Morning Folks!!
I am always wrong. Just listen to the guys making less money. Working much harder to make less. My formula works whether it is 1995 or 2025. Just like real estate in 1995 0r 2025. But when you play the wrong game and you don't play smart, you make less money and work much harder and are probably stressed out all the time.
I work on CRUISE CONTROL!! You don't!
Cruise Control did not start with me and domains, it started with me and Furniture when I was 20. I had a choice, play in a fast paced industry like clothing that changes about every 2 days or go into something much slower and possibly just as rewarding and maybe more so.
I work on cruise control on everything I do and everything I ever will do.
What does Cruise Control look like?
I am early for every appointment or reservation. I never run late. Why? I PLAN! I plan my time well. I estimate well. I allow for unforeseen glitches. I have lots of time because I manage my time well. I am efficient. But I also wake up at 5AM. My days are 16 hours long whether I am working or not. They are intertwined.
Ever see a sign for luxury condo that says opening in Fall 2018 and it is now Fall 2018 and they are just starting to break ground? That's because of POOR ANTICIPATION!! Poor planning. Poor time management. Poor everything! They think "efficiency" is an apartment.
What I am saying is 90% of domaining has to do with your personal and business HABITS. 90% of any success or failure will resort to that. Maybe even higher. It's more important than the size of your wallet. The size of your brain and how it controls you or you control it.
Success is about Human Nature. Failure is about Human Nature. Human Nature is about habits and reactions. Knee Jerk reactions. Repeating the same mistakes and never learning but arguing more and more ferociously as their frustration and anger builds. How many times do you have to see the same behavior to know their reactions before they even know how they are going to react? That's because they are predictable. That means Poker ain't their calling either. Everyone knows but them!
I approached domains KNOWING it would be 20 YEARS! Domainers today play a bad game. If I played their game, I would be broke and nobody would have ever heard of me. But please keep teaching ME how to make LESS just like YOU! Thanks, but no thanks!!
Those that have understood what I have been saying over the years and employed it have done well. Those that argue, enjoy winning the argument. I don't care. I am on cruise control. Always have been and chance are you never will be. You win.
If you are behind the 8 ball, get in front of it. It's never too late to change a bad habit. Selling too cheap is a HORRIBLE habit. But that is on YOU, not ME. I am simply pointing out the difference. If you can't maintain your portfolio, maybe you need another source of income or a job until you do. Better than pulling your pants down and losing opportunity because you are not on CRUISE CONTROL!
Ask yourself REAL questions. How many domains can you afford to carry? The annual costs are VERY LOW! Cheap! 100 domains is $850/year. $17,000 for 20 years. 1000 domains, $8500/year or $170,000 over 20 years.
There may be an initial investment to get the domain. But again, don't bite off more than you can chew. I started my portfolio with 18 names. That was it! At $100 each.
Stay away from fad domains. Buy domains with meaning that will pass the test of time. Buy an array of different type domains. Never go to heavy on a single key word. Go wide, not deep. None of us are smart enough to know how it all unfolds. So that is why I always went wide. Covered as many sectors as possible.
Meaning is important and more so than length. WeBuyUglyHouses.com. Their billboard and commercials are everywhere. 4 words. Who cares?? It's memorable and marketable.
Are you a mule? Mules sell to other domainers. Mules do the hard work so people like ME can buy from them on the cheap. So are you a domainer (thoroughbred) or a mule?? Unfortunately most are simply mules and mules are not very smart. However the smartest mule will make much more than the dumbest and laziest mule. But why be a mule to begin with? Why work at Denny's when you can get a job at Capitol Grill and make 10x more and have more dignity and live better?
There are many in Real Estate making millions every year. There are many more that make NOTHING!! NEVER make a sale. The difference has NOTHING to do with the real estate or the market. It has to do with the 10 inches between their ears and the habits they bring with them. I would wager that the majority of licensed real estate agents have sold less than 5 properties in their life. Of those, many sold ZERO. Is it the market or is it THEM????? What do you think they say?? DUH!
Rick Schwartz
rick
This is a wonderful post, one of his best.
