The Domain King's® thoughts on domain names, web traffic, increasing web sales, success, life, and plain-old Business & Marketing 101. Nothing happens until a sale is made!
Let's all congratulate Sahil Gupta for this WELL EARNED DISTINCTION of being named POSTER BOY!!! He EARNED IT!! Let others LEARN from it!! Feel free to circulate this poster!
Feel free to circulate! You can read the backstory HERE!
I think we can say that no Domain Investor has ever quite seen or heard anything like this after losing a domain name he had no rights to and in the process a 3 member esteemed international panel UNANIMOUSLY found him GUILTY of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. About the worst thing that you can be charged and the found guilty of in reference to Domains.
Sahil Gupta gained prominence when he took to his Twitter feed with a RANT about the loss and the widow he tried to hijack the domain from and then started insulting all domainers.
Then Sahil Gupta did not like the comments of some of us and some believe he was responsible for getting OUR tweets DELETED or we would be locked out of Twitter forever.
Not smart!!
Sahil Gupta has no control over this blog or MY RIGHTS to free speech and MY OPINION!!
Just ONE MORE REASON to control your own destiny by having your own domain and not relying on social platforms like twitter that act first and you are pretty much powerless if you don't want to continue to be locked out whether justified or not!
It's been a while but some things have me come out of retirement. When it comes to REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKING, I want the WORLD to know about bad actors.
Twitter may be able to ban me and make me remove 3 or more of my posts but they can't do JACK SHIT about this blog, my domain nor HallofShame.com that has a new inductee today and either can he.
I called him an ASSHOLE on Twitter. Big deal!! In my opinion, he is an asshole! Seems you can threaten to burn down a city on Twitter but if you call an ASSHOLE an ASSHOLE the name-calling police come for you!
I am holding up the release of this post until my 12 hour suspension is over so that the link to this blog posts on Twitter.
Tweets Removed by Twitter. Does anyone see "Physical Harm"? I see CIRCULATION!! I assume somebody complained. Now, who could that be??
Sahil Gupta aka @sahilAsAService on Twitter will have NO POWER when it comes to HallofShame.com. Just ask any of the HOTSHOT lawyers that are all listed. We keep it factual but it's hard not to sprinkle some emotion when you talk about a Reverse Domain Name Hijacker.
Sahil Gupta goes on a 25 post RANT on Twitter after losing an obvious decision. A first for any LOSER and CONVICTED REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKER that anyone remembers. Whining like a spoiled baby. Does he think a tantrum will help his brand and customers?
Branding a .io domain certainly was not the wisest decision to begin with. But for the $15,000 he saved being CHEAP Sahil Gupta just bought a HORNETS NEST and still does not have the domain. The domain that could have allowed him to grow his company. Now he is FUCKED! He poisoned the well. To buy that name now, the price is somewhere between $100k and NO FUCKING WAY!!
"1/n I'm Sahil Gupta and I run Spase, http://spase.io, and I can handle abuse but this is just a level of bullshit that can't go uncorrected."
"2/n What pushed me over the edge is this. Mrs Jello LLC, you've fucked with the wrong guy."
Sounds like a nice guy huh? It gets worse! But that is not a threat?? Why is that not removed?
What makes this particularly outrageous is the domain Spase.com that was trying to be hijacked by Sahil Gupta was owned by the widow of the late Igal Lichtman. (Mrs Jello) and a friend to many Domain Investors including myself!
According to the filing The Complainant’s business was incorporated as Spase, Inc. in February 2019. But the domain Sahil Gupta attempted to HIJACK was registered in 2005. OUTRAGEOUS! What an idiot! What a fool! What a moron. Is this what kind of people YALE produces?? Is Yale proud of Sahil Gupta?
So when I was informed of this I was outraged and when I saw the nasty responses and the names he was calling domainers, we had no choice other than to fight back and fight back HARD!
So since there is no legal penalty for Reverse Domain Name Hijacking in the form of jail time or substantial imposed fine, we have to circulate the FACTS and have Sahil Gupta deal with the fallout of HIS ACTIONS!! FOREVER!
If Sahil Gupta actually went to Yale and graduated......then you might come to certain conclusions and it certainly is not a good reflection on them and their idea of Capitalism.
Let's be clear, Sahil Gupta is an arrogant MORON and he is NFG! That's MY PERSONAL OPINION and it's also my PROFESSIONAL OPINION and I think it is shared with 99.9% of all professional domain investors and even others. We don't like THIEVES!!! This was an attempted theft by an abuse of the process and by any reasonable standard.
Sahil Gupta has to deal with this FOREVER! He can't run to Twitter and have this post pulled down. It's here FOREVER as well. That's the PRIME reason to own your own domain name. Do you want the Masters of the Universe to censor you?? To decide what is permitted? To protect the BAD GUY?
He NOW has a home on HallofShame.com just click the link to see it!
If anything is not 100% factual, I invite Sahil Gupta to point it out ASAP right here in the comment section. If not, I will assume it is FACTUAL!
But before my 12 hour Twitter ban started I asked for unanimous consent in making this CHUMP named Sahil Gupta aka @sahilAsAService become the NEW POSTER BOY for REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKING. He would replace Márcio Mello Chaves and the SaveMe.com decision who has been the poster boy since 2012. Congrats Sahil. It's a worldwide distinction.
So I posted on Twitter: "By acclamation can we make Sahil Gupta aka @sahilAsAService the 2020 POSTER BOY for REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKING? Please respond by Posting your "Hear Hear" HERE! A special Poster will be made in his DISHONOR!"
And a sea of "Hear Hear" was posted. Domainers had harsh words for Sahil Gupta and it won't be stopping anytime soon. Please post your thoughts and feelings about this below and being called "Trolls".
So in the hours ahead the new poster will be unveiled and your job is to CIRCULATE, CIRCULATE, CIRCULATE!
I thnk the right thing to do is to APOLOGIZE to Igal's widow and reimburse her for her legal fees. I'm sure he won't because HE seems to be without any character or class. But what should any of us expect from a CONVICTED REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKER.
Sahil Gupta of Spase.io was convicted by an esteemed 3 member International panel of a worldwide organization. The World Intellectual Property Organization out of Geneva, Switzerland. The only thing standing in the way of this PRICK stealing a domain he had NO LEGAL OR MORAL RIGHTS TO were these 3 fair-minded panelists!
He was too CHEAP to pay the lousy $15,000 for the domain. It was a CHEAP price! He was just too ignorant to realize it. But now he get THIS BLOG POST for FREE! He is a HEADLINER on HallofShame.com for FREE. And in the days ahead Google will circulate his deeds throughout the world and it will follow him FOREVER for FREE!!
Here is what THEY said in THIR decision:
"In the Panel’s view, the record in this case evinces that the Complaint was brought in bad faith within the meaning of the applicable provisions of the Policy and Rules. As previously noted, the Respondent registered the disputed domain name <spase.com> in February 2005, and had used the disputed domain name to generate PPC revenues for some (14) years prior the Complainant’s adoption of the SPASE name. The Complainant, after unsuccessfully attempting purchase the disputed domain name from the Respondent, then filed a groundless Complaint. See, e.g., GIGS United S.L. v. SIE MANTIC, WIPO Case No. D2014-1689; Personal Communication Systems, Inc. v. CDN Properties Incorporated, WIPO Case No. D2014-0664.
8. Decision
For the foregoing reasons, the Complaint is denied. The Panel further finds that the Complaint was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.
William R. Towns Presiding Panelist
Knud Wallberg Panelist
The Hon Neil Brown Q.C. Panelist Date: September 15, 2020
Sahil Gupta has to live with the consequences of HIS ACTIONS and HIS ACTIONS ONLY!! When you do a search for Sahil Gupta in a few weeks, this hijacking will be the first thing everyone sees. CIRCULATE! CIRCULATE! CIRCULATE!!
Frands Jepsen tried to steal Queen.com from me. Punch that name into Google and see what you get FIRST! Same with Márcio Mello Chaves who tried to steal SaveMe.com. There are others. Some of the lawyers that represented the hijackers and therefore IMHO aided and abetted cuz they knew better!!! For example Marie Lykke Kristiansen. She was the attorney for the attempted Queen.com hijacking.
Domainers consider Sahil Gupta a THIEF! Just cuz he did not get away with it has no bearing at how the domain industry looks at him and everyone else that ever tried this CRAP! He is considered a low-life THIEF!
I hope Attorney Stevan Lieberman is aggressive and goes for the $100k penalty for his client. If Sahil Gupta wants to learn the hard way, oblige him!!
If you would like to read the backstory, you can read it at here at DomainInvesting.com or read the decision itself HERE Another story about his Twitter rant can be found at DomainNameWire.com
*The REVERSE DOMAIN NAME HIJACKING POSTER BOY banner should be ready later today and I will update this blog post with it. Feel free to copy and CIRCULATE FAR and WIDE!!
This is no joke. ALL hands on deck! Unless your portfolio has no value. Then they will be doing you a favor!
But, if you have a domain portfolio with VALUE, this is not the time to be passive. We have to be united with one voice! This is a chance for the ICA to become truly relevant and opening up the doors to rank and file domainers.
If you did not come to Asheville or are not on Twitter, it's been a while since we last talked!
As many of you know, starting last May I have had a series of about 120 videos on Twitter talking about Domains, business, common sense, and life! I am preparing to tape season #2 in a few weeks.
Last night I unveiled the first in a series of animations that I hope will effectively explain what I see and why I see it. Why the vision I had nearly 25 years ago was so strong and why 25 years later it is even stronger.
I had a 20-year plan and that timeframe kept my sanity intact. But as I enter my 25th year I also am entering a new phase. A more proactive stage.
I have history on my side now. Something I did not have back then. What I believed so strongly in had yet to be proven. But I knew it was a matter of time. I knew in this sense, time would prove to be my best ally.
When it comes to domain names, I see things before others. Good, bad or ugly. Opportunities and rabbit holes. Places to make money and places where you will lose your ass. It's not luck (tho I will take all I can get and am thankful for all the luck I have had) it is simply a keen understanding and action when necessary. It's knowing when to pull the trigger and when to pull away. It is focusing on gold and not on tin even tho they be similar in color and able to fool the foolish.
In the coming months, I will launch Rick.tv to be the home of these videos and animations. I will also have them on DomainKing.com, Twitter and Youtube. They will circulate in time. Nothing more than a note in a bottle and sending its way by sea. Simply sharing what I see and how I see it and hopefully will be re-launched and shared with other notes in other bottles.
Most of these will focus on domain names in general, but I will also have some dedicated to specific domains or groups of domains. And of course, I will always sprinkle in some common sense and personal stories of failure and success in the hopes it might be beneficial to you or the next guy.
It is the first in a wave of proactive marketing that I will start doing but in a passive manner. I am still retired and want to stay that way. But as I have done for 25 years, I plant seeds every day of my life in the hopes some will germinate.
I hope you enjoy it and share it widely. Here is my first seed of the day! Hope it becomes your too!
This is what I would call an "Easy Reference Post" for me to refer back to or point others to when I need to access my prior domain sales. So please indulge me. It seems I never have a list that's easy to find or to add on to. Now I do!
The first sales (1998-2003) are mostly lower on the list and occurred when 5 and 6 figure sales were almost unheard of, and folks would laugh at me for even asking these prices. The laughter stopped when I started getting those prices and then completely silenced when I sold Men.com for $1.32 Million. One of the very earliest verifiable, 7 figure domain sales. Before to was just the rumored Business.com for $7.5 Million with murky details.
Men.com sold for $1.32 million in 2003, acquired for $15k in 1995. Plus earnings of about $350,000 during ownership
Candy.com $3.0 million + several million in Royalties + 12.55% Ownership currently valued at over $5 million+, acquired for about $100k in 2005. (Will end up being my biggest sale ever)
Porno.com sold for $8.88 million cash, acquired for $42k. Plus earnings of about $15,000,000 during ownership. Escrow.com's largest cash sale EVER!
eBet.com sold for $1.35 million, registered for $100 in 1997
Teem.com sold for $36,000 plus stock. Final total after buyout $1.15 million registered for $100 in 1998
989.com sold for $818k, registered for $100 in 1997
899.com sold for $801k, registered for $100 in 1997
Portfolio of 10 NNN.com names (Undisclosed. Between $2.5 million and $3.5million)
9595.com sold for $180k, registered for $100 in 1998
iReport.com to CNN for $750,000 acquired for $5000 in 1999
Punchbowl.com too MyPunchbowl.com $60,000 plus stock
ChinaTours.com $200,000
TokyoHotels.com $200k++
RockStars.com $180,000
FreeSexCams.com $150,000
GayEscorts.com $121,550
PartnerCash.com $110,000
eCruise.com to iCruise.com $100,000 & Stock
235.com $100,000
SydneyHotels.com $100,000
eScore.com $100,000
RoomDividers.com $75,000
273.com $50,000
236.com to IAC (Undisclosed)
Total sales in EXCESS of $23,000,000 AND I continue to receive royalties from multiple sales/leases totaling several million so far with over $7 million still to paid out to me.
Property.com/Properties.com was sold 3x in 14 years. I paid $811,000 for the pair and took in over $850,000 so far. So I am not in a bad position there for my $8.50/year x 2. One day the right buyer will come along. It's in the intersection I speak about. It's only a matter of time and patience. I get $1 million offers several times a year, But that won't cut it.
So my 33 domain sales have an average of $701,649++ SO far, and they increase annually! Plus factor in that many were early sales in the late 1990s and early 2000s. So in the modern era of the last 15 years, my average is much higher.
It would have been much easier and, I would have sold many more domains if I did not know how to value my own assets. Easy to give things away when you undervalue them. Doing that gives me the ability to say NO because I have purposely put myself in the strongest position I could. Nobody could or should be able to value domains better than yourself. Your value is the key. Stick to your guns!
33 sales and I never made the first contact with any of them. That's #1 on the list for selling domains at high prices. If they are not coming to you, then perhaps you don't have what they need. Like I have said, great domains put you in the middle of a busy intersection. Worthless domains put you in the middle of a nasty swamp. Don't get mad at me, get mad at yourself if you are in the swamp. You picked what you got. Right?? You decided to pull the trigger at whatever price, and you chose to value it at whatever cost.
Some still question my sales ability cuz I don't sell many domains, and I don't sell often. Domain investing is about PICKING great domains not SELLING them!! Pick right, and sales will come. There is always time for outbound sales, but that won't happen until big business understands the value. We are very close thanks to social media and their abuses of privacy and free speech as well as the most important of them all, autonomy! On the WHIM of some low-level MORON, anyone can be put out of business with one click on many of these platforms with no appeal process and no reason given.
I really don't care if you agree with my steps or not and I am used to it. Most won't. But if you are not making MILLIONS with your domains then maybe, just maybe, take it seriously. This is my suggested path. There are many other paths but again, if you're not making millions on that path, don't argue.
Best is to have one domain and build a successful business not a "Feel Good" site. One is being a business person and the other is being a starving artist. Sorry, but I DO make that distinction and before you just dismiss it, you should think about it too. Businesses have a cash register.
1.* Focus on .COM domains that are easy to spell and pass the radio test.
2. Make sure you have another source of income to support your investments.
3. Target with a rifle not a shotgun. Your first purchase may be your most important.
4. Each purchase should be like it was your first except armed with more knowledge
5. Hook up the new domain to PPC and see if it has traffic and who is bidding on that traffic.
6. Select secure registrar.
7. Make sure your whois is public.
8. Test, Test, Test.
9. Patience. Patience. Patience. You are not selling umbrellas in a rain storm. You are selling the most important decision they ever made.
10. Learn how to sell.
11. Learn how to write an effective email.
12. Learn to personalize.
13. Learn how to stay focused on their needs, not yours!
14. LISTEN to them and stop talking.
15. Answer their questions honestly and truthfully.
16. POINT OUT PITFALLS before they even ask!! That is STRONG selling!
17. Protect them as well as sell them! That's STRONG selling
Side note: That's what pisses me off about the GTLD guys and how weak they are at selling is this: At least have the BALLS and the DECENCY to tell them to add the WWW before the domain until it is recognized. Alert them to the confusion so they can avoid the confusion. But they are weak and they don't do that and the only thing they can do is bash .com's. That's weak! So until they do that, it's just a fraud to me.
18. Stop talking about Escrow.com. It won't help you close a sale and you are wasting time and space to actually add value. BIG MISTAKE!
19. Stop talking about how old the domain is. It won't help you close the sale and you are wasting time and space to actually add value.n BIG MISTAKE
20. Stop talking about PRICE and talk about USE! Their use, not your needs. Not your desperation.
21. Don't send out another email the same day or even the next day asking if they got your email. BIG MISTAKE. Send it in a few weeks with some news and value. Send them an article. But wait a few WEEKS or more.
22. Watch my twitter videos and allow yourself to change bad habits into good ones.
23. Filter out all the noise. There are only a handful of credible sources in the domain industry. If they have something to sell you, question their credibility. Start with DNJournal.com and focus on a few credible blogs.
24. Success in Domains is about longevity and the future. Lasting power. Focusing on domains of value because they have the right elements.
25. Create income streams early and often.
These are such basic elements and folks that skip steps on a ladder always fall off the ladder. Take it, leave it or post it and follow it. Your choice. It's as valuable as you make it or just discard and forget.
And for the first time ever, I am not allowing comments on this post. It will remain in its pure form. There are many more points I can make. But this is a decent start.
GOOD LUCK!!
Rick Schwartz
*If you want to ignore, resist or argue about this, there is nothing I can do for you. Working at Denny's vs owning Capital Grille. I don't do Denny's. Can't help you until you figure out for yourself. Good Luck on the journey.
In case you missed it, I have been doing daily video podcasts on Twitter and folks seem to like the content. I just tackle different subjects in short 2 minute clips. I have published 10 podcasts since April 30th.
I like the written word because it gives me more time to think and use the best words to explain my thoughts. But sometimes video helps to soften the delivery. There will be times that the videos will be tough and maybe even go after wrongdoers by name and company. I won't hold back. As always, I just tell it like it is. You can take it or leave it. I think the passion comes thru in a more level way.
I am still working on getting the clips to show on the blog, but to help things get started and without further delay, I will list my 10 clips here in order of publication.
In my first 10 days these videos have had 100,000 views, 512 likes and 114 retweets. It's really good content if I do say so myself! I think you will enjoy and if you do, I will keep cranking them out.
I will explain the purpose and the motivation but you have to watch to find out. You will see the real me in action and what makes me tick. I may surprise a few of you!
I look at a startup as a Dual-Decathlon with the obstacles and challenges that must be met before you even get to the actual Decathlon itself.
Sorry, but almost every startup I see flunks right out of the gate. It’s like taking a math test so they got a 33 and they think they’re cruising. Your single biggest and most everlasting decision is the name of your company. There is none bigger.
Most importantly any good or service needs to be market tested. So if you haven’t tested sales you’re probably going to flunk.
Oh, you want to keep it a secret. But with that, you might be wasting valuable TIME. Sorry secrets don’t last, first-movers do!
I have been involved in a number of startups in my life and you know how much time they spent on naming,? Not enough! It was horrible. It was something that they want to get over with fast, not something that they wanted to be thoughtful about. They never took enough time to truly discuss alternatives. The first name was what they picked each time.
So once you have your name the next most important thing is your website name. Your domain name. We all know how bad startups do when it comes to that! So maybe start with the domain name. If you are having a newborn, choose one with an available name. Same with business. Find the domain first or you flunk again unless you get an exact match.
There are only a few jobs in business thinking planning and doing. Pretty simple. But most DO, then they THINK then they PLAN how to fix the calamity they themselves created by rushing and not thinking. They FAIL!
Do you want me to tell you how many businesses start with DO with the power thing and then they can do cleanup mode. And that cost money. To recoup money that you just pissed away is your profit.
Don’t minimize ANY pitfalls. Must be magnified AND amplified. MUST BE!!!! Can't stress this enough. It's part of my "Back Pocket Stories" (It's on my twitter feed)
So, if you are a startup these are mistakes that will likely put you out of business before you even start. YOU are the only ones that don't know it!
That's why failure is so so so easy to spot. You can't bowl a 300 game or even a 200 game if your first 6 frames go in the gutter. You championship bid was over long before that. lol
Startups need to smarten up and be smartups or they will not survive long in the wild. They will be eaten alive by mistakes and leaks and doing w/o thinking. They always say they will do it right: "Next time"!
Hey Domain investors, aren’t you sick of getting used and abused? Whether it's ICANN as Konstantinos wrote about yesterday or is registries, registrars, auction houses, Mechanical Valuations, PPC companies, Google, Yahoo or anyone else, DOMAIN INVESTORS will always get the shaft. Ya know why? Because they can, and we aren't organized. Like I have said there is NO DOMAIN INDUSTRY! There are just thousands of soloist renegades that can't see past today. They party like drunken sailors regardless of the leaks on the ship and the threat at hand.
You know what the worst part is?? We are the ones that enriched these people. We are the ones that helped grow their companies and gave them the power they have. We are the ones that have been taken advantage of at every stage.
We are not the bad guys. We are not cybersquatters. We are the capitalists that create wealth and opportunity for us and others. We are the people that invest our time energy and money into something selfish, but that’s what opportunity is all about. But this selfish opportunity is very widespread. It's a worldwide opportunity. Why don’t they look at a person in Nigeria that had perhaps no chance at a decent life and he’s making his fortune on the Internet. With domain names. With many domain names. It’s a passport out of the wilderness and into the mainstream. Why would anyone mess with that??
The Internet has probably lifted more people out of poverty than every governmental program in history combined!! It's so obvious. Why mess with that??
The Internet and domain names have been the greatest equalizer the world has ever known. Never before in world history have so many benefited so quickly. As bad as things are there has never been more opportunity worldwide than there is at this very moment. NEVER!!
As domain investors we created an ecosystem that many companies have made a lot of money with. I believe without what we did as investors and risk takers the entire picture would have looked quite a bit different than it is now. We made people very rich!!
Now, unfortunately, there’s a lot of bad apples in what we do that go over the line and abuse the privilege of what they have. Like I have said many times, some people can be put in a diamond mine full of diamonds for free and they’re still steal something or do something that’s not right or otherwise abuse something that shouldn’t be abused.
I am proud to be a domain investor. I’ve never ever been ashamed of it for a moment. I did something that was taught to me all of my life: become successful. And many of us have found that same success. And of course in time they would want to take that success away from us. They did that in American history, it’s nothing new. They've been doing it in Europe for centuries. Governments seize land that it wants. That's valuable.
Of course this will be happening with domains I saw that. the day I got online. I’m just shocked and surprised that it took a quarter of a century. Thank goodness for that!
But that’s also why I’ve been very conservative with domaining. To me, it's like "Musical Chairs". The music will eventually stop. Those that are overextended will be destroyed.
See what happens, you are flying along and then SMACK! You are dead meat. You owe a lot of $$. You had a fantastic year. But then after the income stops, the tax man cometh. Many have been destroyed cuz the good year was followed by a terrible year and they can never dig out of that tax debt and what they owe on cars, mortgages and toys.
So expect to get it up the arse as time goes by and prepare. We did have a lawsuit at one time that may have prevented this fiasco, but it was not supported and eventually we had to give in. That's what happens when an industry has no organization and has no purpose. And it's even worse when there is no industry to fight back and make their case.
The price of pigeon shit farming is about to go up so maybe time to focus on prime domains. Remember, 10 really good domains make you a domain investor. 1000 silly names, will make you go broke and you are a pigeon shit farmer. The only good thing, farmers will ALL be washed away!
I got into this when domains were $100 a pop. If they go back to $100 so be it! All I know is for $10 you can be worldwide in a moment and change your destiny forever! It's the greatest bargain the world has ever known. It's the greatest opportunity the world has ever known. It's just amazing!
BUT!
In my STRONG opinion, ICANN is a corrupt racketeering organization. It's a crime syndicate that advances interests of a few insiders at the expense of the masses and the general good. They have abused their power and their role.
Racketeering refers to crimes committed through extortion or coercion. A racketeer attempts to obtain money or property from another person, usually through intimidation or force. The term is typically associated with organized crime. The law defines 35 different offenses that constitute racketeering in the U.S.
I think ICANN and each member should be investigated FULLY and I would go back to the origins of the new gTLD program. The demolition derby of corruption. ICANN leaders profited from their conflicts of interest, and they never did it for the purpose they were chartered to do. They abused their leadership roles and profited PERSONALLY many millions of dollars. To me, that is corruption at the worst!
Is ICANN Corrupt??? Many think so! Count me in that camp!
Perhaps The most compact but most qualified domainer show ever is surpassing all expectations!!
The appetite for a professional domain show is more than I ever anticipated. And to add to that they have to come to Asheville. Definitely a place not on the beaten track. You have to make an extra effort to get there. That’s what it’s all about. A commitment to make something happen. A commitment to have some success in whatever form it takes. When you have the right ingredients and you have the right people, great things happen. When you have skin in the game, you actually force it!
I can now say this is the most potent group of domain investors in many years and perhaps ever.
They say you can’t go back to the future? Nonsense! This will end up being as a time marked as TRAFFIC 2004 and armed with 15 YEARS of knowledge and progress, maybe even more important.
The main topic will be "Acceleration" and how we accelerate the use and understanding of Domain names. How to take advantage of our assets in OUR lifetime.
When it’s over it will be compared to some of the historical events that we all refer back to in our history of domaining. Collectively we own billions of dollars in Internet assets and tens of millions of domain names.
Again, we keep the noise out and the business in. Break bread, compare notes, shake up the world. There’s nobody better to rock the domain world than the Top domain investors in the world.
We are talking some of the top investors in the world now plus the sponsorships of Fabulous Directnic and GoDaddy. Making this a true landmark event.
They will ask were you at Ricks Asheville meet-up in 2019? And interestingly enough the overlap of people that attended TRAFFIC 2004 is remarkable. The same people saw something special back then and they see that same special thing now!!
We can all feel it. What’s going to happen in Asheville is going to be eventful. News will emerge, partnerships will be forged, and new companies will be born. More news than the big shows which have had no news because everyone is running, running running. My model slows everyone down so there is actually time to do business.
So those coming to Asheville, please come with high goals and high expectations even if there’s not a thing you can articulate about it right now. The energy that will happen when you take domain investors that now have combined hundreds of years of experience will be interesting. So, expect to experience something bigger and better than ever before.
Have faith in the ability of high-powered Type-A personalities put together in the most relaxed and wonderful atmosphere will come away doing something of significance. And if not it’s going to be a hell of time anyhow. A memorable time that none of us will ever forget. That I can promise you. That you can take to the bank. That’s going to be a reality no matter if only 6 showed up
Now as we approach 70 attendees the breakdown goes something like this
50 Domain Investors
15 spouses
4 Sponsor Associates
There is but ONE TICKET left at $399 as I write this. Then 6 tickets at $599.
Then we are SOLD OUT!!
Then: You can apply for a ticket. Must add value to qualify.
When you come you will immediately see the difference. I keep the NOISE out and the BUSINESS in! Time wasters have many events to choose from. This isn't one of them!
There won't be dozens of folks on stage making promises they will never keep or telling you why they have the next big thing. We will have domainers share thier stories and their dreams.
Just back to basics before this industry got hijacked!
Again, this is a "Dutch Treat" event. Those that acted early got rewarded. There are NO DISCOUNTS! There are NO FREE TICKETS! Please don't even ask!
I was asked about why different ticket price levels?
It means we have more options for expansion of more/better meals and/or events. You are watching an evolution from start to finish. If 6 people showed up we would have 1 dinner and be done. As it grows, we get to evolve into something more dynamic w/o losing the purpose.
It's part of marketing and creating a successful event. Just because something is not for profit does not mean you shoestring everything on the cheap. It means you raise the money and you spend it all. The more you raise, the more you can do! We are going to have an exceptional event with exceptional business men and women and we wull make history!
This has been a dream for well over 15 years! They said it would never work. They said nobody would ever show up in Asheville. Not only are the showing up, they are coming from all over the world!
ON February 8th with this post, the dream started to be put in motion. I had no venue however I picked out the ONLY place I would hold the event back in 2004. Once I made that post I cont5acted the hotel and within the same week, we had a signed contract!
So my biggest job now is to control the size of this gathering without turning qualified investors away.
I also want to give Michael Berkens a special thanks for allowing me to bounce ideas off of him including having the show in Asheville, to begin with! I only expected a dinner with 6-18 folks at most! WOW!
So, we won't be the biggest, but Asheville will damn well be the BEST show ever focusing on DOMAIN INVESTORS and our futures.
Hard to imagine that we are less than 100 days away from August!
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