Rick Schwartz blog on .mobi

[hugegrowth]

Rick Schwartz has a recent post on his blog about .mobi, why it is hated by some, etc. A good read for .mobi investors.

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2007/11/mobi-sunday-foo.html

 

[Gerry]

And even a good read for mobi haters.

This is where defamation of character and slander can come into play.

Accuse and publish before you have facts, Jay?

Then try to retract?

And then drag registrars and TRAFFIC and Monte into this?

Amazing, millionaire boys slugging it out over words.

And I want to go to a domain conference and listen to words of wisdom from any of these gods and gurus???

90's thinking, just like big hair at the mall.

 

[cursal]

Nice read, been meaning to check ricks blog this month.

also good link to keep up with .mobi development

http://www.developing.mobi/

 

[Dale Hubbard]

One aspect makes me chuckle. Profanity never gets anywhere in such prose. Rise above that. Gives more credibility.

 

[hugegrowth]

I liked some of Rick's points about .mobi, like some don't like .mobi because it takes attention away from other extensions, that you can't ignore the high prices .mobi's are going for, etc, the facts are that .mobi's are selling for good prices.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

I liked some of Rick's points about .mobi, like some don't like .mobi because it takes attention away from other extensions, that you can't ignore the high prices .mobi's are going for, etc, the facts are that .mobi's are selling for good prices.

I agree with that 100%. But you can't use profane accentuation at his level - some people look at that and do a double take. Reputations are often ruined by perception. I mean - take a look at mine

 

[sasquatch]

To listen somebody first you need to know who are you listening to.

Rick (and his old bud Monte) have big vested interest in perpetuating .mobi myth around. Their own investments and gains are riding directly on it. Listening to Rick defend .mobi is like listening to realtors talk about the "soft landing" of the U.S. real estate market (when in reality the more appropriate expression would be "slaughter"). So Rick is full of dangerous, ideological (bull)shit.

Alleged .Mobi prices obtained at Monte's auctions only show the amounts of dough that various latecomers and speculators are willing to drop in the "organized domain aftermarket" in this post Yun Ye bailout. In fact the whole domain industry lives off itself. The biggest source of majority of .COM sales for a while now are none others than other domainers, and/or other deep pocketed buyers that buy to speculate for future appreciations. So if the .com sales are bullshit, you better believe that .mobi sales are outrightly unsound, and that one day soon this game of musical chairs will come to an abrupt end, and the last man left standing holding the bag will be the biggest fool of 'em all.

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Sas,
Whether you are right or wrong time will tell. It is hard sitting facing a pc screen what happens behind closed doors. But I am forever impressed with your guts to spill out what's on your mind. I applaud you for that.

I don't have a big mouth like those self proclaimed kings, queens, emperors and prince and what have you. But I want to say this to every domain owner who is selling generics based ((( purely ))) on traffic and revenue stats, not to do so.

I made $18,000 for 7 generic domains sales last month. No traffic and stats required by the buyers. As long as you know 100% who your target buyer will be, do not sell your generics based on traffic and especially revenue stats. This is just a ploy created by those who want to scoop up good names for less. Traffic and revenues are a compliment to the domain, not it's value. If those in this business were concerned for the domainers overall well being they would have said what I just did.

I always had a strong mistrust for a good number (not all) of big domain name sales prices. I have in the past approached the so called big domainers in the industry with some super generic names like the ones you see on DNJ and all they are willing to pay is 24 month multiples. What they say in the media and what they do, does not match.

I have nothing against those who are successful. I am successful in my own right. Mostly for NOT following what the so called kings of the business have to say.

Besides, it is their responsibility to create an environment that is transparent especially when they have a whole lot of mambo jumbo to bark about all over the web.

Unless it is a typo, I will NEVER sell my names based on PPC revenues. Whoever created this sales criteria did a good job brainwashing many a domainers.

It is not my job to tell folks to adjust their current value system. To each their own. But, your success in this industry rests on whose values you choose to follow. If you have another 10 years to waste based on current model of successful domainers, then good luck once again. The entire industry will take an about turn before you know what hit your portfolio.

I agree with Jay Westerdal when he says that our industry needs 'Transparency'. There is a whole lot of people in this ecosystem naive enough to believe everything plastered out there are facts. There are thousands of domainers in this business who dream of making it big. I say to them. Pray and hope for the best or enjoy your part time domaining after a hard day at the office or create your own network of shill hype masters.

For now, this is the only way unless you bought some gold back in the 90's.

 

[hugegrowth]

Nice overall advice, I agree domains have more value that ppc revenue alone. Remember though you can't expect a domainer, even a rich domainer, to pay end user prices for domains. The buyer always wants the cheapest price, and the seller always wants the top price. As a business person, the less you pay, the less risk you have to carry an asset. Can't complain about that. The domain market is too big to be rigged by a handful of conspirators.

 

[Raider]

They hate the new kid on the block because the extension they are invested in may not be doing as well unless it is dotcom or one of the country codes that do well

I think there's some truth to this, but I don't think Domain envy is the primary reason.... Another reason could be that many in this industry see no future or use for the .mobi TLD. When you listen to someone like Rick who has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the .mobi TLD, its almost an impossibility to get an objective opinion.

I remember listening to the last Moniker auction, where they had some impressive .mobi sales, and shortly after a .mobi sold for a good sum, Monte said " It looks like dot mobi is back" ...... this struck me as strange because I never knew it was gone.

 

[hugegrowth]

If you read Rick's blog entry, he doesn't bash or pump .mobi, he just says "look at what the market is doing and make your moves accordingly". Everyone has to make their own judgement on whether they think the market is right or not. Again, a few people can't make the market for a whole extension, and personally I think if .mobi really had no value the bottom would've fallen out by now.

 

[Fearless]

Rick has 200K reasons to pump .mobi.

 

[hugegrowth]

but do you really believe the whole .mobi market is moving on one man's words?

 

[Vision]

Rick has 200K reasons to pump .mobi.

Hey Fear,

How many reasons do these Fortune 500 companies have to market/pump/promote .mobi?

Banking

BofA.mobi (Bank of America)
Deutsche-Bank.mobi
Wachovia.mobi
Barclays.mobi

Insurance

Ing.mobi
StateFarm.mobi
AXA.mobi

Disney:
HSM2.mobi

Hotels
Hilton.mobi
Marriott.mobi

Car Manufacturers

Ferrari.mobi
BMW.mobi
Rolls-Royce.mobi
FordCA.mobi (Ford Canada)

Transportation

Amtrak.mobi
AAA.mobi (American Automobile Association)

Sports

ESPN.mobi
NBA.mobi
WNBA.mobi

Magazines

Time.mobi (Time Magazine)
BusinessWeek.mobi
CNNMoney.mobi

Alcohol

Smirnoff.mobi

Internet

MSN.mobi
GoDaddy.mobi / TDNAM.mobi

Technology

Cisco.mobi
3Skype.mobi
3Next.mobi

News
FoxNews.mobi
AlJazeera.mobi
TBS.mobi

Newspapers

TheSun.mobi

Guides

Zagat.mobi

Mobile Operators
T-Mobile.mobi
Three.mobi
Vodafone.mobi
TIM.mobi
Orange.mobi

Mobile Manufacturers

Nokia.mobi
SonyEricsson.mobi


Telecommunications
Ericsson.mobi

Weather

Weather.mobi (The Weather Channel)

Cities

Helsinki.mobi

Airlines

SAS.mobi

Clothing

Polo.mobi
Quikstore.mobi (Quiksilver)
BennetonPress.mobi

Airports

Schiphol.mobi (Amsterdam)

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Nice overall advice, I agree domains have more value that ppc revenue alone. Remember though you can't expect a domainer, even a rich domainer, to pay end user prices for domains. The buyer always wants the cheapest price, and the seller always wants the top price. As a business person, the less you pay, the less risk you have to carry an asset. Can't complain about that. The domain market is too big to be rigged by a handful of conspirators.

Great counter point to my rant.

 

[sasquatch]

but do you really believe the whole .mobi market is moving on one man's words?

Majority of the people in this world are followers.

The whole segments of any given markets are reactive in nature. The rumor of one person on Wall Street can significantly move the market up or down.

Even on this board, people are blind followers. It was enough of Blink to make one thread and tell people to register remaining three letter .us domains, and within two days they were all gone. ONE MAN did that!

Pre Yun Ye sellout, you had hell of a time selling prime three letter .com's for 2k on this board. You'd go days without a sale. Practically beginng people to take it off your hands. And look what they are fetching now.

Very few people have the ability to swim against the current. Heck, most of them don't even realize they are swimming against the current.

Anything goes. Party time.

 

[Gerry]

Rick has 200K reasons to pump .mobi.

How about everyone reading Jay's blog where he made the accusations in public, on his site, against TRAFFIC, Rick, Moniker, and Monte...only to retract and apologize but STILL might find himself in hot water.

How many damn .com, .net, and dot anything don't get paid? Yet that is not an issue? That is not part of the transparency problem here?

My bank account tells me that is precisely the problem...more than $25,000.00 worth of domains bid on and not paid at Sedo this year. All .com and .net.

Yet not one person has highlighted this issue with Sedo, Afternic, Pool, TRAFFIC, and every other auction service in their blogs. No transparency, period. Millions of dollars unquestionably unpaid for yet not revealed by these services.

But someone wants to make an issue out of .mobi? Simply because it is .mobi? Simply because the person making an issue has a dislike for .mobi?

How ridiculous is that.

It has become an issue of personal likes and dislikes that people want to start shit about rather than have the actual facts before posting it on a blog.

Oh, my...look what I have uncovered. I'm going to post this.

How stupid and foolish is that?

I would still be laughing my ass off about two so called "experts", "gurus", "domain gods" going at each other like this no matter what extension.

That also appears to be part of the problem...too many people regarding every word of Frank, Sahar, Jay, Rick, and all the others as some holy gospel.

If you can't think for yourself, act on your own behalf, and make an intelligent decision without first consulting the dalai lamas of domaindom, then something is seriously wrong.

If you do not have capacity to make a decision on your own, then who the hell is steering you where you are now?

There is tremendous opportunity out there still. There are new and emerging markets for every extension. You just have to dig for yourself and dig. Do you think Frank, Sahar, Jay, Rick are going to reveal anything? Only after they have mined out these new frontiers will they tell all. What are the new frontiers? Don't know. They're not telling.

I read on this very forum where a $200K for a .net was foolish. Foolish for who? The buyer? The seller? No...foolish in the eyes of those that don't like .net. Same as those who don't like IDN and .mobi. And yes, even some do not prefer .com.

You gotta wake up and realize the only one reading all this shit about domains is domainers. Not the global economy and commerce. The majority of the population of the planet don't care either way in any of these matters.

Doubtful anyone outside of domainers have ever heard of these people. And certainly could care less about their opinions (and ours) on the domaining issues at hand. The only ones who care are the domainers.

And while you are reading Jay's column where he makes false accusations against Rick, TRAFFIC, Monte, Moniker and others, be sure to look at Jays tools on Domain Tools.

Sassy, you wanted to know what domains Sahar owns? All you need to know is what, who, and how they are registered. That's it.

Plug those values into Jay's tool and there you have the list.

Where, how many, expiration, you name it.

So Jay is a good guy? When he can provide anyone with the means to disclose who owns what and how many? Sure, I can get privacy for all my domains. But why? To protect them from other domainers. Now how stupid is that.

Before anyone starts bashing this extension and that extension, get facts straight. A personal like or dislike is not grounds for dismissing the domain.

I don't like it, I'm not buying it, it is not needed, its a scam.

Been hearing that for several years now, long before .mobi came out.

Anyone got anything original to add? Or are we back to copying and pasting.

Read Jay's blog to see what started this fracas in the first place. Perhaps Jay can come on here and enlighten us as to why he did such a foolish thing to begin with.

Stupid is what stupid does.
Forrest Gump

 

[hugegrowth]

I started this thread because I thought the blog raised a couple good points that aren't always mentioned regarding .mobi, people's motives for attacking it and letting the market find the balance. I have maybe a dozen .mobi's, so it really doesn't affect me. The idea of successful domainers pumping up the whole domain market, and having nothing to offer those who come after them, is just ridiculous to me. I'd rather spend my time planning my own next move, than agonizing over what other people's motives may or may not be.

 

[Poker]

I'd rather spend my time planning my own next move, than agonizing over what other people's motives may or may not be.

Good plan, but don't forget, your next move(s) will be influenced by your last move and so will your bankroll/budget.

 

[acronym007]

I agree 100% and any smart businessman "move with the market". It doesn't matter why. For me personally, I don't .mobi at all. Why someone would spend $10k on .mobi when they could have a .com with traffic, it makes no sense to me at all. The reality is that my opinion doesn't matter. If the market moves with .mobi then it's best to be on board that train.