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

Morning Folks!!

The #1 way in life to “Work Smarter” is to manage your time better, have a plan, learn to streamline and understand what time is.
See, time is our only natural resource and when we run out of it, we die. When
we waste it, we may not even know. The first years don’t count as anyone
reading this for the first time is probably at least 20. The last years don’t
count because you are likely sick and not able to move the way you did when you
were 20. So let’s define that is
over 80. Point is you have about 60 years to do whatever if you stay healthy. (Minus
your current age over 20) So something that will make you rich in 100 years, ain’t
gonna help ya one bit. But getting rich quick only works when you work smarter
than the next guy.

60 years = about 21,915 days. 526,000 hours. 31,557,600
minutes.

So now that we have dissected life and time, let’s dissect
the the 24 hour day. 1440 minutes. The average guy sleeps for 8 (480 minutes), works for 8 (480 minutes) and there
are 8 hours left (480 minutes). Of those 8 hours maybe 1 hour or more is used to get to and
from work. Takes another 30 minutes to get ready for work. Now you are down to
6.5 hours. You have shopping, cleaning, car washes, kids to pick up, people to
meet and let’s face it, for most, there are not enough hours in the day. But
when you work smarter, there are more than enough hours. While everyone else is rushing and hurrying, you can be on cruise control with plenty of time.

Every minute is important but if you use your time right,
you will have many hours of leisure time. Maybe all of your time can be leisure
if you do it right. But the first
step in the process is to stop. Stop what you are doing. Just stop. Sit down.
Stop. Really stop. Take a couple days and STOP LIFE. Once you do that you can
carefully think about your average day and change the dynamics of your life for
the better. It takes 30 days to break a bad habit and replace it with a good
habit. That alone adds time to life. Manage your time better and you will live longer.

Planes are faster than stagecoaches. That is a way to extend
life by moving faster and more efficiently. Cars are a bit faster and more
convenient than horses. Must have
been tough to spend a weekend at the cabin when it took you 12 days to get
there. Everything man does is to speed things up which translates to a longer
life. Not because it is physically longer, but you can do so much more in the
confines of that time span.

A minute saved is a minute you live longer. A minute you do
more things. A minute you earn more money. Someone that wastes your time cannot
do anything worse to somebody else. To me, that is the highest crime. Folks
that waste your time. But the real
crime is allowing it to happen in the first place. So which is more important?
Pissing off somebody that is about to waste your time or reclaiming the time as
your own? That is why it is better to cut right to the chase.

If you double your minutes, you can likely double your
income. Walking and chewing gum. The road map is easier than one might think.
Entire books have been written on the subject. But a few paragraphs may be more
powerful. I don’t have to sell you anything. Like a book. So I can be concise
and get to the point. Which I have.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Since Day One I always believed that domains would be traded
like other collectibles. So far that has proven difficult. See, I would rather
trade one unique asset for another as opposed to a dollar value. So I am in the
midst of compiling a list of domains I would sell that don’t fit into my
overall business plan. Now what does not strengthen my collection may fortify
somebody else’s.

Most of these are prime one and 2 word domains. I am not a .net guy but I have some
superb .nets because when I could not register the .com, that may have been a
backup or I may have had the .com and wanted the .net and .org. Men.net,
Ladies.org would fit into domains like that. I have a number of NNN and LLL
domains. Once in a while I will sell these. Last month I sold 273.com for
$50,000 and this is the first time I am disclosing that. (Ron)

But when I go through my list of what I call “Orphan
Domains” they are only “Orphan” to me because I may be weak in that particular
sector and only have one domain that is related. I certainly would trade that
one which could be prime as a domain can be for another because it fills a
need.

Problem with domain trading is you have to have really good
domains to trade with. Back in the
1960’s I used to collect baseball cards. I had thousands and thousands and
thousands. We would “Flip” them in a game and win 100 or more at a time. We
would trade we would do lots of things. But there was this “Bob Uecker” card.
Number #195 I believe it was. In almost every pack you would buy you would get
the dreaded Bob Uecker card. That card was like a crappy domain. They were everywhere
and he was nowhere. Nobody ever heard of him. He did not make a mark on the
game and was a .200 career average which is about as bad as anyone next to a
pitcher. He did however make a name for himself as a broadcaster and did many
commercials. Mostly always making
fun of his unremarkable big league career.

My mother tossed those cards in the garbage when we moved to
Maryland. Cards that would have been way into the 6 figures or more today. But that is
another story for another day. Point is we traded cards. We filled in our
collections. We understood the value of the cards we had but at 12 years old,
we did not understand future value.

I am CERTAIN that if I assembled a group of domainers with
prime domains that could segregate a couple dozen that they would consider
trading and then pass that list around we would witness multiple trades. Some
domains could be traded for 5 others, like baseball players or baseball
cards. Some with cash. Some with other consideration. Since 2004 and many years
before that I have really wanted this to happen and there has just been no
appetite in the industry to do it. I always believe it is timing. So I will try
once again. I think being creative in this area is key.

The key to trading is if you want a domain that somebody has
you have to give them more than equal value. That is what motivates them to
sell to begin with. If I wanted a Mickey Mantle Rookie card I could hardly
trade for a Bob Uecker card. But a Bob Uecker and a Pete Rose and maybe we have
something to talk about. Or maybe 200 Bob Uecker cards to use for flipping
because they have little value and you don’t care if you lose some of those.
Point is there is a way and we are all missing a huge opportunity to grow our
businesses in a meaningful way. It really
is time to do this.

I have 7000 domains. Not a lot in the scheme of things. But
I could isolate 100 or 1000 of them that I would not get excited about to sell
for $10k or $20k or even $50k, but
would get very excited if I could trade one of those type domains for a plural
of what I have. Maybe a misspell.
Maybe just a close match.
But there is opportunity there that has yet to be exploited. Great
opportunity. I would even trade
income producing domains for ones with no income if I think it helps solidify
my portfolio.

This time I am going to do something different. I am going
to make that list of domains I would trade and make them public. I will
probably do it over the summer. I started a few months back. Maybe I will post
a list soon to see if there is any desire to do this finally. There truly is a
great opportunity here.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

If you are one to believe that opportunities like domaining come often than you are a person that has likely not accomplished much in life or are too young to appreciate the historical opportunity you have. Even at this stage you will be hard pressed to find a better opportunity in your entire lifetime or that of your father or grandfather. So at least, put it in its' proper historical perspective. If you think you will get many more like this, think again.

You have an historic opportunity. Don’t blow it. You will live to regret it if you do. This is not a time to worry if you are popular. This is a time to put your nose to the grindstone and create the vehicle that will change your life. If you do it now, you will never worry in the future. If you blow by this window, your future will be filled with worry. It is never too late to get on the right path. Never too late to succeed. Never too late to change. Those that are not succeeding and not willing to change will die on the vine. Don't be one of them.

Did you read every post thatFrankyhas made? If you did, you probably understand exactly what I am saying. If not, then you need to and read other accomplished domainers as well. The only thing they are looking to do is help others have success. Life changing success. So throw mud. How unfortunate for you. The answers are all out there. Those that are not lazy will find and seek and succeed. The others will just rant and rave and keep doing the same things that lead them to failure. Failure on many things not just one. Be methodical, logical and try to make the best decision possible with as much info as you can gather until that info is instinct. That will make you successful whether it be in domains or anything else you try and tackle in life. The negative folks in life will always try and twist your motive or try and figure out the angle. They have a hard time taking things for face value. It may because they are the ones that always have a motive and an angle and they can’t understand how others may not. I would just rather see 90 out of 100 succeed instead of 10. I am not capable of holding anyone back. Nor would I want to. The only one that can either propel you or imprison you is yourself. Not me, not your parents, not you professor, not your next door neighbor, not anyone. Get mad at yourself. Become a winner. Become an eagle. Become a great success. It won’t happen overnight. It takes years! You in rush?? If so, fine, you will fall off the ladder of success each and every time until become methodical and only focus on the next step of the ladder. Not 2 steps not 5 steps, the next step. Build it one step at a time and I absolutely guarantee that you will have to try to fail. Failing does not happen when you come at things from the right mind set. You may have set backs, but you don’t fail. You don’t let obstacles consume you, you consume and overcome those obstacles while others simply give up.

As I stated yesterday and probably the ones that need to believe it don't, I will try one last time to make this extremely important point. How do you explain to those that have an attitude that if Franky, Kevin, Mike and myself went thru a list of 100, $1000 domain names right now, that we would likely pick the same few domain names and the rookies with the big mouths would pick pigeon shit? You can’t blame it on not being there in 1995. You can’t blame it for not being there in 2003. This is 2010 and until you figure out what makes one domain have value and one domain worthless, won’t make any difference what year it is. You either learn to spot great domains for WHATEVER REASON or you don’t. Asset or liability. Sure many will make fun of me and my 'Pigeon Shit' statements, but the only ones that do that are the ones with the most pigeon shit to begin with. Go figure.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I have been involved in emerging businesses and industries
all of my working life. I have seen the evolution of multiple industries from
embryos to their eventual peak and then the downturn and consolidation that
follows. It is filled with great times, conflict, change and then spun off to
whatever destiny there is.

I have watched this and been involved over and over. The characters change, the vehicles change but the scene itself does not. They all
start out small, warm, fuzzy and with few attracting a few others.

Words, thoughts and ideas. Our mind is allowed to explore
the extremes no matter what anyone might tell you. It is really interesting how
many people are threatened by new thoughts and ideas. They lash out at the
unknown. Not after thinking about it, but as a knee jerk reaction. Our animal
instincts perhaps at their rawest. But just because something effects you a
certain way does not mean you have to accept that. You can change and bend your
reality for the better.

The Internet is a place made up of words, ideas, pictures and
sounds. That translates into emotion and that is where folks go off the rails.
They are a slave to their emotions instead of mastering their emotions. Your
knee jerk reaction may be to want to kill somebody because they did you wrong.
Our mind is allowed to go there. But most of us realize immediately that is the
wrong way to handle it. That is because we have mastered our emotions. Problem
is while we may have harnessed those big emotions, it is the little stuff that
can become life changing and that is where you need to become the master.

These series of posts are designed to give you solid
information. Some opinion based, some fact based. Either way I don’t force
anyone to read or believe or do. The only thing I can do is share things the
way I see from my view point. It amazes me that the folks that could benefit
the most, are also those that have a hair up their ass. They would rather call
me names in behalf of their failure than to read between the lines. Than to try
different things. They bend what you say. They twist what you say and I guess
it makes them feel good. I have said dozens of times there are 1000 ways to
climb this mountain. Are they just deaf? Dumb? With attitudes like that they
are just passing thru. They won’t be in domaining in 3 years so why even take
them seriously? Most don’t have a single clue about business fundamentals
because they have never ran a business. They don’t understand the fundamentals
of sales because they never sold anything. They don’t understand negotiating
because they never negotiated anything but getting laid and probably did not do
all that well in that arena either. They don’t understand domaining because
they never took the time to stop and think they just buy. Yet they lash out.
They have bills bigger than their
incomes but are 10x smarter than everyone else. How exactly does that work?

So whether you flip domains, buy at auction, get domains for
SEO, buy expired domains for their links or whatever way you are climbing the
mountain, if you are making money, great! If you are not then don’t lash out,
LEARN. You don’t have to learn from me, learn from others, just make sure the
folks you are learning from actually are earning 6 or 7 figures. You can follow
failure, but it costs no more to follow success. I try and give back what I can
by reaching down with my thoughts and ideas. It is up to those that want to
succeed to also help pull themselves up. I can provide a rope. Many others can
provide a rope and do. Those that think they can get on top by pulling others
down will likely be angry and frustrated failures forever. They are the folks to avoid. Failures
because they will never allow themselves to succeed. Success comes with discipline,
good decisions and mastering your emotions and it does not matter what you sell
or what industry you are in. The rules remain the same and that is where so
many miss the point.

How do you explain to those
that have an attitude that if Franky, Kevin, Mike and myself went thru a list
of 100, $1000 domain names right now, that we would likely pick the same few
domain names and the rookies with the big mouths would pick pigeon shit? You can’t blame it on not being there in 1995. You can’t blame it for not being
there in 2003. This is 2010 and until you figure out what makes one domain have value and one domain worthless, won’t
make any difference what year it is. You either learn to spot great domains for
WHATEVER REASON or you don’t. Asset or liability. A basket full of liabilities
does not make you a domainer. So I will never win awards for 'Miss Congeniality'. Of the next 100 new domainers that come into the industry, I will piss off 90 of them. But 10 will figure it out. I will make 90 enemies and 10 friends. But at least I know the 90 to ignore and who cares if I piss them off? They have a decision to make now, get pissed off at Rick or use that same energy to get pissed off at themselves and be a success by learning to pick winners like Franky, Kevin and Mike.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Last year I kept saying Ron Jackson will report that 2009
was a record breaking year for
domain sales. I was wrong. But I just got the calendar wrong, not the event itself. We
are in the midst of a record breaking year for domain sales. The event is
predictable because of how things play out in times like this. A convergence of
good and bad reasons, plus strong and weak positions. Then add a great time to
start new divisions and expand as the strong in every industry prey on the weak
in every industry. That produces a new need and a new demand. Thus we are in a
record breaking era. Much of it will be driven by the end user. And please keep
in mind that MOST sales are never reported. I have to fight for every one to go
public. One domain I sold in the past year I am not allowed to make public as
they were concerned folks would laugh at them for the $$$ they paid. It was a significant
amount. That was the reason. How many other sales are never disclosed? So I am
here to say that visible or invisible, we ARE in a record breaking sales
environment.

Two things happen in times like this. Many get great bargains. Many
more do not. Make no mistake, the
end user is NOW in the game and he is in there in a big way. But in a stealth
way. He is also in like an Eagle
as they target specific domain names. Some as we see with EverythingEverywhere.com
are sold for a fraction of the true value and others are selling for hundreds of
times their true value. The seller must know the difference and the buyer must
know the difference. They will continue to come one product, one project, one need, one
application at a time. This is an era that will produce the circumstance that
boosts the entire industry in a massive way because there are new products, new projects, new needs and new applications. Lots of them.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Domains are not about what you earn for one hour or one day
or even one month This game is about lifetime earnings. In sports many sectors keep
score by earnings. Both annual and lifetime earnings. Whether you are a boxer,
a golfer, a basketball player or an Olympian, besides the scores they keep
inside their sport is the dollar score outside the court. It also attracts
attention. So why not domaining?

We know at least 3 people have made over $100 million in
domain career earnings. Frank, Kevin, Yung Ye. There are others. But those 3
are certain. Mike Berkens won’t be far behind and then you have Ari and Larry
and Lawrence and I am sure you can name others. Several others and some completely under the radar. Many
others will eventually join that club. We may even see the first 10 figure domainer.

But forget about the high end. How about the other side?
Have you made your first million in career earnings in domaining? Do you wonder
how many have achieved that? So do I. Maybe that is a better way to present who
we are. They do it in Boxing. They do it in Golf. They do it in Racing. They do it in Football and Baseball and they do it in most other sports. They
must all do it for a damn good reason. Mostly because it creates interest and grows the sport.

May be a good exercise to list the top 100 earners in this
great industry because that just may be another way to create interest and
excitement. When you consider that the earnings we can show can actually rival and
exceed many sports out there, I think it is a viable idea. Plus list so many that have breeched the 7 figure mark. Many may not see this as a major achievement, I do. When you consider all the stunning failures on the Internet, all the lost money, we are a shining example of success and the best way to show the world that success is with dollars earned.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

You can be a Pigeon or a Domainer but really tough to be both. Most would not like to be pigeons. Many don't even know the difference. WTF is he even talking about? Which one are you? Having lots of domains will not earn you the the title of domainer or investor. There is a growing divide
in the domain industry. The divide is a place we have never looked before.
Never understood before. For well over a decade I have explained the difference
between Investment quality domains and crap. Domains with traffic and domains
without traffic, domains with a future and those without a future. Domains worth thousands and domains that cost thousands.

I have been met with more and more resistance and now I
finally figured out why. I am swimming upstream. Registrars don’t care if you
register a domain worth $30, $30 million dollars or 30 cents as long as they
get their registration fees. So they hype every extension that ever comes out,
every domain in sight at every opportunity and untrained pigeons show up each time. Why wouldn’t
they if that was what you did for a living? They are doing their job. They do it very well because they
have given birth to an industry of pigeons that think they are domainers
because they own domain names. What they own is a bill. A liability. They are a
registrar’s best friend. Here is a
test, if your closest contact in domaining is a registrar I have swampland to
sell you. And let me be clear, my friends own registrars. I have nothing bad to say about them as
a business as a business model or in any other form. But I am alerting some to
the subtle difference in view, in direction in outlook, in destination, in
where you finally end up. The discriminating point that divides people walking in completely opposite directions.

So where there was once one inept registrar with no agenda
now there are hundreds or more and they all want the same thing as a rule. More
registrations. Blood for Dracula. Nothing
more and nothing less. Quality means nothing to them. And that is okay. There
is nothing wrong with that. But if you don’t understand it then you will keep
buying into it and when you buy into that hype, you may no longer be a
domainer. You just may be a registrar’s best friend. So you can follow the lead
of non domainers that know only about number of registrations or you can pay
attention to dozens of real and accomplished domainers. But if you go with the registrar’s
advice, you will be looking for a job in a jobless economy. If you never
thought about this, well now you have. If you don’t get it, you should. If you
continue to register Pigeon Shit, then it matters not to registrars. All the
same to them and that’s how it should be. So if they are your guiding light, maybe time to rethink what you are
doing and the direction you are moving. (Gee am I making friends today or what?) There are a lot of
generalizations here so nobody take anything personally. I am painting the picture
of the landscape. It requires colors to differentiate things. In this picture
the colors are words and thoughts followed by example.

There are investment quality domains and there is Pigeon
Shit. Liabilities to YOU are
profit to THEM. Get a clue already folks! If you screw up in the next few
months, you will never recover. You will not be in the domain business any
longer. This IS your last best chance. There will be the core group of true domain
investors and there will be all the others that are pigeons. Wasting time with pigeons when there
are Eagles in the same nest is fools gold and nothing more. Investor or Fool?
You decide. I will never cater to
pigeons. I will reach out to them to try and get into their heads, but I will
never compromise high standards just to satisfy some pressure to be inclusive. The best way to be included is earning it by putting together a domain portfolio and earning a lot of money. Be deliberate in each purchase. Achieve greatness by finding something that works and repeating it over and over again.

I have been accused that I am the Simon Cowell of domaining.
Okay, not so bad. I like Simon.
When you want the cold hard truth you go to Simon not the others. He doesn’t
worry about how things “Feel”, he deals with the reality if what is. If they
suck, he tells them. If you have worthless domains I’ll tell you. What value
would anything else be? Just to make you feel good? Sorry, don’t come to Simon
to feel good. Go to him for the truth and become the best. Don’t come to me to
buy into stuff just because others can’t figure it out. Now all the registrars
will be pissed off at me lol. So what? I did nothing wrong. They did nothing
wrong. The only ones doing anything wrong are the folks buying pigeon shit and
if that shoe fits change those shoes. Don't get angry, get on the right track. Think before you let your knee jerk reaction control your mind, your being and your direction. I am rooting for your success not your failure. If you are not making big money in domaining, you should and the first thing to do is stop and figure out why. Maybe I just nailed part of it for ya. Maybe not.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

First, just for the record, I have always made more money
and had better opportunity during
times like this than during good times. So the point of this post is to understand
what is coming so you can be ahead of the curve and not denying that a curve is
coming and then will likely crash when you don’t adjust to new conditions. Just
like in 1929, the year we remember will likely be 2009. That is what history
has taught us. But 1929 was the “Shock” just like 2008-2009. The true is that pain
takes a while to filter down and that is why the worst is what comes after the
initial crash. Life does not stop during a collapse. This post may help you
navigate this financial and economic storm.

Secondly, don’t believe the common wisdom. For example the
“Dollar”. We have been led to believe how weak the dollar is. How unstable it
is. How nobody wants dollars. The reality is that has never been further from
the truth. Just look at the banks. They are HOARDING dollars not giving them
away. People are hoarding dollars. So for 2 years we have been fooled. That will
change and EVENTUALLY people will want to get rid of their dollars, but not
yet. Prices went down because folks wanted those dollars. Needed those
dollars. Needed to pay bills. But
after you have a glut, then you have shortages and THEN you have inflation.
Inflation is what they hope will happen to save the day. THEN your dollars will
become worth LESS, not worthless.
There will be a POINT where you have old money, old dollars that took
years to earn combined with new dollars that may take minutes to earn. Point is
there is a TIME to turn those old dollars into assets before they become new
dollars worth a fraction of what they were. It is already happening. I see
products I use all the time that have now DOUBLED in price. Nobody is reporting
on this. They likely won’t until way after the fact. You need to be ahead in
this one no matter what currency you use. The Euro or the Dollar or whatever.
In a global economy things react different than 1929. And even if there is no
inflation, then prepare to be deflated as they take more and more of each $100
you make. When the $60, becomes $50, then $40, then $30. So either way, you
MUST prepare because we are likely getting one or the other or BOTH!

Now I know folks in the industry want me to be positive and
upbeat. I am. Very positive that we are years away from the end of this. I can
BS you into believing things will be great, but they will not. Last year I said
that Ron Jackson will report record domain sales. I was wrong. But not totally.
The only thing I was wrong on was I called it too soon. It will be this year.

Desperation is setting in. You can see it. When folks sell
domains for survival, that is not good. Sell domains to pay the registration
fees of the one they want to keep. That is not good. I can make a list of
dozens of reasons, but the biggest may just be the increase in capital gains
tax coming in 2011. A million dollar domain sale will cost you $50,000 more in
taxes than this year. Plus, as
some of these larger sales come to light, 2009 still is in contention. Marchex
sold $1.3 million worth of “non-strategic” (I love that spin and plan to use
it) domain names in the first 3
months of 2010. Most folks I know are weeding their collections and seeing
which domains don’t fit and can be sold to buy new more pertinent domains if
they are in good shape or out of sheer weakness because they need cash for
renewal fees if they are in a weak
state. That makes for an interesting market. There are some real gems out there
and it may be time to pay attention to that and less attention to pigeon
droppings at the drop houses.

What will hurt the domain business is far from our control.
Countries are defaulting. Unthinkable just months ago. But Iceland, Greece,
Spain, Portugal are all on the verge. Great Britain is a mess. China is about
to see an economic collapse as well. There is no running or hiding from what is
coming. The only thing you can do is prepare. How do you prepare? It will be
different for everyone. But paying
off your debt, including your mortgage should be #1 on your agenda. Having
months of money not in a bank may be the second thing. I know, most of you
believe we are already past the worst point. Well, I just don’t agree. Too many
factors at play. So much is uncontrollable and when uncontrollable happens, you
better be prepared. Sure, they
will bail out these countries. Sure the market will spike. Sure you can make a
lot of money. Sure this only
delays the inevitable.

As for what happened last Thursday. The one thing they can’t
say is the word “Panic.” They could put any other face on it but panic could be
the kiss of death. Thank goodness that GREED sometimes trumps PANIC! That may
have been what saved us. But maybe that is just a window into what is coming.
Could the unthinkable happen? The market may go up today, but a day does not
make a market. The overall outlook is not good no matter how everyone tries to
spin it.

Now the best thing that can happen is that I am wrong. But the numbers prove I am right. The direction proves I am right. The EVIDENCE proves I am right and soon the
REALITY will prove I am right. But I would much rather be wrong. I would much
rather whistle past the graveyard. I would much rather not like to see what I
see and have seen for quite some time. The next 6 months may be the most
volatile of our entire lifetimes and then who knows after that.

What happened to the GM commercial saying they paid back the
loan? It went bye bye because it was a lie. They paid themselves from other
loaned money. What a crock! The trickery that is going on today trumps anything
I have seen in my life. The books are no longer “Cooked” they are total fiction
and that will eventually explode. When? I don’t know. They have delayed it for
decades. But time is running out.

Now that does not mean you can’t make a FORTUNE right now.
Matter of fact, there has never been a better time to make fortunes. Money is
flying all over the place. That sounds like two conflicting statements but they
are not. This is what happens during times like this so you need to get your
share of what is on the table. Denial of reality will never make you money.
Understanding reality will make you a fortune. Stop chasing yesterdays’ fad and focus on what will unfold
in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years. I don’t know the exact moment this will all
happen, but when you have a 5 year horizon, you are likely to nail it. Just
assume we are playing “Musical Chairs” and make sure your are safe when the
music stops.

Life is measured by years. You have good years and not so
good years. Just make sure the years that are coming are your best years
because if they are not, they will likely be your worst.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning folks!!

First, just for the record, I have always made more money
and had better opportunity during
times like this than during good times. So the point of this post is to understand
what is coming so you can be ahead of the curve and not denying that a curve is
coming and then will likely crash when you don’t adjust to new conditions. Just
like in 1929, the year we remember will likely be 2009. That is what history
has taught us. But 1929 was the “Shock” just like 2008-2009. The true is that pain
takes a while to filter down and that is why the worst is what comes after the
initial crash. Life does not stop during a collapse. This post may help you
navigate this financial and economic storm.

Secondly, don’t believe the common wisdom. For example the
“Dollar”. We have been led to believe how weak the dollar is. How unstable it
is. How nobody wants dollars. The reality is that has never been further from
the truth. Just look at the banks. They are HORDING dollars not giving them
away. People are hording dollars. So for 2 years we have been fooled. That will
change and EVENTUALLY people will want to get rid of their dollars, but not
yet. Prices went down because folks wanted those dollars. Needed those
dollars. Needed to pay bills. But
after you have a glut, then you have shortages and THEN you have inflation.
Inflation is what they hope will happen to save the day. THEN your dollars will
become worth LESS, not worthless.
There will be a POINT where you have old money, old dollars that took
years to earn combined with new dollars that may take minutes to earn. Point is
there is a TIME to turn those old dollars into assets before they become new
dollars worth a fraction of what they were. It is already happening. I see
products I use all the time that have now DOUBLED in price. Nobody is reporting
on this. They likely won’t until way after the fact. You need to be ahead in
this one no matter what currency you use. The Euro or the Dollar or whatever.
In a global economy things react different than 1929. And even if there is no
inflation, then prepare to be deflated as they take more and more of each $100
you make. When the $60, becomes $50, then $40, then $30. So either way, you
MUST prepare because we are likely getting one or the other or BOTH!

