Morning Folks!!
Capitalism is about taking a risk and being rewarded if it works out. That is why so many take risks every single day. The risk/reward level is huge. You never know how big the upside can be while knowing exactly what the risk might be if you do your due diligence.
So we are entering a period in which you are going to have to defend owning large quantities of domain names. Let’s define “Large” as anything over 250 domain names. May not be large to us, but will be to those looking in.
If you look at my posts from 15 years ago you will see that the thing that concerned me the most would be over reaching government intervention. They would target valuable domains and assist those that decided they had more of a right to that domain name than you do.
The defense to all this is the risk we have all taken to get whatever degree of success we can harness by the system that they invented. They set the rules. They set the standards. They set the boundaries. They set the entire playing field.
Given that playing field we all invested in this medium. We did our job by making new business and trailblazing new paths. Personally I invested $500k in renewal fees and in excess of $5 Million acquiring my portfolio. We took risks when nobody else stepped up to do it because they did not see what we saw.
THEY STILL DON’T SEE IT!!
Sure, they see what happened in the last 15 years but they still have not figured out what happens in the next 5 years. THE 5 years. The 5 years that changes how we look and value domain names. All the silly formulas will finally look as silly to you as they do to me.
Domains valued on PPC. Now that is funny!! But as funny as that is, that is the standard the industry adopted. What PPC and a domain have in common in value is way beyond me. Why?? For one reason PPC did not come into play until about 5 years after I started. So was I supposed to wait for PPC to be invented so I could put a value on a domain name? See how SILLY that is??
These were VC formulas that everyone swallowed but NEVER had a true bearing in relation to a domain name. I say this over and over again to be on record and for those that disagreed before now can see what I see and why I see it.
EVERY domain is unique. You can not value a domain on a set of guidelines or ratios or payouts or formulas. That is a false system based on nothing.
Comparative sales? Way over used imo. There is very little relation from one domain to another unless it is the same keyword with different extensions or a plural or some other DIRECT relationship.
The value of a domain is not what it is, it is what it can become. Not 5 years ago, 5 years from now. When you chase yesterday you need formulas. When you chase the future you need vision and gut. You need to see things as they will be not as they are and not as they were.
There is an endless supply of domain names. There is not an endless supply of ideas. So to extract the value of the domain it always will and always did come to the idea. The vision. The profitability of that idea and the size of the audience.
Folks in this business have single domains that get more traffic that some of the cable channels. That’s pretty powerful. That’s just one of the many mediums we compete with while having things in common. Both able to grow and have more power based on the idea and content and the ability to attract others.
I have more projects on my plate today than at anytime in 15 years. It’s hard to keep track of to be honest. Partners, joint ventures, equity stakes, development, new businesses, boards, etc.
There is a time to mine and a time to take your booty to town to sort out and see which nuggets are the ones to keep, collect, build on and which to bury for the future. Which you thought were gold and find out was mineral rock. Until now there was no time to do that. There was a “Unique Opportunity in Time” in play.
Now don’t get me wrong. That unique time is not over. It is just spread out. Mining is more specific. The aftermarket is more targeted. You can take your time and be more deliberate of your selections.
Take a deep breath. We are entering the GOLDEN AGE of domaining. Corporate America may be on the slow boat. But they are on the boat.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
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