Domainers and Lifetime Earnings! Let’s Start Keeping Score!

Morning Folks!!


Domains are not about what you earn for one hour or one day
or even one month This game is about lifetime earnings. In sports many sectors keep
score by earnings. Both annual and lifetime earnings. Whether you are a boxer,
a golfer, a basketball player or an Olympian, besides the scores they keep
inside their sport is the dollar score outside the court. It also attracts
attention. So why not domaining?


We know at least 3 people have made over $100 million in
domain career earnings. Frank, Kevin, Yung Ye. There are others. But those 3
are certain. Mike Berkens won’t be far behind and then you have Ari and Larry
and Lawrence and I am sure you can name others. Several others and some completely under the radar. Many
others will eventually join that club. We may even see the first 10 figure domainer.


But forget about the high end. How about the other side?
Have you made your first million in career earnings in domaining? Do you wonder
how many have achieved that? So do I. Maybe that is a better way to present who
we are. They do it in Boxing. They do it in Golf. They do it in Racing. They do it in Football and Baseball and they do it in most other sports. They
must all do it for a damn good reason. Mostly because it creates interest and grows the sport.


May be a good exercise to list the top 100 earners in this
great industry because that just may be another way to create interest and
excitement. When you consider that the earnings we can show can actually rival and
exceed many sports out there, I think it is a viable idea. Plus list so many that have breeched the 7 figure mark. Many may not see this as a major achievement, I do. When you consider all the stunning failures on the Internet, all the lost money, we are a shining example of success and the best way to show the world that success is with dollars earned.


Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz




29 thoughts on “Domainers and Lifetime Earnings! Let’s Start Keeping Score!

  1. Gary Taylor

    I think that’s a great idea, a”forbes” list for domainers
    Nice post rick
    Perhaps have a regional league too. Ie top US earner, top UK earner
    Or even top earners by their field, for example geo domains, 2-3 letter .coms etc etc
    It allows people to gauge their own personal acheivement
    I’d like to be a top earner in the UK eventually, 26 now so have tmie to wait and grow
    I wouldn’t have a clue where I stand at the moment though because nothing like this exists
    You could even have a premier league of eagles and a conference league of pigeons ha ha excuse the UK football pun!
    Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

    Reply
  2. Luc

    Inspirational post, Rick. Domaining has been my career over the past 2 years, and I am closing in fast on the $500K mark. Hopefully, I’ll enter the $1M sphere within the next 2 years. The key is workign daily on building up a solid portfolio on quality names. Then it’s just a numbers game, besides the work behind the scenes.

    Reply
  3. Tim Davids

    I’m more impressed by the people that start with $500 and turn it into a $10,000 portfolio.

    Reply
  4. Rick Schwartz

    @Tim
    For the record I started out with an $1800 budget on a credit card. Since Network Solutions took some 9 MONTHS to finally bill me, I was already generating revenue in excess of that. So in fact, I never even took a single penny out of my pocket with my domains. That’s the story inside the story.

    Reply
  5. Rick Schwartz

    @Gary
    I love that idea. I know many are guarded about their numbers, but many are not and the more that come forward the more reasons to go public.

    Reply
  6. Domain Advisor

    Confucius say”Wise is the man of great wealth who wears simple clothes for he can walk safely amongst the poor.”
    RULE #1 OF STAYING RICH!!
    Never ever broadcast the extent of your wealth!

    Reply
  7. tim davids

    Rick,
    Thats why I like you :)
    That slouch Shilling…not so much:)
    j/k

    Reply
  8. steven

    Your missing one key point….in sports the clock resets each year and at a certain time period all they have is their skill to repeat and rinse.
    Having an asset you know makes XX,XXX or more annually does not show continued intelligence or business saavy in 2010 and the future.
    If you want to pat the top 100 earners on the back and say good job and build their ego thats OK but doesn’t accomplish or demonstrate anything.
    I am interested in the person who started today in a mature market and took $5K and made 50K or 500K.
    Or had the vision to buy a name and build out a real website.
    The last two weeks there have been various domain name people who tried to run real businesses who failed and failed miserably.
    Owning a good name and making lots of money does not mean your a business person. It means you have foresight and bought an asset that makes money.
    Has nothing to do with business or ability run a business.
    The guy that bought apple stock for $18 a share is not a great business person.
    He saw an opportunity and seized it.

    Reply
  9. Gary Taylor

    @ Elliot I agree some people do prefer to keep their earnings confidential and that is completely understandable
    On the other hand what a great way to charge up the industry and add some more excitement to it than having some sort of global domain investors leader board.
    @ Rick
    You could even start it as a page on TRAFFIC inviting people to apply to be listed and at each of your events, perhaps offering a”Top Earners” award? (You heard it hear first folks! I tell ya, these nuggets of gold just keep coming!)
    I’ve only done about $150k since I’ve been investing in domains, and most of that has gone back into buying better generic ones which should see me realize a lot more further down the line, I take the long term approach rather than volume sales.
    In the grand scheme of things I’ll be well down the list, but it would definitely motivate me more to see me climbing the list at some future date.
    Even better would be for new investors in 5 or 10 years time to see how other people have grown over the years too.
    Remind everyone again Rick how many domain sales it took you to hit the million dollar club?
    Gary

    Reply
  10. Jeff Schneider

    Hello Rick,
    The 10 richest people in the world are not listed anywhere. They also are aware and out of the international derivatives market game. There is so much that we all do not know in the grand design of things.
    To all of you who invest in the capital markets beware of the coming realization that the financial worlds financial system safety valve is highly leveraged and is tied to a house of cards, {Int’l.Derivatives Market} a 900 Trillion $ clearing house that has a liquidation reserve of maybe 10 trillion liquidity. You are good with #s Rick. The big banks will be first out in the order of things and everyone else not out in time will be hosed royally.
    The canary in the coal mine is signaling trouble dead ahead. Just some friendly advice.
    Gratefully,
    Jeff

    Reply
  11. UFO

    Rick,
    But let’s get real and categorise those whom bought domains say pre 2004.
    The matter of the fact is that the big winners were actually there at the”start”. It’s like saying people should start looking for oil in Texas as there were those that made it big.
    When we define success lets go for people who actually developed a business model and followed it e.g. those that have made plenty flipping domains, those that have built and sold websites and so forth. But hearing about people that regged virgin names early on ISN’T a replicable business model, it is false pretence to say domainers in 2010 could do the same.

    Reply
  12. Rick Schwartz

    @UFO
    I always say there are 1000 ways to climb this mountain. Depends on your talents and know how and most of all timing. It is like jump rope, you have to time it perfect no matter when you get in the game. What worked then may not work now, but many of the rules remain the same. Many of the definitions.
    If you are a great SE guy, then you can have dfgnhgjutmjiuye.com and it would not matter. But word of mouth may be tough.
    I really just want to find put who is making it big now? Who is the rookie of the year? Who grew their businesses and incomes the most?
    There re 1000 voices out there. Some have merit, many do not. A good idea is good no matter who has it or even what it is. The next Franky could be buying his first domain right now. I hope he is. I am sure Franky does too.
    These posts are geared to help raise folks up not pull them down. The glass half empty or half full.

    Reply
  13. Rick Schwartz

    I can’t understand why so many folks either miss the point of=r just don’t want to see it. The folks that could gain the most may be reading, but they are not commenting.
    Here is THE point. If you give Mike, Frank or 300 qualified domainers $10,000 to go buy domains at auction, you will see them pick the best domains with the best values. At the same auction the others that don’t understand all the elements will buy CRAP. Many times they pay even more for that crap. They had an equal shot to buy gems, but since they don’t know what a gem is they continue to spend a lot of $$$ on crap. So that is what I keep trying to get through to folks.

    Reply
  14. Graham

    The simple ideas are always the greatest ideas. How can we compile a list of Domain Millionaires? (and their top domains?)
    Even if it’s only 20% of the actual domain millionaires it will really help the domaining image!

    Reply
  15. Anunt

    Stop wasting time with domain names…they were hot before and easy money was being made before, not anymore!
    It is not like before…when you could buy any domain name and sell it for more next day…doesnt work like that anymore.
    Also, domain name values are going down…we have already reached the top…prices are going down from here!
    I can give $100,000 each to Frank, Kevin, Yung Ye, or Rick to invest in domains…and they will not be able to turn that $100k to $1M before i turn that $100k to $1M in trading stocks!
    Domain names are going to be worthless very soon…Mark this POST!
    More and more people are using Google instead of typing domain names directly into their browsers…and with the new technology coming like ipads that use apps for everything…domain names values are going down faster than you think!
    Just open your eyes and check out the traffic auctions and other sales outlets and see how weak the sales are…also, try selling your best domain name…see how much people are offering you…nobody wants your domains…not worth anything!
    The big boys are trying to unload their top domains, but can not find any suckers to pay their prices!

    Reply
  16. Steve Cheatham

    Yipes. Expose my wealth? or non-wealth?
    Really, that’s a good idea so we can see where things are in the market and who is moving and shaking.
    But I have always been one to keep a private company private. And most private sales are not available to post to the public.
    I don’t know how to resolve that conflict. Any ideas?
    How about a point system?

    Reply
  17. Mike

    Not sure that I want to discuss my earnings. After all, thats one of the benefits of remaining a private enterprise. Plus, never show your hand – dont even hint. ;-)

    Reply
  18. Altaf

    @AnUnt,
    If you believe in Stock Trading why do you waste your time here then? You are always playing passive and negative role here when Rick tries for years to explain the value of domains. Do you know how many million millionaires became pennyless this year due to trading in Stock? What is your greatest tips for stocks in the economic downturn?

    Reply
  19. steve

    I have studied people and domainers. Only a few have the skills and the motivation to tackle domaining and succeed. It is so competitive today those who started years ago don’t understand.
    It is true they don’t know what the gems are and they never studied domains to figure it out. I have 5 people I tried to help and they all pissed me off in the end. They are just stupid. Like Home Simpson stupid. Then one of them clicked my ads and got my adsense account banned. How stupid are people, very stupid.

    Reply
  20. Stephen Douglas

    @Atom
    “what happened to Jay Westerdal?”
    Good question… and I’m sure more than a few domainers know the answer.
    @ Rick
    Posting your domain total sales profits? Seeing who falls into the”Eagle” class you spoke about earlier, and those who are”pigeons”. You first. Go ahead. Build a site, lead the way.

    Reply

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