Now I know folks in the industry want me to be positive and
upbeat. I am. Very positive that we are years away from the end of this. I can
BS you into believing things will be great, but they will not. Last year I said
that Ron Jackson will report record domain sales. I was wrong. But not totally.
The only thing I was wrong on was I called it too soon. It will be this year.

Desperation is setting in. You can see it. When folks sell
domains for survival, that is not good. Sell domains to pay the registration
fees of the one they want to keep. That is not good. I can make a list of
dozens of reasons, but the biggest may just be the increase in capital gains
tax coming in 2011. A million dollar domain sale will cost you $50,000 more in
taxes than this year. Plus, as
some of these larger sales come to light, 2009 still is in contention. Marchex
sold $1.3 million worth of “non-strategic” (I love that spin and plan to use
it) domain names in the first 3
months of 2010. Most folks I know are weeding their collections and seeing
which domains don’t fit and can be sold to buy new more pertinent domains if
they are in good shape or out of sheer weakness because they need cash for
renewal fees if they are in a weak
state. That makes for an interesting market. There are some real gems out there
and it may be time to pay attention to that and less attention to pigeon
droppings at the drop houses.

What will hurt the domain business is far from our control.
Countries are defaulting. Unthinkable just months ago. But Iceland, Greece,
Spain, Portugal are all on the verge. Great Britain is a mess. China is about
to see an economic collapse as well. There is no running or hiding from what is
coming. The only thing you can do is prepare. How do you prepare? It will be
different for everyone. But paying
off your debt, including your mortgage should be #1 on your agenda. Having
months of money not in a bank may be the second thing. I know, most of you
believe we are already past the worst point. Well, I just don’t agree. Too many
factors at play. So much is uncontrollable and when uncontrollable happens, you
better be prepared. Sure, they
will bail out these countries. Sure the market will spike. Sure you can make a
lot of money. Sure this only
delays the inevitable.

As for what happened last Thursday. The one thing they can’t
say is the word “Panic.” They could put any other face on it but panic could be
the kiss of death. Thank goodness that GREED sometimes trumps PANIC! That may
have been what saved us. But maybe that is just a window into what is coming.
Could the unthinkable happen? The market may go up today, but a day does not
make a market. The overall outlook is not good no matter how everyone tries to
spin it.

Now the best thing that can happen is that I am wrong. But the numbers prove I am right. The direction proves I am right. The EVIDENCE proves I am right and soon the
REALITY will prove I am right. But I would much rather be wrong. I would much
rather whistle past the graveyard. I would much rather not like to see what I
see and have seen for quite some time. The next 6 months may be the most
volatile of our entire lifetimes and then who knows after that.

What happened to the GM commercial saying they paid back the
loan? It went bye bye because it was a lie. They paid themselves from other
loaned money. What a crock! The trickery that is going on today trumps anything
I have seen in my life. The books are no longer “Cooked” they are total fiction
and that will eventually explode. When? I don’t know. They have delayed it for
decades. But time is running out.

Now that does not mean you can’t make a FORTUNE right now.
Matter of fact, there has never been a better time to make fortunes. Money is
flying all over the place. That sounds like two conflicting statements but they
are not. This is what happens during times like this so you need to get your
share of what is on the table. Denial of reality will never make you money.
Understanding reality will make you a fortune. Stop chasing yesterdays’ fad and focus on what will unfold
in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years. I don’t know the exact moment this will all
happen, but when you have a 5 year horizon, you are likely to nail it. Just
assume we are playing “Musical Chairs” and make sure your are safe when the
music stops.

Life is measured by years. You have good years and not so
good years. Just make sure the years that are coming are your best years
because if they are not, they will likely be your worst.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I posted this over atTheDomainsand decided I need to post it here and perhaps expand on it a bit. I will get some folks upset. Not my intention. Just my absolute view of things. You are free to disagree. Most do. Nothing new or unexpected. So I can tell you what you want to hear or I can tell it the way I see it. Those that know me also know I have little choice other than to tell it the way I see it as opposed to blowing smoke up your ass. One has value and one does not.

Since 2007 I have bought only a handful of domains. Good ones were hard to find and overpriced considering the sales were to other domainers and not to end users. Some don't get the difference and the prices for the audience were just not in line with reality. But now times have changed. There is a bumper crop of really good domains at prices that are much lower than the previous period. Now don't get confused between overpriced domains and a falling market. The market is not falling, just realistic prices are in play and those prices continue to rise. A great domain will be a great domain and will outlive everyone reading this today. Crap will be crap forever and that is what motivates me to write. Lots of new blood off on the wrong track. The truth produces anger. I just believe everyone involved in domaining should make big money because it is laying there to be made. It saddens me when I hear folks are in trouble and they can't make ends meet. It is never too late to start over. It is never to late to get it right. Next time never happens so may as well do it today and make it this time. Forget about what you thought you knew yesterday. Per chance, you may have been wrong. Especially if you are not earning at least 6 figures from the jump in domaining. Don't blow your opportunity for another day. This really is your last best chance. Weakness and circumstance make great assets surface.

There are a lot of assets to invest in. Never has there been an asset priced so low that went up so fast and maintained that value. This opportunity in domains was open to every living and breathing person on earth and 99.9% missed it.

I have asked one question now for a decade. Can anyone name me an investment that was available to all and went up faster than domain names in value other than a lottery ticket??

Gold?? Took thousands of years to get to $1000 an ounce. Diamonds? Real Estate?

Like anything else, domains are a market. Markets go up and markets go down. But the foundation for premium dotcom domain names is more solid than any other single investment on planet earth.

I always qualify what I say with “Premium” and “dotcom”. I do admit that there is a significant amount of the industry that is tulip based. Means domains with no value are trading at prices that don’t justify it. But that happens in every sector. The domain industry is still very young and not yet matured. That takes time to fix. Only time can fix that. And it will.

But I go around all day looking where I can put cash to work. 1% or 2% at the bank ain’t gonna cut it. Real Estate is wonderful but it comes with taxes and maintenance. Not very portable. Gold? Very heavy. Hard to secure. Difficult to travel with. Stocks? I have made a small fortune in the stock market. But it is no longer for the long term. It’s a day casino at best. You can make lots of $$$. No question. But again, what do you do with those $$$ once you accumulate them? My answer for the last 15 years has been to buy great domain names and that seems to be more solid than anything I have ever been involved with. Just don’t buy garbage. I see investment quality domains laying around for $500, $1000, $2000 and I see domains with little or no value fetch much more. That’s what makes the world go round and the way I see it, domains and domaining have never been hotter. More shows, more auctions, more large companies getting larger. A guy could come into domaining today with a few thousand bucks and within a couple years time could be worth millions. Unfortunately for so many of the newer folks coming into the industry, they buy before they learn. Before they understand. Not knowing that the first domains you buy are THE most important domains. That sets your course and that is where most mistakes occur. A place where folks can't afford to make that mistake. That and not being patient. Not understanding that sometimes doing nothing will make you more money than doing something and screwing it up because of the need you feel and can't control. There are great values out there. There is a tremendous amount of shit out there. The prices are similar. Pigeons eat shit, eagles methodically swoop over their prey. Both are birds. Are all folks that call themselves 'Domainers' actually 'Domainers'? See, this is where I get in trouble. Because I can't help but to mention it in an effort for many to realize that it is the same effort, the same dollars, the same time to find great domains as opposed to crap. It's worth taking the time to learn. Learn the rules that worked 10 years ago still work today because those rules worked 20 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago and they will work in 100 years from now.

In most business you buy something for $10 and sell it for $20, $30, maybe $50 or $100. Things have shelf lives and your job is to move it fast. Great domains are like fine wines, the longer you hold them, the better they get. It is an appreciating asset when you buy right and buy the right domain. An appreciating asset that can be expanded on, built on, developed. And done on your own time table at the right time as things unfold in reality and not calendar based. There are two types of domainers. Ones that hold assets and ones that hold liabilities. The asset class has only grown marginally in the past few years. However the liability class is growing faster and much more furiously.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
PS: Here is yourstarting point of your new life. It's a compass. Don't ask how, it is all spelled out. Both of these posts should be linked everywhere. I leave this for last because MOST will never read this far. They are too busy rushing off to another failure.

Plus, here is a post from a DECADE ago.This post was dug up by Owen and posted today. 5/4/2010. It was originally posted by me in 1998.