Morning Folks!!
As I do every year, December is a month of reflection and planning. I don’t work in December. At least not in the way I do the other 11 months. So I just got back from a 10 day cruise. I spent over one month this year on the High Seas. More than a year of my life in all. Downtime is very important if you don’t want to Burn Out.
So as my role in the industry now requires less time, I will be entering another universe of sorts in 2010. A new focus. Just like nobody can take my adult industry years away from me, nobody can take my domaining years away from me either. But now it is time just like it was a decade ago when I left the adult world as an everyday participant and started to help work on the framework for an industry. In 2010 I will basically repeat that except with a new audience, a new focus, a new agenda and a new end game. I never forget or even try to hide where I came from. The adult industry taught me so much that I am still employing those things I learned. That industry is nothing like it once was. But that is a natural occurrence and it repeats itself. Now again in domaining. Again, I won't hide where I came from. I am proud of my accomplishments even tho the audience I may be speaking to may not share that view. They are likely to have the same opinion of domainers as many domainers have about the adult industry. That "Prejudice" is just a reality you deal with and overcome. But how many times can you take the same ride, the same cruise and not want to do, see, and learn more?
The “End user” we refer to is not a group. It is a ONE that is HIDDEN in a group. Like I say all the time, “End users come one need, one project and one domain at a time.” You can’t change that. But you can do things that accelerate that eventuality. See I am all about acceleration. That is what I do. Making things happen in a compressed amount of time. Things have a “Natural progression” but since life is short, accelerating things is always been the key. The key since the invention of the wheel. We always try and go faster. So my role, that I created for myself, has always been to make things happen faster because if you let it take its' natural path, it may take too long and we will all be dead. I am happy with a smaller piece of a larger pie. Had I not thought that way I would have never shared my views and what I learned along the way. But it was so much bigger than just one. As we can see, an army of thousands of domainers are still trying to make headway Alone?? Impossible.
So when I went from adult to mainstream it was quite a leap with lots less resources but a much bigger playing field. Now another leap is in my future. There is something missing. Something very big. Something I looked for when I met and pitched Steve Forbes, Ben Stein, Barbara Corcoran, and many of our other speakers along the way. TRAFFIC financed those appointments. Those pitches. We will never know what those conversations produced. But I guarantee it did not dead end when they left the podium. A SEED was planted deep in them. We will never know the point of germination, but WE together made an impact on THEM. While they touched us with their wisdom, we also returned the same with what we do. How do I know this? Because planting seeds is what it is all about. They can't "Unseed" themselves.
When I travel I go into a lot of retail stores. I TRY and discuss the Internet with them and their sales. They all basically tell me they do well on the Internet and abruptly change the subject. That’s cause they are full of shit. I still try to engage, but it is fruitless. Some even still fighting about all types of things as the Internet is still a threat to them because of distribution, cutting online competitors off, doing things defensively instead of offensively. So I am out to change that. Not sure how I will or can accomplish that goal. But in 2010 I want to talk to large audiences of diversified businesses. I want to break down this wall once and for all. There is no longer ANY excuse. The #1 way to grow your business is via the Internet. We ALL know that. THEY DON’T. That needs to be changed and that is what I will focus my time on in 2010.
What does that have to do with domains? Nothing and everything. It is about BUSINESS and as I have said for a long time, domains are a VEHICLE, a product, a commodity. It’s a horse to another destination. But when you ride your horse, does not mean you don’t keep an eye out for another mode of transportation. Faster, more efficient methods and a way to make more money in a quicker amount of time. THAT is what it is about. The adult industry, domains, lighting, furniture, are all vehicles. The only reason I landed up in any of these is I was always looking for something, bigger, faster, more profitable and easier after some initial very hard work.
So in a few days this journey enters the 15th year for me and another stage. Literally. As David Castello says, “Been waiting 15 years for the next 5.” My friends, that is as clear as it gets. It took an economic collapse of 2009 for the Internet to reach critical mass in every category and every industry in every corner of the world. The next 5 years is what it is all about. The amount of money coming to the net is unfathomable. Don’t trap yourself and don’t box yourselves in. Domainers? I don’t think so. It’s just a piece of what we really are. This is the start, not the end. If you are not making the dollars you should, start over! Get rid of the crap. The liabilities. Start with assets and you will never have to look back. You have the power to turn things around but first you must stop running in the wrong direction if indeed things are not working out for you. On the other hand, if they are, just keep doing what you are doing. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
No matter which way the general economy goes in 2010 it will be one of the best years ever for opportunity and great wealth. The weakness of some will become the fruit for others. There is such chaos and hurt and collapse that if you are in a strong cash position or not, you can really do some big things. Just be as diversified and PORTABLE as possible. Don't have all your assets in domains, or cash, or gold, or stock, or this or that. Make sure if one thing crashes, and it may, that something else will keep you afloat. We are far from out of the woods and forces every day want to sink the dollar and change the balance of power. The result is unknowable at this point in time. One incident can change the world and how we all do business. When things are unstable as they have been, long term planning is much more difficult and in some cases, impossible. That will be the headwind we have to deal with.
Our success or failure comes from within. Nobody can hold back a winner and nobody can help a loser unless they do the things necessary to be a winner. We all see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear, read what we want to read. Many times without regard for the overall intent. When folks are supposed to read between the lines, they don't. When they are supposed to take something literally, they are too busy trying to read between the lines. Timing really does count. Approach counts. But it is results that matter. Blah, blah, blah forever, but without results, it is just Lip Service.
Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy and Healthy New Years! See you all in Las Vegas!
Have a GREAT Day
Rick Schwartz
PS: I have racked my brain for the last 18 months and I can't find a better, safer or more portable investment than INCOME PRODUCING domain names. NONE! The TRUE GOLD and OIL WELLS of this century.
