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

Morning Folks!!

A week ago Friday was the first time I ever visited the 75,000 sq. ft. factory of Candy.com in Braintree, MA since we made the deal in 2008 when I think they had 3500 ft. That's a little larger than 1/2 of a Costco store. It is set up like a Home Depot. They/We have 120 employees and the $15 million volume figure I gave a few weeks back is a "little" low but I can't say anymore than that.

And they have 2 new divisions. Things are going well! I could not be more proud of Greg and Joe. So let me tell you the story about candy.com from Greg's memory. So Friday we went to lunch at the Chateau in Waltham. A place that opened in 1933 and I loved as a 9 year old and since.

Greg was 22 at the time of the candy.com deal. He told me how many times I hung up the phone on him. Yes, hung up on him. He wanted the name but had very little funds. We laughed so hard talking about it 10 years later. Now both married with families. It was just a fantastic time!

But I always believed in them, their vision and their work ethic as I grew to know them. So we made a deal.It was only $60k out of their pocket. $30k each. Not a huge amount, not small either, but it showed their determination. They have not lost one ounce of energy and determination. They are growing and growing at a very rapid clip as they expand and fulfill.

The one thing we all agreed on, it was the DOMAIN NAME that guaranteed they would have a seat at the table, have credibility and be taken seriously. It helped to guarantee their success IF and only IF they could match their products and services with the same high quality and dependability. And they have!!!! They are a wholesale food company becoming more and more important to third parties.

My share of the company is growing in value. What started at 5% is now 12.55% and these guys are about to really breakthrough in a very big way. 10 years of hard work is now paying off. There are so many things I would like to share about their expansion and visit, but I can't at this time. But it's very exciting so stay tuned. I have watched them grow, I have watched them struggle, I have watched them battle it every single day. Great job guys!! Easily the deal I am most proud of because I have great and energetic and SMART partners and they are still very young and hungry at ages 32 and 40. If defines what a great domain name can become.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Yesterday morning it was reported that Famous Four, The LARGEST new GTLD registry may be getting ready to declare bankruptcy! They have nearly 25% of all new GTLD registrations with about 5 million!! They have 14 of the top 100. 5 of the top 20! The biggest may be about to fall and we have total silence!? Just 1 comment on the story. No other stories. REALLY?? Are you folks BRAIN DEAD?? Hiding?

This should be shaking the new GTLD's to the CORE! The lipstick and the PIG are now available for public viewing! The Clusterf*ck is starting to fall apart. If it is falling apart for them, what's going on with all the others? You know the ones with 2000 registrations not 5 million!

Just an hour AFTER I posted about the domain industry being in decline, this story broke. Talk about timing! I commented on it on my next post. Where are the 1000's of so-called "GTLD Domainers"? Do they not understand the possible and probable impact on their holdings?

This whole thing has been a JOKE! A Mess! The biggest money grab I have ever seen! And funded by DOMAINERS!! Domainers that are poorer now then they were! That wasted time and money and GOT FOOLED! That's right, you got FOOLED!b Deal with it. You can stop your own pumping and dumping now. The jig is up. It did not work.It is collapsing before our very eyes! Even Helen Keller can see it. I know, you might not know who she is.

Need, want desire, value. That sunk them before they ever registered the first domain. It was an ill conceived plan by ill conceived people, with ill conceived motives that were JEALOUS of the success we were having with .com. So they came out with this GARBAGE to HIJACK our industry and now they get to start seeing it come apart and they will forever be associated with this.

The domain industry has been hijacked by these companies and we should get our industry back! They need to go and I can't wait as they ALL die on the vine and we can get back to business.

It does not say much about the smarts of domainers as they keep going to shows that ONLY want to present the GTLD Kool-aid. They are ONLY in business for REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS to convince you that their shit is not shit. OPEN YOUR EYES! It's shit!

Is there a single show without .Club on stage pitching or Registrars that mean NOTHING! What happened to the REAL domain investors?? No room for REALITY! At this point they are advertisements. They are infomercials, no longer information. Total waste of time, money and energy and you get fooled too and domainers are clueless as they get RAPED with misinformation that could not hold up to honest scrutiny! They feed you SHIT and domainers swallow that SHIT! Time to burp!

The industry is SILENT about the single biggest story to hit us in a very long time. Maybe years! If they are in trouble and silence suggest they are, they WON'T BE ALONE!! This will be the beginning of the end. TIMBER!!!!!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz