The Domain King's® thoughts on domain names, web traffic, increasing web sales, success, life, and plain-old Business & Marketing 101. Nothing happens until a sale is made!
I can't stand self-pity. I can't stand the mindset of a victim. I can't stand to hear folks complain and whine about things they themselves control. Then spend most of their energy in life on excuses. Each if us are in charge of our own destiny except many either contract their destiny out or don't know they have control.
Deaf, Dumb (now they say 'Mute') and Blind but not STUPID! But not LAZY. But not full of SELF-PITY. But not a VICTIM.
So what's the excuse for ANYBODY today living in these times with tools and opportunity more than at any time in all of history? Laziness? Bad attitude? DUMB in the other sense?
During the past year or two I have mentioned Helen Keller to multiple persons. Two with a Masters Degree. The response: 'Who is Helen Keller?' Really? With a Masters? Are you kidding me?
Somewhere along the line we have dumbed down society to a point where some parts are virtually unrecognizable. Sorry, I just don't know how these people made it through Grade school, middle school, high school, college, post graduate degree and end up as an EMPTY VESSEL!
Maybe the top management at Borders went to the same schools? Maybe I am the idiot out of touch. But history is history and somewhere upon the building blocks called a FOUNDATION, there are things missing. Important things that make an impression on you and always keep you keenly aware of just how lucky you are to be living in this time and age.
Is it easy? It never is and it never was and it never will be. So deal with it. Who are WE to complain when besides all these tech tools we have the tools we were born with that she did not and she is a winner for the ages! So what is the excuse of so many when at this MOMENT there is more opportunity than all of history combined? Sorry they don't believe it.
The enemy is within. So no matter who you are, the enemy is within. Very few outside forces can stop true determination. You either have the constitution of a steam roller and move forward or you wallow in all the bullshit that swirls in the heads of those that don't get it. Once you harness the force within, very few things can stop you.
Helen Keller had a reason to be a victim and wallow in self pity and the story started there. But at SIX she began to grow out of it. At SIX. Deaf, Dumb, Blind. What's OUR excuse??
Be sure to keep watching the videos. There is a video a commercial and another video and another commercial. The videos run a little over 1 minute each. Except when you get to Alexander Grahm Bell at 43 mnutes.
Did I mention she co-founded the ACLU?
Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Charlie Chaplin were among those on her Journey along with close to a dozen Presidents.
Graduated from Radcliffe with honors. Teacher, journalist, movie star, author and the list goes on and on.
And your excuse for whatever is what?
I think a day studying each Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Ben Franklin, The Wright Brothers will help you understand Jobs and Gates and maybe even YOU! Reach DEEP folks! We all have the ability to join this club. There are dozens if not hundreds more. Each story an inspiration. Take a week off. Go learn about the great men and women of history and ask how they could achieve so much with so little and today so many achieve so little with so much!! Ask that!
Then maybe you will understand why Monday is my favorite day of the week while the masses dread it.
So when I made yesterday's short but what I felt was an important post, I got the following as a comment:
'This your termination letter.
Over 6 month I've been subscribed to your blog with a desire to learn what makes a successful domain investor.
Here is what I picked up thus far.
1. You are very smart and people that buy your domains are also very smart. 2. You have a vision and people that buy your domains also have a vision. 3. You were in the right place at the right time, and that makes you very smart and gives you a vision. 4. Everybody else that does now share your vision is a looser and has no vision.
I think that pretty much sums it up.
And since there is nothing more (or ever) to learn I have no choice to remove your blog from my reader.
Good luck, Your former subscriber.'
Of which this was my response:
'Anthony, sorry to hear you are GIVING UP at the start of things. That's what will make you a loser in life. Nothing I can say can or can't do that.
Sorry I took you out of your comfort zone. Your ACTIONS or any ones ACTIONS are what makes winners and losers. Or in-actions.
So you went off the deep end on #4.
My vision does not invalidate somebody else's vision. But if their vision fails....then what? Am I supposed to make believe there was a different reality?
Did Borders have a chance to stay in business? Who dropped the ball there? Don't you think dissecting something like that has value? Decision makers that were trusted to make good decisions ran their company out of business. So is it off limits to point that out? Ask the CEO, President, 25 VP's how they did that?
Giving up is what makes somebody a loser Anthony. And if you are running away, then it is because I said something that hit close to home and pissed you off. Good!
So if you have been reading for 6 months and got nothing....you are either on a different planet or have something else going on. I wish you luck former subscriber. Whatever you are looking for comes from within, so blame away!'
I wonder how many MILLIONS of folks tried to make money on the Internet and instead just got burned out? How many did not approach the net in a strategic manner? Ok, got me there. MOST did not approach the Internet in a strategic manner and therefore are either a generation behind or will have to rethink things.
The net is a marathon with a number of sprints in the middle. Problem is most don't know when to walk or when to run. But even if you are behind, there is ONE THING that can still vault you into contention if not the outright lead. If you approached this marathon the right way, DOMAINS were what you focused on FIRST and that gave us all the luxury of doing what we have done for all these years.
But now we are in for a 3 year sprint. A sprint to places we have not been or seen before. Mainly because there are so many tools now to employ and as long as you got the domain part right, the wind will ALWAYS be at your back from now on.
There are 2 kinds of companies. Those with online strategies and those that just know all the keywords to say without saying anything. Companies that get it and companies that are about to have their lunch eaten. Barnes and Noble vs Borders. One had an online strategy and one did not. One survived and one did not.
This will play out in sector after sector and industry after industry. EACH will have their Barnes and Noble that wins and each will have a Boarders and they lose.
So why can't otherwise intelligent people see this SIMPLE thing coming when we already have evidence?
In the next week or so RicksBlog.com is moving. After 6 years at Typepad, we will be starting our 7th year on Wordpress. Typepad works for me but it does have limitations and I am hoping this move will lead to wider circulation with new tools that I can use effectively.
For me this is all warming up for the real season that is starting now. After waiting so many years to START my journey I never wanted to do it before because tools and templates and other collaborative services were not around then that could be used effectively. That is no longer the case.
We know know what success looks like on the Internet as well as what failure looks like. We have more information and much more sophistication. Since I had no focus, my job was to wait out the first few rounds and enter at a different point in time. THIS point in time. I made a conscious decision that I had a better shot at success by waiting.
By waiting there would be more understanding as well. Demands and markets would develop and they have. In life we have all kinds of 'Ages' starting with the 'Dark Ages' and now surpassing the 'Information Age'. The Internet itself has gone through a parallel except the process was much faster. The dark ages may have been pre-domain names. The 'Bubble' could be another 'Age'. Then the era of 'Enlightenment' that we are just passing through. Etc. etc. etc.
That's how I see it. And if I were to see it that way and I did and I do, then maybe I would sit back and say it is better to work smarter and not harder and that all the effort required of the first 1-10 ages would have left me exhausted and spent when the REAL game began. So I looked at the first 20 as mere training for what is starting now. Training. Building a large footprint of a foundation and little more. Waiting for the right moment to have that foundation take shape and then begin to build something that will last for ages. Generational.
Here we go again! ANOTHER decision of 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacking has just come down and this time we have to go down under.
The Complainant is Adjudicate Today Pty Limited of Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia represented by Moray & Agnew, Australia. The domain, adjudicate.org.au.
I have 35 such cases so far and each win will discourage the next would-be hijacker. A tip of the hat to all owners below that fought and a big congrats to the attorney that represented them! I will list any and all cases as I learn of them. In time we hope decisions like these will will make the next IDIOT think twice before tey attempt to STEAL something they have no legal or moral rights to.
And a special tip of the hat to John Berryhill who is the leading RDNH attorney in the world. I am counting and will post how many wins he has recorded on behalf of his clients. I would guess about 1/3 of all decisions. So if you are up against Berryhill or Neu or Keating or a few others, good luck! You'll need it. Save yourself a great loss and embarrassment and WITHDRAW your case and send the other party their expense money and then get down to this thing we call 'Capitalism' and NEGOTIATE!!
If you are on thin ice, and found out to be GUILTY, you and your company will be listed right here and in all future blog posts and interviews relating to this and I reserve my right to use your attempted theft at every chance I get. Let the PUBLIC decide who is the THIEF! Who is the party found GUILTY of REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKING! Each case will be included in the book I am writing as well.
Case #3 CinemaCity.com The Complainant is Prime Pictures LLC of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), represented by Law offices of Vince Ravine, PC, United States of America (“USA”). Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
Case #4 CollectiveMedia.com The Complainant is Collective Media, Inc., New York, United States of America, represented by Lowenstein Sandler PC, United States of America is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
Case #7 Mess.com Kiwi Shoe Polish Company, The Complainant is Mess Enterprises, San Francisco, California, of United States of America, represented by Steve Clinton, United States of America is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
Case #8 Goldline.com The Complainant is Goldline International, Inc., represented by Spataro & Associates is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
Case #10 CarSales.com The Complainant is carsales.com.au Limited of Burwood, Victoria, Australia represented by Corrs Chambers, Westgarth, Australia is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
Case #11 Proto.com The Complainant is Proto Software, Inc., New York, New York, United States of America, represented by Byron Binkley, United States of America is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
Case #12 TrailBlazer.com The Complainant is Trailblazer Learning, Inc. dba Trailblazer, Caledonia, Michigan, United States of America, Self-represented by Brett W. Company COO, Caledonia, Michigan, United States of America is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker.
Case #13 DreamGirls.com The Complainant is Dreamgirls, Inc., Tampa, Florida, United States of America, represented by Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, Los Angeles, California, United States of America and have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case #15 Windsor.com Complainant in this administrative proceeding is Windsor Fashions, Inc., a California corporation with a principal place of business in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. Complainant is represented in this proceeding by Abraham M. Rudy, Esq. and Julie Waldman, Esq., Weisman, Wolff, Bergman, Coleman, Grodin & Evall LLP, Beverly Hills, California, United States of America. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case #16 Mindo.com Complainants are Scandinavian Leadership AB and Mindo AB of Uppsala, Sweden, internally represented. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case # 17 and Sha.com he Complainant is Albir Hills Resort, S.A. of Alfaz del Pi Alicante, Spain, represented by PADIMA, Abogados y Agentes de Propiedad Industrial, S.L., Spain. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case # 18 etatil.com The Complainants are ÖZALTUN OTELCİLİK TURİZM VE TİCARET LTD. ŞTİ. of Istanbul, Turkey, Allstar Hotels LLC of New York, Unites States of America and Mr. Metin ALTUN of Istanbul, Turkey, represented by Istanbul Patent & Trademark Consultancy Ltd., Turkey. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case # 19 Takeout.com. Complainant is Tarheel Take-Out, LLC of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America (“U.S.”), represented internally. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case # 20 WallStreet.com The Complainant is Wall-Street.com, LLC of Florida, United States of America (the “United States” or “US”), represented by Flint IP Law, United States. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case # 21 parvi.org found for the complainant in 2009 but in 2012 the courts rules that theCity of Paris, France was guilty of 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacking' in a landmark case that resulted in a $125,000 judgement against the city.
Case #22 Gtms.com The Complainant is Sustainable Forestry Management Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of Bermuda, with its principal place of business in London, United Kingdom. The Complainant is represented by its general counsel, Mr. Eric Bettelheim. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'.
Case #23 PetExpress.com The Complaintant is Airpet Animal Transport, Inc. represented by Mark W. Good of Terra Law LLP, California, USA. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'
Case #24 ColdFront.com Complainant isPersonally Cool Inc. (“Complainant”), New York, USA. They have been labeled a 'Reverse Domain Name Hijacker'
Case #25 Unive.com Complainant is Coöperatie Univé U.A. of Arnhem, Netherlands, represented by Novagraaf Nederland B.V., Netherlands. 'Given the circumstances, the Panel finds that the Complaint was brought in bad faith, in an attempt at Reverse Domain Name Hijacking, and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding'
Case #26 eCase.com AINS, INC. (“Complainant”), represented by Janice W. Housey of Symbus Law Group, LLC, Virginia, USA. The panel concludes that the Complaint was brought in bad faith in an attempt at Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
Case #27 TinyPrint.com Complainant is Tiny Prints, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by CitizenHawk, Inc., California, USA 'Complaint was brought in bad faith and that, accordingly, Complainant has attempted to engage in Reverse Domain Name Hijacking'
Case #28 Enki.com Complainant is Enki LLC(“Complainant”), represented by Eric A. Novikoff, of California, USA. 'This is a frivolous proceeding which should never have been filed by Complainant. Accordingly, the Panel finds that Complainant is guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking'
Case #29 SFM.com Complainant is State Fund Mutual Insurance Co. represented by Peter G. Nikolai, of Nikolai & Mersereau, P.A., Minnesota, USA The Panel finds 'Complainant has engaged in Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.'
Case #30 Swash.com Complainant Procter and Gamble Represented by Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL. Procter and Gamble is a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker
'It is impossible to believe that the Complainant, who employs ultra-sophisticated marketing methods, was not aware that the disputed domain name, <swash.com>, had been registered and used by other entities for some years when the Complainant introduced its SWASH product line in 2009.
The entire Panel finds it more extraordinary still that in its Complaint the Complainant represented the SWASH brand to be a worldwide brand of longstanding with multi-million dollar sales, stating that over the last 4 years alone the brand had gained sales of over USD 40,000,000. When this was challenged by the Respondent, the Complainant was forced to admit that the brand had only been on the market for 4 years, that sales had been restricted to the USA and that sales over those four years had totaled underUSD 60,000.
Had the Respondent failed to respond, there is a very real risk that the Panel, relying upon the 1993 International registration and the substantial sales volumes claimed for the brand, would have found in favor of the Complainant. This Complaint fell very far short of what the Panel was entitled to expect from a Complainant of this stature.
In all of the circumstances present here, the Panel finds that the Complainant has abused the process in an attempt at reverse domain name hijacking in contravention of the UDRP Rules at paragraph 15(e). The Panel majority also finds the Complainant has attempted reverse domain name hijacking because it must have known that the Respondent did not know of (nor had any reason to be aware of) any relevant trade mark rights in the SWASH name when the Respondent registered the disputed domain name in 2004.'
Case #31 3dCafe.com Complainant is 3DCafe, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Danielle I. Mattessich of Merchant & Gould, P.C., Minnesota, USA. The panel finds 'Complainant acted in bad faith. The Panel therefore makes a finding of reverse domain name hijacking.'
Case #32 xPand.com The Complainant is X6D Limited of Limassol, Cyprus, represented by Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, United States of America. 'The Panel therefore accepts the Respondent’s allegation that the Complainant is using the UDRP as an alternative purchase strategy after the acquisition of the disputed domain name failed. Therefore, the Panel finds that the Complaint was brought in bad faith, in an attempt of reverse domain name hijacking: The Complainant knew or should have known at the time it filed the Complaint that it could not prove that the domain name was registered in bad faith.'
Case #33 Webpass.com The Complainant is Webpass, Inc. of San Francisco, California, United States of America represented by Law Office of Richard J. Greenstone, United States of America.
D. Reverse Domain Name Hijacking
Paragraph 1 of the Rules defines Reverse Domain Name Hijacking:
“Reverse Domain Name Hijacking means using the Policy in bad faith to attempt to deprive a registered domain-name holder of a domain name.”
The general conditions for a finding of bad faith on the part of a complainant are well stated in Smart Design LLC v. Carolyn Hughes,WIPO Case No. D2000-0993 (October 18, 2000):
“Clearly, the launching of an unjustifiable Complaint with malice aforethought qualifies, as would the pursuit of a Complaint after the Complainant knew it to be insupportable.”
These conditions are confirmed in Goldline International, Inc. v. Gold Line,WIPO Case No. D2000-1151 (January 4, 2001) and Sydney Opera House Trust v. Trilynx Pty. Limited,WIPO Case No. D2000-1224 (October 31, 2000) (where the condition is stated as “the respondent must show knowledge on the part of the complainant of the respondent’s right or legitimate interest in the disputed domain name and evidence of harassment or similar conduct by the complainant in the face of such knowledge”), which in turn cites Plan Express Inc. v. Plan Express, WIPO Case No. D2000-0565 (July 17, 2000).
The Complainant knew when it filed the Complaint that the registration of the disputed domain name preceded by several years any rights that the Complainant may have acquired in the mark WEB PASS. Indeed, the Complainant annexes a printout of the WhoIs registration to the Complaint, and that printout indicates that the domain name was created well before the Complainant’s first use in commerce of its mark. In this Panel’s view, this is sufficient to find reverse domain name hijacking. See NetDeposit, Inc. v. NetDeposit.com, WIPO Case No.D2003-0365 (July 22, 2003) (finding reverse domain name hijacking because “Respondent's domain name registration preceded the Complainant's creation of its trademark rights”).
The Panel finds that the Complainant has attempted Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
Case #34 BSA.com Complainant is Bin Shabib & Associates (BSA) LLP (“Complainant”), represented by Jimmy Haoula, United Arab Emirates.
The panel finds that Complainant has failed to present any evidence to support its claimed rights in the disputed domain name. It only provided an application for trademark registration which does not establish any enforceable rights under the UDRP. It did not offer any evidence to support a finding of common law rights in the disputed mark. Also, the Panel finds that Complainant knew or should have known that it was unable to prove that Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name or that Respondent registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. Based on the foregoing, the panel finds that reverse domain name hijacking has occurred.
SeeNetDepositVerkaik v. Crownonlinemedia.com, D2001-1502 (WIPO Mar. 19, 2002) (“To establish reverse domain name hijacking, Respondent must show knowledge on the part of the complainant of the Respondent’s right or legitimate interest in the Domain Name and evidence of harassment or similar conduct by the Complainant in the fact of such knowledge.”); see alsoLabrada Bodybuilding Nutrition, Inc. v. Glisson, FA 250232 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 28, 2004) (finding that complainant engaged in reverse domain name hijacking where it used “the Policy as a tool to simply wrest the disputed domain name in spite of its knowledge that the Complainant was not entitled to that name and hence had no colorable claim under the Policy”).
Having failed to establish all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be DENIED. The Panel further finds that Complainant engaged in Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.'
Case #35 adjudicate.org.au The Complainant is Adjudicate Today Pty Limited of Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia represented by Moray & Agnew, Australia. The domain, adjudicate.org.au. Futureworld Consultancy (Pty) Limited v. Online Advice, WIPO Case No. D2003-0297 states that a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking may be made if the Complainant “knew or should have known at the time it filed the Complaint that it could not prove that the domain name was registered or used in bad faith”. Given that the Complainant would have been aware that the Respondent had a more than negligible adjudication business in Australia at the time the Complaint was filed, the Panel is of the opinion that the Complainant knew or should have known that it could not prove that the disputed domain name was registered in bad faith. Therefore, the Panel finds that this is an instance of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
My hope is this is the last RDNH case I will ever have to post. The reality is this post will be re-posted EVERY SINGLE TIME there is a case of RDNH. Every time and now maybe some value based companies will think twice before flirting with this tactic and come to the bargaining table un good faith instead of being labeled forever with bad faith. The net is written in INK!
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL! Stop trying to steal and start doing BUSINESS! Feel free to repost FAR and WIDE!
Danny W sent me this morning and it is pretty funny. Been out for some time but never saw it before. Do your eyes deceive you? Did anyone not notice words like WHORE, PENIS and STALKER in a domain name and on otherwise innocent domain name now means something quite different than intended.
My favorite 2 are Whorepresents.com when it is intended to be WhoRepresents.com. Looks like Whore Presents! or Budget.co.ck which is even better!
So just for this insane moment, let's believe I am right about domain values of .com going through the roof within 3 years. Let's just say the vision I had is on the time-line I put on it. It's right on schedule AND I have an added bonus that I never even dreamed of that will make my vision small in comparison to what is LIKELY to happen.
See I never envisioned 1900 .whatevers coming to the market that would add fuel to a raging fire. When they crash and burn that will be the moment that .com skyrockets with this completely unexpected booster rocket really takes off. DEMAND is what skyrockets and when demand skyrockets it takes the price along for the ride!
Thank goodness GREED won over the common good! See, the threat I see is not where others see it and so they would be surprised by what I think is going on and what would constitute a GENUINE threat.
A GENUINE threat would look like this. Instead of www, there may be an abc.DOMAIN or a xxx.DOMAIN or MY.DOMAIN. without the .com. THAT my friends could become a game changer. But there might be less money in doing it that way for the architects of this clusterf*ck.
I don't think the public has been served and I think I just showed a way in which it was.
100 registrars signed up for .PW this week. Whoo-hoo!! I think 99 of yet to have their first customer yet. Do you care? Does it mean something? The only thing it means is advertising dollars for 3rd parties until the party is over cuz this baby is DOA in my book. And that makes .com more attractive not less attractive.
I am sure I did not make any friends just now. But what am I supposed to do? Go along with the music and bullshit folks that are coming here to read some reality? I would never insult my readers like that and those that feel insulted can feel that way. I wish everyone good luck and great success.
If I see a winner I will say so. If I see a loser I will do the same thing just more forcefully before folks piss away hard earned money. But it will only take a dozen or more failures to begin with that may doom the others. This is one hell of a slippery slope. The barrage of bullshit to come is going to be deafening to some of us. But there will be one place you can come and hear the unvarnished truth as I see it. Right or wrong, I am certain! :-)
But I base my vision on a whole lot of milestones, mile-markers and years plus the parallels of history and define by numbers. So that is why I would rather lease now and negotiate in 1-3 years after what I see happening, happens. We can all look back in 2016 and see a clear winner and a clear loser. Place your bets by asking the right questions and looking back to where we have already been.
Stats say 2% may survive this. That would make 38 out of 1900. Better odds with Roulette!
Like other things, I have been waiting a long time for certain milestones to appear. But to me the granddaddy of all of them is the day that mainstream catches up to where the adult industry was online back in 1996-1998. When mainstream would begin to take their businesses as seriously as the adult industry did back then. They did not close shop on weekends. They understood they had a 24/7 business and they provided customer service to match. Most importantly, they understood it was about sales.
Mainstream still goes home at 5PM on Fridays. Their online store is still open, just nobody there to man the business and they are too cheap or too stupid to fix that in too many cases. Not all. It is evolving. But still so many don't get it and so many more, don't want to get it. But those businesses that think like that will be forced to evolve because their competition will eat their lunch if they don't. It's gonna happen more and more and some companies won't even know what hit them because the decline will be too steep and too fast to see or catch. Their demise is already being plotted by aware competitors.
Make no mistake, we are going to see a lot of online companies fold during this period as well. Maybe the most since the bubble burst. Many are just not seeing what they thought and are stuck and that is not good in a growing medium. Stagnation is a problem that is widespread. Most just depends on what level you are stagnating at.
But these things are starting to change. Stupid things like SALES are starting to get their attention. Maybe even conversions? Maybe even TARGETING?? Follow up? Unheard of!
My point is that while we are getting closer to this back to the future event, I can still point to dozens of things that mainstream has yet to even discuss. Many of those adult guys made their millions and rode into the sunset. Many became domainers. And even more built mainstream businesses using adult business principles learned in 1996-1999. True discoveries of things unknown and now being discovered again.
When I compare the headwinds in mainstream and domaining during 2000-2012, they were brutal at times. Matter of FACT, from 1996-1999, it was virtually impossible to even have a conversation about domains or traffic. Remember, there was no aftermarket. There wasn't even Afternic and the birth of the shill bidder days.
I offered 50% of Porno.com to ANYONE that would go partners with me to develop it in 1997. They all laughed in my face. Thankfully they laughed!! Had they said agreed to my proposal I would have had to pay at least $10 Million for their share over the years plus any growth that may have occurred from having it a full fledged business.
But I still believe in that model. Half of a watermelon is better than 100% of a grape.
So I predict that at TRAFFIC in Las Vegas you will see many partnerships emerge. They won't necessarily be with JointVentures.com. They will be made between individuals at the show because the time is right and RESOURCES are available! People with talent are looking for jobs and more importantly, opportunity.
During the past 20 years it has been hard to find qualified talent. Unemployment was at near zero for many years. That is no longer the case. Talent is out there and talent is looking for long term opportunities.
We are at a moment in which those headwinds have shifted. They are in fact becoming tailwinds. And while those tailwinds are not shifted completely, the process of that shift has begun. It is underway. I have been writing about this for several months. How we as an industry will be sheared away in different orbits and missions.
1900 .whatevers insure this will take place sooner rather than later. Like a MONSTER winter weather front coming through, this is highly visible, highly predictable and highly profitable. I may be 100% wrong, but I have never been so certain of anything in my life because I have been studying it a very long time and I have accumulated the facts and examples along the way to prove it. The buys, the sells, the deals, the predictions, the actions and the events. Proof. I spent the last 18 years gathering proof. Most others are on the hope train. Hope and math don't intersect in my book.
Ignorance can be cured with a willing mind. But those that cling to ignorance when the thought cure is there have to be prepared to go down with it as well. Numbers along with other people's mistakes paint a vivid picture for some and are invisible and meaningless to others.
Want to make $1000 before noon TODAY? Then do what I do. Each morning I go into my account and shut off auto-renewal on a dozen or more domains. I look at each domain at $100 each over the course of the next 10 years with the increases etc. So each time I take a domain off auto-renewal and prepare for it to drop, I make $100.
We all have pigeon shit. Been talking about it for 3 years. Remember back then that the way folks made up for not having quality was having quantity? So where did all the 6 figure domain holders go? Most are long gone. Swallowed up by their own overhead. They never even wrote a goodbye letter. They just went bye bye.
I have dropped 4000 domains in the past 2 years and I plan at least 1000 more. Each 1000 domains frees up $100,000 to buy ONE REAL DOMAIN.
Look, with time we learn things. Some things don't pan out. Some do. Each day, each year we get new information and the new information is what turns a domain into one worth tossing. Some pigeon shit eating domainer will pick it up and then you will have defined things even more.
I know it is hard to let go. I know as well as anyone. But what works works and what does not work is called a recurring bill. That's not an asset. That is a liability. So if your domains are a liability, wtf are you doing?
Overhead is what makes or breaks anyone or any business. Things change, things evolve, we learn and grow. Phrases used just a few years ago are now obsolete. That's what happens when you are on the cutting edge of things. You get things that get outdated quickly.
So what makes you a domainer? If you can't rattle off a half dozen impressive domains........then what are you doing? I can't tell you how sad it makes me to see portfolios with 1000 domains and not a one worth registration fees. That domainer can right his ship, but he still FIRST has to learn what makes one domain have value and another one have only a bill. Piece of glass vs a diamond. You would think one would take a DAY OR TWO to figure it out.
I am not happy to say that Pigeon Shit Farmers outnumber domainers by some 100-1. That's the number folks. 100-1. Maybe more. There are well over 100,000 that call themselves domainers but less than 1000 that actually qualify.
We have had a huge amount of domains submitted for the May T.R.A.F.F.I.C. auction and I am ready to make my first 15 selections public. As I have started, most of the auction will have domains with no reserve. Highest bidder wins and bidding will be very fast moving.
I can only pick the best of what is submitted plus I focused on no reserve domains because the MARKET allows me to do that right now. People need cash and that's what we can provide. Auction submissions are now closed. The only slots I will still consider are for guys that REALLY want to gamble and put up something meaningful at no reserve. So other than some last minute entries like that, no more submissions needed. I will release the balance of the names next week and then the final list after that.
11 of the first 15 are at No Reserve. Good luck to all!
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