Where are the Hero’s? From Rick’s Never Posted Archives. Circa April 2007

Morning Folks!! 

I am sure many of you keep asking or will ask why I spend so much time talking about things other than domain names. Well there are many reasons. The easiest example would be a real world developer.

Before he buys the land he has done research to make sure it can sustain itself. That the traffic is good. That the demographics support their business formula. That the growth of the community will continue. They familiarize themselves with all sorts of interesting information. As they go from city to city and town to town looking for new sites to build on they discover things. Flaws, weaknesses,
strengths, things that work, things that don't work. So they get a peek into the inner workings of things to have a view most folks can not have until they have been under the hood so to speak.

So targeting a specific domain name is more than just writing a check. You look for past performance. Current performance and then you go thru a mental check list of sorts. Future performance may lead that list. See, for every virtual world event, problem, solution, etc there is a real world parallel.

Let's say Sears builds a store. They have an entrance on their 3 sides and one entrance to the mall. That is because there are real world limitations that are without limitations in the virtual world.

For example....Sears is a department store. They have lots of different items. What would stop them from having a sign or another doorway to their store for folks looking for something specific. Imagine if Sears owned Jewelry.com and when you typed it in you would be transported to Sears Jewelry Department. And if they owned shoes.com and you landed in their shoe department....and appliances.com and luggage.com, etc.....I would bet you that had anyone at Sears had that foresight they would be a much stronger company today. From where I sit, that was a colossal failure and a missed opportunity to regain the crown they once held. A failure of merging what was learned in the last century and not having a vision of this new century.

Where are the Hero's of corporate America? Are they brain-dead? Do they not see what is coming. Isn't THAT why they pay them the big bucks? And they are failing daily! For the cost of building just ONE STINKING Sear's store they can corner the market on these "Department Names". It will insure they will survive and thrive. Without that strategy we will just watch them die!! The people running Sears are MORONS!!

Rick Schwartz

 

Time Has Always Been My Best Ally. Numbers have Always Been My Closest Friend.

Morning Folks!!

Sure I can rub people the wrong way sometimes. Many times. That's what happens in life when you are totally frank and honest when asked a question. I don't put if thru my "Friend Filter" to come up with a bogus answer not to piss them off. My friends are real friends to begin with because they KNOW I am going to tell it like it is. They don't expect me to protect them. They would not even ask!

I am driven, have passion, certain of my direction, steady and don't allow others to distract me from my vision and goals. But what rubs many the wrong way in the beginning is what also makes great friends, allies and associates down the road that last a lifetime.

Look, many, strike that, MOST folks are much more 'Charming' than me. When I think back in my life of all those 'Charmers', their stock usually goes down in time. They are great when you first meet them. They are likable at bars and with one liners but they lack substance and character when they over promise and under deliver. As a charmer many others will then begin to make excuses for them and that just fuels what they do best. Charm. Their shortfall will eventually blame you. But hey, they are charming!

Charm eventually wears thin when the substance is missing. When others find out it was a bunch of smoke. When charm actually turns into being lied to, fooled and mislead. Ah, the road of a charmer. If I was shortsighted, I would certianly take that road and DELAY my worries. Charmers are in all walks of life and business. They are all around us!

But I am not wired like that. Ask me a question and I don't think to myself  "What do they want to hear?" "What will they like to hear?" I take a different path. I tell them what I actually believe, what I actually think and what I see. That of course gets me in trouble and some, MANY, get pissed.

But while they are pissed at me and charmed by the phony charmer there is an intersection and at some point, usually 3-5 YEARS, I can win over most of my enemies. At least the ones with good hearts, open minds and some sense of being objective.

I win them over by just being consistent and doing what I do and them observing and understanding how I tick. They actually get to the point of appreciation in many cases becuase I am consistent. I have spine. I have a set of values that most share. I think character counts more than anything on this planet. I think character counts even after you are dead and gone. Character was the first thing I ever wrote about online. I know many don't care. I do. A LOT! The people I associate with do. The people I do business with do. The people I try to reach do. Some, hopefully most. The others, I avoid like the plague. I burn those bridges.

Some folks demand respect. I always went about it the old fashioned way and try and earn it year after year and decade after decade. I didn't always have good character. It once came with excuses for my own shortcomings of which there were many. I was a "D" student! But I turned it around. We all have that power.

I learned that excuses were weak. Calamity and drama follows the weak and is weak. Unintended consequences are weak. Turn that around and you build a strong character and life. I learned to put one foot in front of the other and take the weight off my shoulders of the entire journey. I learned to work hard when there was money to be made and not stress out when things were tough.

I remember stealing baseball cards from a store in New York City when I was about 10 maybe 11. I got caught by the owner. I took about 5 packs of 10 cent baseball cards and just stuck them in my pocket. Luckily in those days they did not call the police. They would just put the fear of God in you and that was usually good enough for most. It was for me. I never shared that with anyone until today. Not proud of it, but I was 10 and that is one of the stupid things 10 year olds do. That was probably the day I started to build my character from ground zero.

btw, I collected some 3000 baseball cards back in the early and mid 60's. We would "Flip Cards" in the hallways and I was really good. I won a lot. Ever play "Leaners"?

When we moved to Maryland, my mom made me throw those cards away. 3 shopping bags full of them. Those cards eventually were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly much more! They were all from the mid 1950's to mid 1960's. Gems and true collectibles.

So maybe my domaining career began back then. It was definitely the beginning of my collecting career. Coins and Stamps came next. I still love collecting. Besides domains I collect cars, watches, cell phones, hotel room keys, Real Estate, Shirts, Presidential memorabilia and Autographs. Oh, did I mention domain names?  Some say it's a pretty good collection.

The first day I ever came online I knew from that point forward it was all about reputation and character. Those were the 2 things you could not screw up or you were DONE! So I carefully built an online presence. I earned my wings with my thoughts and deeds. I made sure I was consistent and I was careful in the words I used. I was one of few that used their real name back then. I loved this medium the minute I figured this one aspect out. Everything was on the record with a time stamp!

The Internet is the Magic Carpet that has the ability to make your dreams come true. It also has the ability to destroy. It's the burial spot for many reputations because it is all written in ink and it never goes away. It really is on your permanent record!

In life I always give folks a choice. "I can tell you what you want to hear." OR "I can tell you the truth as I see it." Well stories are for KIDS not business people! I REFUSE to tell you what you want to hear. I refuse. It's not in me. And that pisses people off. It's natural. And many stay pissed at me for years. That's on them. That's their loss.

My only sin, telling it straight and they can't handle it. I Talk about numbers. Numbers have no personality. They are an exact science and they do tell a story. They do paint a vivid picture. They do mean something. They show the way to the future. So, folks that ignore or run from numbers are FOOLS at best and that alone pisses folks off the most! Sorry, you're a fool if you bastardize the numbers. It shows a person that can't handle the truth. That runs and has to bend it to survive. Numbers are the ONLY constant we have and it puts fear in many because they don't want to hear what the numbers say. What they SCREAM out! How they diminish their dreams. How they fool, fools!

But during those years a lot of folks will blow smoke up their asses. They will find themselves on the short end of the stick. Even their best friends will lie, cheat and steal during those years. And me, I am just always the same. I don't change with the wind. I can't be true to anyone if I am not true to myself. Just look at my writings from 20 years ago and you can see the same tone, thoughts and consistency. I can be the devils advocate. I can see both sides and WANT to see both sides. It's like a fork in the road. I like to see what's down both paths before I commit to one.

So the powerful be damned. I am not a team player because there is no team! My only allegiance in life is to be honest and tell it like it is from my viewpoint. So I did not fall in line with the industry on GTLD's regardless of how many domainers were at the trough or how many friends. Regardless of the pressure or anger. Regardless of the consequences. Regardless of how friendly we were. But friends don't lie and bullshit friends. The truth is a bigger and a better friend than any domainer is.

So time has always been my best ally and now you know why! Maybe that helps you understand how I roll and I can win you over. Maybe not. I don't care. I am always on record for the record and if you can't handle a straight answer then don't ask for it. Go read Dr. Seuss. He is much better at fairy tales and bedtime stories than I can ever be. It's not becoming of a business person to be an ostrich.

Rick Schwartz

PS: I started this post on September 13, 2012 and finished it this week. More to come from the vaults. Never before published blog posts!

Closed Minded or Experienced? Know-Nothings Think They Know-Everything!

Afternoon Folks!!

I wrote this a few days ago but decided not post it. Like over 150 others. Then this morning I read a blog post at TheDomains.com about how new blood in domaining thinks about old-time veterans like me. So here it is.

It's so easy for the know-nothings to dismiss us if we are "Old-timers" in the domain business even tho they are trying to replicate what we did. They frame it like us against them instead of experience vs. no experience. But the truth of the matter is they are the ones with Closed Minds and we are the ones with Experience. We just don't spit in the wind and think we invented rain! Bless their hearts!

So these folks will argue with you but they are all show. They have nothing concrete they can point to. Just hoping and wishing seems to be a strategy. They talk about keywords as the holy grail but when you point out that keyword.mobi is worthless and keyword.net is worth 1% of .com assuming you can even find a buyer. Keyword.crap is nothing new. Worth Less. Much Less.

We heard the same defensive arguments for every extension ever released. .TV, .Biz. .Mobi, .Info, .whogivesadamnshitabouttheextensionanywaysjustsomethingelsetoremember

They can't point to very much to support their argument except a few sales some of which are questionable with VERY flimsy evidence to support them. Seldom if ever their own sales.

GTLD's made a huge mistake the day they made it GTLD vs .Com. Good job Paul!! That was the day they lost. It should have been used as an aid to compliment but they decided to go head-on and guess what? It was a head-on collision and GTLD's not only LOST, it will be YEARS before they can mop up the mess.

There are 1000 newbies for every old timer. They make a lot of noise not a lot of money. Slap each other on the back while trying to emulate my 20 year plan even tho I tell them 100x their recipe is much different and won't work. The only similarity is the 20 years. But not many if any of them will survive that long. Why? Attitude, experience, cash flow.

You think they might be interested in what is different? Instead they can only resort to insults to bolster their arguments. That's funny! They have yet to learn to be skeptical. To be critical. To see who benefits when they buy into it. They are fish and they will bite on any bait. That means they lose. They are somebody else's TROPHY!

Meanwhile stupid old timers deal in Gold while the know-nothing geniuses corner the market on .horse.manure. Enjoy your .crap as you go broke! But I bet your $$$ would have gone further NOW had it still been in your wallet and not theirs.

So which keyword.mobi would you like to buy from me today? I will be happy to sell them to domainers. They are the only ones stupid enough to buy them. Bill.mobi, Cruises.mobi, Eat.mobi, Gossip.mobi, Celebs.mobi, LAUGH.mobi, Wow.mobi and MORONS.mobi. The ONLY thing they are good for is a TAX LOSS!! So anyone using the argument that keyword plus .crap means something, think again! Want some numerics? 975.mobi, 931.mobi, 517.mobi. They are all worthless and only a total fool would try and build their empire on this .crap.

Remember, NOBODY has to remember .com. It is synonymous with the Internet. Many commercials don't even NEED to put their .com on their commercials. But I don't recommend that. So there is no such thing as a ONE WORD .CRAP!! You will always have to remember 2 things and you will always have to put http://www.Crappy.Domains so people even recognize it as a url.And not a typo!

As long as folks will beat their chest with .crap.I will show them just how foolish they are! Not one of them would ever even DARE to read my posts from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 where I lay it all out in detail.

The stampede is in full swing and the top gtld's are all PURE .CRAP! 33% of all new GTLD's are .Top which is CRAP, .Loan which is CRAP and .xyz which is CRAP! Enjoy your .crap sandwich. I have my own .crap as I have shown.

I have many non .com extensions. Many single keyword NON .com and you know how many offers I have gotten in 23 years? ONE! Just one! Early on when the .com was not available I would get .net. I sold men.com for $1.32MM, but have not gotten an offer for Men.net or Men.org. How about Ass.net? 3 letters, keyword. Traffic! Where are the offers? Where is the demand? There isn't ANY!!! Wake up! Want a perfect xxx keyword? How about xxx.sc? As a domainer I don't even know what .sc stands for. But I got a great keyword so it must be worth a fortune right?? Sorry, your keyword is a bogus argument if it does not end with .com. This is all KEY SHIT! Not KEY WORD! Deal with it!

How about a GREAT 2 letter domain? I got one. Never had an offer. Never got an email. NY.biz. You like Tits?? How about Tits.net? Which extension would you like me to show you something prime and also show you something that nobody wants? We have all been there and done that! Newbies will learn. Maybe not!

So the "Stampede" I talked about years ago should be visible to the naked eye now (except newbies). Extensions "DYING ON THE VINE" which I have also talked about many times is also now visible to the naked eye (except newbies). And domainers buying all this fools gold is also visible to the naked eye.(except newbies) What isn't visible is anyone acknowledging ANY of the pitfalls let alone 122 of them! They can't even look at it. They can't even talk about it. They, as so-called business people, can't even discuss it in a rational, logical, non-emotional way. They are too invested to allow new evidence or information to be part of anything. They did not ask the critical questions first. They can only dismiss it like whistling past a cemetery at midnight on a dark and rainy night! Good luck with that work ethic Mr. Newbie. And your next career will be??

Rick Schwartz