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

Afternoon Folks!!

The most Repeated Phrase in the World is “Dot Com”. Want to argue the point? It’s a fact! How do I know? Who reported it? I know because I know and I am the first to report it. Maybe. But that does not change the FACTS regardless if they are known or even proven. Maybe put that in the “Gut” column. But it is FACT! Fact because I believe it and business and life is based on beliefs.

Want to talk me out of it? Is 2+2=4?

So with those UNPROVEN FACTS that I totally BELIEVE I move forward. I look at every commercial. I look at every magazine ad. I listen to every radio ad. I look at every brochure. I look at every flyer. I listen to everything. The ONE THING they all have in common is their web address. Used to be the phone number. Now it is dot com. It’s a dot com world.

Maybe the most repeated phase in history. Probably neck and neck with “F*ck you”. That’s what you call looking at the world from both sides.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

So after giving others heartburn and sleepless nights Frank Schilling finally makes his first real public in depth statement via an interview with DomainSherpa. It's top notch and I wish I was as articulate as Frank. Well worth the time and while I may be a bull in a china shop, Frank is a bit calmer and smooth as silk. lol. But the message is the same and the changes that are happening are profound and disruptive and there is more disruption to come.

As I said in My original post, Frank does not even have to sell his program to be a success. Now just 2 weeks later and well on the way to 500,000 of the purest type in domains on the planet, Frank breaks his silence.

Strength is disruping an industry with two sentences.

A no-frills monetization platform for experience type-in operators. 'If you want to make more money, try us out.'

If you are a domainer or you deal in traffic or are reading this....it's a must.

What he does not do....Back the truck up to 'Problem Names' and THAT is the key. No trademarked portfolios and other such domains. Will some get in? Sure. But they will eventually be filtered out. Anyone that has a large portfolio may have a few names that are challenged. But that is a far cry to those that back up the truck and just load up on those type names.

All I am saying is different type traffic should not be mixed together any longer. Frank describes it as buckets and that is a perfect way.

I would have One bucket for type ins, one bucket for the various other types of traffic. One for the 'Forbidden fruit' of trademark traffic. One for typos. One for link traffic. One for SE and SEM and garbitrage. And if you are within that group of 'Various other traffic' and you think what you have is superior, then it is YOUR job to make another bucket. Make a bucket marked with what you have.

The simple take away. Low overhead, no hand holding and 2 buckets. 1 bucket that he has created and wants to attract pure type in traffic and one bucket that he has no interest in for all others to share. Simple, brilliant and long overdue. Now just sit back and watch what happens when you take pure type in traffic without being mixed in with ANY other type of traffic.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Afternoon Folks!!

I mentioned a couple weeks back that besides John Ferber's new platform another solution would also be coming to domains and the news release just came to me a few minutes ago. With InternetTraffic.com, that makes 3 NEW AGE parking companies in the space ALL run by domainers. You are watching YOUR industry get disrupted in real time.

“This is the end of PPC for domainers as we know it,” said Jenny Johnson, Vice President of Media Breakaway, LLC. “We are going beyond basic domain parking solutions and creating a superior alternative with automated landing page and offer optimization which ultimately can increase revenue for our clients.”

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Is there a 'Domain Spring'? I think there is. Besides the emergence of InternetTraffic.com, May was my single biggest deal making month since I have been online.

At last count, 12 deals done in May with several still pending to open up June. Not a one involved selling a domain. 6 were in house. The others included launching new businesses on domains I owned with 6 individual folks with an IDEA. Folks that know that their idea married with my domain name would give them the best shot at success. All much more talented and technical than I could ever dream to be.

So these are very exciting times that have blossomed when folks across the spectrum get challenged to reach higher. Having a working model that can be copied over and over again with just marginal changes to fit the circumstance is the first step. For me that was the Candy.com deal. For me that deal cracked the door open from only being able to sell a domain to share in the new enterprise as well.

So in 2011 I have not sold a domain nor do I plan to sell any. But I will have dozens of partnerships each bringing in monthly revenues far beyond anything that I could do myself, no time involved AND a ticket to the 'Big Show' if ANY of those puppies break out into something we can only dream about.

It's sometimes been frustrating to wait for things to evolve. But that wait is over because of mainstream articles like this from Forbes.com. My vision has won the day because I believed in it for going on 16 years and seldom if ever wavered from it. Just knew that in TIME things would unfold in a manner that I saw clearly then as I do now and no longer alone in that vision. If you own the DIRT, you can own some of what the next guy wants to build on it. It's just got to be a RULE before you even start the dialogue. PERIOD!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Less than 20% of the domain owners send 80%-90% of all the pure type in traffic. 80% of the domainers send trademarked traffic, typo traffic, and manufactured traffic that would not even exist without faking out Google to pay you on what they already had.

That’s like going into Wal-Mart and picking an item off THEIR shelf and going to the cash register and getting MONEY from Wal-Mart instead of PAYING! You best read that example again because that is just how fucked up this gaming of the system is. That is just how STUPID this MESS is. Google please pay attention. End users please pay attention. This all off your bottom line. This is a double whammy and more.

Just in case.....

That’s like going into Wal-Mart and picking an item off THEIR shelf and going to the cash register and getting MONEY from Wal-Mart instead of PAYING! Get it this time?

This all ties into the SEO guys and the shady side of things. Their job is to fake out everyone. You don't do SEO for a type in UNLESS there is a real site there. And remember, these are the same guys that said no domain was worth $100 in 1995. How did that work out for them? Been dealing with this since Day #1. Why anyone would give credence to it now just shows either desperation or ignorance of domain history.

In life there is the 80/20 rule. It does not apply to SEO guys. It is more like 98/2. There can be thousands of folks running around saying they are SEO experts because there is no barrier to entry. So I salute the 2% of real SEO experts. .

See there is a reason these SEO guys are always running around ragging on domains. This started the DAY type ins were discovered because that was always a threat. They are on a slippery slope and about to be meaningless. The way to be #1 on Google is to be relevant. A parked page is not relevant but the type in traffic is. And it is reliable. And it is consistent. And it is potent.

And for the record, I don't believe in trying to optimize a domain with type in traffic. I don't believe in optimizing any parked domains.

Up was always up and down was always down. Only difference is some got it upside down and when they get it right, everything around them COLLAPSES!

So there are about 350 folks or less that send 90% of the PURE type in traffic and there are literally thousands of folks disguised as domainers that do something quite different. These two groups will have less and less in common as time goes on.

Then the parking companies pick up any shit they could possibly find to make the shit traffic look good compared to WORTHLESS traffic.

Don’t know what worthless traffic looks like? Show me a domain, tell me how much traffic it gets and I will tell you if it is REAL type in traffic or manufactured MANURE.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Think of domain traffic as producing electric.

Google is the electric company

We have electric.

Now there is different voltages in electric including LOW VOLTAGE. As domainers we may be cranking out pure 220 volt electric in which the electric company can breakdown and distribute from there in any voltage they like.

They KNOW what they are getting and there is a constant flow with no interruptions.

On the other hand you have these INTERMEDIATES that take the 220v and do all types of bastardizing and it is no longer pure uninterrupted 220v. Now it is mixed with different voltages of electric and dead batteries and old tires and any mixture they can give to maximize their revenues at the expense of EVERYONE up and down the line.

What's the difference? If your car battery needs 12V and you can only get 8V, that means your car won't start. What you have won't do anything. It is basically worthless because it can't do what it was intended to do. On the net, it won't make the sale or get a new user. It falls short. There is only one winner and it is not Google and it is not domainers and it certainly is not the customer.

The electric company (Google suffers). The electric producer (Domainers) suffer and the worst of all is the buyer of traffic suffers and that stunts the growth of the electric company and the entire Internet all because of the intermediary who is controlling way too much of what is going on.

I mean this is simple stuff and I am just amazed how many YEARS and DOLLARS and TIME has been wasted. But this MAY be the dawn of a new day. When the Electric company figures out where the problem really is in the chain they may see things in a different light.

Domainers want to do 3 things in this life as I see it.

1. Assemble a great portfolio of domain names that can become businesses. This was time sensitive. A Unique Opportunity in time and that took precedence over everything else.

2. Park those domains on a platform that does not dilute the value until they can......

3. Develop or partner up on those domains to make them into full fledged businesses and become a direct customer to the electric company as they partner and grow their businesses.

The motive to game the system is not there for 99.99% of domainers with true type ins. The rest came to the party a little late and play catch up and have adopted every trick in the book at the expense of everyone else.

Challenges are coming and the electric company may have to deal with other electric companies. Ala Facebook, twitter, groupon, linked in, and 50 that will come tomorrow or next year.

So it really is time for a full understanding of where we are where we came from, how we got here and then FIXING it!

And while everyone keeps telling me how I don’t understand this or I am wrong on that, NONSENSE! I understand all too well and there it all is in black and white.

We are at an “Impression based advertising” moment in time. The choice is to move backwards to that model with PANTOM traffic that is WORTHLESS or looking at the reality and common sense way of growing EVERYONE’S business.

You don't have to agree with a word I write. But this is how I see things. This is what I believe and this is something I believe we can change once folks look at it in an objective manner.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

As you may be aware, last week I turned off the “Comments” section of my blog. Maybe I should have done that a long time ago. So you may ask why? I think I just came to the conclusion that the comments fall into several categories. The folks I would like to hear from no longer comment anywhere because they don’t always feel free to say what is on their mind without getting attacked. Welcome to my world. Plus I will no longer give a forum for those with an agenda or those that employ others to post or just do their bidding.

So I decided to get on the soapbox, take the microphone back and just say what I want to say without giving the same power to those that read it. I decided to take that power back. Some used it for good, and to those folks I know they understand. Some use it to do the opposite of what I intend and now they can do it somewhere else. I will no longer allow others to marginalize my thoughts and beliefs, To bastardize my words. To out right LIE as it is in THEIR best interest.

Over the years I showed I can take what comes. I posted more uncensored posts than anyone in the industry. Friend or foe I posted them all. You are taught “Discrimination” is a bad thing. That is TOTAL BULLSHIT!! Be as discriminating as you want to be. Surround yourself with the best of the best. Let those you discriminate against KNOW IT!! THAT my friends is free speech! DISCRIMINATE!

But don’t discriminate for the wrong reasons. Don’t do it for the obvious. For the superficial. For this group or that group. For color, religion or origin. But do it for Good and bad! For those that believe a reputation is EVERYTHING and everything else is NOTHING!

I hope I piss off all those that have bad reputations because I have NOTHING in common with you. I want a divide that would make the Grand Canyon look like a creek.

At the end of the day we will have a smaller group. Okay with me. “Domainers” is much too broad a term. It encompasses way too many people that have nothing in common with a professional domain investor or a professional domain developer or a professional ANYTHING!

There is the right way to do things in life and every other way. Who in their right mind would want to be around folks that can’t get their head around that?? Go back to 10^th grade if you live your life like that. If your North Star in life is not doing things the right way, then GET OUT OF THE WAY!!

You don’t have to agree with me on almost anything. But you do have to share SOME of my values just as I have to share SOME of your values. But it should not be difficult. We should overlap 95% of the time when you deal with like minded people with like minded values. Good people! We never have to agree on anything and we can both still be good people.

So we live in an era where people DEMAND respect. Funny thing is that only HOODLUMS used to have to DEMAND respect. The rest of us did it the old fashioned way. WE EARN RESPECT!

So many have just been brainwashed because it is ok to be assholes and there are no consequences for wrong doing at any level. So morons copy other morons. I guess it has happened throughout history. But now it is an art form.

So if you don’t want to know what I think or believe or how I see things, fine. But I sure as hell am going to use my soapbox to exercise my freedoms. In time I may decide to choose responsible comments to post that are constructive and I deem meaningful. But that is for another time.

To those that don’t get it….grow the fuck up. To the others that do, I probably just said what you would have liked to for a very long time but were intimidated to do it because of peer pressure and relationships and all the rest of society’s pressures. Most are economic as you FEAR retribution. Yup, I said that too. Why? Because I believe it!! But FEAR keeps you a PRISONER! Time to be BOLD and STAND UP!

I discriminate based on what is in the heart and minds of others and I will never relinquish that RIGHT and I thank every soldier that ever served to protect that right.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

The Domain Industry has been disrupted! Parking companies are flipping out. Some parking companies are squealing like PIGS!! I wrote about this a few days ago but some did not heed my warning. Some parking companies are still lobbying Google and Yahoo to drop Frank. My positiion has not changed. BACK THE FUCK OFF!!

Parking companies engaging in this practice starting RIGHT NOW will NOT be allowed to attend TRAFFIC. I could give a rats ass!! We are not here to serve you, you are here to serve us!!! You provide a SERVICE. DON'T BECOME A ROAD BLOCK!

Stop hosing domainers. Stop dealing with SHIT traffic. Stop the lobbying. I WILL NAME NAMES. I am not kidding! And if not me, somebody else will surely start WHISPERING with a BULL HORN about who is doing what.

But not to worry. You will still be represented. I will go on stage and make your company FAMOUS! Some will be SHOCKED at who are whining. But they are whining for SURVIVAL!

To Domainers: Your traffic has been worth less all the time because the same people that pay you, bastardize the good traffic to blend in with the WORTHLESS SHIT they have been peddling for years. You don't have to put much BEEF in the stew and so they don't. SHIT TRAFFIC is costing EVERY DOMAINER reading this.

And for you folks that believe the ppc payouts have nothing to do with them..... you are flat out wrong and short sighted.

Next we will talk about COLLUSION!

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

This note is just for folks with real type in traffic. Not manufactured traffic. Not search traffic. Nothing but PURE type in traffic.

Most folks are tuned in but many of you are busy building empires and may not have heard that Frank Schilling is making domainers a BOAT LOAD of extra payouts with his no frills but effective parking company.

“I sincerely hope InternetTraffic.com will act as a co-operative which rewards those who generate the traffic. I would like to rekindle a team loyalty that exists between most of us, but which has begun to fade in recent years as the industry has grown. I would like us to rise together and prosper together. It may sound trite but I think it can be done.”

Frank Schilling

The difference in payouts is stunning. Most are reporting 40%-50% increases and I have experienced much better than that. DOUBLE! This program is not for everyone. If you need hand holding, this ain’t the place. This is for serious professional domainers that have watched their pure type in traffic mixed with MUD in order for some folks to make more money at YOUR EXPENSE!

Since the first TRAFFIC event in 2004 I have been talking about this exact thing. Mixing potent traffic with garbage traffic. Having a 'Co-operative' to represent REAL domainers. And yes there are REAL domainers and those that SCREW the system USING domains and giving US a bad name. Them days are over!!!!!!!!

I am not getting paid to do this nor would I want to get paid. Frank did not ask me to do this and he does not have to ask. But my posts and TRAFFIC are all about making more money with OUR traffic and THAT is why the show exists to begin with. So when I see this dramatic a shift, nobody has to ask me. Nobody has to pay me. I just do what I do! Time to pay yourselves.

This is also an opportunity for other parking companies to start innovating again. The landing page is your report card. If 100 people land on that page they vote by clicking on a link or not. If no links are clicked that means no votes were cast and the page failed the surfer, the parking company and the domainer. A negative result for everyone.

On the other hand if all 100 click than they all voted in a positive manner. When I hear about 2%, 5%, 10% or even 25% click thru’s, I am stunned. 5%??? Are you kidding? Should be 50% as a minimum and much higher. It should even exceed 100% if you have a great page to match the traffic.

So between better click throughs in which ALL parking companies can compete and bigger payouts that no other parking company can match.......we have a domain earthquake now in progress.

Now here is a secret. Like you I have done many things trying to make a spark. Developing, mini sites, lead capture sites, commission sites, you name it. But one thing always happened. It HURT the traffic. It did not grow the traffic. On the other hand, my PPC pages seem to always grow. I can’t figure it out. Maybe folks like targeted landing pages more than we think. Not sure. But the numbers tell an interesting story.

So if you don’t mind giving your income away to “Charity” not of your choosing, not non profit, then continue biz as usual. For those with PURE type in traffic, RUN, don’t walk, to getting things setup with Frank. For the first time ever we are about to see something stunning.

Type in traffic is the most potent traffic in the world. Because so few have that GOLD, that OIL, certian groups have to make things up to compete. Then they mix it our oil with their MUD to make more money because without that gold and oil, they got zip! Folks with type in traffic know this. And when folks that BUY the traffic see it, these groups can NEVER put it back in the bottle. The BS will finally be exposed for all to see and then we'll see.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz