I was Looking for a 5 Year Old Post and Found this 15 Year Old Post Instead. Circa 1998

From July 4th 1998........15 years old and still current.
Morning All!!
This is my 3rd annual July 4th post on domains.
Second on Ynot - and I believe the first was on Jonathans OLD board.

 

The first year they laughed me off the board
The second year they began to see what I saw
The third year I would like to show you where this 'Domain train' is ultimately going.

 

First of all you MUST visualize a domain as a PHYSICAL piece of property, land, undeveloped land.
Second you must realize that it is a MULTIDIMENSIONAL object because of 'Product branding' and WORLDWIDE address.
Third you must realize the special 'Uniqueness' ALL domains inherently have.
Fourth......it is FREE to get to and hopefully EASY to remember and SPELL.
Fifth and MOST important, you must realize just how VALUABLE that real estate REALLY is.

 

I have said one thing numerous times since I started down this path.....and 3 years later......I believe it stronger than ever!! 'The price of domains (Electronic realestate) will go up faster than ANY other land EVER known to man' I had made $0 at the point that I BELIEVED that statement to be true.

 

When I talk about domains I talk of PRIME domains. Not some of my silly 'cams' or 'gos' or 'starts' or other such veins. (That is for down the road) I am talking corner properties in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, South Beach. 1 or 2 word domains that are TARGETED to a SPECIFIC group of people.

So where do I see myself at this point.......


I see myself in Times Square and I own a few corners plus a BUNCH of land on 42nd st.
When I arrived.....it was like a ghost town....it was barren and empty and MORE than scary.

 

Today......I hear the sounds of a MASSIVE construction project underway. Trucks and cranes and banging and digging and everything else you can imagine.
AND IT HAS EXPANDED!! Those sounds are being heard in other geographic regions as well. It's not only Manhattan!! They have expanded to KANSAS if you were talking in domain terms, and with new highways opening up in the form of different extensions......things get even more interesting!


THIS is the year that the mainstream WILL figure it out. I started this journey expecting it to be 4 or 5 years down the road before it hit. That would make my ultimate predictions come true in the next 18 months.


So What will happen??


First of all how many of you would have imagined a year ago that the board would have soooo many postings in references to domains....buying, selling, trading? That IS significant.


I believe that the 'Multi national' companies of the world may begin to see what I see. When that happens....AND IT WILL HAPPEN.....you will see a significant amount of buying going on and the prices will go thru the roof! I see numerous domains that will become next to priceless BECAUSE they WON'T be for sale. THAT will cause other domain prices to rise.


Location! Location! Location!


I always believed it was a lot easier for a crummy restaurant to be successful in a prime location with built in traffic than a GREAT restaurant that nobody is able to find. Doesn't mean the GREAT restaurant won't be successful.......but it DOES MEAN:


that he MUST be MUCH BETTER!
that he has to work MUCH harder!
that he has to give them a reason to go out of their way!
that he will always look down on the guy with the great location!


BUT


At some point......the GREAT restaurant may want BOTH!
The BIG money IS coming! REALLLLLLLLLLY Big! I believe it. I believed it in 1995. And I believe it stronger on THIS July 4th than any other!

I remember last July 4th when I said to friends and such that a company's website address would appear in every commercial, every magazine ad, every billboard and at some point in time will become MORE important than even their 800 number. Guess what - yes, they laughed at me. I got more than a FEW raised eyebrows.


I would say on THIS July 4th that ANY company without a presence on the net is LOSING BUSINESS and their competition is gaining it! It indicates a company with little foresight and if you were an investor in one of these companies I would say it was time to change.


Keep your eyes on Disney, Microsoft, and some OLD GIANTS, plus a few unknowns to lead the hottest race you have EVER seen. Look at the domains Disney and Microsoft are buying up RIGHT NOW.


The BIGGEST factor!


Let's say Sears decides to build a store in Osh Kosh......It costs them $25 million, takes them 2 years to build after 5 years of planning.
VERY SLOW......VERY EXPENSIVE!


And if they get it wrong.....Ha ha!!

 

Now if Sears decides to build NUMEROUS websites TARGETED at different groups of people they could take that same $$$$ and do some SERIOUS damage on the net! AND they can do it overnight!

 

WHY did I stop advertising my Dirty phone numbers in all those magazines I was in back in 1996?

Cuz on the net I could take it and turn my money around in days and I no longer had to wait 6-9 months to get a return!
Maybe others will come to the same conclusion......If they follow the $$$$$......then there isn't a doubt in my mind.
Sorry for the Long and Boring post......But I LOVE tradition!!

Have a happy and SAFE 4th!!
Rick Schwartz

The JointVentures.com Affiliate Program Coming in 2013

Morning Folks!!


I look at a business as loading a gun and then firing it and then hitting your target. If you don't have the proper items in the proper order or you have elements missing, that gun can't fire let alone hit the target. So there are certain steps in a certain order that a business has to do to have success. Once I see a business not doing this, FAILURE is guaranteed.


Progress is about putting one foot in front of another and just doing that while folks on the sideline SCREAM for you to move faster or do this or that. Sorry, I filter out the screams. I have a destination, I have a map and I have the tools to achieve what I see.


Later this year we expect to open up an affiliate program for JointVentures.com. A very lucrative affiliate program. One that will have recurring revenues during the lifetime of a lease. We are working on many things and one by one they will come to be as we build this platform from scratch right in front of your eyes.


Best part is it is completely transparent. We know what the deal is, you know what the deal is and the end user knows what the deal is. The numbers are all out in the open. It's just a great formula that works and time will prove it.


More to come!


Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz


There are only 35 Questions to Ask about .Whatever and I’ll Ask Them Right Here!

Afternoon Folks!!


If you know the right questions, then you not only know the right answers but you may also know the outcome. So let me show you how simple it is to figure it out.


So we have 1800 .whatevers coming to market.


Question #1...What happens if they are all a success?


Question #2...What happens if they are fail?


Question #3...What happens when some succeed and some fail?


Question #4...How many will succeed and how many will fail?


Question #5...Which ones will succeed?


Question #6...How long will that success take to be known and achieve?


Question #7...How many of the 7 billion people will go there?


Question #8...How many of the 7 Billion will be confused?


Question #9...How many new .com millionaires will be made by the .counterpart?


Question #10...How much more will a great domain name be worth regardless of extension?


Question #11...How much will it affect the overall landscape of things in the next 12 months?


Question #12...How much will it affect the overall landscape over the next 2 years? 5 Years? 10 Years?


Question #13...Are there any examples already out there that could give insight?


Question #14...What are the other similar examples and how long have they been around?


Question #15...Which of those have been successful?


Question #16...Which of those have failed?


Question #17...How many predicted success at the beigining?


Question #18...How many enjoy success today?


Question #19...Do you know the difference between a successful registry and a successful domain investment?


Question #20...How many NON .com domains have fetched over $1 Million? $750,000? $500,000?


Question #21...How many .com domains have fetched over $1 Million? $750,000? $500,000?


Question #22...What exactly is the NEED, WANT, DESIRE that is actually being demanded by the consumer?


Question #23...What is the NEED, WANT, DESIRE from those wanting to market .whatever and why exactly is the consumer going to respond and embrace?


Question #24...Is 800 synonymous with the phone? Is .com synonymous with the Internet?


Question #25...If .TV can not breakout in some 15 years and .TV seems like a natural extension that would be easily adaptable, why would .whatever have a better shot?


Question #26...If we agree that .mobi has virtually no value after 6-8 years and all signs point south, why would someone RISK building their empire on something that has the power to become a GHOST town?


Question #27...What do folks do when they are confused?


Question #28...What do you do with the unintended email you as a .com owner WILL get when folks make be sending sensitive information?


Question #29...If you are the .com domain owner and you receive constant email addressed wrongly and you are both in the same business would you use that email to benefit and grow your company or pass it on to the .whatever owner?


Question #30...If you are the .whatever registry or the .whatever owner, are you gonna be pissed at the .com owner when he/she negotiate like deuces are wild and they have 4 of them in hand?


Question #31...If you are an end user and you spend $10 million on an advertising campaign and then learn that over 60% of all your efforts are going to the .com owner and his business is thriving and yours is not, what would be your next move?


You guys can ask the other logical questions 32-35.


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz


Unlocking the True Value of a Category Defining Domain Name with a Custom Formula

Morning Folks!!


When I approach a business I approach it in a deliberate manner and long term. I know the difference between urgent and who gives a shit. Prioritizing may be my single greatest strength. I know what has to be done first, second and third and by then usually the other things just fall into place or there is more than enough time to address them.


I have watched many a company come and go because either the timing was wrong or the formula was wrong. My companies have many things going for them whenever I start one. Most importantly, I am not dependant on the entity to eat and survive. That allows me the luxury of taking my time and playing a different type game.


The audience I am targeting may be the single smallest group in domaining and thus in any other sector of business of any industry in the world. But that small group understand what they own and the potential they have when matched with the best partner. They have patiently kept their portfolios in tact waiting for the future. My vision MAY be their vision and I am banking on it that it is.


Unlike a broker or others, I could care less if a deal is made. I only want to attract the smallest of audiences. The ONE person or business uniquely qualified to pull something off that is very big. I don't waste my time or the time of others with undervalued offers or folks that don't see what I see.


Now I am not dissing brokers. I am showing the difference in mindset in this particular game. I would be dissing myself if I was. Selling a domain via a broker and turning it into cash is a great thing. What we are trying to do and JointVentures.com is instead of the immediate cash, which some may need, we are looking for long term revenue streams. Long term upsides. Long term participation in the assets WE DISCOVERED and are somewhat attached to. We want to share in what we initially saw and THAT is the difference and where I come into the equation.


I have never made public all the moving parts in the candy.com deal. 1 part cash, 1 part finance, 1 part interest, 1 part royalty of 2%. I tried like hell to get 10% of the company through the entire negotiations. I was able to get nothing in the initial deal. But in the years that have past I have been able to acquire 7.5% of the entire company. I also just exercized an option in December for an additional 2.5%. So I got 10% AND 2% royalty.


But here is a part I don't think I have ever made public. If candy.com were to sell at some point, I get to share on the upside of that sale to the tune of 20%. Total payouts in 2012 will be $250k. That is before we get to my 7.5%.


Yup, Could have sold it for $500,000-$1,00,000 when I got it. But I look at the world differenty. My mission is to build LARGE revenue streams that last a lifetime. Being patient for a return 10x-100x or more.


Meanwhile I see folks sell their assets much below what some domains are actually worth. I measure domains in a way my target group does. As a unique piece of a very important puzzle that has the ability to unlock millions of dollars in added sales and to hurt your competition while doing it. IF you have category defining names. Basically one and 2 word domains that define a category or product or service as I have defined over the past 30 days right here on this blog.


Property.com deal was largely based on the Candy.com deal. It took nearly 2 years to make that deal a reality. Some of the 'Moving Parts' are different but the starting point was the same. These deals take months and sometimes years to negotiate. Especially ground breaking deals with formulas that are much more intense than selling a domain for less than the real future value of the asset. Punchbowl.com and Luv.com also come with future upsides.


These deals only work on certain domains that I have defined over the past weeks. And of course it is not an easy process. But it is getting easier with each passing day and the coming rise and fall of .whatever will seal the deal for leasing great .com domain names.


Not all deals can get done like this. But each case requires a custom formula that incorporates the things most important to buyer and seller. I am a 'Chemist' when it comes to these formulas because they are always multi-dimensional. But finding the right partner, with the right mindest, with the passion and energy to do something BIG is really the game. Really the big hurdle. But they are always out there. Their ideas bigger than their wallets and are willing to share the prize to get their shot at reaching the stars. It's much more than selling a domain name. It's getting your shot to hit the big time.


I simply realized that I could be one of those moving parts if I can bring to worlds together and hammer out a deal not only agreeable to each but each party walking away excited and satisfied because a seed of the future has been planed and the chances for germination are quite high. Many of you have much better domains than I have. I'll be blunt, I want to share in your income of that domain for the rest of my life. I am willing to invest my TIME to that end. Simple. I see that big an updside by bringing those two wrold's together.


At the end of the day my job is to transform a category defining domain name from making $10/day to making $100/day, $1000/day and being part of a blossoming business and not just the ower of the domain name. This is not small ball looking for 10% or 20% increases. This is about transforming your domains, ONE BY ONE, into long term leases, businesses, joint ventures and other options I am able to negotiate on your behalf with you setting the boundaries. I just need you free listing and you don't have to do a single thing different with your domain name. Just wait for an email from me.


So 2013 marks the start of a long journey that will change how many of us do business in the future. I wish it was a formula that would work universally. It can only work for certain domains. So instead of trying to sell a valuable domain to domainers, transform it into an annuity. Into a long term or even permanent income producing asset. I can only use the best domains out there to do this. The more category defining, the more leverage.


The future is not about chasing the past but being way early for a future present. Plan for a future day and be there before others know that they too will be there. Not rocket science. Just a shortcut to the future. I am uniquely qualified to pull this off because to me it is simply repeating what I have done except with even better domains than mine and the patience and passion to negotiate like it was my own.


I am fishing for big game. It means we go home empty handed MOST of the time. But when we return with that BIG ONE......the whole town turns out and a new day dawns.


Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz


What is the Value of Cowboys.com NOW???

Afternoon Folks!!


Rockies.com sold for $1.2 Million this week. Nets.com is up for grabs at $5 Million and pokes fun at the NY Nets. Cowboys.com now has a value somewhere in between. Except for one teeny weeny problem. Cowboys.com is now making money! We now have this dating site and it's making money!! Who knew this was such a big niche in th heartland?


So now it is not about a domain, it is about a business. A business not a domain and that changes everything IF we wanted to change anything at all. Now I am writing this as an individual, not as a member of the group that bought it. So I am only a minority stake holder in all this and don't speak for anyone but myself.


It's no secret we are getting quite a stream of traffic. Most of which is type ins and Alexa can't measure type ins. I'll get back to you with how many stadiums worth we get. But it's impressive.


Who knew there were so many gay cowboys? It would lead one to believe that if you were to go a certain stadium in Texas, you might want to be just a wee bit cautious. There have been rumors swirling around there for years as I recall.


