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

The Power of a TINY Decision. Why "Decisions" Determine your Life Quality

Morning Folks!!

I think the #1 flaw folks make is not making good SMALL decisions. I believe life is about decisions. Nothing else. Good decisions = good life, good things and the residue is luck and your proper destiny. Bad decisions = not so good life, not so good things, and the reside is BAD LUCK and an uncertain negative destiny.

But I also believe that the smallest decisions are just as big and just as important as the big ones. A decision is a decision. A good decision always does no harm and sometimes pays dividends. A bad decision always causes pain. You may not see it right then, but sure as stepping in shit in a dog park, you are gonna have something happen that is unexpected and not in your favor at some point in the future. So EVERY decision is important. EVERY decision counts to the final end. The tiniest decision can have the most major impact. A Tiny piece of sand in a ball bearing can bring the largest machine to a screetching and painful halt. People may even say you are making a big deal of something tiny.  But those are the MASSES that don’t understand. The higher you get on the ladder, the less folks understand because most folks accept and embrace mediocrity. They do this every time they make a decision without considering ALL the aspects and consequences of that decision. ALL. If they don't, they are "Mentally lazy" and "Inconsiderate of others". They are just lazy because once you train yourself to do this it takes a split second in most cases. Maybe a few seconds. Maybe a minute. The harder the decision, the more time and care you need to apply. Some decisions can take years. Marriage for example. But life is made up of tiny decisions, small decisions, sometimes with great impact if you hurt somebody’s feelings with your lack of thought and consideration. That is what a decision is. Besides what it does for you, how does it affect others.  The unfortunate part is MOST people don’t think the small decisions count. That is like having a boat and saying you don’t care about 1001 small leaks. But it only takes a few small leaks to sink a ship. To make you life not as good as it could or should be. But YOU are the only one that can control that process. Do it with great care and you will get great things. Not every time and don’t expect to see it right then. The impact of any of your decisions are not usually seen right away. The decision to fly back from Los Angeles that night has had an impact to this very day. One decision. One moment. Lasting a lifetime. One decision. So the point is, don’t be afraid to make decisions. Just make the best one you can make at the time and the way you do that is considering all the options, all the fallout, all the consequences and finally, all the benefits.

So when I see folks that don’t understand these things, I know they will always be their worst enemy. Nothing I can do or anyone can do to inflict more pain on an ongoing basis. Bad decisions are what prisons are made up of. Some were just stupid bad decisions. Most were intentional bad decisions.

Life is air, water, food and decisions. What does this have to do with domains? Are you really sitting there and asking a question like that??

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

The GREAT Gratz. Part 2

Afternoon Folks!

So after I wrote that post this morning I decided I was going to find the GREAT Gratz. I both succeeded and failed. I found the Great Gratz, but he was on the other side. He died in 2003. I found that out when I tracked down his son. I searched several places and finally found a phone number to his youngest son. Last time I saw him he was 12, I was about 30. So I called the number. I got the right one on the first try. I told the secretary my name and that I was a very old friend of his dads. I told him who I was and to my surpise, he remembered me. Vividly as a matter of fact. But then he told me his dad died in 2003 of lung cancer. It’s a bit hard to write this right now. It may have happened 6 years ago but for me it was 6 minutes ago. So I am a bit blurry eyed. But I still want to write this while it is fresh and I can.  I waited just a bit too long to call.

Anyway, we had a really good conversation and shared a few stories and memories and it was just great to see him doing so well. I wanted him and his family to know what an influence he had in my life and I still draw strength from him. But that would be expected if you were around the Great Gratz growing up. He was flawed just like the rest of us but he was the best at what he did. He could chew you up and spit you out before you even knew you were bleeding. Gentle like a bear. Rip you apart like a bear. So RIP my friend. Thank you of your wisdom. Sorry it took so long to say goodbye. I know where you are so I’ll be sure to bring an air conditioner when I join ya. ;-)

And "D" when I get out west next time, I am coming to see you and share some great GRATZ stories. 

Rick Schwartz

The Story of the "Great Gratz" and how 7 Words Changed my Life at 29

Morning Folks!!

"Follow a Leader or Follow an Asshole" is an expression I learned from the GREAT Bill Gratz. While other folks sold furniture for a living he moved mountains full of furniture. He was better than those that he sold to or sold against. They were not in his league. Nor was I for that matter. But I was learning from a master. He once told me something that absolutey changed my life. He said, “I can follow a leader, but I can’t follow an asshole.”  That one line changed the trojectery of my entire life.

A few months later a 52 year old pipe smoking veteran of the furniture industry that had never held ajob for more than 2 years but had a resume that included every big boy there was became my new boss. See while I tripled their sales in the preceeding year I was a renegade that did not play politics the way they thought they were entitled to at this stage. So they opted to an “Insider” to bring them to the goal line. Even tho I had brought them from $1 or $2 million to $10 or $12 million under my leadership, it was not
good enough. See I was just too young. Even tho I worked for 4 years with the competition, 5 years with them, I was still only 29. So they opted for a new path.   



Well I flew out to Los Angeles to start my new assignment on Sunday night. I got to LA at 11:30PM. I had time to think on that flight. I thought what the GREAT Gratz told me. I decided this guy was an asshole and I was not going to go along with the plan. I arrived in LA. I went to the ticket counter. I booked the same plane back to Miami. I arrived at 6AM. I went to the factory. I waited on the steps until the owners arrived at 7AM. They were flabbergasted to see me there as they know I was in LA at 11:30. They were in disbelief. I went in and stated my case. A week or two later I was on the street. First time in my life with no job. The worst days I ever remember. But that was the day and the moment that my life changed. Where I stood up and said NO FUCKING WAY! I won’t sell my soul. I will always tell it like it is. There is performance and everything else. I performed. I did what was asked. I opened accounts and made the company I worked for famous inside the industry. I increased their market share. I made them a FORCE.

To make a long story short, that event put me in business and I never worked for another ungrateful employer again. Never dealt with that nonsense ever again. As far as the company I worked for and that pipe smoking phony. Well he lasted just under 2 years when the company collapsed and went out of business. On one hand it was sad to see something I built up destroyed. On the other, well that’s what happens when you make a bad decision and fuck with success.  You don’t screw with success. I guess that is why I wanted to see the Dodgers and Yankees in the World Series. I want Joe Torre to stick it to them!

I think as domainers we are amazing people doing amazing things and just because we have yet to be recognized for it does not make it any less real. Any less important. Like scientists, we are unlocking secret after secret. Fact after fact. Result after result. Discovery after discovery.

 Have a GREAT Day!

 Rick Schwartz

The TRICK of turning Social Media into Profitable Commercial Enterprises

Morning Folks!!

I write this blog for you. The reader, the surfer, the pioneer, the lost, the searchers, anyone looking for just a little more. I also write this blog for myself. I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper. I guess that is a last century term. Putting thoughts on paper. I guess now just filing thoughts for the future and the past. I blogged before there was a name for it. It started in 1996. I made a post each and every morning and what was unusual at that time was that I actually used my own name.

But Owen keeps finding stuff I wrote years ago. Yesterday he found one and it is one of the most basic of posts and thoughts to me back a decade ago when there was no domain industry and so few saw what I did.

I do have some of my oldest posts locked away in one of my computers. I talked numbers and facts and dollars and futures and pasts and everything in between. When I started this blog it was an attempt to get my thoughts out there in a more formal method and be able to keep track of them, be on record and then see how things actually unfold.

The following is perhaps one of my best pieces. Short, sweet, to the point and accurate in a day a decade ago that few saw what we do.

"The reason I say this is there are so many facets of a domain name. It has the face value. It has the value with the mineral rights in the form of traffic. It is a collectible like stamps, coins, art, baseball cards. They are real estate on a scale never known before. They are power in a way that has yet to be fully exploited. They are TV stations. They are magazines. They are soap boxes. They are an advantage on many fronts. They are a permanent direct mail piece. They are almost anything you want them to be and so much more. You are an instant broadcaster able to compete with the likes of NBC, ABC, BBC, and all the rest. Your domain can create a situation to capture more eyeballs than all the TV stations put together." ~~ Rick Schwartz 1999

When I envisioned the Internet, I envisioned a new media that would or could give every person a soapbox and a megaphone that could and would equal the most powerful. Soapbox.com was one domainI really wanted. As you will see one of TRAFFIC’S past speakers owns it now. 

So I hope the folks that did not see the wisdom of having Steve Forbes, Ben Stein, Barbara Corcoran, (And there were many) I hope these folks will reserve judgement until they see what unfolds and THEN question the wisdom of having Rick Sanchez join a great list of TRAFFIC speakers. Each one offering us a little something. Each time we left with more than we came. If you understand this post than you will understand where we are going with this. If you can't grasp the notion that the trick is turning social media into profitable commercial media, then I guess we will have to agree to disagree until you figure out at the show and agree. :-) 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

BREAKING: T.R.A.F.F.I.C. ANNOUNCES GUEST SPEAKER for NEW YORK!

Good Afternoon Folks!!

I am pleased to report that after months of looking (as I described in this blog post last week), negotiating and figuring out who would be a great guest speaker that is plugged in but not too close to the industry and can give us some insight from a slightly different perspective. Also, I did not even know about the Internet until I traveled internationally and started seeing CNN.COM every few minutes.

Nobody could argue that CNN has been plugged in from day one. The purchase of iReport.com meant a lot more than $750,000 for me personally. It was a sale that could be pointed to for many years to come by every domainer and every time a domainer watched CNN and saw iReport.com it would give them the fuel to keep going.

So I am happy to report that RICK SANCHEZ, 3PM Anchor for CNN will be the guest speaker for TRAFFIC's 17th show and 5th Anniversary. He joins a great group of guest speakers over the years and I am sure he will be able to share things with you that will benefit your business and your future.

I am also happy to report that the fee we are paying Rick Sanchez is going to charity. Rick will have his honorarium go to a charity of his choice. I think that is pretty cool and I also think it shows a genuine desire to meet with our industry.
 
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

More than "Survival". Why you need to get ahead of what is Coming!

Morning Folks!!

I live in a town of about 80,000 where there are 20 homes on the market between $10 Million and $25 million. There are also 70 homes between $5M and $10M. Then from $2.5 Million to $5 Million there are another 125 homes. Finally between $1 Million and $2.5 Million there are another 460. It’s even worse than that. Under $1 million has just under 4000 listings.

Yesterday I drove down every street in the city in the primmest of areas. I saw things that I really don’t like. I saw a number of homes in addition to the above that were just vacant and not maintained. Obviously bank owned. No for sale sign either. Dozens and dozens of them. What I saw that disturbed me even more was the observation that in an area where folks really maintain their lawns and plants and trees, they were no longer paying their gardners. It was quite obvious in many homes and many of these are not on the market. YET! I was truly stunned to see what I saw.

You all know what I have been talking about for the past 18 months or so but this even put me back on my heels. This is disturbing. This is the beginnings of a possible catastrophe. What is coming in the housing market will affect EVERY homeowner in the country. The market is about to take a plunge the likes of which we have never seen and it will take the GOOD stuff with it.

What is coming will undercut the market in a way nobody has imagined. I am sorry my friends, even your homes are likely to suffer in a way you may not see coming. How much could your home go down? Well that depends. Let’s say you and your neighbor both bought a home worth $750k 3 years ago. Let’s say the bank foreclosed on your neighbor. The banks job is to dump that property asap and get that liability off the books. They really don’t care what they are going to leave behind because it is about to spin out of control regardless. So the house next door that you owe $700k on sells for $350k. What is the value of the home you owe $700k on? Or even $600k? Or $500k. Many will just walk away refusing to throw good money after bad. That will undercut the market even further and the $350k becomes a HIGH WATER mark, not a low water mark. So prices continue to go down.

This all creates further problems that begin to compound themselves as tax collections go way down and then services go with it. Like I have said for a while, there is this small window of opportunity before the collapse, meltdown and the catastrophe’s that I believe will follow. That window appears to be getting shorter and smaller.

When you filter out the noise and listen to the business people on the front lines with no political agenda, there is no question things are about to get dire. So they can say all day long that the recession is over. I think it is nonsense. If you are in the desert with no water and some schmuck declares the drought over before giving you water to drink, what would you call it?

The numbers prove they are wrong. The numbers prove real pain is coming. The numbers prove that it may be a very long time before we rebound from all this. The numbers don’t lie. Corrupt bean counters do. Stockbrokers do. Bankers do. Everyone with an agenda lies. Numbers have no agenda. They just paint the most VIVID picture and in this case few really want to deal with the reality about to come. They don't do it now and they did not do it last summer. I DID!

If you want to know how this will affect the domain industry, then you can read my interview at DNJournal.com. Not for the faint of heart. I tell it the way I see it.

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Domains, SEO Spamming, The Past, The Future, The Changes and other Sunday Ramblings.

Morning Folks!!

I bought domains because I was not smart enough or talented enough to get search engine traffic. Ignorance is a great thing sometimes! I bought domains because I did not want to spend a LIFETIME spamming search engines with misleading CRAP to get traffic. I bought domains because that was a non ending stream of traffic that could actually grow over time. I bought domains because it was a unique opportunity in time and those that did not see it missed the greatest gold rush in the history of mankind. I bought domains because in the future nothing would be so important or meaningful on a worldwide marketing basis. I bought domains because it was the greatest resovoir of customers, buyers, consumers, business people and on and on with virtually no limit ever to come to be. Where else can one domain produce 40,000 visitors a day for $8 a YEAR??? $8 divided by 14 million annual visitors. Let the bean counters figure out the cost on that one.

Now let's look at my SEO abilities. I have none. Zippo. I don't believe in a lot of the nonsense. I think relevance is the key. Popularity. Many other factors. So I believe SEO spamming actually can do harm. I think growing your business is the best way to get that ranking.

Now I will piss some folks off and they will try and undermine my listings but I don't really care as it is not going anywhere I truly make a profit. But if you type in "Rick Schwartz" in Google I am #1 out of 750,000. If you type "Domain King" you will see the same thing. But then I took it a step further. Where was I if I typed in "Schwartz"? 26 million results and again #1.

Now there are still names I have yet to type in that I may rank high. "Asshole" may be one some would agree on. Maybe one of the SEO guys can get me up to #1? ;-)

To be honest, I was always a bit jealous of singers. They sang and marketed their name and nobody can ever take that away. In my case I can't sing and while I always marketed my name in way or another, I marketed my companies or company I worked for name much more.

Many think domains have had their golden day and traffic is going down etc etc. Well in some cases they could be right. However if you look at the BIG picture, traffic, audience share, in the future is just getting harder and harder to attract and that is why you are seeing so many outrageous things going on. It's all gimmicks to defend a shrinking audience base in traditional media. That means the cost of doing business is going up. The cost of gaining new customers is going up. The cost of breaking out of the crowd is going up. That means that domains and traffic will become more and more in demand regardless of the current conditions. That soapbox is getting harder and harder to be heard no matter how big you are. No matter how big your megaphone is. What was once 3 channels competing for your eyes, ABC, NBC, CBS is now infinite. Infinity is killing these folks. What started in 2000 and 2001 is finally completing itself in 2009/2010. They were successful in delaying the inevitable. But they no longer have the power to stem the tide. What we are about to see is the greatest shakeout of business and industry in the history of the world. The greatest shift in power that the world has ever seen. The rules of yesterday will no longer be valid in many cases.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

PS: Did a search for "Rick" and got 83 million results. I was #3. Beaten out by Rick's Caberet and Rick.com owned by Legendary DJ Rick Dees. So much for Rick.com and Ricks.com. Missed those. Had to settle for Dick.com lol

PS: And now the POWER of the domain name. I looked up "The King" I am nowhere to be found which is no surprise. Of course people like Elvis, MJ, Martin Luther King and Burger King appear. My link to them? I own TheKing.com which redirects right to this blog. Take those 6 degrees of separation and reduce to 1.

Chopard and Christie's in the Adult Business?? Oral Sex? You Betcha!

Morning Folks.  

This post is courtesy of my wife who found this little gem last night. When does mainstream hit PUBERTY?? When does mainstream figure out that ALL of their customers have SEX!? May even TALK DIRTY!? Engage in NUDE activities!? OH MY!! What would Mrs Kravitz say? Imagine, Mrs Kravitz is in charge of marketing for the entire Internet!? You don't know who Mrs. Kravitz is? I guess that is part of the problem. Lack of important history. Mrs. Kravitz was the busy body next door in the 1960's TV show "Bewitched." This BITCH, could just never mind her own business, judged everyone and was everyone's nightmare of a next door neighbor.

The absolutely silliness and hypocrisy displayed by the TECHIES and adopted by everyone else without so much as a thought. Mrs. Kravitz must be in heaven! SHE is in charge. This is exactly how Mrs. kravitz would have handed it. Must be someone related.

Only on the Internet is there this “Iron Curtain” between adult and mainstream. In this post I am going to show you how foolish this all is. The absolute stupidity of it all. What JERKOFF made this rule that people follow more than going to Church on Sunday?

So this post is about an auction at Christie’s, one of the most respected auction houses in the world and Chopard, one of the world’s leading watch makers in business for some 150 years and making watches that sometimes go for many millions.

On this $40k white gold watch that was auctioned off back in 2007, it shows a beautiful, well endowed woman on her knees giving a BLOW JOB to a man. Apparently the tick tock simulates up and down on his SHAFT! Nice touch.

Now if these 2 fine companies can manufacture, sell and promote nude people, BLOW JOBS, tits, on their watches and in their auctions, then it is time for mainstream to grow up. Unless of course their parents never engaged in sex which would explain everything!

So not everyone that buys toothpaste watches porno. However everybody that watches porno buys toothpaste. Stop making moral judgements and DO BUSINESS!! Imagine if stores in the mall did the same thing as they do on the web? They would be out of business. "Oh Mr. Schwartz, we can't sell you that $150k Mercedes Benz because you just came from a TITTIE BAR!" "Come back tomorrow and make sure you don't look at any tits first, have sex, get an errection or anything else that has any sexual overtones or connotations whatsoever." 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

 

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York to Announce Keynote Speaker

Morning Folks!!  

I can’t say it has been easy to find someone to keynote at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. this time. I rejected more speakers than any in our 5 year history combined. It gets harder and harder to select the right person for the right time. Generally few understand our picks anyway. Barbara Corcoran was a good example and now she is in the big leagues simply because she has a unique understanding of business and like us, she is a renegade investor.  

So I went through hundreds of possibilities. Funny enough, even Tony Hsieh of Zappo’s was offered to us. But we were looking for something a little different. So we opted for folks like Jeffrey Jordan the CEO of Open Table, Matt Mullenweg of Blogger fame and an old friend, John Reese of Income.com. However all had conflicts. But I expect we will see these folks as keynoters at future TRAFFIC events and eventually it became a real blessing in disguise.  

We really had some great speakers offered to us but none really fit what we need to accomplish at this point in time. Time was running short. I was prepared to go up on stage and tell folks I would rather have no speaker than to present a speaker that did not accomplish what we need to do at this particular moment in time. That was what I was prepared to do. But I would not give up and kept looking. Finally I reached out to Owen and he had an idea. It was one of those regular Owen “Let’s jump on this windmill” suggestions. But that did not mean it was not a great idea. It was brilliant. It just meant that the odds were 100-1. But it was time for the long ball.

So I contacted the folks I need to and was even told by them that was a long shot and explained why. But nonetheless, would make the offer. Well to my surprise, he accepted. YES! So another speaker may come to TRAFFIC and few will understand why until he leaves. Not really. I think you will understand his choice and the reasons behind it. I expect to announce that person as early as Friday once it clears the hurdles and approvals that speakers like this need. So not a done deal, but we are very hopeful that everything will fall into place. 

I believe the Internet is about the consumer and how he thinks and how he uses the net and how folks are evolving. In my case it was something forcing me to come online once a day. Just one time a day back in mid 1995. We all start similarly. Once a week. Once a month. Then the metamorphosis happens. It turns into daily minutes. An hour. A few hours. And as we all know, it finally consumes you! The social networks like Twitter and Facebook have driven the initial push and in the last couple years have changed how the world interacts. I watched my friends that have no association with the Internet and how they evolved. How they changed. How they use it. How often. I started doing that back in 1995 with my own father. Then my mother. Then my best friend that hated the Internet and would never use it. (He uses it everyday now too)   Sometimes you can learn more from the man on the street than all the experts in the world. Experts get too close to a situation and can no longer focus on the BIG picture. Too much information.  

So as we celebrate our 5^th anniversary with our 17^th show, I think you will see TRAFFIC take a much different course than any other show. That is until they follow in our footsteps.  But we are headed to the other side of this mountain. Isn’t it time to meet your surfer? Meet your customer?  

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz  

Are Domainer’s Ready to Shake Things Up??

 

Morning Folks!!

As you have watched your incomes decline are Domainers’ ready to have some backbone? Are you ready to speak out? Are you ready to confront those that are taking the LION’S SHARE OF YOUR INCOME?? Oh yeah, I forgot, our share is a big secret! The tide is about to take a massive turn. See it is not where we are now, that does not count. We can’t do anything about that. But you sure as hell can take back your future and look 1 year down the road. Just 1 year.  

There will be an article coming out in DNJournal.com in the next few days. I say what others won’t. What others can’t. What others may think but won’t say. Who is in control of your destiny?

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz