Morning Folks!!
There is a problem in the domain industry. Not enough knowledgeable domainers and an industry about to have a massive change.
I can’t believe how many companies and domainers in the space are working in the blind. How do I put this tactfully? (Insert tactful BS here to your hearts content) Ok, there is no way to really be tactful and say what I see and what is on my mind. Leave “Tact” for the politically correct politicians that don’t seem to have much tact themselves these days.
Every day folks wake up looking for the secret that is right in front of them but won’t do a damn thing DIFFERENTLY to try and find it. They use their energy to whine and lash out. The MAJORITY of folks calling themselves “Domainers” fall into this category. I did not put them there, they pigeon holed themselves a long time ago. Locked their minds away.
I am not happy about that. There are 2000 “Domainers” but in reality we all know that the real number is a fraction of that. 400?? And then a lot of NOISE. Take that 80% noise. Combine them all and they will equal what the #400 domainer earns and knows. You can earn nothing but that does not mean you have to be and act like a loser. You can learn how to emulate a winner until you become a winner. You are what you practice.
Oh boy, they are all getting pissed off at me now. But be pissed at YOURSELF! You control your destiny not me. I just see what I see and point it out. I hope MANY of those 1600 will join the 400 or I would not waste my TIME pointing this out. Lashing out at me guarantees you will always be part of the 1600. Wrong direction.
But it is not up to me, it is up to them and they are so busy complaining, whining and attacking their chances are going down not up. WRONG DIRECTION. But attack me instead of looking in the mirror. I am just stating facts as I see them. If that makes you uncomfortable….change it. Don’t change me, change YOU!
So many are in an industry they don’t understand, get piss poor results and hang out in the forums where there are so many losers and loose cannons that it is increasingly difficult to actually spot a REAL domainer. There are so many competing agendas. They can't spot that either. You need to be aware. Aware of it all.
Having 5000 names does not make you a domainer. It makes you a guy with 5000 names and a bill. Think of it like this. Let’s go back 200 years or so. There is land in New York City where there are millions of people, there is land in Kansas but there are no people. New York will add a million people in the next 20 years before the first person ever gets to Kansas. Land in Kansas may have value at some point. But the key there was it would not happen in your lifetime. THAT is a big difference and since the DAY I got on the net, there has been 80% of the “Domainers” securing land in Kansas and the only folks in Kansas are domainers.
Some started as mediocre and then drilled down to be a loser instead of drilling up and being a winner. One small adjustment to gain huge results. Just a change in attitude and direction. The first step, stop hanging with losers. You are a product of your environment. Hang with winners. Losers are on earth for only one reason, to drag others down to their level and hinder their progress. Just look how they behave and stop supporting it. Support YOU, not THEM! DUH!!!!!!!!!!
How do you spot a loser? If you actually read this and can’t spot a loser after this, read it again. I can spot a loser in one thought. Can you? One sentence. Can you? And if you can spot losers that also means you can spot winners. The more you practice, the better you get at spotting either and then categorizing them. Losers have no place in your life. Do they??
Talk like a loser and you will be a loser. Think like a loser and you will be a loser. Act like a loser….well you get my drift. Talk like a winner, think like a winner and act like a winner, you won’t have time to be a loser. Losers spew shit. That’s what they do with their time. If you can’t spot a loser, there is only ONE REASON.
The worst part.....I don't know very many successful people that don't want to give back. To lend a hand up. To do whatever they can to help the next guy. But no good deed goes unpunished. What a shame. The ones they want to help are just too busy biting and struggling and lashing out to calm down, take a deep breath, stop where they are and recalibrate. They are slaves of their minds and while they think WE have the key, it is really them that have the key and our sin is pointing it out. You may not be able to control your circumstance, but you certainly can control how you react to your circumstance. Turn the impossible into the inevitable.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Sahar Sarid
Domainers are a dying breed, 400 is being generous IMO. 2010 is the beginning of the next gold rush. Tons of opportunity for those who are starting out as some great domains will expire because some look at PPC revenues as a bench mark, not understanding what makes a winner a winner. If you can work a business model independently of PPC you are bound to win. The losers will be those who continue to depend on PPC and not adjust their business models. Just as important, PPC companies are also a dying breed. Look around and you will see most of the big players aren’t just providers but also own their own portfolios and side ventures (DS, HF, Sedo, TrafficZ, etc) . Whether being providers or not isn’t their true business so squeezing domainers our of the gate, as it will affect portfolio prices, may be where we are heading. Also upstream providers are no angels either, and squeezing I believe really start from the very top. The problem is, for domainers, who do you blame, and does it even matter?
Key to win in this environment you have to accept that PPC as we know it is gone, and unlikely to return. Adapt or perish.
Best,
Sahar
Scott A
Rick,
I think that the future and real opportunity for serious domainers that have committed to the net is in JV deals.
True domainers should not and will not give up on their goals of being successful on the Internet or in the domain name industry or your domain names because PPC and other revenue streams have dried up or changed.
Instead they will analyze their success puzzle and identify the missing pieces.
I bought JVDeal.com and JVdeals.com many years ago with the intent of creating an incubator to fulfill a vision I had / have.
My company AIS are business consultants and successful Internet business owners as you know.
My vision and plan for the 1500+ domain names in our portfolio remains (as you have started to carry out)with sites like Candy.com …
Find entrepreneurs with a passion for a specific product service or niche who would
start an internet business
become successful and profitable
but
Then be or recruit the but that answers their reluctance whether it be financing marketing skills web design management or business consulting etc.
Sure it requires a little more time thought and effort than redirecting your names to a PPC parking company but as Sahar pointed out Parking may soon cease to be an option.
I think it is time that we started meeting and partnering with fellow domainers and stop seeing them as
competitors or worse
people to steal ideas from
Hey wait…
Getting together to partner skills mindpower etc. If I recall that’s what Traffic is much about.
my .02
BTW
Another painful but true and necessary post
steve
So far I got your secret is take all your money and buy the best domain you can.
Rick Schwartz
Believe it is a game. The object of the game is to start with $1000 and grow it as much as you can as fast as you can. So you can’t buy a DUD and think that you can win the game. You can buy 10 $100 and try or you can buy 1 $1000 domain and try. But FIRST you need to know what a domain looks like that has value and you can either flip fast or build and generate revenue.
Then repeat, repeat, repeat. So simple is should be illegal!
Christopher
Great read, Rick. I’m new to this business but have quickly discovered that the forums are full of sour grapes, bad advice, whining, and rampant negativity. You blog is a refreshing antidote.
George
I don’t read forums. Waste of time… full of time-wasters. The more forums you read the less you get done.
The key I think is to assess where you need to go in order to bring your portfolio to profitability (assuming you have quality in it). So many give up in this respect. Buy an SEO book, read up on trends, and develop your names into sites that are meaningful. Not only will this increase the value of the domain, but it will also provide that crucial supply of cash needed to become successful.
What worked in the 90’s or even in 2007 does not work anymore. You must forge your own path. Learn from the masters (like Rick), take their advice and anecdotes, and build your own empire.
JMO.
ScottM
Great post Rick … can only disagree with the Kansas analogy. A lot of people had made a ton of money QUIETLY investing in land in Kansas. Including Warren Buffett who owns Nebraska Furniture Mart, a Berskshire Hathaway Company, their store in Kansas is believed to be the largest single retail store in the United States in terms of space and volume. They clobber even Best Buy on price for consumer electronics.
Rick Schwartz
Scott, Kansas, 200 years ago. ;-)
The GREAT GREAT GREAT grandchildren of these domainers are going to do fine. (Warren Buffet) But they need to eat now.
Michael J. Hudak
Rick,
I challenge you to take me on as a side project if there is time in your schedule. I want to be mentored, and not just by your blog posts which normally kick start my day. I started a year ago, read a lot, learned a lot, spent a lot,(Well what to me is a lot, pennies to others) won, lost, laughed, cried and now going into my second year-want to work even harder and make some good moves and become successful. Come prove to everyone that a newbie can still do it… We’ll build a site, post earnings and moves we make. It would be both fun and undeniable. This isn’t me looking for a handout. Im an educated professional hard working guy. Have been since I was old enough to work and always will be. Self reliancy is king, there is no doubt about that. This isn’t me trying to gain from you, this is to show everyone who doubts two things…..
If your interested, contact me. IF not, your blog kicks ass, keep on truckin’, because I will keep on’ readin’
-MH
BullShitwebsites
Ricky–I love your style. The #1 thing I learned from you is—you can have 1billion hits but if there is no sales, what the $$$ point? It is the $$$$$$.
Yup- I can show you the gold,but do you think I am stupid to show you the Goldmines!!!
ScottM
Thanks Rick for clarifying the Kansas analogy! I remember Gary telling me at one time when domains were actually free, I guess maybe before NSI started charging, you probably do too. So in the early days it wasn’t so much even about investing your own $$$, more of just seizing the moment and opportunity, being first in line and recognizing the potential of domains and how the future would unfold and owning them before others jumped in.
You, Gary and another colleague and friend out here in KC all saw that opportunity better than anyone (in my opinion) because of your experience owning vanity and adult toll-free numbers … and domains were the next logical extension of that realm from phone-space into cyberspace! Like the people who watched the Model-T roll out and realized the country was next going to need roads built and filling stations supplying gas and oil and they made millions. In a nutshell, I think you are saying that being a domainer, a successful one anyway, requires you to be a visionary (i.e. Rick and others) in your field, and not just a big buyer of so-so merchandise. We all buy a few domains for fun but for the most part when I buy or backorder a domain or spend any time working on mine or my partners domains its for the ultimate purpose of
eventually finding the ideal end- user company or business.
Anunt
Michael J. Hudak, i agree with you…i would like to see Rick help a normal guy like Michael move up in the internet world…i dont think it can be done without throwing thousands of dollars at this.
Rick, i, 100% AGREE with your post…but disagree with your comment on here about starting with a $1000 and growing it…you can not do shit in domains with a $1000 these days…maybe 5 or 10 years ago, we could buy a $1000 domain and flip it 100 times and easily move up in the domain game…but it is completely different now.
I can give 1000 people $1000 each and i bet only one person will become successful out of that…odds are against you big time now…
So conclusion:…Michael J. Hudak, does NOT have noooo fucking chance in this domain game with a $1000…now if he had atleast $50k to play with…he has a little chance…still little!
Good Luck Michael J. Hudak …you might create the next FaceBook.com or Google.com….yeah right!!!!!
steve
Why don’t you post 10 domains and tell us to pick out the one that will ‘flip’ for the most money.
These would be around the $500 to $5000 range. We can see how we do.
mike berkens
One of your best posts.
Hell you are giving away info that people pay thousands of dollars to attend seminars and conferences to just being to learn from people that haven’t been half as successful as you.
Readers, your getting the wisdom of a true entrepreneur.
A nut
Good post Rick, 100 % right on domain forums. Waste of time. And again another idiotic comment by Anunt but that is par for the course.
1dominios.com
Great advise, has all ways:
Every day folks wake up looking for the secret that is right in front of them but won’t do a damn thing DIFFERENTLY to try and find it.
I liked
Anders Olofsson
Tough love Rick. You like to stir up a ruckus don´t you?
Although I must say, in defence of all us Pigeon Shit wannabes, that learning takes time. Catching momentum takes time. The earlier in the game, the more leverage. Your blog is an example. Your portfolio another.
On the other hand, no learning can make a stone fly.
Superstar domain-king Rick Schwartz lovingly kicking midgets in the teeth, might be good for them.
Chadi
Hi Rick,
Nice…”As Above, so Below…”…
I’d go back and support the heavenly dimension with the earthly analogy you once mentioned.
A Domain is as organic as a seed penetrating its way up through the soil into survival chances; it needs to be watered, nurtured and believed in – yes even if it falls into the”pigeon shit” category… See how famous the term”pigeon shit” has become… Man, your hear it everywhere… Have you copyrighted it? I’m sure its already been registered…
If it has crossed your mind and someone registered it, then you gave birth to something even if its”Pigeon Shit”, and this something has a potential value that you may verify one day. And as you said, the trick is to make sure that this day is not a day in another life time…
I personally try to remain optimistic, and develop as much as I can… I am sentimental about any domain I register even more than about those that I pay good cash to buy;
being new and maybe one of those blind who fall in the 80% category in this industry, I try to strike my arrows in all directions at the same time.
That is what a mean blind person does for a start, and I am a little mean (I know that)…
So, I register, buy, develop, sell, leave to expire; experience all as much as I can without fear…. I basically have little chance otherwise, because this industry is stingy and closed up on timid newcomers…
One thing I don’t do for sure is forums…
This is one of the few blogs I read and participate in, because you have projected an image of success, and success arouse curiousity (did I spell that right?!!!) and is contageous…
You have projected an image of a winner, and its in my nature to get curious more about winners than to force myself into feeling good through dwelling around people’s failures…
I like the Hollywood ending even though its kinda cheesy and less avantgarde, and I’ve had enough of Pasolini genres in life… Life is one big Tragedy to the majority, so why wouldn’t they carry on this to the internet…
I believe the secret is in that moment when someone pushes you into water, and you know not how to swim… There is a moment when you decide to giveup and surrender and you then float…
I like RISKING…
I take RISKS….
I am crazy about RISKING…
That is all I can say… That’s all I know how to say at this point..
Andrew Rosener
So many doubters…too bad!
steve cheatham
I have been doing ‘my thing’ since circa 1997. It requires real work.
My best sites are 12 years old and have never been parked.
I am still buying excellent hand registered domain names and developing them.