Forget domains, people should save this and read it over and over. I am sending most of to my kids. I tell them the same things but it is nice when they see it from someone other than me.
It is about life and business and so true.
PLAN, Organize, be detail oriented. Have patience. But be smart. The “webuyuglyhouses.com” is a wonderful example.
A domain does not have to be one word, in fact most one word domains that I see for sale are worth FAR less than many two word domains.
Again be smart and look at your expenses. Domains are tricky in that most sales are from people coming to you. At least that is how it works with Rick and myself. I have tried reaching out to people who SHOULD have certain domains but it rarely works. They don’t get it.
Lastly most businesses fail because they do not do projections. I drive by so many restaurants and laugh. I say to myself that they would have to sell X or Y of this or that to pay their bills and cannot see it ever happening. Most close. Have a nice day!
rick
One other thing which is SO true that Rick highlights.
The best always is the best and worth more. Much more.
Most people sell their best assets first and for too little. This applies to all kinds of things like stocks.
They sell the winners and do not let them run. They keep the losers and watch them fall or do nothing. I deal in all kinds of things. One is jewelry, diamonds and watches. If I am not wise, the best stuff sells first and I am left with the lower end that sits. That is fine if I get max prices for the better items. Most people don’t.
“Sell the privates, Keep the Generals”
Scott Alliy
I would add to receive maximum ROI for your domain investment have a long memory and not a short fuse at crunch time. When you get into a price negotiation is not the time to consider the price. You should have researched historical sales and market demand whether current or future prediction a LONG time ago like When you purchased the domain.
In the heat of battle remembering what value you put on your domain and knowing with certainty why it is worth that will make sticking to your price and saying no to lowball offers easy and make your wallet much fatter in the end.
Two reasons to stick to your price
1) the buyer contacted you they obviously want to own your domain
2) their lack of funds is not your issue it’s theirs and if they can’t pay your price then they are simply not the right buyer
I recently bumped an initial offer 10x to make a sale. Know your buyer know their interest and doing your research are keys to successful domain name price negotiation and selling
Chris
It is easy to be on cruise control when you have a premium portfolio which was mainly acquired at the very beginning of an adoption curve. That excludes the majority. I’m more curious in a relatable subject, like how have domains you’ve hand registered (or even purchased in the aftermarket) in the past 5-10 years done?
Rick Schwartz
You miss the entire point.
We look at things differently.
I play a different game. In this industry and all the others I have been in.
And I get different results.
I became wealthy from that. Domains were just another vehicle.
I bought Motherf*ckers.com last week for $4500. Do you see me being a WHORE and running out and trying to sell it? Am I spamming to sell it? NO!! It’s an asset! It’s now part of my collection. I don’t part with items in my collection until there is a reason. You could have bought it. Wasn’t worth $4500? Could not afford it? Don’t like it?
In my world I already got my moneys worth. Will I sell it? I dunno. I don’t buy to sell. I buy because I believe there is demand. But the domain sure can make folks uncomfortable depending what I do with it. It’s POWER if used correctly.
I decided from the GET GO, that I would never be financially weak. So I had to grow in concert with what I could afford. I did not overbuy. I did not put myself in a financial jam. I pinpointed domains of value and when they were priced right I would snap them up.
We look at things 100% differently. You will never see what I see.
Johan
Rick, you did not answer his question outright. Which domain names have you sold for $xxxx-$xxxxx that you hand-regged up to a couple years back. Tell me! You made it by being a very early bird to the game. This is the one and only blogpost I didn’t dig as much because you don’t seem to relate to people who start out today or during the past 5-10 years. Mules sells domain names for less than you, because otherwise they will be starving, Rick! You are not a Mule because you bought up fantastic domain names in the mid and late 1990s. And sold many for 7 figures!
rathead
serious question… have you started drinking before noon again? Not raggin’ on you… i do so myself quite often.
Rick Schwartz
Gee, sorry you have a drinking problem.
You need serious help if that was your takeaway.
But you represent the exact thing I am referring to.
Blind to common sense.
Chris
Not everyone is at the same stage in life. Just like domaining is not in the same stage as it was 20 years ago. Can someone who buys a Bitcoin today do as well as someone who bought it a Bitcoin in 2011 and held? You bought the bitcoin in 2011 and no matter what you say people should or shouldn’t do the fact is people will never be able to replicate today what you did by buying the Bitcoin in 2011. The same opportunity doesn’t exist year to year to year, things change. The problem with saying “think long term” is that the average domainer who is buying domains in a mature market at the way end of an the adoption curve would be foolish to hold for 20 years because the growth will be a microfraction of what you got to experience by buying in at the start of the adoption curve.
J.G.
I really don’t know why some like to make off comments when the information that you are giving us here for free is very valuable and it is something that should be appreciated given that not everyone is so generous with their time and info. The domain name M/F that you just bought has very great attention grabbing pull power whether one likes it or not.
Rick Schwartz
That’s what happens when you hit a nerve.
That’s why they have such a lack of success to begin with.
They have hate in their hearts and who knows what else is going on in their lives.
Jay
Rick has been right all
Along. My domain names get over 10,000 views every month from direct type in traffic weather it rains or shines outside because I followed the Rick Schwartz system. It’s that simple. Thanks Rick for all the free advice my friend I appreciate it. You changed my life
Jay – DomainNames.com.co
Mark Thorpe
Genius “Motherf*ckers” showing Rick how to make money. Lol
Jon Gilbert
“Rick’s Right” should be a new domain industry expression or truism because it’s true. Rick has been right about many things relating to domain names. As they also say “Time Will Tell” and his track record over time has been proven and speaks for itself. Thank you very much Rick.
Sigma
How many domains can you afford to carry?
When I started speculating in 2015, I registered/bought nearly 500 pigeon shit domains by 2016. I learned about Rick S., AFTER blowing my $$$ on pigeon shit. Finally, I’ve culled my portfolio down to 65 dot-Com DNs with commercial meaning.
Luckily, my first DN sell was a $x,xxx homerun subsidizing my newbie loses. Quality matters most…
Jose
You’re not wrong when you read that they sell cheap domains, one of the reasons is that many of us like to be a domainer and get a good opportunity with a good premium domain that I bought for $ 3,500 but I’m going to sell it at $ 9,500 for that I can get to buy a domain of 3,500 USD I have to sell many cheap domains.
There are domainers of category from the year 2007 in the US market that I offer domains of 4 premium characters for $ 500 valued at $ 3,000 and none have wished to buy either the first digit and even less in the second.
Do you know what they offer me so that they can buy the $ figure that
they like to pay from $ 180 to $ 250 no more and many are sold to these figures, it is shameful I think that you have the upper hand and if you do not want these offers are marginalized 98% domainer write is another post from you. and there is no way to sell, the despair is so strong that in the end let expire and that is when those interested buy at $ 180 and finally sell for $ 19,000 months.
This is a speculation market is already written in the financial economy of Wall Street and Nasdaq buy cheap and sell high, all markets do the same since all be speculative if I buy for $ 5 and sell for $ 250 each action example 500 domains x $ 250 is gross return after expenses and taxes, profitability still exists.
What happens is that as a Domainer I have other jobs and I can invest to buy if I want a good premium domain for $ 50,000 but I will never do it this market has taught me to be practical, you gain a lot in an online advertising if you are lucky enough find advertisers that I call lonely and who can pay each month up to $ 250 if I have 500 solitary advertisers at $ 250 each month do the calculation, in the domain parking with keywords of success and current do not get anything before if you make money, suppose the best one currently for domainer is parkingcrew.com if bo have 1000 visits per domain previous domain parking you are not accepted in exchange others without having 1000 visits to be accepted, there is a category of luxury in this market domain and poverty for the rest of the domainers, many registrars like you must have 2500 premium domains to be able to use landing page and its domain parking. You do not think it was in this registry Or, but the vast majority is in it, however I can not use all this for not having 2500 premium domains, this is the reason for this premium domain market and there is no more if you do not accept not sell.
Happy Day.
Jose.