The Rick Schwartz Domain Name and Traffic Blog: RicksBlog.com – Home of The Domain King®

Morning Folks!

Oh, so goooood to be home!

Yesterday closed a chapter in history that has consumed the last 5 years of my
life in a way few will ever know.When I think back to the winters before as I prepared for the
inevitable. As I have shared many times at the show, the last time I was on a
stage and spoke I was 13 at my Bar Mitzvah. 40 years later just the thought of that would make me
shudder. The thought of doing it again and going on stage and speaking in front
of folks?? Well truth be told, that took 5 years leading up to these 5 years. I
knew I had a mission I had to fulfill and I knew I had to overcome my single
biggest fear in life. I had no idea how I was going to do that. I just knew it had to be done or it would hold me back from things I needed to accomplish.

I am still not entirely comfortable on stage. Far from
it. But it is also no longer a
fear. It is a lot of things. Fear is still one of them, but the other things
override that one part and now it is propelling me again. I want to speak at
retail conventions. I want to
speak to diversified audiences of business people. Large groups. We need to get
the message out. I want to engage Main Street! Explain to them what they may be missing to transform their businesses from one on the corner of their town to one on the corner of the world and explain why it has not worked well for them so far and how to turn that around.

The folks that saw the seminar “Inside the Candy.com deal”
were treated to one of the coolest seminars we have ever had. Why? Well for one
thing I never ever met them until we all got on stage at TRAFFIC 3 minutes before the seminar. First I got up
and explained things from where I sit. I tested my #1 theory right in front of
everyone. I had no idea whatsoever if it was true or not. But I believe it with
every ounce of my being. Ron Jackson will tell you what that is in his article
next week. But I put it out there. Few can get away with it. I can. I Do. Then Greg Balestrieri and Joe Melville from Candy.com told their side of
the story and the negotiations from their side of the table. They also confirmed my theory. It was truly
compelling. Everyone there at that point heard from the end user and found out
why I hooked up with Greg and Joe. Hershey’s? Mars? Nestle? Never gonna happen.
This is going to be so much more fun and rewarding. All you had to do is see
the sincerity and passion in these guys and then the where with all to back it up and
history is made. They were born in the candy business and now they are going to disrupt that business. They are going to school that business. They are going to surprise that industry but it is not going to surprise anyone reading this.

From the left....Joe, Rick, Greg
For me TRAFFIC New York was satisfying. We did what we
needed to do in the toughest business environment of our lifetimes. The state
of the domain industry is STRONG! However the weak are about to be washed away
and even the strong need to get their financial houses in order. That is a natural
process. That was what 2009 was about.

I will let others comment on what they got out of the show.
But for us, we had a number of “Firsts” and in a future post I will explain how
those things will allow us to bring costs down without sacrificing.

From here we pass the ball to Rick Latona and his crew. New
ideas, new directions, new places. That allows Howard and I to focus on our one
annual show here in Florida. Next year it will be in South Beach on October 17th
to the 20th with pre-show activities staring on Friday October 15th.
So start planning for the bash on the beach. South Beach that is. Movie Stars,
Long Legs, domainers, the hippest place on
planet earth. The hotel? The Diplomat on Steroids! You’re gonna love it.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Not sure how he finds this stuff, butOwenfound this today. I hope you enjoy it. Then check out the first comment. Also from then, posted a few minutes later. I love being on record. Right or wrong. Set in stone. It is the ultimate test and grade. This is why I say, 'Time is my Best Ally.' A little sweeter as this is now the 5th anniversary of TRAFFIC.

My 5 year anniversary is TODAY.
And for the record......the net is 5 years ahead of where I expected it would be at this point in time. Lipservice.com started this and has even survived WIPO.
The #1 question was always why aren't you building sites? Actually it wasn't really a question, it was more of an accusation. An assault on my judgment. A put down. Now 5 years later I can explain this, and with MATH, can prove it to be a safer and smarter road to travel than any other I could have chosen. My proof are all the dotcom failures laying on the side of the road.
The first year was the darkest. I felt so all alone but knew I was not. The Internet was little more than a wasteland of 'Under construction' signs or the first generation carcasses of a website that would remain. There were other domain speculators that I would run into time and again. We were mining the same mountains and the same veins at times. There were not many full timers then. Perhaps about 12 guys that I would run into. In those days the ONLY thing that gave me motivation to plow forward was losing a domain by just a day or two. I knew at that point I was hot on the trail. At $100 a pop it got expensive pretty quick. But I believed in what I was doing so strongly that I could not stop myself. It was like a disease. I was hooked. All day....all night. Mostly THINKING of domains that could be important pieces of property in a few years. And where were the bills?? Netsol had not billed me for over 100 domains for MONTHS. I would pay for what I could afford and risk losing ones that I had to wait to pay. But I did eventually pay for them all. If netsol had not done that I doubt I would be where I am. They gave me financing and that made the difference. Hence my respect for incompetence.
It was November of 1996 that I hooked up my first 300 domains. All adult and all pointing to the same place. (A trick in those days that few knew could be done). I made okay money until ONE day in March of 1997. The day I learned to ftp and to manipulate a simple web page. THAT changed my life and my destiny!! My first day of traffic experimentation had begun and while others made ,005 a click or a penny a click. I made a dime a click and more. I thought my calculator was broken. But then the checks started coming I realized my calculator was not broken. I had indeed harnessed some very potent traffic. That led me to the ynot board in April of 1997. A place that changed my life like this place has hopefully changed some lives. It looked and sounded a lot like it does here but with a few REAL geniuses and many VERY sharp individuals. Folks I could never match. Folks that are sharper when they sleep than I am when I am awake. WOW!! I was in awe. But I decided to work my way in and while coming out of left field I had something to bring to the table, the most potent traffic anyone had ever seen. It was the first time anyone called me a 'Webmaster' and I felt like I lowered all webmasters by being one myself with NO SKILLS that a webmaster would have. My motto: 'If you can cut and paste it, I can do it!'
The #2 question was always why don't you have employees working on this all the time building new sites? First of all it would have been a DISTRACTION for me. I was in a unique crossroads of life and I focused on domains like a laser going thru a peephole. It was more important to run in directions never gone before than to stop and invest the time where everyone else was. Besides, I understood that things would get CHEAPER in time. It was in my best interest to move slowly with development and run like a panther to obtain those domains to develop.
For example when I came along $39.95/mo for an adult site was next to impossible to get. I refused to be put on an adult server cuz of their history of getting clogged with traffic and thus putting you out of business. So you were lucky to get $50 a month sites. Many paid $299 A MONTH per domain. I understood that these prices would only come down in time. Today you can get it for free, or just a few $$$ a month. Imagine having a thousand domains and paying $50,000 a month for hosting. I would have been out of business before I started. So while I opened my first domain and had my first site built on this day, it was another 11 months before I hooked up the next adult domain.
I remember when nobody believed that I got my traffic by typeins. They did not believe that folks would type an address on the browser bar. They were great techies, but they did not understand that when they would start to advertise a .com on the tv that people would get there via the browser bar entry. You may laugh at that now, but that was the sort of silly stuff I had to overcome with LOADS of other crap. They called me names and by the time they figured out I was right on the mark, I had bought every domain I could think of and knew it could not be duplicated.
Bottom Line.....my way, it is not the only way. It is not the best way. But it was my way. It worked for me. While THOUSANDS of others tanked, with THOUSANDS of employees and BILLIONS of dollars invested by faithful stockholders it was all wasted for they had no plan.
Bottom line.....i went thru the jungle, the desert, the doubters, the laughers, etc etc and I am still on my campaign!! I have SURVIVED!!!!! May others have survived too. But WE are the true warriors!!
So I toot my own horn today. I am proud of what I have accomplished and realize it is only NOW that it TRULY begins. I knew the day I started that it would be many years before the soup would be ready to serve.
Today is the begining of phase 2. I go into it with several hundred active sites and about 125,000 daily unique visitors scattered among them. Now it is time to focus on growing that traffic and linking the sites together. Most orbit independently but that will eventually change.
5 years ago it could have cost me tens of thousands for an obsolete site. Today for a few hundred bucks you can get state of the art site and with the collapse, there is some real talent running around. While I still don't have a clue how to do most things on the net I have been able to accomplish the one thing few have done and that gives me a great advantage. I know how to turn a profit. A footnote for most, but profit is my guiding light and everything else is bullshit.
Build it small and make it work, growth will occur. Build it big with no direction and you get the problems most .coms are now facing.
The turtle wins EVERY time!!!
Remember one thing.......You can have ANYTHING in this world if you REALLLLLLY want it. Those that doubt this, they are 100% right!! :-))
Have a GREAT 2001!!
Domain King
Wed Dec 27 07:32:52 2000 - 216.34.244.106 - message #2845

Morning Folks!!

Last year at this time we were in a fog. Business fog. Business runs on preparing for tomorrow. Projecting where you are going and how fast you will get there. When you can’t do that, big problems will occur and they did and they have. Now things are much clearer. The fear of the fog may be gone but the moment of reality is soon to be. It is physically impossible to sustain the status quo. It’s going to blow up if we do. If things are done to make it worse, it will just blow up sooner. It will be uncontrollable once it starts.

The theme of this year’s TRAFFIC is “Survival”. Now that certainly is not a popular thing to trumpet. But what am I supposed to do? Be a cheerleader when I see disaster looming? NONSENSE! What value does that have to you?? It is always so much easier to just tell people what they want to hear. Blend in. Be a pal. Ruffle no feathers. Be a friend to everyone. Mr. popular. And exactly what value is in that? May as well have a meeting and watch a bunch of heads bob up and down in agreement cuz you have a company made up of spineless people afraid to speak out. Afraid and without authority to make a decision. The Sales Department is no longer in control even tho sales drive everything else. No sales = no company. The Advertising Department is no longer in charge of Advertising even tho the sales department needs that to help get the message out and reinforce what they do. Matter of fact, no department is in charge of anything. Lawyers and bean counters are. CEO's are paralyzed or figure heads. They report to the lawyers and bean counters. So how many sales exactly did the lawyers and bean counters make for you last year? But forget all that. That is the small problem close to home that you can actually control and do something about. Let's turn to what you can't control.

Last year I made no points for talking about “Beyond PPC”. But was it the right call given that you have seen your earnings erode away??? Not popular, made me no points, but right on the money. YOUR MONEY! So as an industry, do we want popular propaganda with various agendas or a vision of where we are going that may or may not be right? But I sign my name to what I see, to what I believe, to what I do, to how I see it all unfold. I take the slings and arrows and live by one sentence that usually win over most reasonable folks at some point “Time is my Best Ally”.

We are all here because we saw something before most others. In life you can be one step ahead or one step behind. It truly is a choice. That is why God invented the Ostrich. He also invented the Eagle. They have no choice, they are what they are. WE DO!

Morning Folks

Danny Pryor sent methis clip from TRAFFIC in 2007 where Steve Forbes spoke. This 2 minute gem is worth exactly how much?? Hope you enjoy it. Hope you are sleeping well. See you inNew York City!

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Timing is everything. I wrote the following post Sunday before the aeiou.com announcement. It relates to another recent post when I
DARED to ask the question, “Are minisites Dead?” This post goes on to talk way more than minisites. Fasten your seat belts. I should be pissing off many on this one.

Now remember, I wrote this a few hours before the announcement that I knew nothing of.

Mini Site companies all the rage?? Then Where are They?

If mini sites are so hot and the alternative to straight PPC
you would think they would want to have some exposure at TRAFFIC. The only one
there on display will be Rick Latona’s AEIOU.COM. But where is the competition?
Where is the choice? Where is you guys???

Just a little aha moment for me. The first thing I would ask
is why not go to the show in which PPC rules and your target is taking business
from them? So what say you guys? Why are domainers going to New York, looking
to develop, and the guys that can help them do that are sitting on the
sidelines?? Sorry, but I just don’t get it.

I know if there were 5 guys selling mini sites and
developing larger projects that I would sit and talk with each one and see how
they could help me. So I am surprised that this marketing opportunity is being
lost and I think domainers will start looking beyond mini sites as a result.
JMO.

(That was the post I wrote on Sunday and was going to post yesterday but had other fish to fry. Now a bit more)

So with the closing of aeiou.com I will ask again.........

Are Minisites dead? I think first you have to ask if they
were actually ever alive? Did they ever work? I think it can be a starting
point. Bit really not much more. The results many times pointed to are category
killer domains that would have success if you put a naked clown and an “Enter
Button”.

I think we know the fate of the mini site. My suggestion
would be this. Change the focus to mini BUSINESSES. A business has to be
started on a profitable foundation and idea. It does not have to be
complicated, complex, heavy. It needs a game plan and THEN build a site around
the game plan. We have sites looking for businesses. It is ass backwards. You
can’t do zillions of them. You just got to start going down the list and
isolate your empire. One business at a time based on your category of traffic assuming you have traffic. Some may take 5 minutes to create.
Some 5 days. Some 5 weeks. And if you hit something, 5 years.

How do you know the difference between a 'Mini site' and a 'Mini Business'.....easy, something I learned from Shaun Pilfold. It has a CASH REGISTER! You collect money. Maybe in a mini business you can use the cash register of a partner. But traffic needs to be talked to, sold to and then led to a cash register not a link to somebody else unless they are paying you more than you can make yourself.

And lastly just a note about traffic. Some say they don't have any. I would tell them one thing, stop buying crappy domains and you would have traffic. No traffic? Why are you even looking at these domains in this economy if you have no traffic unless you are at the stage it does not matter and then this part of the post would not apply to you anyway as you already know? You will never have traffic with a plan like that. Get rid of the liabilities. Get rid of them. Don't even worry about selling them. Get rid of them all in bulk and buy one gem. 10 gems. Crap is crap forever and a day past that. It is nothing more than styrofoam in a garbage dump. Not to insult anyone but let me give you a visual of the guy with really crappy domains. Imagine that vagabond in your town with the supermarket cart full of his worldly possessions. It's all junk, but it is all he has. So I feel bad for him, I feel bad for folks if they are in this category. The ONLY thing I can offer those souls is a roadmap to where they would like to go. But they can't climb the mountain if they refuse to abandon the supermarket cart.

PPC companies should not be too gleeful. Just ONE NEW ALTERNATIVE and the next title could be 'Is PPC Dead?' I could see the entire sector being wiped out like a house of cards. Don't get upset with me guys. We love you. But you too see your vulnerability. You too see the dangers and perils that a new solution could bring to an already weak and suffering sector. Of course the guys sending you the traffic are suffering more. They don't have the ability of adjusting the bottom line if the bills are a bit heavy that month. But if I were you and domainers didn't care, then I would do the same. So I see both sides. But there is a tipping point. If that tips the wrong way, game over. Record profits from Google on the top and record lows for payouts at the bottom. Must just be coincidence!

Hey, these are tough times. Tough times deserve tough talk. The face of this industry is changing. No balls, no glory.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

CORRECTION: WhyPark.com will be exhibiting at TRAFFIC. I guess they win just for showing up.

Morning Folks!!

The road to hell is paved with good intentioned
people. Everyone generally enters an agreement with honorable intentions. But
even the best of intentions lead to failure the great majority of time once
lawyers get involved or business heads south. So the contract is the only thing that protects you and
if that contract is not rock solid, clear and concise, it is worthless. If the
contract does not protect the domain owner from unforeseen peril, it is
worthless and eventually you will have a really good chance of losing your
domain without the other party fulfilling their obligations. I have seen that
happen too many times to count and no way would I become a victim of that. The power to walk away from a bad contract is the greatest power in business.

Our lawyers couldn't agree on terms that would
protect the interests of both parties (Especially mine) and so I had to pull
the plug on the deal earlier this month. I was not going to sign a contract
that did not state EXACTLY the procedure for return of the domain in case of
default. That did not have a FAIL SAFE built in like I do on the Candy.com deal. In that deal it was easy to accomplish. It should be easy. In this deal, it sank
the ship and I refused to go along for the ride. And why should I?? BYE BYE! NEXT!

So there it is. Unfortunate but may be a blessing
in disguise. As you can see we are working hard on Property.com and will be
introducing Sub-domains and other long term strategies as we move forward.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

An Industry of Rookies Get Tested. The title says
it all. Some will earn their wings, more will crash and burn. These are facts.
We are a young industry made up of folks in which this is their very first
business. They are thrust into it and sometimes not prepared for the tough
realities of life. No domainer jumps up and says: “My house was just foreclosed
on.” However do you really doubt no domainer has met that fate or will soon?

This is when you earn your wings or you crash and
burn. Look at my earlier posts this year. Pull back on the throttle and your
days are numbered. You are crossing a GRAND canyon. Why would anyone pull back
on the throttle? Give it every ounce of thrust you can. It’s the only way to
make it to the other side.

I talk from experience as I have shared this story
many times. In 1992 or 1993 my back was up against the wall. The economy was
bad. My business was once again on the ropes. I had no safety net this time.
Would I charge $10,000 on my credit card? $10,000 that I did not have and add
to the debt I had already accumulated? Would I go half way around the world to
Seoul, Taiwan and Hong Kong? Would I stay in the best hotels that I had no way
of affording because if I stayed in a dump that I could afford, would anyone
take me seriously? I wrestled with that decision for weeks, maybe months. I
finally decided there was no other avenue and I had to go for broke.

I went for 10 days. I worked all day each day from
5AM to Midnight. From Midnight to 3am I would do the research and have faxes
sent. There was no email at that time. At least email used on a daily basis. I
would passout for 2 hours and then on again.

In Taiwan I met a man named Peter. I told him I was
on my way to Hong Kong to see somebody. He told me instead of seeing him, go
see “Ben”. So I took his advice and met with “Ben” in the hotel room I could
not afford for over 3 hours. We shared the exact same war story. We were a
kindred spirit a world away. We were born within days of each other. We were on
the same wave length. That conversation, Peter, that trip, that go for broker
deal changed my life and I have NEVER looked back other than to appreciate
where I came from and how hard it was to get here and how much fun I had doing
it.

Reach DEEP my friends. You would be amazed what you
can accomplish when your back is up against the wall. The opportunity you can
create. The fire you can make with SHEER WILL!

Truly amazing and that is what is so cool about
recessions and being challenged. Once you reach that deep just ONE TIME, then
you KNOW you can reach DEEEEEEP whenever you really need to.

Pull back on the throttle?? Are you kidding? No you
are not. Sadly you are not. You are a rookie. Rookies pull back, pros give it
all they got. Which one are YOU?

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

Here is your Report Card for 2009. Now this does
not work on new business as a new business is growing by definition. This is
for businesses 3-5 years or older.

During a recession if you
can manage to “Flat line” no growth……You are doing GREAT!

During a recession if you can manage to just lose
10% year over year.....You are doing GREAT!

During a recession if you can manage to just lose
15% year over year.....You are doing Pretty Good!

During a recession if you can manage to just lose
20% year over year.....You are doing about average!

During a recession if you lose 25% year over year.....You are under great stress!

During a recession if you lose 30% year over year.....You are under great stress and scrambling to stay
alive and pay the bills.

During a recession if you lose 35%-40% year over
year.....You are GREAT TROUBLE!

During a recession if you lose 50% year over year.....You are probably out of business.

Of course this all depends on overhead. Fixed
costs. Employees. The more you have of each, the more trouble you are in.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

How long can you fill a balloon with air before it
explodes? The answer depends how big the balloon is. Some think the dollar is
in trouble. It may be in trouble because some want it that way. But if it were
really in trouble, answer me this: Why is everyone trying to get their hands on
the almighty dollar like never before?

Personally I think we are at a tipping point. We
have yet to tip, but we are at the point. I believe forces close to home are
trying to destroy the dollar. They may succeed, maybe not. Like everything else
it is a market and a pendulum. However when you screw with the market, you
screw with the pendulum that works naturally and flawlessly if you don’t mess
with it.

That said, we have messed with it. The pendulum is
no longer relevant. The pendulum is now in control of magnetic political forces
and not its’ natural state.

So then we get to my favorite subject, NUMBERS.
That disqualifies most people as most people are not numbers people. What would
happen to you and your family if you are married, have 4 kids, 8 months behind
in your mortgage, $100,000 in Credit card bills that the interest alone is
$2500/month and then your wife gets pregnant? Do you think you would spend more
or pull back? Go out to eat every night with the kids or make meatloaf at home?
Buy 2 new cars or keep driving the one that is in the garage and still working?
Whatever the decisions are, we all know the right one. But if you are
irresponsible, if you don’t care, if you want to put the burden on someone
else, then book a vacation as well and invite your family to stay. If you want
to make it worse, go to the casino for a night. Let’s gamble everything!

There is a recipe to make this balloon pop. First
is a false hope of optimism. Hooray the stock market is at 10,000!! It’s still
down 30%. But I think it will hit 9000 again before you see 11,000. Things on the street are not good. Talk
to your barber. Talk to the restaurant owner. Talk to the guy about to get
foreclosed on. Talk to the nearly 20% that don’t have a full time and steady
job. Talk to the folks that 90 days after their unemployment benefits stop.
(You’ll have to wait a few months for this one, but it is the tsunami that is
about to hit)

That fallout is coming. It could be avoided, but there
is no will to do so where it counts. Like gas on a fire this has the potential
to explode in our face. The folks building this bomb will be LONG GONE when
that baby explodes. Don’t believe a word I am saying. Just do the math. Don’t
listen to bullshit, do the math. Let the numbers tell you who lies and who
tells the truth. Numbers don’t lie, PEOPLE LIE! Politicians lie! Agendas lie!
Companies lie! Banks lie! Wall Street lies! Lawyers lie! Defendants lie! So
when you know everyone is lying, what do you do? What can you do? Maybe
nothing. But the very least you can do is call them what they are…..LIARS! THIEVES!
THUGS!

When does the balloon pop? How much more can be
added? Infinite? I don’t think so.http://usdebtclock.org/

What does this have to do with domains??
Everything. If your house burns down it affects your business, your future and
every aspect of your life. For those rooting for the downfall of the dollar, don't cut your nose to spite your face. It may not burn your house down, but the dream of your summer home may be gone forever just in case you think you have no skin in the game.

Brush up on your Chinese.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am on record all over the place stating that 2009 will be a
record year for domain sales. I believe that the conditions will make it
actually blow the doors off of pervious years. We won’t know until January, but
I want to be crystal clear in what I see. I mean BLOW THE DOORS OFF!

Now, as for the TRAFFIC auctions, I was hoping to quietly
look at a couple of domains. Let me be on record as saying there is some major
gem in there. There are some bargains in there. I believe at least one domain
will go for over 7 figures.

What everyone thought would be a lack luster auction in New
York is going to turn into a battle royale. Two good companies each with some
major headlining domains. Like in cards, we are about to see where the power is
in the industry. Not as far as the
auction companies, but as far as the domainers bidding. I think we will walk
away with some real HUGE deals. REAL excitement. Folks will be coming out of
their chairs on a few of the names that will go up. Wanna know why?? Low
reserves = higher selling prices. High reserves scare people off. The auction
process is one that needs to be trusted. The bidding is likely to be the most
active in several years.

I anticipate a battle for Rio.com. That baby is going to fly
over 7 figures. I would imagine this is going to be the single biggest bidding
war we have ever seen for any domain in the history of our auctions. That is
what I see. I don’t think anyone reading this would not value Rio.com higher
than $1M. I expect many folks to be bidding on this. I would advise those interested to team up if they hold any
chance of walking away with this domain.

So what do you say? What will Rio.com go for? The closest guess gets a free ticket to TRAFFIC 2010 in South Beach that we will be announcing in New York. Will be the first one registered for the event.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz