Morning Folks!!
A little birdie just sent me a link to this article just release this morning chronicling the top 25 reported domain sales of all time. Just when you thought things were cooling off......BOOM!
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-20-most-expensive-domain-names-2012-12#
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
The domain sector has never been hotter except few in the industry believe that. I think they get discouraged easily. Some fold at the hint of adversity. This week you watched an avalanche of new extensions born and coming to market with so many behind them I can't even count. Each trying to duplicate history. Some will succeed. Some. But they won't succeed from just being there. They will have to do something new, dynamic, exciting just as a bare minimum to make an impact.
Look at all the money they are throwing at OUR industry. BILLIONS!! Who cares if they make it or not when BILLIONS are floating around. We have history to draw from. They have 'Late to the game syndrome' to draw from. Type in traffic is a natural event and does not translate to everything.
I am going to keep talking about type in traffic because without it, without human nature being interested in it, collapse is going to be the keyword for 70%. Nobody gives a shit will be the keyword for 25% and 5% will have some interest. Maybe. They will ALL reinforce and increase the value of .com.
800 numbers get type in traffic. Then came 888, 877, 855. 800 numbers still get type in traffic. 888 gets some tye ins....maybe 5%-10% of 800 if that. The reason why? It is easy to press 888 3 times in a row. 877 and 855 get virtually no type in traffic. Same human nature at play here folks.
Ass.com got about 1 million visitors in 2012. Ass.net got 15,000. Less than 2% of the .com. The .org got even less. Care to guess for .mobi? .xxx? .whatever x 1500 new .whatevers.
These are not emotions. These are raw numbers and folks have to deal with numbers. Tyoe-ins are the foundation that so few believe. Type-ins shows interest or there would be no reason to do it.
Now like I said there is money to be made here. But there is also a lot of money to lose as well. This is almost going to be like the 'Apprentice'. 1500 new folks will be handed aprons and their job is to create the next .com. Not the next 'Oil well' but the next fuel! That is what makes this so crazy. They would have to invent new fuel for a success.
The more they embrace the new extensions the more the .com will be worth. So while they are not getting type ins we are getting increased type ins because of confusion.
Speaking of confusion, I was looking over my top 20 domains in the last month or 2. Quite a few new entries came out of nowhere. $0 to over $1000/month on 3 different domains. $0 to $500 on another. That's just what I remember off the top of my head. That increase in revenue and traffic is a DIRECT RESULT OF WORK BEING DONE BY OTHER COMPANIES!!!!
They ALL have non .com extensions or have confusing domain names and 'I' am the beneficiary! I don't want 1500 extensions. I want 15,000. The more the merrier. I have silent partners that don't even know they are partners and the money I make is PURE profit with NO WORK while they are busting their ass because they don't get it. $1000 to ME represents how much to THEM????
The problem is they can't control human behavior. They make marketing mistakes that make me or the competitor lots of money. Saveme.com is the tip of the iceberg. So the 'Second coming' is going to make those with patience very wealthy. I know where the path leads them because numbers don't lie. Leaks in a ship don't lie.
If you own the .com of a new .whatever you have a domain worth MILLIONS before you even wake up. In success or failure for THEM, is a GUARANTEED success for you. Type in traffic is alive and well. The core domain investor has type in traffic. Those that have no type in traffic or don't want to bother hearing about it are in a different game. On a different field. We just intersect daily.
I have always been on record saying there are infinite ways to make money with domain names. Type ins are just one way. The easiest way. The way that gives you the most options. The way that paves the way to the future. The future that is unfolding now. Clarity on the Internet as far as who the leaders are. Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, etc. Many that were not here when many of us started this journey. This epic, life changing journey.
But the Kudos go to Mr. Johnson. He was bold enough to just give us the numbers. The most important numbers anyone reading this saw in the past year. When we hear of the future calamities, it could have all been avoided by heeding Mr. Johnson. He ain't making this stuff up.
That said I am going to find all types of ways to EXPLOIT .whatever. Even in a total success, the headwinds of so many at the same time doing anything might be insurmountable. What if 1500 hamburger stands opened on Broadway tomorrow. Could they all exist and make money? All in the same place at the same time and without even mentioning Mr. Johnson because many will not get that far.
I don't see .whatever as a threat like so many do. Quite the opposite. I have described the opportunity that comes in success or failure. We win. Regret lasts a lifetime. Think twice before you do anything because the future will show that the best days are still in front of us. Don't second guess yourselves after coming this far.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
-----Morning Folks!!
Advertise for elephants and you get elephants. Advertise for Pigeons and you get pigeons. You can fish for fish or hunt for whale. Both are the same. One result maybe 1000x the other.
So Over the years I have heard the promises of increasing your payouts by 10%, 20%, even 50%. I know first hand that parking on one platform vs another can have huge differences. I have seen swings of 400% on domains earning hundreds and even thousands a day. It's a FACT!
During the last payout collapse around 2005 Porno.com was down to making $1000/day. I switched PPC companies and that number went from $1000/day to $4500/day, overnight. How is that possible? That increase did not last for 1 day or 1 week or even 1 month. In FACT that level payout lasted until mid 2007 when payouts started sliding and have yet to recover. That is why I think many folks are just full of shit. The numbers prove it beyond doubt. So swallow whatever you crap you like to swallow. I'll pass on that bullshit. Do the math on the millions difference.
This is the FIRST time I have ever made this public. But it is part of history and time to put in on the record. The increase was not just for porno.com. It was across the board. My income quadrupled overnight with one flip of the switch. That was in the wake of getting $30,000/week for the previous 5 years, 1998-2003. From 2003-2005 payouts were still fairly strong by today's standards until the 2005 ppc decline. Or so I thought.
So you might ask yourself will payouts ever rebound again? The answer is still yes. Things go in cycles. Payouts from my view bottomed out the day Frank Schilling opened InternetTraffic.com. Now we have had ups and downs since then but that was the bottom from what I can see and it has been sustained for over a year and I see some pockets of strength.
So how much is your traffic really worth? A hell of a lot more than you think. Can you still take a domain making $10/day and have it make $100/day? Yes.
Two things happen when I talk about type in traffic. Those without it have to make a statement about it. Those that do have it understand exactly what I am saying. The first group is not even sure there are type in and if there are they are not sure how meaningful they are. They think the world revolves around faking out Google or at least being a contortionist and trying everything in the book for that traffic. For most, even when they get Google traffic it is 10 visitors, 20 visitors, maybe 50 or 100 in over 90% of the cases if that. And likely not as targeted as you think because you had to use 20 keywords instead of all focused on 1 keyword called the domain name itself. That is the ONLY keyword I care about. Bulls-eye!
So let me fix that. There are about a dozen multimillion dollar parking companies with Google and Yahoo buying over 90% of all that invisible traffic. PPC has led the parade for as long as I can remember once it was invented before Google was born.
Tyoe-in traffic is the foundation and they will NEVER be able to stop the flow of that very valuable GOLD! And if they don't type it in they will talk it in. Human behavior trumps all. It's what these businesses survive on and why they have rejected so much of the FAKE traffic that had been manufactured for those years before the crash. They paid for SHIT and it took them years and billions to figure it out.
The more type in traffic you have the ore likely success will be in your future if you make good decisions along the way. With no traffic you can do everything right and end up with zip. With type ins you can do everything wrong and still end up with money in your pocket.
NEVER underestimate the TRUE value of a type in. Never underestimate the lifetime value of a customer. Never underestimate big business. They WILL figure it out and that is at the heart of the 20 year plan. They just have one more error to make before they figure out exactly which direction they need to go. When that day happens, you will see what I see and what I have seen for all these years. The planets are getting closer not further. Water always runs downhill. They will always follow the water.
My 800 numbers still get 'Type-Ins' in the way of surfers. If there were no surfers there would be NO revenue on these 800 numbers. Human nature crosses all kinds of barriers and will slip through any obstacle. Domaining IS about type-in traffic or the potential to get it. Yes, there are ways to focus on domains with limited or no traffic that have value. Innovative names that may have value. But no value to those domainers personally until it is sold to a 3rd party. So the game is to sell, sell, sell. But when you have a domain with type ins, the game is hold, hold, hold. A completely opposite plan and thus you have the 2 sides. One side understands both and the other side only understand half the equation. Hope you all now have both halves. And yes, it is as simple as that and time will prove the simplicity as it already has.
I see things differently because I have seen different things over all these years.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
JointVentures.com got out of the bag before we were ready to announce it. So we have had to release HALF the program. Today I will begin to announce the other half. But first an update on how things are coming along. The contracts will start going out as soon as today. They will not all go out at once as we will just be overwhelmed. So we will be sending out a handful each day until the end of the week and into the weekend.
We now have 134 domains to lease and when we list those domains in the first week of January as those contracts come, it will demonstrate exactly what we are looking for and why.
That brings me to the other half of JointVentures.com. Until now you have only heard about the leasing part of the venture. That part was actually by accident as I have described before. But the foundation of JointVentures.com is a true Joint Venture.
We have all been down the mini-site road. The development road. This road and that road and many domains just end up back at PPC. Our formula is going to change that. Danny Welsh may be able to better explain it than me but here it is in a nutshell.
We all have really great domains that we know have the chance to make big money if we just focused on that one domain and no other. The curse of the domainer is we have to spread our love to thousands of properties and that is just impossible in this lifetime. So what to do?
Remember my truck story with the 10 trucks on the crest of the hill and they are all stuck. By themselves each truck driver is stranded. Just like we are! But if the 10 truck drivers used all their energy to get one truck over the crest then they could repeat that for each of the other 9 remaining trucks.
Enter JointVentures.com. We are going to marry domain names to third parties that have a passion to turn a domain into a BUSINESS and transform their lives!! We are going to tap into professional folks that need an opportunity and then give them that opportunity. I am oversimplifying it and in the days ahead Danny Welsh will make a guest blog post here to explain his vision that is linked to my vision. Hopefully it won't be the longest blog post to ever appear on Ricks Blog. ;-) (But it may)
What we are willing to do is take your under performing domain now on PPC and guarantee you more and then split the 'More' with you 50/50. So you keep making your current revenue and more and you give us time to do what we are trying to do.
Yes, I know you will have many questions and I am not going to go there today. But I want to give you an idea of what we are up to. The direction we are heading and why. I also want to layout a time line.
We opened in December because December does not count. I am on vacation. I don't work in December. This is not work....this is a mission! In January we will open up to the public. We will ramp up until TRAFFIC in May in which JointVentures.com expects to be a sponsor. Possibly a major sponsor.
We have to demonstrate in that time frame that we can do what we say. DEALS do that! It will take all of 2013 just to get thru our first phase. Like any other mission I have of this magnitude, it is a 3 year plan to start that just happens to culminate with the anniversary of my 20 year plan. PERFECTION! All I can say if you don't see what we see now, you will within 3 years.
Disclaimer: Unless the world ends on Friday in which case we need to start over again. ;-)
See you at the Beach!
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
One ot the most often questions I am asked is how I got started with domains. Here is the answer. I did not approach domains as an item to flip. Besides there was no flipping in those days and only a handful of buyers on the planet. What I was doing was taking excess funds and investing in something I knew would take many years to pay off and take off. But I was willing to invest a portion of my cash and credit in domain names. So That's how it started.
When I started to actually earn money from those domain names I reinvested 100% of the proceeds because as an investment I did not need the $$ to live on. I could parlay what I already had and then parlay it again. My investments were always financed via my earnings.
Think of it as self powered. Self propelled. A solar business that recycled and reclaimed the earnings into more and more buys. Selling was not on the radar because collecting those names was so time sensitive. It was a race against progress. Each day others were figuring out as well. So there was no time to rest until about 2002-2003. The prior crash gave birth to a new channel that few knew of and even fewer respected. But nothing came without taking exceptional risk at the time and circumstance and the size of my wallet. Many were very tough decisions.
The beauty with flipping is there is almost a $0 entry bar. Few other things on this planet are so cheap and have such a huge upside. But flippers should also be transforming themselves into investors because that is a long term plan that will always pay you even when you don't work.
Flipping is a way to get started. It's a way to make a living. A good living. But as a flipper you should know when you have something in your hands that should NEVER be flipped. That's the point of this post. Flipping the ones that should be investments in your futures.
A guy that starts out today has to match his wallet with the patience to see it through. Clarity comes in time. There is so much more clarity today and that gives new folks opportunities as they come with fresh sets of eyes and new tools to work with. But they need to buy investment grade domain names not just random pigeon shit. That's the #1 reason domainers fail. They pick pigeon shit.
One thing I can tell you. Many domainers don't really understand what the numbers mean and they use Google numbers as a compass. Those numbers reflect so much broader terms and subjects than you think so many over estimate the value and usefulness. That leads them into the wrong direction and usually a black hole. I hear about exact matches and such but then the domain gets zero type in traffic. See the disconnect? It is about type in traffic. It does not have to be a lot. 10-20 potential customers a day have value. 0 has very limited or no value unless the domain can stand up on it's own. What does that mean? It means something that the public would accept and embrace and can be used commercially. What does that mean? It means something that sounds good, feels good, reads good, catchy, easy, passes all the tests and may have multiple functions. A generic, generic. Not a category domain.
All I can say and have been saying is there is a multitude of opportunity in domains. But 90% of that starts with current or future type in traffic. Yes a domain that gets zero today can get 100/day next year. That's called chasing the future and getting there before anyone else. But validation does not occur until they type it in. The domain is not 'Ripe' until there are type ins. So those that flip and have the time to watch some ripen will find great rewards with less work while building a stronger and stronger foundation.
Domaining is all about type in traffic. PERIOD! 90% of the game. Sure there are always exceptions. NNN have value, LLL may have value. But don't confuse that with domains with meaning. Domains that have a multitude of advantages. It's about guessing what others might think. The reason so few talk about type ins is because so many would go broke. PPC companies exist because of type ins. That's the model. Those are the domains that have value. Guaranteed value. Value that can be demonstrated. Then it is just a debate about the degree.
When I started 99% of the industries traffic had no value. There was no way to convert people looking for things to companies that could provide the good or service they were looking for and get paid. Except for adult that is. They KNEW what to do with the traffic. They knew how to convert into sales. To upsell. To trade traffic with their own competitors for their mutual benefits.
The problem with discussing an issue like this is one thing leads to another. When you come in at the beginning of a movie you might look differently on it as opposed to coming in during the intermission. The view is different. That is why history is so important so you can follow the bouncing ball and why it is bouncing and why it is bouncing a certain way and in a certain direction. It is why I try to give you a feel for things. No Google. No PPC. No aftermarket. 5% of the people online in the US and virtually none in so many other places. A mainstream doing everything it could to discredit doing anything online. Especially business. It was their greatest threat. So the movie is different when you see the entire show.
So even if you flip for a living you should have at least 1 out of 10 that are keepers. That are investments. That will eventually transform you from a flipper of domains to an investor in profit whether domains or any other opportunity. You can be flipping burgers or the restaurant owner with a chain of stores and all you have to do is THINK about it and what this all means to you.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
This has been one exceptional week! Is it only Thursday morning? WOW!
First I want to thank those I turned down for understanding what I am trying to do and just how narrow and defined it is. I can only use domains I feel I can truly believe in and get behind. I think when we announce our first list next week that many will be surprised and happy with what we have been getting in the way of quality domain names and our overall chances of success.
We will spend the rest of December getting the listings. Then we go to the next phase and that will be focusing on the end user. I am not looking for thousands of listings. More important that the listings we do have make a statement and is attractive to end users. I only look at this through the prism of a 3rd party leasing it. That is the threshold. Not picking a domain is no reflection of the domain whatsoever. I appreciate that even those I turned down understand. Thank you!
As I have said my entire life online and before....Everything is timing! This IS the right time. Not this moment, but as the next 3 years unfold I will tell you that between now and then the landscape is going to change drastically. My goal is not to disrupt however a success here will absolutely disrupt. Imagine sponsors competing for your traffic again. Remember what that looks like?
The single biggest factor is I don't have to say 'Yes' to grab an undervalued lease to eat and either do you. I have a history of saying 'No'. Folks always ask me how I turned down $500k or $700k on iReport. A domain most would have sold for $5k or $10k. All I can say is I see value and am able to attach a price to that value. Then I stick to it. PERIOD! I could have done the candy.com deal 10 other times with 10 other folks and none would have been as good for all as the current deal for all parties. Same with the others.
Here is my promise. SLOW RESULTS! We will not be an overnight success but we will have successes. Our goal between January and June is 3-6 leases. That's not a lot. But it will demonstrate the viability of the model. My experience looking back at all my deals........most take 3-6 months and more. Some 1-2 years. That is NORMAL. Those numbers will accelerate in the 2nd half of the year and when I sit down to write a post in a year from now I will have demonstrated that leasing domains IS the way of the future IF you have domains that fit into my narrow definition.
Believe me,I turned down some really great domains. Domains worth 6 and 7 figures because they just did not fit what I am trying to do and I can't sell what I can't sell.
Last night I was thinking about when I started selling in life. 42 YEARS ago and I have never stopped. 42 years. That even surprised me. That's what allows me to differentiate things to the 'Nth' degree. That's what gives me an 'Attitude' capable of detecting a buyer from a bullshit artist. A guy that will make you money from a guy that will cost you money. The invisible clues that are not invisible after 42 years.
So far the lowest monthly lease is $750. Highest is $15,000. Most fall into the $2000-$5000 category. One way you might be able to calculate a monthly lease value is to take your current PPC earnings or however you are monetizing and multiply by a minimum factor of 10X and generally much more. So a domain earning $250/month on PPC could easily command $2500/month on a lease and the end user is still getting the bargain of a lifetime and the ammunition to change their entire destiny. That's PRICELESS!! I know that and since I KNOW that, no reason to be weak!
And remember, you can still leave your domain as is and there is nothing for you to change. In January I will give some recommendations that will help the effort if you choose.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
I told you I don't work in December. Ever! Except 2012. I guess. But only for a few more days to get things off the ground. Over the past 3-4 weeks I have had thousands of domains submitted to me for consideration. I have indicated to about 10 of you that I would be willing to list your domains. Now that the new site is set up, I will ask you to go to JointVentures.com and re-submit your accepted domain so we have a permanent record and can keep things in order. Contracts will be ready to send out and your domains will be on the site by Friday.
I am gratified by the response and I am asking all my old pals to send me at least ONE domain name worthy of leasing and allow me to build on this and help me achieve few believe is possible. In one form or another this is what I will be doing for a very long time and I have been waiting a very long time to do it. I had to plant a seed and wait nearly 2 decades for it to grow into a tree and produce fruit. It's not easy staying on course when so few see what I see. But I see it as clearly as watching a movie over and over again and I know many of you do too.
When I have a domain like Rings.com I can sell the value because it is apparent. I need about 100 domains in that league to make the impact and give me the ammunition I need to accomplish this. It will be EASY for me if I have this and not as easy if I don't. Either way it will work. Just depends to the magnitude and the depth. So I need your help with that ammo. One and two word domains that are a specific and profitable category and have traffic. Very simple. I can sell the equation. That's what I can do. Nothing you can't do. But I am set up for it and have been doing it for a very long time. Only difference is the timing makes it universal. Allow me to show you what I see and change the destiny of all those with the best domains.
I am sorry, I just can't help those with marginal domains at this point. It won't work in my equation. There is nothing for me to sell or to show a benefit. It starts with traffic because a ZERO in my equation ends up with ZERO. Just 10 visitors a day make it worthy of a look. 100 is better. 1000 and you have COMMAND of the market. More and away we go! But no traffic makes it very difficult to justify a lease at THIS point. It would have to be something very catchy that would be in demand.
So I want to thank everyone for the well wishes on our new updated site and starting in January we'll be all caught up and in full operation. This is a slow meandering train that will prove in time why leasing trumps selling. My equation is simple. Why sell a domain for $25,000 when you can lease for $2000/month?
eBid.com used to lease for $30,000/month. The lessee wanted to buy for $60,000. When I laughed at them they got pissed and pulled the plug. Their loss for making a ridiculous offer and I have made many times that $60k since then and my oil well is still pumping and I still own the asset. Millions of visitors have passed through the doors of ebid and millions more are still to come.
Notice how I left off the .com on the last 'ebid' above? That is how mainstream we are getting that the only extension that may not have an extension in the future is .com. I am even seeing commercials with website names and no .com. Just the word or name. Sorry, I got a bit off track. But worthy of noting. Nothing I would do. Always include the .com.
I'll keep you all updated on the progress but for now I have done what I needed to do in getting the word out. I know my mission and I eagerly await the day I can report that Rings.com has been leased and a long term deal has been negotiated. That is what I call 'Branding'!
It may take me 2-3 days to respond to your emails. I am quite backed up and once we are rolling I will be responding much quicker. Thanks for your well wishes, support and please think what a success would look like and just how much it would change the field we play on.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
A marathon entering the final stage is how I look at the next 3 years. The last 3 years of a 20 year plan that not a person on the planet took seriously then and maybe only a couple hundred do today. My job was to fly over 20 years of temptation and still have my portfolio in tact and stronger. Not to sellout during times like this but to fortify and get even stronger in the face of recession, second guessing and the 'Second coming'.
I take things slow and just try and move things in the right direction. This is what I will be doing for the next 3 years and beyond. Always my general plan. Lease, don't sell. Extract as much recurring revenue as possible with an exit strategy that makes sense.
What you have seen over the last few weeks at JointVentures.com has been raw and under the hood. It was the content behind the mask. That's how I think of it anyways. Like a chassis before you put on the skin called the body. So many cars look the same with no body. Slap on a new body and you have an entirely new vehicle on the outside, but what actually runs it inside does not change.
That is exactly what we have done with JointVentures.com. My words, Danny Welch engineering the chassis so my words would work and then Danny Pryor to design the new body unveiled for the first time TODAY! RIGHT NOW! Then we add Howard Neu into the mix and he writes the manuals in the way of the contracts. So that is the foundation JointVentures.com is built on.
Plus my view of the world. My view of what makes business tick and brands made. My view of how history is the road map to the future and the difference between chasing yesterday and creating a pathway to tomorrow and arriving before all others. Knowing the difference between markets and marketing. Lastly, knowing that nothing happens on this planet until the sale is made and companies revolve and thrive because of sales. Sales drives everything. No sales = no budgets. More sales = increasing budgets. Simple! And I will always keep the most complex as simple as possible. It's not about winners and losers. It's about winners and winners.
Let's start with a simple premise and a simple example. My belief and my bet is that it is harder to sell a domain like Rings.com for $3.5MM or $5MM or whatever the owner wants for it then it is to lease for a few grand a month to understand why that domain will command those dollars. To give some business entity the opportunity to take the entire domain and test an idea or experiment for only $5000/month is an incredible opportunity for somebody selling rings or has an idea. $5000. CHUMP CHANGE!!!!
But there is a huge bonus in the way of type in traffic.
You know going in that the domain will receive over 10,000 visitors between Thanksgiving and Christmas with nothing there! Tens of thousands more visitors during the rest of the year. You know Google is charging several dollars for each click. You know the owner of rings.com is making pennies on those clicks. What is in the middle is called 'Opportunity' and some see it and some don't. To me it is like the sun shining in the sky. How exactly can anyone miss it?
See I don't have to convince you. I don't have to convince a stadium. I don't have to do anything but find one sharp business on the planet that sees what I see. I am betting that in time that will happen and I see a candy.com deal happening with Rings.com. That's why I need the BEST domain names. Look guys, before the auction I said flat out I could not use high end domains because domainers were not going to buy them. Well, exactly the opposite is true here. I want the best of the best and together I think there is a path to very high revenues.
We won't try to sell and lease to other domainers. You won't see emails from me touting one domain or another. I will announce domains that fortify what we are doing and if allowed I will exploit the hell out of the leases we write. Our efforts will be invisible to the domain community. We will pursue end users. One on one. Old school. NEED, WANT, DESIRE! Not worried about anything but doing deals. The overhead for this is ME. No extra office. No extra staff. No extra bills. No extra anything but helping to spearhead what I see. What Danny Welch sees. What many others see. Then add to that opportunity at a time of high unemployment. 90% of all of our overhead came with just setting this up. Sweat equity! Time and energy driven by passion and belief. A 20 year plan that gets closer with every passing day and while most may laugh and chuckle, I just stay steadfast to a path that has proven life changing over and over and over again.
This is a pretty simple bet. We are betting that there are 2 guys out there just like the Candy.com guys that have a burning passion to go to the next level and come to the table with some credentials no matter their business or industry. We can create money, it's very difficult to create passion. What a category killer domain does for someone is make them an instant player. They instantly have a seat at the table. Instantly have to be taken seriously if the site is serious.
Rings.com one day won't be $5000/month....it will be $50,000 a month. The world is moving in this direction all though slowly. About 20 years slow. But it is worth opening now. Better early than late to the single biggest boom you have ever seen. But first, they have to pay the price with .whatever.
When they find out the train to nowhere just cost them millions, they will finally see the bargain at hand. The birdie in the mine has died many times. And even a success will result in failure because no entity can lose 35%-50%-61% of ALL their traffic and survive. Yes in time that number will go down But please tell me how many ships would leave port knowing their ship is taking on even 25% water? And this is no short journey. They are doomed to sink before they can even get out of port.
Look, in 100 years it won't matter. But we will all be dead. The question becomes how long will it take folks to adapt to a new .whatever until his leak to .com goes under 10%? (Still huge btw) Not in my lifetime. And even when they have a great success on .whatever, the first stop is to acquire the .com. Why? Because it is in their self interest and it will be costing them plenty of dollars each and every day not to have.
It's the mall on 'Main STREET' Folks. They are building their mall on 'Maine AVENUE' and they are going to take out their anger for their bad judgement and lost business on us. Just ask Marcello.
A mine filled with dead birdies is what is going to be the fuel to propel leasing. Just follow the path. Follow it before them and we can all share a Pina Colada and a Ginger Ale at the beach. And originally it was just with an umbrella. Now it comes with a cabana at the Ritz! We may be on the wrong path as I have been told for nearly 18 years. But I sure as hell like where 'wrong' leads to! Please give me more of that!
My target audience for listings are the 500 domain investors that have one word domains that they know in the right hands could be life changing. These guys probably don't need me to change their life. They did that themselves long ago. What I am asking from this group is to send me 1 or 2 domains to discuss. 1 or 2 domains that are not doing the numbers they should and allow Danny and myself and the team we are assembling to go out and do battle. Like I said, not anything you will see. Invisible. You don't need to change how you are currently using the domain. Just allow us to do some old fashioned door knocking and create leads to follow up and turn them into deals. Long term, complex deals.
It's a slow tedious process as you already know. But in 2013 all we have to do is demonstrate 6-12 deals that are meaningful enough to prove the finesse we have in being able to do COMPLEX deals with all types of options plus current and future revenue streams. Lots of moving parts all designed to take advantage of the future and the risk we are all willing to take.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
Excel can not run a business. It can give you vital info and keep track of things but it can't run it. Guess what? 'Bean Counters' that use spreadsheets are now the pilot in the plane, the surgeon in the hospital and the Chef in the restaurant. But these guys don't belong there. They are in the wrong place. They belong NEXT to the pilot, NEXT to the surgeon and NEXT to the Chef.
These other folks have surrendered their power and knowledge and eventually there well being to bean counters that should follow not lead. Follow not lead. Why are leaders following? What genius figured that one out? What exactly turned them from risk takers into wusses that are scared to override decisions by others especailly when they are bad ones!
See, bean counters don't know about RISK! They know about SAFE! They are not entrepreneurs. They are not even business people in most cases. They are accountants. I love my accountants. Been doing business with the same 2 firms for 20+ years. They educate me on this and that. Offer advice to minimize risk. But I have NEVER deferred to them to make a decision. That would be INSANE!
Guess what? Many companies today are set up this way. It's like flying upside down with 'Safety' being the only factor. Sorry, RISK is a huge part of business. If you are not willing to risk losing money you are not willing to make money. Just depends if you lose a little, a lot or everything. That comes to judgement and other factors.
Sorry, I just see the world differently. I have a longer perspective on things. Have not been indoctrinated by Corporate America to think wrong. Every one of them started by taking a risk. Well not exactly. The new business model is to lose other people's money. A half assed untested idea looking for a weekly pay check.
See in the old days you would look for other people's money because you could not fill the orders. You need to expand and grow to keep up with demand. Today there is no demand but it if you invest money in this untested idea we will try and CREATE demand. They will 'Brand'.
This bullshit is so tangled up even this post is tangled because one bad thing leads to another bad thing. Selling would be next on the list. Most have very poor or nonexistent sales skills. How do I now this? I buy a lot of stuff. I run into folks that just can't figure it out. May as well just have the bean counter do that too.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Morning Folks!!
We know Microsoft does not like Google and we know Apple does not like Google. That really puts Google in a tricky position. Especially when you have billions of dollars involved and at stake. It has been ramping up for a long time but now it is beginning to be noticeable and by 2013 we could have a full out tech war.
I have really given this very little thought but there is no question that there is a boiling point and I think we are at it. I don't know how it will play out. But the battle of titans like this will dominate the next cycle. There will be winners, losers but doubt there will be a surrender.
What makes it even more interesting is Apple does not like Microsoft and Microsoft does not like Apple. Google, they hate everyone equally. And Amazon could be a wild card in all this.
In business, pay close attention to December. It's one of the reasons I take December off. So much to take in. So much happening. So many long term decisions being made.
Even when I had very limited financial means I would always stop working on December 7. Never work the last 3 weeks in December. Now let me define not working. I observe, I think, I ponder, I ask questions, find answers and look ahead to what the next year is going to bring. Let me just state....it won't be boring. December is the month I set course for the following year. This year a bit more difficult as we don't know the tax situation nor the implications going forward. I think that is why you are seeing Apple sell off. That is where the holdings are of many investors and they are grabbing some $$$ before whatever hits, hits.
I realize there are many points of view about the Bing commercial. Just the fact that there are 2 active sides prove it will work. I am still stunned to see Bing/Microsoft go after Google in such an aggressive manner. Like I said the other day, never saw a commercial in my life that was that in your face negative about a competitor. Have you been Scroogled? Love it! I give it the award for best commercial of the century. Why? Numbers! Bing wins and I can prove it. Google is sitting pretty in their white tuxedo. Bing comes along and splashes mud all over the suit. That's an equalizer. Not an equalizer in the sense that they overtake Google but with the sense that they will take market share. And they will. All they need to do is keep running that commercial and add to the campaign. If they abandon it, game over. Bing loses. Run it for a year, they win, real competition begins, payouts rise and we are off to the races. That's how I see the world on December 7th.
Just a reminder....2 weeks from today the world ends. Please get your affairs in order. ;-)
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
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