Not that cowboys.com have anything whatsoever to do with that football team with a very close name that their attorney/rep thought they were buying for $275 instead of $275,000. They actually won the bidding at a LIVE major industry auction, but when it was all said and done they backed out of the deal and our little group ended up with it after that HUGE FUMBLE at a cost of $370,000.


A fumble that has been written about and laughed about for years. Come on?


Anyways, no point here. Just some random thoughts over 5 years later. Shows human nature and how tough folks make it. In football you can recover a fumble. Here too. But then again I am sure noting has one to do with the other etc. etc. etc.


I guess that would establish the value of Cowboys.com domain only being worth somewhere between $1.2MM on the very low end and $5MM today. And just like salaries, who knows what the value will be in another 1, 2, 3 or 5 years as we move into this new orbit. Different markets command different values. The more comparisons, the more you can demonstrate value. The more our business makes, the harder it is to herd cats and have agreement between all owners to do something different.


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz


Real Estate Developer Turns $1 Million Investment Into $150 Million

Mornng Folks!!


THIS is what it is all about. This is the parallel I have followed. This is the parallel I won't abandon. This is it and why something so simple is so hard for MOST to get their heads around. Been happening for a THOUSAND years!!!


This guy made a 150X return in 33 years by saying
'No' a lot!
But my most recent sale was much more than 150X.
Now I would much rather have his larger sale with more dollars.
But with that said, the last domain I sold was $150,000 with
a cost of $70 and took about 14 years.


THAT is the parallel. I got a little over 2000X. But I still like his DOLLARS a bit better.


M equation is better and I can duplicate many, many, many times. Plus the domain earned in excess of $25,000 over the course of 14 years.


http://www.vosizneias.com/121301/2013/01/09/brooklyn-ny-williamsburg-real-estate-developer-turns-1-million-investment-into-150-million


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz


Your Questions About JointVentures.com Answered Right Here! The Way Forward!

Afternoon Folks!!


I am a soloist in life. Most of my business ventures are done on my own. Only a few times in life have I had a partner. I was a slave to a few owners before then. Howard proved that a partnership could work well if the 2 dance well together. Danny Welsh had some talents I have very rarely seen in my life. I knew he would be able to not only fill in my weaknesses, but make those weaknesses my greatest strengths. So we have dovetailed well and in the months ahead you will know why we teamed up. Danny is a nice guy, but he is also brutal. Brutally honest with what he sees and does.


I think you might get a sense for him by the way he answers questions in a really detailed manner. So the following is an actual email set of questions and the responses. And since the questions are so universal, and many have asked the same things, I thought it best to post it.


1. I guess really what my question(s) boils down to is, if I tie up my names with you guys for 1 year, are you going to be doing active outbound sales calls and lead gen in order to bring a lease/sale/jv deal on them?

Danny: YES. That's my job. Get more interested inquiries over to Rick, filter them to pass along only those that may be more qualified and let him do his thing with negotiating. You don't know me, but marketing is why I'm here at the table. Hundreds of references I can give you. Frankly, I'm ITCHING to get this necessary but unappealing part of the process over with so I can get on with the 12 month task set before me to market these properties in a way befitting a 6 and 7 figure asset.
2. Anyhow, I love what you guys are doing and I'm not in need of a 'fast fix', I just don't want to tie the names up for such a long period of time without knowing that they are being put to work, so to speak.

Danny: Don't look at it as 'tying up'. Look at it as attempting to unleash a great domain name to become a great business. I can show you annual parking income on a set of 100 domain names I represent for Rick. Turn one into a lease and it can out-perform the other 99 in the next 12 months, with nothing but more upside down the road including annual built-in increases, possible buyouts, possible equity share royalties etc. We're whale hunting. Don't give us anything to work with that you expect you can make something great happen for without us or without any effort in the next 4-24 months. Let me put in the work, and we WILL. Our efforts will either fly or die but it will not be for lack of effort or vision.

3. In the end, you guys are taking on a whole lot of domains for this venture and like you said, some good, some bad and some great.

Danny: Not as many as we could. 30,000+ submissions and 95% totally unsuitable in timing for what we're trying to do. Combing through the remainder to find the ones that we can make a stand behind that we believe can make corporate America and the press sit up and take notice this year...was not a job for the marketing guy (me) but the seasoned domain investor. When Rick took that job on himself I was very glad! The bottom line is, we don't need to make bad deals or take quantity inventory. Scale planned for my operation was for 100 domains of Rick's, now we'll have 400 domains represented this year . It will take some ramp up but it can be done.

4. I'm trying to understand how individual names from that great pool will be highlighted to appropriate buyers.

Danny: Direct targeted marketing via multiple media using plans spearheaded by me and carried out by a team (caveat: as mentioned, the team WILL have to grow to scale our planned 2013 operations to represent 400 domain names instead of the 100 of Rick's. That's my #1 priority in coming weeks). Marketing for your properties will be targeted to companies that should be interested and may be qualified to get a 5 figure per year deal to use a 6 or 7 figure value asset. Primarily niche targeted is easier, as you know. It's no secret who ought to want a certain domain name. I'll be going to those people with a custom 'angle' designed mostly just to get the news into the hands and minds of the right people. Rick gave ONE example of 100+ on his blog with a blurb about our plan for SoccerBalls.com as an example. The rest I'm sorry but I'll have to keep those to myself.


5. Can you give me any examples of names which you have successfully leased under your model? Rick's personal past and current leases have ranged anywhere from $400 to $125,000/mo. So you can set your own price range and so long as Rick thinks it's reasonable we will work for that. No recent deals you'll be reading about on the higher end of that spectrum but the $1000/mo deals are 30-100x parking and more so for me that's plenty of empirical evidence. How much does a domain make parked? How many multiples will $3000/mo lease to start be if we succeed?
6. Obviously, I'm well aware of the Candy.com and other JV deals you (Rick) have done, but I'm more interested in the lease model and successes on that front.

Danny: Read the Ricksblog.com over the next few weeks. Transparency is key, I agree. Just know that Rick isn't dumb and wouldn't jeopardize his reputation without proof these deals have become MUCH easier to negotiate and begin in recent months than EVER before.

7. Will either of you be in Santa Monica for WebFest?
Danny: Not unless my mentor and partner goes, which I'm doubting. See you at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in Vegas!
Danny: Thanks for your time. I'm a nice guy but business is business. It's a better use of my time to reassure a guy who's a player that this is THE game he wants to be in for 2013-4, than respond to hundreds of non-qualified inquiries. What you get with me is a guy who'll do both and treat them equally as important in how I communicate with them. Within reason, anyway. Come 2/1 all this is over and I can run to the market and shout what we have to the end users that want your very best assets, let them know the terms under which they can get their hands on the one they want and change their destiny forever.
-----

Valuating Domains Based on PPC Earnings is LAZY THINKING!!

Morning Folks!!


Guys, all I can say is this nails it. When I say we've turned the corner and the mainstream is being attracted far faster than they ever could have been chased, this is what happens. The waiting and the 20 year plan is shifting on a tipping point as we speak. This is so exciting! Let me have Danny Welsh, my partner with JointVentures.com share a a few things with you in his series of posts that will articulate and then demonstrate what we see unfolding before our very eyes and it is happening RIGHT NOW!....


Rick Schwartz

By Danny Welsh



What's it mean when you can extract more money per MONTH in leasing income from a domain name than all the money the domain name has made in the last DECADE parked?

What's it mean when you can extract more money per MONTH in leasing income from a domain name than all the money the domain name cost in registration fees over a DECADE of waiting?

What's it mean when the company you're negotiating with is grateful for the opportunity to run with their idea and pay only $1000/mo to try out using an asset instead of gambling $1,000,000 to acquire an asset they believe is incredibly valuable but aren't quite as sure as you are HOW valuable?


It means, the times...they are a changing.
No longer can someone come along and try to tell you that your best domain names are somehow worth a multiple of what they earn 'parked' in the lowest common denominator of monetization. No longer do you have to wonder when the mainstream will 'get it' just how influential the domain community has made itself...one $100 or $8.99 bet on the future at a time over the course of now almost 2 decades.
The sales resistance for domain leasing is getting smaller by the day.


The alternatives to the best .com domain names all have flaws that anyone SERIOUS about their business is going to see when you point it out to them. The evidence is just not debatable anymore, and has been carefully compiled by investors like Rick Schwartz and many others with real numbers over more than 18 years.
And if any company is dumb enough despite all evidence to build a thriving business on a .net or .co or a dashed domain or whatever, DESPITE our complete transparency about what traffic leakage is that they can expect...you can rest easy knowing one day as they succeed more and more they'll be knocking at your door hat in hand...all the while you have a silent partner driving confusion traffic to your .com making you money while you sleep.
But the domains for leasing have to be the BEST. They don't need to be Candy.com value, but it needs to have MEANING.And they have to give a company a shot at building a GREAT domain into a GREATER business, with all the advantages that me and you and Rick all know are there, unexploited in a parked domain earning as little as $100 per year. Like a tiger in a cage, capable of destroying all challengers, just as soon as you remove the iron bars.
I want to publicly thank our JointVentures.com clients for ARMING us with an amazing group of domain names.
After reviewing tens of thousands of submissions...maybe 30,000+, and 95% of those totally unsuitable according to Rick's criteria at this time...we have endeavored to choose the 300 third party domain names that I believed I could market and tell the value proposition to end users, and that Rick believed he can help negotiate into a sweet deal.
As of this minute, we have exclusively signed to represent I believe _______##_______ premium assets we can take to the marketplace and show an entrepreneurial community of investors has come together to make a STATEMENT to Corporate America that those assets will be exchanged only for a fair price including residuals,make a STATEMENT to Madison Avenue advertising agencies on the opportunity they missed forever, and make a STATEMENT to small business on the opportunity they still have to align their company with one of if not THE best generic domain names for their category and have the wind at their back forever.
We have no time to waste, a team to continue building, and many kinks to work out as we scale a process that was created FOR RICK SCHWARTZ so that we can serve dozens of others and be a good steward of the trust many have placed in us to kick ass and take names in 2013.
Right now, implementing those scaling procedures is my #1 priority just as soon as I rest and recover a few days from the busiest 3 weeks I can remember in some time.
Over the year you'll be hearing all about our marketing tests and what's worked...and what has not.
That's right, folks. I think it's going to be interesting to build a business with the best minds--
and let's be real here...also the biggest mouths ;) -- in an entire industry watching.

Maybe a little stressful, for some, but I know that pressure makes diamonds. I'll accept that reality and you know damn well it ain't gonna lose Rick Schwartz any sleep.
We may even hire a few folks as sales brokers that want to go on the journey with us, from right here among this blog's readership. Diamonds in the rough that love domains as much as we do, and in today's economy will know a GREAT opportunity when they see it in front of their f@ce.
But with that part about 'full transparency' said and understood....I do have three small requests to make from folks as we go about 2013, and I sincerely hope you'll agree.
1. Give me the same chance Rick gave me to earn his respect and trust
(believe me it was not easy).
2. If you see something, say something
(we have already implemented a dozen ideas or more input by the readers of this blog, with a number filed away for use when we're ready).
3. Expect to see and here more of me here on RicksBlog in the last and next couple weeks than the next couple months. Starting February 1, the phase shifts and the message and focus returns where I want it to be for me and for Rick Schwartz...on the CEO, marketing executive and/or start-up entrepreneur increasingly seeing the great domain name they are interested in using weaved into the JointVentures.com lease and/or profit-share value proposition and thinking to themselves 'this is a hell of a deal'.
I hope you'll do the respectful thing in #1, see the benefit for yourself and your peers in #2, and recognize that for #3...well

As Rick says 'Danny and I will demonstrate with DEALS why the solution for ME is also the solution for YOU!'
My most important business goal for 2013 is not small, but it is not impossible. It's to demonstrate that Rick's solution is the solution for 'the 500.'
And to do so emphatically
not with words alone but deals.
That won't give me much time to joust with folks on a blog.

But as a 2 year reader I do plan to become more active on this forum and I'd like each of you 'regulars' to know that I appreciate the warm welcome you've given me and my ideas.
Being more active, however, means engaging with the people who matter, cheering anyone that wants to participate in what we are doing in spirit but not in letter with a 'mirroring' plan that will pave public acceptance of these types of deals more and more...and for the most part ignoring the jerks that offer no real value to anyone.
Is that fair or is that fair?
Have a great week!-----

Billionaire Domainer Club is Coming– What will 2035’s Billionaire Have Done in 2013?

Morning Folks!!


In my partner Danny Welsh’s next guest blog post he'd like to discuss our opinion that what created the millionaire domainer club will likely NOT contribute to the transformation into the billionaires domainer club. As more and more of my income comes from just what he's talking about, I think it's safe to say I agree with every word.


Rick Schwartz


By Danny Welsh


I titled my introductory guest post on RicksBlog, Prediction: 10 'Pure Domainers' selected for Forbes 400 Billionaires List by 2035. If you chuckled at that 'Forbes 400' prediction, even just internally, or in ANY way doubt that some of your peers among the top premium generic .com domain name owners in the world--maybe even YOU -- can, should, will and MUST eventually be included in that famous list of mega-billionaires... permit me to tell you that you're less far-sighted than you hoped.
I won't try to 'chastise' you. Who am I anyway? For everyone reading this except for Rick himself you probably first heard my name a few weeks ago. But I'll be frank with you: shilling bullshit to convince someone that what I say has merit isn't what I'm doing. I’m humbly asking that you hear me out simply because of where we are and who has given me the floor and allowed me to talk with you, his most important friends and clients.
I’ll simply say this is also what Rick believes and leave it at that. Reading further will bring you no profit if you can't see yourself and/or some of your peers on that list. May as well click away now, and be happy with what you have. God speed!


What, you're still here? You want more? Good, let’s assume then that you DO have a long-term vision for yourself, for your family, for your industry, and for your legacy. After all…you are a domain investor and if you’re good at it, you predict the future don’t you?


Take a peek into the future WE see and let me know if you agree.


Let’s discuss what Rick Schwartz and I both believe WILL create the wave of domainer billionaires:


1. It ain't brokering domain sales.
2. It ain’t flipping just-registered domains.
3. It ain't parking domains.
4. It ain't self-developing domains.
5. It ain’t selling top domains.
6. It ain’t promoting domain registries.

7. It ain’t leasing domains.


----- >>>> Does that last one surprise you?


With all the talk of “domain leasing” here and there and everywhere you turn in recent weeks, it very well might catch some off guard. Yes, I know that you know if you read Rick Schwartz’s last 6-10 blog posts without putting those into the context of what he's been saying and writing for 15 years it might seem like 'leasing domains' is the end goal for his own portfolio and recommendation for others.
It ain't.


When you start reading about more of the lease deals that have been negotiated under Rick’s model, and the startling difference in monthly income earnings possible over parking and self-development…10x, 20x, 30x, 100x and more….many folks are going to think again that leasing domains is the be all and end all, and not see beyond what we’re doing today to discern what we’re putting in place for tomorrow.


We are not saying that leasing domains is the path to billions for “the 500”. Leasing domains is simply what we believe is the model most likely to be accepted in the next few years by the end user…the model that unlocks SOME of the current value of the best domains in the world, while leaving the domain name owner STILL “in the deal” as the companies using their domains grow.


Perhaps forever.

The end goal for Rick Schwartz is what many of you who know him well have heard him call the “40 year plan”. And what has Rick publicly called the very beginning stages of the vehicle that will propel the second half of the 40 year plan? JointVentures.com and what we’re doing in 2013 together. There's no accident he and I chose that generic category-defining domain name home for the online “home” of our business together.


That website will evolve over time but it has one job and that job is to unlock the same benefits we're selling other businesses on for using a premium category .com domain name for their business, as JointVentures.com the domain became JointVentures.com the BUSINESS.


The job is to tell the story of generic domains to mainstream and have them want the ONE domain name that led them to our doorstep so bad they offer to buy what is NOT for sale. THAT will be the moment Rick's vision and mine coincide as top domain owners around the world adopt the phrase


----- >>>>> 'Not for sale, lease only!”


If you had the foresight to position yourself with the competitive advantage of generic category-defining .com domain names from one or multiple industries, product and services niches, the vehicle to unlock the true intrinsic value of more than one of them is none of those things listed.


We believe without doubt that big companies desiring to dominate their niche or small companies desiring to “shake up” their lazy industry are BOTH increasingly going to COVET and pay whatever it takes to get their hands on your properties as things unfold in the next few years. Business transactions happen when there is an exchange of value among parties, each of which feels like they got the best possible deal they could for what they want and need at that moment in time.


If you want Candy.com style deals, your job was and is patience.


The job of those who covet your asset for themselves is to convince YOU they are worthy to operate your domain name and build a store on your land while you still own it, and share their profits with you.


How can we each make that happen, together?


Adopt 5 words as your motto for the next 3 years:


“Not for sale, lease only!”


Danny Welsh
JointVentures.com


P.S. Whether you’re a signed JointVentures.com client for 2013-4 or not, if you believe in the value of your VERY BEST .com domain name properties, and are as convinced as we are that values are intrinsic and prices will always go UP for the very BEST category-defining .com domain names in your portfolio...go ahead and give it a try.


Say it out loud if you want, it feels damn good.


“Not for sale, lease only!”

-----

Do you believe you own a Property.com value domain? What was its 1993 PRICE? What is its 2013 VALUE? What would that property’s 2033 PRICE be?

Afternoon Folks!!


Today my partner in JointVentures.com, Danny Welsh, wants to explore the parallel of commercial real estate property valuation and income as it relates to the absolute best of the best MOST VALUABLE domain name properties, AKA “internet real estate”, and how he sees things being from the Physical Real Estate world.


This series of posts Danny will be making will crystalize what I see and he does a much better job explaining it than I do. I’ll let him take it away. What I can promise you, neither of us will waste a minute of your time. We hope you will see exactly what we see and exactly how it plays out into the future and why selling your unique assets without a residual could be the single biggest mistake a domainer can make going forward.


Rick Schwartz


By Danny Welsh


Let’s follow the thread from that oft-told story about a $24 purchase of the entire Manhattan Island to a world of today where we see a $2000 per square FOOT cost to buy a “luxury” 2000 square ft home in Manhattan…


I want to follow the thread even further than a residential use of prime land to the small niche of the “highest and best use” of the most valuable properties in the physical real estate world….


I’m talking about a small niche where numbers of $1.00+ per square INCH per MONTH just to LEASE— not buy— the most premier retail properties on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue or Times Square is now the norm….


Those numbers are not “made up” like 77.2% of all statistics you see on the internet…


Those numbers are taken straight from my notebook of notes from real phone calls made to real residential and commercial real estate brokers in New York City while I was up there for the Macy’s Day Parade just a few weeks ago. Of course, they didn’t exactly tell me the price per inch. I had to do the math and reduce the prices to the extreme absurd of “per inch” to get the numbers I wanted to make the analogy I knew would be possible...and powerful…when applied to domain name properties.


The point is that the difference between a 2013 PRICE of $1.00+ per square INCH per MONTH just to LEASE— not buy— in the same area where HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of square inches once had a TOTAL PRICE of $24….that difference has NOTHING to do with the PRICE of those square inches then, and everything to do with their VALUE now and in the future.


Price and value are NOT the same, are they?


Let’s continue to follow that thread from a PRICE of a premium keyword category domain such as Property.com (or one YOU may own), for what you bought it for in 1993…through its VALUE in 2013, all the way to its PRICE if you were to sell it in 2033.


A hundred bucks to the new norm in 20 years:


http://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm


Is that a LINEAR progression by any definition of the word?


Or does it parallel Manhattan’s real estate prices?


A + B = Conclusion: The biggest profitable upside for top valued domains will not happen in my lifetime or the lifetime of anyone reading this in 2013, and this parallel proves it.


In my inaugural guest post on RicksBlog I said I’d be posting in the future to answer this question:


What are the past historical asset parallels to domain names that give me confidence in stating that my prediction that one or more 'pure' domain name investors— (i.e. pure NOT referring to those owners of domain names that developed a business on it themselves— will be profiled in the future as members of the Forbes List of Billionaires must and will come true?

There are many historical parallels that show us the path of value increasing for top domain names, and Rick Schwartz has talked about a number of the best most relevant ones on this blog...as I see it, evangelizing domain names to an audience mostly of other evangelists…and from time to time an end user businessman comes along and finds a gem of value too.


Just like I did.


The premium domain valuation parallel that struck me as most powerful reading thru RicksBlog.com is the topic of “highest and best use” development of any given property in any given area in the world of physical real estate.


Vacant land in a prime area sold as land or developed. When and if developed, something small vs. a shopping center or skyscraper. Same land underneath, same potential advantages. Most squandered with anything NOT “highest and best use”, and in domains only a FEW of the top-value landowners seemed to see any of that future money— Rick himself chief among them with Candy.com style deals.


Why?


Is it because he’s Rick Schwartz, nice guy?


Nope.com.


It’s because he looks and filters for just ONE buyer for his best properties.


It’s because he looks at a domain name as vacant land in a prime area, and judges inquiries through a lens of “highest and best use” of that property.


I also see that the real estate parallel has maybe the best possibility of making inroads in showing NON-domain investors in the commercial world the power of the “category domain names” in THEIR niche industry, and that the true VALUE of the very best dot com domains in 2013 and 2033 and beyond has NOTHING to do with the PRICE of domains in 1993…a persuasive argument domain investors have been making for almost 2 decades to “end users” in business, with varying success.


You see, I’ve had my successes in physical real estate and so I think along those lines.


Because I see the best dot com domain names in the world as a vacant plot of land, waiting for a skyscraper or a shopping mall, and I see it as inevitable that those will be built in my lifetime so I may as well help make it happen and earn a lot of money.


For those of you among “the 500” who own the very best internet real estate, Rick Schwartz believes (and I totally concur) that doing NOTHING with the few in your portfolio that meet that criteria in 2013-2015 is much better than selling for cash only.


Confucius say: “Sometimes, wisdom knows that doing nothing is better than doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons at the wrong time.”


Translation?


When you KNOW your property is right for a skyscraper or shopping mall, don’t settle for less
and don’t accept not having a piece of the developed “highest and best use” of your land.


That’s what the vision for JointVentures.com is all about.


So go ahead, and sell any of your ‘good’ properties like Rick’s recent 3 word domain for $150,000 that I don’t even think has even been publicly reported. Most good domain names have a “magic number” that might be on the low end if you had complete future vision but there’s nothing wrong with taking the money and doing that straight-cash sale deal when you have better properties for your “hold” strategy anyway.


But if you believe you have one or more Property.com-value domain names, Rick’s advice I believe too is to hold onto those BEST internet real estate properties for the BEST long-term deal…or kick yourself in a few years when deals like Rick’s Candy.com get negotiated more and more frequently…deals that create cash now, cash ongoing, and cash for generations to the smart domain investor who kept the Golden Goose until it was the right time to sell anything but the Golden Eggs.


In coming posts— with Rick’s blessing— I’d like to answer more of the who/what/when/where/why/how much questions I posed in my inaugural guest post...and go more in-depth on our ever-evolving but already proven formula to attract and execute a deal with that ONE right 3rd party end user company who will see the VALUE in a long-term domain lease arrangement or even a full-blown Candy.com style sale-with-royalties joint venture deal as a WIN-WIN to get their hands on that very best of your very best domain names they covet at a PRICE that far exceeds the domain owner’s current income, with nothing but more upside and mitigated risks for all parties involved down the road.


Until then,


Danny Welsh
JointVentures.com