The Rick Schwartz Domain Name and Traffic Blog RicksBlog.com.........Home of the "Domain King"

First Results From a Grand Experiment

Morning folks!!

Timing is everything. If you are selling mens ties in Manhattan and your store is inside the subway station do you really think you can open at 10am like other retail stores? I say you would be a fool to do that. Why? Because the most likely time of day to sell that tie is early in the morning on their way to work. So if your business model has you closed from 6am-10am I would argue that you are losing a good chunk of your business.

 

Same with blogs. There is a lot to learn about blogging. There are also some things you can learn from newspapers. Again, there is a reason they don't have papers come out at 10am. Too late. Your audience is paying attention from 5am -9am on their way to work or while having breakfast or while perhaps you are in the bathroom.

 

They pay attention again in the afternoon and evening. That is the reason papers have editions. At least they did in the old days. Morning edition, evening edition and special editions, So if you are a blogger and you want to tap into the audience the a key factor is the time of day you publish it. The other key factor is the headline.

 

Few will ever break out of their small audiences. Me included. There are millions of folks talking and growing. The more it grows, the less time to read. So billions on a soap box looking for an audience.

So why am I blogging again? Well there are a number of reasons. If I were to tell you all of them it would screw up the test. I can say this. I am learning a whole lot. I am a numbers guy and I follow stats to draw a picture. A mural to me is one filled with numbers and days and times and subjects. Art to me is different. The numbers paint the art that I focus on. So I am testing and experimenting and I am discovering many things. You as an audience are the artists. I just try to interpret what unfolds. How long does this or any test last? Until it is over. Until it gets to stagnation. Until it runs its' course and paints the picture. Some tests run for minutes and hours. Most last for several weeks or months.

 

So thank you for being part of this grand experiment. I hope at least I am giving you something back in return.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

It's All About Sharing our Stories....

Morning Folks!!

All you can do as a writer or a blogger is to share your story or write hard news with or without commentary. Share your view. Share the way you did it. Share the way you see it. There are so many ways to climb this mountain. There are many right ways. There are many wrong ways. Many profitable ways. Many unprofitable ways. Probably the best way has yet to be discovered. Sometimes you even play the devil's advocate.

 

But sharing what works is what makes the difference. Does not mean you have to do or like or embrace. It is just one way. One idea. One path of many. Personally, I love to hear the different stories and adventures and the emotions along the way. Some hit gold by accident, some by design. Some have had one success, some have had many, some have had none. But each story is another clue. Another piece of the puzzle. Even the wrong pieces contains clues. Even wrong pieces can be valuable. We are just wired one way and that sometimes is not a good thing.

 

It's easy to look back and say this and that. It is harder to look forward and to be on the offense. We are living in an age now of caution. The $$$ are not flying around like they once did. The dollars now are held and delivered very deliberately and after great research. 

I write these posts as a collection in total not as islands. Chapters. Thoughts. They paint a picture all together. A very detailed picture for those that read the way I intend it to be read. There is a lot of redundancy. That is by design. There are many points of intersection and each one has to be fully examined. There are two choices here. Stay one step or more ahead or keep pace with the masses which is always one or more steps behind.

 

The hard part of the next period is to navigate treacherous conditions and stay ahead of things. That really is the key. Be ahead of it. Fix it before it breaks. Prepare before need. Don't be in a position to be surprised by unexpected events.

 

Do all that and also look and search for incredible opportunity. But don't measure that opportunity by yesterday's standard. Not even  today's standard. It has to be based on a future standard that will be difficult to pinpoint.

 

So much of what is happening is geographic. Regional. But the fallout is worldwide. In past crisis I would say, close the TV, don't read the newspaper, just go ahead and ignore the bullshit. This time that still may be a good strategy, but I don't think so. This time it is more akin to whistling past the graveyard.

There is incredible opportunity at the moment as well as incredible pitfalls. It is a tight rope. It is dancing on the edge of a cliff. 2009 will go down as my best year ever. It should be your best year ever. In good times money flies around. In challenging times it is opoortunity that flies around. It takes a different set of skills to harness opportunity. Opportunity is usually not visible to the naked eye. You have to look into another dimension. But when you can do that and you learn to repeat, repeat, repeat, it becomes easy to see the opportunity and harder to decided which one is the one worthy of your time and energy.

So while some see my posts as doom and gloom, they are not. They are an acknowledgment that some things have more force than others. That some things are bigger than us. I am sure many stocks on the market are stronger today than a year ago, But their stock prices are down due to no fault of their own. They are doing great. But that does not give them the power to defy downward gravity. Navigating these waters is now a full time job.

Folks keep asking me which way domains will go as far as pricing. The answer for me is clear. Marginal domains will not go up in value right now. Likely will go down. However, with premium domains there is some insulation. While they may not go up inside the incestuous confines of the domain industry, they are likely not to go down outside the industry.

 

But you nor I will decide this. Circumstance will decide. Financial health of each of us will decide. Your overhead will decide. A unique asset on sale at a unique moment in time that has great value will always sell. So no downturn will really affect the sale if the market is big enough and sophisticated enough.

 

Many ask about the future of live auctions. Each auction is only as good as the domains in the auction and the prices asked plus the audience you attract. That along with pre auction marketing is what will determine the future of auctions. Historically bad times are extremely good for auctions. Domainers are just coming to terms with the fact that this economy affects them as well as everyone else. There is no full immunity. Those that think that are in for a rude awakening. Like they say....it is hard to make millions, it is even harder to keep them....

I think at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Silicon Valley you will see a much different result then the recent auctions. We have a great audience and the domains need to great. It will come down to the domains. Great domains make for a great audience.  It always has, always will. Money finds its way to the marketplace when you put up something good. Something of value. Something they want or need. Anything less and we all keep our bidding paddles in our laps. It is really as simple as that. So take the garbabge out, keep the bidding active and realize people get bored with hundreds of domains. Especially when they are of bad quality or greatly overpriced for a WHOLESALE audience. I think there will be so many great domains coming to the market by April that veteran domainers will likely go out of their way not to miss another unique opportunity in time. One last chance to secure a few gems before they are locked away and reserved only for the end user.

 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

The last in the Series......Now the "T" word.........

Morning Folks!!

 

Our society is based on one word. Our entire civilization is based on one word. The free enterprise system is based on one word. Now in the past month I have talked bout the "C" word as in "Confidence" and the "F" word as in the "Future." But on the foundation of those two and bigger than those two is the "T" word as in "TRUST." The trust is being broken at every level.

 

We see it in the domain business with the shenanigans that have gone on with some companies stepping over the line. We see it on Wall Street cuz they are full of shit. We see it in the banking industry as they are full of shit. I wouldn't trust these guys to give me the right time of day. We see it in congress and every level of government. How many governors had to resign in the past year?

 

So trust is the central nerve system of everything and I see evaporating trust and with damn good reason. How could you trust these clowns with the facts we already have?

 

Here is what I do trust. I trust Congress to do whatever is needed to cover their asses while exposing ours. I trust the government to waste most of the bailout. I trust the TARP $$ are gone forever. I trust that taxes will be going higher. I trust the value of all currencies will be going lower. I trust gold is a pain in the ass then, now and always. I trust that the stock market will eventually be relocated to Las Vegas where I trust the odds are much better.

 

So I still trust a lot of things. But the trust is a negative trust.

 

Confidence, future and trust are the 3 legs of the stool. Any problem with one of the 3 leads to a collapse. Problems with 3 out of 3 exposes us to something much worse

So now I am on record. That was what I wanted to accomplish and I did. I posted about this privately this summer. What I said then was more unlikely to happen. Well it happened and if anything, I underestimated the fallout. Don't make the same mistake.

So when will the FUTURE be brighter? When CONFIDENCE and TRUST return to the system. When will that be? Well if the Frankie Valli concert I went to was any indication, not for a while. Not for a long while. Years not months.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz!

I Told you About the "C" Word, Now Time for the "F" word!!

Morning Folks!!.........

Last month I wrote about the "C" word as in CONFIDENCE. Well since I wrote that, confidence has gone nowhere but down. I can't find a soul that thinks otherwise and is fully sober. Now it is even a deeper crisis.

 

I lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis. We had drills in school and had to hide in the bomb shelter in the basement under our desks. It was a scary time when you are in grade school. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived through The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Marin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. They cried in the streets. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived through the Vietnam War and all the turmoil that went with it. 58,000 dead in a war that nobody wanted to win. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived through assassinations of  leaders around the world. Sadat probably being the one that sticks in my mind. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived Through Watergate. I lived through the impeachment of Richard Nixon. A time where Congress had a moral compass and did the right thing even when it was hard to do. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived through 21% interest rates and 3 hour gas lines when you could get gas which was every other day. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I paid 22 cents a gallon for gas and I have paid $4.50 a gallon. $5 to fill up and $100 to fill up. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived through Bill Clinton getting impeached. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived to watch Sadaam Hussein lob scuds into Israel. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

I lived through 9/11 and the single darkest day I have ever known. The day the future stopped completely in its' tracks. The first time the future may not look better than the past. Eventually that passed and the future always looked better than the present and the past.

 

We lived through the latest wars and attacks and turmoil and all that goes with it and the division it has created. Divide and conquer. Surely we can't be that stupid? Surely we probably are.

 

We lived through the greatest economic collapse in history. The biggest robbery in history. Some might say it is a robbery in progress. I may be one of them saying that.

 

I lived through a number of market crashes. More money lost this time than in 1929. More to be lost.

 

In my years I have seen a lot and gone through a lot. But during each of these events I knew there was a better day ahead. As you know by now the "F" word is the FUTURE. At each point of crisis there was a more hopeful tomorrow. The future always looked better than the present and the past.

That brings me to this post. This is the FIRST time where the future may not be as bright as the past. Now don't get me wrong, I am wired to be optimistic and still live my day to day life the same as usual, but I see darkness ahead. We may avoid it. But I FEAR for the future that we may have a head on collision.

 

Have you ever stopped and thought what happens next? We are at a point in time where certain areas may just collapse. What happens to a town that has a 50% foreclosure rate and no hope of getting employed? What happens to the tax base of that town? What happens to the Police and Fire Department? What happens when things spiral our of control and the resources are no longer there to contain it? Raise property taxes!! The final nail in the coffin. Before or after the riots?

 

This is the first time in my life where I see the quality of life about to decline. Possibly crash. Like being on flight #1549, prepare for a very hard landing. Only difference is we are coming in nose first and accelerating and I don't trust the pilot, the co-pilot nor the crew. This is the first time in my lifetime that nobody is in control. Nobody has a handle on it. I have never seen it like this. Never, ever. What scares me the most is we have yet to see even the completion of the first phase of fallout from all this. It takes TIME to manifest itself. The manifestation is gonna be one ugly motherf***er. So the future I see is in jeopardy. The future I see can turn really bad. The future I see has a fork in the road. One path leads to disaster. The other path flirts with it but barely skims over it. That is about where we are at.

 

The very foundation of our economic system is in shambles and the same PRICKS and CROOKS that got us there are now in charge of getting us out. That is a near impossibility. Then add the crooks in Congress. Dog and Pony shows. Grandstanding. Then add the government sure to screw it all up and what we have is a "Happy moment" followed by many years of strife.

 

So the FUTURE is my new "F" word. You can minimize this all you want, but you will soon concede as events will override things. We do have about a 25% chance of missing the worst of it. But only 25% and be on the lookout for a blip up before the final bombshell and BIG crash.Our economic ship is in a fog. The compasses are all spinning pointing everywhere and nowhere. It's like watching a tragedy in slow motion. The worst, is domainers think things are so good it can't affect them. That is where they are wrong. If you are not ahead of the events to come, the events will swallow you up and spit you out. The pitfalls are so many and so deep that if you don't pay attention every day you are not going to have the tools to thrive and survive.

 

Sorry folks, I like being upbeat. But reality always trumps everything else. It is the first time in my life where I see a juncture of a better yesterday than a better  tomorrow. It PAINS me to say something like that. It really does. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best and expect something pretty bad. No matter how good things may be for you personally, when half the houses in your neighborhood are boarded up and 1 out of 8 people you know are unemployed, it will affect you. You could describe it as a hurricane. Even tho you are in a home (or industry) that is safe, has impact windows. will survive the storm does not mean you get away unscathed. When your neighbors are less prepared or have older homes without protection (Income and savings) and you walk outside your home after the storm, your home may be fine, but the neighborhood is destroyed. You can't sit there and tell me it has no affect on the quality of YOUR life. Your future is linked to the fortunes of others .

 

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Highlights of a 20 Year Plan. First 14 year report.......

Morning folks!!

Few really understand how hard it was early on. No road map. Less than 5% of the population were online in USA and less elsewhere. Slow connections. Nobody to bounce ideas off of. Nobody to network with. Nobody to understand a word you said no matter how simple you made it. You question every registration at $100 a pop. You certainly don't buy the singular and the plural. You figure out which one is better and pick that. It's 100% investment in the unknown with zero return. There was no short cut to learning. There were no building blocks. There was just history in other mediums and any match was a big deal. 1996 was tough. 1997 was a year of tremendous risk. Going for broke on several occasions. 1998 was the beginning of the great rewards. But it was still nearly 5 years away from the first domain get together. Those were important days. Unique days. Dark days. Long days. I needed help but there was nobody that could help. How do you explain the unexplainable? I loved those days, but it is a little easier these days as there is an understanding that just was not there at that time. The trail had yet to be cut. There was no map. There was no nothing. Once there is a model, everything changes. There is light and there is tried and true. The tried and true today was born back then and I saw the birth. Something that will be with me and shape me forever. I can't really describe the era,but there is a little peek.

How I would define the years for me personally.....

 

1995....Nearly invisible and totally clueless

1996....Learning and making progress and $$$.

1997....Breakthrough year. Porno.com purchase among others. It was "The shot heard around the world." I could do in cyberspace things not possible in the real world. Like paying off the mortgage on that domain in just 6 weeks. 6 weeks for an internet property with the RENT I was earning vs 30 years in the real world for a mortgage. Went on to buy all the domains I could that you could say on TV but were on the defining line. Ass.com, Horny.com, Slut.com, Whore.com, Bitch.com, Orgy.com, vagina.com, virgins.com, booty.com. All permissible to say on broadcast TV and Radio so don't freak.

1998....My First million dollar++ deal for traffic. Maybe the first to get that. Flat $30k a week for all my traffic. Paid in advance.

1999....Solid and growing. same deal, more $$$$.

2000....Solid growing and then disaster with Credit Cards.

2001....Revenues still coming in. Same deal, same partner

2002....Solid business then collapse. Government goes after Microsoft which kills confidence. Deanfest brings domainers together for first time.

2003....Worst revenue year out of 14. Tested fire wall I had built. I wanted to make a minimum amount per year in the worst of times. No matter what. Firewall held strong.

2004....Men.com sale ignites aftermarket with 7 figure deal reported by hundreds of media throughout the world. A new era begins with the first TRAFFIC domain trade show.

2005....T.R.A.F.F.I.C. puts a face on the industry and accelerates deal making. First live domain auction. Biggest domain purchase. Property.com @ $750k.

2006....Tide is rising, industry expanding. First Silicon Valley TRAFFIC brings in Venture Capitalists by the bus load. First live million dollar auction.

2007....Pay outs hit record high levels. New York TRAFFIC/Moniker auction nets $12.5M

2008....Pay outs in decline. Recession hits. Becomes my single biggest year ever with iReport.com deal, Property.com deal, Widgets.com deal.

2009....Pay outs looking for realistic levels based on quality and bottom out. Could be best year ever in spite of the turmoil. Tremendous opportunity among massive amounts of pitfalls.

2010...Biggest year ever as recession deepens.

2011....Biggest year ever as recovery tries to take hold.

2012....Biggest year ever and then the earth ends. Or not.

2013....World survives. Biggest Year ever

2014....Biggest Year ever

2015....End of the 20 year plan. Biggest year ever!

 

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

 

At what point are you a serial trademark infringer?

 

Good Afternoon folks!!

At what point are you a serial trademark infringer? I think that is a fair question.

 

I have heard every excuse in the world for owning trademarked domains. That is what they are, excuses.

 

Now let me tell you how I view it. When you have thousands of domains there are going to be a small percentage that could eventually be challenged. But the keyword is SMALL PERCENTAGE!

 

So if you have 100,000 domains and 10,000 (10%) are questionable, you ARE a trademark infringer.

 

So if you have 50,000 domains and 2500 (5%) are questionable, you ARE a trademark infringer.

 

So if you have 10,000 domains and 500 (.5%) are questionable, you ARE a trademark infringer.

 

Now let's work it backwards and see. I think it is possible for a TINY amount of any portfolio to possibly have a few questionable domains. It is the nature of the business and you never know who will challenge what, but some are in your face obvious.

 

10/1000? Ok and THAT is even high!!

 

But as a rule of thumb, that would make a portfolio with 100,000 domains have 1000 possible infringements. I believe that number is still high and unacceptable. 1000?? Come on! There is no excuse for that. What number is realistic? Maybe 100. 1 in 1000? 2 in 1000? THAT is where I would say a portfolio should max out. Really, anything more and you could be labled a serial infringer. 1 or 2 in 1000. 3? 5? What is an acceptable rate from where you sit?

 

Newbies are coming in and all they do is buy this garbage. They make us look bad and put themseleves in lots of legal jeopardy that has the potential to blow up in their faces.

 

Why is this important? Because "Ambulance chasers" have found a more rewarding and lucrative pass time. They can mass email domain owners and rake in domains and dollars like a casino clearing the craps table.

 

Be warned just how widespread this is about to be. If you are a serial trademark infringer, it's gonna ruin your day. At some point we are all in the same cesspool when anyone from the outside looks in and that is why everyone should care about this. On the other side there is a lot of over reaching. Those that think they are entitled to what you own. But it is FUELED by the infringers themselves for making this such a fertile ground of TM abuse.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz.

The Domain Industry's Dirty Little Secret Exposed

Morning Folks!!

Which dirty little secret do you want to hear first? How many do you know first hand? Actually there are dozens of dirty little secrets. I don't have the time or inclination to go through all of them, but there are many and I see it growing. Trust is definitely going to be an issue going forward. The worst kinda scams are from the people you know and trust. Just ask "Bernie." So we are entering a phase that others have talked about. Except this phase may be pretty ugly in what goes on.

I think the last phase could be labeled the abuse phase. Starting at the beginning was the "Geek" or "Free" phase 1994. That was followed by the "Dark" phase 1996 where domains had gone from free to $100 a pop certainly was a dark period with still such little understanding of what existed on the net.

That was followed by the "Adult" phase in 1997. That was followed by the collapse. 2001/2002. Then we enter what I would call the "Frank Schilling" phase. This is the post collapse phase in which drops and ppc and mega portfolios emerge. This becomes the domain industries first big boost. That leads into the mega sale phase when we have the Men.com mark the end of the collapse and the biggest rush we have seen to date. 2004. That lead to the trade show phase 2004/2005. Which led to the formation of an industry. 2005. That led to the "Cut their nuts off" phase. 2007. Which led to the "Auction Phase" ($12.5 Million T.R.A.F.F.I.C./Moniker auction) 2007 which leads us to the "Abuse" phases where many took advantage and we are paying the price today. 2008  

So here we are in 2009. The next phase. What is it called? I don't know yet. There are other phases. I could and should have mentioned the Marchex deal. The VC phase. There are so many. Like chapters in a book. Perhaps this is "Book 3" of it all. Or book 4? We can each sit down and name our own personal phases. Maybe the "Steve Forbes" phase. Whatever you want to call it I call it lifting an industry from obscurity to front and center. A rising tide helps all of us. We can all assist in raising that tide. It happens one contact at a time. Like making a million dollars. You don't make a "Million" dollars. You make a dollar, 1 million times.  

Have a GREAT day!!
Rick Schwartz  

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Will 2009 make you Stronger or Weaker? Here is a Roadmap to Avoid the Latter

Afternoon Folks!!

 

My dad used to say that if your neighbor was unemployed it was a recession. If you were unemployed, it was a depression. Can't argue with that. Perception is everything. This is not my first recession and I had one depression in my life. That lasted for 3 weeks. It was awful. Losing what you love to do is like a death. A romantic death.

 

But it was those 3 weeks that would point me into my life's direction. Through adversity great things are inseminated. The seed of almost all great success came from the greatest adversity. That is a pretty interesting phenomenon. Have you experienced the same?

 

So I want to know how things are in your area? Are stores closing? Are you living in a tourist area? Are you seeing indications of decay or expansion? The best way to really find out the state of things is to ask a lot of people and listen to what they report.

 

So while we are going through this storm, the good news is most will come out stronger. The strong will get stronger because they get great strength from adversity. They rise to the occasion. They work better under pressure. The weak do just the opposite. They either get weaker, or some will get stronger because they get great strength from adversity and they may not have known it. It takes a real disaster to see what folks are really made of. Most rise to the occasion. Weak or strong, most will find their soul and dig deep when it really counts. THAT is the difference between everything. The true test.

 

So as we go through 2009 and what is coming, know you will come out of it much stronger IF you can understand it and harness it. Harness the mood. Harness the fear. Harness the energy that times like this produce. There are always new ways to make old money. There are always old ways to make new money. There are always ways.

 

That brings us to us and how lucky we are. We have been challenged before and come out stronger each and every time. This will be no different however you can position yourself for the rewards to be much bigger and much sweeter.

 

If you posses the right mind set, you will sit back, relax, observe, engage and excel. But knowing where you are at in this down cycle will have a great impact, if you act too soon, you could be at risk. If you wait too long you could miss great opportunity. So observing is the key and when the TIME IS RIGHT (and EVERYTHING is about timing) then you can swoop in and make the deal that can change your life. It only takes one deal. The right deal. If you are busy making the wrong deal, then you will likely miss it.

 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

What does "Word of mouth" Really Mean and How do you Make That Happen??

Morning Folks!!

Let's start from scratch. The fastest way to get the word out of something you have is word of mouth. You want to motivate somebody not motivated to take an action by telling someone else. That is the essence of great marketing. So we can talk about development but we are not really developing anything. We need to create businesses. But in that creation the key is attracting people by having them tell their friends. It's about hitting critical mass. It's what youtube.com is about. It's about what all the social networks are about.

 

So what can you do to make someone as lazy as me to take action? That is the key question when we develop or open a business. Finding a niche. Tapping into an energy that we ourselves must create. It is hard to grow a business on the Internet unless you tap into it in one form or another. 

 

Blogs are a great way to create an audience. But there are millions of others on their soapboxes and their megaphones. All wanting to do the same thing. Strike gold. Tap into a gusher. Everyone out their screaming ME! ME! ME! Soon nobody will be out there to even listen. So getting folks together looking for similar things is a task that will be getting harder in the future not easier. That is why I believe domain names with traffic will just become more and more valuable,

 

Bottom line, we are all searching for what works. Most things will fail, but you know it only takes one spark to light the world on fire. One item, one vehicle, one idea. So folks either spend too much time chasing failure or not enough time chasing success. That TIME is really the key along with the timing.

 

Let's say you know a train is going to come in 3 days and is an express from Miami to NY that takes only 1 day. Is it foolish to do nothing for 2 days while folks that may not know about the express leave 3 days earlier on a train that makes 100 stops and takes 4 days to get there? What if I told you that the local with 100 stops cost 3x as much. What if I told you that the on time record of the local with 100 stops was 42% and 50% of the time it was a day late? At some point there is enough info and pitfalls to make you realize that the local with 100 stops is just kinda silly and the express is much easier, cheaper and more enjoyable. Sometimes doing nothing can make you more. Especially when you know the real info. On the express you get in all refreshed. On the local after 4 days and an extra day late you are dirty and tired. It's a tough route. You still get there, but if you had it to do over again probably enjoy a few extra days on the beach. So it isn't about working, it is about working smarter

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

If I started Again Today in the Domain Business

Morning Folks!!

If I had to start again today it would be much harder. But that is why I did not start today and why I said in 1996 that THIS was a "Unique opportunity in time" Now maybe folks really understand wtf that meant. But if I did start again today and I believe you can, I would do the following.

 

First, decide how much you want to INVEST in domain names. $5000, $10,000, $100,000.

 

Let's pick $10,000

 

Assuming you know what constitutes a good domain name (90% still have no clue) then I would try and buy domains from $100-$1000. I would buy as many as I could that are SALEABLE. That mean something. That could have value to someone. Then start selling. Put yourself out there. Find a domainer that you can feed. That is a domainer that you know can turn your domain into cash because YOU did the legwork. Oh, did I mention you have to WORK?? Yes, you have to get your lazy ass and actually do something. 8 hours a day? Come on! 12 hours a day? closer. 16-18 hours....ok, now you are talking. You got to dig baby! You got to dig! You got to be smart. You got to be creative. What you can't do is what I hear the most....WHINE! The answers are all there for you and most are just too lazy to read it. They WHINE!

 

Go out and find a great domain before the next guy. You may even find one that produces income and did not cost a lot. But you got to dig. Do research. Pay attention. Hand register. There is still more opportunity in the domain business than any other business I see. Do I want to do it again? No. I put in my 18 hour days then so I would not have to do it now.

 

So there is a simple roadmap but YOU have to put in the sweat and tears. Nobody in this business made it without hard word, long hours and sacrifice. Nobody made it without making mistakes. Nobody made it without a lot of things. So if you have yet to make it....STOP Stop in your tracks. Stop moving backwards, Stop moving. Stop. Go to the beach. Just stop what you are doing, take a deep breath. Think what you want and realize the way you picked ain't making you the $$$ you should be making. It is more important today than ever. Just because you have years invested in the wrong path does not mean you can't get on the right one. But you got to change the music for a different result.

 

There are just so many ways to climb this mountain. Have no money? You can be a broker and sell a domain for someone. But do it smart and you will make it. Do it stupid and you will be laughed at. It only takes ONE DEAL to get you fueled. Imagine making a deal to sell a domain. If you know who and how and where, you could take a domainer, approach them. Say I will sell your domain and I want my 10% commission. On top of that, if I sell it for over $100k, we split that portion 50/50. Now here you just laid the groundwork for a big payday and a way to fund your entire enterprise with just one deal. But you gotta WORK!! Got to have contacts. Find end users. Do all types of stuff but nobody can do it for YOU! I just gave you a couple ways I would approach it. One with $$$ in my pocket and one where I was flat broke.

The second example would be my choice because all you need is brains and ideas and hard work and the money will come. But you can do both without a heck of a lot of head wind. But it takes time and patience and hard work. Find something that works and repeat, repeat, repeat. That is the secret. It's just too simple for people to discipline themselves to do so they run 20 different directions at once instead of focusing on something tried and true..

 

The 80/20 rule exists because only 20% or less are willing to do the hard work to get to results. The remaining 80% spend their lives whining. YOUR CHOICE!!!

 

Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz