Rick’s Time Capsule 1997. Ten years later.

Here IS my EARLIEST writing on my own website about domains in 1997
with a couple 1998 updates copied and pasted directly from the original website. Been looking for this for YEARS! I started
posting about the value of domain names in 1996, but this is the first official public commentary on my own site and you can
see at this point I am still selling the concept and the value of the
Internet which 10 years ago was NOT embraced by the majority of
businesses. My thoughts TEN YEARS ago. See if they match what I say and
believe today.
DomainSeller.com represents what maybe the most extensive collection of domain property's in the world. Our focus was on property for adult sites, however our business collection is equally impressive. They may have laughed when somebody wasted $24 to buy Manhattan way back when. Today you would have to struggle to buy lunch there for that same $24.It's all about Vision!! That's right VISION! What will it do to the value of the property when the rest of the world gets on the net?
       
Yes it is true that these domains were free, then just $100 each. But that was yesterday and just  like Manhattan, you can't buy at yesterdays prices. Value is all relative.Some of these domains cost us more
than $100,000 each and others are escalating at thousands a month!! While they laughed at us for 'Wasting' time and money in 1996 and 1997 as we put this collection together, the truth is: Electronic Real Estate (erealestate) in cyberspace, is destined to be some of the most valued property EVER known to
man! Time is of the essence!


The power of an electronic address can only be imagined by examples such asDell Computer announcing that they do a $1 million a day in sales on the internet as of March 1997! (Increasing 6x that as of May 1998!!)  Would anyone have believed them if they announced that in 1996? Not only are they doing sales at a rate in excess of $2 billion a year, I would venture to say it is their most profitable because their overhead may only be a fraction of a conventional sale. Plus those figures are escalating daily.


And folks....That ain't nothing......This next little tidbit will floor you! Late in April 1997,Chrysler announced something so incredible that they are still clamoring. Remember, it was not but a few years ago that Chrysler had losses of $400 and $500 million. They released a statement and it basically   stated that because of the internet and being able to streamline their operations to take advantage of the net's power, they would be able to SAVE $2 BILLION PER YEARin cost cutting alone!!! That's without even talking about sales!!! THAT'S $2 BILLION A YEAR IN SAVINGS!!


Not even the price of land in Manhattan nor anywhere else on the planet accelerated to the degree of the net and this is just the beginning. By the end of 1997 the mainsream may realize just how much they underestimated how quickly the public would embrace the internet.People you never thought would use it have now gone out and learned so they can easily stay in touch with their children and grandchildren via email. This fact alone.....is simply amazing!


Simply put folks.....'If you build it.....they will come' It's that simple. Their 'Field of dreams' was on a baseball diamond....this 'Field of dreams' is on a slightly larger playing surface.
Domainseller.com is open to Lease, Trade, Develop or joint venture our properties. Some domains are already under contract and more are going all the time. Speaking of time....don't waste any. If you have an idea the time to act is right now. If you are interested in one then I suggest you start a dialogue with us immediately. With all the wild get rich schemes that are available out there maybe it is time to stop wasting your time. Become a visionary. Remember....'Today's visionary is tomorrow's genius!'
       


And Just one more thing.....Listen folks, this is the gold rush and the industrial revolution all rolled up into one, only bigger, better, easier and a lot more profitable. The gold rush is in full swing and every minute you delay is a silly minute wasted. The net has given everyone an equal shot at a piece of the pie. It's a brand new race and everyone has a nearly equal chance. If you can read this then you have no argument and if you have a burning desire then nobody can stop you.       


In cyberspace nobody knows if you are black or if you are white, if you are rich or poor, tall or short, fat or skinny, clean or dirty, handicapped or healthy, Christian or Jew etc., ....They know only two things....the content of what you have to say and a way to communicate effectively to people from all walks of life and from
around the globe. Plus the value you put on your own character. Consisting of your credibility, your honesty, your integrity, and your devotion to do things the right way without taking advantage of others. This will be either your greatest asset or a liability that will inevitably be your downfall. You don't judge a book by its cover, In cyberspace you are judged by your content. Of course a nice cover such as a great domain name couldn't hurt.
       
The opportunity that any one of these domains can give to an individual or company who can accomplish what they set their minds to is truly a gift that has dropped in their lap. Now it is up to you to see if you have the guts, the drive and the creativity you need to acquire your dream.
       
Look over our domains. Allow yourself to come up with a
creative idea. You only need one idea...the rest they will write about. Remember, these are not imaginative and silly type domains. These are domains that while standing alone with no other words tell the world exactly what you have in just an easy to remember electronic address!Remember our motto.......'Today's visionary is tomorrow's genius!' We genuinely believe that ifYOU DO build it.....theyWILL come.
       
In closing, consider the following........      
If
you BELIEVE you 'CAN'......then you are RIGHT!!
If you BELIEVE you 'CAN'T'....then you are also RIGHT!!




BusinessWeek and Kerry Miller’s Attack

BusinessWeek and Kerry Miller's Attack


Is BusinessWeek guilty of libel? You decide.


