Although Rick Schwartz rarely posts anymore on his blog, he had a very interesting comment on our blog, answering a question posed by another reader.
I think Rick’s answer is so on the money and insightful, it needs to be highlighted and read by all, deserving of a post dedicated to it.
The question was in response to our post yesterday “The 3 Rules of Domaining” and was asked by one of our readers, Tony and directed to Rick:
“””Rick you have said there is a lot of opportunity right now. More than I have ever seen in my years on the net and more than I ever saw before there was a net.”
“”Rick, now is an even better time than the mid 90’s or the early 2000’s? I agree there’s great opportunity out there but it’s real tough for the next Kevin Ham, Frank Schilling or Rick Schwartz to emerge today than back then. If you could elaborate, I’d greatly appreciate it.””””
Here is Rick’s very insightful answer:
“”””””Tony,
What worked then, won’t work now. You can’t go back in time. It was a different set of circumstances. So you can’t keep drilling in the same hole looking for oil that has been pumped out long ago. You have to be forward thinking. Looking for opportunity in front of you not the opportunity behind you.
You could have just as easily been Frank Schilling in 2001 when he entered the business. The domainers back then believed all the great domains were snapped up by folks like me and none were left. Frank forgot to listen to their bullshit and accomplished what they believed could not be done. So success has little to do with the economy and much more to do with a state of mind.
People talk about the weak dollar and nobody wants dollars. I say that is nonsense. If people had the dollars, you would not be seeing all these foreclosures. The dollar may be weak, but it is also scarce. So that forces folks to sell assets they ordinarily would not sell. They have to take out their best stuff, whether it be domains, cars, boats, condos, etc. They have to find the stuff that will sell in a market that does not want to buy anything and then price it so aggressively that it forces somebody with dollars to come to the surface and buy it anyway.
What happens is at some point the folks with the dollars come off the sidelines and start snapping things up a GREAT bargains. So those that saw this coming and saved up for it, are in a very aggressive mode and those that have been short of cash are in a protective mode. Many are holding on for dear life. The more desperate they get, the more opportunity will be brought to market. That is why I am making the most out of this downturn. Most are in a wait and see and are paralyzed. I see opportunity and want to be in the game. More importantly, I have not limited myself to just domain names. I am looking at all sorts of deals on the net and off. Opportunity comes in many shapes and forms and it is important to be open to diversification IF the deal is right.””
Rick is spot on here.
New circumstances bring new opportunities.
The only economy that is tough to make money in is a stagnant one.
When there is movement up or down, this creates buying or selling opportunity. You just have to recognize them and act.
Most people don’t buy until everyone is buying or sell until everyone else wants to.
Those how are very successful go against the crowd.
Donald Trump made his fortune buying real estate in New York in the 70’s when everyone was selling and getting out.
Mark Cuban sold at the top of the internet bubble of the 90’s to Yahoo and did something else.
Learn from the guys who have made it and are will to share their insight.
Rick is right on the money.
“How to be Creative” on GapingVoid.com is
another very inspirational post about finding your Everest and climbing it.
Reading the archives on many of the great domaining blogs you can’t help but feel positive about the future. So many people against all odds “making it”! Times may seem tough, but there are still silver linings everywhere.
http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000932.html
Rick,
Thank you for your time and insight. Your voice is very much missed in the blogging community.
Rick needs to start blogging again! (you too Franky)
Rick couldn’t be more right. If Rick, Frank, Kevin or the Castellos were starting in this business today for the first time, I have no doubt that they’d be at the top of it in two years or less. It’s all about motivation, hard work and passion. If you have these things in life, you will succeed in whatever you do.
Lonnie
Exactly
Those guys are brilliant and would be successful at whatever they do, whenever they did it
And I was worried you would be upset as I got a bit long winded. lol
Funny how the people that “Get it” are the ones that “get it” at every stage of life as well as every circumstance of life. Lonnie has it right. But when you tell that to folks just coming up all you hear is stuff like “Prove it.” Funny thing, just like they miss opportunity when it passes right in front of them, they can’t even see the proof when it is right in front of their eyes.
Great post.
One persons loss in the materialistic world is another persons fortune.
Mike and Rick,
I’ve been actively involved with domains for less than 1 year now, but I saw the opportunity in the year 2000….I didn’t get it, completely, though! I bought a few names back then and then I dropped out as I erroneously thought all the valuable names were gone. I’m another South Florida (Coral Springs)guy, but I guess I wasn’t drinking the same well water as you guys!
Well, this is my “coming out” ! Time to speak and feel like I’m part of this community. I see what you guys see and I now “get it”. Rick you’ve validated what I’ve been thinking. That there are many more opportunities today, but domainers have to evolve and adapt as the oppurtunities present themselves. They may be only slightly different opportunities than in the past or they may be wholly different. Going against established norms will always create controversy. You can’t listen to the noise. What matters is that you see it, believe it and jump on it with all you’ve got with singular devotion.
I’ve been reading with great interest in the GeoDomain debate that’s recently unfolded. Sahar recently said “Domaining is the art/skills of investing in domains where domains act as commodities”. I keep seeing people choosing sides. Investing in domains or developing domains. The inevitable comparison is to stock investing. This isn’t a accurate comparison. What domainers fail to see is that domain investing is nothing like stock investing. With stocks you’re investing in a share(partial ownership) of an operating company. You’re betting that management of the co. will grow sales and profits faster than the general economy. Domain investing is buying a domain outright with NO operating entity. With this logic domaining would be better if compared the the Costello brothers (Hi guys) selling off shares in one of their operational domains like PalmSprings.com and you invested in these domain shares. You would be betting on the Costello management team growing the underlying value of the domain co. which would increase the value of your shares.
Might this be the future of domaining? You guys don’t ever need to sell a domain and it’s related operating website. You could unlock the value you’ve built up by selling off domain shares.
One domainer could buy one domain name develop it into a operating website/company. Sell off some shares to raise capital to move onto the next domain. Repeat!
Koz
Koz
Koz
Your comments about buying interests in domains is along the lines of what FUSU.com is trying to do, to some extend, but again there are security law issues involved in “selling off shares of a domain or even a company that owns a domain and desires to develop it.
If you missed that post here is a link:
http://www.thedomains.com/2008/05/12/selling-buying…om-is-it-legalselling-buying-domain-interests-on-fusucom-is-it-legal
As far as Domains go I consider them also more like commodities. That is why I report on sales of other commodities or collectibles.
We blogged about this a few months ago, you can check that one out here:
http://www.thedomains.com/2007/12/08/domains-are-cheapdomains-are-cheap
As far as buying or developing domains there is no one answer for everyone.
There are so many ways of participating in the industry. If you have a concept and a vision and it works for you then you found your answer.