The Rick Schwartz Domain Name and Traffic Blog RicksBlog.com.........Home of the "Domain King"

Are you a $50 or a $500 "Domain Waiter"?

Morning Folks!!

A distinction has to be made between investment quality domains and those domains folks buy to flip as fast as possible. Those are 2 separate and distinct business models even tho they coexist together and benefit each other in many ways. 

As I stated before "First of all anything can be sold. Any extension has an aftermarket. So there is always money to be made. So let's be clear on that."

I compare it to the waiter making $500/night at a top restaurant and a waiter making $50 a night at a restaurant that is 3X as busy but the prices are lower. The guy making $50 a night has to work 3x as hard as the guy making $500 at a top restaurant because the guy at the top restaurant has a bus boy and other help. It's the same job folks! Sure, you might get a job at the cheap place to get started but those with half a brain would want to work their way up to the best restaurant so he could make 10X the money by doing 1/3 the work. That works out to an effective rate of 30-1.

Imagine what you could accomplish with the new found time and energy. It does factor into the equation whether you want to believe it or not. 

How much clearer can you make it? It is time to raise your game my friends. It takes just as much effort to sell a $500 domain as a $5000 domain. It takes the same effort whether you sell a $50,000 domain or a $500,000 domain. But while the effort may be the same or even less, the monetary result is oh so much more. So raise your game. There is always a sweet spot for business. A monetary number the average business would pay to improve something without a lot of decision making. 

Most flippers want to flip their domains as fast as possible. That allows many investment quality domains to pass through their hands without even knowing it. That gives them a lower ROI and it does nothing in training them to look for certain elements when buying domains. Study them for at least a few days. It can be like exploring an entire world, not just a domain name. Not just something to flip and make $50. If you can flip and make $50, you can flip and make $500 or $5000. Just depends what restaurant you want to be a "Domain Waiter" at.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

.mobi, .biz, .co, .xxx, RIP, .COM, .TV, .ME, PARTY HARDY!

Morning Folks!!

Numbers have always been my road map. Numbers cut through all the motives, agendas and bullshit and hopes and all the rest. Numbers don't lie people do. I am guilty of forming opinions based on numbers regardless of the fallout or who is involved and I have done that since 1996. I test and I report. I invest to find REAL answers. My reports cut all ways because I just follow them wherever those numbers lead and to the conclusions they provide. I now have some conclusions and if you have been following my posts over the past year you won't be surprised. Some will always squeal but that is because they are emotionally and financially invested in whatever results I find if it does not dovetail with what they want to hear and their agenda.

First of all anything can be sold. Any extension has an aftermarket. So there is always money to be made. So let's be clear on that. Even manure has value.

.Com is universal because you can put any word or combination of words and it sounds good not awkward. However you can't say that about all extensions. Even extensions I like have limits. .ME in particular. Call to action verbs and some nouns. Not all work well or sound good. There are limits. .TV may be more universal as you can put anything that would naturally go with TV before the dot.

So at this point in time I would say .COM, .TV, .ME, Are the 3 primary extensions today and into the years ahead. We will see if any of the new extensions are universal. I can't see more than a handful even having a chance and I don't count .Company because I see that more as an Intranet as opposed to an Internet.

.mobi, .biz, .co, .xxx, RIP. These extensions have had the benefits of a single star on stage and have yet to reap much in the way of rewards. Again, you can flip these extensions and make a living. I don't focus on that. I focus on raw and natural value and whether it will go up or down in the future. I just see them now with limited futures because the NUMBERS point that way. Could that change? Sure! But it is doubtful with thousands of next extensions entering the marketplace. 

That said, you can do well promoting ANY extension IF and ONLY IF you own the .COM counterpart. Sorry, this is just not a debatable issue except for people that are ignorant on the subject. Any other choice and it is guaranteed to cost you a significant portion of business. That business that is lost is the cream, the profit. It is not just another sale. It is not just another 1000 sales. So while companies go googoo over SEO, they are missing the more important piece and time sensitive piece of the puzzle which is a "Domain Strategy". 

See this was not something that was debatable before O.co as far as I was concerned. But when they went public and announced the amount of folks that were actually confused was the majority of folks. 61% to be precise. What IDIOT can copy that KNOWING this?? That is my position! I mean I would have to define an idiot as making a business decision that could cost them up to 61% or more of ALL of their NEW business.

Now I am NOT calling the guys at Overstock, idiots. Quite the contrary. They had the balls to try something and when it did not work they had the balls to change course. They even had the balls to announce the actual numbers. So the folks I am calling idiots is anyone that has that information and still ignores it or buries it. That's an idiot by my definition. Ignoring important information and not learning from other peoples mistakes.

Personally I wanted to develop Rick.TV. But each time I think of doing it I just refer back to what I just wrote. I don't own Rick.com. That means much of the fruit of MY labor will end up somewhere else. That's a bad equation. I even went out and got Rick.co. But without the .com version I just know I will always being running faster than I actually am.

Now I might launch Rick.TV anyways because I do believe in "Destinations" and hopefully I can overcome the hurdle by drawing attention to the difference. When 1-800-MATTRESS came along they had a problem. There were 8 letters in a 7 digit telephone number. So to educate the consumer their slogan was "Leave off the last "S" for savings!" That was enough to do the trick. 

So when .co does not have a slogan bringing attention to the difference, there is no difference and the result is 61% being misguided. Some of those folks will still find them. But it won't be the majority. The answers are always in the numbers and those that ignore numbers are ignorant and since they do it knowing full well that the numbers will tell them the truth, they don't want to know the truth and the facts and that by my definition makes them idiots.

So idiots have 2 choices in life. Remain idiots or instead of getting insulted, actually look at the numbers and realize spitting in the wind won't hurt me, it will only hurt you.

There is no longer an excuse. 17 years and enough facts and numbers to prove the point. It's a compass. Ignore it at your own peril.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
"Success is just a matter of luck. Ask any failure."  

The Front Door, The Back Door, The Side Door. The History of Doors in Stores!

Morning Folks!!

If you have no sense of history it is hard to know where the future is going. I look to history for almost every new event and apply a test to see if it is consistent with other points of history. 

It started with the "Front Door". That is how business started. That was the ONLY access. The Front Door. Then one day somebody got smart and told the good customers to come in the "Side Door" as not to deal with the other folks or the lines. Then of course came the "Back Door" for deliveries and still other folks. Some even used the back door for special customers! Imagine that.

See this was before there was a telephone. The "Door" was the only way to get in. The only way to conduct business. Door guys were domain guys? Maybe. Must have been a hot business. Doors!

Then they came up with the idea of door to door salesman that would focus on the customers door instead of the business door. 

Then comes along the telephone and there is a new "Door". A new access point for customers. WOW!! That was a huge milestone. But calls were sometimes expensive. So the "800 Number" appears on the scene. Another "Door". This one even bigger than the other "Doors". The 800 Number became the lifeline for many businesses. It is to this very day. Just like all the other doors that are still in use.

Now with the 800 number came the next door in the form of a catalogue. Another huge breakthrough.  Each one transformed the business more than the one before. Now if you look back, so far, I don't see them closing any of those avenues of doors. They just add doors in different forms. Some work better than others.

The next door of course was the Internet. But the Internet started basically doorless. Then domain names came out and few used them. Most thought this new door would just be a fad. But they were wrong. This door transformed their business more than any other door. Oh but wait, not for everyone. Still many if not most are not using this door in the right manner.

First, many have doors that are hard to find or hard to remember or confused with others or all sorts of really important problems. But they would rather give up then actually figure it out. At least that was the way it was. Now everyone knows they need to survive. But are they willing to look and study the most important door in all of history so far??

They hire guides they call SEO gurus and they are supposed to lead them to the prize. Problem is any SEO guy worth his salt is not looking for new customers. He has them lined up and whoever he is working for keeps him locked up in a cave. So that leaves the 1 billion other SEO guys that have to spam you to get business. Most have ZERO results but take your money. I can trump 99% of SEO guys with one word. RELEVANCE!

So now it is time to stop outsourcing your future to SEO fakers. Time to understand the real way to get traffic, to keep traffic and to have an endless supply of traffic. Spamming the engines will do you long term harm and very little short term good. Businesses had all these years to put a "Domain Strategy" into practice and get traffic for a lifetime for a fraction of the SEO faker. I don't know what your business is but I can ask the same question and you can fill in the blanks.

How much is a new customer worth to your business?

How much are 5 qualified leeds worth each day to your business?

How much is it worth to have 100 people stand in line before you even open the door in the morning?

How much would it be worth to have a FREE full page ad in your trade journal for the next 30 years?

I have spent years talking to domain investors but all along I have just been trying to reach out to the common businessman that may have outsourced his future to some kid that understands the Internet but does not understand business. Some techie that understands tech but is clueless in business. And what's worse is these business owners that have built businesses from scratch BLINDLY follow these guys instead of learning for themselves.

Blindly take the advice of people that have no clue about sales and marketing and growing a business and serving the customer and all the rest. They are clueless about what I have described here as far as the doors and history and that NOTHING on this planet happens until a sale is made.

Almost everyone reading this is losing more business online than actually doing business online. They are not asking the questions that need to be asked when somebody just leaves their site. They would never allow 1000 visitors to come into their real world store without any of them buying something. They would immediately address it. But online, you folks piss away 1000 customers like they were sand. 

Questions I asked in 1995 have yet to be asked by MOST online business or websites. There is such a deep divide that it is hard to connect the 2 worlds. When I physically go into a business and engage the business owner while my wife is buying something at their store, seldom do they do anything but point to the nerd and run away. So sad. He would never do that if he truly understood what was happeneing. But the nerd rules and nothing will get in between him and his nerd.

More and more I am having conversations with business people from every type of business you can think of and many I never even heard of before. They are reading, they are inquisitive, they know there is more and they are missing something. That part alone is about 90% of the journey. Just recognizing there is much more.
 

Failure happens at the beginning of a journey not at the end. You just find out the result at the end. But almost every single failure happens at the beginning. The start of the Internet is a domain name. The door. Main Street is .Com. The Mall is .Com. Almost all important business is .Com. 95% of all advertising is .Com. So if you have a domain that is your MAIN DOOR on the Internet and it is not .Com, I don't care who you are, how big or small you are, how smart you are, you are losing customers because they can't find your front door. If pissing away 25%-61% of your business by confusing your customer is nothing to look at, then you are much smarter than me. Who cares that they might just end up at the one place you don't want them. Your competitor that did not confuse them. WAKE UP!
 

Folks can always point to the few dozen exceptions. But I can point to millions of carcuses along the path. I can point to UDRP's that are out of control because now companies recognize the value of the .Com and that they made a HUGE BUSINESS MISTAKE not securing the domain earlier so they try other tactics. The stakes are high and are getting higher by the day. 
 

You can make a living flipping any extension you like. I am not talking about that. But if you want to be a serious player with a serious business on the world stage and join the biggest franchise in the history of the world then .COM is your only smart choice. We can certainly disagree and after all these years you are still entiltled to be WRONG!

Have a GREAT Day! 
Rick Schwartz
"Success is just a matter of luck. Ask any failure" 

Juan Calle of the .CO Registry DISSES Domainers!! UPDATED!!

Afternoon,

Want to know what Juan Calle thinks of Domainers after taking MILLIONS of our dollars??? You are not much more than a "SQUATTER"!

Calle: $30 price: "Deters Domainers from Cybersquatting."

He clarified his comments on his blog later on but just seems to have dug a deeper hole:

"But, if you're a cybersquatter, or even a mass speculator, leveraging technology to register thousands of names, please do so in someone else's backyard." Juan

I guess sponsoring ALL the major domain shows was your way of deterring us??

Watch this interview on Youtube that Elliot Just Posted. (embedded below)

And since Juan's customer owns a .net and filed a UDRP against the owner of the .com that was registered long before he went into business, I think domainers would label him a "Reverse Domain Hijacker" as long as we are throwing labels loosely around here.

 

Rick Schwartz

UPDATE:

On his blog here Juan states:

"But there is an aspect in the world of domaining that sucks: it's called cybersquatting. The reality is cybersquatting makes our industry look bad. I hate to break it to you, but the entire internet ecosystem thinks cybersquatters are the scum of the earth"

I agree with that. Almost all of us do. There is no argument there. But that was not what was said and certainly not defined. It wrapped us right up in one little bundle.

It would have been very constructive to take the opportunity to define the difference for all to see instead of lumping us all together. We have spent years trying to explain the difference and this only reinforces the stereotype to the exact people we are trying to win over.

Juan's customer, Loïc Le Meur, files a UDRP for making a BONEHEADED business decision of getting a .net and that makes him a "Reverse Domain Hijacker"in the eyes of domainers.

It's really time to set the record straight. Maybe an opportunity will present itself. I for one am tired of getting trashed for investing in things nobody else on the planet did and then putting up with reinforcing a stereotype.

So stereotype this. This company tried to hijack a legit domain and I am happy folks want to cozy up with him. I would really like for Loïc Le Meur to see the error of his ways. The domainer that owns the dotcom did NOTHING wrong and he should reimburse the owner for his expenses. THAT would be a good start.

Then maybe getting on stage at your event and explaining what you have learned.

Then maybe the guy that owns the dotcom version will allow you to use it and then maybe you can measure the losses of BOTH the .net and the .co to the .com and report back. Isn't finding out answers the real key and then sharing it with YOUR audience?

Almost all professional domainers stay far away from trademarks. We invest in generic names of social or commercial value and we buy most of our domains in the open market in which all have a fair and equal shot. We have a legitimate marketplace with hundreds if not thousands of companies doing commerce in a 100% legal manner. We also follow a model. Real Estate in which people and families have been investing in and passing down generation to generation for hundreds of years. Go tell Trump his model is illigitimate. Tell it to Ted Turner one of the largest land holders in the USA. Tell it to millions of land holders throughout the USA and the world.  

I and many others are still wrestling with another disturbing comment on his blog:

"But, if you're a cybersquatter, or even a mass speculator, leveraging technology to register thousands of names, please do so in someone else's backyard." Juan

Where would Mr. Calle like to draw the line on that one???? Seems that was a really big FLIPOFF after spending a boatload to get our business over the past 2 years and tens of thousands or more domainer registrations.

As for the precious "End Users" and "Startups".....may as well tell them in some sort of disclaimer that those that have used .co have found it to be VERY COSTLY and as much as 61% of all traffic will never find them as they type in the .com. Those are FACTS! Just ask Overstock.com

Let's Have a Meeting! Then Another and Another. Afraid to Make a Decision?

 Morning Folks!!

I don't do well with morons. Especially when they are disguised as professionals that are supposed to know what they do for a living. So when I have to deal with idiots that are clueless about what they do and whatever they are doing I don't play well. These guys will only last a few weeks or months anyways until the other idiots they work with find out that he knows even less than them. Let's have a meeting!

You all know that "Meetings" are a pet peeve of mine. I have worked with enough entities to know it should not be a "Meeting." It should be named, "Let's make a decision"  because most meetings achieve little in the way of concrete decisions. When they do have a "Decision" many don't really care if it is good or bad as long as it is made or it is made fast. Most importantly of course is if the decision blows apart, you don't get blamed. That is the #1 item. Not to be blamed. So you have a culture of spineless wimps incapable of doing most things quick or right. Scared, meager, give me my check on Friday so I can pay the rent and my toys. And while I do my job I will circulate my resume so if I do get blamed I can have another gig lined up before the bank takes my car.

So you have folks that are coming out of schools and many have never held a job before. They are led by the folks I just described above them. They will just probably go with the program and wander aimlessly for many years to come unless they break the mold. 

Some folks are made to work like that. I have just never been one of them. I am sure I would have fit in better. Made less waves. Got along better. Had more friends and all the rest. But is it worth it to grow up and have "Mediocrity" as a guiding light? Kissing the ass in front of you, to the left of you, to the right of you and on top of you. Ass kissers make me puke. The weakest of the weak. Usually the only thing they know is who they know. Charming little social butterflies. They get hired with great fanfare and leave without a peep. 

Each of us figure it out at different ages. Some of course never figure it out. But the key is to learn it as early as possible. Life is about making decisions. If you are afraid of decisions than Corp America may be the place. But if you understand that life is about decisions and if you make good decisions you are likely to have a better life than if you make hasty and bad decisions. You never know how the smallest decision can affect the biggest part of life. Like a grain of sand that can bring a halt to the largest and most powerful machines.

I don't have all the answers. But each day I continue to eliminate all the wrong ones. And they seem to always have a common thread at the base. A bad decision. Then wrap up a bad decision with folks that don't care. These folks always move forward without ever cleaning up the mess they created and therefore never learn what they did wrong, why they did it wrong, how it affected others and how to get it right in the future. 

We are almost all wired this way. It is called "Human Nature" and most spend a lifetime fighting against what comes natural. Against a knee jerk reacton. Against the animalistic behavior inside of us that has been tamed by society like a wild horse is broken. Everyone is better off after they become civilized. Then each determines to what degree. That is the choice. There is no law against mediocrity. But knowing that so many occupy this category should give great hope to anyone that can vault over it and not get TRAPPED by it and by others.

Want a clear image of EXACTLY what I see?

Watch this short 30 second commercial as it crystalizes what I am saying.

 

Then watch this 30 second commercial as it shows and defines "Corporate Mediocrity".

 

So now you can clearly see there are 2 cultures and those 2 cultures can be inside a corporation. A corporation that is bound in mediocrity and ones that excels in excellence. For every Yahoo! there is a Google. For every Fed Ex there is a Post Office. For every Boarders there is a Barnes and Noble. For every McDonalds there is a McShit.  

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz 

 

Candy.com Poised to hit $6 Million in Sales in 2012

Afternoon Folks!!

I was just sent this a few minutes ago and wanted to share a story about Candy.com that came out earlier today.

Rick Schwartz

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. RETURNS to Las Vegas in 2013. Last Call for $1295 Tickets for 2012

Afternoon Folks!!

As you might have heard, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Returns to Las Vegas in 2013. We will be returning to Las Vegas for the 7th time! But this time in a new venue that you are sure to love. 

We had great times at the Venetian but that now is part of the history of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. We are stepping it up a notch and going to the fabulous 5 Star BELLAGIO HOTEL!!!!

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. WEST Starts right after the Memorial Day Weekend next year. So save the date and we will have more to say in the year ahead.

Until then, let me remind you that TONIGHT the price of attending our October show at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Fort Lauderdale goes from $1295 to $1595. A significant increase so this is really the time to lock in the rates that will be $1795 starting July 1.

You can Register Right here, right now.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz 

 

My Top 10 Domain Purchases, The Prices I paid. The $$$ they earned. The New Ones I am Buying.

Morning folks!!

I was looking for a post I thought I already wrote announcing our plans for 2013 and Las Vegas and stumbled on this little gem that I wrote back on February 20th but decided not to post at that time. I have a number of posts that I write and never publish or wait until the right time. This is one of them. This is basically Part 2 of a story I started telling here.

I was constrained by the times and my own knowledge. But my mission was to build a $1MM revenue engine that would act as an oil well and be able to pump for my lifetime and beyond that annual minimum. In 1996 I learned about the Internet. It was a period that started in December of 1995 and did not truly blossom until the spring and summer of 1997.

Like I said....it was a learning process and I was not that computer savvy. I remember getting online with Compuserve back in the mid 1980's. I still shake when I think of those days. I was lost. Lost and in a dark place with few other people and was clueless on where I was or where I was going. I think it was "Prodigy" by Sears that started illuminating things. I am not sure but I think that was about 1988?? 1987? 

But by the summer of 1997 I started seeing things differently and started buying domains form 3rd parties. So I made a list of my top 10 purchases. Biggest bang for the buck. All I can say is I followed the money. I followed that path. I saw what sector was doing well and adult not only was doing well they were YEARS ahead on what they had discovered. Mainstream is still catching up with what the Adult Market discovered in 1996-1999. Those adult guys from that time have expanded into mainstream. I can verify that mainstream is just beginning to learn the lessons that we learned back then. 

#1. It's no secret that the purchase of Porno.com was what I call "The shot heard around the world." It was unheard of at that time to buy a domain for that much money. Most techies scoffed at the $100 price tag let alone $42,000. But they were techies and the business people had yet to arrive for the most part. I have never had a bona fide offer for Porno.com even tho it has generated well in excess of $15 million as a redirect or a parked page.

But Porno.com was not my first purchase. I had to build up to that and even in that moment I could only come up with about $15,000 cash. So a creative financing deal was used where I paid $15,000 up front and 9 monthly payments. But within the first 6 weeks I paid it off just on the earnings back then. Details of the deal are here.

So that is in August 1997. If my memory serves correctly it was about 3 months earlier that I landed my first "Drop" which was unheard of at that time. But somebody emailed me and told me to register Dick.com the next day as it woud be available. And so it was. May 1997. Dick.com. $100. Plugged it in and there was traffic and I was earning $200/day for my $100 investment. EUREKA!!! The MOMENT!! I already knew there was type in traffic, but not to that degree.

I did have one MAJOR type in domain before that. Two word very adult domain that was getting 5000 visitors a day and making $500 a day. That was at a time NOBODY beleived me about type in domains. They did not understand where the traffic would come from. They could not accuse me of sending them bad traffic because they had the sales that verified the traffic was real but they could not see where it came from. They still can't in may cases! So a 7 letter domain, Starting with "Hot" and referring to some female anatomy that is 4 letters was the one that illuminated the path the most and the earliest and led me to everything else.

#2. During that summer of 1997, before Porno.com I started with the Ass.com purchase that I described many times. This was early July if I remember correctly. $12,500 and had to send the funds to Germany with no recourse. I did not sleep for 3 days. I could not afford a loss like that back then. It would have been a crippling blow if it went south. I was still growing my real world business and buying inventory many months before I needed it or got it. So the disruption in cash flow would have been a very tough setback. 

#3 Men.com purchased for $15,000 also in August of 1997. I knew things were time sensitive and I wrapped up the deals as fast as possible. By the time I bought Horny.com a few months later, I bought it at $20,000 and by the time I hung up the phone and got to the bank National A-1 wanted it and upped the ante. I paid $40,000 as the price doubled within minutes and with a threat of a lawsuit on one end and $40,000 cash in his account on the other, he chose the $$$ that were already there. While Horny.com was a great purchase and has made 10x the purchase price so far, it does not make this list, but the story does. 

I sold Men.com to an investment group led by Kevin Leto in 2003 for $1.32MM and finally demostrated that domains would go up faster in value than any other commodity in history. That sale ignited the domain space at a very low point, gave me some cash to buy more real estate and gave me the credibility to help create TRAFFIC.

#4 Sexo.com. Sex in Spanish. Next to Porno.com, Sexo.com is my #2 earner. With a cost of $10,000, Sexo.com has earned nearly $2 Million.

#5 Booty.com. One of my very best bargains. Paid $1000 for it and has earned that in as little as 5 days or as much as 30 days. I estimate total earnings approaching $1 Million.

#6 xxxvideos.com. Another bargain with a cost of $920 with similar earnings about 50% of Booty.com but since the release of .xxx, income has doubled.

#7 Whores.com for $1000. Another huge bargain that produces steady income.Approx $350,000 in earnings so far.

#8 Queen.com for $2500. Just a great domain that I bought early on from one of the top domainers in the world. Used mostly as adult. Lifetime earnings about $150,000.

#9 Stud.com for $1000. Not only another 6 figure earner, but could be an interesting play someday.

Then I turned the corner and started to head to mainstream. I had been hand registerering mainstream domains since Day #1 even tho there was no commercial mainstream. Dell.com was the #1 site in terms of sales back then. Very early adapters usually connected with the computer business which was pretty well established at that point. But now I was branching off and started taking the dollars I was making and putting it in a diverserve direction. That brings me to #10

#10. Widgets.com $5000. This is before there were Internet Widgets. This was when a "Widget" was just a generic item you sell. So Internet Widgets became a very welcome surprise. It was not planned. It was just "Stepping in Shit." The beauty of a domain like this is that it is so universal. Time will tell where this baby goes. 

I targeted the 7 dirty words you could not say on TV at first. "Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits. And as Carlin would say....."Tits did not belong on the list because it was such a friendly sounding word." But those were either taken or not allowed to be registerd at that time. So I set my sights on the ones you could say but were right on the line. They say these words all night long during prime time. "Horny, ass, bitch, slut, whore, orgy, booty and as few others. I went out and got them all. All registered to 3rd parties. All the defining line on what you can and can't say on broadcast TV. Why? Because Sex Sells!! Nipples sell. Ass sells. "Leave it to Beaver" was a wonderful show. But Sex in the City sells more things and has more value. I was able to parlay ALL of my earnings back into domain names. 

My very best buy may be my $62 purchase of Cheapest.com. A domain I would not even consider letting go for under 7 figures and a few points. See there can only be ONE that is truly the Cheapest! So I don't buy to sell like many do. I buy to watch an asset increse in value to where MY value is. I wait until the fruit matures. Yes, I am sure I could have sold that domain for DOUBLE! Whoopppeee!!! Domaining is much more than that. It is about KNOWING the value. That is why I compare it to diamonds all the time. Many look the same, but there is a huge difference in them when you examine them and see their depth and potential.

By this time there were others starting to follow what I was doing and some would emulate and even compete with me. So things became more urgent and I tried to get as many as I could as fast as I could as a lone wolf. About 10 days ago I hand registered a domain name having to do with a certain sector I saw that could become something. I grabbed a couple. Then this week Google announces their new Glasses which just happened to be the sector I targeted but froma different angle.

The Media dubs them "Smart Glasses. Of course the first thing I do is try and register SmartGlasses.com. But it was already registered. But luckily there was a BUY IT NOW PRICE and so I popped that baby in the cart and for $3280 I have a possible category killer domain. We'll see. I see it as a great gamble. Maybe, maybe not. But everyone reading this had the same shot. It takes 3 things. Decision, action, risk. The last thing on my mind is selling it. The first thing is to measure traffic and study that traffic. Beleive me, there is traffic. How do I know? I have a better question, why do so many domainers not know??

While I would love to add another $1 Million domain to my portfolio, I would rather grow them nyself. I like $1 Million domains disgusied with a low price or $100,000 ones for pocket change. I added DailyRentals.com in December. A whopping $400. An instant full time business IF that was my calling in life. DomainShane listed that one on his drop list. I don't know if there is a contribution requirement, but I would gladly send him a $100 finders fee.

In 1997 I would pay folks $50 bounty on the YNOT board if they sent me a domain that was available and I registered. On Ynot I used the theme and changed the words from "Kung Fu Fighting"  to "Everybody was domaining hunting"  Those hands were fast as lightning" and went on there for about 4 verses. Did that on some Saturday Nights and would get 10-20 domains that would make money the next day. They all thought I was crazy to spend $100 a pop AND give a finders fee.

I Hand registered 38 more domains since December. (As of February 20th) Not to sell. To study and understand. Most I will drop next year. Not sell. Drop. I buy on a hunch. On something new. On a phrase. They are all longshots. But long shots pay big when you hit. Linsanity.com, Tebowing.com and alike. Not mine. But demonstrates what I do. Predict Human Behavior. Predict how the masses will react. Predict how a group will react given the circumstances of life. 

In January 1998 I sold all my traffic to Dean Shannon for a little over $1.5 Million a year. I sold my real world business for 7 figures in March. I had nothing to do. I retired. I just wanted to go out and have a nice lunch every day because the last 10 years I could not do that a single time. My home based business kept me home from the first calls in the morning until UPS showed up at 6PM or so to pickup our shipments for the day. Cell phones and call forwarding eventually helped to liberate me. But retirement was removing all those time constrainst and I now owned my entire 24 hours every day of the week.

Retirement was a full time job and I had no interest in working again. Life and work and investing would all take a back seat to being retired and it remains that way to this very day. That did not mean I don't do things. It is just about priorities. Work revolves around my life instead of my life revolving around work.

I goofed off for about 90 days and decided to do it again in my spare time. I just repeated what I had done from 1995-1998. By the summer of 1999 I had duplicated that revenue stream. I did that one more time in 2000-2002. I just wanted to fortify what I was doing so that no mater how bad things got my little empire could survive and do 7 figures a year in the most adverse times. A financial "Ark" is probably the best way to describe it. I knew the net would go bust and it would likely happen more than once. 

The little deals allowed me to do some big deals. And as I have said many times before, "Sometimes doing nothing can get you further than doing something"

Now what I am trying to do is recreate that revenue stream by being a silent partner in the deals I do. I don't know how long that will take. But it is accelerating and I think before the 20 year anniversary I will have accomplished that mission as well. I think the biggest plus for me is giving my missions enough time to find success. I never try and rush it. I know when to go full out and when to let things evolve in their own way. You can't force time. That just comes back to patience. I define a timeline beforehand of how long something should take me to achieve. I know pretty quick if a mission has "Legs" or not. I adjust as things move along and if things don't move along, I never kid myself into bending reality. 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz 

What does the Next 20 Years Look Like? A Business Plan Too Simple to be Respectable.

Morning Folks!!

If your goal is to have a commercial and worldwide presence then dotcom is the domain extension that is recognized in that manner. If you believe differently, that is fine, but the bigger your company is the more costly that belief will be over time and eventually you might be blamed for that belief. As far as the desire to get the dotcom version, it will never go away and each passing day makes it harder and more expensive to obtain. And if your competitor gets that domain, well they will likey hurt your company to the point of collapse. That is what "I" believe.

Now country codes are just fine. But who can argue that it may be a more limited market that you target and maybe even confined to? The average person does not even know such a thing exists if you are in the USA. They don't know that hundreds of different extensions are already out there. 

There were many short term business decisions made in the past 15 years or so that now they are finally recognizing there were long term consequences if they failed to realize the importance of what was happening and the time sensitivity. So that is what makes winners and losers and now the losers are whining. They bet the Internet was a fad and many of us bet it would be the new way to do business and provide a revolution in business the likes we had never seen before. 

The laughs and jeers of 1996 tho distant, are still present. There is a large group that took their place. Some of them learned, some not. I am not kidding when I use the term "Fad". Many believed the Internet was a fad in 1995. I believed it was the best communication and selling tool ever invented. That it had the power to transform 3rd word countries into competing entities. Folks in shacks with an idea would become millionaires. The first time in history where no matter where you were or who you were, you had a shot at success.

