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

Morning Folks!!

Do you make decisions based on false information?

See, false information most likely will lead you to a false assumption. So getting the info right is critical to making a good decision. But since folks are sometimes lazy, we believe the first thing we read and that sets in like concrete. Then FACTS are ignored because the concrete in the mind has hardened. Loosen up!

This is just another point or flaw of Human Nature. Our job is to fight human nature every step of the way because more often than not Human Nature is the trap door of life that screws everything else up. Reserve judgement until the facts are in and when new facts are presented, don't remain ignorant. Factor in the new info and see if the outcome changes things. If you don't do that.......how eactly can you make a good decision? You can't.

Now if there are no facts yet you base things more and more on assumptions. But each tidbit of info has to be factual for you to arrive at your intended destination even in an assumption. Your job is to check things off as they materialize and be nimble enough to change if the factual info points the wrong way. The more factual based info you have at hand the stronger your course is and the better chance you will get where you actually desire to go.

Look, since we can't live longer , we can certainly fight against wasting time. We can be our own efficiency expert.

Maybe making money in life has less to do with making money and more to do with setting it up efficiently and figuring a way to self sustain itself.  Maybe that's why many of us ended up in domaining to begin with.

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

It has just been 24 hours since I opened up submissions to the TRAFFIC Auction and the list we are putting together is sizzling! I think you will see a big difference as quality is way up.

Great domains at great prices and I think once published is the best list we have had in years. I have already selected 50 of the 75 for the live auction and a number for the silent as well. Some of those domains are very nice. It has been a pleasure looking thru some really nice portfolios as opposed to other years where my eyes were bleeding at this point.

So great job guys. Nice domains, attractive domainer prices and that will produce multiple bidders and that is what an auction is all about.

I expect to close submissions tonight or early tomorrow. So consider this the LAST CALL!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

After the great reception we had at last weeks inaugural show (which of course we did not know at the time) I asked Michael Cyger if he would like to do the show LIVE at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.? He immediately agreed. It was a no brainer and it was inspired by Joao that made the following comment.

"For people that still think Traffic is expensive, this is just a sample (and i really mean SAMPLE) of what happens at Traffic. It was the best thing i have ever done in my entire domaining life and believe me, for a portuguese guy it is not cheap at all to go there, but it is also priceless…so GO!"

And of course that is just one dimension of what we do at TRAFFIC. The formula is not based around the seminars even tho they are priceless and have the top domainers in the world on stage similar to what you saw on the show. We mix it up with different folks and different subjects and get a lot of points of view. QUALIFIED points of view. But just as important if not more is that the shows are based on breaking bread together and having One on One time as well as many different Group Times. We wrap that up with receptions, parties and Networking events and package it in a Ritz-Carlton smack dab on the Atlantic. But breaking bread together in different type settings is the glue that makes TRAFFIC the show it is.

Signups are far outpacing last years show and for the first time in YEARS, we expect a full sellout to the point we may have to stop selling tickets a week before the show starts. Our capacity is about 385 and the reason we are moving to a larger venue next year.

Further evidence that things are rebounding. It is a very aggressive atmosphere out there right now and this is a very serious business season. Very serious. Folks like JC Penny are fighting for survival. If they don't turn it around or get acquired, we could see one of the largest store closings in American History at some point.

But I got a bit off course. Today's show was just posted here. Hope you enjoy it. We enjoyed doing it!

Rick Schwartz

Evening Folks!!

So as I often do when I meet a business owner, they ask what I do and I say "I making my living on the Internet" and that usually starts things rolling. And that was the case last week when I went in for my new photo as I explained the shot was for my blog to Michael Lloyd. I found out he too had a blog and before the photo shoot even began we had agreed on each making a blog post and linking to each other.

And so it is. You will see he got one thing a little off with owning the .com and the .net but as an end-user and a 5 minute conversation got the gist of it. You must own the .com if you don't want to leak traffic to somebody else. He gets it and many domainers still don't.

His domain is simple. 2 words. .com. No pitfalls. Radio friendly, easy to remember and probably has no need for anything else EVER!

His job is to include it everywhere on everything he does and prints and send and gives and all the rest. Normally I would tell him to get extra domain names for traffic. But photo and wedding domains were some of the first to be used and they are hard to find. But he could get specific and add BocaRaton or Florida or SouthFlorida to a keyword he may be associated with. Of course without even looking it up I am sure BocaRatonWeddings.com is gone.But there could be a variable that can be plugged in and could get lucky or find one parked and make an offer.

As a domainer you may laugh at 1, 2 or 3 visitors a day to a domain. As an end-user, 1, 2, 3 more customers a day can transform a business.

I get off on this because it was not long ago I would walk down the street and not a single business was online or had a website. Today there is not a one without a website. It did not happen overnight but in historical terms it happened faster than anything this big that I can ever remember.

The dark side photo was something I was not sure I was going to do when I walked in. I brought the shirt and glasses for it but I decided I would wait and see how they were on the regular shot. I wasn't even sure it was a good idea. But I decided to tell them what I had in mind and they started getting excited about it and  then their creativity started coming thru and the rest is history.

So Donna, ladies, great idea and I love great ideas and follow thru on them and that is what makes the world go round.

Michael, nice to meet you and I am sure we will see each other again soon! Happy Blogging!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

Or should I say whiney little brats?

So spoiled. So unappreciative of how if could have been had you been around for the real gold rush.

Even tho I would argue there has been more money in our gold rush. No pics, no shovels no mules.

I posted about the gold rush the other day and my experience 100 years later. I hope folks were able to enlarge the blurb that went with the commemorative coin. I enlarged it below so you can read the 82 words, digest and APPRECIATE them! It's really important to understand and put things in context. This is US!

We are them in bathrobes and slippers.  Coffee? Danish? Is the A/C too cold? The heat too warm? The shower water not strong enough? The Jacuzzi not big enough?

Take a deep breath. If  you are reading this, then WE have it pretty damn good! So whether you got in domaining in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2006 or even 2013, you have a parallel and this is oh so much easier. Whether you invest or flip or develop, there is gold in them thar hills and it is still virtually untapped. You can come in the business TODAY and make your fortune. You only need to know one thing. What the gold looks like, tastes like, feels like and is and what fools gold looks like, tastes like, feels like and is.

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

A little "Birdie" sent this to me a few minutes ago and thought it interesting.

"The current challenge faced by both porn companies and Web startups is how to differentiate themselves. Since there’s only so much you can do, the answer for both industries has been to pursue increasingly small and bizarre niches."

Sound Familiar?

There are a number of parallels the writer of this article articulates and they have some validity.

Until folks look at the lessons the porn industry has learned , they are ripe to repeat their mistakes and likely a much more expensive lesson. Just remember one thing as I see it being in both places.....Adult circa 1997 and mainstream circa 2013 have yet to intersect. But we are getting VERY CLOSE to that happening. It COULD happen in the next 12 months and I have NEVER said that before. Once that happens, this industry will be transformed and folks will never look back.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

As you know the last few auctions I have been focusing on domains with "No Reserve" so that we could have real and exciting auctions. In Las Vegas we sold 70% of the domains let by bouquet.com at $30,000. A real gem and a real bargain that Ron Jackson even did a story on.

As I have been writing about, the worst of the recession is over and business is recovering and things are moving again. They called yesterday "Merger Monday" even tho it was a Tuesday but it was the first business day of the year. Huh? Yes, first BUSINESS DAY of the year. The day after Labor Day is the day the gun goes off and the race each year begins. But this year is much bigger as we rise from yet another set of ashes like we did in 2003 and watch things take off in dramatic fashion. History repeats itself. It comes in waves.

So with that in mind, we are not focusing on "No Reserve" domains. We will be raising the bar this time with higher quality and higher value domain names. BUT....they still must be a bargain in terms of domainers.

Also we will be announcing a silent auction that will run before and after the Live Auction.

Now before we start here are the rules. If you don't follow the rules, I disregard your email.

1. I don't have the time to respond if I dn't chose your domain so don't expect to hear back from me. I am sorry. I am focusing on what I need to do. I apologize in advance.

2. No more than 10 domains on a list and please just send me one list.

3. You are selling to domainers, price accordingly. This is NOT an end-user event. However if you are an end-user you can get an incredible bargain.

4. If it is an alternate extension, it MUST be one word only and it MUST be cheap!

5. I am reviewing domains until Friday at 5PM or before. That's it. Once I get 75 domains that qualify, done deal.

6. If your domain is borderline, we may take for silent auction if you agree.

7. New gTLD's may want to consider an early jump-start and auction off the rights to some of their premiums coming online. 

8. Mail entries to:

domain king

at

Gmail

.com

8. Please don't get insulted or upset if I don't choose your domain. I will get ten thousand submissions and only picking 75 or so. My job is to make sure they are the best offered and priced so that they are attractive to domainers.

9. Your best chance is a meaningful one or two-word domain that is a .com

10. Good Luck!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Not the first time I have ever said this but if you want to WIN, you have to learn to LOSE. Learn to fail. Learn to embrace failure, refine failure, not excuse it, minimize it or run from it. When do folks learn the simple lessons of life? Here is the roadmap to  being a winner. Was it easy? No. Did it disappoint? Yes. But remember you are only defeated when you give up and this is the story about not giving up.

Damn it! Learn from her. She first attempted it at the age of 28 and after 5 times and 36 YEARS she succeeded! BRAVO! BRAVO!

Wonder how many idiot naysayers she had to deal with in those 36 years?

Not giving up on herself and not giving up on all the others before her that failed as well. Why do folks do this? One taste of success and understanding that success is built on the short falls and answers to failures and most wins and losses happen between the ears, then winning is a matter of time. Congrats to Diana Nyad. "Find a way"

Congrats!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

I have talked about this day and the gravitational pull that goes with it since January. The day after Labor Day is when folks in the USA "Begin" the process of changing from summer and down time to Fall and GAME TIME! Why is it so important to them? Because the next 12-16 weeks determines what 2013 will go down as and whether 2014 is a year they will survive to see. So over the next few weeks, things happen and the course is being set for the next year as well.

For me it is THE DAY that I am on the final leg of my journey that started in 1995. I felt the first real signs early this year and it has only gotten more intense. I knew that the first part of 2013 was going to be tough and folks don't want to hear how good the fall is going to be and things will keep accelerating for YEARS.

Business does not turn on a dime. It just slowly begins to get brighter and more intense. Things happen. The agenda for 2014 starts to take shape. Today is the start of the Business Class of 2013. What happened before today does not count. Spring Training. Today is opening day. Just like baseball but with the intensity and the calculations of football.

I will  point to these posts in 2015-2016. Your only question will be wondering how I could predict it so precisely! Of course it could manifest itself just a bit early. But not by much. As it stands on the day after Labor Day 2013, we are dead on the mark and right on time.

The Internet fad is no longer a fad and being a domain investor is no longer a bad thing.  Matter of fact, our "Stadium" is so good, they are going to try to duplicate it and many more.  That my friends gives you and me LEGITIMACY. Legitimacy we always had but today it is widely recognized and tomorrow it will be widely encouraged. What are 1000 gTLD's to do? Call us cybersquatters or call us customers?

Rick Schwartz