is on. Will Fox News fight back and get uReport.com? The one thing that is
a SURE BET, is WHEN that domain eventually sells to Fox, and it WILL sell to
them at some point, it will sell at a rate much higher than $750k.That deal
will likely never be known when it does happen, but there is no question that
the table is set for a multimillion dollar sale. Do you hear that Seattle? Bases are loaded. So that is really the next piece of the puzzle to follow. This has
the power to blow the lid off the domain industry. Two titans at WAR and it is
their domain names that will be their leading Generals.For the love of Pete, they pay $750k for a picture of Britney's panties!This domain may actually define both networks for the next generation. Comparable? You decide. This may illustrate to the markets and business world that a domain name value is a drop in the bucket when compared to other income producing assets. The very future of ALL business is wrapped up in their domain names. It has been that way for a dozen years and it will be a recession or a crash in 2008 that forces all business to re-evaluate how they do business and why I would make such statements. How many other industries and
titans will fight similar battles? The value of this sale will be pointed to as
another mile marker not only in the domain industry but in business because of what is still yet to
unfold. The best is yet to come.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
christian
Great post. X factor is bogus I agree, if the x factor was ever included in the valuation of diamonds then the jewlery industry would not exist.
Steven Emery
when it rains it pours. its raining in los angeles today. all I can say is one thing about the owners of strategic premium domain names”beautiful”. I will get 500 million dollars for My Locator dot com since google launched the MyLocation feature for there mobile services everybody and there mother in cellular will want to compete. i eventually sell to nokia and they launch a online and mobile”social locator engine” network. could this happen? or maybe i’m just wishful thinking:) When Rick smiles we all smile. :)
Bob Sheth
Great post Rick. In fact the last few posts have been really inspiring for me. I remember a picture of you in business 2.0 with the domain property.com. Now that purchase has to be the biggest bargain ever.
(btw Steven Emery – contact me if you want to make an offer for my domain: Locator.mobi)
Don Murray
Example of domain name with no traffic selling.
My $60 investment in mymobile.mobi paid off this morning it closed at sedo for $15,500. I like those type of returns..
This name hardly gets any type in traffic, but the company that bought it is smart. Even the name of the company is called smartphone. So they paid out some cash and now have a strong domain name to work with. Not every domain name has to receive traffic for it to be worth anything this is a perfect example. I,m not sure if sedo will report the sale just yet but they should very soon. We have 2 other .mobi(s) in the first live auction this week and one .com (Not much traffic but they will all be bought today)
Good luck everyone
Robb
Yes you’re right, it’s all about circumstance with this sale. You bought the domain long ago, and since then a company started up a service with the exact word in your domain. I think if a smaller domainer held this name, CNN might have tried to push them off it, or it would have sold for much less. I think you did a good deal that was good for all domainers. And you’re right that it was probably worth much more to them. Also, if you hold generic domains, or very brandable ones like this, there is more chance that there will be a use for it somewhere, someday.
owen frager
Keep in mind that these”Hollywood” domains are in a different league. They are really the names of broadcast news programs on TV- where the website is used to empower and improve the TV show not the other way around. Naming such a show is akin to dateline, primetime live etc.
They will be generating ad revenue on the strength of the brand. It’s really going to cut into YouTube and Google’s turf because this is the transition old world media has needed to take. CNN is first to”get it.” Compare to HULU.
AJ
Who owns EyeReport.com?
Ritz
Hi Rick,
Great Post!
“.. Two titans at WAR and it is their domain names that will be their leading Generals..”
love that phrase!
my Race is not yet on though, I am trying to attract participants at the moment!
any tips/help from you?
Cheers,
Ritz
theBESTSintheworld.com
PS: thanks for your efforts to bring this industry in the limelight!
owen frager
btw, anyone with”Hollywood” names- this company can build them out and sell them off:
http://www.ibsys.com/
Robert Fontaine
Inspiring story Rick. I wish I had heard of the sale before committing to no reserve w/sedo on Special Report .com, which they all use whenever anything happens. Care to share the contact info for the”titans”? :).
Kevin
Congratulations Rick. Very good investment indeed. What text link ads are you using on sites like candy.com?
Martin Edic
The key is to try and build publicity rights into these deals so we can build general market awareness of the value of domains- we need to get the word out.
Let’s not forget business.com selling for $300mm- I always thought that was a pure domain play even though they had revenues. The sites without that amazing domain would have been valued at a fraction of that number.
Jeff Schneider
Rick we commend you!
We have all apprecited having you as a teacher and mentor,that tells us the truth! whether or not we are ready to hear it. I myself have learned a lot about the domainers business because of you’re willingness to share you’re visionary take on many subjects and events within the industry of domaining.
The most important lesson you have hammered home to all of is the absolute importance of selling our valuable domain names to end users who will actually develop a website. Rather than sell our domain to a speculator,who in turn sells the name to an end user who pays the speculator a 10 to 100 fold premium for the name you sold at auction! We see this happening over and over again as you hve pointed out to us many times.
You’re latest sale only reinforces what you have been telling us for some time now. Thank you for not folding to the demands of a non disclosure sale on iRate.com. This publicized sale to an end user, has turned the lights on again for all of us! Congratulations
Bob Olea
Awesome deal Rick!
I just wanted to add my thanks for making this deal public, as well as giving us the details and your thoughts on the transaction.
You make all of us realize that the ‘big scores’ are out there!
Regards, Bob
Bart Luyckx
I live in the .be area of the world. 750.000 dollars is like winning the national lottery here.
I am happy for you but I must admit I have a double feeling about people seeing a domainname as an investment.
I know it’s unstoppable but it also stops people with great ideas but no money to buy an identity on the Internet. Almost everything is already sold to people who just buy a domainname and let it rot, hoping to cash in someday.
Ideas are what make this world what it is. Unfortunately, most of these ideas will die faster now that you have to be a big multi million dollar company to be able to represent it on the net.
Response by RS:
Nonsense! There is always a domain you can buy for registration fees that will work if the idea is solid. So don’t cop out and give up. If your idea is sound it will survive a 3 word domain. So don’t use this as an EXCUSE to fail. look for a reason to succeed.
tw
Rick,
Great post on valuation.
Here’s a question: what value is there in/ or how does one put a value on names relating
to the topic of the digital music scene? Specifically, the whole thing with drm free mp3s?
Now there’s been quite a bit of news on this, as you may know, lately. Super Bowl ad/
Justin Timberlake// Pepsi and Amazon, not to mention the major labels trying to figure
things out. I mean, now Yahoo! Music looks like they’re getting involved. Big bucks
behind the football ads… the give-away itself will be valued at as many as 1 billion songs from Amazon MP3.
With a quote like this:””MP3 music is the future of the industry and Pepsi Stuff is an accelerator,” Danny Socolof, president of Las Vegas-based MEGA, Inc., the company that is managing the promotion, said in a statement.”
Damir
Great News there in regards to the sale of iReport.com and I-Report.com
hamish
Rick, great sale! An inspiration to all of us. It would be great if you could post some of the details of the events leading up to the final sale. For instance how long were you dealing with CNN, how far apart were you initially, etc., etc. Could be a great education for those of us with less experience.
mik
Congats! Your success is also ours Rick! $750K to CNN was a bargain but the added future value for domaining is priceless as you outlined.
Can you outline a few quick tips Rick on what I should do to gain an added advantage when soliciting domains to end users to increase my odds in securing a higher purchase price? I own 200+ .com’s within the OLED niche alone covering many verticals and I am unable to decide how to proceed when approaching the big money end users.
throw us west coast Canadian domainers some sunshine!
cheers!
Ira
As noted elsewhere, Rick, congratulations. I guess it’s halo effect we’re talking about, and I’m all for that; but You Decide!
http://www.We-Report.com