This
uninformed rookie reporter has labeled all domainers as “Cybersquatters. ” In the story she boarders on libel as she accuses the owner of fave.com (Reflex
Publishing) of being a “CyberSquatter.” I wrote the following note to Ms.
Miller. I hope other domain owners will also write notes. Keep them factual and
thoughtful. Her email address is kerry_miller@businessweek.com


Hello Ms. Miller,


I just finished reading
your article 'Does your success hinge on a domain name.'


http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/aug2007/sb20070813_986517.htm?campaign_id=rss_smlbz


As President and CEO of
the World Association of Domain Name Developers Inc, that produces the
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. trade shows, (http://www.targetedtraffic.com
thing to call somebody that has done nothing wrong. His domains do not violate
anyone's trademark. He has not stolen the domain. He has not done anything but
purchased the domain in a legal manner. Calling him a 'Cybersquatter'
insinuates he has done something wrong. He has not and you should correct your
story to reflect that.


Thanks for your time!


Regards,


Rick Schwartz


Btw,
Elliot Silver on his blog today shows an interesting angle. Seems the REAL
cybersquatter is the company that wants the Fave.com domain name. Time to push
back folks. Time to set the record straight. Write Miller. Write the editor.
Don't let them slide.


Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz


UPDATE 3PM: Businessweek and Ms. Miller have CHANGED 'Cybersquatter' to 'Speculator.' Way to go!!


The 5 year nap theory and Gut Instinct

The first part of this posted was lifted directly from Frank Schilling's blog. A blog all folks trying to make money online should read every day. Frank was answering a reader about something he mentioned in one of his posts.


'What is Rick's 5 year nap theory, if you don't mind
elaborating?'


***Frank Schilling writes*** After the November 2004 announcement
of Marchex's acquisition of the Yun Ye domain portfolio, Rick
Schwartz made a fabled post on his private board that spoke to the fact that
the domain industry was in its infancy..  He surmised that the industry
would go through a great evolution as corporate America learned about the power of
domain names as a tool to drive targeted paid-search leads. He posited that the
Ye transaction was just the glimmer of the beginning and advised all parties
reading that post not to speak to anyone or do anything hasty in the early innings.
The best course of action in his opinion was to 'take a 5 year nap'.


Columbus
Rick reminds me a
bit of  Columbus..
a guy without GPS but with a sextant and a good sense of the sea. His line has
always stuck with me. While I have personally gone with the tide to see if deal
opportunities play themselves out equitably, so far hindsight has shown me that
Rick's advice was spot-on. I would have personally been better off (saved
opportunity cost) to speak to no-one and take a 'five year nap',
letting others find their own way through the education process and value
proposition of domaining ... No offense to my former would-be suitors, who likely
view their experience with me through a similar but reversed optic ;)



The preceding post was lifted directly off of Frank
Schilling’s Blog. He did a great job
describing what I do. My exact quote was 'The Marchex deal created a FLOOR not a ceiling and the best thing any of us can do is take a 5 year nap and do nothing.' Point is, sometimes you can earn more doing nothing than doing something. This was one of those times.
After reading Frank's post I
discovered something that could possibly illustrate why GUT INSTINCT is key to
whatever you do. Gut instinct is something that you may have on one thing and
completely not there on another. But when you have that “GUT”, you have a tool
that all other tools together can’t trump. Here’s why: Imagine you are at McDonald’s. You give them a $50
bill and the person behind the counter
gives change for $500. That person input the wrong amount, and they are
dependent on the cash register to provide the answer because they have no way to
determine if the answer is right. They only know what the cash register says.
They have no “Gut instinct” that says it is wrong to give him change for $500
instead of change from $50. The “Machine” said so. But if you don’t know how to
add, subtract, multiply and divide on your own, the long way, the logical way, you
will never be able to catch your mistakes. Means you will get wrong answers for
a LIFETIME! Means you will never exercise or develop that muscle.  Means that logic and reason based on numbers
may be missing. The KEY is knowing you have tools, knowing you have matches to
make a fire, but also have the knowledge and patience to rub two sticks
together until you CREATE that fire. For those that buy domains strictly based
on stats, I would suggest that may work sometimes, but without knowing the nuts
and bolts BEYOND the stats, I am sure there is opportunity passing them by just
because so many have yet to develop that 6th sense. That sense that
knows the difference between a $50 bottle of wine and a $500 bottle. That TINY
SLIVER of difference is what makes ALL the difference.  Reading between the lines. Seeing the domain
in a future tense at a future stage at a future level of development.  In a future that includes growth and changes
in the net as well as changes in human behavior.


What is interesting is I wrote this several weeks ago before
the flap about “Gut instinct” in
politics. It’s okay to follow someone to the end of a cliff. It is not ok to
follow them off the cliff. When we get to the stage that “Gut instinct” is
looked at with disdain, then we are all in trouble. If we have no “Gut instinct”
we may as well be robots. The one thing that truly separates us from machines
is having instinct. Knowing right from wrong, having a sense of what to do in
any given situation.  If the goal is to
eliminate “Gut instinct” then I say that is a goal that is going off the cliff.
Gut instinct is a gift we all have and few hone. I have learned there are two
places where gut instinct will get you nowhere. Corporate America and
Politics. No room there for the most valuable of all tools. Believe me, I understand why many won’t agree
with my post. If you have no “Gut instinct” how could you possibly agree? I
would not expect you to agree with something you can’t see and may not believe
even exists. So I understand 100% and maybe now others will as well.


Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz


The “C” word exposed. Cyberbully vs. Cybersquatter


Donald Trump accused of
Land Squatting?


This may be a little
long winded but it needs to be said. So  grab a cup of coffee and give me
10 minutes.


Did you know that Donald
Trump owns land that he has yet to build on? Yet to develop? Did you know that thousands
and maybe tens of thousands right here in the USA have land they have yet to
develop? Some have been in the family and handed down from generation to
generation. Some that own that land in densely populated areas put up parking
lots!! Oh they screamed and yelled about having a parking lot. What an eyesore.
Do something useful with the land. As if it was anyone's business to begin
with. Ok, so parking lots are a terrible thing. Just remember to say that when
you are in New York City and a parking spot for just SIX hours is $40 or more
and don't forget to tip! Let’s BAN all parking lots!! That’s the answer!!!! Oh
wait a sec, where will I park my car when I want to go shopping? Right!! I will
take the bus.


The vacant lot by the
stadium that you just happen to own and on game days you can pack 20 cars in
there at $25 a pop. Did anyone call him names? Other than what a lucky guy to
own that land? 


We buy land for
retirement. Sometimes a generation or more before we will ever use it.
Sometimes before the one it is intended for is even born. Here in the USA, over
200 years have passed and there is still vacant land. Folks that have not
built. CYBERSQUATTERS!! I  mean LAND SQUATTERS!! I mean isn't this
interesting? How do we square it? Land ownership is encouraged and looked at
favorably. They don't ask you when you will build. That is entirely up to you.
The free market system working as designed. You pay your taxes and if someone
does not like it, too bad. I own or have the rights to or lease or contract for
dot coms. Call it whatever you like. It gives me certain LEGAL rights. It is up
to ME when I will build my domain names. It is up to ME what I will build on
those domains. It is up to ME if I will build on those domains. And if you
think I should do something different, you have 3 choices. Tell me your vision
and I will tell you mine and partner up to make it happen or buy it from me and
do what YOU want. However, let me warn you, I have only sold 6 domains and I
have a specific development plan for each. OR.....Be quiet, because what you
say has no value or meaning you just have too much time on your hands and you
don’t know how to mind your business .


STOP THE TRAIN!! Own
property in cyberspace? Land you paid for. Land you pay taxes and fees on. Land
that is in cyberspace and then domain owners are attacked as CYBERSQUATTERS?
That's just nonsense and folks need to stop swallowing nonsense. They need to
stop being parrots that just talk out of ignorance by repeating what others say
and actually THINK for themselves. I heard a dozen folks rag on the Iphone (tm)
this weekend. When I asked them if they actually tried one they said “NO!” They
just repeated what some other know nothing on TV said that hadn’t seen or used
one either and has a motive. I got news for ya, it does not matter what Paris
Hilton thinks! It does not matter what some newscaster thinks. It does not
matter what some guy invested in Verizon or Sprints says. It is about what YOU
decide.


It is not about some guy
or company that is so upset that they wasted their time and missed such an
opportunity that they try and discredit domain owners at every turn. Many of
the folks doing this, work for fortune 1000 companies. Don't listen to their
nonsense. They just want what you have and since they lost on the BUSINESS
playing field they have to resort to other tactics to get what you own. So they
resort to name calling. They circulate petitions against parking domain names.
They lobby trying to change the laws to take what you own. And make no mistake,
they are motivated by jealousy and greed. Motivated with a deep desire to
discredit anyone and everyone but always focusing on the biggest opportunity
they have had and it passed them right by. They can't get over it. So they will
make petitions, try and pass laws, file frivolous lawsuits and WIPO actions and
call everyone a CYBERSQUATTER. 


Well they are wrong. We
are just everyday folks from every walk of life that have recognized a great
opportunity. We paid the fees, abide by the rules, don't break any laws have
families of our own and realized that if you were to develop in the future the
FIRST thing you need is prime LAND to develop on. It is up to each when and
where and how they will develop. The CYBERBULLY is thousands time worse than a
cybersquatter. They FAILED at recognizing a TIME SENSITIVE opportunity and
decided to spend millions to build failed companies and waste investors hard
earned money. These LOSERS and BULLIES are responsible for the collapse of web
1.0. Maybe it is time to shine a light on them. They failed, we thrived. They
are talking web 3.0 while we are still successful with 1.0. These failures
still run big companies and some of them will lose your money once again like
they did during the turn of the century.Listen to THEM whine?? Spare me! Maybe
they should articulate how they missed the single biggest opportunity in their
lifetime, their father's lifetime and their father's before them? How do they
answer that? They put on their shoes and THEN they put on their socks and now they
want to own what assets we took the RISK to have? NO WAY!
The CyberBully is the same as the railroad barons that came through towns and
threw people off their land without just compensation. They are the elite
establishment that wants to control everything. These BULLIES want the dotcom
domains we own and the reality is, if they want it, there is a free market and
they can either purchase one already owned or use their OWN IMAGINATION to
think of another name. Scream as they do, there are an infinite amount of
dotcom domains. There is NOT an infinite amount of beachfront property and if
that is the property you want, pull out your wallet and pony up! You had the
same opportunity each of us had and you decided to get bogged down on one
failing project without thinking about the future and what was time sensitive
and you screwed up!! That’s the truth Mr. Cyberbully! Deal with it! You had
companies worth billions collapse overnight and since you failed there now you
want to infringe on the rights of others and try to STEAL what they rightfully
own.


There is one thing we
can agree on Mr. CyberBully. Domain owners that have infringing trademarks in
them are WRONG!! There are some that DO take advantage of trademark holders and
what they do is wrong. But to lump all folks that own domains and call them
cybersquatters is also WRONG! For every trademark abuser I can show you a
corporation that STOLE a legitimate domain through a flawed system that allows
domains to be transferred from one party to another with no standard. No rhyme.
No reason. Those domain owners simply could not afford the fight and lost their
LAND!


I never heard of someone
that had 5 acres of land directly on the ocean and a 3 bedroom 1 bath house
being evicted. There are zoning laws and guidelines and as long as those things
are met, it is nobody's business what you do with what you own or lease. Go
tell Warren Buffet he has too  much money and should trade in his old car
and move to a mansion. He may just tell you to mind your own business. And speaking
of business, I would be will to wager that even 'The Donald' owns a
parking lot or two.


So CYBER BULLIES, you
have now been put on notice. We are going to fight back and not allow the
CYBERBULLY to define or intimidate US! There are cybersquatters, but there is
also a legitimate and thriving domain name industry that is worldwide and
invests many hundreds of millions into these unique assets. It is time to stop
painting us with one wide brush. That’s just being a bigot! So attack those
that do wrong and we will be shoulder to shoulder. But  treat the rest of
us like you would like to be treated. But if name calling is what you want than
today the CYBERBULLY has been named and soon we will make a list of some warm
fuzzy companies that are trying to take domains they have no right to take. See
how the public responds to companies persecuting some of their own customers.
Helpless folks with limited resources to fight the giant CYBERBULLY! History
has always celebrated great deals. When Peter Minuet and the Dutch bought
Manhattan for $24 worth of trinkets. When the Louisiana Purchase was made by
Livingston from Napoleon. It is still looked back at as a great if not greatest
purchase of all time. Why would domain names be looked at any differently?


I hear all the time….”Rick, why
don’t you develop your domain names into websites?” Ok fair question and I have
a good answer as it relates to MY LIFE and what “I” want and what “I” see.
Let’s rewind to 1996. I have about 120 domain names. I had a choice, build now
or wait for others to make colossal mistakes and learn from them before I
pissed away my limited resources. But an even bigger reason for me is that I
ABSOLUTELY KNEW that a website that may cost $750,000 to construct in 1996
would be a $75 template in 2006. A template $749,925 less expensive and a
template FAR superior to that of that era. So I saw no SENSE OF URGENCY to
develop. What I did see was a “Unique opportunity in time” that would NEVER
pass again. So one much smarter group than me chose a much more sophisticated
way to climb the same mountain. I on the other hand with no staff, no talents
other than cut and paste, had to figure a way to compete with folks that had
unlimited funds and staffs of 200. I am no cybersquatter and most folks in the industry
are not cybersquatters either! I am a smart businessman just like many of my
counterparts that figured out that the way others were doing it put things in
the wrong order. I decided that securing the LAND for the development in the
future TRUMPED developing one website. Looking back, that was one hell of a
great decision on my part and a HUGE mistake for many of them. Not all, but
certainly most. If they had a chance to do it again, I bet they would focus on
getting domain names. Now all they can do is label everyone with GREAT
undeveloped domains as “Cybersquatters!!' The truth of the matter is they
FAILED MISERABLY and their sour grapes are being exposed! That is the evolution
of the CYBERBULLY and why they should be exposed. SHAME on them and I hope they
will be recognized for the true pariah they are. 



Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz


 


 


Terry Jones and Steve Forbes to speak at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

I am happy
to announce that  T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
will be having some great guest speakers lined up during the next 2 shows. Next
week Terry Jones will be the
keynote speaker at our New York City Show at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan.
Terry is the Founder and former CEO of Travelocity.com. He will share his
stories of frustration and success. His road traveled may seem very familiar to
those attending.


Then
on October 10th in Miami, Steve Forbes will
take the stage at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. EAST. Mr. Forbes is President and CEO of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine.You will find that he has a great
interest in what we do. I think you will find his words more than insightful
and we are lucky to have someone of his stature coming to speak.


Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz



How Madison Avenue let down Corporate America and how both failed

Do you remember a few days ago I said I would 'Ruffle some feathers.' Well that is a promise I can keep with this post. Get ready for some flapping and chirping on a grand order.
Hotels_2 Hotels.com is one of my favorite stories because it illustrates the stupidity and failure the majority of Corporate America and Madison Ave have achieved. It is a clear indictment of not only them missing the single biggest opportunity in any of their careers, but 12 years into it and they have yet to figure it out. As I said in point #7 of my April 5th post, the guys that started these companies are rolling in their graves. The people entrusted to run these companies have for the most part failed them.

Now this is not universal. In some cases they did figure it out and I will list a few below. They make my case stronger not weaker. The question is why did some figure it out last century and why are the majority still not figuring it out so far in this century?

Let's start with this undeniable premise. Before you ever plug in a GREAT domain name it is capable of getting type in traffic, it starts gushing from the moment the domain name goes live. Again, may be widely known to domain owners, but possibly not to the folks that would be best served either owning your domain or at least buying the traffic on an exclusive basis. The 'End user.'

How much traffic a domain gets is on a domain by domain basis. A domain like sex.com will likely get somwhere close to 200,000 new visitors every day of the year. A domain like widgets.com gets 500 visitors each day but that is up from 60 last year. Candy.com gets 1000-1500 each day with spikes during holidays. There are many domains that get 1000-25,000 daily visitors and some much more. The reason this natural resource is so important other than the obvious value of a targeted visitor, is the growth factor. If you have zero traffic and you double it you still have zero. Anything other than zero and you will have the wind at your back. Just remember one important point. Word of mouth advertising is still the greatest advertisng medium ever known and online it is even more evident and more valuable.

Hyatt_2 Here is the story. Earlier this year my partner Howard Neu and I met with the GM at the Hyatt Grand Central Station in New York City to book the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. domain show and live domain auction there for this June. He wanted to understand domain names. So he began to ask some questions.

I used hotels.com as my example. I asked isn't it interesting that with all the hotel chains and all the execs and folks paid to beat the competition that EVERY single person in the hotel business failed and they failed BIG TIME? He was puzzled and looked at me like the old RCA dog on the old lp's. But that was actually a good start cuz it meant he was paying attention.

Imagine if Hyatt had gotten hotels.com. Instead of you being 1 of hundreds of hotels listed including all your competitors and paying for each lead or each booking Hyatt would have received ALL the leads. Would that not increase sales? Would that not increase market share?

Step in Madison Avenue. These folks are sooooo hooked on 'Branding' that they forgot the REASON they brand is to INCREASE SALES. So their REAL job is to increase sales. THAT is ultimate branding. Having your product everywhere. Funny how in time they have LOST SIGHT of that basic core contract. So Madison Avenue failed the hotel industry as well. IMAGINE, of all these high paid execs at all these companies and not a single one could figure it out. Figure that if they own a domain like Hotels.com they would be a leader in their sector. But they are all so hung up on BRANDING that they would rather IGNORE a reservoir of new business. New business snatched directly from the competition.

Even before it was attached to a business plan or went online hotels.com was going to be a million user a day site because it had a substantial traffic base. My guess would be that a domain like that would have gotten somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000 new visitors every day since the moment the domain went live. I guess the corp guys and Madison Avenue saw no value in having their call centers receive 9 to 18 MILLION added calls a YEAR. 9 to 18 MILLION calls that Hyatt would not lose to Marriott or Westin or Hilton or Holiday Inn or Ritz-Carlton or the other way around. They EACH had a chance to lock out the other hotel chains and they ALL missed it. They spend millions on a superbowl ad with results that can't compare and cannot even truly be measured. They let InterActive Corp (operator of Hotels.com) and Barry Diller beat them by disrupting the entire travel industry and for that they will pay dearly for decades to come.

And of course if Hyatt or Hilton or any of the others marketed hotels.com there is no way to even imagine how many tens of millions of leads would have been discovered. Leads that they get FIRST CRACK at getting. First crack at a new customer. First crack at a new reservation. This has no value??

Until folks face the greatest failure of their careers and learn from it they first must see and understand that failure. I don't want to beat these guys up. Really I don't. I am sad to report that 12 years into this and they STILL have no clue just how bad they failed. With 20/20 hindsight you would be hard pressed to find a hotel executive to say they screwed up by not getting hotels .com. What the hell is wrong with you folks??

Johnson and Johnson figured it out. They own baby.com and a LOT more. See how they OWN this sector. How they CONTROL this sector. How that have positioned themselves to lead the next 100 years just like they have lead the past 100 years. THEY GET IT!! Then think what would be the consequences if their competitor got it!

Bank of America owns Loans.com. THEY GET IT!

Barnes and Noble own Books.com. THEY GET IT!

Kraft owns CreamCheese.com. THEY GET IT!

JC Penny owns Gift.com. THEY GET IT!

Calvin Klein owns Underwear.com. THEY GET IT!

So these corporations and their Madison Avenue ad execs deserve recognition. I have a list of about 100 companies that GET IT. I give these folks a tip of the hat. They are probably yelling 'Shut up' at the screen so not everyone figures it out. LOL

Now let's look at a disaster.....and a failure by the same counterparts

Campbells Campbells owns MySoup.com. The competition (Knorr) owns Soup.com. Somebody SCREWED up there! They DON'T get it and by the time they figured it out....TOO LATE! How much do you think it will cost Campbell over the next 50 years not having that domain? I would invest in Knorr. They have SHARP people there and they may unseat the leader just like 1-800-flowers gobbled up FTD. That is one of my favorite stories of not keeping up. Here is a business (FTD) that OWNED the sector for 100 years and here comes 1-800-flowers and the tiny fish gobbled up the GIANT fish. The ONLY way Campbells will get soup.com is buying the other company. But they better do it NOW before it goes the other way! Knorr is owned by Unilever.

Imagine if 1-800-flowers did not own flowers.com?? Would not that have been a MAJOR screw up? Well if you can see it there....it is time to apply it to your own sector and see if you pass or fail. The key to all this was that it WAS a 'Unique opportunity in time' because a domain like hotels.com could have been bought a few years back for LESS than the price of a SuperBowl commercial. Today I bet some chains pay the price that could have run many commercials. And what do you think the price of hotels.com is today?? Do we count in hundreds of millions or billions? I think the latter if you could even get to that point.

So the hotel industry and dozens of other industries and their Madison Avenue agencies DON'T GET IT! They are soooo stuck on branding that they just can't GRASP that in the virtual world you can have more than one door. You can have more than one front door. You can market in generic ways. You can do lots oif things you can't do in the real world.

Regardless of all this. Their #1 jobs is to INCREASE SALES. Branding without increasing sales is not branding at all. Branding without using every tool is not building brands it is destroying brands. Branding is a buzz word that means little. SALES is what pays the bills and the salaries. Here they missed the #1 opportunity to increase sales, take market share, grow their business at the expense of the competition and they just sat there and talked about branding and to this very MOMENT still don't get it.

That my friends is a sad indictment of where we are. They are so busy slapping themselves on the back that they BLEW IT! They failed. They continue to fail. To me, this is the single biggest and clearest illustration of their total incompetence.

At least come to the point where you slap your forehead and say....'Oh my goodness, how the hell did we miss that?' Until you get to THAT POINT, there is really little else to say. Defend yourselves all you want. Somebody go do a spreadsheet and show them what it would have looked like today if they did not miss the biggest opportunity they will EVER have to increase sales.

Barry Diller and IAC (InterActive Corp)  figured it out when they bought hotels.com and you geniuses will be paying THEM for the next 100 years because you guys FAILED! And you will continue to fail until you can see how badly you messed up. Go take a look at THEIR spreadsheet.

Luckily there are other related domain names. Vacations.com. Ooops, owned by Travelocity. Too late! Do they charge commission too? Motels.com, motel.com, hotel.com, travel.com......Are you guys on Madison Ave. and Corp America getting the picture yet??? Instead of having an income producing ASSET on your ledger you have an EXPENSE!!! DUH! A significant expense. You can either 'Get it' or call me names. Go ahead, give it your best shot. Nothing you can call me can cover up failure of this magnitude. NOTHING!

I rest my case!

Now I know you hear the frustration in my words. 5 years ago you would have had to peel me from the ceiling. But it is not as bad as it seems. I do see a light at the end of the tunnel. I do see a dialogue developing. I just really wanted to be on record and 100% clear of how I see it. I hope this filters up, down and sideways throughout the Corporate world and Madison Avenue. Start with Donny Deutsch and let it circulate down to Main Street.

To dismiss any of these first few posts would just be perpetuating a 12 year failure to understand how a GREAT domain name can grow your business, lead to greater market share, and if you fall asleep at the wheel be prepared for someone to come and disrupt your entire industry no matter what industry you are in.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz
Hotels.com, Campbells and Hyatt are registered Trademarks

It’s the TRAFFIC….Stupid!

It's the TRAFFIC...Stupid!

View this photo It's nothing more than the famous shell game and your job is to be trained on what to look for.

There are 3 shells. Shell 'A' contains TARGETED TRAFFIC. Shell 'B' contains UNTARGETED TRAFFIC and Shell 'C' is hocus pocus NO TRAFFIC at all or the quality is so bad it has the same result.

Let's say you buy 1000 visitors and you are willing to pay 10 cents each for a $100 investment. With group 'A' you can close 10 sales and you make $100 per sale. A closing ratio of 1 in 100. You made $1000. With Group 'B' you made 1 sale. A closing ratio of 1 in 1000 so you broke even but you made a customer who hopefully return and that of course has value. Group 'C' of course produced nothing and if you buy it 10 more times you will have nothing 10 more times. Closing ratio is......

So with 'A' your $100 turned into a $1000. RIGHT DIRECTION!

With 'B' you broke even. No direction at all but there could be a CHANCE at some future business.

