Another visionary post on Rick’s time capsule today: The “Domain King” writes about the time when he was one of the few people who recognized the value of generic domains early on.
I was the first to share what I had learned about domain names, type-in traffic, value and why domains would become so important in time. How domains would appear on every ad, brochure, billboard. I would DARE to suggest that the domain name would be more important than the 800 number. The HOLY 800 number. The LIFELINE of business in 1996. I was called every name in the book for saying wacky things like this out loud. To that I added that “Getting a great domain was a unique opportunity in time.” “Domains would go up faster in value than any other commodity ever known to man.”
Only today, we know how right Rick has been. Domains have indeed gone up in value faster than almost any other investment, and they continue to do so. As you know, Rick Schwartz is also one of the co-founders of the popular T.R.A.F.F.I.C. domain conferences. For the last show he could get Steve Forbes as the keynote speaker. This is what Forbes, CEO of Forbes, Editor-in-Chief at Forbes Magazine and former presidential candidate, said at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East 2007 show in Hollywood, Florida in October:
Internet traffic and domains are the prime real estate of the 21st century. This market has matured, and individuals, brands, investors and organizations who do not grasp their importance or value are missing out on numerous levels.
Steve Forbes got the right idea of the value behind type-in domains, but there are still so many decision makers, bankers and CEOs on Wall Street and thousands of marketers on Madison Avenue who just don’t get it. They don’t see what people like Rick Schwartz, Frank Schilling, Kevin Ham or Sahar Sarid see when they look at a domain name. Those Wall St. and Madison Ave. guys remember me of the Robert Kennedy quote “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?“. There is a reason why some people have the power to build things and to move entire industries forward like Rick, Frank, Kevin and Sahar have done. It’s because they have visions that go way beyond what other people see. Madison Avenue spends billions of dollars on expensive marketing campaigns every year instead of buying generic domain names that are still cheaper than TV spots but provide a longer-term use at the same time! Domains are an investment in the future of every corporation that wants to be successful. Today, domains can still be bought at relatively low prices, but imagine what these companies will have to pay when they finally see what domainers have seen years ago. The corporate world is late to the party, so they shouldn’t waste any more time spending and saving money in the wrong places.
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