Rick Schwartz sent us an e-mail recently where he commented on reasons why you should attend the upcoming T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East, Orlando domainer's conference. We found his comments interesting and want to share them with our readers. Here is what he wrote:
"Greetings! With the industry players consolidating with some very large and sometimes concerning mergers, with payouts eroding, with competition dwindling, with Google nearing a monopoly, with a weakening Yahoo! and with uncertain times in front of everyone, TRAFFIC has never had a more timely show and it starts just a few days from today, starting on May 20th at The Grand Floridian Hotel.
Folks, these are more than just challenging times, the entire landscape is changing, shifting and we are under attack by a growing and organized effort to take away our assets. Instead of them coming to a domain auction and bidding the fair market value, they are looking for new ways to circumvent the free market system at the expense of everyone reading this. Staying at home and reading Ron Jackson's show review (Which we love and will read of course) won't cut it this time. If domainers themselves don't have confidence in what they do, would you expect outsiders to have any confidence - or respect for our industry? Prime domains with reasonable reserves will be up on the auction block. It will be a barometer of where we are as an industry. I think domainers have their destiny in their own hands right now. We'll see if that stays the case in the months ahead.
What I can tell you, is that if you remain passive, if you remain uninvolved, your industry will look a lot different in 12 months from now! You won't recognize it. The weak ones who have marginal domains and are facing a tidal wave of registration fees will be washed away. Those picking up their losses won't find anything there but a liability. Some, like me, will move to other industries and opportunities created by this slowdown.
One of those opportunities I will unveil next week at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. In this business, just like in any other business,one can never be blind to bigger money making opportunities. This one ties in nicely with what we all do (especially if you have business to business traffic) and then to marry it to a pay structure that can finally earn what a visitor is truly worth, this may be ground breaking. In my calculation, one visitor, one sale of this item could result in a total commissions exceeding $5400. And this item can provide multiple sales. I can envision some companies ordering hundreds of units. DO THE MATH! Looking beyond domains is always something that has to be in and on your mind...
As we become more and more incestuous as an industry we also get weaker. Many talk about end users. They are out there. They won't come in mass, but they will come one need and one project at a time. So it may be time for each of us to reassess how we use our traffic. How we believe in what we already have without doing what we did yesterday that may not work tomorrow.
I am going to PROVE those words in Orlando...
Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz
http://www.TargetedTraffic.com"
If you have not registered for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Orlando, please consider making the trip and taking part in shaping the future of the domain industry! Tickets are still available here.
Source: E-mail to DomainNews.com from Rick Schwartz (aka as the "Domain King") - May 12th, 2008