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

Afternoon Folks!!

Can you even imagine the NOISE we are about to hear from every tom, dick and .whatever coming down the pike? Each are going to tell you why THEY have the extension that will be the second coming and 1790 of them will be absolutely full of shit.

So brace yourself for this avalanche. I don't know how things will ever be the same. A flood of crap is coming our way and nobody reading this can escape it. It may be deafening what goes on. How do these folks compete let alone do it at virtually the same time? We could see about 20 new extensions rolling out EVERY WEEK for 18 months. HA! I have a headache just thinking about what is coming.

The cubicle whores will be magnified by 1800 x who knows. What we will see will be kind of ugly. It's one thing to offer and do business. It is another thing to fight for turf as these folks will be FORCED to do and we will be the poor victims watching this mess all unfold.

The noise oh the noise. Please be ready. They will yell loud and wide and they will get pissed at the mere mention of Mr. Johnson. But the freeway will be so crowded with .whatever's elbowing other .whatevers that we may just have a ringside seat to a demolition derby as this bottle neck heats up.

The 21st century coliseum may be coming right before your eyes. Oh the carnage to come. Big boys could go down hard. Others may hold their fire for 5-10 YEARS waiting for the fire to burn itself out and they can have a better shot. But we are going to see a blood bath on so many levels. And mixed in with that blood will be gobs of money. There will be hundreds of different marketing plans and hundreds of ways to take advantage of their success or failure.

I wish the all luck. I really do hope we have a repeat. If that happens everyone reading this will be just fine.

Just know that wishing and hoping is a fools game. Knowledge has the power to get those $$$. Smart dollars will end up in one place and most of us will be waiting and enjoying the show. Because what comes after is the light of day that will mark 20 years and this derby will be in the history books.

That is what I see and that is how I would describe it. Folks, start you engines! We will be there every step of the way and if one breaks out we will be there too!!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

They say it is all in the timing. Something I subscribe to. I wrote this post on December 21st as you will easily see below. What was your take away from one of the great events of the era? Maybe the single biggest event of 2012. Advertised for centuries!!

5000 years ago a Mayan salesman was looking for a gimmick. So he came out with a calendar with an ending date and while he died 4960 years ago, his marketing plan was a success. He should be very proud.

Now let's talk to the nuts and suckers that bought into this shit. Yes I know, the day is not over. Of course it is minutes from the next day in certain parts of the world as I write this. And man may have enough technology and evil to actually accomplish that task at some point. We are probably doing that very slowly.

Let me say that Mr. Gimbel, Mr. Macy and Mr Walton would be damn proud of the achievement of this salesman. Did you know that Mayan salesman I invented has a LOT in common with a lot of 3rd tier domainers? They may see something, but if that something can't occur in their ACTIVE lifetime, what value does it really have??

Just add 40 years to your age and see how old you will be and then ask yourself if something that happens in 40 years really going to help you as much as something happening in the next 5 years.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Evening Folks!!

Been a lot of Christmas's for me online. In 1996 and 1997 I would watch my traffic decrease by as much as 90% on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Eventually it went where the 2 days combined would equal one full day. So a 50% loss. Then in the last few years it has been about 15%-20% down.

It was 15% down this year for those 2 days. But the days following more than made up for it. Record traffic levels more than made up for the Christmas decline. First time I have ever seen that in my years. I think a lot had to do with the snow across the USA. I LOVE WHEN IT SNOWS!!

Anyways, just thought you might be interested in my findings.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks and Happy New Years!!

While the rest of the world is getting over last night, we are already busy preparing for what we expect will be a very successful project in JointVentures.com.

Here is the first group of domains we are releasing publicly. What we are looking for is a very narrowly defined group of domains not only capable of being leased but attractive enough to be leased or partnered with.

Great Idea + Great Domain Name + Energetic and Passionate Partners = Best Chance at Great Success

Great Idea + Confusing or second rate Domain Name or extension + Energetic and Passionate Partners = Who knows and maybe who cares.

Just this one variable has the POWER to change the destiny of ANY project.

This is our first group of about 100 3rd party names as well as about 100 of mine. My success is YOUR success. We don't get to pick which ones pop first. We get to offer what we have and the vision we see along with our partners that are nearly 100 strong and comprise some of the most seasoned domainers in the business. A virtual Who's who of domainers because they too share my vision and want us to succeed. Their success is OUR success.

We will release the next group in the next days and by January 31st we will have announced all inventory and we will close further submissions so we can focus on the next phase. We know we have to demonstrate deals and we know we have until TRAFFIC in May to produce some results. That gives us about 100-120 days to move mountains! So when we hit 300 third party domains, we are closing it off. We are not out to tie up inventory. We are just looking for enough inventory to be meaningful and to create a winning formula between domainer and end user.

Is it a perfect list? No. But it is a starting point and the market will grade us. As we demonstrate deals, good deals, solid deals, BIG DEALS, then I am sure things will cure themselves. The next list of 100 is quite strong so wait to see everything we have before making judgements. Once we have the signed contracts we can list publicly. Some we can't make public for another 10 days but I PROMISE you they are top notch.

As we choose the last 50 domains we will be EXTREMELY Picky. So while we won't be able to take many or even most of the submissions, we have decided to make a database of submitted domains that did not make the cut but have obvious value. That way if we do have a call for that sector we don't have to say no.

Some of these domains are to be leased while others will be looking for solutions. So like I said, we look at domains through a different lens because we are trying to do something different.

For example SoccerBalls.com. Our end user formula and marketing strategy for SoccerBalls.com calls for an amount of money each year to go towards buying soccer balls for disadvantaged youths in a third world country. There is more than one way to climb a mountain.

We have other domains that are just more favorable to leasing. Either way there is an opportunity for Joint Ventures between the domain owner and us as well as the owner and end user. We are out to transform domains earning $100-$500 a YEAR into making $1000-$5000 and more per MONTH. To take domains making $1,000- $10,000 per MONTH and transform then into long term relationships with an exit strategy based on a creative formula that I personally create PLUS earn at least 10X more than they do today.

As you get to know Danny Welsh, you will know why I have put my trust in him to pull this wagon far beyond what many of us thought possible. This is an impressive fellow with a great work ethic and in it for the long term. He makes nothing unless we make something! Even the deal with Danny took many months to hammer out. It is a long term deal because we have a long term vision. A vision that we both share and everyone should be wishing us great success. Our success really is YOUR success. The chance to finally empower us again and take our destiny back in our control.

Happy New Years!
Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

On the record for the record. That is why I post about things BEFORE I do them. I want the bar high, I want it public and I want it as transparent as can be. The SAME domain can make nothing or thousands a day. The same domain tied with a different circumstance. JointVentures.com is in charge of 'Circumstance'.

We are looking for the 'Top Under preforming Domains' in your portfolio. Defined is a great domain that is a simple commercial sector that you know is worth between 6 and 7 figures but does not earn you much. We want to take a domain making you $100/year and have you make $1000/month. But it is a VERY narrow and very select field. But it also works for category killer domains because you don't have to change a thing you are doing. Just let us find you THE deal.

Our goal for the first year is 10-15 high profile leases. That will fuel this and in the second year we can triple that and in the third year we have changed how domainers monetize their top tier domains.

Yes, you can do this yourself. But you haven't. You don't have the time to do it. Not with each domain. So as someone you know, I am asking for just 1 or 2 domains that mean something and have the ability to be leased. This is not theory. This is something done day in and day out by many. But we want to take it to a much higher level and we want to share in the success we create for YOU. Win-Win.

In the coming days Danny Welsh, my partner on this project will be able to articulate things I just can't. He has a better grip on my mind and what I am thinking than I do. Scary!

So where are we? As of today we have accepted 229 domains. We have decided to cap it off at 300 as we don't want to over promise nor overwhelm in the first months of this. We want to make a statement and then demonstrate successes to build on. We are not looking to tie up thousands of domains so we have 'Inventory'. We are looking for specific domains that fill a specific niche that we believe we can fill. We think we can present you enough options where you feel empowered and also make more money.

Tomorrow we will publish our initial list of those we have received signed contracts on and on Wednesday will be published on our website. Most of the domains have 'Range pricing' where the exact dollars and terms are negotiated by me. I need wiggle room to make a deal.

The marketing plan is very simple. We will demonstrate with one domain and one domainer at a time how we can take a $1 earner to a $1000 earner and we can duplicate that over and over again and it will get easier as we move into the future. Not only that but the lessee will find what he is looking for and finally there can be an end game that extracts the TRUE VALUE of you asset. The stronger the domain the better terms you can negotiate. But at the end of the day ALL parties MUST be big winners for all to succeed. I know and understand that very delicate balance.

So to the naysayers and losers mean what in this equation? This IS the future of domaining IF you understand what makes a domain fit in this category! It was the future 18 YEARS ago but I had to patiently wait for the laughter to stop. No laughing folks! This is SERIOUS business and time for you to realize that it is all in the timing! It is also in recognizing specific domain names that will fill a very narrow niche. That is why all the inventory in the world is meaningless if you don't have the proper domains that can be leased. Within the next 24 hours I will post our first list of 200 domains. That will help to define what we are looking for. Not all are one worders. Some are 2 and 3 words. It depends. We have a very aggressive marketing strategy planned but the people doing the legwork have to see something specific that fits the folks we will be contacting.

I will also be announcing another lease by me that will help to illustrate how you take a domain with limited earnings and transform it into making $250,000 without selling the domain name itself.

It’s pretty simple. Do you pull out $1M cash out of your pocket or do you pull out $1000 out of your pocket? The result is the same. You get the domain name to use. One you are all in and a lot of cash with it. The other, if it does not work out, you walk away in a few years. It’s just a smarter approach. It opens to doors to a wider audience and lowers the bar. I will give an example of how I used a Car Lease as a model to base my lease on and made it 2x as attractive as that car lease to the lessee.

Until tomorrow........

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

We all owe Ron Jackson a HUGE THANK YOU for chronicling our industry and our progress for an entire decade. What he has done is priceless and we are lucky to have a professional journalist in our midst. Without his contribution there would be no timeline of our evolution.

Congrats Ron and Diana!! Hope for 10 more and 10 more on top of that!!

Well done!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

The day I stopped giving excuses in life was the day I became a success. Really. People tell me how it is hard for them to see opportunity where others do. So let's look at something that you may be able to see. An 'Excuse' is a very visible sign not only of failure, but giving up and not learning anything. An excuse is pathetic. And that makes the person using their energy to make the excuse, pathetic. If you are an excuse maker, I guess I just insulted you. Ok, that's life. Get insulted. That is what excuse makers do. They get insulted. They get angry. They deflect the conversation.

Did you know it takes more energy to make an excuse then to just fix it?

See that is the problem with excuse makers. They use all their energy in making excuses. Excuses have zero value because you are pretending there was no mistake and no REASON for a failure whether tiny or huge.

Now with a REASON, you have focused on WHY something did not go as planned. Why something went wrong and you have used your TIME to identify the REASON something did not go right. That means you can fix it. That means you can take a 'Setback' and still succeed while the other guy is fully invested in their failure. And it is a failure. It is not a setback.

Now let's compare the 2 people and why one is a winner in failure (set back) and one is a total loser in failure (failure). The guy with all the excuses learned nothing. The energy he used was not identifying the problem. It was excusing it. The other guy made no excuses, he just went down the entire path in his mind and looked for and then focused on where things went wrong. It was not about blame or excuses. It was about figuring it out.

So now we have these 2 people. One found an excuse, one found a reason. Both are given the task to do over again. Which person would you want to bet on to get it right the second time??

And that my friends is how you spot something BEFORE it happens. How you can anticipate because of behavior. Because losers always excuse and winners find reasons. The latter is a person filled with opportunity in life and the other is a walking disaster waiting for the next pitfall or obstacle to get out his book of excuses.

Which one do you want to hook your wagon to?

If I pissed you off and you are insulted by this post, have at it. But I am going to LMAO and then feel very sad that you are stuck when once again YOU had the opportunity to change your destiny in life. That is the single best visual I can give my readers of opportunity and what it looks like. Sometimes opportunity is simply a matter of eliminating the loser.

Happy New Years! Change your destiny for 2013 by changing your reaction. Change your reaction and there is nothing you can't accomplish. No REASON to make an EXCUSE.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I think it was about 9th grade that we learned about 'Equations' and 'Geometry'. I was always good in basic math. The only class I ever flunked was 'Trigonometry' in my senior year of high school. Lucky for me 'Trig' proved useless in life and not even sure they teach that anymore. That was before electronic handheld calculators were invented and instead of a slide rule, you had to figure it all out. I studied my ass off and the finals came and I froze. It all went bye-bye. Didn't remember a thing. But at 17 I knew this was a buch of useless crap that I would never use and if I di have the need to the answers were quite quickly available even back then.

Geometry comes in handy. I have but one major use. The triangle or Pyramid and figuring out the most important thngs to address in any mission. Identify the top and your chance of success was nearly assured. I discuss this in depth with this post.

That brings me to equations. Could be the most important tool in my toolbox. In math an equation as to be perfect and precise. In business it just has to be close. Equations for me take a split second on virtually any subject. I get the information, weigh it, give things weight and then come to a decision. It can take anywhere from that split second or two to days, weeks and longer. Considering every possibility and attributing the proper weight to it. Some are so heavily one sided that there is no decision. But there are always many that are wrapped up in confusion instead of clearly seeing an equation to determine your next move.

Your next move IS mathematical. The balance is either in your favor or against you. Either way, you MUST know going into something whether you need to give more or less. How much gas to give the throttle based on the equation you have at hand.

I may have lost some of you. But it is clear to me and sometimes much more difficult to articulate a way of approach as I try and explain the equation that is the captain of my ship. Percentages play a huge role in all this and you derive a percentage by doing an equation or just listing all the pros and cons and then forming an equation.

So if you are not familiar with equations it makes it oh so much harder to make the right decisions. Much harder to see how each priority is also vital to getting things right. You can start at the top of a pyramid or the bottm corners. If you start at the bottom, you will likely work way too hard and waste precious time. When your equation points out the top of the pyramid, you are automatically at 33%-50% of the entire journey. When you start in the bottom corners, you are focusing on the 2%-5%. That stuff usually fills in itself when you get the other higher pieces in place. The last row that takes ALL the time when you start THERE, takes NO TIME when you FINISH there. A winning way to proceed vs a losing way to proceed. 100% clear when you understand equations.

Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Are you a domainer or are you just pretending to be one? If you have not read Eric Borgos last blog post then you are not really a domainer. If you don't heed his words, you are not a domainer. Here is a guy who put in loads of time and sweat and got nothing in return. In fact, it likely cost him well into the 6 figures when you consider lost ppc income and time.

Minisites? DEAD! Dead! Dead!

Even full blown sites without a cash register or way to make revenue is dead.

Developing? DEAD! Develop what??

You create a business with a cash register or just keep your domain parked and stop wasting time and energy chasing a shadow that does not exist. Then try new things with a handful of domains. If it does not work for you....partner up!!

Take a Read

OPM baby!! Learn from OPM....OTHER PEOPLES MISTAKES!

And if you are too busy....then you are likely too busy pissing your profits away.

Eric may think 2012 was a failure for him. In fact he learned a lot and now his domains are parked, out of harms way and making money again.

I would like to invite Eric to be my guest at TRAFFIC in Las Vegas and share his entire journey with us.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Why is the future so much different than the past? Because in the past you have been dependent on others instead of independent. That changes in the new era that is approaching. YOU are now driving and you are no longer a passenger in a bus you have no control over.

We have watched massive portfolios come and go. We have watched the game change so sharply that those that played a certain way just got washed away. They left no notes. Did not say Good-bye. No big press releases. Just gone. The rest of us survived multiple tsunamis as far as business goes. But we also changed our game. My portfolio swelled to 10,000 from 6000 and now after 2 years of 'Culling' the inventory, am back to 6000. But I will hopefully get it to 5000.

Some domains are perishable. Some never materialize. Some were a good idea at the time. Some you don't even know what you were thinking. But as we move forward it has become pretty clear where domains of value are and what elements they contain. The ones outside that realm should be dropped and the reason is this. Those 4000 domains were 75% non .com. The .xxx was $99 each. The .co was $25 each etc. So lets say the average is $20/year. That's $80,000 or $800,000 over the next 10 years. I am sure I can find a deal that will take that $800,000 I would have pissed away on pigeon shit in exchange for a top tier domain name. I am sure I can make a deal on a GREAT domain for a few grand a month for the next 10 years.

That's what you call turning a loser into a winner. One little pivot like that could save your empire and then ignite your empire.

It takes 20 years to go through the evolution we are a part of. The first part was a unique opportunity in time when you gathered your properties. Then we spent a period of time learning about these domains as well as this new medium. Thirdly we had to watch and see how things would unfold and develop. That process takes 20 years for the first phase and another 20 years of refinement and expansion. If you know that going into the game, you take a deep breath and play it the way you see it. I see it as a lifetime marathon that will live beyond me. That's why I don't get tempted to make a sale and would rather have long term returns.

Just because folks don't understand a business strategy does not make that strategy any less valuable and in fact and in time that is what becomes clear. But my understanding of what things would look like would have to come out of those mines with at least a handful of major gems and a truckload of other domain booty. Each capable of being a small business. A small oil well. Maybe someday the 6000 will be 600. Well 600 pumping out $1000/month is $7.2MM a year BEFORE we get to the premium ones. Before we get to any success or development potential. It's a silly vision. But it is my vision and not a human being on earth has taken that vision from me in these 18 years and only reality can take it from me in the next 18 years.

I just ask a simple question. Am I closer to that vision now than ever before? And when I look around me I am not alone. There are hundreds of you with similar visions. Not the same. Similar. It means we have been on an intersecting path for all these years and likely to continue that way far into the future. We may all have a vision of NORTH.....But we also understand that going Northeast and Northwest is not a bad thing. And as long as we keep going that general direction we will find north. We know the difference between North and South. We know stopping is smarter than going south until you can adjust to continue the journey north. The journey up not down. Others travel in CIRCLES and go nowhere and get angry when we point it out.

But I got off the path on this post. The point is we are going from a state of complete dependence to a state of choice. Complete Independence. A state that puts domain owners in a strong position. 2012 was a HUGE year for domain owners. And to be blunt, in 2013 I have a mission with JointVentures.com that will be central to what is coming. It's time and it's all about time.

I have written extensively on our plans for JointVentures.com so I am clearly on the record as to what we are going to achieve and how long it will take. A 3 year undertaking that is going to change how we all do business. The 20 year plan does not mark the END....it marks the BEGINNING! We have survived the treachery of attacks from being labeled cybersquatters to outright legal theft thru flawed decisions when nobody was looking and nobody cared. That is no longer the case. Everyone is now in OUR game. Everyone is trying to duplicate what WE did. Everyone that has minimized us over the years are now joing OUR game. Welcome!! About time. Bring your money and bring your visions.

I believe more rulings of reverse domain name hijacking in 2012 is making an impact in these frivolous WIPO actions. It won't go to zero but companies are learning the impact of their actions long after their dastardly deed is done. And if not.......Click here.

But the biggest opportunity is coming in the form of .whatever and what they are about to learn. They are about to embark on a path that we have been studying for nearly 2 decades and so many are missing the one component called 'Human Nature'. Let's give people credit, they will adapt to anything if it is in THEIR SELF INTEREST and it is not complex. They won't swallow the same pig with a new dress. Most don't get that part and that is why most won't make it far out of the gate. But a few will figure it out. Maybe. But none by itself or all together will have any impact on .com except greater value. More demand.

So no reason to poo poo .whatever. There is success and failure all mixed in. One more than the other is all. You will have to carefully navigate through all the caucuses that will be blocking the path of progress. .whatever will be a late night joke. That will give it some popularity. But will it be sustainable?

Nobody reading this knows all the answers so lets stop parading around like we do. However we do have knowledge and evidence and we already have the caucuses lining the road in the form of several extensions that you can fill in yourself. We can just call it the .mobi cemetery and they will soon be filled to capacity.

10 great domains make you a domainer. 100 and you are in a very small class. 1000 and the class is getting smaller. 10,000 your class can fit in mini van. 100,000 and that class can fit in a mini.

The destiny is YOURS! My solution is your solution. Time to harness the power of the future by getting there early as we have done time and time again.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz