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

Morning Folks!!

No two ways about it, our industry has shrunk quite a bit since 2006-2007. When we talk about domain investors. It has exploded when we talk about the domain industry that is all-inclusive.  That power has never been harnessed.

We may or may not be on the doorstep of great expansion. When I think back to the last domain investors to come into the industry that added value I can only think of a handful of names. Can you think of more?

When I talk about .whatever, I want to make it clear that .Brand is a separate issue. I can see a use for a .brand. However, does not mean it will work, be embraced or even be used. We will see. But it has nothing to do with domain investors. You won't be buying and selling .brand.

So by this time next year we will see expansion and maybe a few collapses. The shrinking will come to an end and we will expand again. But the question that remains is how strong will that expansion be? How sustainable will that expansion be? We all get a front row seat as we watch it all unfold. Not a single one of us has the answer. We just have history to learn from. Some want that history to repeat itself. And it may. I just don't see how because of all the missing elements that make this completely different. The motivation was completely different. The times were different.

With 700 new extensions you would imagine that each extension would attract a new set of domain investors. But will that happen? Other than the registries themselves, I don't know that we will see such a thing. We may be it!

This industry is smaller than you think. Schwartz/Schilling managed only 1500 views in the entire first week. 3 days on top of domaining.com. You would think that would have widespread interest and it does. 1500 persons worth. That's it. That's the core industry and not all them are full-time domain investors. That is where the 500 number comes from and it has dwindled over the years. I told Howard before we released it that we would count viewers in the hundreds not the thousands. I anticipated 1600 myself and so I kinda nailed it.

Now it is up there for many to see throughout the years. Those numbers will climb. But they don't leap. Not yet. They may someday. It's a real time capsule. It has great value. Does not matter which side of the equation you are on, there was real info and now that info meets the test of time. I have writtena blog post about how I saw things and I will post that soon.

So now will 700 gtld's bring a new crop of investors or are we it? Until now I thought that they would bring in NEW domain investors by the boatload. Now I am not so sure. This thing called HUMAN NATURE gets in the middle of everything every time! Together, we all showed up and made it happen. Can they repeat that without relying on the current domain investors? Investors that are overwhelmingly focused on .com and a few others and have shown little appeitite for .Restaurant if there is such an extension.

So the expansion most likely will bring few new domainers. But they will bring 700 gtld's and their staffs. Their staffs alone will DWARF the domain investor community. My lone voice will be a fart in the wind when it all starts. That is why I have taken nearly a year to publish each and every thought before the NOISE begins and it is going to be VERY noisy as they all have a lot on the line and there will be some loud squealing noises for those not doing well.

I love how everyone counts the profit and never even mentions the expenses or advertising budgets or salaries or overhead.

So with 700 extensions you would think that each could get  10-100 NEW domain name  investors and therefore grow the industry by many thousands. I would expect that to happen. But if not, then they are stuck with the 1500 of us and we are shrinking.

So far, only one extension stands alone! And I still believe that .whatever also invites a second look at each of these before they go down that road. That bumpy road that may lead nowhere. Hope not. I want to see a success because I am not threatened by it. None of us are. So believe what you like, but don't buy into that nonsenese.

.com

Morning Folks!!

I have spent over 15 years trying to reach the "Small guy" and I can tell you it is a Herculean task. The task is much harder with the small guy because he has the monkey of Human Nature on his back and it basically controls every move and every decision he or she makes. Very few small guys become big guys because of that one little fact. That one little monkey. There is no greater obstacle than our own human nature and so the first rule of human nature is to blame others for your short falling. Your mistakes. Your failures. #1. UNO!

It should be fighting against human nature and how we are wired. So when we are falling victims of our own crap it is our #1 job to toss that monkey. But if you don't know that is your #1 job, you have to resort to the trap of human nature. You lose.

The reason there is a #1 is because you did not do the real #1. Plan, Prioritize by Considering each and every Variable. Without doing that, your chance of success is no better than a stopped watch. Plan, Prioritize and Consider each and every Variable.

And then when you don't Plan, Prioritize and Consider each and every Variable, you go to the next monkey.

Usually because of some DUMB EXCUSE like these was NO TIME which is #3 on the list of human nature monkeys. No time!!?? Well of course there is no time when you failed to Plan, Prioritize and Consider each and every Variable. You wasted the time you could have had to do what you are excusing.

And as you can see they are all connected. Connected to failure. It is difficult to succeed with these basic obstacles haunting you at each and every stage each and every day.

There was no time because you did not start out with a plan to prioritize and consider each and every variable. You were in a hurry to do it but at the expense of doing it right or successfully. Except if you did it the right way you would not be in a hurry. You would have more than enough time. But, poor time planners that fail at prioritization never have any time to consider the variables. Wonder why!!??

Out of breath? Me too! What a waste of TIME when not used corrected. And while I always use the word "You" in my posts, it is not aimed at you personally but at those "You's" that whatever it is I am talking about applies to. You got that? :-)

So if you don't get these basics down, you will trip over yourself forever. The monkey of human nature will control each and every move you make until you toss that furry friend to the curb. You and your screwed up human nature will be in control as you blame and excuse and fail. Don't you and your family deserve better??

These are the first steps on any ladder to any success. Once there is a monkey on the ladder with you, you lose And guess what? Big Guys, see that monkey that you ignore or may even be invisible to you until right now or may even make you lash out.

Big guys know what to do with those monkeys. Big guys learn how to have those monkeys work FOR them and not against them. Big guys look for monkeys when they hire people, when they sign contracts with people, when they do any type of business with any type of other business. Why? So they can run and do business with somebody with no monkey.

Your monkey is not your pet and is not your friend. He is your human nature obstacle to wherever you want or intend to go or do or accomplish. The detour of your life is sitting on your shoulder. Nobody ever said it was easy to get rid of the monkey. It isn't. So when are you going to start? We all spend a lifetime training that monkey of Human Nature.

Let's call it "National Kill the Monkey on your Shoulder Day"

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to enjoy Part 2 of a 2-part video that was shot live at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Some say it was one of the best panels we have had.

Whichever side of gTLD's you come down on, you will love it! About 1400 folks have watched part 1 and there are plenty of comments here and around.

I think you will see it continues to be candid, passionate, respectful and displays the best of our industry debating a true unknown. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed participating in it and I want to thank Frank for agreeing to do it to begin with. It is great theatre and it was sorely needed to give some clarity to what is coming.

Team Schilling was made up of Frank Schilling, Monte Cahn, Jeff Saas, and Tim Johnson. Team Schwartz had Lonnie Borck and yours truly.

Gentlemen, thank you for agreeing to participate in this panel. I am hopeful we will do it again in May. Below is part 2 and HERE is Part 1.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I love when folks say "You don't understand".  Excuse me, but I do understand. I have traveled that road. That hard bumpy road. I also found the path OFF that hard and bumpy road but it takes something against human nature as we are geared to be in a hurry and when you are in a hurry you don't consider everything you should consider.

Fine, I don't understand. But you are the ones selling diamonds for chump change and then getting mad at folks when they tell you the TRUTH! See I have traveled your path but you have not traveled my path and that included your path as well. So one of us has traveled both paths and if you want to do the same, you need to think differently and look at things differently instead of sitting there shaking your head.

Let's strat with the premise that you are just plain wrong and misguided. If you want to be right, then carry on whatever you are doing. But if you want to change your life and destiny....read on.

Yes, I know, You are too busy to learn. Too busy to do it right. Too busy to slow the pace and be more considerate in what you do. Too busy to distinguish why one domain may be worth $1000 to you and much more to others. Too busy to stop and when you are on that hard bumpy road not stopping will break it all down.

Dare to be great. Dare to better. Dare to be stronger. Dare to say no!

The world does not run by your timeline. So maybe, just maybe, you should think and look on how to adjust your timeline to others. To being there when the trains comes in not after it left. A train station loses most value when there is no train there. So timing it right makes all the difference. All the difference between getting on that train and having a smooth ride or staying on that hard and bumpy road and going nowhere. One takes jet a little planning and the other one is too busy to plan. One gets a result, the other gets frustrated, angry and demoralized. So no only is the road hard and bumpy, it is also leading you in the wrong direction. And maybe you should stop listening to people who have motives that may know even less than you.

So get mad at me for pointing out what I see. But with a little planning you can get to flapping and leave flipping behind and therefore never be flopping.

The difference? Approach, understanding, seeing it through the eyes of others. Understanding what VALUE means. What unique means.

You should have domains that you flip in 20 minutes if you need to, 20 hours if you need to, 20 days if you need to, 20 weeks if you need to, 20  months if you need to and you should have domains that flap around for 20 years. The big problem, few know the difference and that has left them prisoners of that hard and bumpy road. Just a few minutes sorting thru what you have could pave the way to your future. Pave a smoother more rewarding path that has been used by many for a long time. You might have a great poker hand, but if you don't know how to play the game, you lose.

Flipper, flapper, flopper. Your choice!

Have a GREAT day!

Morning Folks,

There are two basic groups in domaining. Those that make money and those that would like to make money. Whether we like it or not, it is a very small group that actually makes money. An "Elite" group. Not that they are "Elite". But the group as a whole is elite because it is such a small but fairly powerful group of less than 2000 out of 7 Billion.

The industry is not growing. At least not yet. In a success, .whatever should grow this industry exponentially. With that growth it becomes less elite as more join those that make money. Or not because it may not unfold that way.

We have watched several waves of domainers come and go and come and go and come and go again. Many are the type that will chase shiny objects and we may or may not see that. Guess it depends on how shiny things are.

2014, 2015 and 2016 are just going to be fun. Lots happening. Lots of dumb business is about to be shown us. We are gonna die from laughing because some are going to make the dumbest mistakes you have ever seen. And some are going to be very methodical and fail anyway. It's just "Survivor" and it is being filmed right in front of us.

It seems you hear the same few extensions over and over when it comes to favorites. .Web is the front-runner almost every time. .App, .Blog, .Shop seem to be the runners up. Your guess is as good as mine. I can't stress that enough no matter how certain or opinionated I might be. But even in that race, I see .web vs .net if there is a race.

The key element for .com, like it or not, is type in traffic. That was the hidden pot of gold that is likely missing from the new extensions. Ask Google, they get most of the typos for .whatever right now and I bet it does not mount to a hill of beans.

Ask those in an elite group that are still standing. They ALL have type in traffic. Not on all their domains. But they have type in traffic and if not there would be no reason for PPC would there? So that is one of many missing foundations and how many have to be missing before you have a collapse? Type in traffic was the single biggest key and accelerator to domaining and growth whether folks want to understand it or not.

Each new .whatever has some dependence on other .whatevers. They will suffer the burden of the bad moves by others. So those with solid plans have the weak as their biggest obstacle not me. Nothing I can say can be as bad as a horse falling down right in front of you during a race.

Believe me, major mistakes have already been made by major players. It may not reveal itself yet, but in time, it always comes to the surface. So far the big winners are the auction losers which is funny and cool in and of itself.

This is an elite industry with even more elite people coming into it. If they succeed, they become more elite. .whatever barons and just like the Kentucky Derby, only a very elite group of people in the world could actually handicap this and from those maybe none of us will get it right. That is how you transform elite back down to earth.

700 horses coming out of the gate and the one thing that is pretty certain and almost all agree, some will be complete flops and be trampled at the gate. The only question is which ones and will they hurt others?

Rick Schwartz