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

Morning Folks!!

We are in full TRAFFIC Countdown Mode this week as we prepare for arrivals beginning this Friday.

If you would like to stay at the Ritz-Carlton and have booked a room somewhere else, we have TWO staff rooms we won't be using for 3-5 nights each for a discounted $175/night. First come, first served!

The schedule is all but done. It is wall to wall and we will tackle the toughest subjects facing us as individuals and as an industry. The recession is over and it is time to grab your fair share of the pie!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

This is how it works. You want something that is not for sale. But you still want it. But it is not for sale. How do you motivate somebody to change their mind? MONEY!!!!

"Zuckerberg paid different prices for each home, shelling out more than $14 million for one 2,600-square-foot dwelling. A local real estate agent called the amount "absurdly high," even for that pricey neighborhood. But James Yang, an agent with Sereno Group who focuses on Palo Alto and neighboring towns, said the price is less surprising "if somebody wants to buy a property and the sellers don't want to sell."

In this story Zuck bought the adjacent properties to his home. One owner did not want to sell. Until $14 million hit the sweet spot.

That's $5384/ft.

Many times the market price. But guess what? Market price means NOTHING!!!

Zuck had a need. Yes? Yes!

Zuck had a want. Yes? Yes!

Zuck had a desire. Yes? Yes!

Zuck cared about Value. NO! NO!

Need, want, desire are the keys to sales. And when you have a UNIQUE ASSET, like a DOMAIN NAME, that need, want and desire is MAGNIFIED. If you don't get that part, you are screwing up! You are leaving fortunes on the table. Life changing fortunes.

Also, a little proof who controls the sale. Only the seller can pull the trigger.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

There are people who are result oriented and folks that act like an obstacle to that goal. I think those folks work harder at finding an excuse than the actual work it would take to have a result. But they are not wired that way. I believe one of the biggest jobs in life is identifying these 2 simply different groups.

My life is made up of goals and missions and the decisions to achieve those things. And do it while being retired in my spare time when I feel like it. So I must prioritize. I describe my decision-making process here.  A difficult post for me to put on paper. It is the basis of being an efficiency expert that I described recently.

I believe we all have a gift as I describe here. When we figure out that gift we unlock the code to blossoming to our full potential. It never comes down to where we come from but more where exactly are we going? And going does not mean we always have to move forward. Sometimes we need to go back to the starting point so we don't get lost and lose our way on that path to a result. Like I have stated for years, failure does not happen at the end, it happens at the start. That means failure can be predicted before one even starts a journey.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

There are myths in business that have been busted wide open over the years. I have empirical evidence. Not theory. I can point to things I have pointed to for decades because they are solid in the results they have proved over that time. I can calibrate the future for 40 years by the 2 simple myths below.

Myth #1. If I deliver food or pizza to people fewer people will come to my restaurant to eat.

So that is a myth and the thinking behind it is flawed. Here is the fact:

If you deliver you increase your pool of customers. You increase sales, profits and you expand. Your dining room gets fuller and you fulfill a NEED when they don't feel like leaving the comfort of their home. Now you can argue, but it won't make you right. I have 40 years of challenges and that baby still stands and your dog won't hunt. But some dinosaurs still think that way.

Where did those new folks come from? Some would want you to believe they came from your own dining room. That you split your customer base. Sorry, wrong answer. It increases people who are interested in your restaurant overall and maybe from a larger area and your customer base grows from the outside with new business. A rising tide.

Myth # 2. If I have a restaurant and a guy opens up a restaurant across the street he will take half my business.

Wrong! He might DOUBLE your business.

So let me point to real world example in Dallas Texas and Restaurant Row that was created in the mid 1970's. At the time there was one restaurant named "Old San Francisco" and it was one of my favorites.  There was a bowling alley across the street. They were busy. They did fine. But then they opened up some 20-30 other large  restaurants all right next to each other on the same street. Some thought they would go out of business because of the competition. In fact, you had to call Old San Francisco 1-2 weeks in advance to get in the door. See 30 restaurants and 30 restaurants advertising the same basic address and same basic product.

They were all good restaurants and they added VALUE by bringing all those people together looking for the same things and they all did well. They do that with auto malls. More PROOF! Not emotion. Facts. Proof. Historical evidence. Empirical evidence. How about malls themselves? How about "World Trade Centers"? They bring competitors together to do MORE BUSINESS in a faster amount of time!

That is why I can be certain that whatever happens in .whateverville, it can ONLY HELP .com. PERIOD!!! NO QUESTION!! NONE!! NONE!!!

Now if you have shit domains you are screwed but you were screwed with or without the new gtld's because you have crap.

Here is what the debate should look like if you want to have legitimacy with gTLD. Talk about specific .whatevers only.

There could be a market for .app or .blog or .web or a FEW others. I talk about dying on the vine. Look how many have died before it even germinates let alone making it to the vine. Many abandoning what they were going after and doing it early on in the process.

No emotions, just facts. Hundreds of horses at the gate and while you may want to talk about the race track itself or even the other horses, none of that matters. What matters is your horse and your stable. So if you tell me how bad the other guys stable is, most folks get turned off and walk away whether they say something or not. We all need to hear benefits of your horse. Why your horse can win. It has little to do with the others losing. It has to do with you winning.

So my horse is better because yours is an old nag won't hunt. That ain't selling

My horse does the quarter in 3 seconds faster than any other horse in the race will hunt. That IS selling.

One emotional one factual. Facts make points. Emotions don't. Unless you are gullible.

Everyone reading this is open to make millions. Everyone reading this is open to the next opportunity. Most are open to .whatever including me. But together there are 1400 "Franchises" coming out that will likely be grouped together in one way or another and a stumble by one can bring down many. I write about those pitfalls to alert and help those on that trail. I simply believe many are unprepared and unrealistic about what is to come, the headwinds they face and the surprises they face.

Sales is easy when you have a product everyone needs. When you are in a crowded field of products most don't need, its gonna be ugly for 1390 or 1400 of them.

The future holds ever single answer. But so does the past!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Are we beginning to see the new marketing campaign for .whatever?

"The days of .com dominance will be coming to an end shortly, says Juan Diego Calle, founder of .CO" in an Inc article that I wrote about yesterday. 

Last Night Paul Stahura explained to me on Berkens Blog that my sale of eBet.com was because I am scared that .com domain values are going down and I was bailing. Of course that is as absurd nonsense and perhaps desperate as you can get!

He went on to say “Dot com is your father’s TLD.”

Really??

Here is my response:

And if that is going to be your marketing plan, good luck with that.
.Com is only like 20 years old and could not be served a drink in many states. lol

You have to show the benefits of those extensions listed and if you folks think you are going to do that by peeing on .com, all I can say is it is weak and you may be questioning why you spent the money you did on these.

All I said was “I don’t get it”

So have me understand. None of us do. You have to sell now not throw rocks at the house we all live in. Believe me, that dog won’t hunt. Not at all. So what are we really missing?

Why .camera and not .cam? I think .cam is much more universal regardless of the current objections. Now that does not mean I think .cam takes off or changes the world. But why is .camera better? I don’t get it.

So are we beginning to see their strategy or lack of one? I have explained in detail about selling something. This ain't selling anything. In sales you have to overcome objections. But you can't do it with empty rhetoric or grand predictions based on HOPING something will unfold even tho the evidence at hand points to the opposite outcome. You have to do it with well thought out LOGIC.

“Dot com is your father’s TLD.”

That is not logic. That is pure emotion. His other examples are flawed because he starts with a premise that I don't agree with. Like all traffic from .whatever comes directly from .com. Sorry, that is flawed. I don’t see it that way.

I think you have to have content on .whatever to increase the size of the pie. That takes nothing from .com the way I see it. It adds to an existing pie. And that is assuming a success.

I even wrote an article and asked what happens if the first 100 .whatevers out of the gate fail and what will it do to the others coming.

Where I ask: So in the event that the first 100 new extensions came to market and fell flat, what exactly would that spell for the other 900? It does not help their efforts it hinders their efforts. Even a winner could be weighed down by the sinking of others. And some are gonna sink right to the bottom.

Here is exhibit A.

I wrote many posts about .whatever over the last 6 months because I knew once it began it would be a few of us against many of them. I need to be on record so I can point to those words like I do today and the next couple years. I did not know their campaign would be based on misinformation.

Let the facts speak for themselves. Let the chips fall where they may. Anything less is desperate.

.com is not the enemy. But if that becomes their focus, they will fail even faster than any of us think.

Look, there are a lot of folks with a lot of money riding on this. But if this is how they are going into the sales arena to do battle, then they have even more problems and fears than I thought. Sales is about overcoming objections not bad mouthing obstacles. I wrote all about it just last week!

Here is an objection I wrote to Paul last night: "Why  .camera and not .cam? I think .cam is much more universal regardless of the current objections. Now that does not mean I think .cam takes off or changes the world. But why is .camera better? I don’t get it."

Okay, now talking about .com is not overcoming the objection. See what I mean? There has to be an answer ready. A good answer. Anything less and you can't make the sale. I am doing these folks a favor by pointing out these pitfalls.

Lastly, I will come at this always 2 ways. First as a domain investor and second as an end user. My focus is limited to that because that is what counts to me and my readers and the future.

A campaign of noise and misinformation will not win the day. Not telling folks about massive leaks to .com will not win the day. I am really trying to keep an open mind about all this. But the reaction says volumes.

We are all on record and time will tell everything. My posts are crystal clear and I use historical facts as my basis. Let's see what develops and we can match my words of 2013 with the reality of 2015 and 2016. I am no match against Calle, Stahura and Schilling. A one man band against hundreds. But thoughts that turn into reality are very powerful. So let the strongest thoughts win. Drinks are on me guys!

Rick Schwartz

PS: Nearly every argument you make will be no different than the argument .mobi made. That .xxx made. That .everything.else.already.made.becaise.the.path.is.the.same.and.so.might.be.the.outcome. See confusion might come into play. Are those urls or typos?

Evening Folks!

"The days of .com dominance will be coming to an end shortly, says Juan Diego Calle, founder of .CO" in a Inc article.

Hey Juan.....Bullshit! :-)

So this is the type of NOISE we will begin to hear. In articles like this one that sounds more like an advertorial than a fact based article.

We are going to be hit with this crap until these folks begin to die on the vine. I have the first 9 candidates right here that Michael Berkens wrote about this morning. As one commenter stated, .crap would be better than these:

.CAMERA

.CLOTHING

.EQUIPMENT

.GURU

.HOLDINGS

.LIGHTING

.SINGLES

.VENTURES

.VOYAGE

.Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

What I hope to do in time is have enough words and thoughts on record so the puzzle begins to fill in for those that think I am talking in code or other such stuff. "Why don't you develop?" an accusing voice would ask? I would try to explain that the only thing I might be doing is developing a job that might suck up all my time and take me away from MY vision and MY path and may even cost me money.

So I have had to walk around for years defending myself from those pointed fingers. I just saw something different. I could start at the end and not get bogged down by the stuff in the middle. All I had to do was be patient and survive the middle. I knew where it began and I bet the farm that I knew where it ended.

So ebet.com turned out to be an $80,000/year gig just for doing nothing but believing what I believed and letting nobody deter me from my beliefs. And the byproduct is that I am firmer today in my belief than ever before because it is far from theory. It is demonstrated fact and I am just one of many that share in that fact and demonstration.

Doing nothing can trump doing something when you have the patience to plant a seed and wait for that tree to appear. We can argue the size and beauty of the tree, but you can't argue that there is a tree. First one, then 2 and then 3 and before you know it there is a forest.

What is happening TODAY was fully predictable 20 years ago. That was even 3 years before I began. Fully predictable!!

Go search "Pyramid thinking". I did that for the first time this week. It just validated something I naturally do. I start at the end and work to the start and that way the path is oh so much easier. Answers first. Completely opposite of how we are wired.

I believe eventually there will be an opportunity with ebid.com. I know there is need, want and desire. The sale of ebet.com did not hurt the value of ebid.com. What it does is reinforce the value. Sets a floor for the value and knowing everyday that ticks by is a day that is not only costly because the value keeps going up but costly in missed opportunity and missed business and more growth and more clients. Something anyone by building on .whatever has to deal with. Not because I say so. Because basic business principles say so. The most basic. Elementary in fact. Not my fault that they miss the simplest of things.

So, I will sit on the beach every single day and never ever question the path I have chosen and many of us share.

The first can be a fluke. The second could be just luck. The third has to make you stop and think. And the forth just has me looking for #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10. I could list them right here, right now without breaking a sweat. And you know what?  None of those will be next. A couple of them are in the 8 figures. Imagine saying that 15 years ago. The world is creeping my way and to my vision one day at a time. No surprise on one hand and simply overwhelming on the other. Like looking at a lottery ticket as they pull one number after another and you are following along with the winning ticket.

My words from 1996-1999 stand a bit taller today and will continue to grow as we all evolve.

And when .whatever has a mighty success, the .com domain owner is going to have a mighty success with them. Much mightier than I ever envisioned. This only accelerates the future and future value. Wait and see the explosion that is here and will only intensify for the year ahead.  .Whatever is fueling that explosion because the smart ones are on it this time, this is the result!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

TheDomains.com is reporting "Spy Optic, Inc. of Carlsbad, California, United States of America, represented by the law firm Stetina Brunda Garred & Brucker has been found guilty Reverse Domain Name Hijacking on SpyOpticsOutlet.com."

Well Stetina Brunda Garred & Brucker you are about to be infamous! You and your client Spy Optic, Inc. of Carlsbad who will now reside on HallofShame.com for all time and for all to see.

Stetina Brunda Garred & Brucker I am going after YOU! And here are some of the reasons:

"The panelist took the complainant and its council “out to the wood shed”  over the complainant in which it cut and pasted language from another UDRP filing on another domain name SpyOpticsOutlet.org, owned by another person, into this complaint.

The panel was not happy and found RDNH although the domain holder didn’t respond."

Congrats guys! Stetina Brunda Garred & Brucker was beaten by a GHOST! You are now on the HallofShame.com. Well done!! Our INDUSTRY owns YOUR name!

You have been labeled and I have new content! Works out well for one of us!

And folks, I am going to focus more and more on these law firms. One attorney can bring down a firm of 1000. And if not bring them down, stain their reputation in a way that can never be fixed. NEVER!!!! Are you listening law firms?? NEVER be fixed. Are YOU willing to risk your PERSONAL reputation along with the reputation of the firm you work for and everyone working there? Because that is exactly what you are doing Stetina Brunda Garred & Brucker and other scum-bucket law firms engaged in this practice. YOU KNOW BETTER!! YOU are just as GUILTY as your client. Deal with it!

Remember, with each case of RDNH I will get a bit harsher. A bit louder. And this will CIRCULATE a bit further. Your PEERS will see and hear about this. You have STAINED your name in  a way that can not be fixed. My job is to point it out. So get mad at me?? Fine. Get mad a WIPO you low life worms!

Here is YOUR listing Stetina Brunda Garred & Brucker!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

We are just 1 week out from T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and sometimes weather is a challenge. In 2005 we were hit with a hurricane. In 2011 we were hit by monsoon rains. In 2012 it was just HOT! But I am here to report that as it looks this year, we will have none of that!

See summer does not end in Florida until sometime between October 5th and November 5th. Ya never know when the summer humidity and heat finally break. That is why we try to have the show as late in October or early in November as we can. It is simply THE best weather of the year. Some of the best in the world as a matter of fact.

85 degrees as a high each day, low humidity with virtually no chance of rain! Just GORGEOUS! Add in the ocean breeze and the smell of MONEY.......and that spells success and fun and life changing memories!

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Fort+Lauderdale+FL+USFL0149:1:US

If you have a problem booking a room, lmk! I know some of those rooms listed are no longer available.

See you next week at TRAFFIC #25 and the kickoff to our 10th year!

Over and out!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Until domaining I had branded for other parties and other products but my own branding was limited. The Internet gave me a chance to brand my own name. And I do have a brand. A couple of things may come to mind when you mention my name. He's an ass. In some circles they decided to brand me in their way. That's life. And that is being branded.

But aside from that I have branded myself as somebody that does not sell domains cheap. Actually somebody that only sells domains for bigger dollars. The chances of me selling domains for less than 6 figures diminishes every day. I think it may be over 5 years since I sold a domain under 6 figures. Working on another 6 figure sale now. Should be able to announce that next month. But sales like that are now common place throughout the Internet. A daily or weekly event. So hardly worth mentioning other than for the record.

I have also branded myself as one not to mess with when it comes to messing with my domains. Try and Reverse Hijack one of my domains and your life may never be the same. Sorry, call me crazy, I don't like thieves. Thieves in any way shape or form or I have a "Reaction" and I never forget.

I think I have branded myself as somebody that goes out of their way to help others. To leave bread crumbs along the trail so that others might find what they are looking for. As one that wears bright Hawaiian shirts. Although I have only been wearing polo type shirts for the last 4 years. :-)

What is your brand? How are you branded? They are not the same.

Brand is something you do proactively and branded is something others say about you or your product that you can't control.

The Internet is vast but it is also a pond. If I were to listen to the noise in the 1990's and even into 2000 and 2001, many would lead you to believe that the Internet was a fad. So who were those folks? Where are those folks? Shouldn't they be branded too? Branded for missing the biggest almost everything in history. Biggest shift of wealth for starters. The biggest equalizer ever invented for another. A gold mine for millions to mention one more. I could go on all day all night and never repeat myself. That is how big what they missed is. I wonder what companies these men and women of vision work for now?

Sorry, but I am beginning to think that the #1 Gross National Product of the world and especially the USA is incompetence. Incompetence at every level. Almost to the point where the blind are truly leading the blind.

So whether you like it or not the first and most important thing you will ever brand is yourself. A brand that you only have a certain amount of control of. But some of it will not be in your control and that is the key part of your brand.

Mention a name in the industry and a certain way you look at them is their brand. Just like any marketplace there are good brands and bad brands. Brands that are consistent and brands that are not. Branding may be the most popular word many use on the net and I think what many miss is that branding takes time. It usually does not happen overnight but most spend their energy trying to do it overnight. Very crowded there. They are all so busy trying to go "Viral".  But that may just be a shortcut because others pulled it off. About 500 a year out of 7 billion. Not very good odds. You have a better chance of winning a lottery than going viral.

So when you mess up branding and you are focused on the shortcut of going "Viral", the chances of success diminish exponentially.

It Does a person good to step back and realize that your brand is now a life brand. A brand that will last a lifetime and takes years to build and seconds to destroy. Some folks brand themselves right out of business. I am sure you can think of a company or a product that did that. BP oil almost did that a few years back.

There has been a learning curve for all of us on the Internet. But that curve is about done. There is a straight road and clarity ahead. There are protocols in place. Net etiquette is more widely known. The wild west called the Internet is no longer quite so wild. It is now being policed. There is an order being brought forward and I think you will see some folks dialing it back a bit because there are long-term ramifications for bad behavior. For saying something you should not say.

Most of us have learned to think twice before we say or post something online. We know it is in ink. We know the power that words and thoughts have and it is more powerful than the most dangerous of weapons. Most folks are just starting to realize that. Most are entitled to a mulligan or two. Those that don't learn will destroy their brands. Just look at Hollywood. Some of those folks are damaging their brands with the stupid and outrageous things they say. They can alienate 50% of their audience with one dumb tweet! And they do! And their incomes go down 50% with it.

The Internet is the most powerful medium ever invented and with things of power, we must be careful or it can explode in your face. So brand wisely my friends. There will be less and less second chances as we move forward.

Rick Schwartz