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

Morning Folks!!

This is simply one of the most valuable posts I have EVER made. Today you can plant the seeds of success in a purposeful way. Whatever did not work for you yesterday is now behind you. If you read this, if you study and understand what I am saying, you will turn frustration into success. With this single post and the links I have to some of my key posts over the years, you can be a top tier domainer.....TODAY.

When Berkens and I get together sometimes we talk about how many people keep telling us how wrong we are. How we do this wrong and that wrong. I mean too funny. We compare notes and stories. Like I said, too funny.

A few weeks ago there was a specific comment about one of the domain names in our auction having no value. Well in fact it did sell and it does have value. But the guy pointing to that particular domain never did an ounce of legwork to find out. The domain was ThermalScanners.com. I thought it was a good domain name. Berkens picked it up for $2K. So there is an example.

Go Google Thermal Scanners. They are medical devices and scanners and some can run into 6 figures. But of course this domain has no value according to this domainer. If that was Mike's first purchase, he would be LIGHT YEARS ahead of most. So the path is not difficult. What is difficult is the discipline to stay on the path despite all the naysayers on the sidelines. The discipline say no to a low ball offer. Buy diamonds or buy glass. It's the same effort and the price is not that different when you know what to look for. If you don't know what to look for, you have two choices. Learn or walk away. There are more ways to make millions in domain names than any other industry I have ever seen and it is open to all for a very low entry fee. Below is just the most simplistic way. It gets you there each and every time. It just takes time and discipline and keeping your eyes open for all types of opportunity without losing your direction and being distracted.

1. Don’t quit your day job. You will need to finance your first few domains


2. Read #1 again and again and again. Don't quit your day job until it interferes with your earning capability.


3. Learn here and Learn here what makes a domain valuable and why somebody else would want it. If nobody can ever think of it, probably not going to be very valuable.


4. Buy a domain for $1000 or buy several if you can.


5. Sell that domain for $10,000. How do you do that? Read #3 and Here and Here. (Give yourself 6months to a year)


6. Take that $10,000 and either buy (10) $1000 domains or (2) $5000 names or (1) $10,000 name.


7. Take that domain or those domains and turn the $10,000 into $100,000.


8. Take $10,000 and go pay something off.


9. Take the $90K and repeat #6.


10. Have the patience to realize that this may be up to a 3 year journey. But when you get to #9 and do what you did in #6, you will be more adapt at it and you will turn your domains quicker.


11. With $900k in your pocket you can repeat #6, quit your day job and in 3 years you can be a millionaire. Maybe less if you are really good at #3.


12. Are you asking yourself the right questions? Here are my top 20.

That’s the simple, no brainer, anyone can do it, road map. Now all the clowns come out and tell everyone why that does not work. BULLSHIT! It will work, it does work and it will work everytime if you get #3 right and understand how you really need a rifle today, not a shotgun. It takes patience and 3 years. Less if you figure it out. If you still don't think you can do it or you think it is too late, then READ THIS!

This single post and the links I have will turn you into a first class domainer. Many if not most will just discount and reject it out of hand. What else is new? But this is simply one of the most valuable posts I have EVER made.

Good Luck!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Evening Folks!!

We have turned from a TIME BASED society to a PRODUCTION BASED society. But few know or even see that. So let me point it out. I did not know it until today myself so no worries.

But think about it, in the past you were paid to sit at a desk or an assembly line for 8 hours and just do your job and not slow things down. That formula does not exactly bring out the best in us. You become a government worker. Doing just enough but never too much. I don’t blame them, it is the framework that was built 100 or 200 years ago that no longer works and is not that effective.

Today many jobs are production based. In sales it is all production based. You don’t sell, you don't produce anything, you earn nothing. So you learn how to sell or get a job like I described. Now many jobs are production jobs. You get paid on your output. Whatever it is we measure like that and then that allows folks to work at home when they want to work and when it fits in. It's flexible and that flexibility makes folks work smarter and harder and become more productive.

In a very short amount of time, most people learn to be much more productive at home or in their private office as opposed to the 9-5 company framework. Business and the world need to sync up.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

I wrote this post a week or two ago and like so many posts I have been deciding to post it or not. Sometimes posts like this are well received, sometimes not. But since I am posting it, I will be referring to this single post for years to come. Pointing it to those that need to read it and then either they can deal with it or hate me for it.

Let's start with FACTS today that were not facts then but I acted as if they were back in 1996.

1. Buying a great domain is a unique opportunity in time. For those that think it is over, some parts are. But new ones still emerge. There is so much opportunity that still exists IF you deal in meaningful domain names. But shit is still shit. There is no unique opportunity in time for SHIT. It was here before you and it will be here after you and it is still shit.

2. Domains will go up in value faster than any other commodity in the history of mankind. Nobody on this planet has yet to challenge me on that in 16 years. Steve Forbes corrected me. Domains are not a commodity. But it is still the easiest and most specific way to communicate things.

Remember 2007?? That was a GREAT year! The last really good year many had business wise. But even then folks were TRAPPED in their minds and of course it was my fault or yours. lol. The folks that say this and that today would have said the same garbage in 2000 and I will prove it right here, right now with an actual post from September 2000 from my private board. Maybe some will WAKE UP to the bullshit swirling around in their heads. There really is no other word for it. They are missing something very important. Some ways of thinking NEVER CHANGE. Just the dates, times and names change and the folks are sadly trapped in a prison of their own minds. Then they lash out.

Some are jealous whining, lazy people that refuse to do the heavy lifting but quick to point a finger. So for those people, they will either LEARN from the exchange below or not. I don't expect much.

But there are also good folks that just have not connected the dots in a way that gives them true direction. This can help be your compass. None of us have all the answers. But when you have perspective and purpose and direction you would be amazed how life changes.

When you isolate the bad and the negative you have room for the good and the positive. On the other hand if you are just a miserable bastard trying to make everyone miserable with you......screw you. Get lost. Take a hike. :-)

I am going to show folks themselves in a mirror. And when they look into that mirror, they will not see themselves. They will see another person with a defeatist attitude and they will see how truly ugly and unbecoming it is. This WHINE is aged from the year 2000. He too complained about this and that. How many of you wish you had the opportunity to go back to 2000 today just for a few hours armed with the knowledge you have today?? There are always reasons you can fail, but the desire to succeed trumps that when you have your shit together.

What would you tell that guy if you could listening to his babble a decade ago?? What do you tell somebody that sounds like you might today? He is not a bad guy. Not at all. But he has thoughts in his head that crowd out other thoughts.

Until these poor folks change how they think and how they interact and approach things they will be lost and wallow in their own gunk. The only person on earth responsible for where they are is THEM. I am just trying to reach one willing mind. Lord knows I have spent over a decade trying to reach those that are trapped and unlock the door. If this does not do the trick, then they are hopeless and that's that. The brain dead won't even look. And that is fine with me. No skin off my nose if they keep talking out their ass. But now everyone else will clearly see it as well.

Look, success does not come easy. Everybody on the planet wakes up and looks for it. If it were easy, it would be called something else.

When you read this post below, remember one thing as this poor guy feels sorry for himself. The post was before Frank Schilling bought his FIRST domain. But he defeated himself. Many folks defeat themselves. Want to start succeeding instead? I don't want to see anyone out there go down that defeatist path or I would not take the time to make the case to illustrate things.

http://www.ricksblog.com/2007/11/time-capsule-se.html

I really can't do anymore than PROVING what I say and showing folks I have been dealing with this same clueless mindset for over a decade. The same shit!! AMAZING! It could have been written this morning or last night because this misguided way of thinking is as hard to kill as a cockroach. Now don't get me wrong. This is not a bad guy. This is a good guy with bad thoughts and those bad thoughts were his prison. No matter where you enter, it will always be later than some and earlier than others. Just get your share.

So for those that still don't get it after reading this....you are brain dead. Call the mortuary. Probably too lazy to even read it cuz you may be hit with a big dose of reality and then you would have to admit that you are seeing the world wrong and of course you are too proud to admit the obvious. You have one more chance to get your life and mind on track.

Look at my response over 11 years ago and compare with this post from just days ago. See any similarities? That's because 2+2=4 then and it has not changed! The thought process has not changed either. Just the people with the thoughts.

http://www.ricksblog.com/2011/11/ricks-top-10-bullet-points-to-being-a-successful-domainer.html

I truly want all domainers to succeed and be wildly successful, But it has and never will be up to me. I can only show folks what still works for me and others can show what works for them. But until they lose the attitude or think they are entitled to success because others are successful or think just because their pockets are not as deep as others or they got in the game TODAY and that they can't compete, then they will be disabled and worse and waste their time while others are on the right path. Others enjoying great success and PARLAYING their profits to the next deal and the next and the next after that. So it is never too late to get it right and get your mind synced in a different manner. Some repeat success, some repeat something that does not lead to success. READ the words from 2000 and today may be your 'Lucky' day.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

As Mike Berkens article points out the sale of Meet.me is now final and an investment of less than $2000 less than 3 years ago has now ripened to the tune of $450,000 CASH. Mike Berkens, Ammar Kubba and I have bought several domains together over the last few years. We don't have a contract, there are no lawyers involved. Just 3 solid guys that know how to do business on a handshake because this business is about handshakes. Together we own Date.me, Love.me and Marry.me and decided we could pull Meet.me out of the group without too much pain.

Make no mistake, this domain is worth much more but $450,000 is nothing to sneeze at and that becomes a building block for future sales. This domain means something and that is why it has great value. As Mike pointed out, we beleive this is a World's record for a .Me domain name.

The timing is interesting because I have been working on a post that will show the same Blah, blah, blah you hear in 2011 is eerily similar to what you heard in 2000, 2007 and every year in between. That post will be up within the next hours or maybe tomorrow.

Domaining is about speculating. It is not a religion. We don't worship extensions. We look for solid investments that have a chance of becoming valuable.

I own about 25 .me domain names plus the ones I own with Mike and Ammar.

As Mike pointed out, a few weeks back at TRAFFIC our 3 man group bought several .xxx domains. It is speculation. It is an investment. It is not about the value today, it is about how things unfold YEARS from now. It's about planting seeds now so you can look smart in the future.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

My biggest challenge in writing is patience. While I have patience for domains to ripen, I hardly have the patience to get the thoughts in my mind, on paper. I have a hard time going into detail. I think very detailed, but it is much harder to write detailed. Thinking detailed takes a split second. When writing it out, that split second could be pages long as I describe the processes I go through with almost each and every thought.

Will anyone even care about what is written here after today or next week? I know I hope the words have value after that. But oh so many words in the world and such little time to feed them all into our heads.

We do things in life faster. We travel faster. The computer allows us to move without leaving our seat. All of a sudden I feel like Andy Rooney. I better stop.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

As is the way I view life and business the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. App is out there and working. Water thru the pipes. May not be the best, but water comes in and goes out. But now the work really begins. We will be refining the app and making it much more valuable, usable and address some basic issues.

Below is a list of improvements. We have things scheduled in 3 phases. The first phase will be in progress by next week. Once we do that and evaluate how much progress we have made we will prioritize things for phase 2. It is going to cost ten's of thousands if not more to get this evolved to where we want. But our deadline is not until next October, however I think it will be the spring when all 3 phases are complete.

Each phase will add value and usability. It is geared to the top tier of the domain industry but we do have plans for a parallel platform for a general domain audience with limited functionality.

• Turn the domain list into an accordion menu and offer an ‘expand all’ button.


• Allow users to return to the same spot when returning to the list.


• Automatically resize uploaded images to 2 sizes, 1 thumbnail, 1 card


• Fix appearance of pictures


• Allow users to filter list by categories AND sort list by last name or company name


• Add additional domain attributes (Looking for Buyer, Looking for Partner, Looking for Service)


• Add a personal message for the domain


• Add text search for domainer names and domain names


• Link forgot password page to the login screen and shorten reset password


• Add a change password page link to “Your trading card”


• Automatically email users their name and password when signing up


• And many more

So just a quick update about what we are doing and hope you enjoy it more and more as these basic things are addressed and major additions come.

We will also be looking for a sponsor or two. We can integrate their companies right into the app itself. We will probably price it by a bidding process that we will open in January. One slot will already be allocated to the overall sponsor of the show and that means there will only be a couple slots that are ever open to a sponsorship. Right now the platform could handle up to 4 total sponsors and be sold on an annual basis only. The sponsorship $$$ will keep going into development to make the app more and more valuable. Sponsors can even have input how their company would work inside our app. A new avenue of revenue.

So we are working on all types of enhancements and hope you enjoy as we keep adding value to the App and the Show itself.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Thinking out loud mode ON.........

It all starts with an idea. An unpolished idea. But a nucleus. There are contradictions in an idea and the key is figuring out those dilemmas. So here is an idea to build on. It's not an original idea, but it is unique to our dilemma of having great properties and in need of a profitable idea/business. A business.

Our #1 common problem is we have great real estate and we have yet to have many ideas to turn that real estate into income producing businesses. Into an asset that is exponentially more valuable than a parked page. Into a thriving business or marketplace. If we unlock that door, everything we do changes.

As always, first you must identify the problem. Then you need to identify the missing pieces of the puzzle while you are strengthening the pieces of the puzzle you have. Time and Times are the other 2 ingredients. The time and timing is right o pull this off.

So I have a seed of an idea that Howard and I started exploring last summer but there was not enough time to do it in a meaningful way. Instead of 'Test Track' next year at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. What if we had a competition? A competition with maybe $25,000 if that what it takes. $50,000 if we can really nail a solid formula.

The idea is to reach outside the domain industry to the developer world. It is something I already explored a bit over the summer and a couple development companies I talked to liked the plan. Not freelance developers, but they would not be excluded, but top tier development companies.

Here is how it could work: (and this is raw and will evolve with your help)

Domainers could offer up a domain they would like to get developed into a business. They pay an entry fee to have different companies build out their site. The winning developers would not only get a cash prize, but would be highly sought after for future development projects. I would think 50% of the prize money would come from folks that want a site built and to have 5 different versions to choose from. What is the value of that to me? To us? I guess that depends on who builds out those sites. But the more we have entered, the broader the contest and the more prize money could be awarded.

I think the cash prize would drum up a lot of interest. I think there is also a possibility that one of the developed sites could be profitable. Could be wildly successful. So there could even be a long term component of this for the winner.

The key is figuring out a formula that is attractive to all parties and moves the ball forward for all to see. Maybe even corporations, schools would get involved. If you have been pitching an end user, this may be of interest to them.

Here are a couple of guidelines. The site should have a 'Cash Register' and there can be no 3rd party PPC ads on the site. This MUST be a business.

Again, this is simply a SEED of an idea. It's rough, raw. Together we can figure out a winning formula in the days ahead and I can implement that idea. If it fails, we will learn. If it succeeds, not only will we learn, but we have a chance to BUST OUT at a crucial time and blaze some new paths.

The key is bringing in developers from outside the industry. A fresh set of eyes. Not mass marketed type sites. It could be large companies or solo acts. Sometimes a 1 hour simple site can catch more business than the fanciest of sites with all the bells and whistles.

The ability to grow what you have is the key of any successful business. What do you think would work? Keep it SIMPLE. It's all about the 'Formula.' This post I am simply thinking out loud. It weaves and turns and repeats. But that is the evolution of a successful idea and actually implementing it.

I would like to see 5 different domainers each come to the table with 5 domains and $2500. From that we would have at least 5 bonafide development companies each pick one domain from each domainers group and compete to make the best site. So we would get 50% of the funding via those that have the most to gain and TRAFFIC would pony up the other 50%. Again, just thinking out loud and how to construct a winning hand and make something BIG happen.

Like always, some will get on the field and play and participate. My gamble is just finding 5 domainers that like the idea and want to be a player and then going to those development companies and making the pitch. I will need help in targeting the right companies.

Thinking out loud mode OFF.........

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

When you celebrate great success one of two things happen. You either help folks in back of you or you step on their fingers to make sure they don’t catch up. The overwhelming answer is most help others. You feel a need deep inside to give back. That is the bi-product. That certainly upsets the other group that wants to keep folks back. So there is the first line of battle. First line of detractors. They are out to protect what they have and they believe by locking others out they can accomplish that. They are wrong, but don't tell them that.

I believe when you help those behind you do something good and when you do good, you get rewarded. I believe that opportunity is not a threat when more are involved. I believe that more involved provide greater opportunity.

Some see all the next extensions as a threat. I see it exactly the opposite. I see it as great opportunity that will make my dotcom assets increase in value, not decline. Expansion is not a bad thing. Yes, if you are a one trick pony and don’t know how to adapt then you are also likely very defensive. If you believe in the future and the future holds more opportunity not less, than you are on offense.

Lots of millionaires have lost their homes in the last few years and a lot more will be losing them in the future. Which way do you think they see life? Somewhere along the way they did a bad job of planning and not doing the math if things get tight or unforeseen things strike.

I have been in domains when nobody knew what a domain was and I have been in domains as they evolve to be mainstream and more. Guess what? I like the odds of today’s opportunity even better than 1995 because not only am I armed with more knowledge, the world is armed with more understanding.

In less than 60 days I start my 17^th year investing in domains because I saw a unique opportunity in time. You will be STUNNED by the progress we will make in the next 3 years. Stunned beyond what any of you can fathom. The understanding that is happening is vast and the puzzle is turning into a clear picture. When that happens, get ready! STAMPEDE is in our future just like STAMPEDE has been in the past. Only difference is the size and mass of this coming stampede. The first stampedes only involved small groups. The next one will involve everyone.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

There is a big difference in what you can and can't control and otherwise smart people have yet to learn that. It blows me away. You DEAL with things you can't control head on, you don't WISH for things to go one way or another. That's wasting time.

You can't stop progress yet that is exactly what so many in this business and other businesses try and do. You MUST evolve with the changing times and times are changing faster than any point in all of history. That's a FACT! You may not be able to see it, but whose shortcoming is that?

There is no substitute for awareness. NONE! You have to be aware if you really want to survive and thrive. I have seen REAL depressions and folks, this ain't one of them. There are some hard times, but depression is between the ears because more opportunity right this second than any point in history. But how do you convince those that don't beleive it?

At Harvard they teach you to CREATE jobs not to get a job. That my friends is all you really need to know.

When an item is introduced like iPads and iPhones there is a NEED for supplemental products. In the USA we have basic accessories. Go to Asia and you would see thousands of new products not offered in the USA. Anybody reading this can go and find one item to market and change their destiny.

So control what you can and stop wasting all that time and energy on things you can't. With your new found time, you should be able to make something happen. When you make something happen, you make money.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I never told this story before and it is just one story embedded in all the other stories and there are even stories within this story. I know nothing about STARTING a business with money. I only know how to start a business with the money in my pocket or a credit card. Now that does not mean you don't need money. But you don't need a lot of it when you have something good and the passion and know how to follow through.

If you want to be an idealist, that is all well and good. Go into politics. Business is a different playing field. Like baseball and football. Different game, different rules. If you are easily offended, business is not the best place to be. Business is about failure and rejection and dusting yourself off and trying again. So save the whining for the welfare office or political office.

Business is very simple but people make it complicated. Complicated fails almost all the time. Simple works almost all the time. Some folks go into business and from day one they also go into debt. They get in debt for the wrong things and wrong reasons. They get in debt because of bad decisions. They get in debt by doing things in the wrong order and at the wrong time.

The first thing is not getting an office and employees. That is the LAST thing you do. The first thing you do is make a sale. PERIOD! MAKE A SALE. When you make a sale FIRST, you have income. When you do ANYTHING else first you have debt.

With income you are free to do more things. With debt you put chains and locks on your future. Sorry, I am a very simple guy. No business should cost you more than pocket change to get off the ground. Off the ground means making your first sale. But you can’t stop there. You need sale #2 and sale #3. If you can make 3 sales in a short period of time, you have a business. If you can’t make those 3 sales, you got something else. If you can’t get to 3 you can’t get to 30 or 300 or 3000. You need 3. Period the end.

If you don’t have something to sell….then what are you doing? Why are you doing it? You don’t even need the product to sell it. You need the idea. You need a picture. You need a sample. And most importantly, you need a profit. That profit has to be substantial. If you don’t have these elements……you are digging ditches, filling in the ditch you dug and then feeling great on all that you accomplished or feel rejected for working so hard and not accomplishing anything. So many fall into these groups it is plain sad!

Sure, there are start up costs for most businesses. But you can control that and climb the mountain one stage at a time or you can try and leap the entire way and that often leads to disaster.

We are all going to be in multiple businesses along this path. Warren Royal never planned to be the bobble had king. Jeff Reynolds never planned to be the #1 flag supplier in the USA and maybe beyond by now. None of us are planning for what is coming. But it has a way of finding us. These businesses were created only because they ended up with a domain name. It then became their life's work. Not planned. It just happens when you are on the right path in life and do what you are supposed to do and see things in the right manner.

How do you know it when you see it? Training, awareness, follow through and know how.

3 weeks after I got fired from my last job in life I started selling my lighting product I found and tracked down the source. Long before I ever went to Asia, I would buy for $3 a foot and sell it for as much as $15.50/foot. But most was at $6 a foot. In time my costs went down. It went down to as low as 35 CENTS a foot. So am I supposed to sell for 70 cents a foot? HELL NO!! My prices only changed a little. It went down to $5/ft but would allow me to compete for the large orders. Did I ever sell at 70 cents? NEVER! $1? NEVER! $1.50? NEVER. $2? $3. You bet! But that was for large orders. I could have increased my volume going big, but I let others have THAT business. I went for what was profitable and still plentiful. My bottom line was just as good as theirs, but they did a lot more work and took more risk than I did. I was semi-retired and that time eventually allowed me to get 800 numbers and domain names.

You don’t have to be the biggest. You don’t even have to be the best. You just focus on a place with plenty of fish and be satisfied with the abundance you have there instead of going where all the others fish. They will always work longer and harder and end up with the same amount of fish. So knowing that, you can use your new found time chasing new found solutions that may or may not work. The others will never have that luxury. They don’t have the time. They are bigger, have employees, offices, warehouses and all the rest of the trappings. Headaches too. I just had passion and a garage.

My first sale of my lighting product was to my Dry Cleaners. Really! My next 2 sales were in New York City at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Friday in April. I made a beeline from my Dry Cleaner to “The belly of the beast” as I would call New York City. I knew if I could sell it there, I could sell it anywhere. I made my second call, the first one in New York. SALE! I got in my car, drove around the corner to my next destination. SALE! I was on my way. I started the first 2 days of the week in North Carolina. I was in Florida mid week. I was in New York City on Friday. Cape Cod Friday night and Saturday. Back to Florida by Monday afternoon. In a car. A car that you will soon read put me in business more ways than one.

So it is now Tuesday. I needed money to buy the lighting product and have some inventory. I had no money. I had just lost my job after some 7 years as I describe in this post. All I had was a paid off 5 year old Mercedes Benz and the samples the supplier gave me. The bank told me they could not give me a loan on a 5 year old car. I knew the banker. She was a lady I knew for a few years. So she says to me, let me go ask the bank President. The bank President comes out of his office and asks what I have. I plug in the lights, toss it out on the floor. Everyone in the bank stopped what they were doing to look and the next words out of his mouth were: “Give him the money” True story. I walked out with $12,500 and that was enough to buy inventory for the orders I ALREADY HAD.

That was when banks were real. They would take a risk. They would bet on your success. He didn’t even ask me for a business plan. He just said, “Give him the money.” I don’t even know his name and the bank has been renamed more times than you can imagine. Would have surely liked to thank both of them.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

And here is a little postscript. After I wrote this post on Monday morning, I LOCATED the lady at the bank from more than 25 years ago with a bit of searching. Thank you Google! And had to make a few calls but within 10 minutes was able to track her down. No longer in South Florida, but not that far away either. Another person pivotal to my success in life. Just that one simple act of asking the bank President, changed my life. One tiny fork in the road. I was able to call her, speak to her, thank her, learn who was the bank President at the time and agree to have lunch with her in the not too distant future. She made my day and I think I made her day as well.