With 'C' you got the shaft and few even ever know it. So there is ample amounts of 'Shaft' available. Want more? If not....you MUST learn about traffic.

Now this is one side of the equation. The next step is to focus on the website and see if you can increase your closing percentages. If you could tweak it and double the revenue you would create 2 things. Demand for more traffic of equal quality and you would be willing to pay more for it which is why I as a domainer am so interested in this happening. Now be careful. If you buy the traffic under shell 'C' you will be tweaking with no possible way of ever improving it and THAT us why TRAFFIC is the name of the game. Once you truly understand traffic, you can sell virtually anything on the net. So with the widgets.com example yesterday and the traffic illustration today, you shoud be able to clearly see both sides of the equation. If you can see it you can tweak it.

So back to my example....if you double your closing rate and end up with 20 sales and make $2000 for your $100 bill you are likely willing to up that offer and you may up it to the point where you buy as much of that traffic as you can find.

While all that is going on you are still getting the benefit of the customer returning to buy more but you have increased your odds by 20 fold. You are growing your business. You are likely growing your business at the expense of the other guy. And guess what? That is okay!! The bi-product of all this is I have also just given an example of a value of a domain that varies by a HUGE amount when you can match the traffic with the right website. So that is the reason when folks sell a domain based on 'X'....my big question is WHY?
Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz

Widgets.com


Widgets.com is more than a domain name. For today it is an example.

Yesterday I mentioned one of my domains and put a link to it on the lower left side of this page. Widgets.com was a domain I registered back in the 90's and I got it to illustrate the most generic domain describing the most generic of products. A 'Widget.'  What's a widget? It's any silly little item with market credibility that makes a whole lotta money. That may not be Webster's version, but it is how I think of it and I would think others as well. Webster's version goes like this: 'an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty.'

And if we were going to write the definition of widgets today it may be computer related. How versatlie! Which is the exact reason I bought the domain. A generic business waiting to be launched at any moment for any item for any market. And as a poster pointed out yesterday, the results on the landing page don't match what it is folks are looking for. Now I have targeted traffic coming from widgets.com going to an untargeted page. So it is no doubt costing me money. But that is okay. It is like this for a reason. It illustrates why domain owners selling for 'X' are selling themselves short. As time goes on the traffic will become better matched and my example on the next post will illustrate even more. I won't keep this page as it is very long. So future readers are likely to see a different page and some of this may not make sense. But for those of you reading within a short time of writing this sees a great illustration of a domain not being used to it's fullest by any stretch. It isn't even on the first step. But the 250 daily visitors will soon be monetized more effectively. It would be easy to exponentially increase the income, It is fascinating to watch a domain earning pennies blosson and start earning hundreds of dollars raising it's value every step of the way. I'll have more on traffic on my next post and you will see it all tie in. 
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz


RicksBlog.com Grand Opening!!


Happy Grand opening!

 

What? No balloons?? Where's the marching band? When the first mall opened near my home in
the late 50's or early 60's my mother brought home 2 gold fish for showing up during the
grand opening. It's been a long time since that has happened and I am sad to
report I have no gold fish for you today. However I do think I have some gold to
share with you. Gold that will be with you for the rest of your life and gold
that I hope you will share. I don't sell this gold by the ounce. I give it away
by the truck load. We'll just have to agree to meet up on another day for the
fish.

 

Some may call my gold "Fools
gold." They are entitled to do that. But I will tell you that they were
wrong about yesterday, wrong about today and the evidence shows they
will be wrong about tomorrow as well. My mission is to begin the conversation with those outside the
domain industry as to why domain names are an important part of any marketing
strategy. Perhaps THE single most important part. It is the foundation of what we do. I
will ask folks to leave their prejudices and misconceptions about domain owners
at the door because we have NUMBERS to talk about. Stunning numbers compiled
over more than a decade and while others were swept out of the game during the
collapse, we as domain owners, survived and even thrived. So domain insiders
please stand by. I will need your assistance presenting those numbers. Then we
will compare those numbers against traditional parallels.

 

The first few posts were an attempt to lay a foundation. A
starting point. I hope folks that come here for years to come read these initial
posts first as it will help to explain where I am coming from. I hope folks will
point others here that need to quickly get up to speed about what a GREAT domain
name represents. I will try and define what a GREAT domain is and how to spot
them.

 

I hope you will allow me to continue to lay this foundation
over the next few weeks before I attempt to address current conditions and where
I see us all in the next 10 years. This blog is not for everyone. Believe me I will say something that you won't agree with and
is gonna piss you off. So what do you want me to do? Not tell you what I truly
believe? Sugar coat it? BULLSHIT you?

NO WAY! You get it direct and unfiltered
and if it provokes a passionate debate, then the GOAL should be find the best
answer and look at as many possibilities as possible without getting stuck in
the gunk. I believe good people with good hearts will find common ground even when they disagree.

Life is all about making good decisions. Lee Iacocca said something to the effect that if you can gather 75% of
the facts, you are in a position to make a good decision. I have used that as a
rule of thumb for many years. I think EVERYTHING in life is based on EVERY
decision we make. The smallest decision can be the biggest and vice versa.

 

What I hope to accomplish is let you see what makes me tick so
you can see what I see. Let's be blunt. 6 billion folks on the earth and only a
few hundred really saw this incredible opportunity that is now a worldwide
industry and growing under the radar faster than anyone has any idea
of.

 

It's about saying out loud what you dare to believe and dare
to dream and dare to achieve. So much of all of our successes comes from how
deeply we believe in something. Passion without being obnoxious. All I can do is share
what I see, why I see it and what I saw in the past that has unfolded like a
well thought out portrait and why that is directly realted to the future.

 

I came to the net and domains with a 20 year plan. That always
raises some eyebrows. But it was with this 20 year plan in mind that I have
always moved forward. That plan is now more than 50% complete. All I can say is
I underestimated just how big and important the domain channel would become and
how fast that would happen. It's also frustrating as hell that it moves so slow
on a daily basis. My mission has been to accelerate the inevitable because our
time here is short and undefined.

 

So I hope you will bear with me as I try and paint a picture
that folks from every corner of industry can come to and grasp and understand and respond
and embrace. I hope folks that need a fast track education on domain names will
be pointed here. It's free for anyone that wants to listen and see what I see.

I
promise to shorten these posts once I create the foundation I think
it will serve us well for years to come. But one last thing. If you look
to your left you will see some of my domain names and websites. I think it will be fun to change
the last domain from time to time. Today's domain is "Widgets.com."
Today it is a parked page. The power of a domain is that tomorrow it can be
anything I want it to be and the flow of fresh new eyeballs that come
there every day will just see something else. There is obvious room for VAST improvement on widgets.com. But that is a domain to be developed on another day. Today's domain is RicksBlog.com and I want to thank you for coming!

Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz

Why the Internet collapsed

Good Morning folks!!


Are you with me so far? Does this all make sense? Are you ready to see why the Internet collapsed?

Image008Before we go forward we must STOP and look back. In 1999 things were popping and it seemed you could do no wrong. Surprise!

I predicted an Internet collapse back then and of course they laughed and thought I was exaggerating. It was inevitable as I weighed the mounting evidence. Just a matter of time, but few could see it coming. I saw a storm brewing and my job was to survive and thrive while others were washed away.

While I have heard dozens of reasons there was one or two CORE reasons from where I sit. One was because advertising on the net was based on "IMPRESSION BASED ADVERTISING." This type advertising was the root of all evil on the net imo. It was charging you for a customer whether he got to your website or not. It was more like "Billboard advertising" or static magazine ads and folks basically paid for NOTHING. But it was based on traditional advertising formulas and that did not exactly match up with Internet characteristics. So folks would overpay and get a bag of smoke. Any rational person would do it once, get burned and never do it again.

Ahhh....bring in the "KNOW NOTHINGS" for reason #2. The KNOW NOTHINGS did the rational businessman one better. They had "Burn" money and they did a GREAT job burning it. They burnt it so well that advertisers actually believed in the Impression based advertising model and so everyone was so happy. Until of course the KNOW NOTHINGS ran out of money because thru all the plans and all the MBA's they never built a machine to turn a profit. They had no formula. Just some dream based on NOTHING but a fancy and phony business plan and a bunch of other people's money that they could care less about. Nobody ever told them in school that to run a successful business you need to turn a profit. That you can't give everything away for free.

So it was only a matter of time before the collapse. And I said back in 1999 that "AFTER the crash, from the burning embers, will rise the REAL INTERNET." And today you are witnessing the the real Internet. The new Internet based on "CLICK THRU ADVERTISING." With this type advertising you actually get a physical visitor to your site and you have a shot at closing him if your mousetrap (Website) works. If it works you buy more and if your mousetrap works, you will outbid your competition because you will close more sales.



Maybe you are seeing things connecting. The next thing you might ask is why is a domain owner so concerned with closing more sales? GREAT QUESTION!! You are paying attention if this is on your mind. The simple answer is I am just copying folks like AT&T. When they came out with their 800 numbers some 30 plus years ago, they trained folks for free. They had all types of schooling and wanted to help you answer the phone and do it in a professional manner so that you would close more sales. WHY?? Because then you would spend more time on the phone and your 800 bill would go up and so your sales would go up and so they would sell you a bigger yellow page ad and they would all MAKE MORE MONEY! So by explaining how to increase sales by buying TARGETED and potent traffic and having an effective mousetrap that can close more sales translates into added value to the traffic that they produce and at the same time increases the value of domain names. EVERYONE comes away a winner!

That is why the future is bright and payouts will continue to rise for years to come. When traffic was selling for a fraction of a cent my only question was "What is the value of a click if I sell a $20 million plane?" How much is that visitor worth? I believed then and I believe NOW that a clicks value is directly proportionate to the product or service you are selling. That is directly related to the value of a domain name. That is why I STRONGLY believe that anyone selling their domain for a multiple of "X" TODAY is short changing themselves more than they realize. Sometimes the best way to make the most money is to DO NOTHING!

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz