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

Morning Folks!!

I wrote about whois and privacy just last week. How DUMB can domainers possibly be?? I mean really?? I don't get it! Whether it is privacy or all your domains are no longer public it's YOUR choice. I can't even think of anything dumber a domainer can do.

If your info is not publicly listed in whois it may mean you no longer control the sale of YOUR own domain name depending on your registrar and your landing page. You may have effectively handed the keys over to each and every broker or registrar! You are keeping them in business and making $$$. Are you all BRAIN DEAD?? You may as well give your keys to facebook or twitter. It's insane! They have a new revenue stream and you don't!

Like a restaurant that is not on Open Table, does not do takeout, does not do delivery and is closed on weekends! And then complains about lack of sales and leads? DUH!!! Anyone need a CEO CROWBAR??

And then you complain about sales!? Really???? This has to be the #1 dumbest thing I have ever seen domainers do and there is a LONG list in my 23+ years!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

When it comes to my outlook on the value of a great domain, few have stuck to their guns like I have over the years. But there are reasons for that far outside the goal lines of domaining. That's just the surface to me. Buy let's drill a bit.

There are certain domains I would not sell without a piece of the action. They are akin to the flawless diamond. Rare and unique flawless diamonds. In demand and important diamonds. Diamonds that are large. Diamonds that represent and identify. Diamonds that no others have.

Originally my idea was simple, I bring the domain to the table, 50% and other entity brings it's knowhow to the table, 50%. Ok, did not work that way. That equation most likely won't work in MOST cases. It will in some cases.

What is the value of perpetual income? How many perpetual income streams can you create? How do you recognize a domain that fits in this class to begin with?

How do you recognize a domain that fits in this class to begin with? Let's start and end there. That's the single biggest challenge domainers seem to have. Most are no diamond experts and they should be. At this stage of the game those domains should be recognizable to the naked eye at a GLANCE. A glance at a list of 100 or 1000. It should jump out like a freight train. If that does not happen, and you are not making $$$, why are you here?

Domains are about advertising and branding and memorizing easily, and word of mouth or making a point, or having street cred in the eyes of consumers NOT techies. Drill down to see the importance and value and the vehicle it provides. There are more variables. Think of ALL of them.

And some truly great names may be invisible to the naked eye. In time advertisers will use FUNNY domain names to advertise. You'll see.

Yesterday I saw 2 different commercials by 2 different companies (possibly the same entity advertising the same credit card product) but you could see they were possibly TESTING two domain names and 2 commercials or they were competitors. Maybe you know. But the commercials seemed like they were done by same company . One was a generic 2 word, CompareCards.com and and one was a brandable, Nerdwallet.com. Maybe they are going to measure the different results!! They are testing. THAT IS THE WAY YOU DO IT!! BRAVO!! If true! That space also has KreditKarma.com.

So you have many entities advertising and competing. That's a big tipoff. There is something worthy of drilling down.

Ya know, when I talk about Sears or Malls or anything outside domains and domainers and sales prices, most domainers don't pay attention. They should! Their eye glaze over They are so busy talking to domainers that they have a domainer mentality. Good for you but not smart.

You need a consumer mentality. You need a manufacturing mentality. You need a retail mentality. You need a wholesale mentality. You need a business mentality. You need an end user mentality. You need a historical mentality. You need an attorney mentality. You need to be a student of Human Nature. Instead so many are stuck in either a pond or even a cesspool with other domainers and can't see the forrest thru the trees.

You can flip mobile homes or mansions. One is VERY hard and VERY unrewarding. The other is so easy and rewarding you wonder why everyone does not do it!? So if you want a truly GREAT domain name, STOP buying mobile homes and STOP listening to other domainers that have an agenda. How do you figure that part out? BE SMART!

Remember, the #1 game in domaining is not buying domains, it's buying time to afford to keep those domains until the proper buyer comes along. Domains have to be part of a revenue engine or you need a day job to support your babies.

A GREAT domain will end in .Com. A GREAT domain will be easy to spell. A GREAT domain will mean something whether it is short or long. A GREAT domain has so many attributes that it blows me away that PIGEON SHIT rules most portfolios. A GREAT domain can be a phrase that people know and can remember. But the GREATEST domains are one or two words. Matter of fact, DNJournal.com has only ONE reported sale of anything more than 2 words since at least 2015. UsedCarsForSale.com and sold for $100k. In 2014 there were two sales of 3 word domains. Going back to 2006, I found only NINE other 3 word domain sales.

To recap, their has not been a 3 word domain make the top 100 list since 2015. In TOTAL from 2006 thru 2018, we are talking about 15 total domains more that 2 words to make the list. Only ONE with 4 words. That said, even 2 worders are not in as much demand as they were in past years. However they still retain great value when they mean something! Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives!

Now that does not mean a 3 word domain does not have value. It just probably does not have GREAT value unless it truly means something special or common phrase. I own ShopTilYouDrop.com. But it's a common phrase. Has some value and has demand which means I get offers. But I focus on 1 an 2 word .com domains. That's my bread and butter. Tried and true.

Listen, the IDN guys were and are much smarter than me. Really. They and techies have a much broader and deeper understanding of the Internet. I am just the common man using the Internet.

Even the GTLD guys I assume must be much smarter than me. They have money to burn, I don't. Not only can they pick the winner in a 1000 horse race, they can go on to pick the winner of the winner in an infinite collection of .whatever and then they are so smart they can figure out and rely on the demand for that particular domain of that particular extension that FEW even know about. WOW!!! I am IMPRESSED!!!! Pure Genius!! (with a few pitfalls that they don't want to talk about and turn a blind eye to)

Focus on one and two word domains that mean something or are brandable but they MUST pass a set of guidelines that YOU form yourself. If it does not pass YOUR TEST, pass on the domain.

My list includes: Easy to spell. ALWAYS! Easy to communicate without confusion. ALWAYS! .COM ALWAYS! One or two words. ALWAYS.

There are other factors. Size of the audience. If all you have targeted were domains for the domain industry, to sell, you targeted a TINY sector. Good luck with that. The audience, the size of the market. The size of the market that is still up for grabs. Is it an emerging market? A saturated market? A competitive market?

How much do they advertise? Where do they advertise? Who do they advertise to? What is their advertising budget? Is the budget growing? Is the sector growing?

I talk about digging deep and drilling down. This is all part of the process. And the more expensive the domain, the more you drill down. These are MY processes that I still use and have never varied from. This is the path I use. This is a safe way to buy domains. This is the way to always have domains that others want and are in demand. This is how I sleep comfortably at night knowing I have assets that are among the world's most sought after! Buying one domain at a time when I see one worth getting.

Did I mention is MUST be a .com name???? Not sure. I am very inconsistent and very forgetful. Well, in case I did not mention it, stick with .COM ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I like "Home Grown" CEO's. Not a huge fan of "Hired" CEO's unless you are Lee Iacocca or Jack Welsh. Don't know the difference?

Here is a hint. I like CEO's that have been with the company since inception or has been promoted many times to get to the top. Not a fan of CEO's by headhunting. It may be a necessary evil for growth etc, but better choose really well.

I guess what I am trying to say is I don't like "Carpetbagging" CEO's. The ones with a company for a very short time. 3 years or less. Mostly 2. I guess it takes the board 2 years and double digit sales declines to figure out they hired a moron.

Remember the Proctor and Gamble CEO?? How about the Sears CEO? Put in his own bid. Interesting! Who is your least favorite CEO? Most favorite? Great choices for most favorite. Branson, Bezos, Cuban, Musk, Gates, Jobs? Ford? Edison? Carnegie? The list goes on and on. But the loser list, the illustrious loser list, goes on and on and on and on much much longer but most are not very famous.

So for all those CEO's and Board members everywhere that are clueless and destroying good brands and companies faster than I can write this, here is a CROWBAR, the rest is up to you! :-)

*Please note: Instructions for crowbar use should be read before insertion. Failure to do so may void crowbar warranty. Do not share crowbars. Call our hotline for any related issues. 1-800-ITS-STUK or if you are outside the USA, call 01-305-CROW2GO

:-))))))))))

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Plenty of people were in domaining YEARS before me! They got domains for FREE!! That FACT never ever ever affected how I look at domains. Never ever did I say I can't do this or that because I came in late! YEARS late! But so many TODAY do! So many in 2000 did! in 2005! Name your year! When you are wired ass backwards that is the resulting flawed thinking process. You want to argue and be right?? Go ahead!! Tell me all the reasons you must lose and not win.

Just look at all the fools that were around in 2000 and told themselves it was too late. SCHMUCKS! Would you not agree now that you have 20/20 hindsight nearly 2 decades later? Or would you still be the same loser even if we set you free back in 2000 and did it right now? If you argue NOW, you would have had the same argument with me every single year. If it was 1995 you would complain about them not being free anymore and that it is over cuz domains, ONE WORD DOMAINS, are $10 a pop! It it was 2004 you would complain that Frank has all the good domains. STOP IT ALREADY!!

I have had better results than some and not as good as others. But all in all, I have had very satisfying results. And yes, I got in before many, but that has nothing to do with nothing. I love how people try and use that against me. Yeah, I saw it and I acted on it. PERIOD!

See how that thinking process is the difference between winning and losing. Between progress and being stuck. Between success and failure. You want to win the argument? Go ahead! Prove you can still be a loser every day when you wake up. YOU WIN!!! LOL

Not only did I start domaining in 1995, I restarted again from scratch in 1998 after I leased out all my domains, So I went out and repeated 1995. I was being paid $1.5 Million a year for my domains. ALL my domains. So what was I to do? I started buying more domains. And by sometime in 1999 I leased all those new domains to the same company. Now I was getting $3 Million a year. But I am not done yet. I repeated that one more time around 2005. And then starting in 2016 thru mid 2018 I started once again.

Go ahead, argue with me! Challenge me. Belittle me. But you will look like a fool doing it. Being a coward you won't post your real name and in this post, if you don't publish your REAL name or have a known moniker, I have decided not to publish your worthless and condescending comments. You people are worthless and have no value. Anyone that wants to make a point whether valid or not (usually a pointless, mean and nasty one) that won't put their own name on their own words are COWARDS! PERIOD!! It also prevents legit comments from thoughtful domainers actually wanting to engage in a serious discussion.

But I may make this a new policy going into 2019. Who needs these weasels? I and my readers have taken their crap for many years. They are bitter, angry and not making the money they need. This is their only way of feeling important. What do you think??

Unlike many blogs from News Networks, to Social Media, to tech and going on since DAY ONE , I publish everything! I don't protect my friends by removing negative comments or threads when they look like fools. When others call them out they get protected! I have seen it countless times over the years. It's an ethics and honor issue as far as I am concerned. So those blogs that pick and choose which comments to post don't have value to me. They are skewered and that means they always have an agenda. Sorry guys, IT'S THE TRUTH! They censor, I don't.

So to those that want to always complain about when they got started......STUFF IT!! LOL Your flawed thinking process is poisoning YOUR future, not mine! WAKE UP! Making money is never easy. It's never the wrong time to start on the RIGHT PATH! Got it?? Want proof? Just look at all the people that came in thru the years and found great success. Some just started TWO YEARS AGO, FOOLS!

If your ass itches, it's your fault not mine pal!! :-) Try Charmin!!! lol

It's a New Year, start it off taking those mind shackles off and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Go out and MAKE IT HAPPEN! aka, MOVE MOUNTAINS! Buy quality. QUALITY starts and ENDS with .COM not .Whatever! Square wheels make life difficult. But hey, if you like to fail and never going to where you want to go to, I can't stop you.

Any FOOL that wants to argue the point TODAY, WINS! You win. Happy? Instead of challenging ME, why don't you challenge YOURSELF! Challenge yourself to do better and think WISER! Or are you going to piss away another year telling yourself what you CAN'T do??!! I don't care either way. Does not change my life one way or the other. But it sure can change the life of many that read this and change their losing attitude into a winning one!!

Your success or failure depends on your reactions in life to life. Failure is a choice. Success is a choice. Which would you like to choose? Your reaction holds the key.

And big Props to Bobby in comments below for bringing this to my attention. The guy in 2000 saying it was TOO LATE!! LOL! Someday people WISH they could go BACK to 2020!!!!!!!

http://www.ricksblog.com/2007/11/time-capsule-se/#.XCy0sWgzbnF

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Is Social Media about to implode? Well, Yeah, yeah it is. Growth is GONE! GONE! It's over! The bleeding has begun and is in full progress. Will they bleed out? Probably not, but they may look like a deflated balloon.

To me this was the #1 Story of 2018. As you may recall, I left twitter on December 31, 2017. Most thought I would be back in a few weeks. Well 52 weeks later......And I did the same with Facebook. As I wrote recently, "Social Media is no longer Social, it's Dangerous".

Many thought I was exaggerating and over reacting. But look back a year later. Folks are leaving these platforms in droves! Facebook stock down $100/share in months. There is true danger there and people and parents are starting to recognize this as a very serious issue.

The winner is US. Great domains. Needed, wanted, desirable and important domains. We are all responsible for the portfolios we have. No one is to blame for a worthless one other than ourselves. I have tried to point this out for decades. Now we really do enter a new period of domains. A great one.

It will still take YEARS for the average Joe to figure out he has made a huge mistake in promoting his or her social media pages and not have them eventually (ASAP) funneling to their own domain name.

And remember, I am EXCLUSIVELY talking about BIG LEAGUE .COM domains. PERIOD!!! ALWAYS!! I may dabble in Minor League extensions, but I know that a lottery ticket likely has more value. All other extensions sell for a fraction of a .Com. A SMALL or TINY fraction. And demand is so much lower! Does anyone even think about that?? Demand?? 

I am bullish on GREAT .Com domains. I am NOT bullish on anything else in domains. Some extensions will benefit from a rising tide. It will benefit more in demand than in increasing prices.

And as far as I am concerned, GTLD's are NOW DEAD and eventually someone will bury this stinky carcass! Bury it right next to those IDN's and Emoji's. A waste of time, money and effort. Cause of Death: Too many to list!

HUGE deals are coming in 2019 and 2020. We are entering a sweet spot and you have the downfall of Social Media to thank! You have Retail Mall Sales to thank.

But it starts, NOW. It already started in the last few months. But you will see an increase in domain activity in 2019 like never before and for a REASON. Most of these deals will be under the radar. Especially the deals that are north of $10 Million. And I think that you are going to see a rash of sales between $5 and $10 Million.

I am going to restructure my pricing. I am going to call it Sraes. That is Sears spelled backwards. Sraes. No, I don't need the domain name. lol And not really going to call it this. Just want to demonstrate how ass backwards Sears and many others are. How they missed such a huge opportunity to buy EVERY relevant domain name for LESS THAN the cost of ONE FAILING SEAR'S STORE!! 

Not one genius there could figure it out? Really?? Malpractice! Go dig up the founders and I bet THEY would have figured it out. How sad!

It is now time for me to price a domain equal to greater than the cost to build a Sears store in the real world including gondolas etc. The finished product. I won't even count the 300 employees each store has. Or the cost of insurance and security and trash removal and electric and it just keeps going. Did I mention the land itself. Or maybe just a 99 year lease?

So I have been researching the costs. It's mind boggling. I can't even figure it out yet. I need help. What is the cost in New York or Hong Kong? What is the cost in Iowa or Wyoming?

Happy New Year's!

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!!

I am going to tell you a story of a Dumb Domainer. A nice guy, with a great domain but he is dumb. But wait!! He is not alone! There are a LOAD of Dumb Dominers. So let's see if YOU are a Dumb Domainer. You can close the blog now if you are a chicken shit. :-) Of course that would automatically make you a Dumb Domainer! A Dumb Domainer with no balls! LOL!

My brother always said the worst thing you can do is call somebody dumb or stupid. He is right. But I don't always listen. Sometimes I like to see the reaction. So are you ready to find out if you are a Dumb Domainer? This is a true story btw.

So, I get an email from a guy with a really nice domain name. He uses his domain as his email address. He has been sending me emails for MONTHS! I return his emails, but every single one has bounced. EVERY ONE! And that is why I NEVER EVER use one of my domains as an email addy. Sorry, not reliable. You never even know the emails you don't get.

I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me before. Countless.

So, I got another email yesterday wishing me a happy new years. I responded and of course it bounced again! Could have been a life changing email for him. He will never see it! Maybe he will see this blog post and put 2 and 2 together. I have no other way to reach him as you will soon see!

So I decided to go to whois. But the domain is registered with Godaddy and there is no contact info. Just a place to make an offer. Worthless and useless. If you don't have your domain visible via whois, you are a DUMB DOMAINER!!

If your registrar does not give you an option to make your whois public, you are a DUMB DOMAINER for not demanding it or for staying there. The whois will bring you more inquires and buyers than all other platforms combined.

If your domain is listed on every platform, you are a DUMB DOMAINER! And if your domains are listed everywhere and your whois is private, then you are a REALLY DUMB DOMAINER!!

And as long as we are passing by the subject......If your domain is listed everywhere......You look desperate and weak. That makes you a Dumb Domainer! And when there are different prices on those different platforms, you look BAD and it means you are a REALLY REALLY Dumb Domainer.

The story is not over. I finally go to his site today. Asks for my info. I fill it out. Tell him all his emails are bouncing for months. But he has "Captcha" and after matching 22 sets of pictures in an endless loop, I gave up. Another mark of a DUMB DOMAINER!

So, my New Year's resolution is to make sure I move those scattered domains I won at auction from 10 registrars to only 1 that has whois available. Why? I don't want to be a DUMB DOMAINER!!

And lastly, if you are actively trying to sell your names and use privacy, WTF??? How dumb can you be? Dumb Domainer!

And if you read this far and you are angry, don't blame ME for being a Dumb Domainer! It's YOUR fault not mine! I just pointed it out! Now DEAL WITH IT! I am in the same boat. I realized I too am a Dumb Domainer. But I won't ignore that, I will fix that! That takes me from dumb to smart with just one action. Do that a few times a day and your life will change! Being and staying DUMB is a choice!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I used to be mentally lazy. I have always been physically lazy. I exercise my brain. That's the muscle I care about the most! I dig deep. I look for REAL answers not a pre-determined one. I may start with an assumption, you got to start somewhere. But you MUST adjust as you get new information. If I am looking for "North", I may start by walking any direction assuming it's North. But as new info comes in via the sun, the moon, the stars, I must adjust. I feel bad for those that just scratch the surface, drill down one layer and think their job is done. They will never find North. They live haphazardly.

Sorry, but you need to drill down deep. Layer after layer after layer until you get a SIMPLE ANSWER!!

156,000,000,000/312,000,000,000

78,000,000,000/156,000,000,000

39,000,000,000/78,000,000,000

You better drill down further than than that! 90%+ of humanity NEVER will. Why? Mentally lazy! Things start complicated. Complicated is NO GOOD! Simple is good! The KISS method. "Keep it Simple Stupid!"

Drill and drill and drill and drill until you get to 1/2 . One over two. That's simple. That's not being mentally lazy. That's drilling down to the lowest common denominator and the lowest common denominator always has the answer! The simple answer. You have to do that with everything in life if you expect to make good decisions and find great success.

I lived a life of mediocrity early on. I have seen things from both sides. I can testify to which one is better. Thinking works!! Thinking hard and deep works better! Simplifying it is the icing on the cake.

The "Great Gratz" (A person I have talked about on this blog for years) taught me something else. He taught me the most valuable lesson of my lifetime! It was around 1980. I had spent years on the road traveling from coast to coast and border to border by car. I wasted a lot of time but I was also very effective. He taught me how to be more effective to the power of 4.

The Great Gratz said, "Never cross the street unless there is a reason to do so." Hmmm. What exactly does that mean? Well for one, it said not to waste my time with those that want to waste my time. If I am going to fly from Miami to Seattle, I want to make sure I am not wasting my time or my money or my energy (remember I don't exercise. So saving my energy is important). I want to make sure I don't come home empty handed. The only way to accomplish that was to do the heavy lifting before I ever left my front door. At that point I was going to Seattle and walking away with 5 new accounts or I ain't going! Eventually I learned to do the same thing but I eliminated the jet, the hotel, the expenses and reclaimed days and days of my time!! My time!! How valuable is that??

Just don't answer, think about it!! I saved be away from my home and family for 3 days. Now I had 3 days to do other things and make more money. And since I will repeat this many times in the same week or even the same DAY, I can do this many times in a single day! Gee, I can accomplish a months worth of work without ever leaving my front door in a week and earn more than I ever have!! How cool is that? Now I have minted new mini "Me's" because I have more time to be productive. 4x the time! 4x the income! Working smarter, not harder. That started for me in the early 1980's and I have never looked back. I have worked out of my home since the 1980's and seldom have to leave my front door to make money or move mountains anymore. My broken back accelerated my learning curve. Amazing what the mind can accomplish when it has to!

That quote is how I still live my life today. "Never cross the street unless there is a reason to do so." I don't do or go anywhere until I know it is worth it. I am not interested in wasting time, money or energy. I am interested in accomplishing things. If a phone call will save me a 3000 mile trip and 3 days of my life then a phone call it is! They would have to demonstrate to me why I should leave the comfort of my home, my lifestyle, my family and my life or it ain't gonna happen. And even then, it may not happen. I will figure out a solution and a way not to travel.

Efficiency of time and effort and the reward that goes with it. I came to the Internet by identifying one single time sensitive thing as the most important and then I focused on that one thing. DOMAINS!!! I drilled down all the way. That was MY 1 over 2. It was a unique moment in time that would never ever pass again. I recognized that FACT and that was my motivation. That's before I even got to value and what a domain stands for.

That all happened from one small thought by the Great Gratz! A totally flawed human being. Drank too much, yelled too much, failed too much. We argued until we could not stand each other. Always just trying to figure out the real answer. But he was the real deal. He towered mentally over those he spoke with. They could hardly keep up with him. But I was listening to genius. I just did not know how to interpret it back then as I was 29 and he was 62. I do now! I know it since 1988 when I broke my back. I laid in bed with no way to earn a living. I had to transform myself from doing 55 trade shows a year and became an advertising company as I advertised my products instead and never left my house. (Actually a Bluebird Motorhome back then)

My 6 pack abs are in my thought process. The 10 inches between my ears. Every success and every failure a human being has is determined right there. You figure that out when you drill down. When you drill all the way down! Even if you work with your hands, your mind is the determining factor.

Happy and a Healthy New Years to all my readers! My only goal is to change somebody's life or their outlook each and every day by my provocative thoughts, opinions and beliefs. On to 2019 and beyond! Drill DEEP my friends. The rewards are SITTING THERE but buried deep! Gold, Silver, Diamonds, Oil, Domains! Most of all, SUCCESS!

Rick Schwartz

PS: For more info and my writings about the "Great Gratz", Click Here!

The Story of the”Great Gratz” and how 7 Words Changed my Life at 29

The Great Gratz Part 2

What Does "Moving Mountains" mean?

The School of Thought, the Power of the Mind

Rick’s 5 Minute Sales Lesson Can Make you a Pro! Right Here! Right Now!

Morning Folks!!

Clarity for me comes bit by bit and then all at once! I have written about "Domain Stampedes" before. Here is my most famous post about the last stampede.

The last stampede was a clusterf*ck in 2014 when few could see the GTLD mess but it's a much bigger clusterf*ck now that all can see. That post is 5 years old. How did I do? How did you do?

But the stampede I see coming is the one I have been waiting for. Like I say, an overnight success takes 20 years in the making. Domains, .com domains, GREAT and meaningful domains are about to explode! EXPLODE!

The cancer of Social Media and collapse of giants like Sears is breathing life into high profile domains. There could be an avalanche of BIG sales in the next year. Eye popping sales. Record breakers. I want to see the day that Ron Jackson's "Year to date sales" are all 7 figures!

Now while the really good domains will be in demand, the really bad ones are going nowhere but to the drop pile! The canyon between valuable domains and worthless pigeon shit is going to be visible like never before.

You will see many companies upgrade to .com and if you thought GTLD's have been pumping for the last 5 years, just wait to see what desperation looks like over the next 5 years. It's a knee slapper!

I do believe that domains will eventually take their rightful place and their values will be understood. Even at $11 Million, Tesla.com was a bargain!! How much is that over the next 30 years???? NOT MUCH when you make $$$$. It's self paying!! It's FREEEEEEEEE!

The lack of trust and transparency in Social Media is the catalyst for this stampede. Is it better to have 1 million followers or have 1 million people a day come to your site?? That's a question that nobody ever asked them and they have never thought about.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Today, I start my 24th year in this sport of domaining. I collect, I invest, I predict, I act, I profit. So what will be different in 2019, 2020, 2021? Keep reading. My path to success is the same as many others and still can be done right now! But my path is 1000% opposite of the majority of struggling domainers that are not doing well. Why are they struggling? I will show you and them and prove it in just a moment with the exact recipe for domaining success. So take a deep breath.

As domainers we are all in this by ourselves. The domain game is a sport like Golf. It's not a team effort! It's you against the golf course. It's me and you against the domain market. We don't compete directly except for buying. A golfer has to focus on the golf course not the leader board if he expects to win. Birdie each and every hole and you will win each and every tournament.. Focus on the other players and leaderboard, you will probably lose. Your job is to sink birdies. Your job as a domainer is to invest and collect gems. BUYING is your main job. Sales is the second stage. But you have to get the first stage right to even participate in the second.

Unfortunately we have INSIDE forces that are hurting our sport! Are hurting our investments. Are abusing the game of domaining. I don't even have to mention these companies by name, you can! And there may be too many to list. But I have written about many of them extensively over the years. But domainers are passive. They never give a crap about anything meaningful or important. But will spend endless time and effort on meaningless gossip and one upping each other.

Domainers have been terrible stewards of their collective assets and common interests. They have not protected their sport or their livelihood effectively. Our biggest business enemies are from business practices and ethics within the industry. The threats from the outside world are virtually non existent. Except for Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH). And that is becoming more rare. And most domainers could care less about RDNH because nobody ever wanted one of their domains so much they would try and steal it. So the more RDNH you have to defend, the more your portfolio has value and demand. What's the ratio? 1 in 1000 domainers with a domain brought to WIPO? 1 in 10,000? It does say something!

Where to from here? Who cares? It does not matter. There is nothing collective about domaining but the sales price of the last big domain sale and then the pending debates whether it is a bogus sale or not. It's just all so predictable and without constructive direction.

We are planet domaining and we are heading nowhere as we spin thru space. The damage done to this industry from within is more than I could have ever imagined and IMHO, beyond repair. Window's of opportunity closed. So many closed and so few even seen.

Domainers only value to each other is selling each other domains that they should be selling to end users. Look, if your domains are not end user quality then of course you sell to the first person that comes along because of desperation, circumstance and quality. But only one person on earth can put you in that position. So my only question is why?

Yes, tell me about your lack of funds. How about your lack of thought? Your lack of understanding and lack of deliberation? If I had one bullet in a gun and I was hungry I better AIM REALLY GOOD or I am gonna STARVE! I can't afford to WASTE that bullet just like you can't waste money on Pigeon Shit. BUT YOU DO!! . SO AIM!! Make SURE you hit the target. You got one shot to get it right. So target something of value that others would want. That's called DEMAND!

So you can dine on Pigeon or dine on Pigeon shit. Yeah it's YOUR fault if you play the sport the wrong way! So go ahead, lash out at ME for YOU buying CRAP! YOU have the ability to change your destiny whenever you choose. But I am pointing out EXACTLY why so many are floundering and not getting the result they want and expect and at the same time giving you the FIX! WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO YOU WANT??

Sorry, other domainers are not your friends. They are a distraction. Nothing more than sharks in a tank rooting for your demise regardless of the smile or the pat on the back. A golfer may give a high five after a competitor makes an eagle, but if he takes the lead by 2 shots, internally they wished he did not make it! It's human nature.

Many domainers post crap about a sale with no domain name and some $x,xxx price. Useless information and with no value other than to make them feel good and you feel inferior. That's the nonsense most swallow. I laugh at the foolishness of it.

Buy each domain like it is the difference between eating and not eating and you will change your destiny. Have a goal of buying just a couple nice names a month. It's about quality, not quantity.

Want to dabble in GTLD's?, Then be smart about it. Ask the right questions. Look at it via the eyes of others. Stop closing your eyes to all the pitfalls. But if you are in dire financial shape, you have no business buying anything other than .com.

And raise your game!. Doubling your $$$ for a domain is not good unless it is one of your first 3 or 4 sales! You do that for a commodity that sells easily and rapidly. Domains are not liquid. Therefore 2x is for fools and newbies. If it isn't worth 10x to 100x or more of what you bought it for, why are you even wasting your time and money? The sport is simple. But you have to be disciplined, determined and you have to be focused. The best way to do that, is realizing this is an individual sport and other domainers are not going to help you to do any of the things I described. Start focusing on the domains themselves. THEY are your friends!

And as far as money....Well you can't play the stock market unless you have a nest egg. You can't buy a house without a downpayment. You can't lease an apartment without first, last and a security deposit. You can't play golf without golf clubs. Each sport and each investment and each move forward in life requires MONEY or a creative thought process! Buy a domain on time. Finance what you can afford. Plenty of domainers will jump at that opportunity. Oh yes, you can BUY from a domainer, just never ever sell to one! If you are smart, you start small and grow on a constant basis. Time takes time! Stop rushing what you can't rush.

Happy 2019 and onwards to 2020 and my 25th year in the Sport of Domains! The new sport of Kings!

Rick Schwartz