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

Morning Folks!!

The last 2 years I have stated that Ron Jackson will get on the stage at TRAFFIC and report a record breaking year in domain sales. I have been wrong both times. But the third is a charm. Regardless of the report, I can tell you WITHOUT DOUBT that 2011 saw more domain sales of any year in history and by a HUGE margin.

Like many of you, I have my ear to the ground. There are mega deals every day just about and seldom do any get reported. But with an economy such as it is the auction houses are busy and doing loads of transactions. I think Sedo by itself has had a number of 7 figure weeks as has a few others. That translates to big numbers over the course of a year.

I am not sure but I think that number has been hovering in the $30-$40 Milion annual range for reported domain sales. I think in 2011 that number breached $100MM. Like much more than that when you add up the deals you will never hear about. I mean more transactions in domains in ONE MONTH or less then the years 1996-2000 combined.

Domains BUST out in 2011. Mark it on your calendar. The world went bust in another direction the same year. We have new highs with great value on unique assets that circumstance forces some domainers to sell so they can pay the bills. That drives part of the market. The other part that drives the market is need and demand. Those levels are at record highs because folks and companies need to throw as much up against the wall as fast as they can because they have a ticking time bomb chasing them called debt. Once the sand runs out, game over!

So the worst of times becomes the best of times when you see through the fog of business. Domains are taking center stage in the universe. Just like real estate has for centuries. Domains are the new real estate of the 21st Century. You will NEED eReal Estate to be able to afford REAL Real Estate.

Now I can't prove any of this but I know it to be true. It will be reported in a decade from now if ever. It's an assumption based on more things that I care to list. In 1995 I did not have the money to invest in domains. Other people had much more than me. Millions and Millions and Tens of Millions of them. But I beleived then like I believe today.

As then, I still buy the future not the past. The past has its place. To show you the pitfalls to come and the parallel sucesses you can have.

With partners, Mike Berkens and Ammar Kubba, I own 1/3 of Meet.me, Date.me and Marry.me. I think we have 1 or 2 others. In 5-10 years the same morons with different faces will say the same things they do today. So what? They completely discount that I/we had to compete with BILLIONS of other people.

Domains were no big secret. Just few saw the future of how it would all unfold. The same folks keep having a knack for finding things first. Figure out things first. See and understand things first. We bought all 3 domains at auction. We competed with all other domainers. We saw something others did not. No guarantee on success. But we have already turned down RECORD BREAKING offers for a .me extension on the domain in that group that we spent the least on. We get offers nearly every day on one of those 3 domains.

I have also bought several .me on my own. About 50 of them. I planted the seeds. It's not a bottle with a genie in it. It is an educated guess on how things will unfold in the future based on how things have unfolded in the past. Sometimes that works well, and sometimes you buy flowers.mobi.

There is the stadium full of people in the seats and there are a handful of players on the field. I would much rather be on the field recieving the cheers and jeers than in the bleachers with some jackass puking on me.

'Don't let the NOISE of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.' Jobs 2005

My blog, my diary, my vision with a date and timestamp. Nobody gets to rewrite history. On thre record for the record. For better or worse. Right or wrong. Succeed or fail. Some put a goal list on the wall. I just put it out there. That seems to motivate me that much more.

Did you plant any seeds today?? I lost count of how many seeds I plant each and every day of my life. Some call that luck 5-10 years after the seed is planted. And beleive me, some of it is luck. But my freinds, 'LUCK is the residue of hardwork', as Branch Rickey said.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

When I read a blog I want a few things. I want to learn something new and I want to know how it affects the writer personally. When the writer shares and reveals themselves I get much more out of it. It can be a newbie blog or one that has been around for years. Everyone has something to share. Everyone learns new things at different times. Everyone can contribute to the knowledge base.

That was what made the adult world so compelling in the mid 1990's. Those folks did that. They shared. It sometimes was rough and tumble because 'Secrets' would come out. Business Secrets. Secrets some did not want others to know and learn about. But they were forward thinkers. Mainstream has yet to learn all their lessons allthough they have come a long way in the past few years. Thanks in part to the recession.

So new knowledge is what you look for in a blog and like medicine, sometimes you need something to sweeten a boring story. I want to see passion and humor and something that relates it to something bigger.

Have a Great Day!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

Later this afternoon I hope to report to you about 1 last domain name entry in our auction. It is a true MONSTER and when released, I think you will agree.

A true category defining domain name. Stay tuned.

Earlier today Tie.com was added to the auction and Verification.com and .net dropped the reserve price to under $275,000. So there is a lot of movement. We will officially have 110 domains in our auction with 25 at NO RESERVES and MANY at very attractive reserves.

The .XXX domains will probably be the most active bidding. These domains are at a fraction of what they may end up going for.

Once the folks walk in the door of the auction and we get through the first 5 names, folks will KICK THEMSELVES for not getting bargains. EVERYONE will know that the MAGIC is back! Are YOU ready to RUMBLE??

Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

Last night I heard about the sale of Gay.xxx for $500,000 with this Press Release that has just been issued moments ago. The first thing that came to my mind was what bargains we have at the auction at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and I think we will blow away a few of the reserves. BIG TIME!

We don't know the future, we speculate. Some speculations pay off and others do not. You hope at the end of the day you come up with a net positive. And like Steve Jobs said.....Ignore the NOISE.

The seeds you plant now may be 5 years down the road before they pop. But it could also be 5 months. There are $$ on the sidelines looking for solid investements and speculation.

But whatever you speculate on should be, MUST BE, PRIME. Prime gives you a shot. Sure, the peanut gallery can throw flowers.mobi in my face at every opportunity and I can cram 16 sales up their ass. They only can see one side of the ledger and have a one track mind. Losers and trolls have a way of hanging out together. But they won't be changing the world. We are all lucky if they change their underwear.

I know the real folks see through all that. The rest of us just put one foot in front of the other and miraculously we always seem to arrive in the destination we planned.

'Don't let the NOISE of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.' Jobs 2005

The 'Naysayers' are out in the cold and soon to be out of business. They focus on others at the expense of their own livelihoods. They can't kill success of others. They can only kill their own success.

There is a difference between having a difference of opinion and belittling folks that push the edges and trailblaze. My money, my risk, why do so may feel threatened enough that they have to yell from every bridge?

There is not one among us that can be certain how the future unfolds. We can guess, we can bet, we can speculate. And when you have nothing else........you talk down others that are willing to guess, bet and speculate. At that point, I will from today on refer to this little gem: 'Don't let the NOISE of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.'

I don't know if .xxx will or will not be anything, but that does not mean I don't take some dollars and speculate. If it hits, I win. If it doesn't I look for the next OPPORTUNITY! Just remember, opportunity does not come with any guarantees. Does not come with a sign that says 'This way'. Opportunity is something you do when everyone else tells you not to.

Let me count all the folks I met in 1995 and 1996 and 1997 that said buying domain names was smart? I know they said buying Porno.com was dumb. I know they said that Candy.com was not a valuable domain name. I know they said Property.com was not worth it for $750,000. I know that what I may know today may mean nothing tomorrow. Things do change. All you can do is try and get your share.

I own .info, I own .tv, I own .co, I own .net, I own .org, I own .Me, I own .xxx, I own .com i own .whatever I think could have value in the future and I have the patience to let it play out, one way or another. But none have EVER been a threat to .com. The chances are that none will for a very long time. 10-20 YEARS from NOW. And even at that point it does not make .com go down in value. The .com counterpart of any domain name of any extension will have value for the rest of your life.

But forget all that. The eyes of the world are now focusing on domain names. New frontiers. New ways to win.

Rick Schwartz

5. Juicy.XXX Reserve under $15,000
6. Vrtual.XXX Reserve under $15,000
7. Hotties.XXX Reserve under $15,000
8. Chatroom.XXX Reserve under $15,000
6. Personals.XXX Reserve under $50,000
7. Orgy.XXX Reserve under $50,000
8. Personals.XXX Reserve under $50,000
9. Blondes.XXX Reserve under $50,000
10. Singles.XXX Reserve under $80,000
11. Party.XXX Reserve under $60,000100. Stars.XXX Reserve under $100,000101. Local.XXX NO RESERVE

Morning Folks!!

Did you notice that the world is turning a little slower today? It is. When mankind loses the likes of Steve Jobs mankind loses something words can’t describe, When I look back, I would have to say he is as easy to replace as Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin or Isaac Newton. In other words, he is irreplaceable.

There is not a human being that is alive that has not benefitted from his visions and ideas. Talk about creating “Jobs”. Job’s created more jobs that perhaps anyone on earth and his legend will live on. What Beethoven is to music, what Shakespeare is to writing is what Steve Jobs was to progress and tech and of course computers and even more.

He may have departed but luckily for us he set a course that will keep producing innovation for more than a decade before the genius fades away.

Steve Jobs changed the world and changed our lives. Each and every one of us. I don’t know another person in my ENTIRE LIFETIME that has had more impact on more people, than Steve Jobs. Until last night......maybe John F. Kennedy.

All I can say is we are all very lucky that he was our contemporary. I admit I cried last night. I did this morning too. We lost somebody more special than words.

I still call for an “International Day of Mourning”. It will be interesting how this all unfolds today and in the days ahead.

I write this on my Macbook Pro. The last thing I set down at night before I go to sleep is the iphone and the iPad, well.....I am surrounded by them. It is part of me. All that since 2007 when the first iPhone came out and CHANGED MY LIFE! Still don't have an iPhone?? What century are you in? DINOSAUR! :-)

Here are my Blog Posts about the iPhone. I saw why it would be the #1 device in the world in my first MINUTE!

When I remember Steve Jobs, THIS will be the image I remember. LAST to market and became #1 with a bullet! A lesson to all.

'Don't let the NOISE of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.' Jobs 2005

Alexander Graham Bell and the others I mention now have a new member. What would 'Alexander' think of the phone today? Jobs did not invent the phone he just brought it to the highest level in 135 years. Commuication today? Watson is that you? Say hello to Columbus too.

Rick Schwartz