The Rick Schwartz Domain Name and Traffic Blog: RicksBlog.com – Home of The Domain King®

Afternoon Folks!!

Gtld's Reach 1 Million in just 6 months!! Gtld's Reach 1 million in just 6 months!! Gtld's Reach 1 Million in just 6 months!! Gtld's Reach 1Million in just 6 months!! Let me repeat as you will see this SPIN on every domain blog and further. But what a load of CRAP!

The numbers are PATHETIC! The lack of marketing is REMARKABLE. Their attitude to domainers in some cases is off the hook.

Many promising millions of registrations and here we have over 125 extensions out and COMBINED they can barely get to a million after several months and NONE have even broken 100,000 mark. Well over 125 extensions and COMBINED they will have a party at a million. Whoopee! Really??

Watch http://ntldstats.com/tld daily and you will see that the MAJORITY of gTLD's have already STALLED. And this is still their debut period!! It gets worse from here not better. If they were planes, they would have already crashed and burned.

How many registered by end users that are not domainers and are not buying for defensive purposes? Trumpet that number if you can find it or figure it out. Get your binoculars out. It may be in the far distant future if at all.

How many MILLIONS of other TLD's were registered in the same time frame? Look at that data. With no trumpets or any fanfare. Where are the headlines? Most of them to REAL end users. And when one gTLD does something bad it tarnishes all of them. Something I have said for quite some time but many just dismiss. Misdeeds by one spill over to all and I have been stating that LONG before any came to market. How you could NOT see that coming is my only question??

Those that can make a coherent argument of why they belong in the eco system have a chance and that is why I have repeatedly said I believe there is a place for the .Geos in the eco system. Still not a sure bet. But at least there appears to be or could be a rhyme and a reason. An obvious rhyme and reason. But even so, it does not guarantee adaptation and other hurdles that many like to ignore and get pissed when I point out.

The obstacles they face IMHO are almost insurmountable and  the BIG obstacles they face are yet to come.  Can a few of the 1400 break thru? YES, maybe. That means that over 1300 won't. And I don't care if the registry makes money. That has NOTHING to do with investing in their extensions. Adaptation is what counts, not their profits or their losses. Inside baseball that has no bearing on anything. Buy into the company if you think the extension is that good and you like the registry model.  But last time I looked most of us are domain investors.  Just because 1400 companies decide to print stamps does not mean they become collectibles. Chances are quite the opposite.

Kool-aid and hype. The desert is coming soon and DOMAINERS are picking up almost the entire tab and being totally abused in the process. This practice of clawing back valuable domains is just one of many unethical practices I see going on right now and domainers are not ony powerless, but these companies now EXPECT to have the domain investor PAY FOR THIER MISTAKES! Keep eating shit folks.

The exaggerations are over the top. The promises are empty. The attitude to anyone that does not fall in line is stunning.

So I decided to Pre-empt the coming headlines in case it is a surprise if everyone runs the same headline at the same time. I guess then it becomes meaningless. Gtld's Reach 1 Million Registrations in just 6 months!!

1,000,000 TIMES!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

First of all, I have no idea how I got in the middle of a firestorm that has nothing to do with me. But here we are. Folks will use my selected words to bend things one way or another and sometimes not bend at all.  It's almost comical. Almost all my blog posts are opinion based. Very few are news based.

But putting that aside.....

I had a near 2 hour phone call late yesterday with Daniel Negari. He gave a heartfelt apology to some words he regrets he wrote to/about me. I was surprised at the words given Daniel was on my chatboard years ago (he was a teenager at the time) and we never had any issues so I accepted his apology.

Daniel Negari has been under fire for days for a host of issues from his remarks to me on TheDomains.com, his arrogant selling technique and and the firestorm over the domain giveaway by Network Solutions. TheDomains.com, OnlineDomain.com, DomainIncite, and blogs everywhere includng DNJournal have many of the details and commentary. Most of these folks have multiple stories on the issue from a variety of sources and the comments and speculation only add more fuel. Some justified, some not. I think you will find all those links in these stories so just follow the bouncing ball if you need to get up to speed.

True passion by Negari is just getting ahead of reality. imo

So what happened with the Network Solutions giveaway of some 30,000 .xyz as a freebie? Who did what? My conversation was designed to answer those questions and sort out the events. You, the readers will be the judge. As always, answers may spawn new questions and I hope Daniel will come here and address them if they do. Here is the interview:

Q1 .XYZ was in the news this week when an email offer was discovered going to customers of one Registrar offering their customers a free .XYZ domain? Were you behind it?

First, I think it is important for everyone to understand the difference between a Registry and a Registrar, and the roles that each play.

A Domain Registry, like .xyz, .com, or .org is responsible for the operation of a particular domain extension. Think of it as manufacturer of a product.

A Domain Registrar is an organization that enables Registrants to register domain names. It is like a store where you go to buy a product - in this case its domain names.

The Registry Operator like .xyz, .com, or .org sets a fixed wholesale price for all Registrars.

Each Registrar (or store) then makes its own decision on the retail price it wants to charge for the different domain names (products) it offers.

We have over 200 registrars from all around the word in all languages offering .xyz domain names. I do not know the details of every promotion or marketing campaign that they are doing every day.

Here is what I do know:

Regardless of whether a registrar charges $100, $5, or gives the domains away for free, I get paid the ENTIRE wholesale price, which is the same price that every registrar pays.

Q2. Did you as a registry give away free domains?

No. The Registry Operator is unable to “give away” free domain names. I never even saw the email that the registrar sent to its customers until I discovered it on the blogs. As a Registry, I can only suggest an MSRP for a Registrar to display. However, a Registrar does not have to use that price.

Just like the price of .com, it is up to each Registrar to set the retail price of any domain registration.

Q3. Do you set the price that the registrar charges for a domain extension?

No, I do not set the price that a Registrar charges for a domain extension. That pricing is determined by the Registrar only.

Q4. Do you know the retail price that each of your registrars is charging for a .xyz registration?

No, I do not know the exact price that every Registrar is charging.

On all of our Registrar outreach materials we have suggested $9.99 retail pricing for .xyz domains, however, it is the up to the Registrar to determine the retail price that they offer to registrants ($14.99, $50, $9.99, etc…).

Q5. So what you’re saying is that a registry is like a manufacturer of a product. Let’s use Coke for example. So if Coke sells a 2 liter bottle to stores for a wholesale price of $.50, it is up to the store to set the price that they want?

That’s correct.

So if a store purchased a bottle of Coke for $.50 they can charge $1 or $5, $50 or sell it on a buy it get one free basis or give a bottle away for free.

As the registry of .XYZ like the manufacturer of Coke, I am paid my full wholesale price regardless of what the store or retailer sells it for

Here is another example. A gas station may purchase a bottle of Coke for the $.50 wholesale cost. Then when a customer fills up a full tank of gas, the gas station will give the customer the bottle of Coke for free. The maker of the bottle of Coke cannot control how the gas station owner prices the bottle of Coke. Again, in this example, xyz is like the manufacturer of the bottle of Coke.

Q6. In your first blog, you mention that .xyz is your “Gift to the World”. To many domainers this came off as arrogant. What were your intentions with this phrase?

I admit I am not the best writer, and sometimes I am not able to express my feelings on paper. By no means was I trying to sound arrogant, and I understand how some readers may have read into this. My goal with .xyz was to allow anyone, around the world, to purchase an affordable and generic domain name for any purpose. By opening up the .xyz namespace with no restrictions, no variable pricing, and a small amount of reserved domains (about 1,000-2,000), I feel that .xyz is the first new gTLD to allow for mass appeal and a worldwide audience.

That is what I mean by our “Gift to the World”.

End--------------------

You can draw your own conclusions as it is not for me to say one way or the other. These were the questions posed and his answers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

It has been YEARS since a new monetization program has come out, but the industry may be shaken to the core and I want to be on record before that event unfolds. An END-USER designed a system over the past 10 years for in-house use and found himself right on the doorstep of the domain  industry.

You see, GetitFido.com is NOT a one trick pony. Or in this case, DOG!

Most companies have one or 2 things they can offer you. They have EIGHT ways as listed below and some are really important. You are about to get very excited about what you do again and Neil Sackmary is the guy I believe that is going to change how you view your domain assets.

1. They offer "Pay for Product" since 2005 but have only used it privately. Why? Because they are END USERS that have found out secrets withut depending on Google and are coming into the domain industry via the BACK DOOR to share it.

2. They have PPC since 2007. But have only used it privately as per above.

3. They have L.O.Y.D. Which is Left of Your Domain. That means they can SELL your subdomains on the fly. THIS IS HUGE!! Especially interesting for gTLD's and Neil Sackmary will reveal what he revealed to me. FANTASTIC!! Works especially well with Geo gTLD's. Instant CASH!!

Sell subdomains for 99 CENTS and make millions. gTLD guys are opening this door and some gTLD's could find some gold if they understand this revenue stream that Neil will share. The guy has VISION!!! Something missing in the landscape right now as everyone is chasing every shiny object there is.

4.  They have S.P.O.B.O. which is really interesting. You put a price on your domain or any item. Let's say $1000. But there is also a button for "Make an offer". If they make an offer and the offer is within the preset parameters you create, it will EXECUTE the sale in real-time.

5, 6, 7, 8, . Even more tools to make you money that I am still wrapping my head around.

The first users here will come EXCLUSIVELY from T.R.A.F.F.I.C.. and it may be a while before it filters down. Neil started these programs as an end-user for himself 10 years ago. What he is offering has the potential to change the landscape of the entire industry. An industry that has been dormant since 2007 is about to come ROARING back. He will excite you and that will transform what we all do.

And yeah, a LOT of folks in the industry have a right to be VERY concerned. They are coming to eat the lunch of many companies that have been getting fat off of domainers. Now it is time for domainers to get fat again.

And you might want to ask WHY he did all this? Well he did not want to be DEPENDENT on Google!!!!!! Something I have been preaching for a long time and here is a very successful end-user that figured it out himself and found himself being the lead sponsor in his "Coming out party".

I have been on the phone to Neil for many hours this past week and I am telling you he is gonna Rock the House and some folks are going to love him and others are going to have NIGHTMARES!!!

Prepare to make money again WITH your domains not SELLING your domains. That is going to shake things up right there!

Read that again!!!

Prepare to make money again WITH your domains not SELLING your domains.

I think the post show buzz will verify everything I have said here.

TRAFFIC an EXPENSE?? Really??? Only if you go just to party and not keeping your eye on the ball.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. means B.U.S.I.N.E.S.S. and GetitFido.com just PROVES where OUR FOCUS ALWAYS IS!!

Trailblazing and creating new opportunities that translates into MORE MONEY! We keep our eye on the ball by being 3 steps ahead of the future and not chasing after it.

btw, did I tell you about their "Traffic Splitter"?

Rick Schwartz

P.S.

The TRAFFIC agenda will be done TODAY as I populate the very last panel below which will be a VERY frank discussion about the gTLD's. Both sides. Not for shrinking violets. ;-)

2:45PM-3:45PM  You heard their pitch. Now what? Michael Cyger of DomainSherpa.com will moderate this provocative panel. We all have friends involved with the new gTLD's and we don't want to say anything negative, but our top-tier group of outspoken domainers will get past that and logically handicap the rollout of all the gTLD's. Plus, they'll discuss which ones have the most likely chance of wide adaptation and increasing values. How long that will take. Then go a step beyond and measure it against traditional extensions and the time vs return and risk vs reward ratios. Not all gTLD's are created equal. Some think these gtld's will be on fire yet others think they will fizzle out. We can only look at it from both sides and then wait for the future to reveal the ultimate answers.

Good Morning,

Grab a cup of coffee. This will take about 10 minutes of your time.

Michael Castello

CEO/President

Castello Cities Internet Network, Inc.

http://www.ccin.com

michael@ccin.com
> Forgive me if I am long-winded here. I have some ideas that I want to share with you. Rick, Howard and I think alike and agree in how we see the Internet and domain names.

>

> I've been involved with the ICANN Business Constituency for many years and, like you, was against the new gTLDs when first proposed. I could go on with reasons why I felt they were not needed and how ICANN has proceeded in approving them, but we now need to take a fresh look for our industry at large.

>

> The new gTLDs are here, and I have resigned myself to them while seeing a silver-lining, which I believe is going to be very helpful to our industry.

>

> In my opinion, domain names are the key to individual freedom and survival for the future Internet. For a small entry fee, domain name ownership gives an individual the ability to own his or her place in the virtual world.

>

> When I was a recording artist, the one thing that would make or break my musical success was distribution. The ability to move music to the consumer was controlled by just a few companies. The Internet is likewise a global distribution network that everyone now has access to. Anyone can move an idea or product to any and all parts of the world. It is incredibly powerful and it allows single individuals to compete on a grand scale previously dominated by large telcos and corporations. It is my opinion that powerful Internet companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, and other "umbrella" corporations, have slowly shifted the perceptions of regular Internet users in regards to direct navigation in order to make domain names less crucial.

>

>

> The URL(Address Bar) is something we all own but is also held captive by those that produce browsers. In 1994, the natural impulse for me was to use the Address Bar to navigate wherever I wanted to. I found colleges were online, and I could simply type Columbia.edu in the Address Bar and their website would pop up in front of me. What power, what freedom, to steer my magic carpet ride wherever I wanted. It was still barren land and it needed individuals with a vision to help build it.

>

> Knowing that replicating the real word into the virtual world would take time, I saw the impatience of the public and businesses which resulted in the Dot Com Bubble. Since then, search engines have become very powerful because a user could always find a web page result while a web address did not always resolve to a working website.

>

> After twenty years, almost every brand or keyword now has a viable, trusted website. The problem is that Google and Facebook have become the main way people navigate to these brands. The people of the virtual world bought into services provided by these walled gardens, giving Google, Facebook, and now the U.S. government, much more control of our navigation and information. I see a monopoly that in the past would have been regulated or broken up. I see what appears to be an alliance between the government and these companies that is benefiting them and in turn, controlling the web community. I believe this upends the scales of democracy.

>

> What I've noticed:

>

> For many years, Apple's Safari browser directly defaulted to the dot com when someone typed a keyword into its address bar. Now, after Steve Jobs has passed on, Apple no longer directs keywords to dot com, and those same keywords redirect to search results and advertisers. Steve Jobs understood the opportunity that domain names offered everyone. At one point in the past few years, Google nearly removed the address bar entirely in their Chrome browser in favor of their search bar. They even asked ICANN to consider resolving DNS to just "keywords" (which would have rendered gTLDs unnecessary!). Thankfully, ICANN turned them down, saying it would break the DNS(Domain Name System). Instead, Google moved its search bar right next to the address bar, and ultimately took control of the Address Bar. Google was changing the way people used the Internet. Much like CompuServe and Prodigy in the 80s, the Internet is reverting to a series of "intranets" that are owned by large corporations. Individual freedoms and inherent rights are being trampled on. Where are the leaders "for the people" in the virtual world to bring balance? What now are WE to do?

>

> Domain names empower people. We could say domain names ARE people; they are that important. Everyone should have the opportunity to own a domain name and be unfettered in how they use it. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is liberty, but domain names now need protection from those entities which are diminishing their influence. The domain industry and the ICA(Internet Commerce Association) have a unique opportunity to take this plight and forge a positive result.

>

> Along with all of the ccTLDs, the new gTLDs make the domain name pyramid much bigger, which gives the domain industry a greater virtual signature. Everyone who promotes the domain industry is an "asset. The new gTLD registries will likely spend millions of dollars to make the public aware of the importance of domain names. They will be doing the heavy lifting, and the more the public talks about domain names, the better the balance between individual users and powerful corporations. We can coalesce to work together.

>

> I've suggested to the board of ICA an agreement to the "Understanding of Personal Empowerment" that I believe companies like Apple, Google and Facebook could agree with. It is in their best interests to show that they are helping domain names (i.e. individuals) and not trying to reduce their influence. Power from domain names IS power to the people. The timing is right for the domain industry and the ICA to work together to preserve direct navigation.

>

> If we can't agree on this protection, then I believe ICA should lobby Congress to put in place regulations that will protect domain name owners. We need numbers; those numbers are also voters. In the future, everyone will need a domain name or virtual place of residence. What we do now will help the future users of the Internet find greater mobility and advancement.

>

> Best wishes,

> Michael Castello
Rick Schwartz

Howard Neu

Morning Folks!!

Want answers? Always look at both sides and do it often. We talk about new gTLD's like this is something new. It ain't. Nobody is putting any fingers in a dyke. I love what is coming. I am looking forward to it. But one must know the difference between getting on a winning horse and getting run over by a stampede. We are witnessing what will be a stampede. A stampede is uncontrolled and comes in a fury and can destroy anything in its path including other horses in the stampede that get trampled to death.

I look for answers not pronouncements but the conditions indicate certain things that are completely inevitable. So 1000 horses don't mean anything but danger until things thin out. That is why so many are in a wait and see mode. Caution is key unless you have unlimited funds to put at risk and tie up indefinitely. I certainly don't.

It's not like there won't be plenty of inventory. And it will all come to strings and adaptation. Google and Search are the least important parts of the equation the way I see the universe. It means nothing if you are not a destination with content going forward.

In a stampede, the last horse is also the safest horse.

You at least have to answer the question of how many will survive the stampede? If you say all will, then I just don't think that is being realistic. How many and which ones will be woven into the fabric of the internet and how many will get trampled and have no meaning? I just don't know how an extension with maybe 1000 or less meaningful combination strings survives or gets any oxygen or traction in the scheme of things. So I look to those that could have wide adaptation.

Arguably auction.xyz is one of the very best of that extension. It sold for $310. So can it be sold for $500?Maybe. Probably. But I would first have to put the keyword "Auction" in front of all the other gtld's and at least ask myself is that the strongest and best match? I don't know the answer. Auction.Horses is actually a better choice. Auction.cars. I mean IF we go down this road. But if you correctly brand yourself as the "lands end" in xyz, it is possible. But the odds are against it because of the dollars that would have to spend to brand.

And still, when I re-read the paragraph and look at all the dots it is a bit confusing. End of sentence missing a space? May be years before the common folks even realize it is a url. But this is just in a controlled classroom discussion. It all changes when it hits the air of masses. The stampede is coming and I remember talking of other stampedes back in 1997 and 1998 when folks were deciding whether to go online or not. That was an easy stampede to predict and we are living the outcome as the world is now online. But this stampede has nothing in common other than the stampede itself.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

There are certain people who would have you ignore history because when you bring it up they get their panties all twisted in a knot and then have to resort to insults to defend their weak stance based solely on THEIR need not yours.

That was the case the other day and you see a pattern developing.

Now please separate the two issues. There is money to be made as a registry, as a registrar and as someone taking on ads and such. That is a given. I have said so. I said half the industry would be getting JOBS with these folks.  But please put all that aside. We are talking about investing your families money. So is your family or your friends more important? It's a fair question even tho it is a tough one to ask and put out there. I am just saying whatever you do, do for the RIGHT reasons not the pressure some feel.

But that is respectfully tough. Our "friend" Shaun Le Cornu that Berkens posted his comments and then dug a deeper hole in his comments is much less than respectful. He has been insulting. When the facts don't go your way, what to do?

Top 5 reasons domainers don’t want new Gtlds according to Shaun:

1. Invested interest in .com


2. Resistance to change


3. Lack of understanding of new industry


4. Short term objectives


5. Old thinking

.Mobi for Mobile before the ipad came to market but the market was turning to things mobile. So now that .Mobile is coming to market, that will surely save the day. Right?? Are you just idiots that are resistant to change? Line up for .Mobile!! It will make you RICH!

Give me a damn break!

.Tel to hook your phone up to your website.

.xxx to keep all the porn in one place

The registries all do fine. Domainers for the most part have not done fine. These are facts. And these are extensions that did have a story. Even .co. They had typos and it was shorter than .com and maybe stands for "Company".  I still have a few of each in my portfolio.  A few hundred grand buried in the dirt. Maybe more.

The public and end-user is not very interested in these extensions. Are they?? Seen any TV spots? Billboards? etc? They are out there but invisible. Want to tie your money up? May as well just open a pawn shop then and get something tangible in return that at least can be sold. But hey, it's your hard-earned money and if you want to buy .mobi today, knock your socks off.

So when we get to some of the ones I see that have no compelling story, no rhyme or reason are verbs and not nouns are nouns and not extensions, are some of the most limited in terms of combinations that make any sense whatsoever and will never reach the status of .aero. what the hell am I supposed to do? Tell everyone they are the next coming when I see nothing further from reality?

If the gTLD's depended on public support and not your support, only a handful would be viable. The rest would just collapse. Sure Godaddy and 1 and 1 and many others will be promoting. But think how many they can really promote on the top list? So they are not removing .com, .net, .org, .tv, .me, .info, or even .xxx. So they have to pick the ones that are being embraced and the other 880 are where? Let's just say they are off the radar map. I mean I can't even go thru the entire list without throwing in the towel or getting nauseous. Can you?

Soon we will be called "Neanderthals" and "Flat earthers" instead of just making a strong and coherent case and take on the tough questions with actual answers and not this silly stuff that some are becoming famous for. Your words fellas. Wise up before you choke on them.

I would rather overpay for value then get a bargain on .pigeonshit. That is the lesson of history. The hierarchy on the internet has been set and it looks like this:

.com, .net, org, and country codes. Then you have the .me, .co, .tv .info, .biz, I think you can add all the others up and you have less than .mobi.

Metals of value you can list right here and the same amount and see where it all measures up to.

.web is going to try to join that group. That's the only bet in town and that is such a huge longshot.

My next post compares extensions to all the metals in the world. Stay tuned!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Here are my most viewed posts of 2013.

How to protect yourself from Reverse Domain Name Hijacking

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/04/ricks-magnificent-vaccine-how-to-reverse-reverse-domain-name-hijacking/

Rick's Official Reader Poll

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/12/ricks-official-2013-reader-poll/

I take you right inside the ebet.com deal step by step

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/10/inside-1-35mm-ebet-com-sale/

Schwartz/Schilling Part 1

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/10/team-schwartz-vs-team-schilling-traffic-video-part-1/

I respond to every point to the  Forbes.com article and their flawed, sloppy and biased reporting

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/11/nonsense-responses-forbes-com-world/

The $20 Million domain sale

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/10/top-single-domain-sales-hits-20-million-sex-com-longer-highest-domain-name-sale/

The heavy lift I see. I'd Like to teach the World to Sing

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/09/frank-schilling-id-like-teach-world-sing-perfect-harmony/

Domaining in the very early days. Pure gold!

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/09/my-first-few-days-in-domains-1995-1996-alone-then-the-gold-rush-of-1998/

Possible domino collapse of many gTLD's

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/09/can-the-new-gtlds-have-a-domino-collapse/

Domain Investing vs Domain Gambling

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/12/domain-investing-vs-domain-gambling/

Empirical evidence vs assumptions and talking points

http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/11/empirical-evidence-odds-fallacious-gtld-assumptions-talking-points/

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

I want to wish everyone going to Vegas Good Luck and Good Fortune!!

I was looking into the possibility of attending and hoping to get there however I took a fall  right around Christmas and re-injured my foot and big toe that was just in the process of healing from a good stubbing back in October. When it got worse over the next few days I thought I might have fractured it. I went to the doctor last week and after an x-ray and exam told me I have what is called "Turf Toe". Walking is not easy right now. My foot is taped up.. Getting around the house is a challenge. Alina calls me "Gimpy". So when I started looking to book a flight the other day, reality set in. I thought of airports and hotel lobbies and all the walking in Las Vegas and it just makes it impossible.

So just for the record.......I was hoping to get to the show without having to shave my head and just show up under the radar. Did not work out. Richard and Frank did a great job promoting and hyping and assembling so many people so fast.

Hope all my friends have a good time and want to do it again in May. I was hoping to see a few faces I had not seen in many moons and a few faces that I could put together with their name or nickname for the first time. It would have been fun to be a passenger on the show train and not the conductor. Not have to worry about keeping the train on track and all the other stuff you need to worry about when snafu's unexpectedly hit. It would have been a first for me and quite relaxing knowing it was not my fire. lol

Good luck to all the gTLD guys there. While your cash registers are not really open yet, they will be soon and each of you will make your best case. In sales, credibility means a lot. When you lose it, game over. So I would suggest that you stick to facts and your visions and not go off the rails with some of the nonsense we have heard until this point. It's a real turnoff. You are dealing with professional domain investors. Many of which have made and lost a lot of money over the years.  If you talk to them like un-knowledgeable consumers, you will lose.

Will it be enough? Not your decision. Time will tell. Business will tell. The consumer will tell and he will dictate. He, the consumer, is the final arbiter whether you like it or not.

I will always listen to what you have to say and the valid points you might make but with a grain or two of salt and a healthy dose of skepticism considering the claims we have been hearing and now have to overcome. Same thing you will hear in the field so get used to it. So if you were not prepared for my objections, you can thank me later for sparring with you, toughening you up and to get your games up to speed.

I would like to sponsor the Kool-Aid stand if still available. :-) Just a joke! Lighten up! But there is a bit of truth behind that and that is what makes it so funny.  Hey it's Vegas. If Kool-Aid is your drink of preference, go for it. My advice, "Stay Thirsty my friends" (love that commercial)

If you play roulette, my only advice is always play 0/00 as insurance and hit them hard and hit them fast.

I wish you all the very best!

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

The chart below was written about by DomainIncite. These are for September registrations of current gTLD's. So let's compare. But just at first glance .com at 475,000 had 3x as many registrations as all the 17 others combined. Damn numbers!

.Com 475,000 for September were more than the combined TOTAL registrations for  .Post, .Museum, .coop, .aero, .travel, .jobs, .cat, .xxx, .Pro,  and about 20% of .Tel. When we only had 18 horses in the race.

Now as far as just registrations and numbers and no noise.  .Biz is emerging as the alternative. They were second only to .com. No wonder you hear so much trash talk about .biz lately. Another THREAT to gTLD rollouts. A bigger threat than .com to THEM.

.mobi beat out .org for the number four slot. With .Mobile coming out, could give new life to .mobi. But still not anywhere for a domain investor to piss away their dollars on. Why bet on a losing horse?? And it seems I can list a lot of losers. A lot of losers that are better than what is coming.

Numbers don't have emotions. They contain facts and they contain secrets. visible secrets for anyone with the courage and guts to look.

.Museum, .Tel, .asia, and .info actually lost registrations. But the tidbit here is those discounting .info should not. with over 6 million active registrations, they are number 4. And if you care to drill down just a bit further, they are the only gTLD that came after the .com, .net and .org that has respectable numbers other than .biz.

So even if we get to the point that they sit in boardrooms to decide their "Domain Strategy" (must be a recurring wet dream of mine) they all still have to consider the more established ones FIRST. And then they will start the meeting with .com and they will end their meeting with .com.

What they decide to do inside those .com boundaries are likely to only support their .com efforts. One way or the other that is the END game for each one. If I want to impress you with a list of current companies that own .mobi you could give a rats ass. It's meaningless to you and me. It has no meaning to them either. But they have it. So is there a commercial value? Well if there is one for RickSchwartz.mobi, it is probably pretty low. Type in most BRAND.mobi and most are owned and inactive or point back to the .com.

And of course just because I don't talk about much country codes does not mean I don't understand or respect their place.  It is not my focus but surely that is much less risky than what is coming. Surely folks can see that. Given a casino, I would be much more interested in that table. Those are also based on numbers and the variables are population and buying power. So not all are the same and as you have seen, certain country codes are quite valuable.

I am a fool for the numbers. I read them like a detective reads a murder mystery. I read things into them. I drill down on them. I NEVER fear the answer. "Numbers don't lie. People do." I have that thought written on my personal checks. "Trust Numbers Not People". That is the way for me.

The numbers tell a story. They guide you in different directions. They assist you in every single thing there is in the universe. Most people are scared to death of the numbers.  I have seen it throughout my life with endeavor after endeavor always different people but always allergic to numbers. When they count cost they count at the lowest variable. When I count, I will add 20% because that is closer to reality and then there are no surprises.

So none of us own the numbers but each of us gets to interpret the numbers. I have many different ways to interpret numbers because I can look at the same set of numbers from all sides. Even change one variable to see what could or would happen.

So what do you think happens when you add 900 to the list above? Some will say that it splits it all up 900 different and equal slices. In their DREAMS! That of course is an impossibility. Some extensions will be more equal than other extensions.

Please don't just look at the chart. Study it! Ask yourself how long have they been around? How much competition did they have? Why are they not growing? Why are some shrinking? How important are they to you? To anyone? Some are, some are not, some you just .laugh.

This is not a roadmap? A peek inside? You can do it by quarter or by year. And see the difference between a Registry success and a domain investor success. If you are coming at all this from an emotional position, at least put on your math cap and come at it from a number standpoint. A risk vs reward standpoint.

I think the two extensions we will see up here are .web and perhaps .shop. Out of 900. Most will never get past .aero  at 8868 and we all know how meaningful that extension is to your flipping and investment careers. .Mobi at over 1 million. Is that one important to ya?

I am just searching for answers like you and I am sharing exactly how I come to the conclusions I do. Right or wrong. It isn't like I put a finger in the wind. Spent a year looking at this from every side imaginable. But numbers never lie as long as the numbers are true and factual. The way I look at it, I would rather save up for the winner than tie my dollars up. I have learned that when I buy the best, I am rewarded. I would rather overpay for quality than get a bargain on anything else. Not everyone thinks that way. In fact, most don't.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Alta Vista was the 2000lb Gorilla in the room. Compaq and Dell were leading the way along with CNN. And this vast new medium was being touted as the future. New ventures like eBay and Amazon sprung up. A few very primitive sites were being launched. Including one I started as I had a 3rd party register my first name LipService.com. A perfect name to house my 800 Toll Free Chatlines. But most places you would go to were dead ends and abandoned sites even back then.

So that remained my ONLY domain name until May of the following year when my brother bought me the 2 names for my 2 companies as a birthday present.  So it was not after that until I would bother my brother every few days to register me this or that. Until he gave me the link to this company called Network Solutions and told me to do it myself. Cool!!!!

So it is spring and summer 1996 when I finally start understanding the internet, the power it had to revolutionize the world and be especially important to 3rd world countries as a way to lift them and join the rest of civilization. I was inspired by folks like Scott Day who was a watermelon farmer in the middle of nowhere and he was now able to compete with the guy named Ari Goldberger, a real Philadelphia lawyer who appeared to be out of Manhattan. I saw an equal playing field emerging like never before. One with no boundaries and one where only the individual decided their futures.

So what to do??

Well when I was born there was no free land. There was hardly any cheap land. And there was no land I could afford. That was true when I was a kid, when I was a teenager, when I was 30 and when I bought that first domain name. But all of a sudden I was a land owner in this new medium. Could history be repeating itself? But where is the oceanfront land here? Where were the skyscrapers to be built? What was to be prime? There were no books on it. There were no bloggers to go and read. There was no nothing but a simple parallel. So me and that parallel went to work. We started looking for other parallels. And there were many. They were vivid as well because they were still untouched. Un-mined. Virgin.

I had limited funds. Each domain was $100. So I bought 18 domains. By the time January 1997 rolled around I had about 100 and carried my list in my back pocket at all times. They were earning enough money to pay for them and slowly buy more. But there was one major league problem. I had virtually no tech skills. None. I was in the ocean and not a clue how to swim or sail or float. Well I was floating, but I did not really know why quite yet.

It wasn't for another year or so before I even learned how to ftp. There were few companies out there and they were all behind and buried in work. Others were fakers and completely incompetent as hosts would have servers go down for days at a time and not really care until I had to SCREAM!! I was losing $$$ and they could care less. Well, they were going to care because that was their job. They had a 24x7 business and these goof-offs would only show up and have bankers hours. 10-4. M-F.

Build a site? How? Where? With whom? 6 figures for a site that I absolutely KNEW would be obsolete the moment it was finished. So what to do??

Well, let me start by buying time and raw land. When the net develops, it will be easier and cheaper and better. What's the rush? I have a lifetime to build this empire. Let me see how the first 20 years shakes out and then I can make my move. So of course everyone 18 years ago laughed at me. Waved me off.  Did not take me seriously. I was just a guy with more money than brains. Especially the guy at 192.66.111.3. I think. How do you argue with a tech schmuck that can't see that can not be used commercially to advertise with on radio or TV etc? So after a while you stop arguing and continue to DO! You learn to ignore the antics and the noise and focus. You realize if they have to use energy to ridicule you, they can't be working for themselves and that makes them not too bright.

So I decided the path was do more of what I know, buy time, look at what this medium would look like in 20 years and how the entire world would depend on it like they depend on electric. Maybe even more so! Try to learn what I could and wait for the $750,000 website tab to be a $75 template. Of course now we are at FREE so we have well passed that milemarker.

And that is what each reality is, a milemarker. And they just happen to match my parallels perfectly. Sorry, that is not being a visionary. That is simply following the line that parallel produces. Nothing more, nothing less. So those that want to copy my path need to understand how my path has come to be. It was no crystal ball. No great anything. Just SIMPLY following the signs that were and are CLEARLY there. That is why my opinions are so stong. I shut out the noise so I can see and find the parallel. Once that happens the answer reveals itself and it is on to the next thing. No antics can derail me from the parallel I see.

So eventually when I bought Porno.com I thought maybe one of my dreams would be realized early. I approached folks and asked if they wanted to be 50/50 partners in Porno.com. They never even asked me a single question. They all just laughed in my face. I just shook my head in amazement. Here was a domain that was making me over $500k/year at that time and it was more than those that I approached were making. But that was a lucky break for me!

That vision still lives. I bring to the table the land with an important location and they bring their talents. Now as we know in the candy.com and property.com deals I did not get 50%. But different situations need different formulas and equations. Cash lowers the percent I must have.

So the point of all this? Well the folks that whine today about cybersquatters or whatever it is, simply failed back then and have yet to get over it.  They missed the single biggest opportunity in their careers! So instead of explaining how they missed it, they do what they do. You and I NEVER have to apologize for seeing something this big and risking what we did. NEVER! We did what we were taught to do in a capitalistic society. They will always have to explain why they did not see it and the only way they can do that is attack and try and make it like we did something wrong. Well if you don't make a living off of Trademarks of other parties, then you did nothing wrong.  Nothing to apologize for. You have done well for you and your family and shoud be proud.

Think of it like this. Imagine you are a financial advisor today. And some readers just might be. Imagine you are in 2013 and the market goes up. Many stocks double and triple in value. And you sit there as a financial advisor touting your 7% return?? Really?? Sorry pal, you failed! You don't thump your chest on 7% when you should be giving multiples of that in a year like this.

How many SEO spam do you get in your email every day? Wonder why? Because those that have to do that SUCK at what they do! They define themselves as incompetent the minute they send out that first email blast. DUH! And they can't see it, can't acknowledge it and can't stop it.

That brings me up to "Search". Sorry, search is a fools game on  many levels. Parked pages ranked in search is just silly. Have said so for many years. Let's define search as PAID and FREE. Most folks talk about FREE search and guess what? That has little value. It's a bonus when you get it. You don't build on FREE. Just be relevant. You will naturally work your way up.

So now let's talk  about PAID search. That's a much more intelligent discussion. That's something you can measure. That is something you can define. That is something you can contract or expand. That is something that is built around a numerical equation that should end up with that nasty word, PROFIT.

That of course leads me to Start-ups of which I wrote an entire blog post about recently. Start-up is lip service for "I have no way of making money but I still need to eat. Feed me." Why? "Because I am a startup and I am going to get free traffic from Google to build my empire."

Start this! It's a start down for you and a start-up for him!

And of course we are watching hundreds of startups right in front of us. They need your money to survive. The public is not going to support their efforts in a way that can sustain them. Only domainers can do that. The gTLD parallels I see don't lead to where these folks believe they do. Some do, Don't get me wrong, but most don't and the question and the parallel to understand is if 80%, 90% or more go south and there is unintended fallout and consequences, will it hurt those few that remain?

Now I know nobody wants to talk about type ins. But type ins funded many of the gtld's that are coming. Dot com type ins. Natural type ins. Not from search. Real, no-nonsense, consumer oriented and generated type ins. So of course this subject is off-limits because it does not help their position. No parallel.  I chased the behavior of the consumer and adapted. They want the consumer to follow them and for the consumer to adapt. The same?? Are you kidding?? Are you serious? Are you not paying attention?? GEEEZ!

The mousetrap works because they learned the behavior of the MOUSE! Not the other way around. How simple is that one?

See I have the same names in .com and .net, and .xxx and .mobi and .org and .TV. Want to discuss type ins???? The type ins they keep saying have no merit, no value, no this no that while the type ins pay for much of everything that is happening. That is not to be confused with value of a domain based on type ins. Two separate things. Domains don't have to have type ins to have value. The mainstream domains had no type ins when I bought them. But the ones I bought and got right, do have type ins now. Want to discuss the ratio value from .com to .anything else? What 's the difference? Somewhere between 20-1 and 100-1. Same effort, greater risk, lower reward. And I have to convince smart people of this equation? Really??? Empirical evidence. Not theory.

Ok, back to the story........

So today Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, eBay, Instagram, you can name 100 companies right here and right now. Then 1000 behind them. And 100,000 behind them. Many with ideas. Some are good ideas. Some are ideas you can build on. Some are platforms you can build on. The landscape is filling in very quickly now. And it is not about developing any longer. It is now about opening businesses with a profit center. There is enough out there to do that with now. It could not be done before.

So as I saw this mammoth of a beast. The likes of which mankind had never seen before, I knew that snowball was big and would take DECADES to start to roll. 2 decades. I stated in January that for the first time we were in the gravitational pull of what I saw all those years ago. It was not just words. It was parallels.

I know I am limited in my education. But I know a few things well. Nouns, verbs, adjectives and what place they go in and what makes them powerful or not when used together. And I knew the difference between a parallel and an intersection. You can benefit from each, but one can kill you. The other can't. And I knew how to use equations to my benefit to fill in answers not yet known. So this visionary is not one at all. I am just a master of these elements and then I am able to marry them to a timeline.  I am able to come to a conclusion quickly and I start at the end and work myself back to the start.

So folks laughed at me back then and they laugh at me today. But those that laugh the most continue to get things wrong while I keep getting them right. I write about how things unfold LONG before they unfold. Most chase events after the fact. What I see is clear to me. It might not be to others. So I have tried to share it over the years. If nothing else, to be on record for myself and so I can see which things I got right and which things I got wrong. Then I make adjustments to things and then get it right while many just continue on the path and ignore those points of correction.

The dawn of my 19th year is much different. We all know this is just a platform and we are destined to do bigger and greater things. Each day gets just a little easier. Just a little closer. Just a little better.

2013 was a bumpy year. But bumpy means you are progressing and that is a great improvement from being stuck in a crippled economy for the last few years. And as I have been writing about, 2014 is going to be a monster year for business in general.

I can report that the Real Estate in South Florida is now at 2007 levels once again. Pre Crash levels. Now not for all property. Decent and prime property are now exceeding 2007 levels. On the other hand, homes further out of the metro area are still taking a hit. It may still be a few years because the better located homes will sell first. This excludes South Beach that never even saw much of a crash. High end stuff just kept going up. $1200/ft before crash, now as much as $1500 and $2000ft. Go up the road a little north and you can still get for $300ft.

So not only do we head into 2014 and year 19, but we go into this next 2 years with a head of steam that will carry us right thru to the finish line. December 26, 2015. In a few days, I get to say "Next Year!" and that 20 years will be worth the wait.

It was understandable for the masses not to understand this medium fully for 20 years. But I must say, I am so disappointed in the average so-called "Businessman". He is still BEHIND the consumer curve. The consumer is more Internet savvy than they are. What is the excuse for that? I can only tell them that time is running out for them to get their acts together. That's not lip service, that is straight out fact. The proof will be all the mergers you will see in the next 24 months on every level imaginable.

The money is finally coming off the sidelines. I can speak to that myself. I have some fairly decent money being earmarked for new investment. Some for a safe and growth investment and a chunk for riskier investments. My choices include .com domain names (Sorry, I have zip marked for gTD's) but mostly investments outside of domains as I continue to diversify and more into web-based businesses. To me, the more financial buckets you have, the better. But deep buckets, not shallow ones.  The stock market is the single best casino in the world and that won't change in 2014. I have a habit of plunging. This year I was plunging on Facebook. Probably ride that horse for a while. Made some on Twitter but want to get out before the "Correction" which could be very soon.

It blows me away from that December 26th in 1995 when I was investing my first $100. I never dreamed I would talk about investing a million here, a million there and $500k there.  But when you just take it slow, put one foot in front of another, don't get sidetracked or detoured, learn from history by learning history itself, it is just amazing the ground you can cover and the progress you can make. Everything else is just Lip Service.

All I can do is share my story. Share my viewpoint. Substantiate the best I can how I come to that viewpoint and then believe enough in myself to follow thru. Predictions based on parallels and mile markers. As each comes to pass the original foundation and premise only gets stronger and bigger and bolder. So we can now look back and take a string and tie it around each marker and then use the first point and the last point to find the next point. The next point in all of this is not based on emotion. It is based on science and math that has little variables and a consumer base that has a huge variable. Whenever somebody speaks for the consumer, watch out. In my world, the consumer leads, I follow and then I jack rabbit over them and get to their next destination slightly before they do and the bi-product of that is opportunity. But they led the way, not me. I simply followed their lead, their direction and their needs, wants and desires that led me to their stopping points and eventual destination. The one that will only get clearer every passing day from now until landfall.

Land Ho!

Rick Schwartz