Turmoil and Opportunity. Some Will Get Rich, Some Will Go Broke!

Morning Folks!!


When we left off nearly 2 months ago I said we were at a “Pivotal Moment”. Anyone out there that does not believe that now? The entire landscape has changed. But what does that mean? I needed TIME to THINK and understand how overnight, DOMAINS and Internet Addresses became the center of the universe.


Go back to my 2008-2010 posts and you will see I have consistently said the worst part of the recession would start in mid 2011 because of the extended weakness we were about to endure. Welcome to that point. This is when the recession STARTS, not when it ends. This is when it can become dire for some and great opportunity for others. But if you saw this coming you had time to prepare. While others laughed at my doom and gloom, I prepared. While others got weaker I aimed to get stronger.


You have to step back, take a deep breath and STOP. I have said so right on this blog many times. How will things change? What direction will things go in? I get some laughs out of some of the comments of what it all means. Let me be 100% clear. It DOES mean something. Something very big. Something that looks very different.


I learned about hypothesis vs. predictions and the difference. A monkey can make a prediction but hypothesis is based on experience and events and knowledge and understanding and training and life and common sense and 50 other ingredients and awareness’s and senses. There is a BASIS for an outcome, a conclusion. That’s how you see what will unfold tomorrow while FAILURE chases YESTERDAY or just curls up and dies as they become VICTIMS of events instead of beneficiaries of those events.


Most base their predictions on hopes. Or they base it on what they need and want as opposed to whatever REALITY is. Turmoil and Opportunity. That is what best describes exactly where we are. For some FEAR is the natural reaction. Some get paralyzed. But if you figure out how to time things right, you just focus on the byproduct of that fear and that is called “opportunity”.


Nobody has talked about that and now you will hear that phase over and over again. “Turmoil and Opportunity” is the place and the moment. Both are huge, one very dangerous and one dreams are made of. During the months ahead more industries will be disrupted than ever before.


Just in our tiny little corner of the universe there are companies in our space that are on the verge of collapse. There are companies that wander aimlessly. There are companies that are hiding under their desks. These companies risk sitting on the sidelines while others eat their lunch. In sports they call that a “Forfeit”. There are companies that came with fanfare that have now quietly disappeared. Don't forfeit.....FIGHT!


Don’t know what I am talking about? Then that is exactly what I am talking about. You can’t see great opportunity so you miss it because peril has you paralyzed. That’s just Human Nature at work. But if you don’t understand that part, then you miss it. I agree it is invisible. It is invisible because it is based on conditions and many conditions at that. But if you are oblivious to these things of course you would react negatively. Human Nature.


Instead of forming an hypothesis, some form fear or baseless predictions of no value based on want rather than reality as I stated above.


We may be in a recession, we may be in a crisis, but none of that can harness progress and progress is happening faster than I can type this. So are you getting your piece of it? There has never been so much money sitting on the sidelines. Plenty of cash out there. This is NOT a cashless recession. This is a recession of ideas, a recession of business acumen a recession of risk and know how. It’s generational but this time the generations are determined by how computer literate you might be or many other factors.


Generational because in less than 20 years we have gone from factory based societies to information based. Where the #1 tool in the world went from a hammer to a keyboard. And while you might think 15-20 years is a long time, it is not when you talk about progress. We had 1000 years of progress in 20 years. That’s like driving a Ferrari at 200mph when you’re taking a right turn. We added a communication dimension we never had and it is NOW that we are just understanding the new things that can evolve from that. Recession forces folks to step up.


How do you blog when the changes that are happening at this very moment are the most profound in any of our lifetimes? And on the other hand there are such numerous things coming out each and every day that no human or group can even chronicle the changes or stop long enough to understand the impact if indeed there is one.


So many companies are being rocked to the core right now. Others are rocking and rolling like never in history. What a stark difference. But these dynamics are what create opportunity on a large scale. See the largest changes in history are happening each and every day and while you may not see it, I am telling you, I sure as hell see it.


Just look at how many industries the iPad is revolutionizing. If you have not noticed then you are doing something wrong. You are not paying attention to the future. The iPhone was Apple's 'Backdoor' to taking market share. But the iPad is a disrupter right through the front door. And while there are now 100 tablets on the market, when added all together, they are still in the shadow of the iPad and will never catch them.


How many new uses and applications and cost saving and other features just from this one device? I have been all over since day #1 because I understood what was about to happen and why it was about to happen. Still we are in the infant stage and most don't see or understand it. There is a REASON Apple has more cash than the US Government.


Let’s analyze unemployment. That is a fallacy. What has changed is who provides the job. Who books your time. In more and more cases it is ourselves. We, as a society, no longer work for the factory in town. We create revenue streams not a 9-5 job. The largest, fastest growing parts of society are the people that move and shake and make things happen one deal at a time. One job at a time. One contract at a time.


Massive changes are coming to the Domain Industry. An entire new breed with very deep pockets are coming to the table. The biggest are faultering. The smallest are disappearing. The weakest are already gone.


10 GREAT domains make you a domainer. 100,000 worthless domains makes you a pigeon shit farmer at best and a fool at worst. The quantity game has collapsed. Quality is and always has been the real game.


I have listened to a LOT of propaganda over the past couple of years. Most of it was not true. Just based on a wish. Based on a prediction. Based on need and want. Not an hypothesis based on how things were actually unfolding and then finding a parallel in history to help understand.


I watched the entire future unfold with doteverything going viral overnight. But .everything just made .something (dot com) much more valuable and famous. The new game is expensive, but the game is trying to duplicate something you can’t duplicate. Every .everything will want, need and HAVE TO HAVE the dotcom counterpart. That counterpart is worth a king’s ransom!


Exciting times. Lots of new ways to make new money as I watch the masses…..GET IT WRONG once again. But wrong does not mean unprofitable. Right does not mean you will get rich. Confused? Start reading this blog and you will get a lesson in life as a dividend of learning and understanding domain names and what they have to do with Human Nature. Seasoned domainers, pay particular attention to the May and June posts. It only proves what I have said for a very long time. Some folks deal with the truth and some folks do what they do when confronted with it.


I have been very public over the last 15+ years as I did everything in my power to bring domain names to the consciousness of everyone and have them understand why they were important and valuable. With .everything, that mission has been accomplished and then some. Critical mass in domains has been achieved!


So the next phase is completely different. It’s based on another hypothesis. The one I came up with in 1995 and 1996 is now blossoming and unfolded as described back then. The new hypothesis includes the entirety of the last one plus 50 other ingredients and awareness’s and senses as described above. The only difference is in 1996 I yelled it from every mountaintop for all to hear without VISIBLE BASIS and now I see no need to do that. Point proven. The record speaks for itself and I intend to exploit that record.


My blog is my diary and opportunity to memorialize things with a date certain. To announce events and sales and thoughts and ideas. I always believe my posts would stand the test of time. Now more than ever. On the record, for the record.


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz