Privacy and/or No Whois is costing Domain Owners Privacy and/or No Whois is costing Domain Owners Money but it’s Making BROKERS & Registrars Money! DUMB!!!


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


Defining a Truly GREAT Domain Name. Rick’s 5 Minute Guide!


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!



So GREAT domains have one or two words. Great domains DO NOT have 3 or more words except in rare cases. "Geo" names and ones that may start with "Free".


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