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

Morning Folks!!

I am sure of one thing. Some folks will criticize our auction list. But so be it. I have hand picked each and every domain on the list. 50% of the list is a 'No Reserve' auction and it is not on Pigeon Shit domains. It is from sharp domainers that actually understand what an auction is and exactly what I am trying to accomplish. These are the best domains on the market at this moment that have been submitted to us with prices that will sell to other domainers. I have rejected every retail priced domain unless they can produce a minimum of 2-3 bonafide parties with a genuine interest.

So for the folks that criticize the list because they don't understand marketing or domains, I will say just one thing, this list is probably a better portfolio then you actually hold now. Anyone starting with this list, would be in pretty decent shape.

You would have to refer to my previous posts, here and here, on the auction to understand what we are doing. I have not done a favor for anyone. Domains are picked on their own merit and whether it is priced right for domainers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Folks have also been very understanding when I turn them down and I appreciate that. Some were great domains. But they need end users to get the value out. Domainers need an upside of 10x-100x to buy a domain name. If that upside is not there, then I have to reject the domain. I reject because if I were in the audience, I would not buy it at that price.

So I will take the entire blame for this auction. But there will be no blame. I know a success when I see it. I know what has been missing. I know what YOU want and what YOU need. I don't have to have numbers to impress my boss. 'I' am the only one that needs to be satisfied and if I am satisfied, YOU will be thrilled.

Once we get to 100 lots I will close off submissions. If these are the only ones, so be it. I don't keep an excel spreadsheet that compares year over year. I have no numbers to beat. I just want to present an auction to this industry that they are proud of. That the action is like NOTHING they have ever seen before. And th ONLY complaints is that we moved way too fast. Sorry, but with 3 auctioneers you better be paying close attention during the auction because we are going to move at warp speed.

Here is the list as of this morning. I am still considering others. I did remember last year that the BULK of really good domains came in during the last 2 weeks. So we still have room. But I am not concerned about numbers which is rare for me. I only care that if it is in the auction it sells at the highest price the audience will pay and the SECOND the gavel goes down, The NEXT domain will be on the auction block!

Lot #101 Tumors.com (No Reserve)
Lot #102 Fibre.com ($1 Reserve)
Lot #103 3dMovie.com (Aggressively Priced)
Lot #104 DesPlaines.com ($1000 Reserve)
Lot #105 AmusementPark.com
Lot#106 gtldforum.com (No Reserve)
Lot#107 gTLD.org ($1000 Reserve)
Lot#108 AerobicExercises.com (Guaranteed Placement)
Lot#109 FixedAPR.com (Guaranteed Placement)
Lot#110 SeePrague.com (Guaranteed Placement)
Lot#111 AnsweringMachines.com (No Reserve)
Lot#112 CheapLaptops.com (Aggressively Priced)
Lot#113 gtldAttorney.com (No Reserve)
Lot#114 NavigationGlasses.com (Low Reserve)
Lot#115 SmartLawyer.com (No Reserve)
Lot#116 FinancialGoals.com (No Reserve)
Lot#117 FitnessResort.com (No Reserve)
Lot#118 TechnologyTimes.com (Priced well)
Lot#119 FanClub.com (Opportunity knocking)
Lot#120 Saws.com and MiterSaws.com 7400 August type ins (Greatly Reduced)
Lot#121 DebtService.com, FlipHomes.com, SolarPaneling.com
Lot#122 HotDevil.com, BigLong.com, F*ckingBastards.com, sextoymall.com, hardcoremoviesonline.com, analcouples.com, freeamaturemovies.com, hornyhotwives.com, pornoshoots.com, turkishp*ssy.com, sextoymall.com (No Reserve)
Lot#123 WaterproofSmartphone.Com, WaterproofSmartphones.Com, WaterproofTablets.Com (No Reserve)
Lot#124 EuropeanAutos.com, GlamourJewelry.com, Checkbuy.com, CashBusiness.com, (Reserve under $15k)
Lot#125 MondayNightBaseball.Com (No Reserve)
Lot#126 ch9.tv, rude.tv, pals.tv, investmentproperty.tv (No Reserve)
Lot#127 simplyletters.com, wholesalefruits.com (No Reserve)
Lot#128 joanna.tv, tammy.tv, kirsty.tv (No Reserve)
Lot#129 LoanOfficers.com (Reserve under $10k)
Lot#130 QuickBuck.com and QuickBucks.com (Reasonable Reserve)
Lot#131 BridalShowerRegistry.com (No Reserve)
Lot#132 JustSamples.com (No Reserve)
Lot#133 LowestTirePrices.com (No Reserve
Lot#134 RXweed.com (No Reserve)

Thanks for your submissions and Sorry Howard.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

There is a reason I have been writing online since 1996. It's called credibility. Street Cred. What gives you credibility? Time and accuracy. Is it different than 20/20 hindsight? You bet you ass it's different. One has value and one is just reading yesterdays newspaper. When you don't know the difference.....failure looms.

When you sit and plant seeds every day, some germinate. You don't even have to be Johnny Appleseed, but I like his measure. So since 1996 I have written with clarity and certainty driven by belief and passion. It's an 'All in' type of game for me.

I have always believed those words would pay dividends. Not even sure which way or form those dividends would come or shape they would be, but dividends none the less. They can find lots of matching words and thoughts today, but as a lone wolf it was a different landscape. But that has always been my calling. Blazing a trail where there was none. I think it started at one of my early jobs at K-Mart. Don Oran, where are you??

So Don is the manager in the Sporting Goods Department at K-Mart back in 1972 or so. He put me in charge of cleaning out the stockroom which was an upstairs hall about 100 feet long, about 15 feet wide and about 15ft tall with 3 level flat bins on each side.

When I first saw it, there was 'Zero Visibility'. That meant that it was so full, so overloaded, so messed up, that when they got a new shipment, the only way to put it in inventory was throw hard and high and hope the box found a hole and did no roll back on you. You had to climb over things and to get from here to there and who would even know there was a floor. Just cartons tumbled over other cartons.

So I began the process of sorting things out. Sleeping bags, fishing lures, rifles, shotguns, ammo, lanterns, coolers, and everything else you could imagine in a sporting goods department. An epic challenge.

But day by day I would come in and attack the 'Mountain'. Then a miracle happened one day. I was done. There was an aisle in the warehouse. There was a floor. The bins were full and sorted and it was perhaps my first real business accomplishment. They sure got their $2.65/hour worth of work out of me.

Of course sales increased because they were actually able to locate stuff. Sell more. Waste less time crawling and hunting. The District Manager was happy and Don Oran bought a black Corvette.

But I have gotten off the path of the reason for this post. Until now the net has been Commercial or Social and I have written about the 2 sectors and differences extensively. Now we have finally progressed to the time I am happy to announce a new category. One I saw many years ago but is just starting to blossom.

'Personal' is now the new category. Not really new for me and many of you, but new to the masses. It was an inevitable path but took many years to unfold.

Personal has value that can be limited but can also be unlimited. What's your name worth? RickSchwartz.com is priceless. Priceless to me. It can't be bought. I wasn't in the business early enough to get Rick.com. However I did get Dick.com and some think that is more fitting anyway.

Back in 1996 folks thought I was out of my mind to register my full name. But I saw a changing world where it would become very important. And now it is.

So I want to welcome the newest sector into the fold. Now the net is personal.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Here is an article from USA Today that helps explain the old way of doing business which just happens to be the most effective way to do business. Sometimes you can reinvent the wheel. Sometimes you can't. Sometimes you don't have to and sometimes the wheel is better than the new invention. How's that for a full circle? But if you don't understand the circle, then you don't understand the wheel. And if you don't understand the wheel, it makes it practically impossible to reinvent. And so we just had another circle. Some ideas are GREAT for a circle. And some ideas DIE in the circle. Do you know the difference when it applies to your business and futures?

I always get a kick when a business owner tells me he is not a salesman and is proud of it. Hello?? If you are in business you MUST be a salesman. It's the #1 job description. Now I do understand that some have a different focus, but these guys still must walk and chew gum.

The Internet has been one of the grandest experiments in history. Never have we seen so much, so quick and so often. Look back the last 10 years. Look at all the new friends and business partners you have met and engaged with over the years. Bet your life would be missing a few colors had you not actually met them and looked into their EYES! Their souls. Their upbringing. Their mindset. That 6th sense you get. Never before in the history of the world were so many folks brought together from such various and far places. Just a few short years ago that was not possible. Living longer means doing more things in a shorter amount of time. Some things are time LOCKED. You can't change those things, but you can change the points inside those locks. Add value and experience and wealth and all the rest.

In the USA article it just kinda gets back to basics. The wheel still works ev en tho their is high speed wireless.

'Most people tell me they try to connect with others by sending their resume to a place online or listing their name in a database that they hope someone influential will see. The odds of them meeting their objective? It doesn't seem promising.

How does listing your name with thousands of others get you noticed, let alone inspire someone to want to know more about you?

Sometimes extraordinary things just happen through pure luck or chance.

But I am certain that when you put yourself in situations where you meet eyeball to eyeball, where you can develop a mutual interest with someone and they experience your enthusiasm, the odds of something extraordinary increase greatly.'

See folks, when you mix certain ingredients together and it is good, it becomes a recipe. You do it EXACTLY the same because the result ALWAYS works. Now there are always 100 chefs in the kitchen that want to add a little of this or a little of that. And it is always great to try ONE different ingredient. And see of you have a better recipe or not. If not, go back to the basic recipe OR you risk destroying the recipe when you try adding the second ingredient without going back to the original. Now you can purposely put 2 new ingredients to a recipe. But if it is still not better, better go back to the standard and start all over again. The original recipe works. As humans we always want to improve. But don't improve without understanding the risk of destroying the original when we start tinkering and forget about where and how it all started.

When things are going off course, always go back to basics and you win!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!

If you have EVER won an award at T.R.A.F.F.I.C., we now have custom badges and icons personalized for you with your name and the award you received and the year you received it. Each award winner has FOUR different sizes/styles to choose from.

Danny Pryor has been working on this project for us for a couple weeks and he did a bang up job!! Plus he has created a new page on the website listing every winner since 2004. Enjoy!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I don't know how anyone in this business can afford to be behind the curve. Why is it the same people are always early? Always first? We all have the SAME info. The SAME opportunity. But some folks act and others react. Yet others do neither and they just get left behind. Sorry folks, business is proactive. Business has to be sought. It is a participant sport.

If you look at Franks Recent Post he states

'So what if I told you that your friends at InternetTraffic.com have been building a system over the past 9 months that doesn’t just rival, but exceeds the best sales platforms available to sell on the secondary market today. What if that platform completely decentralized the industry and allowed anyone to act as a broker and sell anyone else’s names. You could use all the same individuals and companies you’re using now, and they could continue to be paid for their deals just as they are now, but they would do that on a better platform which provides the name owner more transparency and control. What if that platform increased the volume of sincere inquiries and sales, without making it feel like hard work?

I imagine a world like iTunes, where any individual or organization can join and profit. A Universe where the walled gardens of existing marketplaces are distilled down to just domain names and the people in this industry who make things happen. I imagine a World where you control the leads, get market information on the buyer (live), select brokers, control the transaction and have discretion surrounding which escrow you will use to handle the money. I imagine a world where you can empower multiple brokers from different domain sales platforms to work for you – and all the better if that service is free.

We plan to introduce you to just such a service when our new version of the DNS platform launches at DomainNameSales.com in October.'

I don't think I would be violating any confidential info by saying that introduction in October means T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. means B.U.S.I.N.E.S.S.

So let me repeat.....I don't know how anyone in this business can afford to be behind the curve. Why is it the same people are always early? Always first? We all have the SAME info. The SAME opportunity. But some folks act and others react. Yet others do neither and they just get left behind. Sorry folks, business is proactive. Business has to be sought. It is a participant sport.

The reason we do T.R.A.F.F.I.C. at high end hotels and serve top notch food to the tune of 3 meals a day plus parties with open bar is just part of our formula. When folks are paying several thousand dollars to attend T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and fly in from the other side of the world like so many do, they are motivated to do business. They want a return on their investment. THAT is the secret sauce for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and I have stated it for many years now. It works!

You have seen other shows try to do it on the cheap and they collpase. They all had good intentions but when a show collapses and folks lose time and money, that IS a problem. The formula is flawed.

When folks have skin in the game, they play harder and different and good luck finding that formula anywhere else. And it is a formula.

You know why T.R.A.F.F.I.C. can't be duplicated? Because we have never had a budget. We just do everything first class. The best. We do it right and don't worry about the bottom line. Ask Howard, each TRAFFIC show our ONLY goal is to not lose money. To break even. And guess what, when you work like that and worry about doing it right as opposed to doing it on the cheap, the rewards come.

And when we talk skin in the game, that includes me because I look at it through the eyes of a domainer and what we need. What progress looks like for US.

Sometimes we have to have strong stomachs. When we went to New York City in 2007, I had to put $800,000 of my own money on the line. It was the single biggest gamble of my entire life. I knew we could not break even on admissions. We would be $350,000 upside down on that side of the equation. It was ALL about the auction that year. Then we had the $12.5MM auction and all was good. But make no mistake about it, that was the single biggest risk I ever took in my entire lifetime and to this day. But it is ALWAYS about the timing and I saw what I saw and thankfully it worked out. It was THE moment.

How much longer will we produce TRAFFIC? I don't know. I don't see going beyond October 2015. But the calendar won't dictate it, events on the ground will. I still have a vision that could come to be. We'll see. As long as there is a need and as long as we can push the envelope that pushes progress, I will be motivated to do whatever, wherever, whenever. You can't hire passion and commitment like that anywhere for any price.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!

Sometimes political debates are idiotic. This is such a case. It usually comes down to something clear and simple. 1+1=2. To me this is clear and simple. Not sure what I am missing. But I am sure many will chime in. But BS is BS and this is BS. It's simply out there as a straw man so we can fight about something that has no merit or meaning. I would assume EVERYONE reading this wants to hit it big and make their corp as big and profitable as possible.

So the raging debate is whether Corporations are people? The answer....of course people make up corporations. The great middle class works for corporations. Corporations need to make a profit to survive and create jobs. No profits = No jobs.

Last time I looked, corpoations employ people. If corporations do bad, so do we. If corporations can't afford to hire, we have unemployment. This is the DUMBEST debate I have ever seen in my entire business life. Just dumb. Idiotic. And as BUSINESS people there is no reason to get in this FALSE argument.

If a corporation does something wrong or illegal it was a PERSON or PERSONS that did wrong or something illegal. See how silly this all is? And as a public we buy into this nonsense.

As domainers with their own corporations does it run without you? Without you paying bills? Without you going to work every day? If everyone had a corporation and employed just ONE person, we would have to attract 100 million people from around the world just to fill those jobs. Did I say 'People'?

Corporations also have stock holders. The pension funds of millions of PEOPLE rest on the profits of corporations. I just don't see how you can put down corporations and also create jobs. Just not possible to walk east and west at then SAME time.

I guess you can make a debate about anything. But some debates and some issues are just idiotic and this is one of them. When you try to make something political that is not political. This is what I would call 'Splitting hairs' when there is virtually nothing to split.

From wikipedia:

'Despite not being natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like natural persons ('people'). Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, and they can themselves be responsible for human rights violations.'

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

For the last 7 summers I head to the mountains where it is a bit cooler and I can relax and recharge my batteries. I have an 11 acre summer home which actually has almost the same square footage as my regular home. I love the place. We also come up in the fall or the spring for about 2 weeks. It's a place that you could call 'Off the grid'.

I have my own well, my own generator, bushes with berries and trees with walnuts. I have a red barn I have only been in once. A tack area for ponies and the neighbors raise alpacas. It is quiet and uneventful. As you can see, it has been a 'Working Vacation'.

But I am packing up today for the journey back to Florida tomorrow. There I will find a brand new office that I had custom designed since I spend so many hours of my life there. I have been working with the decorator and contractor for nearly a year to get it PERFECT! I get to see the progress during the day with my live cams and that is pretty cool. The Internet is just so cool.

So I am pretty excited to see how it all came out. I am a home body after spending more than the first half of my adult life living from hotel to hotel and flying almost every single day. All those years on the road and all I really wanted was a home.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Since 1996 I have thought that when you have a great domain you can attract folks to work with you and create 'Joint Ventures'.

I even tried to do this with Porno.com in 1997. I was laughed at by each person I would discuss it with. What they did not know (and thank goodness) had they said 'Yes', that would have been worth in excess of $500k to them annually. Boy was I DUMB and thankfully so were they!

But I never let go of that vision. I just had to be patient enough for others to see and understand what I see and understand.

When PPC began to drop in 2007, I started changing how I do business. I now make only a fraction of my income from parking. The majority now comes from my joint ventures.

I opened up a few sites like worksmarter.com and domaindevelopers.com to explain what I was looking for along with a message on each parked page looking for joint venture partners. In 1997 it was domainseller.com. In 1999 until now has been erealestate.com. Always trying to educate the end user or the person out there with a big dream. If you advertise for elephants, you can get elephants!

I now have about 12-15 sites with my domains that others are trying to make a go of. Just yesterday, topsecret.com went online with a guy that emailed me earlier this week. Each day he will add more value and content. Will it work? We'll see. TopSecret.com was making me about $25/month on PPC. So in 30 days I will evaulate what he has done and hopefully there will be something that attracts eyeballs.

I experiment and look for a spark. Most will fail. That is okay. Each failure is one step closer to a success. You never know where or in what form that success will come in. But you must keep pitching that ball if you want to have a chance. And when you own a great domain name, you have the luxury of time to try this and that and this again.

Over the summer I have been working with somebody to try and change the dynamics on about 6 other domain names. I have active conversations going with others. What was laughable in 1997 is MY reality today.

This week alone I had at least 5 folks willing to lease some domains. Until the last year or two when I would mention the word 'Lease' they would laugh. Now tey are making offers. That's a major shift.

But you can't do it with worthless domains. Like yesterday I got spammed with a domain name. I own dishwashing.com. I get a spam for washingdish.com which means nothing. Not that dishwashing.com is the greatest domain name. But the other is PURE pigeon shit. Or when there is a 'S' in the wrong place making like a double plural.

A domain has to be meaningful to be leased. Yesterday somebody offered me $50/month for a domain I was asking $1500/month for. I told him right out, if your business is only capable of those low numbers on a 'Diamond' domain, I have no interest. I just look at it thru a different set of eyes. If I open a store on Main Street how much will it cost? To service a smaller area. That is my basis since 1996 and it ain't going to change. I have just been patient enough for LIFE and REALITY to catch up to my vision. And around the turn they come!!!

Lastly, when I lease I usually have language weaved in which outlines what will happen in the event of a great success. That way everyone is more comfortable and all hoping for that great success.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Evening Folks!!

Just to keep you up to date. This is my latest hotel report I just got minutes ago.

Friday October 5th.........2 Rooms available
Saturday October 6th.....3 Rooms available
Sunday October 7th......15 14 Rooms available
Monday October 8th......12 11 Rooms available
Tuesday October 9th.......6 5 Rooms available

Again, let me remind you....on MONDAY NIGHT all rates will go up. There may still be rooms for some nights. But PLEASE be prepared to pay $689/night. This IS the Ritz Carlton on the ocean and it is a holiday weekend.

The 2 nights that WILL be a problem. Saturday October 6th and Tuesday October 9th. If you go online to the Ritz Carlton site, and plug in Arriving on October 6th or 7th like almost everyone is and checking out the morning of the 10th like everyone else, the rate is $689 PER NIGHT! That's OVER $1600 more for the stay PLUS your taxes more than double as well.

All I can do is be on record and give you fair warning.

Rick Schwartz