So I purchased this one about a year ago for $x,xxx and secured all the other gTLD and few ccTLD’s to cover my ass because I thought I had a perfect project to launch on this one… Was really excited and all. Well, it’s been a while now and as you can see… There is still nothing on this domain.Ooops! Totally forgot about it.

I like to play around with words in general, so my logic is… Some domains can be referred to as doughmains if they are worth a lot of dough… You know what I mean or is this all non-sense? LOL   I’ve worked with the fella who owns Domains.com actually, he is a great guy… and I think Doughmains.com is the next best thing to Domains.com for a unique service for industry insiders… Yes, you have to be creative and do a lot of branding, but I think there is potential. Who knows?!

Anyways… I am trying to figure out what exactly to do with this one in 2011. Scrapping my original idea and I am looking for some new ideas. Lets hear em!

I’ve been meaning to write this kind of a post and address a topic that’s been on my mind for like almost 2 years now… Not sure how to do it without hurting some people’s feelings and ruffling a few feathers. Probably impossible. Anyways, I’ve written and re-written it maybe a half dozen times. Shit! I still am not ready to release it… But may do so one of these days. What the heck.

Now back to the question. It’s short and simple… Really. Who is going to put us (domain industry) on the map for good… WHO? Unfortuantely it won’t be Rick Schwartz… Rick Latona… Frank Schilling… Kevin Ham and all those so called domainer rock stars. I have nothing against them personally, love what they do and what they are all about but truth be told.. They alone don’t have the resources. Not even close. It’s an impossible task.

We have this huge problem on our hands because there is a disconnect between many of the companies at the top of the chain. Not too many of them are thinking big anymore and how they can pool their resources in order to breakthrough… They are in their nice little comfort zone.. Pretty much used to the same old grind and routines, year after year after year… Who is stepping up as of late?! Very few companies / people.

It sucks… But there is hope I think. So do you get where this is going?

It’s right about that time of the year, few more weeks and 2010 is history… It’s almost over pretty much and for me a good opportunity to reflect on things. Overall, it was pretty shitty in my book because a lot of bad shit happened. Got nothing to complain about on the business side of things though where all is well and as busy as ever but everything that goes on behind the scenes with what matters most in life and that is family and friends… This year was pretty bad.

Seemed like every other person I know had 10x of the usual drama… Sicknesses… Hospitals… And the worst things of all is a few death’s in the family. Argh. Has been a pretty stressful year with everything that you can only imagine and then some but it is what it is. That is life. I am really looking forward to the new year, hopefully it will be better than 2010… I am starting to prepare mentally and get re-motivated and somewhat excited for what is to come.

It’s so damn easy to get outta touch with what matters most in life for anybody who does biz almost exclusively online and in this virtual world… Everything that goes on here can be extremely overwhelming. Easy to ignore and forget the little things which are actually the most important. All I gotta say is that you better have somebody keeping you in check, be it your girlfriend, wife, brothers, sisters, friends, etc. Everybody needs a kick in the ass… I get mine on a consistent basis, hopefully you get yours too. It’s good for you. Really. Be greatful!

Here comes a new tax law for online sellers / merchants. Starting in January of 2011, all U.S. payment providers including PayPal will be required by the IRS to report sales information about certain merchants.  This new law basically applies only to those receiving $20,000+ and at least 200 payments per year. I suggest everybody takes some time to read what it’s all about and get familiar with it if you do a lot of business via PayPal.

Under the new legislation, PayPal will be required to report to the IRS the total payment volume received by PayPal customers in the US who:

* Receive more than $20,000 in gross payment volume in a single year, AND
* Receive 200 or more payments in a single year.

The IRS changes will apply to all payment providers, including PayPal. They will take effect on January 1, 2011, with the first reports going to the IRS in early 2012.

If you meet the stated thresholds, you will be required to verify your identity by adding a SSN/TIN/EIN to your existing account. If you are currently using a Personal or Premier account, you will be required to upgrade to a Business account.

Big changes coming without a doubt… You can read more about this new law right over here.

Exclusivity in your personal life and business too is a beautiful thing… It all starts with building win-win relationships and trying to shoot for the long-term. Thinking big. Helping and supporting each-other all along the way. None of this comes about overnight, but when it does happen, it is so awesome. One you are there, many annoying little issues and doubts disappear and you are all set. Mind 100% clear and you are ready to take over the world. Woohoo!

I personally haven’t had many of these long term relationships in my life because I am still in my early 20’s and for a very long time I hated anything that seemed permanent because things get old / boring really fast for some reason but as of late it is something I’ve been a lot more aware and focused on: exclusivity and long-term relationships…. I want em! Bring em on. Starting to like them more and more.

Just thinking about it all, my longest business relationship I’d have to say would have to be with Nike. Funny, right? Not what you probably expected to hear, but as I recall it all started when I was 4 or 5 years old and on a Tennis court of all places. My tennis pro was all about Nike and I had to have everything he did, because he was somebody I looked up-to and really good at what he did… So I told my parents I want everything Nike. Shorts… Shirts… Underwear… Socks… Hats… Bags… Shoes… EVERYTHING. Plus it rhymes with my name. Can’t go wrong with that!

Fast forward almost 20 years later and I am still about Nike when it comes to athletic stuff. I have nothing against Adidas or the other top brands. I think they are alright… But I just love Nike and won’t have anything else. We have an exclusive relationship as far as I am concerned. I refuse to wear anything other than Nike. I love their products and I support them.

Exclusivity and relationships make things a lot easier in life. It is when you establish the fact that you are happy with whatever product or service that you are getting and you know exactly what you want and when you do get it everytime, when it is time… It’s exactly a perfect and good match. All expectations met. Pleased…. Happiness!

I don’t think too many other people are as obsessed / attached as me to one brand… But I have my reasons. Everybody out there is just all over the place, looking for sales… Looking for the new trends… I say screw that. It’s too chaotic and a waste of time. Keep it simple. Stick to something good and something you know that works. Can’t go wrong with that. Right?

Been trying to get this through the head of my GF who spends way too much time shopping, but she’s not ready to settle down yet… There is the fun factor and the excitement in shopping for new crap… New brands just released… Something very emotional and fulfilling about it all that has to do with the human psyche. “The chase is better than the catch” outsiders will say, and I am in agreement. LOL

In order to work more efficiently, get a lot more bang for your buck and be more successful in life you need the exclusivity and relationships…. So with whatever business it is that you are in, try to focus on doing just that. Getting the seeds planted and then building a strong relationship which can hopefully turn into exclusivity one day. When that does happen, it’ll be a beautiful thing, for both sides. Win-win.

I started blogging about the topic of “domain development” and domaining in general a little over 2 years ago and a lot has happened since then. Met a lot of people. Did a lot of business. Lotsa kinds of relationships were established, but the ones which are/were the most successful are from like-minded people who think long term…. With every new project that we work and launch together, the more dedicated and exclusive we become to each other.

Once again, it doesn’t happen overnight… Nothing does anymore. Something I have to always remind myself. I’ve never been the most patient person, but slowly and surely I am getting there. Hell, I am now preaching this to clients almost every other day and trying to explain this stuff…. Patience… Important… A must… Breathe… Blah Blah… Isn’t that crazy? Who would of even thought.

There has been many people doubting what it is that we do as far as domain investing and mass development goes… Met plenty of haters and newbies who have no idea what they are talking about… Many cheering for failure and taking shots here and there but hey, look at me… Look at us today. We are still around, alive and well. Not going anywhere anytime soon either. Just getting started… Got a long way to go. So, looking back, 2 years is really nothing. Seeds just got planted… Real work is just beginning. Time to get down and dirty.

Ever since I can remember I have always strongly been against this herding mentality and behavior… The want and need to be different runs in my blood. Sometime for a very good reason, sure, sometime just for the hell of it. I truly hate to be a follower, because I think of myself as a leader… Or maybe a rebel? Whatever it is… It’s all good. Just the way I’ve always been and always will be. I am always glad to agree to disagree and “to each his own” because we’re all entitled to our opinions but hey… I still think I am right, and that you (yes all of you) are wrong and the results will speak for themselves

There is a lot of herding going on just about in every business if you look online and offline… Domaining biz is no different really. Now if you ask somebody who is being herded, why exactly he is doing this or that… Often times he will say but why not? Everybody else is doing it so must be good… Or acceptable? LOL. Right! Terrible answer, man…

People just want to be popular at the end of the day, so it’s understandable as the motive for the poor judgement and actions… They want to have a sense of belonging and most won’t ever admit that whatever product or service that they are getting themselves tangled into and indeed supporting  with their moollah sucks or not performing because pride comes in the way. They invested time, money and resources… To admit failure? Oh, never that. Silence in shame… A must.

Anyways… Lets talk about the new Harry Potter movie, a herding example at it’s best. I bet you half if not more of the people going to see it don’t give a shit about it to begin with but they are going because everybody is buzzing about it and telling them or pressuring them to go as well… So it must be good? Not really.

The last Harry Potter movie which came out in summer of 2009 I went to see. It was my first Harry Potter movie and it would be my last. I never read the stupid books or anything like that because that shit doesn’t interest me one bit… So why did I end up going to see it last year? Well, it’s a funny story… The “herding behavior” is what got me.

I was in Atlantic City, NJ last summer with my GF and a couple of close friends / partners celebrating a successful re-launch of a new marketing business. We all stayed at the Tropicana. It’s one of my favorite spots in Atlantic City because it has like a dozen nightclubs on-site, dozens of restaurants, etc.

So my GF is into all this fantasy types of adventure movies and I am not sure why or how she convinced me one of the nights that we were there (probably because I was too drunk and out of it) but we went ahead to see it with one other couple. The Tropicana hotel has an IMAX theatre so we didn’t have to go far as it’s right on-site and she swore the movie was going to be so awesome because it’s in IMAX + 3D and everybody who she spoke to said it was the shit… LOL.

So 2 or 3 hours later, I found out indeed that it was shit. Literally. SHIT. It had maybe 10 mins of 3D action, the rest was just your typical movie experience with lots of talking, running around, blah blah. Was one of the worst movies I’ve seen in a while. Even my GF said it wasn’t all that great at the end… But whatever, it is what it is. I sure could of used those 2 or 3 hours to do something a lot more fun. I hate to waste time.

It’s something you need to watch out for though every single day online and offline… This herding can be dangerous, especially when we’re dealing with money and lots of business decisions. If you can’t realize on your own that the only way to truly breakthrough and make a lot of money is actually by being on the other side, in other words against the masses of sheep and entire herd… Then you won’t ever be successful.

You gotta think outside of the box nowadays. Just because everybody is doing something, doesn’t mean that you should as well. Everybody is different. The one-fits-all model is wack. Don’t believe the hype either.

As for the new Harry Potter movie coming out next week… Thanks but no thanks. I will have to pass. So what that it is produced on a $250 million budget once again?? That don’t impress me. So what that the previous 2 releases grossed close to $1.9 billion worldwide? That’s sheep shit right there. I say fuck it. Plenty of better movies to be seen… Really. Think about it. Consider all your options

All the non-sense Andrew at DomainNameWire.com has been posting about Epik as of late is really suspect… Now I’ve long enjoyed his blog’s coverage of the industry and supported it by advertising on there a couple of times even but statements such as “Regardless of where Epik is one, two, and five years down the road, the domain name industry should support the company’s efforts…” got me scrtaching my head.

I mean seriously, WTF… ? Are you guys for real??! LOL. Can somebody please tell me one thing that Epik or this “platform” (which BTW I can put together on a 4 figure budget in under one month if I needed to) has succeeded in or positives brought to the domain industry other than hype, undelivered promises and making failure a part of day-to-day life and reality for everybody who is involved one way or another for the past year or year and a half?

Things aren’t making much sense to me, and I know it’s not just me from all the dozens of e-mails and comments I’ve received lately from frustrated and puzzled individuals… Gotta wonder what is really going on??! It’s like no matter how many times things screw up, it’s all good and excuse after excuse after excuse… ALL IS WELL? LOL!

I know Rob Monster had some success in his previous lifetime with a start-up but the past few years he has nothing to show for whatsoever from burning over $7M of his personal money with Monster Venture Partners which was funding big development projects on “premium domains” to most recently with the whole Epik mass development dream…

Come on now?! Do your research people and it’s time to get off his dick. Getting old. It’s always nice to have somebody to look up-to, especially in our business which has very few leaders, but he brings no experience in mass development / domaining other than the “celeb” status and cash. That is probably the only thing he is good for unfortunately if you think about it.

Not sure what more needs to be said anymore, we all know this already, but let me just highlight a quick comment by Scott from SERPs.com:

As an SEO I was interested in what EPIK was selling….so I went to their Epik Developer conference in Seattle. While the people were great, and I had a blast at the conference, after the first day I knew there was no way in heck I was going to buy an Epik domain.

The problem was that they blatantly were advertising how well these sites did in Google…but the only reason they were doing well was because of the cross-linking. Nothing else.

My biggest issue came from the fact that they tried to position these websites like a stock. Websites are not securities. You don’t “invest� in websites passively, which is what Epik was pitching.

Building a successful, usefully, Google-friendly website takes more than $249 and then expecting the dough to roll it. If it was just that easy, everyone would be doing it.

I’m sorry to be so critical, I really thought Rob was a great guy, and I loved their enthusiasm, but you just can’t play with fire the way they did and not expected to get burned.

Scott’s comments along with many others who have already been there and done that tell the whole story.

So really folks, it’s time to move on… Epik has been around for a long time now and they have failed time and time over and over again. Domain mass development is not their thing. So YOU need to cut your losses sooner than later. I’d say now is a good time though before you really get knee deep into shit. Start from scratch on your own, or go with somebody who actually knows what he is doing. It’s that simple. Two options.. Ball is in your court

We are going to learn lots more on “toll free number squatting”  as recent FBI and IRS raids are more than just about escorts, porn sites and domains…

“National A-1 owns six “responsible organizations,” or “resporgs,” which are allowed to purchase toll-free numbers. The six resporgs combined control 1.9 million of the 7.8 million toll-free numbers that are available. They are “playing monopoly with vanity numbers, and they make money along the way,”. The resporgs – all six are referred to as “PrimeTel” even though they have separate official names – buy but don’t sell, and are sitting on about $1 billion worth of phone numbers, Quimby added.”

Read the entire story over at Philly.com

Who knew that these guys owned 25% of all 800 numbers… ??! Crazy if you ask me. According to Bill Quimby, a seasoned veteran 800 marketer, owner of TollFreeNumbers.com and native of NY: “Primetel / National A-1 has literally hundreds of multi-million dollar numbers on par with 1-800 FLOWERS and tens of thousands of numbers worth well into five figures.”

Detailed stats are for a little over 6,000 Epik powered “product portal” sites for the week of Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2010.

Only 3 domains generated over $100:

bra.net $289.43
icecreammaker.com $192.02
womens-rain-boots.com $109.35

Only 13 domains generated over 1000 visitors…

porno.co.uk 26685 visitors
kindergartengames.net 16396 visitors
vinylroll.com 5304 visitors
bra.net 4092 visitors
hairy.com 2726 visitors
bl.com 2499 visitors
netbks.com 1943 visitors
icecreammaker.com 1933 visitors
novel.com 1782 visitors
ninjavideos.com 1340 visitors
computerhardware.net 1232 visitors
saws.com 1139 visitors
toilet.net 1025 visitors
ereaders.net 1021 visitors

The stats for all the rest of the domains are pretty shitty if you ask me… Wait, pretty shitty isn’t the correct term in this case… What’s a better word I am looking for?! Hmm….. The numbers are just plain horrific. Do keep in mind the numbers are for the previous 1 week (7 day period) but regardless, multiply the current data by 4.2/3 and it’s still shit. At this pace, 99% of the people should expect to get their ROI much much later than what they originally hoped or were promised.

You can view here the entire list containing stats for the top visited sites

You can view here the entire list containing stats for the top earning sites

I received the reports a few minutes ago from a good friend of mine who is a genius when it comes to data analysis and scrapping, but way way before I set out to get the inside scoop and really dig deep…I already knew that the results would be shitty because the entire setup is flawed from A to Z as I’ve written about previously already numerous times, but wow, even I was surprised to see just how bad things really are across the board and I feel bad for all parties involved but it is what it is. The numbers don’t lie… Do they?

So yea, there is the entire story pretty much, which can be summed up in two words: Epik failed and numbers to illustrate and present the facts. You can go ahead and visit any domain in the list and add /stats to the URL to get them directly from the source and do keep in mind the numbers displayed are then further split 50/50 between the domain owner and Epik, the product portal sites’ operator. Ouch!

In this weekly report a total of 6,031 Epik powered domains generated 173,727 visitors which clicked 49,871 times to bring in the whopping earnings of $7,481.95… Now if it was one or two guys splitting the profits from this little network, it would be ok I suppose, but there are hundreds of people involved if not more.

So what are your thoughts about all of this? Lets hear it.

If you visit any one of the 400,000 or so domains owned by Frank Schilling’s NA Media Inc., you will see a widget pop up on the right side towards the top from Note.com. The description reads “Note.com is an experiment in social networking. We’re not entirely sure where it will go, but we hope you add a note when you see us around.”

Looks to me like just a sticky note pad / shout board type of deal… Will be interesting to see what kind of action this gets over the next few days since I’ve never seen it before on parking pages or too many commercial developed websites… But yea, cool stuff and congrats on the idea

Bido couldn’t breakthrough and then one day out of nowhere an announcement came that they were shutting down, no surprise here really as it was inevitable… So what is going on with Sahar as of late? The few videos below will give you a clue… Sunrises, shakuhachi, circular breathing, etc. Personally, I think he is onto something big here… Watch out people!

Yup, that is right… Network Solutions was sold for 21 billion dollars but not too many remember this fact… Not too many of today’s domainers were around back when that happen, but it happened and it was at that time the largest internet purchase in history. Guess who the buyer was? I’ll give you a hint… Their name starts with a V.

The big question on everybody’s mind is… Why the hell sell out now, after Bob Parsons (GoDaddy CEO) has built up such a powerful and successful company. Well, I think now is the best time if ever for a number of reasons, but the most important one being is that GoDaddy is literally on top of the world and ahead by miles as far as their competition goes. They are also a “celeb” and part of today’s pop culture with all their heavy advertising in recent years… But that doesn’t last forever.

Also when you get to a certain age, in Bob’s case, being 60 years old… You really want to enjoy life a bit more while you can because the clock… Tick tock, tick tock… Plus he now has a smoking hot wife who is younger than him that will keep him very busy and he just doesn’t seem like the type of guy that is all that committed 110% to a greater good and further advancing this industry time after time, over and over again. For example, what Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc… Did in their businesses and industries.

Myself, my plan is to hopefully retire by the time I am 30… That has always been my magic number. I’ve been in this game for a long time, and it takes a toll on ya, I think probably my best years are still ahead and I’ll get as busy as ever, but you gotta enjoy life and there is a lot more than making a ton of money and then spending it all.

I look forward to a more in-depth analysis of this situation as it plays out by Mark Jeftovic over at WebValueInvestor.com… Should be interesting!

On any given day, I receive hundreds upon hundreds of e-mails… Most are just spam or bullshit that I just ignore, and today really was no different. One of my “clients” and a  guy who I talk to every now and then about just whatever, who just happens to be from EU sends over a link to a video with subject “check this out” and stupid me… Click click.

The contents of the video were pretty weird to say the least, but I noticed it was hosted on a site I never heard of or visited before so I was curious to see what was there. It’s called Kiwi.kz and apparently it’s one of Kazakhstan’s (or however you spell it) most popular sites. Top 25 if you look at the Alexa.com KZ traffic rankings.

I immediately checked if kiwikz.com is available, and surprisingly it is. Same goes for kiwi.com.kz which is a second level domain in Kazakhstan…. These ccTLD’ domains go for around $100 per new registration it looks like. Some straight out typo variations of “kiwi kz” are available as well on the cheap.

I am pretty sure these may get some mis-typed traffic (type-ins) but it’s not really for me… If you want them, go for it. Google’s adplanner says the domain gets over 1.6M visitors monthly. Stupid compete.com has it at 30K per month. I don’t know why some people even use compete.com for any data analysis, as it’s numbers are completely off but many domainers and bloggers still swear by it. Go figure.

I am not sure what the whole point was of sending this video to begin with… The message conveyed here is “you suck” which I don’t think I do? Mhmm… OK. Whatever. Weirdo’s

The ultimate super duper hot buzz word’ of the year on the internet for the last 4 or 5 years in a row has been none other than “Social ___” and it’s really everywhere you look nowadays. It all started with the popularity of social networking sites in early 2006… Then in 2008 social media started to really take off and of course now it’s just about as popular if not more popular than good ol’ social networking which is so yesterday. Social media is the new cool. Get on board!

There is a lot of cool things about all these social networking and social media sites and a shitload of business opportunities for visionaries but there are also so many problems which nobody really cares about. Firstly, I see this generation of kids / youth who are so heavily involved in all of the “social” movement online turning out just the opposite where it counts most… They are becoming ANTI-SOCIAL and distanced from the rest of the world because they are constantly on the internet chatting, e-mailing or talking / texting on their damn “smartphones” … With only a small group of people or inner-circles.

Same problem exists today with many adults who are addicted to the internet and all of these sites, because of course all of them are free… The Facebook, YouTube, etc. You can play games, watch videos, talk… ALL FOR FREE! It’s great, isn’t it? One can stay occupied doing something 24/7 day after day… After day. LOL!

Me… You won’t ever find me on facebook posting my daily activities or vblogging on youtube…. Never been there and won’t use it. Shoot me dead if I do. It’s a complete waste of time. Twitter… I gave it a shot for almost a year, and failed to make any decent money or the connections I was looking for, so quit recently. Not sure anybody has profited from being on it to begin with, as it’s just a time killer but to each his own. It’s all about having a bit of fun, and some people get their kick outta that.. Whatever

So you are wondering.. WTF is the whole point of this post is? Well, I just want to remind you all that it’s so easy to get distracted and overwhelmed with everything’s that is going on out there. Most of our youth and even adults are way distracted… Way addicted… Way outta touch with the real world. You gotta stay very disciplined and focused in order to make it in this domaining game because it’s not going to be getting easy anytime soon. Probably only harder. The real pros, are on top of their game… They are everywhere, trying to take over anything they can.

On a different note… It’s really an exciting time for developers. Long gone are the days where you had to produce content which is always so damn expensive… Nowadays, it’s all up for grabs, pretty much for free, and people will kiss your ass if you use their content. Like I said earlier, social media has some killer opportunities for smart folks. I’d share the few projects I got going on right now, but I’d rather not, as we have only soft launched them and still testing stuff but results are really good and we’ll be launching sites that syndicate 100% of the content from 3rd parties for free in coming month’s more than any other year

Now, I dare you to watch the video below in it’s entirety…