"Unique Opportunity in Time". I stated that and repeated that more than anything I have said. I explained why getting a great domain name was time sensitive. Why that had to be the first thing you address if you seriously wanted to build an empire. Like the game of Risk, the first thing you do is secure your countries. In this case it was to secure domain names that represented commercial and social audiences. Where there would be foot traffic. Where no many how many times you failed, with a great domain name you can reinvent yourself until you get it right. Just like the restaurant on the corner that went bust a dozen times and now has a 2 hour wait to get into. The landlord made out well through all the busts. He of course does better now with a stable tenant.

There are so many parallels with Real Estate and Commodities and Diamonds and the Yellow Pages, and Oil Wells and Gold Mines and People of history in all of those various fields and the dozen I did not mention and the 1000 I did not even think of. I have said that domain names specifically and the Internet in general represent an opportunity my Father did not have, My grandfather did not have, my Great Grandfather did not have nor his father before him. Think about that for a moment. And then LOSERS WHINE. How does anyone whine and complain when you are sitting in a diamond mine and the only thing you need to know is the difference between a rock and a diamond?

Never has there been so much unlimited opportunity and have it so close and convenient. I used to say that human nature is such that if you put folks in a diamond mine with all the free diamonds they could gather, there would still be those that would steal from each other. Go figure. 

I knew the Internet was an Infant in 1995 and that like a real infant, it would need 20 years to be fully adopted by society IF that were to be the case. I believed with all my heart, soul and wallet, that it would happen and I bet it would take 20 years and I planned to survive many ups and downs along that path. My only mission was to hold on tight because a roller coaster ride it would be and if you get caught without certain elements, it all comes crashing down.

20 years to the starting line of understanding and embracing. What many of us learned nearly 2 decades ago is just being discovered. While I have always been disappointed about that I was never surprised by it because I expected it. 

In 1996-1999 I tried to reach out and expected some folks to embrace what I saw. It was pretty simple. But few took the time to stop laughing and even consider looking at what I saw.

Today, it is different. I have more than 5000 of my domains no longer parked and going to Worksmarter.com.  It took 5 years to accomplish that. Do they have traffic? For the most part, yes. But I have found greater value in talking directly to my future partners that I have never met and someday will be part of how my business plan unfolds. 

I have another 1000 that are parked but have a link to the site. A site of just words and ideas. Nothing fancy. But I have a dozen different projects in the works. I stopped responding to emails about buying domains. I don't want to sell. Never did. But I did sell some to demonstrate what I saw and now that has been accomplished. 

I do have more than a dozen active conversations with folks that have ideas. Now the idea alone does not make the deal. It has to be a "Profitable" idea. It has to be well thought out and has to have certain elements in it for me to consider. 

I intend to hold a private trade show in just 3 years for my partners and myself. My goal, 100 independent businesses with folks I have yet to even meet by some time in 2015. 

I have already done the hard part. I have spent a lot of money putting contracts together for Candy.com and Property.com. 6 figures and then some to create the framework not for just these deals, but all future deals. I have developed contracts on a different level for domains like Luv.com and Punchbowl.com. These contracts offer folks with passion and an idea a way forward to build something with "Sweat Equity", "Cash" and a "Percentage" of the new business. It offers me the protection I need and the chance to build something I don't have the talent to do and be part of that domain forever.

At the core of my strategy was understanding that the $750,000 website of 1998 that was obsolete by 1999, would be a $75 template by 2010 and then FREE! So if you knew and believed that in 1998, why would you spend the $$$ then? You would wait and in that time do something useful. Like figuring out how to build an empire. 100 sites in 1997 at $750,000 each would be $75,000,000 before you even open the door. Today you could do it much better and it could be done for pocket change. Folks would ignore that part of the equation and that was what allowed me to look at things in a long term way. 20 year plan followed by a 20 year plan. I knew it would take 20 years for domain names to take center stage. Every business starts with a domain name and while that was true in 1996, most did not recognize it until many years later. Location, Location, Location. Real world or Internet still has great value. Still gives you a leg up. Still gives you the wind at your back. Still can make the biggest difference. Still can be deadly if your competition is the one that has the better location and gets the first shot at potential new customers.
 

So folks can say what they wish about my plan, and many have laughed at me along the way, but it is a plan and whether folks understand it now or not does not matter much to me. I can guarantee you they will understand it when I have 100 partners. And when I get to 100, I will set a new goal of 200. And when I reach 200....

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

 

The Saveme.com Response. Short, Sweet, Masterful!

Morning Folks!!

On Tuesday I published our response that we submitted to WIPO and our "Friends" in Brazil. Today I am making that link public. Interestingly enough, just this morning I heard of another domain win with the complaintant also being from Brazil when Mike Berkens sent me this link. I think we need to be alert to see if we hear of more of these cases coming from Brazil or any specific country for that matter.

Here is the link to our response for all to see. Howard did a masterful job of why these people should be found guilty of Reverse Domain Hijacking and we await a favorable decision that hopefully will call this as we have described. 

http://www.erealestate.com/saveme.htm

I will have a LOT to say after the decision whichever way it goes. The decision is just the beginning of the Saveme.com episode and what is to come. I have a mission!

And while a ruling on Reverse Domain Hijacking is rare, Howard and I have never found a single ruling with more elements present in one single case. Usually there is one element of "Bad Faith" in such a ruling. Here we have several.

You can be sure when the ruling comes down, you will be the first to know!

Rick Schwartz

RicksBlog.com 5 Years Old TODAY!!

Morning Folks!

Wow, I just noticed that exactly 5 years ago today Ricksblog.com had a "Grand Opening".

To be honest, it was something I really did not want to do at first because I had been blogging before there were blogs for over 10 years at that time in 2007. But I did want to get my thoughts out there for more to see and have it circulate so decided to try and memorialize 10 years of thoughts on this blog. I am pretty satisfied with it and every once in a while I got the opportunity to link back to some of those original posts complete with timestamps.

"On the record for the record." That is my slogan. My blog is part personal diary just like my old board was my "Living Room" to me. 

So I accomplished another mission and feel good about whatever is here. The good, bad and ugly. But it is all "On the record for the record." 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz 

Don't Wander off the Yellow Brick Road of Progress. First Things First.

Morning Folks!!

In every project the FIRST thing you should do is to identify the "Time Sensitive" elements of that project. What takes the most time? What needs to get rolling now and what can wait until you get your other ducks in a row. If you get this one wrong, you lose! You will be unprepared and work much harder with a lot more pressure and you will always be running against the clock. All that if you don't identify the "Time Sensitive" things first.

 

With the Internet, Domain Names were the single thing I had identified as the FIRST thing I had to do. Until that was accomplished, there was really no need to go further. That was my first thing and today we see what happens when it is the "Last thing".
 

That was the first phase of a business plan that so many have dismissed but has proven to be key to everything on the Internet. That phase for me lasted 10 years. 10 years where there was a sense of urgency. I realized the urgency would subside but the learning process had to begin. That would be my second phase and that phase would last another 10 years.
 

20 year germination period as I would refer to it. Lots of trial and error and learning from other people's mistakes. That would bring me 20 years down the road and at that time folks could get their head around what I had done. 20 years before I would start to build an empire. But that did not mean I did not build dozens of sites along the way. My thoughts are all on record and time stamped and I have hundreds if not thousands of witnesses. I endured the laughs and barbs and everything else to maintain what I believed and I was never deterred in my efforts.. Now as we approach 20 years folks are seeing now what I saw then. What I saw and risked millions on.

My curse in life is following the Yellow Brick Road wherever it leads regardless of my agenda. Most people try to bend reality to match their road, what they want and their overall agenda. I do the opposite. I know what I want, but I am willing not to bend reality to fit it. Instead I know the Yellow Brick Road will bring me where I want to go without fighting the reality of life. 
 

And when I get there, I may be first and that means I have to wait for others to catch up. Since I already know their final destination I have 2 choices. I can go run around and follow all those folks or I can set up an umbrella at the beach and wait for them to arrive. I chose the latter.

I guess if you were White Water Rafting you could make an attempt to be in control but the reality is you would be fooling yourself because the Rapids are in control, not you. So maybe instead of fighting it, just lay back and enjoy the ride. It is going to the same place regardless of your outlook, what you want and your agenda. The water is so much stronger and sometimes the smartest thing is to just recognize that and be submissive to it.

On the other side of the coin you have to be able to recognize and learn when you do have control. When you can make a difference. When the Rapids turn into a Magic Carpet.

Here is a copy of my Circa 1999 eRealEstate.com Site. Notice the theme. In 2 places I go out of my way to say we DON'T sell our domains. I do to this day. It is not what I am about. But when somebody comes along with an offer that is bigger than my idea, then I will listen.

I even had a logo page from that time. The Saveme.com logo is not on it. But I have one of a man carrying a cross. These logo's were done in 1997-1999 by a guy named "Ken" in New Mexico. Maybe not the most sophisticated logos but this was 15 years ago.

This all means just go with the flow when you can't change things and be proactive when you can. The single biggest challenge is knowing the difference. Maybe you never thought about it this way, but now you have. Be positive and learn from everything you do. Always remember "Ignorance is a choice". 

Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

 

Online Property Rights Threatened As Government Body Agrees To Hear Saveme.com Complaint

Morning Folks!!

This Press Release will be coming out on Monday Morning. Here is a sneak peak to start the circulation a bit early. My thanks to Danny Pryor and Howard Neu for helping to compose this. If you would like to possibly be quoted in this release, please use your full name for verification.

Rick Schwartz

BOCA RATON, Fla., April 9, 2012 - - eRealEstate.com Claims Online Property Rights Threatened As Government Body Agrees To Hear Saveme.com Complaint

Are United States citizens and companies that use the famous dot-com extension, as most U.S.-based companies do, now a target of foreign companies that want your valuable domain or your business?  That question, according to Rick Schwartz of eRealEstate.com of Boca Raton, Florida who owns Saveme.com, sets the tone of a pending cyberwar at the World Intellectual Property Organization.  Other online investors such as Paul J. Kapchuck, agree that the stakes are high as a showdown looms.

A pair of Brazilian companies (Online Services, Ltd. and E-Commerce Media Group Information and Technology, Ltd.) owns the domain saveme.com.br (the .com.br extension is reserved specifically for Brazil) that they registered in 2010 and started using in 2011. On March 13th, these companies filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), against Schwartz. Schwartz asserts that the pair is hoping to grab the very valuable dotcom version of that domain. SaveMe.com was registered by Schwartz in 1996 and SaveMe.com.br wasn't registered until 2010.

Both Schwartz and Website Developer Danny Pryor, as well as established trademark attorney Howard Neu, agree the present case is an effort to use Internet administrative procedure to seize a generic domain name that was registered 15 years before the Brazilian companies were ever in business. The Brazilian companies even noted in their complaint that they had not even secured a trademark, blaming the Brazilian Government for dragging its feet.  The companies state, in their complaint, no trademark can be granted because of "Brazil Trademark Office's enormous backlog in analyzing trademark applications."

While WIPO rejected the original complaint last month, citing “deficient” arguments, an updated version of the complaint was re-filed on March 24, after WIPO sent the case back to the filers for modifications.  Among the deficiencies observed by WIPO, the most notable was that the original complaint had not fully explained how bad faith allegations applied in this case.  

WIPO comments to the complaining parties is viewed as a slant in favor of the complainant, by at least one attorney's account. Paul Keating, a world-renowned Internet Attorney, specifically observed on this guest blog post that WIPO provided the complainant in the saveme.com UDRP case, "a second bite at the apple, because they are being advised to review and correct substantive issues pertaining to their burden of proof." 

WIPO, on the other hand, will not provide Mr. Schwartz with a second bite of the apple if he fails in his efforts to defend his domain of 16 years, Neu observed, calling the arbitration setting an uneven playing field.  "Schwartz will be forced to file a new action in U.S. Federal Court for relief," Neu said.  Howard Neu represents Schwartz in the WIPO case and has been his attorney since 1999.

"This is a perfect example of 'Reverse Domain Hijacking'," Schwartz said, "A party, with no rights whatsoever, tries to bully folks into giving up their domain name, and the domain name owner in many cases can’t afford to defend his property.  That defense often costs many thousands of dollars.  The Brazilian Complainants must show that in 1996, I registered the name in 'Bad Faith' and somehow knew a company half a world away would use that name 16 years later."

Schwartz added, "We are determined to let folks who may own valuable dot-com real estate know what is to come, as a bad decision here could have a huge impact on online business.  In fact, it could make U.S. businesses much more vulnerable, because we rely on dot-com for our online presence and commerce, as opposed to other extensions or country codes."

The Brazilian companies have asked WIPO for a three-member arbitration panel, composed entirely of Brazilian nationals. There is no date currently set for the arbitration hearing.

About eRealestate.com: eRealEstate.com has been buying and developing electronic real estate since 1995. eRealEstate.com is the net's first site devoted to domains and their development.

Press Contact Howard Neu howard@neulaw.com 954-662-1816

 

 

Is SaveMe.com Action a Premeditated Hit on Rick Schwartz, and Domaining Itself?

Morning Folks,

So I pose the question: Is SaveMe.com Action a Premeditated hit on Rick Schwartz and Domaining itself? Why would I ask that? Well first you would have to get into the shoes and the heads of the Brazilian brothers. Let's do that.

So it is 2010 and they register SaveMe.com.br. Did they happen to see that the .com version was taken at that time? What was that conversation?

or

In 2011 when they launched did they know that SaveMe.com was a parked page?  What was that conversation?

or

It's August 2011 and they make their first offer. Did they have a conversation about how much they would spend and what they would do if they could not afford to buy it? What was that conversation?

or

It's August 2011 and they make their second offer. Did they have a conversation about how much they would spend and what they would do if they could not afford to buy it? What was that conversation?

or

On September 14th they made their final offer to "Settle" something I did not know at the time even had to be settled. Did they have a conversation about how much they would spend and what they would do if they could not afford to buy it? What was that conversation?

and

Were there conversations with any other parties or other attorneys that are ORGANIZING an effort to take domains away that were targeted for various reasons?

and

Were there conversations about the traffic levels of SaveMe.com that seem to DWARF that of the SaveMe.com.br. Yes I said dwarf them. Since Alexa nor Compete can measure direct navigation traffic I have reason to believe that we get more traffic then them and this may be more that a grab at a domain but even deeper. Targeting the valuable traffic which is the oil the domain pumps. Did they have a conversation about that traffic since they point to Alexa? What they fail to mention is when you do a search of "Save Me" SaveMe.com.br comes up #1. However SaveMe.com does not show any results at all as of this writing 10 pages deep and maybe more. There is a reason for that. The domain has never been submitted to Google for any SEO and all traffic is by direct navigation.

plus

What do they teach at WIPO Academy and what would happen to somebody that were to abuse, manipulate or commit a fraud?

I have talked about what would happen when the world were to understand the true value of our assets since the 1990's. It was 100% predictable because human nature takes some down a dark path. They can't resist the shortcut instead of a good old fashioned work ethic. Just look to history.

now

I made my point and used these chumps as a warning to the next company that pulls this on me or anyone. If they or anyone else want to risk their own clients and customers finding out about their practices, now or anytime in the future, then so be it. THEY take on the risk. They take on the FULL risk. This is my disclaimer so they know what to expect. If THEY act in Bad Faith I will make sure it circulates. If somebody has a legitimate claim that is a different matter. But heaven help them, because it better be legitimate from this day forward. 

More to come boys. This is just the start of the offense and will continue until the 2 of you get out of my life. Until then, enjoy my branding creativity! 

Rick Schwartz

Márcio Mello Chaves Resorts to FABRICATIONS to TRY and Make His NEW CASE!

Morning Folks!!

So our "Friend" Márcio Mello Chaves has resorted to FABRICATIONS this time to TRY and support his argument since anything else would be impossible to prove unless he was Houdini and could rewrite history. One by one Howard will uncover each fabrication and completely discredit this ASSHOLE for the entire world to see and then we are going to make this a Federal Case!! I now have plans to publicize this in Brazil to bring added pressure to this clown and show what type company these CHUMPS run. Any damage done will be by their DEEDS and ACTIONS as well as their own words. Let's see how the average Brazilian thinks about what they are doing and attempting to take something that is not theirs and they have no rights to whatsoever. 

The new Filings:

http://www.erealestate.com/savemewipo2.pdf

"Respondent (that's me) has engaged in several reprievable actions after being notified of this Complaint by posting and uploading unlawful (including unauthorized use of pictures), harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, slanderous, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive comments about the Complainants' and Complainants ́ Representative, serving only to demonstrate his bad faith and total disrespect towards the Parties, this procedure and the Arbitration Center itself." (I think he forgot to add 3 kitchen sinks) 

I promised this in my First Post: "I will do everything legally and openly, but tastefully is not a promise. I am going to stick it up your asses in the most unpleasant and disgusting way I know how in front of the world. I will always be factual. But I don't always have good taste or play by any other rules other than by what is legal. If you folks get embarrassed, so be it."  

So from the above, I think just like your suit, you are going way too far. Vulgar? Maybe. The rest, is as bogus as you trying to explain how in 1996 I registered the domain saveme.com in bad faith and how I knew in 2011 you would open a website in Brazil???

Marcio, you are right. I have NO RESPECT for YOU and your BROTHER and I have articulated EXACTLY why in no uncertain terms. Since you are reading the blog, Please let me know anything that is not 100% factual. I even wrote to you to lmk if something is not 100% factual. As far as the name calling and my bad taste. You are STUCK with it. 12 lawyers have examined and not one has suggested that I remove a single word. Ricksblog.com is certainly no secret.

The United States has this thing called FREE SPEECH. We have laws that protect us from theft or even attempted theft. From injustice no matter what form it comes in. We get judged by a jury of our peers. We are not intimidated when CHUMPS and BULLIES try a power play. We ask questions like what would happen if you two CHUMPS pulled this on somebody that could not afford to defend the domain? It's bottom up here. Not some spoiled imperial CHUMPS looking to grab something they have no legal or even moral rights to. How do chumps even sleep at night? 

Here is the Original Blogpost about this

Here is the Followup Blogpost about this

Keep peeing Márcio. I am going to give you the most electrifying experience and it is open for the world to see. The ONLY one here guilty of BAD FAITH are Márcio and his brother and we will demonstrate it so that the next ASSHOLE understands EXACTLY what will be coming their way. They try and disrupt my business, well when this all boils over, it will disrupt their personal lives because even their friends and family will see they are up to no good..

And oh yes, Márcio is reading my blog. He put all that in his new filings thinking it will make a difference as he hurdles how I acted in Bad Faith in 1996 when their company was not even born until 2010. And to this DAY, have no trademark and no rights whatsoever to SaveMe.com. But you do have a right to be made a clown of in public for the world to see!!!

I Pray that the panelists read this blog and all comments. I would not take back one word, thought or feeling. I know a piece of shit when I see it!

Márcio I have no respect for you. I won't call you a thief (tho some may think you are) as you are trying to take what isn't yours in a legal manner but you are a lowlife piece of shit and I hope this comes back on you and your brother in a way that will prevent you and others from EVER pulling shit like this again.

The Internet is about CIRCULATION and this story will be circulated in a way that will change your life. I have a mission and it is to EXPOSE PRICKS LIKE YOU so even your neighbors know! I own Saveme.com and you will NEVER get it now. Your claim is still DEFICIENT because you can't get over the hurdle. Please tell the panel how I acted in Bad Faith in 1996 when you have NO TRADEMARKS whatsoever and your company is less that 2 years old born in 2010? Do you know what a FOOL you like in the eyes of NORMAL PEOPLE?

And you know what is bad faith?? Trying to get 3 BRAZILIAN panelists to hear your case!! NEVER!!! That just demonstrates something that is consistent with the rest of the action you filed. 

If you guys were MEN and not CLOWNS acting like legal PIRATES, you would have handled this the RIGHT WAY. Instead you poisoned the water and now I would rather use you as THE POSTER BOY for Reverse Domain Hijacking then actually do business with you and have to TRUST THE TWO of YOU!. 

These posts GUARANTEE that NOBODY will ever be confused by SaveMe.com amd SaveMe.com.br. Consider it the most in depth disclaimer ever known to man! :-)

This issue really is not about domaining or even domains. But it is an issue for citizens of the United States of America who almost exclusively use the .com extension as opposed to .us or .us.com. Most Americans don't even know these extensions exist. As a country we use .com. They are trying to give license to any person or company throughout the world to come and try to exercise rights it does not have on almost any American entity. The layers of absurdity make this the perfect case to help folks understand what is going on and how easily they could become a victim of CHUMPS like Márcio and his brother if they were to have their way. Who would be safe???

To me this is akin to a "Business Rape". And not to minimize true rape, what you do when you are getting raped is SCREAM and YELL and get the attention of society. This is a terrible practice that has been going on and spreading. Not often do you have such a clear cut case of this abuse in which the masses can clearly see what I and many others are dealing with and how easily it could happen to any of them or any of their friends and family members. It makes folks in the USA particularly vulnerable BECAUSE some online property ending in dotcom is PRICELESS! 

Rick Schwartz

PS: For the record, The ONLY ones that have damaged the Saveme.com.br brand are Márcio and his brother for resorting to this instead of negotiating like REAL businessman. Is that how is done in Brazil? WE ARE GOING TO FIND OUT!! The media in Brazil will be on this in a big way and I think THAT is what will eventually do the REAL damage. You CLOWNS picked this fight with ME and my job is to make you regret it in a way that prevents the next clown from even trying. THAT is why YOU are the POSTER BOY for REVERSE DOMAIN HIJACKING!! The ONLY right you have is for me to embarrass you in front of all the world and yes, that MAY damage your business. But never my intention. Just the fallout of your behaviour. You are the aggressor and I am the best counter puncher you will ever face! 

 

What Does a "20 Year Plan" Really Mean Through My eyes?

Morning Folks!!

I don't have all the answers and I don't have to. Just a few will do. Like you, I can only guess. Speculate. Put my money on it and see how it all unfolds.

When I was a kid I remember when the Empire State Building was sold for $12 Million and everyone was stunned how anyone can overpay so much. Sex.com sold for more than the Empire State Building. Fast forward and now we are talking many billions. They are even taking the building public to raise a Billion Dollars.

Las Vegas years ago had nothing but sand and a vision. A longshot vision. 

I can tell this story 100 ways from 100 views and another 100 paths on each. Here is only ONE of many ways I see what I do and domains in general.

I would describe what my business plan like this as a real world type parallel..

1. My first hurdle was to figure out how to afford to hold and maintain many domain names for 20 years. 

2. Buy raw dotcom land in many places throughout the USA with potential for commercial development.

3. Focus on Oceanfront, Riverfront, close to ocean or river.

4. Try and target Times Square for advertising and Las Vegas for sheer people power.

5. Study the development of places like Times Square and Las Vegas.

6. Since I was too late, too young and too broke to participate in that game, I found one that has parallels in a new dimension.

7. So imagine it is 1948 and you are in Las Vegas. There is just SAND! There is nothing else.

8. Build it and they will come and so they do.

9. I see this new thing happening and realize that there may be many ways to capitalize on something like this if it were to work even if gambling is not your business.

10. So the first road is paved and now there is a street. 

11. Let’s call this street (Las Vegas Blvd) Dotcom Blvd

12. I have a few extra dollars and decide to buy some land on Dotcom Blvd.

13. I decided it will be many years before it will have any value because right now it is just sand and wind.

14. I think if this idea were to unfold the way they say, millions of people will come to Dotcom Blvd in Las Vegas.

15. But SHIT!!! That will take TWENTY YEARS!!

16. I decide it is now or never. If I don’t buy it somebody else may come and buy it. Act NOW or it’s over!

17. I go have lunch and decide to buy the piece of land I was looking at.

18. SHIT!!! Somebody else bought it within the hour.

19. I better go look for another dotcom property.

20. SHIT!!! That one is already sold! (Maybe I can grab his sand and move it?)

21. The third is a charm. I now have my own dotcom sand.

22. Gee these guys are buying multiple properties. What do they see?

23.  Gee, these guys are pretty sharp.

24.  I think I am going to buy some more dotcom sand

25.  I tell others in business, they just laugh at me for buying sand.

26.  I try and explain that in 20 years or less this sand will be very valuable because a lot of people will be passing by everyday.

27.  They laugh

28.  I buy more sand

29.  More people laugh

30.  I keep talking about this 20 year plan.

31.  They laugh

32.  I explain about it being a “Unique opportunity in time”

33.  They laugh

34.  I explain you MUST get the land first if you are to even have a chance at success.

35. They laugh

36.  I explain this was an opportunity that my father and grandfather and their fathers before them never had and they should pay attention.

37.  They laughed.

38.  I bought a major corner on Dotcom Blvd in Las Vegas

39.  They stopped laughing but now thought I was insane.

40.  I repeated the process 1000 times

41.  Others started repeating the process

42.  Sand turned into activity.

43.  I stood on my sand. I looked at the hotels being built

44.  I put up a few billboards on my sand with no advertising

45.  The new casinos in town see the billboards

46.  One hotel asks to put his name on my billboard

47.  I say ok

48.  He gives me $1 Million check

49.  People passing buy laughing at me for not building.

50.  I put some more billboards up

51.  More people give me more money

52.  I learn about effective billboards

53.  I learn about ineffective billboards

54.  I learn where folks are going

55.  I learn what folks are looking for

56.  I open up a short cut to the hotel via a sidewalk on my sand.

57.  It saves the folks time and money

58.  Casino is willing to pay me more to be exclusive and have all my sidewalks lead to his casino

59.  Next thing ya know they need parking spaces

60.  They pay me more for my sand then I can earn selling water in the desert.

61.  I abandon idea of opening up lemonade stands and decide to open parking lots instead.

62.  Parking lots have low overhead and are cash cows

63. That’s what gets me to New York. San Francisco. It’s been YEARS since I was in San Francisco, at that time the rate was $70/day. Most people on earth don’t even make $70 a day. Go tell those parking lots they don’t have a legitimate business and own the priciest of real estate.

64.  Gee, that sounds like a good way to do it while I pass the 20 years.

65.  Gee look at etoys

66.  Gee look at Pets.com

67.  Gee, I think it is smarter to wait and learn from their mistakes than pissing away billions of investor dollars on a bag of smoke.

68.  Gee impression based advertising is stupid.

69.  Gee impression based advertising was like a parking lot stealing all the cars

70.  Gee how come that model collapsed and took many down with it?

71.  Impression based advertising was like driving a bus down dotcom blvd and simply pointing out the casino. The casino paid to get pointed out but could not have a benefit because the bus and customers were long gone along with the money the casino or all other businesses paid. The bus never stopped to be=ring them the damn customer!

72.  Gee that was dumb.

73.  Gee, I talked about it constantly in 1998 and 1999.

74.  Gee that was what collapsed things in 2000. It had to collapse using that model and it did. It was a flawed and worthless model but they all bought into it.

75.  Many walk away

76.  I just shrug it off as a learning experience for the totally ignorant and a rip off of epic proportions from those providing those worthless impressions that were not aimed at making sales.

77.  Why do I just laugh and shrug it off?

78.  I have a 20 year plan.

79.  Many laugh

80.  Many can’t plan 20 seconds ahead let alone 20 minutes, 20 hours, 20 days, 20 weeks, 20 months, 20 years.

81.  Why get educated if you can’t think 20 years in advance.

82.  When you look at things like that, everything is merely a blip and the important things are easy to pick out.

83.  Those that work real hard and went broke get pissed

84.  Those that did not see what was coming get pissed

85.  Those that laughed are now pissed and they know the difference between our 2 plans.

86.  I will start my projects as sand turns into concrete

87.  I don’t even have to open a casino in Las Vegas to make money.

88.  Where there are people there are always ways to make money

89.  When you understand traffic on Dotcom Blvd. that gives you power and insight that very few have.

90. When you watch and understand that traffic for 20 years you learn things others have never even thought of or questioned.

91.  That leads me to buy more sand in more places.

92.  See I think developing for the sake of developing is not something I ever wanted to pursue even though I tried numerous times throughout the years.

93.  I plan develop by NEED and audience size matched with a profitable good or service.

94. But the dust on the Internet has yet to settle although it is now taking on direction and shape.

95. Something that I envisioned would take 20 years because of the enormous size of the change of habit and it would be worldwide in a way that nobody can really understand. Never in the history of mankind have so many adapted to something new so quick. Yes 20 years is a FLASH. Nothing ever became so universal so fast. Not electric, not phones, not TV, not even the computer itself.

96. How long do you think it would take for the Internet to evolve back in 1996 when less than 1% of the world’s population was online?

97.  So the way I see things is very different than perhaps anyone else as I am sure your visions may be unique to you and what you want and the lifestyle you are striving for.

98.  While I saw domains being something that would bring many people together, I don’t ever think I saw that just selling the picks and shovels could be such a multi billion dollar business and still expanding.

99.  While I thought domains would parallel real estate, it did so faster, deeper and more mainstream than I thought would happen. 

100. I think social media only enhances this in an exponential way.

101. So I still believe we are in our adolescence. But it won’t be much longer that adolescence begins the journey of maturity.

102. So just like a boy or a girl takes 20 years to mature and THEN blossom, so was my approach to Dotcom Blvd.

103. Graduation day is not the day you reach your full potential. It’s the day you start your journey.

104. It’s the day you mark when things really begin

105. It’s the day that starts life as we know it.

106. So I have this 20 year plan and folks still laugh.

107. But I have the “Luxury of time” to decide which parking lots are turned into Skyscrapers or Department Stores or just keeping as a parking lot until there are no more cars to service.

108. Real Estate, Oil wells, Mineral Rights, Parking Lots, Store Fronts, Billboards, Message Boards, Gold Mines, Diamonds, name your poison. Name your path. Name your trail. Never has any single item had so many faces and possibilities and parallels as a domain name.

109. So we can be condemned for seeing things early but that won’t change the facts of acting on a hunch and taking a huge risk when the next guy with the same opportunity passed on that great risk

110. Great risk receives great rewards when the risk you take just happens to unfold as you saw years ago.

111. So what would you call somebody that bought in the desert when nobody else on the entire planet wanted it and everyone laughed at him? What do you call the guy today with an acre of sand on Las Vegas Blvd that is just a parking lot? Some old fat guy at the gate with a cigar hanging from his mouth. Each night he collects $20 each for the 5000 cars that fit in his garage. Oh didn’t I tell you, he decided to focus and build on that parking lot a 12 story garage capable of holding 5000 cars at $20 each and turns the spaces an average of 2.5 times a day. Gets $50 on special event days.

112. The fat guy at the gate just keeps laughing as each car hands him $20. Another puff on the cigar, another laugh. $250,000/day business and he did damn well for his $100 investment. The garage he built that was a simple skeleton paid itself off in just 4 weeks so there is no mortgage.

113. They told the old guy he no longer had to collect the cash. That now they had machines to do the same thing and he could go to Florida and just lay on the beach.

114. I heard he declined the move. He just loved laughing his ass off. Every 5^th car would pay off that original $100 mortgage.

115. Ok, so that is one path. One parallel. Now let’s talk about the oil well parallels.

116. Then the Gold Rush Parallel.

1. And to be fair, don’t forget the tulips. The greatest BUST in history and to some, domaining is exactly like that. Don’t know about the tulips? Look it up!
2. There is also the collectible parallel.
3. The TV parallel
4. The Hollywood Parallel
5. The stock market Parallel
6. The Location, Location, Location, parallel
7. The Monopoly Game Parallel.
8. The Game of Life Parallel
9. The Radio, Newpaper, Magazine Parallel
10. More parallels in one commodity than all others combined and I have barely scratched the surface!

There has never been anything quite as universal and VALUABLE as a meaningful domain name and 2012 marks the year that the cat is out of the bag. Predators from every corner will come out like cockroaches at night trying to undermine your efforts in any way possible. Some of my friends are way too nice and find themselves on the short end. My only suggestion is to grow some balls and learn how to tell people to shove it up their ass with a 2 x 4.

See there are efforts by scammers that don’t take 20 years. They can fake out the system in 2 or 3 years or less and then just walk away with your property. Folks it is time to stop being naive. The next jackass that contacts you that you never heard of that wants one of your domains is likely not who they say they are and likely have an agenda. Why pay for a domain when they can PLAY the domainer?

Good luck and go grab your share of the pie! But don’t be a victim of those predators. They play with an empty hand, don’t play with an empty offense. You don't need a lawyer all the time, but you do need balls every moment from this day forward. 

As investors in domain names we have done nothing wrong and worked within the system to capitalize on something just as they have done for hundreds of years on millions of items. Buy a $10 piece of art at a garage sale and a Picasso is behind it, well it’s yours and nothing will change it unless it had been stolen to begin with.

That brings me to my last point. Even if you lose a domain, track it!!! If you lose a domain because of wrong doing and it is years later, learn from the sex.com case. I believe in the years ahead we will see domain returned to their original owner and whatever business has been built will collapse overnight.

If you pay your annual fees, and don't do infringe or do anything intentionally wrong with your domain, then don't be intimidated by companies large or small. The smallest guy can defeat the biggest guy with WORDS and THOUGHTS and IDEAS as well as public opinion.

Your only limit is your "Life Expectancy". So something maturing in 100 years won't do you a whole lot of good in life. You'll be long dead. Depending on your age, you may have 20-40 year horizon to accomplish what you want. Life is not as long as you may think.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz 

5 Day Stay of Execution for SaveMe.com as Márcio Mello Chaves Claim "Deficient"!!

Morning Folks!!

The Poster Boy for Reverse Domain Hijacking, Márcio Mello Chaves, has hit a little snag. I received the "5 Day Stay" early this morning. I will share the details.

The case will not been accepted by WIPO citing lack of specifics in accordance with "Bad Faith" unless amended by March 24th. So the clock is ticking. Let's see.

"In accordance with Rules, Paragraph 4(b), you are hereby notified of the following formal deficiency with your Complaint:

(1) The text below section (C) of the Complaint, with the emboldened heading “Bad Faith in the Domain Name Use”, does not appear to describe why the domain name should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith.

Please note that paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy and paragraph 3(b)(ix)(3) of the Rules require a complainant to describe why the domain name(s) should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith.

(2) The Complaint has not been signed (in any electronic format) by the Complainant or its authorized representative, as required by Rules, Paragraph 3(b)(xiv).

Unless the deficiency specified above are cured within five (5) calendar days, March 24, 2012, of the date of this notification, in accordance with Rules, Paragraph 4(b), your Complaint will be deemed withdrawn, without prejudice to the submission of a new Complaint by you."

I think I can hang my hat on this part: "Please note that paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy and paragraph 3(b)(ix)(3) of the Rules require a complainant to describe why the domain name(s) should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith."

Now please tell me how I REGISTERED saveme.com in Bad Faith in 1996? He can't. The "Clown" would have to turn himself into a "Magician"! 

And so on this single point alone Márcio Mello Chaves will lose. "USED and REGISTERED" are the keys. Of course that is only one set of keys. There will be a multitude of reasons his claim will be denied if/when it ever goes forward! It is flawed on so many levels it could not even reach the lowest bar let alone some of the high hurdles.

Márcio Mello Chaves of Brazil Acting in BAD FAITH on behalf of SaveMe.com.br
The POSTER BOY for Reverse Domain Hijacking

Stay Tuned!

Rick Schwartz

 

Márcio Mello Chaves is a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing and I am Going to Make him and Saveme.com.br Famous.

Afternoon Folks!!

So today I get a WIPO action from a company in Brazil I never heard of until today. What struck me was that it was one of the most generic domains I own. SaveMe.com

I hand registered this domain in 1996. Before this company was even in business or thought of. They decided to go the lawyer route and try to reverse hijack this domain that they have no claim to whatsoever. Now I am going to stick it up thier asses! :-)

But it gets better. As I am going through the attachments and this CLOWN, Márcio Mello Chaves, contacted me back in August to buy the domain name. I told them at that time “High 6 Figures”. He came back at $10k and I said not even $100k. End of that chain. There may be more, have not researched anything yet on my end. (See comment 99 for details)

The clown is actually the attorney that filed the WIPO Action. So now that I know this CLOWN, Márcio Mello Chaves is just a wolf in sheeps clothing he is a low life to me. When some LOW LIFE stoops to that level, that rubs me the wrong way and I intend to use this guy as an example along with the CHEAP PRICKS he represents. Oh, that would be himself and brother pictured below. Marcio on the left and Heitor on the right of Buscape.com.br. Guys that appear to be professionals and would not suspect them of doing bad things and so now they are EXPOSED for the WORLD to see!

   
Did these two CHUMPS conspire against me and my domain name to Reverse Domain Hijack Saveme.com because they own SaveMe.com.br and were too cheap or did not have the money to buy MY domain name? Now I am going to stick it up BOTH of their asses. Let's find out what they KNEW in June 2010 when they opened up shop. Are these CHUMPS going to claim they did not know the dotcom version was taken???

But more importantly to YOU, this is what I learned. Just like the .co leaked 61%, one of the documents they filed show that 43% of my traffic comes from Brazil. The traffic they might be leaking. Why?? Because this CLOWN represents SaveMe.com.br and they have a HUGE LEAK! Or so they say.

Yo Baby!! That’s what I have been talking about for years now and especially recently. Not my fault dude. Not my problem dude. There are thousands with similar problems. Talk to ICANN. The new gtld's will only make it more of a clusterfuck. No Johnny Come Lately is going to even TRY and take what I own after this. I am going to hang my hat on this action. 

So Buscape.com.br aka saveme.com.br filed a WIPO today because they think that is cheaper. They think they are entiltled. Well guess what? Bad move SPORT!  The value of this domain just went up. That is why dotcom is KING! So this guy with no ethics decided to try this little trick. Because of that, I will make him a poster boy so others know what is coming and how it is coming. I will be as transparent as I can be. Just like Goofoff.com and what became of a similar sitution. These morons just don't seem to learn. So they need to be educated. That only happens when the thing explodes in their face. That is unfortunate. My job is to protect every other domain I own from similar jerks. So each time I have no choice but to make them regret their actions. 

There is no company on earth that should be allowed to intimidate any domain owner at any level. So Márcio Mello Chaves I am going to make you famous. You and the idiots you represent might have this all come back on you. That's before I even mess with MY domain SaveMe.com which I am sure I can use in a very effective way to illustrate what a FOOL you and your clients are. To make sure your own customers know what you folks are and how you behave. Preadators! I never initiated contact with you but if you mess and poke this lion, be prepared to explain things to everyone you know and everyone you will ever know. As they said in the "Social Network", the Internet is in INK.

So this will never go away and will only be a search away. Bloggers will blog about your behavior and that of your client. Then customers might not think they want to do business with such a predator. Assuming you have any customers. When it spins out of control, look in the mirror. You are fucking with MY LIVELY-HOOD and that is a place that not only I will defend, but will legally SLAY anyone that gets in the way. I will do everything legally and openly, but tastefully is not a promise. I am going to stick it up your asses in the most unpleasant and disgusting way I know how in front of the world. I will always be factual. But I don't always have good taste or play by any other rules other than by what is legal. If you folks get embarrassed, so be it. If you have to explain to your family and neighbors, so be it. WIPO is public and so is everything to come.

Márcio Mello Chaves, Heitor Chaves and SaveMe.com.br.....You are going to be the poster boys that ends up protecting every dot com domain holder in the world from predators and lowlifes like you. SCUM! Márcio Mello Chaves, you and your brother just peed on the HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FENCE!  Me. But you and that third rate company you represent can't afford MY domain name. Dotcom is KING! I have owned SaveMe.com for 16 YEARS and you will not STEAL it from me or anyone. You and SaveMe.com.br are just being exposed as the predators you are. Maybe those tactics work for you sometimes, not here. Not ever again. Let's see what your own customers have to say when this goes viral. You opened this can of worms. DEAL WITH IT! Here is his Linkedin Page so if you get an email from him, run!

More to come. I have a mission. :-) In the way these folks think, just go ahead and register any country code or 3rd class domain and then go after the dotcom because of some sense of entitlement to things they don't own just because it will make their business stronger or better or more competitive. So if I buy a house in Kansas with a 500 Park Avenue address, I am certainly entitled to throw out the guy in New York City if I do well according to their bent logic. 

Márcio Mello Chaves of Brazil Acting in BAD FAITH!
The POSTER BOY for Reverse Domain Hijacking

What can you do? Spread the word. Save me and Save you. It's the gospel to anyone that makes a living online. How fitting to have the SaveMe.com domain name used in this landmark case. Some may say....Miraculous!!

 

Rick Schwartz 

UPDATE: Here is the actual Complaint: You all should read this because his allegations and extreme over reaches would have a bearing on many of you.

Você simpatiza com gente que tenta dar um "jeitinho" para tomar coisas que não lhes pertence?

Este é o caso de 2 irmãos no Brasil que estão por trás de um site relativamente novo, o SaveMe.com.br. Veja, eu possuo o domínio genérico SaveMe.com aqui nos EUA desde 1996, quando o domínio (aquilo que vem depois do www...) estava livre e eu o registrei. 16 anos mais tarde, esta empresa no Brasil parece ter optado por um caminho sujo, após registrar o domínio SaveMe.com.br, em 2010.

Agora eles querem o MEU domínio, e não querem pagar por isso!!! Eles simplesmente querem que a justiça lhes "entregue" o domínio. Sem mesmo ter uma marca registrada do nome "Save Me" no Brasil, quanto mais aqui nos EUA, eles decidiram entrar com uma ação contra mim e meu domínio de 16 anos. Note que, antes de entrarem com uma ação, eles fizeram ofertas pelo domínio, mas eu as rejeitei, simplesmente porque não estavam no patamar adequado, com a agravante de que não informaram corretamente quem eram (ou seja, mentiram). Eu nunca soube que eles representavam esta empresa até que esta semana recebi uma intimação. Acredito que você possa ver claramente as implicações do que eles estão tentando fazer, pois eles não têm quaisquer direitos sobre aquilo que não lhes pertence.

-------------------------------------- 

¿A usted le agradan las personas que tratan de tomar cosas que no le pertenecen?

Este es el caso de 2 hermanos en Brasil que aparentemente operan un sitio web relativamente nuevo; "Saveme.com.br" Ocurre que yo soy dueño del dominio genérico Saveme.com" en los Estados  Unidos (USA) desde el año 1996 cuando lo registre a mano. 15 años más tarde esta empresa en Brasil parece haber encontrado algo valioso al registrar "SaveMe.com.br" en el 2010.

 

Ahora ellos quieren mi dominio y no quieren pagar el precio justo de mercado. Quieren que las cortes simplemente se los den. Sin nisiquiera una marca registrada en Brasil, y mucho menos en Los Estados Unidos (USA), ellos han decidido demandarme a mi y mi dominio de 16 años. Claro, yo no acepte sus ofertas por que simplemente no estaban nisiquiera cerca del valor correcto. Adicionalmente, el oculto su verdadera identidad. Nunca supe que el representaba esta compañia hasta esta semana cuando recibi los papeles. Pienso que usted puede claramente ver las implicaciones, y que ellos no tienen derecho alguno sobre algo que no les pertenece.

 

Si usted trabaja o ha trabajado con esta empresa, tal vez podria notificarles que no intenten tomar cosas que no le pertenecen.

--------------------------------------

Do you like people that try and take things that don't belong to them?

Such is the case with 2 brothers in Brazil that seem to run a fairly new site SaveMe.com.br
See, I own the generic domain name here in the USA SaveMe.com since 1996 when I hand registered it. 15 years later this company in Brazil seems to have hit pay dirt after registering SaveMe.com.br. in 2010.

Now they want MY domain name and they don't want to pay fair market value. They want the courts to just give it to them. Without even a trademark in Brazil let alone the USA, they have decided to file a suit against me and my domain of 16 years. See I refused their offers because they simply were not in the ballpark plus he misrepresented who he was. I never knew he represented this company until this week when I got the papers. I think you can clearly see the implications and that they have no rights to what does not belong to them.

If you ever use this company, you might want to tell them not to try and take things that don't belong to them.

 

3/19/2012 UPDATE:

Let's see if he responds or ABANDONS this suit. We will know in 5 days.

"In accordance with Rules, Paragraph 4(b), you are hereby notified of the following formal deficiency with your Complaint:

(1) The text below section (C) of the Complaint, with the emboldened heading “Bad Faith in the Domain Name Use”, does not appear to describe why the domain name should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith.

Please note that paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy and paragraph 3(b)(ix)(3) of the Rules require a complainant to describe why the domain name(s) should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith.

(2) The Complaint has not been signed (in any electronic format) by the Complainant or its authorized representative, as required by Rules, Paragraph 3(b)(xiv).

Unless the deficiency specified above are cured within five (5) calendar days, March 24, 2012, of the date of this notification, in accordance with Rules, Paragraph 4(b), your Complaint will be deemed withdrawn, without prejudice to the submission of a new Complaint by you."

I think I can hang my hat on this part: "Please note that paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy and paragraph 3(b)(ix)(3) of the Rules require a complainant to describe why the domain name(s) should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith."

Now please tell me how I REGISTERED saveme.com in Bad Faith in 1996? He can't. And so on this single point alone he will lose. "USED and REGISTERED" are the keys. Of course that is only one set of keys. There will be a multitude of reasons his claim will be denied!

 3/24/2012 UPDATE

4/25/2012 UPDATE: Yesterday we filed and published our official legal response to this suit. You can read the contents at: http://www.erealestate.com/saveme.htm

One of My Cheapest DotCom Domain Purchases EVER!

Morning Folks!!

So as I told you last month I finally made a list of all my domain name purchases from 1996 until today. I got some amazing deals. Some are hard to believe. But when you sell diamonds for a living and know nothing about diamonds or their characteristics, quality or rarity, that is a problem that plagues many in the domain name world. Some just have a "Circumstance" that forces a sale at very low prices. 

This is the story of a very cheap domain. Actually the CHEAPEST domain name of domains with substance. Yes, by now you may have guessed it is Cheapest.com. But that is only the half of it. The $62 price tag on Cheapest.com makes it one of the Cheapest dot com domains I bought from a third party. 

I am sure the seller was a happy camper. Probably quadrupled his money! But domaining is much more than "Markup". Had the seller understood he was dealing with "Diamonds" and taken the time to examine it, he would have realized that domain had great value. Instead of selling me a domain, he sold me an oil well. 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz 

Birdie in The Mine DOA. We Now have a CAUSE of Death!

Morning Folks!!

It has been no secret where I stand with the O.co debacle. I have written extensively on the subject. No other subject has been covered closer by me in nearly 5 years of this blog. Why? Because this was important. Very important. This bit of information is huge and I said many times I would "Hang my hat on it" before I even knew the results. This golden goose has given birth again. A complete set.

The DomainIncite article today and the quote from Patrick Byrne of Overstock.com says it all. 

“O.co was my bad call” and that “about eight out of 13 people who were trying to visit us through O.co, eight were typing O.com”

8 out of 13 folks! Pay attention. These statements made by these folks are priceless and I thank them for it. 

We finally know the other side of this famous statement and added together, that is the whole enchilada! A full and defined equation using the best of circumstances with MILLIONS of dollars thrown at it and a full result.

"Mr. Johnson said customers responded well to the O.co advertising, but after watching the spots, "a good portion" of those who sought out the website went to O.com, instead of O.co."

We now have a definition of "Good Portion." WOW!!!!!

According to the numbers that works out to 61%. 61%!!!! That is OFF the chart. Until now I had always believed that 50% would have been the high water mark. But 61% is much more devastating and that 61% will improve in time. To maybe 50% which is still DOA.

With all the evidence there was still debate disguised as hope. That hope is now DOA as well. The debate os OVER! What SCHMUCK wants to argue the FACT that if you use a .CO and lose 60% of your HARD WORK, advertising dollars, customers, sales, new customers, etc. etc. etc is worth doing? (or imo any other extension other than .com without owning the .com) 

This should be a bar that every business not using a .com learns from. It may be invisible to them, but they are not leaking, they are hemorrhaging. Those that continue to close their eyes to the facts will continue to be SLAVES to people they don't even know. Like me and many of you!!

As they open up thousands of new avenues, I will enjoy the extra traffic and money and I wish them all the great success! I love you my brothers! Build empires. 

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

P.S. Here are just a few of my .co articles because I have articulated just how important this result would be BEFORE we ever got a result. And with loads of ads and Superbowl advertising and it is still spitting in the wind. This is a huge blow to .whatever and just because there are many forces that will push back as they have $$$ on the table, it will not change the facts. The equation will only be slightly different with others.

Lastly, let me tip my hat to the folks at Overstock.com that had the GUTS to actually follow the numbers and not bury them like most would. They did a great service for all of us. They learned something and they shared it. Mr. Johnson, Mr. Byrne, you are stand up guys and you bared for all following your heart and how sometimes that collides with following the numbers.

Overstock did something on a grand scale, got a grand result and those that don't learn after all the dollars they have spent need to keep reading the following 2 statements until they do.

Imagine, not only pissing 61% of all somebody's business away, but in a similar scenario they could be pissing that traffic right into the mouths of their competition. Who after what Overstock has taught us would risk that now?  SCHMUCKS!!! I mean this is as simple as it gets. A company could collapse over something like this. Luckily nothing was at O.com because had there been a competitor there, it would likely sting 1000 times as bad. 

"Mr. Johnson said customers responded well to the O.co advertising, but after watching the spots, "a good portion" of those who sought out the website went to O.com, instead of O.co."

Patrick Byrne said 

“O.co was my bad call” and that “about eight out of 13 people who were trying to visit us through O.co, eight were typing O.com”

 January 23, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/01/my-take-on-ocomi-mean-oco-and-other-new-extensions-and-their-fate.html

January 29, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/01/will-any-co-stand-up-to-udrp-or-wipo-and-will-it-be-worth-defending.html

February 6, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/02/coboom-or-bust-love-or-anger-confusing-the-confusion.html

May 11, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/05/the-birdie-in-the-domain-mines-singing-or-dying.html

November 14, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/11/the-birdie-in-the-mine-dead-at-just-11-months-of-age-now-what.html

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/11/is-it-over-for-co-big-fanfare-turns-embarrassing-and-costly-with-oco-decision.html

November 18, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/11/whatever-and-the-biggest-losers-.html

December 1, 2011

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/12/mission-accomplished.html