From July 4th 1998........15 years old and still current.
Morning All!!
This is my 3rd annual July 4th post on domains.
Second on Ynot - and I believe the first was on Jonathans OLD board.
The first year they laughed me off the board
The second year they began to see what I saw
The third year I would like to show you where this 'Domain train' is ultimately going.
First of all you MUST visualize a domain as a PHYSICAL piece of property, land, undeveloped land.
Second you must realize that it is a MULTIDIMENSIONAL object because of 'Product branding' and WORLDWIDE address.
Third you must realize the special 'Uniqueness' ALL domains inherently have.
Fourth......it is FREE to get to and hopefully EASY to remember and SPELL.
Fifth and MOST important, you must realize just how VALUABLE that real estate REALLY is.
I have said one thing numerous times since I started down this path.....and 3 years later......I believe it stronger than ever!! 'The price of domains (Electronic realestate) will go up faster than ANY other land EVER known to man' I had made $0 at the point that I BELIEVED that statement to be true.
When I talk about domains I talk of PRIME domains. Not some of my silly 'cams' or 'gos' or 'starts' or other such veins. (That is for down the road) I am talking corner properties in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, South Beach. 1 or 2 word domains that are TARGETED to a SPECIFIC group of people.
So where do I see myself at this point.......
I see myself in Times Square and I own a few corners plus a BUNCH of land on 42nd st.
When I arrived.....it was like a ghost town....it was barren and empty and MORE than scary.
Today......I hear the sounds of a MASSIVE construction project underway. Trucks and cranes and banging and digging and everything else you can imagine.
AND IT HAS EXPANDED!! Those sounds are being heard in other geographic regions as well. It's not only Manhattan!! They have expanded to KANSAS if you were talking in domain terms, and with new highways opening up in the form of different extensions......things get even more interesting!
THIS is the year that the mainstream WILL figure it out. I started this journey expecting it to be 4 or 5 years down the road before it hit. That would make my ultimate predictions come true in the next 18 months.
So What will happen??
First of all how many of you would have imagined a year ago that the board would have soooo many postings in references to domains....buying, selling, trading? That IS significant.
I believe that the 'Multi national' companies of the world may begin to see what I see. When that happens....AND IT WILL HAPPEN.....you will see a significant amount of buying going on and the prices will go thru the roof! I see numerous domains that will become next to priceless BECAUSE they WON'T be for sale. THAT will cause other domain prices to rise.
Location! Location! Location!
I always believed it was a lot easier for a crummy restaurant to be successful in a prime location with built in traffic than a GREAT restaurant that nobody is able to find. Doesn't mean the GREAT restaurant won't be successful.......but it DOES MEAN:
that he MUST be MUCH BETTER!
that he has to work MUCH harder!
that he has to give them a reason to go out of their way!
that he will always look down on the guy with the great location!
BUT
At some point......the GREAT restaurant may want BOTH!
The BIG money IS coming! REALLLLLLLLLLY Big! I believe it. I believed it in 1995. And I believe it stronger on THIS July 4th than any other!
I remember last July 4th when I said to friends and such that a company's website address would appear in every commercial, every magazine ad, every billboard and at some point in time will become MORE important than even their 800 number. Guess what - yes, they laughed at me. I got more than a FEW raised eyebrows.
I would say on THIS July 4th that ANY company without a presence on the net is LOSING BUSINESS and their competition is gaining it! It indicates a company with little foresight and if you were an investor in one of these companies I would say it was time to change.
Keep your eyes on Disney, Microsoft, and some OLD GIANTS, plus a few unknowns to lead the hottest race you have EVER seen. Look at the domains Disney and Microsoft are buying up RIGHT NOW.
The BIGGEST factor!
Let's say Sears decides to build a store in Osh Kosh......It costs them $25 million, takes them 2 years to build after 5 years of planning.
VERY SLOW......VERY EXPENSIVE!
And if they get it wrong.....Ha ha!!
Now if Sears decides to build NUMEROUS websites TARGETED at different groups of people they could take that same $$$$ and do some SERIOUS damage on the net! AND they can do it overnight!
WHY did I stop advertising my Dirty phone numbers in all those magazines I was in back in 1996?
Cuz on the net I could take it and turn my money around in days and I no longer had to wait 6-9 months to get a return!
Maybe others will come to the same conclusion......If they follow the $$$$$......then there isn't a doubt in my mind.
Sorry for the Long and Boring post......But I LOVE tradition!!
Have a happy and SAFE 4th!!
Rick Schwartz
Davinderpal Bhatia
Most people cannot see beyond their nose. It needs foresight and guts to actually predict the future and print it.
No wonder people call you Domain King.
Jeff Schneider
Hello Rick,
It is exciting to see all of the dots connecting in the evolution of what I call Virtual Business Foundations or Domain Addresses. I had to help connect the dots in a meaningful way to the quoted statement you made above =” Second you must realize that it is a MULTIDIMENSIONAL object because of”Product branding” and WORLDWIDE address”. To validate your statement as pure Gold here are the recent facts on this statement.
Verisign has transliterated the .COM Virtual Business Foundation BRAND into around ten or so foreign languages. This will only broaden the already Global recognition of the .com BRAND. The ramifications for the .COM Channel Foundations is immense to say the least.
As you have said many times, in many ways concentrate your money in the .COM extension for maximum Return On Investment. The power and force behind this Transliteration of the .COM extension will culminate in the most rapid increase in valuations for the .COM Extension that will ultimately eclipse ALL other Asset Classes in History.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
BullS
Isn’t it ironic to see some domainers telling us dot com is king which we all know but he is trying to see his dot net ….SUCKER
“Most people cannot see beyond their nose” because they pick their goobers.
I see the future and the future is in 3dPrinting, same sex marriage, guns and or course Marijuana.
krishna
Reading this blog is like attending a business school. Thank you.
Patrick Hipskind
Hi Krishna,
I obtained my MBA from an excellent university. My professors were very knowledgeable and thorough. I even specialized in entrepreneurship. Yet, the program did not cover domain names and strategic Internet marketing is now a fundamental requirement for business success. I have learned an incredible amount from Rick through this blog.
AHEAD OF TIME
I remember talking to Tommy Butler owner of Glasgow.com about 10 years ago having the same vision as Rick. It was an amazing day for
me because I was buying domains 24/7 and had never spoke to domainers before and Tommy made me feel 100% I was going in the right direction. I will never forget that phone call until my dying day.
BullS
MBA–what a freaking waste of time and money…
no wonder you have a MBA-My Big A*ss
Duke of Earl
You forgot to mention that the Sears tower will, of course, be subject to zoning restrictions, architectural review, signage requirements, traffic compliance involving ingress/egress, handicap compliance, occupancy restrictions, parking requirements, fire marshal inspections, plumbing, electrical, fire sprinklers, security concerns, hvac, elevator inspections, occupational permits and a ton of other non-income producing, yet necessary stuff.
To build a website, NONE of that is a concern. Yep, none. Instead, one can focus solely on business. What a concept!
You were dead-on 15 years ago and little has changed since – other than the supply of generic .COM domains has greatly diminished while the demand has greatly increased. Just wait until after the ridiculous and foolhardy gtld’s ALL go down in flames (this shouldn’t take long!) — then your .Com’s will skyrocket in value even further!
Jeff Schneider
Hello Duke,
Well said! Not to mention that Virtual Business Foundations are not restricted to limiting geopgraphic exposure to clients. VBFs have exposure to the masses from one Foundation!
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Patrick Hipskind
If being able to do a cash flow budget is a waste of time and money, or being able to write a business plan and a strategic plan is a waste of time and money, then I guess I wasted my time and money. However, those tasks must be accomplished successfully to grow a business in a competitive market environment. I’d rather have these skills than not have these skills, so I don’t piss away a lot of my money or other people’s money.
UFO
Admittedly back in 98 I was more than interested in getting into online commerce, but thats when I started travelling… and if I’m honest I didn’t really get connected online till 2003.
Just a matter of wrong location at the right time.
In fact I was aware of domain names about 1989… but at that stage I didn’t have the money or the knowledge or the access to see how it could all pan out. The concept interested me though. Like wow people can actually send messages across the internet….
Funny thing, there are still plenty of opportunities, you just can’t follow the old ones as they been well trodden.
tommybutlerTommy Butler
Ahead of time thanks for the kind comments. hope your keeping well.
Yours
Tommy