Morning Folks!!
Last year was 2008 BC. Before the crash and before the meltdown. So is 2009....2009 AC? 2009 AFTER CRASH? In a word, no. It is 2009, YEAR ONE on the Internet. This year is the actual starting point of the net. Whatever happened before was just positioning. Just a test. Just whatever it was. But now 2009 marks the true beginning of the Internet.
Today, when somebody loses their job, they go and signup for unemployment and their next chore is putting up a website. Not for all, but for too many to even count. Millions upon millions. In 2001 and 2002 I stated “From the ashes domains would rise the true Internet.” It did in spite of Main Street and Corporate America and the media doing everything in their power to kill it. The newspapers saw their empires in jeopardy and they fought tooth and nail to destroy the Internet. Same with broadcast media. Story after story about security and only to scare folks away. Misinformation spread purely for their selfish survival needs. Well, it did not work! It worked for a short time, but now it is over. They have lost. They have been defeated. They have been annihilated. They won’t disappear completely, but just like the local Blacksmith, their time has come and gone. While there will always be a need for the blacksmith, there will also always be a need for newspapers and periodicals. They will just take a different form and the newsstand of tomorrow won’t look like the ones of today.
The blacksmith’s that survived likely put in a gas pump. A gas pump to keep up with the times. Those that did not, mostly disappeared. Same with media today. Those that put in gas pumps, I mean transform their business to websites, have a chance to survive. Those that actually embrace and are aggressive will have a chance to thrive. The NY Times is on life support, the Boston Globe in even worse shape. The Wall Street Journal, flying high because they adapted instead of fighting the losing battle of the others. Pretty simple stuff from where I sit. Pretty predictable from where I sit. Why did those in the boardrooms miss it?
So as we look ahead to the rest of 2009 and into 2010 I can tell you that transformation is in the air. The last phase of a 20 year plan is about to start. This phase will trump all other phases combined. You are about to witness an explosion of epic proportions. And while payouts are as low as I have seen, I am here to tell you that in the next 12-18 months payouts will once again reach record levels. Demand for targeted traffic will go up exponentially. You will see the fist signs of this as early as August 2009. Then of course the fall will be even more interesting. However we won’t yet be out of the woods. It will unfortunately be short lived. As prices early in 2010 will once again collapse as I see it. However that will be the end of the worst part as we go through 2010 things are going to firm up. By August 2010 get ready to rumble. This time it will be here to stay and we are off to the races. That’s how I see things unfolding. As always, time will tell. I could even be off by a year. Point is this IS what is coming. The only question is the time line.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Rob Sequin
Interesting.
I agree the internet is the place to be.
Think about it… you can read on the Internet so you can get any newspaper, magazine or book. You can listen to music on the Internet so you don’t need radio. You can watch TV, movies and video on the Internet so you don’t need a television. You can talk over the Internet so you don’t need a phone.
Of course TVs and phones aren’t going away but what other medium/device allows you to read, write, listen, talk, share, watch, look for a job etc etc? Nothing.
EVERYTHING is on the Internet and now the web is mobile so the Internet is in the palm of your hand and that’s just beginning.
We are just starting with location based services and local, real time apps.
And, of course all this is lightning fast and GLOBAL.
What is all this built on?
Domain names.
Domain names are the land of the earth everything else is a building, parking lot, retail store etc built on that land.
Great time to be a land owner! :-)
Altaf
Rick,
Thanks again. What a great writing! I never miss one.
Yes, you are right.Things are unfolding.Who could see? who got the real eyes. Every of word is like a shining star. We know that Domain & Internet will just evolve like volcano. We can sense around, how things are advancing very fast. What is impossible on the net? Nothing.
!deas ! !deas ! !deas !
What we should do! what we shouldn’t? What I’m worried about ‘will there be a crush of everything?
We wish your words be true! Only time will tell.
Have a nice day!
Regards,
Steve
Yes the net is about to explode once we get through the current mess. My biggest concern is”Traffic Shaping, or Packet Shaping”. Big players controlling and/or restricting most of the bandwith for their own use. We have noticed this in Canada with some online tv shows. Here is a link to a video discussing the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=210jV3r0ZZ8
If we can make through all of the obstacles; internet investors with generic, relevant names will rule the new media. Companies that fail to realize and embrace the platform will just have to pay YOU more to use YOUR domains!! Nice future if we can make it.
Cheers!
ps. Thanks very much Rick for your focused and constant”call to arms” for our industry. It’s refreshing to see someone tell it like it is. We are fortunate that you take the time; you don’t have to. Thanks.
Successclick
Hi Rick,
Was ahead of the game on this one when I signed up a newspaper syndicate in 2007. They are moving forward with internet marketing with their domains.
Can’t give more details, but you’d be surprised at the”non domaining” news sources who already are”gettingit”.
I believe they will thrive with this new direction. They have seriously good geo domains…
Cheers,
Stephen Douglas
Successful Domain Management™
Blog: Successclick.com
DomainRelevance.com
“Own Your Competition™”
BuyingDomains.com
I like the BC / AC analogy