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!
This was the 4th largest recorded cash domain sale ever!
(Purchased for $42,000 in 1997) It is important to note that this domain had career earnings in excess of $15 Million via pay per click earnings and never had adult content)
989.com $818,181.81 (registered for $100 in 1997)
899.com $801,000 (registered for $100 in 1997)
9595.com $180,000 (registered for $100 in 1998)
Teem.com Total $972.000 after Equity payout
Earlier sales….
Men.com $1,320,000 (bought from 3rd party for $15,000 in 1997)
eBet.com $1,350,000 (registered for $100 in 1997)
Property.com/Properties.com $4MM + Equity Stake
(Bought from 3rd party for $750,000 in 2005)
Candy.com $3MM + Royalties + 10% Ownership +++
(Bought via broker for about $100,000 in 2005)
iReport.com to CNN for $750K
Meet.me $450,000
The following were early sales to establish domain value. Registered between 1996 and 1999 for $35-$100 each.
A big congrats to Paul Nicks who found something interesting Friday evening that had not been discovered until then and it is pretty big news!!
Paul Nicks VP & GM for GoDaddy's Aftermarket
So, I was posting pictures on Twitter of folks as they registered for the first TRAFFIC 15 years ago in 2004 in which we also held the first domain auction. As you see below, it is on a whiteboard and done by hand.
But look closely behind Joe and, you can actually see the domain names that were in the auction. That is where eagle eye, Paul Nicks of Godaddy discovered Leesa.com on the board which is now a major mattress company online. It was up for auction. Nobody bid on it but somewhere along the history of domains that domain has ROOTS! I am hoping some domain sleuth can dig even deeper and find more!
What Domaining is all about. Seeing and digging a little deeper.
Paul and Joe are just 2 of the 36 attendees that have already bought their "Early Birdy" tickets. I am not sure at what point I will cut it off. There are 50 tickets at $295 and then the level goes to $395 but at that point, I will have to limit seating and make the last group of seats by invitation only. So just a heads up. It's not unlimited nor do I want it unlimited. Sorry, it can't get too big and still work as I envision and have the most value to those that attend. Someone even suggested having 2 separate meetups, one week apart. That may be a little much but who knows!
Bring yer spouse/GF or both 2 Asheville!
If they attend Cocktail Party, Luncheon or anything w/ food and/or liquor they need to buy a ticket. They are invited to join you on the Ghost Tour or the Beer Brewery tour as those are ala carte tickets. But if they want to be part of the event, it is dutch-treat, they gotta pay too. Sorry. No exceptions.
This is the public list of those attending. Feel free to announce yourself. 5 more signups since the posting. Some very impressive names but not for me to make public without their permission. They are coming from coast to coast and 5 countries.
Registering is time sensitive. If you are SERIOUS about coming, DECIDE NOW!
I will keep this short and sweet. Give me 30 minutes and I will change your destiny just as I have in the past. If you already listened to my podcast with Andrew Allemann of DomainNameWire.com, you can skip this unless you want another great pep talk!.
Why come to Asheville? I'll give you reasons! Why be a domain investor? I'll give you examples.
Need a little Domainer reinforcement? I will do that too. I am the #1 proponent of Domains in the world. No brag, just FACT!
Please note, there is a 10 second delay before interview starts which is just after the 5 minute mark. 5:18
So when I found the 2004 picture of me in front of the Grove Park Inn yesterday I started to reflect on the similarities and differences between TRAFFIC 2004 and the Asheville Meetup. Let me share some thoughts with you.
For one thing, I had never produced a trade show before nor had I ever been on stage in front of people of which I was terrified. I never fed 135 people 3 or 4 meals each or put a menu together. I never did a host of things that now I have done 28 times. But I always rise to the occasion no matter what it is in life. I even surprise and impress myself sometimes.
TRAFFIC 2004-2007 were sensational events by all accounts. The success of TRAFFIC had a very specific recipe and to be honest, it was lost when the interests of domain investors took a back seat to the needs of sponsors and others. My original recipe was no more.
In 2014 it was time to get out of the way of the GTLD trainwreck. Sometimes it just makes sense to sit it out. Get out of harm's way and allow the dust to settle. Once the dust settles, and folks are clear-eyed once again, the original need want and desire remain and come back with a fury. Meanwhile, there is nobody in the industry on the record like I am when it comes to gTLDs.. Literally, HUNDREDS of posts articulating and exposing the pitfalls. They poisoned a thriving industry and NOW it's time to recover!
TRAFFIC 2004 was unique because it brought so many people together for the first time face to face. Before that, we had interacted on "Ricks Board" for 4 years since 2000. Relationships that were forged 15-20 years ago have endured the test of time. The trail never changed, I just had to sit and wait 5 years for a failure that should have been recognized in 5 minutes!
I have created intersections that have been life-changing. Bringing people together that have something in common and would have never met without bending destiny just a tiny little bit. That's the way I give back. It's the way I change people's life. Many that I have never met nor will I ever meet. But I have some street cred after 20 some years of consistency.
What's different now is the fact that besides knowing each other over a long period of time we are now armed with so much more knowledge and understanding. The universe itself has changed so much. They have gotten so much more sophisticated as well.
My recipe always included slowing things down. Take folks out of their everyday frenzy of activities, calls, and appointments and allow very smart and very creative people do what they do best. Be smart and creative with each other and at the same time receiving an energy transfusion that lasts a very long time. It reinforces our belief in ourselves and our assets.
When you come back and taste the original recipe and the show done for the original reason you will know in the first moments that it's like coming home to have your favorite dish and how mouth-watering delicious it is.
This time we are a self-funded, not for profit get together that is going to provide something special, fun and unique and still do 3 days of business and have a group of high power players without the noise. As a soloist, I don't need to make a profit or make a living from a show. My personal motives are different. I need to accelerate the future. Especially after a horrible 5 year detour.
This idea I had 15-20 years ago was shared for the first time on February 8th. I ran it by Berkens on the 7th. Told him about my dream and my idea. Host hotel contacted and had signed the contract on February 21st. The first business day was just last Monday the 25th. On Tuesday the 26th we exhausted the first block of rooms I contracted for and added more. Thanks for the confidence. It means alot.
So at this point, we have more actual domain investors paid and registered than came to either of the last 2 TRAFFIC shows. Mostly high-level investors. A number of them with great portfolios but have never been to any show. It's their TRAFFIC 2004 for sure. And that is in just 4 days for an event 5 months away. WOW!
As I posted early on if it were just Berkens, Messer and Schwartz it would have been a great time. But to be joined now with dozens of other truly professional domain investors and many more to come is going to be so much better.
When I tossed out a number to Berkens early on he asked how many domainers coming would be good and what you hope to expect. I said 18-36. But when I posted the idea and folks were excited about it, I signed the contract based on 60 attendees.
We will likely blow past 60 and am now planning for 130. Once we sell 130 tickets, I will close registration, and I will crunch some numbers. There are 60 tickets at $295, and there are 70 tickets at $395. I want everyone there for $295. But I am planning and financing this a long way in advance, and you still need to have a reason and sense of urgency to sign up.
That brings me to the next thing. Once you register, getting your hotel room is very important. This is the first week of August and easily their single busiest week of the year. This little town and great digs are going to redefine "Vibrant" for you. But please make your reservations now! The hotel does not mind waiting and getting another $200/night more per room. They know from experience that they will be sold out.
Rooms are still $349 but I expect the next round of rooms to be raised to $399 which is still much less than the lowest rate of $479 I can find right now. As we get closer to the summer, I would expect rates to be between $599-$699 until they sell out. If you get an error message, it means the second block of rooms have been sold out. Please drop me a line if that happens.
Also, airlines. The 2 major hubs other than some direct flights to Asheville are Atlanta and Charlotte. It is best to fly in early in the day if possible. Summer can get backed up in the afternoon plus pm thunderstorms and I don't want anyone to miss the incredible opening cocktail party that is going to mark the start of a new era in domain investing. Come in a day early but don't miss it!
As I announced on Twitter, the Ghost tour has been booked, and our guide is no slouch. We are going to have the one and only Christian MacLeod! He is a pro-paranormal investigator who has been in the NYTimes, on Coast to Coast AM national radio, ABC news affiliate, etc; and, he is the current Master of the Masonic Lodge.
Fabulous.com/Directnic.com have stepped up to sponsor the Friday lunch. Thanks, guys! Could not have picked a better Inaguaral sponsor! Going back to the future!
I do have a few openings for other things like tours or busses, a possible breakfast, but I think it is essential to be selective given what I have learned. While attendance is open, sponsorships are going to be restricted. And to answer your burning question, the answer is "No." No, this event will have no gTLD sponsors. They are welcome to attend, but sponsorships would be like me selling out at this stage and at this time.
Looking into the future! Want to see what I see?
All I can say is this is a labor of love. I do what I do in the months before the event and then get out of the way once the show starts. It's your show. As I started before the show came to fruition, I don't even want to touch the money. I will finance and fund it, I will organize it, I will guarantee the contract, I will do all the grunt work. But I don't want to make a business of it. Using Eventbrite helps me do that. I elected not to get a check from them until after the event is over. That keeps the bookkeeping much simpler.
If anyone has any dietary restrictions, please let me know, and I will make arrangements. That said, come hungry because there is some delicious food coming your way.
When you take a detour and, you end up in the wrong place, in my world, you go back to the starting point and try a different path. In this case, a tried and true path that works. So we will take out the noise, take out the gTLD's, take out their sponsorships and get back to the BUSINESS of domain name investing!!!
So how can you tell a company is going to go out of business when they are barely in business? Pretty simple for me. It's football. And in football you have an offense and a defense. You need both to win games.
In business, your offense is sales and marketing. Companies that minimize that scare me! Nobody survives without sales. But some will even argue that point. DUH!
The other is defense. Defend your name and brand and market share in the marketplace. Companies that minimize that scares me too. A company with no sales quarterback loses. A company with no defense loses.
So, if you have a company that is bad at both.....FORGET ABOUT IT! That's why it is so easy to pick out the losers. They are the low hanging crap not fruit.
The defense part is what I focus on with new GTLD's. May as well get a neon billboard saying "I am going to increase my chances of failing and I am going to ignore all and every pitfall." "I have no defense and, I have no backup plan. I am just going to close my eyes and believe it's not there." DUH!
The defense is any type of leaks. On the Internet, leaks come in the form of typos, confusion and poor advertising materials.
And of course, as a defensive move, you have to prevent interceptions like the O.co debacles. Had O.com been a business competitor, that would be like throwing an interception. A sale destined for your company ends up in the hands of your competition. What could be worse in business?? NOTHING! I am sure some fool will argue that point as well.
So, there you are, business made simple. News flash, you can't bowl a perfect 300 game without strikes! You can't score a touchdown without sales, and you can't prevent your competitor from eating your lunch if you throw interceptions you by not following the simplest, most common, most basic rules of business.
As a captain of YOUR business, ANY LEAK has to be discovered and known. They may not all be able to be fixed, but a captain that ignores leaks and PRETENDS they are not there is a fool and his ship or business is destined to sink!
For some, investing in domains was are is their first investment. For others it is another investment you stumbled on. Either way, if you found success in one arena there is a high likelihood that you will invest in other instruments.
It's a casino with unlimited places to make a bet. But when you have those hard earned dollars, you want more than a gamble.
Domain investors have also become "Angel Investors". I know many domainers that own a piece of this os that. To me, that's the real game. Instead of playing roulette, you are the one spinning the wheel.
Our domain portfolios are wide and varied. We know there is value whether cashed in or not. But I am not satisfied with a simple cash sale. I want a complicated but simple opportunity.
Most of my parked domains have the following message: "This GREAT Domain may be FREE if your Idea is BIG & Profitable enough.". And I mean it. It's more exciting to be part of something that could take off than cashing another check.
Many of us are at the stage of being in that position. I like a balance of cash and equity because it is more of a strong commitment by the other party that they are serious and don't just chase shiny objects for a living and tie people up with contracts that eventually can be used against you to challenge that domain name or outright grab it.
My field of dreams is wider and broader than a sale. Of course, that may not be possible in most cases. But knowing the difference between the two is my focus and that will get my attention.
The Candy.com guys only had to come up with $60k. You would be stunned by their annual sales a decade later.
That's why domain leasing is so important. An end-user can put themselves in business with a 7 figure domain and a low 4 figure monthly lease until the entity gets off the ground. Then they can decide if the domain is helping or hurting and see true value.
The first investment we make is in ourselves. Believing in ourselves and our capabilities. Exploiting our talents to the fullest.
Business is about waves and cycles. We have just ended one cycle and have started a new cycle. A new wave. Business is an ocean. It changes daily. Every moment. But like surfing, you need to time a wave right to ride that wave and not be drowned by it. That comes in the form of one word, TIMING!
A genius can put a Rubik's cube together in 8 seconds. Wonderful! Who cares. Imagine applying that same talent to business. It's just a Rubik's Cube with a reward. A life-changing reward. That's what business is and that is what investing is.
Sales need several elements. Without those elements there are no sales. If there is no sales there is no profit, there is no business, there is nothing. Sales don't happen on their own. You have to have the proper ingredients to make a sale. To make a spark. To ignite the will of an unknown third party.
Need, Want, Desire, Value, Demand, Timing, Location. Those are the filters that any idea, good, product or service has to pass for it to be valuable and sustainable. Maybe you don't have to have all of them, but if you have none of them, you got zilch.
And all those filters come after your audience size is determined. It's all about MATH. Targeting an audience is great, but if it is too narrow an audience, you may not have much.
In domaining, and with our domains we want to start with the largest audience we can. We don't want to narrow it down, but we do want to target. There is a difference.
Again, sales are about finesse. this time in understanding the difference between targeting and limiting.
AutoParts(.)com is wide. UsedAutoParts(.)com is wide and targeted. AshevilleUsedAutoParts(.)com starts to limit you geographically. MazdaUsedAutoParts(.)com is limited in a different way. But probably more targeted than the geo in this case.
Limiting more might be mazdabumpers(.)com So now your audience must own a Mazda, be looking for a bumper for that Mazda and realize that most bumpers are sold via the dealership, the body shop or the insurance company. Where does that leave you on the totem pole? Add "used" in front and you limit that audience more.
Do the math. Domain investing is about simple math. It's a bit of an equation if you are willing to do the digging a few layers down. On this example, it was all the outlets before them that would get the bumper business. The dealer, the body shop, the insurance company, the local junk yard. Virtually nothing might filter down to the mazdabumper guy.
However, he could have used something better than that. MazdaParts(.)com for example. Much wider even th0 heavily targeted. But the top of the tree and the foundation of the tree remain AutoParts(.)com. Your job is to figure how to climb that tree and get the largest targeted audience you can create via the domain name.
And if you are the MazdaBumper guy and instead of getting MazdaBumper(.)com you get MazdaBumper.club you are again throwing a wrench into your future by losing some of the little if any you got to begin with. Who can afford that?
And, if you can't do this math, then you have no way to actually value your own domains. It's all about math and sales.
Domaining is about getting in front of somebody else's Need, Want, Desire, Value, Demand, Timing, Location. Putting yourself in the right place, waiting for the right time and THEM!
After you do all that, you still have to have something profitable to sell. That's the key equation. How much profit? It's all related. It's a formula. It's an equation. It's just math.
So if you're not too good at math, and sales ain't your thang, and you don't study history and business basics is not your strong suit you are gonna have one hell of a time finding success in domain investing.
Well, it's been an incredible 17 days. Who says you can't move mountains?
In less than 24 hours we have already surpassed anything I expected. Signups have been pouring in. If this continues we will expand the program.
I did not anticipate sponsorships for a show where I am discouraging sponsors. However, we have a domain friendly sponsor in Mike Robertson as I just posted on Twitter as you can see below. It is befitting that it is Fabulous.com now bundles with Directnic.com which was the prelude to TRAFFIC and was held way back in October of 2002 in Beverly Hills. Back to the future my friends!
Seems like domain investors are really hungry to get back to the basics and ready to take back their power. Me too! It's about time. Armed with many years more of knowledge and experience.
This was a dream of mine for decades as I described in my original post just days ago. But not in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would be so widely and quickly embraced. WOW!
Our first room block is about gone and I am trying to get more rooms. So if you get an error message, don't stress yet. The hotel still has rooms at $479/night. So I am hoping to get more rooms at $349 or maybe a tad more. We'll see what the hotel is willing to do. They don't need to sell rooms in August. It's a Supply and Demand "Thang."
I look at things differently, and therefore I have different paths and different results. We all do. Less than 3 weeks ago the thought of this event for THIS YEAR was not even born. But when it was, I do what I do best, make things happen. Two sticks for some, a raging fire tool for me.
When I look back at the domain events I have held and the atmosphere I tried to provide, one word finally came to me, "Celebration." When I meet other domain investors it's to celebrate what we do and the success we have found and the new challenges we want to harness. That was the atmosphere at the intimate dinner all those years ago in Asheville that I described in this post. The trick is being able to apply that to a larger group.
That's where the food comes in. When we celebrate, food is NEVER far away. It's part of who we all are. So breaking bread is always the centerpiece of what I do. And since it's a celebration you want really good food, not just cheap food. That makes it a bit more special. And a tad more pricey. But I have an allergy to doing anything on the cheap. I do it RIGHT and I have faith that it all works out. The budget is not a dollar figure. The budget is about what you want and need to ahieve, accomplish and the best way to do it.
Look, we are loners behind our keyboards. We need different things than others. We are creative people. Creative people work best when relaxed. Put is in a room together and it is combustible.
What I do is a thought out recipe for progress and my job is to get out of the way. What makes Asheville different? I'll tell ya......
Objectively I am considered one of the most independent domainers out there. I don't have to answer to anyone. I am not beholden to anyone. My opinions are vivid, strong and unwavering. Time has proven to be my best ally. However, with NEW FACTS and NEW CIRCUMSTANCES, I always re-evaluate.
I learned a lot doing all these shows at TRAFFIC. I know the good, the bad, the ugly. So a new recipe leaves out the bad and ugly. lol. How hard is that? Pretty simple!
So if I am the most independent voice in the Domaining world, my friend Michael Berkens is the most knowledgeable. You can go back a decade, and you will see how many times I refer to Mike as "My research Department." The guy is an information machine that is faster and more accurate than Google! He is also an independent voice. He may not be a renegade like me, but he knows his stuff better than anyone I know in this business.
The only thing I have to sell is this concept that the industry was hijacked by entities that put domain investors and OUR interests at the back of the bus. It was what THEY needed, not what WE as Professional Domain Investors needed. We are not a large group. There are more people working at Godaddy RIGHT NOW ON SUNDAY than there are TRULY professional Domain Name Investors in the world. Now multiply that by all the other companies in the space and you will see and understand what a tiny minority we are. We are a select group whether we like it or not. It's just reality!
Do Professional Domain Name Investors NEED a flawed and automated valuation system to help US or THEM?? Do you know or understand the damage this is doing? Do you care? It's a fraud! And I am not afraid of saying what I believe to be true!
Does keeping domain values artificially low help US or THEM??
Does not disclosing traffic loss and confusion help US or THEM?
Does our traffic and the value of it help US or THEM?
I can go down the list and, I am sure in your comments you will think of your own.
Does ICANN protect US or THEM?
How many times do you have to see that domain investors are being exploited in every which way? Clawbacks, tainted auctions, policies that never default in favor of us. So maybe it's time to get back to basics. If domain investors don't give a rats ass about protecting themselves, why the hell should they?
So why go to another event? Maybe to reclaim your power back. And if you do, that is something to CELEBRATE!! Isn't it about time?
Life is short. We all love what we do. We are all so lucky to do what we do. Nothing better than enjoying the fruits of our labors with like-minded laborers. Trust us to take us back to the future and find OUR path and define OUR path not anyone else's.
Professional Domain Investors are a small and intimate group. Our numbers are too small to be significant. We are in the hundreds. Maybe even a thousand. But what we have in our portfolios are significant, meangful, and our small group needs to step up to the plate. If we don't believe in our assets, why would anyone else?
As of RIGHT NOW, registration is open for the Asheville Meetup. If you missed Woodstock or were not born. If you missed the inaugural TRAFFIC 2004 or many of the other momentous shows, If you missed the opportunity as it passed you by, don't miss this one.
"Successful Trade Show Heralds the Start of a New Era For the Domain Industry" That was Ron Jackson's famous headline. Everyone including Ron was skeptical when they first arrived. Nobody was skeptical when they left! Nobody should be skeptical about the blowout that Asheville is going to be!
The link is now active, Take a peak. Feel free to circulate. (Please)
UPDATE: 2-26-2019 6PM EST: The initial block of hotel rooms was exhausted in a little over 24 hours. (unbelievable!!!!) The new block has just been loaded in their system and is ready to go again. 45 more rooms online now.
The most talked about, independent, and anticipated event in the domain investment industry this year will be in Asheville. Mark my words. From a 20 year dream to a seed planted just 18 days ago to reality now! BOOM! That's how it's done! The rest is all fun!
This is simple. Have you had enough? Have you lost enough? Every penny that went to .HorseSh*t would have gone to domain investors Your time, well you can't reclaim that but you sure as hell can learn from it.
I don't even know why I care. It's really not going to change my life one way or the other. It's just hard to standby and watch. It wasn't popular for me to speak out. There were too many hands in the trough.
Parties are great but having a direction and building on it is much better. You can pay for all the damn parties you want.
I never regret, but learning is my dividend. The silver lining of failure is learning and if you did not learn, then that's the definition of total failure and wasting time and being stuck. The triple crown.
If I turn left and it's the wrong way and the only other way is right, maybe I should turn around. How far are you willing to drive down that dead end? Do you have enough gas to get back?
The late Lonnie Borck (RIP Brother) was the only person in the entire Domain Name Industry that had enough character and guts to join me on stage at TRAFFIC all those years ago to debate the new GTLD's. Everyone else either had skin in the game or did not want to upset their friends. Take some time and review it. Hindsight is 20/20. Don't run from it, embrace it! Did you learn anything. WATCH!
I am betting that there are just enough domain investors out there that have valuable portfolios and are sick of being stuck. Sick of being hijacked whether it be PPC companies or Registries or Registrars or new Gtld's. ENOUGH!
And if not. now, then there never will be. When things go south, you go back to the point before it went south. Back to the future is the only path to recalibrate and then move forward again.
This is how a spell checker deals with .crap. From a post on Twitter today. What a MESS!!! It's PURE .HorseSh*t!
The only difference between a dream and the reality is action. The only difference between wishing and reality is action. The only difference between hoping and reality is action. The only difference between anything in life and reaity comes with action No action no results. No results mean you’re stuck. Bad results indicate you’re going in the wrong direction. Good results mean to keep on keeping on.
Two weeks ago today I decided to have this intimate get together in Asheville this summer. Then decided it would be better and more fun if a few more domainers showed up. So a new show was born. Going back to basics.
My dream was born in Asheville (and I hope to have your dream born in Asheville as well) the first time I went to the Biltmore Mansion. I was sitting at their outside cafe and the call came from Kaplan Educational in New York City came in on my Motorola Flip Phone. They had agreed to buy eScore.com for $100,000. Theory turned into reality for the first time. No longer was investing in domains some crazy idea. Now it was proven. And the fuel to go to the next step was re-ignited.
We have an agenda planned. Hope you like it it’s a work in progress. But it will be based around certain objectives that I will explain more in depth when a podcast I did the other day gets published.
Now it's official!! The contracts are signed the deposits are given and I must say it was an interesting sprint doing this in just 14 days. In 28 shows I produced with T.R.A.F.F.I.C., none ever went this smoothly or quickly.
Thursday, August 1, 2019...7PM-11PM Cocktail Party. Open Bar from 7-9 and lots of food!
Friday, August 2, 2019...11am-5PM General Session and Luncheon. What do you have? What's your dream? What's the one domain you have you can't believe you still have and should be a business? Where to from here? Hopefully, we will each introduce ourselves and in 5-10 minutes, tell us what you are about and where you are going. Just lay your cards on the table and allow the other great minds in the room mull it over.
When great people that have a degree of success in life actually know what they are doing and don't have an agenda get together, GREAT things happen! I have proved that many times over the years. This is T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2004 redux armed with 15 years of knowledge, progress, and more grey hair. A model I devised and others have copied and have lasted a long time. But it was always hijacked by sponsors that were worried about their bottom line but not our bottom line.
So, now after a 5-year show business retirement so that I could get out of the way of the gTLD noise, it is time to show and time to go back to the future! Trust that I have a good recipe or I would NEVER EVER ask you to leave the comfort of your home. Come armed to help others and you will help yourselves.
Friday Night August 2, 2019...8PM-9:30PM Asheville Ghost Tour
Friday Night August 2, 2019...10PM Until ??? The Asheville night life is unique and vibrant. You won't soon forget it. Asheville is also the capital of Rooftop Bars. So while everyone is on their own, we will be gathering at the best one in town!
Saturday Morning, August 3...9AM Incredible Breakfast Buffet at the Blue Ridge Dining Room. Not part of the official show agenda but if you decide not to sleep in or have room service, those that wish to have breakfast can group together at that time and continue the discussion.
Saturday August 3, 2019...1PM-5PM Asheville Micro Brewery Tour.
Saturday Night, August 3...10PM You are on your own with fellow investors to enjoy multiple music venues as well as the aurora of Asheville and maybe something sweet. I suggest a visit to the French Broad Chocolates. The line moves fairly quickly.
Sunday August 4, 2019...By now we have spent a lot of time together and discussed many things. Some folks will be staying a few more days or might come to Asheville early. Or maybe you just have some extra time. Here are the 5 things you might enjoy that the area is famous for.
White Water Rafting. Some of the best anywhere.
The Biltmore House.
Exceptionally beautiful golf courses
If you need to gamble, Harrah's is in nearby Cherokee.
Exceptional and unique restaurants
I signed yesterday for $23,467 to put on this event. Win lose or draw.
Right now I have 25 folks indicating their intention to come. As you know, this is a SELF-FUNDED event. It is a NOT FOR PROFIT event. It is for the benefit of DOMAIN NAME INVESTORS! Those that come will share the expenses. All I am doing is fascillitating and financing.
As of right now, I am basing on just 50 coming and the shared cost is about $250 per person. However, that cost will be going DOWN, not up. We have a domainer friendly sponsor that will be helping out.
And speaking of sponsors, I think being selective is important. Any sponsor coming has to shut off the marketing pitch. This show is not going to be hijacked with your agenda. Look at it via our eyes and what you are going to do and help us with. We already know what you got. Now help us do some heavy lifting in a casual environment. This will not be a spam fest.
It takes the hotel about 2 weeks to set up our page to reserve the block of rooms at the discounted rate I negotiated. Shortly after that, I will set up a registration page, and away we go.
Recent Comments