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

Morning Folks!!

I love mixing it up and arguing an interesting point with someone smart. They may bring up points I never thought of and hopefully I do the same for my arguing partner. Maybe "Argue" is the wrong word. But that's what you do in a courtroom. You argue your points. You may even be the "Devils Advocate". It's an important trait to learn in life.

But with a constructive argument the goal is to find either the truth or the best way or the best answer. It considers all fallout. All benefits and all circumstances. It's not an argument of anger, it's the argument of PROGRESS!! Searching for something unsure of.

Now if your goal is to win these arguments, YOU LOSE!!! The goal is to INFORM and EDUCATE!! It can even be heated. But again, not from anger, from the joy of climbing the mountain of thought and finding a treasure called "The answer".

Now compare that with arguing with a passive aggressive DUMMY! All you get is anger and fallout. Pure uncontrollable anger. Why? They don't like what you think! They don't like what you say! They don't like how you say it! They focus on winning and winning usually starts with some put downs instead of facts. Emotion based arguing. It's not constructive arguing and therefor it is dumb. And those that choose to partake in that you just assume are dumb too.

So, don't argue with the dumb, just ignore them. They are toxic people. Those are the folks to avoid in life. Let them argue with themselves.

I like business arguments. I want to discuss the merits of anything in hopes of making the best decision on everything. People should not agree on everything. But the one thing they should agree on is to get as much info and facts as possible before making a decision on anything. That happens via argument that leads to agreement.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I look at the world differently than the average Joe. I have been scorned all my life for doing it. But this is just another form of drilling down and looking at things differently than the masses. You know, the folks wired by other people to do things they want them to do when they want them to do it, how they want them to do it and how they must dress and where they must do it from. AKA a SLAVE to a job not in your complete control but controlled by another.

The game of life is to work hard, get rewarded, live good and save so when you are old and frail you are not in a desperate state. Many never achieve that. But many never think much about that either.

I have an inquisitive mind. I ask a lot of questions and then see if the answers pass the common sense test.

So, now it is time to understand how I tick. I am always early and never late. Very early. In this case I am vaulting over 2019 and I begin my countdown to 2020. It's just a different way of looking at something. But it's also valid and accurate and rewarding.

My time horizons consist if minute by minute stuff. Hour by hour stuff. Day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. I have also demonstrated I can do decade by decade. Just depends which lens I want to use. My box is full of different lenses to see different things. Just like an astronomer might do to see different and distant places. Anything from a binocular to a Hubble Telescope. TIME works much the same way.

I got into domains because of the lens I was looking thru. But beware of the rear view mirror. That does not tell the future. That chases yesterday and the shiny objects that go with it. Study HISTORY and that does not happen via a rear view mirror. You have to DOVETAIL history with the future. It's always about the future but that future is always based and built on history.

What happens when you are driving? The steering wheel on a car is you ticket to the future is it not?? Every foot you drive, every mile is a step to the future. What if you take your hands off the steering wheel and use the rear view mirror to steer the car? Here is a hint, it won't end well. You will crash. That's exactly what happens with so many in life itself. In business and in personal circumstance.

So an important piece of the puzzle in finding wealth and finding success and finding new horizons and new inventions and new opportunities and new whatever is to RISK thinking differently and being ridiculed for it. Ridiculed by folks that could learn a thing or two but are too busy being stuck on a rat wheel.

So enjoy 2019!! I am on to 2020 and I'll let you know how it's going from the vantage point and my lens set to look back on 2019 not to react to it!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

When I negotiate a multi faceted domain deal I don't even START the final negotiations until they agree to pay my legal expenses. Negotiating any bona fide contact may easily cost several thousand dollars. My deals cost up to $2ok because there are a lot of moving parts.

Why should I be out of pocket thousands of dollars if the deal falls thru? It's bad enough to waste the time let alone the money. Now this happens after the basic deal is made. But the deal MUST be translated into an ENFORCEABLE contract. That can get expensive as the 2 sides weave the wording.

And the keyword is "Enforceable" which means if you have a sloppy contract, you have nothing.

I started doing this many years ago and I do this with ALL contracts of a d0main purchase. Not sure how many others if any do this. But this is my standard operating procedure.

I am not talking about cash deals. That's why we have Escrow.com. But any contract, you gotta send my lawyer $2,000 if you want me to take you seriously. Why should I be out of pocket if the buying party is not serious or does not follow thru? Am I willing to lose a deal over this? Of course! Have I? NEVER!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Let me start with my "Update" in yesterday's post.

UPDATE!: In the past 24 hours I have seen 2 high profile incidents where on TV they did not send their viewers to Twitter or Facebook but instead are promoting their own WEBSITE! We may be at a watershed moment. People got the message about controlling their own destiny!

I continue to see commercials and I am seeing social media links that are GONE and replaced with their domain name! This is a BIG deal! It is widespread and spreading very fast.

As many of you know I closed my Twitter Account last December and soon after I did the same thing with Facebook. Why? One word. TRUST! TRUST! TRUST! I no longer trust these platforms in any way, shape or form. These platforms can ruin your life as fast as you can post something that offends somebody.

I experienced it first hand. Threats of violence and worse. If you hit a nerve, watch out! But the way that society is now designed your social media is part of your credit. Part of your job application. Part of everything you might ever do!

But now back to business. They relied on these platforms to open shops and do business and customer service. That was plain IDIOTIC! It's one thing to make a contact on social media but the first thing folks should be doing is directing them right back to their website to help them with whatever they need.

Businesses work so hard to be cool so they bought in to the Social Media nonsense. Then they watched as many got bitten and others were put out of business overnight on the whim of some MORON working at one of these companies. Their stocks are down for a reason. What's coming is going to be ugly for them.

Please pay attention to TV commercials and magazine advertising. The shift and the speed of that shift is stunning. They seem to finally get it! Putting a businesses destiny in the hands of third parties like Twitter, Facebook, and Google is simply insane. Especially NOW with what we have all learned this year.

Whether that helps to ignite domains again is unclear. Why? Well, they already own their domain, they just did not promote it or use it in the correct way. Then biggest opportunity in domaining is with companies upgrading their domains to something more prime. Big sector and big money!

This is a perfect example of why you need to pay attention on a daily basis. When things change, it may take a long time, but when that change actually happens, it happens very fast!

So look at the TV commercials and you will see social media links are GONE and replaced with their domain name. THAT'S a GIANT LEAP towards the right direction!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

You can expect seeing Christmas related things starting very soon. As early as today. But for many businesses that depend on Christmas, it's over. The cake is already baked. The orders placed in June and July are arriving NOW!! Christmas for Business happens in the summer. EARLY summer! If they place an order in China TODAY, it won't even arrive until Christmas or later!! Like I said, Christmas is over for business. The only thing left is selling and tallying up the totals.

Now many don't know or understand this. That also means they don't know while everyone is focusing on Christmas, Business is planning for 2019 and beyond. The marketing, the strategy, the budgeting. That's an important time for domainers. Business is being done. This is OUR season!!

That means take offers more seriously. There are real hunters out there right now. They are aiming for something specific. In domaining your job is to have something specific.

And speaking of something specific, I would imagine we are looking at the last Christmas for Sears as we know it. Once the best run company in America and maybe the world, is going bye bye. There is no excuse for this but POOR LEADERSHIP! HORRIBLE LEADERSHIP! Poor vision. NO Vision! They could not make the leap to this new century. They did not even try. The rise and fall of Sears should be taught in every business school but it probably never happen.

It's tough to learn business in school. You learn business by opening a business. Then you are forced to go thru each and every step. You learn from Failure and success. You learn by selling and buying and paying your bills on time. You learn by doing. At the end of the day, there is no substitute for experience and talent.

Getting back to Christmas. Could be a WHOPPER!! Especially for big ticket items. People have jobs and they have $$$ in their pockets. It's been 10 YEARS since the crash. They are ready to let loose!

So now that we have an idea about Christmas, let's look past it. As I stated above, Sears is gonna go Bye Bye! But who else will collapse and have to shut their doors? I guess that depends on how much of that pie Amazon snaps up.

Malls continue to have more and more space for lease. Especially in suburban areas. Times are a changin' and in changing times you can always make money.

One thing you MUST and NEED to believe. There is more opportunity RIGHT NOW than any other moment in history. There is an abundance of opportunity. Every new product presents opportunity.

10 years ago when the crash happened, the first iPhone came out. Many shrugged their shoulders. I wrote about the iPhone in detail. I also said that if I had nothing to do, I would have gone into the iPhone accessory business. Of course I was not taken seriously. But I was serious and you can look back and see what a HUGE opportunity it WAS!

I still make $$$ from my Vanity 800 Numbers but I am no longer active in that business. I am still making $$$ in Domains, but am retired other than sharing my views from time to time. I walked away from the trade show business for reasons I have described previously. I made a 7 figure hit with Bitcoin but I am out of Crypto as well. I think of businesses to open all the time. Then I realize I am retired and I just don't want to work that hard or work again.

What's the next big thing??

Opportunity is plentiful. What is not plentiful is imagination, ideas, follow-thru, patience, understanding, PROFIT. So as we roll around to another Christmas season, pay close attention to what happens. THIS is your school! This is the time of year to get new information. This is the season you prepare for your future not your past.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Go to any construction site and you will see the "Lunch Truck" come by several times a day to sell food.

So imagine that the internet is the construction site, the address is of course the domain name and the lunch truck is the domain industry. Now imagine there is a HUGE construction zone and multiple structures are all being built at the same time. Now you have many dozens of those Lunch Trucks serving those workers.

What happens when the construction is over? There are no longer 4000 projects but only a few here and there? What happens? You know what happens! Those trucks go bye bye. They go out of business or they have to move to another place that is developing. But if things are pretty well developed, not many lunch trucks will survive. The numbers will shrink dramatically.

Well, that is where the Internet is. It's built up. It's matured. The Lunch Trucks are gone! Yes, some may choose opening a restaurant, but the cost difference between the two is no small matter. Most can't make that leap.

Point is things are always evolving and you need to see that evolution on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years basis. It takes time and effort to develop this skill and part of it may be just a gift or is natural or whatever. But it's always about practice. Predictions are not a whim if you hone this skill. They are based on facts and elements and conditions and a host of other things like life long experience and history.

Point is the demand for domains is down. Way down. We went from almost 100% end user need and customers to nearly 100% domain speculators with very few end users. The Internet is built! In 1993-1995 the building started. The Internet has passed Critical Mass. It is now mature. No longer an infant. All grown up. The game has changed. It will continue to change.

The most promising sector today are those businesses upgrading to better domain names. The .Net guys acquiring the .Com. The extra word at the beginning of a domain that gets eliminated. MyThis.com or VisitThat.com or OurProduct.com etc.

Then you have the startups. Most of them come and go very fast. Usually they make a mistake with the domain name and that becomes their biggest hurdle and they don't even know it.

The high end domain investor class is all but gone. Simply put, the risk is too great and liquidity is no longer there. It's no longer a safe and good investment.

The last quarter of the year that starts on Monday is important. Important to domaining and business in general. Big business is done and big decisions are made. October/November/December are HUGE month in domaining. And I like February and March as well with new budgets and fresh cash. Domain Buying Season is HERE!

Is the big money in domaining over? Probably not. 2018 sales seems inline with 2017 sales so far. But it may take a multi-year break at some point and that will change the landscape of what the domain sector looks like and who participates in it.

Supply and demand folks. Supply is overflowing and demand is going down like Sears customers. The Need, Want, Desire, Project levels out there are not what they once were. Not even close. And, it never will be ever again. Sorry to burst your bubble. But the #1 part of business is dealing with reality and that reality is in constant change.

If it were not for the China Frenzy, the entire domain industry would have already been unrecognizable today. Frenzy's come and go. The best you can do is put yourself in a good position for the next frenzy. What's the next one? Who knows? That's why you need to pay attention and evolve with the times. Times are a changin'!

I made my fortune by buying domains from domainers. Those same domainers lost fortunes by selling to me. Sell your domains and dreams to dreamers. Don't sell to domainers. But soon, many may have no choice as the walls begin to close in.

My income was mostly PPC and rose to about $4.5MM/year until the crash. In 2009 it went down to $750,000. The first year since 1998 that PPC did not earn at least $1.5MM-$3.0MM or more. Today, not even $100k from PPC. But still enough to pay all the renewals. My goal since 1995 was to make at least $1 Million/year online.

PPC was a bonus. I never depended on it because I knew it could go away overnight. But that crash is directly related to the value of domains and the marketplace of buying domains. The equation changed drastically. I could no longer justify buying a $100k domain from another domainer because I could no longer calculate a return. Before then, I had a decent idea of how many years or months I would have to hold to break even. That would make my domain purchases free. They were all free.

The $42,000 mortgage for Porno.com was paid in the first 6 weeks. The $12,500 mortgage on Ass.com was paid in 125 days. Some were paid off even faster. The slower ones still were paid off. Every prime adult domain I bought was FREE! Paid for themselves in spades and then still had the domain itself.

Then I took those profits and bought mainstream domain names before there was even a mainstream. There was no way to get a return for those names back then. They could not be monetized. But I kept ploughing that money back into them regardless as I knew that was the future and that basket was huge compared to adult. Eventually my mainstream domains dwarfed the adult ones in size and scope.

There was a sense of urgency to BUY. That sense of urgency is GONE! The "Unique moment in History" has all but passed. It lasted 20+ years, but that window is about closed for the first stage. The second stage has to come with very big money to seize YESTERDAY!

In 1999-2000 I wrote many times about the collapse of the Internet. Brick and Mortar stores tried to kill it off. Said it was unsafe etc. etc. But I had a saying: "From the ashes will rise the REAL Internet". And it did. The collapse left ashes but those ashes rose to where we are today.

Business is about 2 things. History and the future. You can't see or predict the future without a keen understanding of the past. Direction comes from history and your future comes from the destination you decide on.

So it may be a great idea to be in the Lunch Truck business but part of being in business is to see the future trends and not being blind to them. Change is coming. It comes every moment of every day. Your mind has to be as fluid as the things around you. Time to move that lunch truck to a new city. A new project. A new destination or the food will rot and you will go broke!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Now that GTLD's have been around and the shine has worn off, let's see where we are at.

So, there was a lot of excitement and BS about the new Gtld's. But let's make a comparison.

Imagine you are attracted to someone of the opposite sex. You've had a crush on them for a while. You really want to go out with them. You feel like you are in love. Finally it happens and you go out.

First they take you to a dirty and crummy second class restaurant but you overlook that. Your date is not dressed well but you overlook that. He has a shiny new car but it does not run well, it is very uncomfortable and has no A/C. But you even overlook that.

You finally get to a private and comfortable spot and then you find out they have STINKY FEET! That does it! Date is over. Crush is gone and back to the drawing board!

Many domainers fell in love and dated GTLD's with VERY STINKY FEET!!! LOL

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Does your business have all the bases covered? Did you do your homework? Were you smart or dumb?

If you were to sign a contract for mall space and you sell pretzels, you may include a clause that prohibits the mall from leasing space to a competitor. That's just insuring your success and your business. There are dozens of small things that as business people we have to think of BEFORE something goes wrong.

You don't have to run your business on an "Exact Match Domain" but it's a lot smarter for YOU to own that domain than to allow a disruptive force come in and eat your lunch.

Strategically businesses have been slow to recognize the opportunity as well as the pitfalls. Now if you are a small business and you don't intend to grow that much then maybe it is less important.

If you are late to an industry an Exact Match Domain gets you recognized and taken seriously in an instant. Of course the rest is up to you. But that "Instant" is PRICELESS!!

While many focus on getting millions of visitors to their site, I think that's not how the universe really works. Let's say you get 10 people to your site, maybe the conversion of those 10 into sales have more value. Imagine a retail store getting a million customers all at once.The place would be overwhelmed and probably shoplifted out of business. Compare that with serving 1 customer at a time and getting a sale.

An Exact Match Domain has the ability to bring in real sales at a higher rate than other ways of gathering traffic. A permanent trickle of sales.

In the real world a store may hire a person to put 1000 door hangers on people's homes. From that 1000 they only need 2 or 3 new clients to make the effort worthwhile. An Exact Match Domain can be looked at as a permanent door hanger. It will ALWAYS provide a TRICKLE OF SALES!! Oh you don't want a trickle? Then how many other sales do you piss away genius? Sales happen 1 at a time. If you throw a sale in the garbage you have to work long and hard to get the next one to replace it.

Just remember during that Trickle of business, a GIANT ELEPHANT may magically appear! The way I see the Internet and a website it is all about having as many doors open as possible. As many lanes going thru your intersection as possible. Never turn a blind eye to more business because it will make your competitor stronger while making you weaker.

Now here is a confession. A BIG ONE!

Candy.com no longer needs the domain Candy.com. That does not mean they will ever get rid of it or stop using it. What it does mean is that it accomplished the mission. It took two 20 somethings with nothing but a great domain and a plan and that allowed them to be taken seriously. Allowed them into places they would not have gotten into with GregsCandy.com. It gave them the fuel and credibility to grow. It was their Booster Rocket that allowed them to crash thru all the layers and competitors. They went from $0 to some pretty staggering numbers that I am not at liberty to say. But the point is now they are in outer space. The domain launched them. But as much as I am a proponent of domains, I will also concede that the effectiveness of the domain and the greatest value comes early on. Credibility and recognition. Then it's all about performance of course. But that "Location" gets you a look. THAT is the single greatest value in an Exact Match Domain.

It's also impressive when you present your company going the extra mile to market and attract customers. Smart business is attractive business.

I don't take search or social media seriously when it comes to basing an online business. That's strictly bonus traffic. That happens from being relevant. From just doing your work and your homework each and every day and those days turn into years.

An exact match domain will not guarantee your success. But it will guarantee a host of other things for smart business people that can exploit the benefits from a few added sales and faster growth.

The Internet is nothing more than the game of Monopoly. Choose well, you will do well. Position yourself right and things will work out.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Sure I can rub people the wrong way sometimes. Many times. That's what happens in life when you are totally frank and honest when asked a question. I don't put if thru my "Friend Filter" to come up with a bogus answer not to piss them off. My friends are real friends to begin with because they KNOW I am going to tell it like it is. They don't expect me to protect them. They would not even ask!

I am driven, have passion, certain of my direction, steady and don't allow others to distract me from my vision and goals. But what rubs many the wrong way in the beginning is what also makes great friends, allies and associates down the road that last a lifetime.

Look, many, strike that, MOST folks are much more 'Charming' than me. When I think back in my life of all those 'Charmers', their stock usually goes down in time. They are great when you first meet them. They are likable at bars and with one liners but they lack substance and character when they over promise and under deliver. As a charmer many others will then begin to make excuses for them and that just fuels what they do best. Charm. Their shortfall will eventually blame you. But hey, they are charming!

Charm eventually wears thin when the substance is missing. When others find out it was a bunch of smoke. When charm actually turns into being lied to, fooled and mislead. Ah, the road of a charmer. If I was shortsighted, I would certianly take that road and DELAY my worries. Charmers are in all walks of life and business. They are all around us!

But I am not wired like that. Ask me a question and I don't think to myself  "What do they want to hear?" "What will they like to hear?" I take a different path. I tell them what I actually believe, what I actually think and what I see. That of course gets me in trouble and some, MANY, get pissed.

But while they are pissed at me and charmed by the phony charmer there is an intersection and at some point, usually 3-5 YEARS, I can win over most of my enemies. At least the ones with good hearts, open minds and some sense of being objective.

I win them over by just being consistent and doing what I do and them observing and understanding how I tick. They actually get to the point of appreciation in many cases becuase I am consistent. I have spine. I have a set of values that most share. I think character counts more than anything on this planet. I think character counts even after you are dead and gone. Character was the first thing I ever wrote about online. I know many don't care. I do. A LOT! The people I associate with do. The people I do business with do. The people I try to reach do. Some, hopefully most. The others, I avoid like the plague. I burn those bridges.

Some folks demand respect. I always went about it the old fashioned way and try and earn it year after year and decade after decade. I didn't always have good character. It once came with excuses for my own shortcomings of which there were many. I was a "D" student! But I turned it around. We all have that power.

I learned that excuses were weak. Calamity and drama follows the weak and is weak. Unintended consequences are weak. Turn that around and you build a strong character and life. I learned to put one foot in front of the other and take the weight off my shoulders of the entire journey. I learned to work hard when there was money to be made and not stress out when things were tough.

I remember stealing baseball cards from a store in New York City when I was about 10 maybe 11. I got caught by the owner. I took about 5 packs of 10 cent baseball cards and just stuck them in my pocket. Luckily in those days they did not call the police. They would just put the fear of God in you and that was usually good enough for most. It was for me. I never shared that with anyone until today. Not proud of it, but I was 10 and that is one of the stupid things 10 year olds do. That was probably the day I started to build my character from ground zero.

btw, I collected some 3000 baseball cards back in the early and mid 60's. We would "Flip Cards" in the hallways and I was really good. I won a lot. Ever play "Leaners"?

When we moved to Maryland, my mom made me throw those cards away. 3 shopping bags full of them. Those cards eventually were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly much more! They were all from the mid 1950's to mid 1960's. Gems and true collectibles.

So maybe my domaining career began back then. It was definitely the beginning of my collecting career. Coins and Stamps came next. I still love collecting. Besides domains I collect cars, watches, cell phones, hotel room keys, Real Estate, Shirts, Presidential memorabilia and Autographs. Oh, did I mention domain names?  Some say it's a pretty good collection.

The first day I ever came online I knew from that point forward it was all about reputation and character. Those were the 2 things you could not screw up or you were DONE! So I carefully built an online presence. I earned my wings with my thoughts and deeds. I made sure I was consistent and I was careful in the words I used. I was one of few that used their real name back then. I loved this medium the minute I figured this one aspect out. Everything was on the record with a time stamp!

The Internet is the Magic Carpet that has the ability to make your dreams come true. It also has the ability to destroy. It's the burial spot for many reputations because it is all written in ink and it never goes away. It really is on your permanent record!

In life I always give folks a choice. "I can tell you what you want to hear." OR "I can tell you the truth as I see it." Well stories are for KIDS not business people! I REFUSE to tell you what you want to hear. I refuse. It's not in me. And that pisses people off. It's natural. And many stay pissed at me for years. That's on them. That's their loss.

My only sin, telling it straight and they can't handle it. I Talk about numbers. Numbers have no personality. They are an exact science and they do tell a story. They do paint a vivid picture. They do mean something. They show the way to the future. So, folks that ignore or run from numbers are FOOLS at best and that alone pisses folks off the most! Sorry, you're a fool if you bastardize the numbers. It shows a person that can't handle the truth. That runs and has to bend it to survive. Numbers are the ONLY constant we have and it puts fear in many because they don't want to hear what the numbers say. What they SCREAM out! How they diminish their dreams. How they fool, fools!

But during those years a lot of folks will blow smoke up their asses. They will find themselves on the short end of the stick. Even their best friends will lie, cheat and steal during those years. And me, I am just always the same. I don't change with the wind. I can't be true to anyone if I am not true to myself. Just look at my writings from 20 years ago and you can see the same tone, thoughts and consistency. I can be the devils advocate. I can see both sides and WANT to see both sides. It's like a fork in the road. I like to see what's down both paths before I commit to one.

So the powerful be damned. I am not a team player because there is no team! My only allegiance in life is to be honest and tell it like it is from my viewpoint. So I did not fall in line with the industry on GTLD's regardless of how many domainers were at the trough or how many friends. Regardless of the pressure or anger. Regardless of the consequences. Regardless of how friendly we were. But friends don't lie and bullshit friends. The truth is a bigger and a better friend than any domainer is.

So time has always been my best ally and now you know why! Maybe that helps you understand how I roll and I can win you over. Maybe not. I don't care. I am always on record for the record and if you can't handle a straight answer then don't ask for it. Go read Dr. Seuss. He is much better at fairy tales and bedtime stories than I can ever be. It's not becoming of a business person to be an ostrich.

Rick Schwartz

PS: I started this post on September 13, 2012 and finished it this week. More to come from the vaults. Never before published blog posts!

Morning Folks!!

Are you a local company or are you a global company? If you are a local company you can do lots of different things and tricks and not worry about it. Your business is small. It's intended to stay small. That's fine. However if you intend to grow and grow without limits then you may want to be careful of how you present your company to the public.

Your domain name screams out whether you are local or global. You cant silence her. You are either on the world stage or you are not. You are in the major leagues or you are not. You make the championship round or you dont. If people forget who #2 is imagine when you are 3rd or 4th or 34th or 434th.

Why place any type box around your future that can only limit and suppress that future? Why take that global ability away from yourself?

Cctld's are fine. But it does say we service a limited area. It silently says that. It doesn't matter what extension you choose is fine and it will work, but without the.com counterpart you limit yourself. You communicate to the public things you may not want to communicate. And you're not there to correct them. Remember that! You are not there to correct them. Perception is reality. The perception is local not global. That's the perception whether you like it or not. Whether you accept it or not. Whether it's helpful or not.

Recognize it and give it a number value. Because that number will never be zero. What number am I talking about? Business loss. Business loss multiplied by the lifetime of that business.

That's the loss that's 100% profit. Pure gold. It can't be dismissed. Those that dismiss this number dismiss all types of other things as well and it's costly. They don't count this, they don't count that. Eventually they may go broke. They underestimate EVERYTHING!

I do the opposite. I ADD 20% to every expense whether needed or not. That way when something unexpected happens, and it always does, I am financially prepared and it does not make a dent.

I would make domainers cry if they saw how may people get the extension wrong. Tell 100 people just ONE TIME that your website is at whatever.net and you will have close to 50% go to the .com counterpart and YOU are not there to tell them they got it wrong. And that's with a .net. What happens with .crap?

Rick Schwartz