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

Morning Folks!!

About 2 years ago I wrote the following post:

http://www.ricksblog.com/2008/12/parking2009com.html

I always like to see what I got right and what I got wrong which is why I put my thoughts in writing. It is a reference for me so that I can recalibrate and adjust and realize what I got right was not by accident.

I looked back at that post in 2008. Hmmmm…..

Not bad. Would have been better if Yahoo and Google were doing more than the lip service they have provided for as long as I can remember. But in time they will be forced to clean up what they do. In the meantime what was unthinkable on 2008 is common thinking now.

We all know we need to move domains away from PPC as fast as possible. That is no longer some silly post. That is now reality. But so many fallacy's now come to light.

For example, now that ppc is down 75% or more, do you still want to value your domain on a multiple of ppc??? It was flawed then and I said so more times than I can count and it is silly now and it is obvious. Glad folks finally figured it out. And for those still debating it. You lost. Give it up. Move on. Deal with the reality of now.

Every day that passes parking companies are getting weaker because the main domains are being pulled from ppc at an accelerating rate. Payouts are thinner and so the bean counters over at PPC land squeeze out the domainers end of the deal to make THEIR numbers work. So consolidation or even collapse may be coming. Some of these companies are already in a weakened state and are confused how to branch out and save themselves. Bean counters are not worried, they just count beans somewhere else and will destroy them next.

Then always looming in the background are new solutions that are heading our way. New partners are heading our way, new faces and businesses heading our way. BIG TIME!

The golden era of PPC is OVER! Admit it, deal with it. We are now in a transition stage. Many roads leading many places. However most roads lead into dead end walls. But one road will emerge and that will change the landscape faster than anything you have ever witnessed before. Mark my words on this one.

Don’t worry PPC companies, those of you that are adapting will still be in the game. The rest will die on the vine. That is what I see. Let's see what my post looks like when I do 'Parking 2013'. If there is even a need to do that post.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

There is a problem in the domain industry. Not enough knowledgeable domainers and an industry about to have a massive change.

I can’t believe how many companies and domainers in the space are working in the blind. How do I put this tactfully? (Insert tactful BS here to your hearts content) Ok, there is no way to really be tactful and say what I see and what is on my mind. Leave “Tact” for the politically correct politicians that don’t seem to have much tact themselves these days.

Every day folks wake up looking for the secret that is right in front of them but won’t do a damn thing DIFFERENTLY to try and find it. They use their energy to whine and lash out. The MAJORITY of folks calling themselves “Domainers” fall into this category. I did not put them there, they pigeon holed themselves a long time ago. Locked their minds away.

I am not happy about that. There are 2000 “Domainers” but in reality we all know that the real number is a fraction of that. 400?? And then a lot of NOISE. Take that 80% noise. Combine them all and they will equal what the #400 domainer earns and knows. You can earn nothing but that does not mean you have to be and act like a loser. You can learn how to emulate a winner until you become a winner. You are what you practice.

Oh boy, they are all getting pissed off at me now. But be pissed at YOURSELF! You control your destiny not me. I just see what I see and point it out. I hope MANY of those 1600 will join the 400 or I would not waste my TIME pointing this out. Lashing out at me guarantees you will always be part of the 1600. Wrong direction.

But it is not up to me, it is up to them and they are so busy complaining, whining and attacking their chances are going down not up. WRONG DIRECTION. But attack me instead of looking in the mirror. I am just stating facts as I see them. If that makes you uncomfortable….change it. Don’t change me, change YOU!

So many are in an industry they don’t understand, get piss poor results and hang out in the forums where there are so many losers and loose cannons that it is increasingly difficult to actually spot a REAL domainer. There are so many competing agendas. They can't spot that either. You need to be aware. Aware of it all.

Having 5000 names does not make you a domainer. It makes you a guy with 5000 names and a bill. Think of it like this. Let’s go back 200 years or so. There is land in New York City where there are millions of people, there is land in Kansas but there are no people. New York will add a million people in the next 20 years before the first person ever gets to Kansas. Land in Kansas may have value at some point. But the key there was it would not happen in your lifetime. THAT is a big difference and since the DAY I got on the net, there has been 80% of the “Domainers” securing land in Kansas and the only folks in Kansas are domainers.

Some started as mediocre and then drilled down to be a loser instead of drilling up and being a winner. One small adjustment to gain huge results. Just a change in attitude and direction. The first step, stop hanging with losers. You are a product of your environment. Hang with winners. Losers are on earth for only one reason, to drag others down to their level and hinder their progress. Just look how they behave and stop supporting it. Support YOU, not THEM! DUH!!!!!!!!!!

How do you spot a loser? If you actually read this and can’t spot a loser after this, read it again. I can spot a loser in one thought. Can you? One sentence. Can you? And if you can spot losers that also means you can spot winners. The more you practice, the better you get at spotting either and then categorizing them. Losers have no place in your life. Do they??

Talk like a loser and you will be a loser. Think like a loser and you will be a loser. Act like a loser….well you get my drift. Talk like a winner, think like a winner and act like a winner, you won’t have time to be a loser. Losers spew shit. That’s what they do with their time. If you can’t spot a loser, there is only ONE REASON.

The worst part.....I don't know very many successful people that don't want to give back. To lend a hand up. To do whatever they can to help the next guy. But no good deed goes unpunished. What a shame. The ones they want to help are just too busy biting and struggling and lashing out to calm down, take a deep breath, stop where they are and recalibrate. They are slaves of their minds and while they think WE have the key, it is really them that have the key and our sin is pointing it out. You may not be able to control your circumstance, but you certainly can control how you react to your circumstance. Turn the impossible into the inevitable.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

The South Beach weather forecast is as follows and it is going to be GORGEOUS!!:

Friday High 84 Low 67

Saturday 81/65

Sunday 80/68

Monday 82/72

Tuesday 82/72

DRY and SUNNY and about as good as you can ever wish for in Beautiful South Florida.

Bon Voyage to our friends taking the Domain Cruise! As a cruiser, you are in for a great time I am sure.

Morning Folks!!

I went to 3 different High Schools in my last 3 semesters of school that were 3000 miles apart. It was not easy then and it is tough when I look back now. The longest I went to any school was 3 years. In total I went to 7 different school systems in 6 different states. I was a good student until about 13 and then with so many moves and different levels of this and that I began to lose my way. I was always the “New Kid”. I started falling behind and losing interest. By the time I hit the middle of 9^th grade, I gave up and never applied myself again until the day I dropped out of college and my life began.

But even then I paved a road of mediocrity. I never used all I had. I used enough to get me through life. I was homeless in those days but not without a roof. I traveled the next 15 years living out of a suitcase. Jimmy Carter was President and the economy was MUCH worse than it is now because there were much fewer options in life. Gas lines. Some towns were basically out of business. Long distance phone calls were expensive and there was no Fed Ex. No Computers. There were 3x5 index cards and I was too lazy to use them.

And then one day, things started to change. It was 1993 and I was playing Duke Nukem and just lost $65,000 in options. (Remember iOmega?) It was a devastating loss because I never lost that much money at one time in one day. The good news is that I learned to lose even more and that taught me how to make money.

Then I got these Tony Robbins tapes. Life changing and to this day I still have never heard 16 of the 20 cassettes. That was the last day I was ever “Mediocre”. That put me on a new path. Instead of playing Duke Nukem, I developed a novelty Wrist Watch and never left my office as I designed the product and got a source and began shipping. From idea to first shipments in 6 weeks! And I never left my office. I was on the NBC Nightly News the day I got my first shipment of OJ Watches.

Now while I sold thousands, I just broke even with the watches.But it was a learning experience that made it so valuable. I was able to break loose of those chains in my MIND that were keeping me mediocre when I should have been tasting excellence. I now had a road map in place to do things.

That was the moment. That was the event. That was what changed my life. Not that it was bad before, but I worked way too hard to just be mediocre and I deserved to be better than that.

So I changed my outlook and like magic my life changed. That gave me the fuel to keep making more improvements. Manage my time better. Finish projects. Enjoy a level of success that I never had before and all I did was look at things differently and instead of the lip service of talking about things I just went out and did them with less energy than it would take to EXCUSE FAILURE!

My only regret is I did not learn this in my teens or 20’s. Not until I was 40 did I figure it out. After that life is like cutting butter with a hot knife. Failure is harder to achieve than success. Failure hurts and success does not. Just so many realizations I wish I had figured out earlier. And while I will never fear failure, today failure is only a step closer to success. In those days failure was end of the road.

The single biggest thing I learned was that failure or success is determined at the beginning not the end. You arrive at failure in the last hour, but your failure was predetermined during your first hour. The only thing I can do is share what I have discovered along the way and help you apply it to the domain business or any business.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

New products and new companies will be unveiled at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.. That s what T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is, your first glimpse at the future as it affects you and your business.

If you have had second thoughts about not signing up at the lower levels, we will give you one last chance to reconsider and be where everyone else will be when we talk domains.

So, TODAY only, until 6PM EDT, We will roll back prices to the $1495 level. Shake the trees one last time and then right back to $1795. For those who have already paid $1795, we will issue you a full credit for the difference. But this is for TODAY ONLY! Just send a return email for further instructions.

Now a few notes. The hotel has filled all of our room block and then some. If you have a problem booking a room, we have 5 rooms set aside. But they may not last long. Check this link first.
On the very first morning before brunch, there is a special Speed Networking session. You must sign up before the show to participate. We have long heard that putting the speed networking early on would be helpful so folks can meet others they need to talk with and focus on that early on. The early bird gets the worm. Sign up here.

Lastly, all further updates will either be emailed or appear on our FaceBook Page. Since Facebook is the quicker method, most updates during the show will be there.

That's it folks!! Safe travels. Come ready to network. Come ready to have the time of your life. Seize opportunity when it comes and TRAFFIC brings a lot of opportunities all in one place at one time. Best bang for the buck in the universe if you really work TRAFFIC to the degree you can. Make things happen or read what you missed and regret missing out. You will see that not only is TRAFFIC back, but it never left! Once again just facilitating the course for the future. Your course, your future, should be in your control.
Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Some spirited comments after the announcement of Don King. Pretty surprising given the industry we are in.

But unlike any other speaker we have had, Don King is coming to us to learn about domains. He has a fascination for domain names and wants to learn more. So Don King is coming as an investor and end user. Now there is a criteria for that??

Why would anyone come to TRAFFIC and want to hear from someone that knows little about domains?? Because he comes to talk about success and that transcends domains. Talk about the real world and that also transcends domains. Domains are a vehicle. So many of you don’t have a clue what that means. You should!

So the ones making the loudest comments are the ones that are the most clueless.

Now I do understand disagreeing. I only see a couple of non-agenda driven commenters that just disagrees and that is fine. I respect and appreciate that. It was not personal.

Then it becomes MY JOB to convince that person or persons to look at it in other ways. Those are the only people I am writing to and I hope that is obvious. Some already can see where I am coming from and either understand it or have faith because of my track record. The rest I don’t care about because they are agenda driven, anon cowards that crow at every chance. Exposing them is sport.

The bad reasons are obvious. That is why I believe you always have to look past that and I believe fair minded people will do that and in the totality, I hope to sway them. If not before the show, then after. That is my goal. But if I don't, I understand that as well. I guarantee we will never call each other names because it is not about either of us. It is about a viewpoint.

Don King did some very bad things, paid his dues and turned his life around. You can do that in America! You can’t do that in many other places.

He is in a tough business and in that business anything goes. Boxing is not a “Clean” industry. But either is the domain business. Plenty of wrong doing . Does not excuse either, but what is…..is. So there is something to learn.

I have never met anyone that has seen life from both ends. I want to hear what he has to say. How he as a promoter sees domains. We have a chance to pitch the #1 promoter in the universe. And unlike any other speaker we have had, Don King wants to come to see what we are doing. He is interested. All other speakers I had to personally develop their interest and hope they would end up to be our “Carrier Pigeon”.

Don King is much more than a speaker. He is an opportunity swooping in for a few minutes. In those minutes he may say just one thing that will change how you look at your business. One word, one sentence, one thought that is priceless.

Zappy Zapolin wrote to me one word when he heard it was Don King….”Brilliant”
Then 10 minutes later an Anonymous poster says it is “Idiotic
Which comment has more value????

Mike Berkens commented. He is the only one of us so far that has actually met him. He had some pretty kind things to say.

So there is an entire spectrum of opinion. My job is to show those that disagree that there are other ways to look at this man and a one lane myopic view just won’t work here. You can’t ignore his accomplishments just because he did some bad things along the way. It is his accomplishments that are valuable to us. It is his accomplishments that we can learn from and apply to our businesses.

And then I always hear, “Where are the End Users?”

Well here is a WHALE of an end user who I would like to convince to stay around for the auction.. I am sure it would have no value to have a headline about Don King buying a domain name at the auction.

What value does the greatest promoter of our time have to an industry that has been ignored? Now let me think.

I always KNOW I am on to something GREAT when I get this much resistance. I will change minds in TIME. TIME. TIME is what it is all about. Time is my best ally. I don’t have to be right in the short term, I have to be right in the long term. Nothing new for me. Just the path I know that I will find great things on.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

WOW!!! Major announcement!

I have the great pleasure to announce that T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is getting one of the Legends of America to come and speak to us. Not since Steve Forbes have we had someone of such esteem. While Steve is a billionaire he was born into money in a way few have. But earned his wings when he could have been a goof off like me.

Now we have a self made man quite like no other. That proves that ANYTHING is possible in America. Living proof. Perhaps the greatest promoter since PT Barnum himself.

I am here to announce that DON KING is coming to TRAFFIC. If some of you don’t know who Don King is, you have some homework to do.

Mr Don King 'Only in America!'

'With his trademark 'gravity-defying' hair, the image of Don King

has hovered over professional boxing since he helped put together the 'Rumble in the Jungle' in 1974, in which Muhammad Ali regained his championship title from George Foreman. All the elements that have marked King's career came together in his first big match: brilliant showmanship, the ability to massage outsized egos, and shady financing that left a number of people—though not Don King—unpaid and unsure where the money went. Since then, King's legend has grown to the point where his own fame, with a few exceptions, eclipses the various heavyweight champions and challengers he's promoted.'

We are really happy and proud that Don will be joining us and want to thank Rick Waters of Webcast 1 for making this happen in behalf of TRAFFIC and the industry.

Folks, this is what I always envisioned should happen with such a dignified groups as us. EACH of us has a role to play and it is nice to see folks working so constructively in behalf of everyone. I hope we can continue this spirit as we are all in this together.

Rick and Howard

Morning Folks!!

It wasn’t until Howard did “Man on The Street” in Fort Lauderdale that I realized just how Facebook was so important to the masses. The folks not on the Internet 24/7. I had thought it was Twitter that was surging, when in fact almost 100% said Facebook and Twitter was never even mentioned.

Follow the masses. Always follow the masses. The masses have one thing on their mind and merchants have another thing going. So we get to see another advertising blunder? Businesses looking to be cool. Businesses looking for more business. Businesses trying once again to make sales and do it without Google.

I usually understand things very well. But not this. This is an EXPLOSION IN PROGRESS! You can take that BOTH ways. They are both true and accurate. It is in progress and we are watching progress. That’s no spark, that is an explosion.

When such an explosion occurs, it will be some time before things shake out. For folks to get their heads around it and use that info. Companies may want to be cautious. Inflicting your business in a social atmosphere and doing it in a wrong way can backfire. Could collapse a business as well as grow it.

So socialization may be a serpent we still have to tame and adjust to. To understand. To use.

One thing I don’t understand at all is the negative link between facebook or twitter and domain names. The link is not there. It is invented. Once you find a new sales channel, if you do, then you don’t close up your old channels. It’s just another “Tributary” into the river of your business that resides on a DOMAIN NAME.

Your address is your address. Your name is your name. Your location is your location. Facebook is not a domain killer. It is quite the opposite. 1000% percent the opposite. Facebook will drive MILLIONS to create their own websites and own ideas. That all starts with a domain name. Unless they just want to be in Facebook with no real presence anywhere else. But why would anyone do that? We are looking to increase audiences not make them smaller.

And while it surprises me that domainers would think this, it should not. Why? Because I have seen this nonsense play out so many times it is comical at this point. I can go through history, business history, social history and every time something is pronounced this or that, they are wrong. EVERY time.

Radio is dead. TV can’t exist with 500 channels. The Internet will kill TV. Home theaters will put movie theaters out of business. Satellite will destroy cable. Electric will make FIRE unnecessary. Fill in your own. I could sit here ALL day and just rifle those babies off.

And if you still believe Facebook is ANY threat to domains whatsoever........

Here is our FaceBook page:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124519310931075&ref=nf

Here is the Linkin Page that Paul Goldstone made for TRAFFIC

http://events.linkedin.com/TRAFFIC-Miami-2010/pub/440949

Here is my Twitter Link

http://twitter.com/domainking

All roads lead to Rome. Domain Rome!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Morning Folks!!

Everything Howard and I do is to lift domains, domainers and the domain industry to a higher more accepted level. That has been our mission. In doing that we help up and help out as many folks as we can.

We don't always trumpet what we do. Times are rough. We know. Money is tight and credit card lines have shrunk. That in mind we know there are some that would like to come to T.R.A.F.F.I.C., but of course, the expense was a burden at a time when cash flow might have been less than you like. We have personally and quietly worked out flexible and compassionate payment strategies. That has allowed those that do want to come to get the motivation and education they need from TRAFFIC without the stress on their family and its budget. The price is still the same, but we try and help where we can. We bet on you!

And speaking of betting on you, Howard and I are happy to announce a “TRAFFIC Scholarship Program”. What this will do is give away 1 ticket to a deserving newcomer at all future TRAFFIC Shows. Your essay is your entry. Just send us in 250 words or less why you deserve to get this scholarship. Beginning with our March 2011 'ICANN RETREAT' in San Francisco. We will announce the entry date in November.

More than 100 folks have already publicly stated they are coming and started the networking on our facebook page. Never before have we done so much to make sure every minute in Miami will pay you dividends for a lifetime.

Laugh if you will, we aim for the stars and and at a minimum hit eagles. Then fools laugh at our 'Failure'. The ONLY thing we sell is the furtherance of your business and the Domain Name Industry. PERIOD! We create the conditions for you to do great things and then GREAT things happen at TRAFFIC.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz