Last week I had the privilege of interviewing the one and only Rick Schwartz. Rick Schwartz is the founder of T.R.A.F.F.I.C., the events that turn out the who’s who in the domaining industry. Rick either owns or has owned domain names like Candy.com, Property.com, Properties.com, Porno.com, Ass.com, CD.com, Widgets.com, Men.com and many many more HIGH END names.

Just a brief background on Rick.  He has gone from working in the retail furniture business to owning an extremely successful drop ship company.  Rick sold the home based drop ship company in 1998 for over seven figures. Through marketing of his own home based business he realized the importance of domain names and having an online presence. Rick purchased a set of domains for his business and then a set of domains related to the adult industry.  The adult related domains started producing steady income from $25 a day to a couple years later $500 a day.  This at the time was just a hobby. These events and a few others lead up to the day were Rick purchased Porno.com for $42,000, which at that time was unheard of. After Porno.com came Ass.com, eRealEstate.com and Men.com. The rest is history and if your in domaining you know what has come of this.

Q. At the last T.R.A.F.F.I.C. event in Brooklyn NY 250 Rick Schwartz bobbleheads were handed out. Who came up with this idea?
A. I was contacted by Warren Royal who is a domainer that bought Bobbleheads.com and asked me if it was ok to do one of me to promote his new business. I thought it would be fun and agreed to it. They did a really good job and shows the depth domainers have when it comes to business. Warren also recently authored a book and has several other projects going.

Q. What is your educational background?
A. I am a college dropout, who barely made it thru high school. Because of my dads occupation and in a previous recession back around 1970, I had moved around too many times to count. To give you an idea of how hard it was looking back, I went to 3 different high schools in my last 3 semesters. A total of 6 school systems in 5 states from 4th grade to graduation. Only when I look back do I realize what a tough thing that is for a kid to go thru.

Q. Do you remember what your weekly salary from 1975 was while working for the wholesale furniture business? Do you look back and laugh at it now?
A. I made nothing. The dollars I made covered my traveling expenses and I had nothing left over. It afforded me a roof over my head at night, a few meals and a nice car. It paid for my suits and just enough left over to go on a date. I had no home, no roots and no steady girlfriend. I lived out of a suitcase. That was the downside. The upside was I provided an education that money could not buy. Meeting with businesses in every corner of the country taught me things they can’t teach you in college. Hearing the stories of success and failure and the pitfalls to avoid. So while I earned nothing, I learned a lot. I was lucky to learn things that directly helped me in the domain business. Things that helped me make good decisions throughout life. So I earned nothing in dollars and earned a fortune in wisdom that I apply to this very day.

Q. For us average domainers aspiring to be like the king, what does the “Domain King” drive?
A. Now I’ll get in trouble. The “Bad Boy” in the fleet is a 2008 Black Mercedes CL600, it’s a screamer. I also have a 2008 Mercedes CLK550 convertible and a 2001 Mercedes S600. But what I drive the most is my 2003 Escalade and the one that is the most fun is my 2006 Escalade EXT.

Q. What is an average day for you? Last we talked you took the summer off.
A. Truth be told, I have not had a full day off in 13 years. That said my day is my day. I wake up between 5:30 and 6:30. I answer emails, write a post, pay bills, read the news, watch the news until about 8:30. Then breakfast. Then back to the computer. Around 10 I go take a shower. Then I usually go out with my wife for a nice lunch. Then we usually do an activity or go to our other place on Fort Lauderdale Beach where I park myself in front of the computer there. Then dinner. Then usually a relaxing evening. We go away often, mostly on cruises but we also have a place in the mountains of North Carolina to try and stay cool during the summer heat.

Q. Where is your favorite place to travel?
A. My favorite place is nowhere. I traveled hard for about 15 years and I really appreciate being in my home and not a hotel. Guess that is why I have invested in real estate, I was basically homeless during that time and I really appreciate being in my own bed every night even if it is in different places.

Q. Do you spend any time in the domainer forums, if so which ones?
A. At one time I spent a lot of time in forums. I opened the first one devoted to domains back in 2000. But disrupters would always show up with nothing better to do then to talk trash so we went private back in 2001 and still is to this day. The conversation on the public boards has deteriorated over the years to a level where it is just not worth dealing with. Forums can be very good when properly moderated. I have found better, more rewarding things to do with my time.

Q. Imagine starting out as a domainer today, what type(s) of domains would you register?
A. Domains that mean something. Quality domains. Plenty to be found. Many in the $500-$5000 range that have unlimited upside potential. First thing to do is learn what makes one domain worth $7 and one worth $700,000. Both can be found laying around for $700 or $7000 or somewhere in between. But if you don’t know what constitutes a domain that can have great value in the right hands, time to learn. Sorry, but judging on the domains people come to me with, they waste a lot of dollars on domains with no value. There is plenty of stuff to read by qualified domainers that will tell folks the key elements of a great domain name.

Q. Besides new extension releases is it possible to hand register a good domain name?
A. You bet. Just depends on the subject matter. 95% of all the domains I get are hand registered.

Q. Do you use any tools to register your domain names or search for new ones?
A. The GUT and only the gut. Knowing what to look for trumps all the tools out there.

Q. What are your thoughts on short domain names, 5 characters or less?
A. Memorable beats short. I never quite got the short argument.

Q. How would you recommend an average domainer sell their domain names?
A. By not trying to sell them. By being patient. By building value. By understanding what makes a domain have a great value as opposed to a domain that is worthless or not worth much. By being very choosy in what they buy. By understanding the audience that domain is targeted to. By deciding if they want to sell to other domainers or to end users. But those are for long term players. Flippers may have a different set of rules. It is a more aggressive business. Problem is flippers are so busy flipping that they have some real gems going thru their hands that they may miss those “Keepers.”

Q. How do you put a price tag on your domain names?
A. If I tell you, I’d have to kill ya. But it is about the gut and many other factors that many domainers miss.

Q. I have to ask, with 3.5 million unique visitors every month what kind of money do you make off of parking? Do you park your domains or just create mini-sites?
A. A few million a year. I mostly park but I focus on Joint Ventures with truly qualified companies. I do some mini-sites. I do some things on a larger scale. I look for opportunity. I try and time the market. I do things that nobody knows about. But in time, they will. I plant seeds all day everyday.

Q. Is there anything else you want to share or words of advice?
A. There are as many ways to be successful domains as people in the business. No way is the right way. No way is the wrong way. The better the trail you choose, the more money you will make. Patience and timing is the key. Those in a rush that want to skip steps will always fall on their face. Just take it one step at a time. One success at a time and you will get to wherever you want to go.

In closing I want to say that it took months to get this interview. I chatted with Rick a little over three months ago, he said if I wanted an interview to get with him after September 30th. Well, I followed up with him on October 1st and he agreed. This interview was definitely worth the wait. I also encourage you to check out a few of Ricks sites, RicksBlog.com, eRealEstate.com and TargetedTraffic.com.

If there is a company or specific domainer you would like interviewed just send me a message and I will do my best.