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

Morning Folks!!

This is what I would call an "Easy Reference Post" for me to refer back to or point others to when I need to access my prior domain sales. So please indulge me. It seems I never have a list that's easy to find or to add on to. Now I do!

The first sales (1998-2003) are mostly lower on the list and occurred when 5 and 6 figure sales were almost unheard of, and folks would laugh at me for even asking these prices. The laughter stopped when I started getting those prices and then completely silenced when I sold Men.com for $1.32 Million. One of the very earliest verifiable, 7 figure domain sales. Before to was just the rumored Business.com for $7.5 Million with murky details.

• Men.com sold for $1.32 million in 2003, acquired for $15k in 1995. Plus earnings of about $350,000 during ownership
• Candy.com $3.0 million + several million in Royalties + 12.55% Ownership currently valued at over $5 million+, acquired for about $100k in 2005. (Will end up being my biggest sale ever)
• Porno.com sold for $8.88 million cash, acquired for $42k. Plus earnings of about $15,000,000 during ownership. Escrow.com's largest cash sale EVER!
• eBet.com sold for $1.35 million, registered for $100 in 1997
• Teem.com sold for $36,000 plus stock. Final total after buyout $1.15 million registered for $100 in 1998
• 989.com sold for $818k, registered for $100 in 1997
• 899.com sold for $801k, registered for $100 in 1997
• Portfolio of 10 NNN.com names (Undisclosed. Between $2.5 million and $3.5million)
• 9595.com sold for $180k, registered for $100 in 1998
• iReport.com to CNN for $750,000 acquired for $5000 in 1999
• Punchbowl.com too MyPunchbowl.com $60,000 plus stock
• ChinaTours.com $200,000
• TokyoHotels.com $200k++
• RockStars.com $180,000
• FreeSexCams.com $150,000
• GayEscorts.com $121,550
• PartnerCash.com $110,000
• eCruise.com to iCruise.com $100,000 & Stock
• 235.com $100,000
• SydneyHotels.com $100,000
• eScore.com $100,000
• RoomDividers.com $75,000
• 273.com $50,000
• 236.com to IAC (Undisclosed)

Total sales in EXCESS of $23,000,000 AND I continue to receive royalties from multiple sales/leases totaling several million so far with over $7 million still to paid out to me.

Property.com/Properties.com was sold 3x in 14 years. I paid $811,000 for the pair and took in over $850,000 so far. So I am not in a bad position there for my $8.50/year x 2. One day the right buyer will come along. It's in the intersection I speak about. It's only a matter of time and patience. I get $1 million offers several times a year, But that won't cut it.

So my 33 domain sales have an average of $701,649++ SO far, and they increase annually! Plus factor in that many were early sales in the late 1990s and early 2000s. So in the modern era of the last 15 years, my average is much higher.

It would have been much easier and, I would have sold many more domains if I did not know how to value my own assets. Easy to give things away when you undervalue them. Doing that gives me the ability to say NO because I have purposely put myself in the strongest position I could. Nobody could or should be able to value domains better than yourself. Your value is the key. Stick to your guns!

33 sales and I never made the first contact with any of them. That's #1 on the list for selling domains at high prices. If they are not coming to you, then perhaps you don't have what they need. Like I have said, great domains put you in the middle of a busy intersection. Worthless domains put you in the middle of a nasty swamp. Don't get mad at me, get mad at yourself if you are in the swamp. You picked what you got. Right?? You decided to pull the trigger at whatever price, and you chose to value it at whatever cost.

Some still question my sales ability cuz I don't sell many domains, and I don't sell often. Domain investing is about PICKING great domains not SELLING them!! Pick right, and sales will come. There is always time for outbound sales, but that won't happen until big business understands the value. We are very close thanks to social media and their abuses of privacy and free speech as well as the most important of them all, autonomy! On the WHIM of some low-level MORON, anyone can be put out of business with one click on many of these platforms with no appeal process and no reason given.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

I really don't care if you agree with my steps or not and I am used to it. Most won't. But if you are not making MILLIONS with your domains then maybe, just maybe, take it seriously. This is my suggested path. There are many other paths but again, if you're not making millions on that path, don't argue.

Best is to have one domain and build a successful business not a "Feel Good" site. One is being a business person and the other is being a starving artist. Sorry, but I DO make that distinction and before you just dismiss it, you should think about it too. Businesses have a cash register.

1.* Focus on .COM domains that are easy to spell and pass the radio test.

2. Make sure you have another source of income to support your investments.

3. Target with a rifle not a shotgun. Your first purchase may be your most important. 

4. Each purchase should be like it was your first except armed with more knowledge

5. Hook up the new domain to PPC and see if it has traffic and who is bidding on that traffic.

6. Select secure registrar.

7. Make sure your whois is public. 

8. Test, Test, Test.

9. Patience. Patience. Patience. You are not selling umbrellas in a rain storm. You are selling the most important decision they ever made. 

10. Learn how to sell.

11. Learn how to write an effective email.

12. Learn to personalize.

13. Learn how to stay focused on their needs, not yours!

14. LISTEN to them and stop talking. 

15. Answer their questions honestly and truthfully.

16. POINT OUT PITFALLS before they even ask!! That is STRONG selling!

17. Protect them as well as sell them! That's STRONG selling

Side note: That's what pisses me off about the GTLD guys and how weak they are at selling is this:
At least have the BALLS and the DECENCY to tell them to add the WWW before the domain until it is recognized. Alert them to the confusion so they can avoid the confusion. But they are weak and they don't do that and the only thing they can do is bash .com's. That's weak! So until they do that, it's just a fraud to me.

18. Stop talking about Escrow.com. It won't help you close a sale and you are wasting time and space to actually add value. BIG MISTAKE!

19. Stop talking about how old the domain is. It won't help you close the sale and you are wasting time and space to actually add value.n BIG MISTAKE

20. Stop talking about PRICE and talk about USE! Their use, not your needs. Not your desperation.

21. Don't send out another email the same day or even the next day asking if they got your email. BIG MISTAKE. Send it in a few weeks with some news and value. Send them an article. But wait a few WEEKS or more.

22. Watch my twitter videos and allow yourself to change bad habits into good ones.

23. Filter out all the noise. There are only a handful of credible sources in the domain industry. If they have something to sell you, question their credibility. Start with DNJournal.com and focus on a few credible blogs.

24. Success in Domains is about longevity and the future. Lasting power. Focusing on domains of value because they have the right elements.

25. Create income streams early and often.

These are such basic elements and folks that skip steps on a ladder always fall off the ladder. Take it, leave it or post it and follow it. Your choice. It's as valuable as you make it or just discard and forget.

And for the first time ever, I am not allowing comments on this post. It will remain in its pure form. There are many more points I can make. But this is a decent start.

GOOD LUCK!!

Rick Schwartz

*If you want to ignore, resist or argue about this, there is nothing I can do for you. Working at Denny's vs owning Capital Grille. I don't do Denny's. Can't help you until you figure out for yourself. Good Luck on the journey.

Morning Folks!!

In case you missed it, I have been doing daily video podcasts on Twitter and folks seem to like the content. I just tackle different subjects in short 2 minute clips. I have published 10 podcasts since April 30th.

I like the written word because it gives me more time to think and use the best words to explain my thoughts. But sometimes video helps to soften the delivery. There will be times that the videos will be tough and maybe even go after wrongdoers by name and company. I won't hold back. As always, I just tell it like it is. You can take it or leave it. I think the passion comes thru in a more level way.

I am still working on getting the clips to show on the blog, but to help things get started and without further delay, I will list my 10 clips here in order of publication.

Hope you will join me and join the conversation.

Twitter Introduction and Test Clip

Sunrise in Rick's Backyard

Rick's Back Pocket Story

Rick Answers Questions from Viewers

Rick tackles .Com vs .Whatever

Rick talks about "Incremental Perfection" #1 Video last week!

I talk about WHY I am doing this #1 Most Important Video last week!

I talk about the Domain Boom and why 76 Likes, 26 retweets

I’ve talked about Need, Want, Desire, Value. But what about USE???

Recap of my plans for Twitter Videos

In my first 10 days these videos have had 100,000 views, 512 likes and 114 retweets. It's really good content if I do say so myself! I think you will enjoy and if you do, I will keep cranking them out.

I will explain the purpose and the motivation but you have to watch to find out. You will see the real me in action and what makes me tick. I may surprise a few of you!

ENJOY!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!

I look at a startup as a Dual-Decathlon with the obstacles and challenges that must be met before you even get to the actual Decathlon itself.

Sorry, but almost every startup I see flunks right out of the gate. It’s like taking a math test so they got a 33 and they think they’re cruising. Your single biggest and most everlasting decision is the name of your company. There is none bigger.

Most importantly any good or service needs to be market tested. So if you haven’t tested sales you’re probably going to flunk.

Oh, you want to keep it a secret. But with that, you might be wasting valuable TIME. Sorry secrets don’t last, first-movers do!

I have been involved in a number of startups in my life and you know how much time they spent on naming,? Not enough! It was horrible. It was something that they want to get over with fast, not something that they wanted to be thoughtful about. They never took enough time to truly discuss alternatives. The first name was what they picked each time.

So once you have your name the next most important thing is your website name. Your domain name. We all know how bad startups do when it comes to that! So maybe start with the domain name. If you are having a newborn, choose one with an available name. Same with business. Find the domain first or you flunk again unless you get an exact match.

There are only a few jobs in business thinking planning and doing. Pretty simple. But most DO, then they THINK then they PLAN how to fix the calamity they themselves created by rushing and not thinking. They FAIL!

Do you want me to tell you how many businesses start with DO with the power thing and then they can do cleanup mode. And that cost money. To recoup money that you just pissed away is your profit.

Don’t minimize ANY pitfalls. Must be magnified AND amplified. MUST BE!!!! Can't stress this enough. It's part of my "Back Pocket Stories" (It's on my twitter feed)

So, if you are a startup these are mistakes that will likely put you out of business before you even start. YOU are the only ones that don't know it!

That's why failure is so so so easy to spot. You can't bowl a 300 game or even a 200 game if your first 6 frames go in the gutter. You championship bid was over long before that. lol

Startups need to smarten up and be smartups or they will not survive long in the wild. They will be eaten alive by mistakes and leaks and doing w/o thinking. They always say they will do it right: "Next time"!

Rick Schwartz