SouthOssetia.Net - one of the better geo premium name is for sale. No matter what the outcome of the current conflict between Russia and Georgia, the breakaway province of South Ossetia will only enhance the domain value and significantly so if it finds its way to be an independent sovereign nation.

On The Net : SouthOssetia.Net

Godaddy wants to broker StaphControl.com for me. I refused. I am developing this website as an educational guide on Staph disease control and prevention.

Visit : http://www.staphcontrol.com

Wow! SkiResorts.com sold at a recent auction for a whopping $850,000. It is not listed in the list above. I will have a screen shot later when I have it.

Most people can’t even begin to comprehend such numbers let alone lay claim to it in their lifetime. My business circle and friends always question my domaining judgment. They always wonder, why I am yet to find a sale like that or not solvent yet? They question me, why don’t I sell some of my better names? I used to give them an explanation before. Not anymore.

It is hard for me to explain to them that a given value of an investment (especially a great domain name) is not determined when it is realized, but when it is acquired.

Flashback to the day when the previous owner of SkiResorts.com purchased that name. It could have been a new registration or it could have been acquired by way of a premium purchase. But who is laughing all the way to the bank now?

To get $850,000 for a seasonal name like that is remarkable indeed. I am not surprised. It may be seasonal in the northern hemisphere. But winter is in full speed in the southern hemisphere, when summers prevail up here.

The logic behind these nice keywords is that, it is an investment for the ages. $850,000 will be earned sooner than later. Think of the all the millions of skiers who could be the beneficiary of this name resource once it is built to its full potential.

Some generic names are just that. Generic and brand worthy. Not only you get daily targeted type in visitors direct to your landing page, you can brand them as well.

The point is, targeted keyword names are highly valuable to the industry it is relevant to and will only become incredibly valuable as the Internet matures. If you missed out on the domain name land grab, there is still time. You still can do well in this business.

I am not concerned for my future. I have enough names which will sell for $500,000 guaranteed. I can’t even begin to fathom their imminent sale as of today. When you know what you know and when you know that you know, you don’t put much emphasis to what your friends and family say.

I am sure SkiResorts.com could have sold for $50k 2 years ago. But it was worth the wait. Some things (especially good things) in life just cannot be fast forwarded.

Stop for a moment and think of all the ways you are trying to make money. How much of that is influenced by what others are doing? Think about it. How long will that influence and that market last? Domain names are a business of a lifetime. Do you own assets? If not, you just may be in the wrong business. Just may be. Who knows?

Your time has to come. But even then, your time won’t come if you are not in the game. Like that New York lotto ad says - “You have to be in it to win it.”

The Internet means many different things to many different people. For me, it is literally a bank. I deposit my time in the Cyberspace realm and I withdraw money. This is what the Internet has become. And it has become a wonderful habit of maximizing my inherent talent to sift news.

The Internet can lead you astray. Lots of useless stuff encompass the web. I hate to estimate, but consider the amount of total disconnect the reader has from reality when they engage in a Britney Spears fallout. Why is that news? Why would the media even color journalism to this remorse? It is beyond me!

On the other hand, the Internet is buzzing with social, scientific, artistic and technological changes and innovations. There is a constant feed of new information, new directions and possibilities, which has the promise to change how we live and interact with each other.

These developments happen on an everyday basis. They do not follow a pattern. They rise to the surface when it is ready to swim. It is when those trends are in upward momentum is when you are best positioned to filter the ‘Real’ news worthy of your time on the web.

To be able to find what is relevant is an exercise your time on the web must accommodate. To be informed is a great asset. To make use of the information and translate it into profits is an art you must try to refine.

When you read today, sift the news. The words in them have a lot of power. Do not dismiss them.

The economy today is either already in or on the verge of going into a recession. This, unlike other recessions is no coincidence. This was deliberate and unchecked with unstoppable greed.

The sub prime mortgage crisis was not news to me. I knew this would happen. Speculators were flipping homes like it was red hot burgers waiting to be served. Only that it was not well made and gave poor people who got sucked into this madness, financial diarrhea. I even warned a few people I know, not to get caught in the herd mentality and media hype. No one listened. They ended up losing big.

If you want to be a successful investor, you must learn to ignore the media for the most part. Understand that, for the most part these poor souls are paid employees. They submit what is current. They talk and write about what is hot. Right Now! Those same folks who gave stories pretty much everyday across the nations newspapers and online media about how successful people were buying and selling real estate are now bemoaning the fact of todays reality.

They for one were in essence responsible for feeding the hype of real estate and greed. The flippers made enormous amounts of money. But they (the media) had a job to do. They do not educate. They simply report.

If you touch what is hot and sizzling, you will burn. This is not the case for everyone and with every circumstances. As in my previous post somewhere I mentioned that investments edge up or down in cycles. There is no straight path up. Now couple that with greed, it is bound to brew trouble.

In my personal opinion, those banks and mortgages companies committed fraud and in essence a felony. They fed off the potential homeowners desire to fulfill their American dream and sucked them dry. The CEO’s who were responsible for this crisis had fat contracts written for them. Even when their bank lost billions (with a B), they left with a severance package worth millions.

Week after week when big banking and mortgage institutions came out with bad news, I would wonder - ‘Who are these people’. Weren’t they the same grads from Harvard school of economics who were hired by these banks. What kind of investment advice did they provide to prospective clients when they were sitting in their offices?

We took them at face value. We determined they were the experts. Yeah right! These are the very people who are directly responsible for the economic crisis we see now.

The Federal Reserve was also to blame. It stood on the sidelines, although reducing interest rates through much of the decade, but not intervening with any dire warning whatsoever of the impending doom and gloom. And these people are paid big bucks to hold on to their jobs.

Today, everyone is pointing fingers at each other whereas the homeowners do not have fingers long enough to dig them out of their financial woes.

The point of my rambling is to beware of where the herd is moving. Before you join them, look at the horizon and see what is that they are chasing. Look out for that inevitable cliff at the end of the stampede. Or the price you will end up paying will be high indeed. It will be long fall down the hill.

On the other hand, look at what happened to my domain name investments made in 2004-2006. I made a healthy and astounding return of 75k plus for a total investment of 88k. But the most significant aspect of this balance sheet is that my inventory is barely touched. I had to just sell 27 names from my huge portfolio of over 10,000 names to make 75k plus. Try that with home sales and in the market scammed with greed.

I was a real estate licensed agent once. I know the industry. They want to make a living just like in any profession. They follow current trends. They do as told. They are not experts. They do not forecast what is to come.

If you cannot forecast what is to come, you MUST not invest.

Domain names are the new ‘Real Estate’. It is universal. Sure, economic downturn will affect its momentum. But there is no signs of that just yet. Even if this happens, it will be limited to a specific country or region. Those unsold homes sitting in Florida will barely be a good investing prospect for someone from India. But if I own BadmintonIndia.com (which I acquired recently), it is huge. For one, I am here in New York. This name has a geo significance primarily in India and possibly Badminton fans of Indian origin and Indian citizens scattered across the globe.

A recession in The United States will not affect something that cost me $10 and targeted to a country half way across the globe. Grasp what I said. For something that cost me $10, recession or no recession, I will make a profit. The same cannot be said of a piece of land or a structure on it that cost you $300,000 in downtown Miami.

The .ORG version of the domain name is owned by the official Badminton association of India. Instant value. I get visitors to the .COM version of that name everyday without paying for any advertising. Instant value. I own a name which will not fade away in 2 years time in popularity. Long Term Value! Get the idea!

Who decides that my investment is of any value. I DO! The moment you rely on an agent, a broker or any outside agency who just hired a college grad to tell you what your investment is worth, you lost right there. Be the EXPERT. And that takes a lot of work.

I cannot stress enough that it will take more knowledge into buying domain names than buying real estate. #1 reason being, even a condemned real estate will have some inherent value. A bad domain name registration will be just registration fee or worthless even. Your investment will be irrecoverable. You just cannot cram yourself reading a how to book and start investing in domain names. It just won’t happen. But the upside to an educated and knowledgeable domain name investment plan is this. You end up owning a prime, desired part of cyberspace, where people pay occasional or even daily, hourly visits with no work on your part. And your investment grows in value with every passing hour.

Even in my worst financial crisis, I made it a point to cut back on unnecessary expenses and save $1, 10, $30, where I could and buy domain names of value. I spent hours in research and 15 seconds to buy them.

Own assets. But do not follow the herd. Even in my business, I educate myself every passing day. I watch the herd. I may even jog with them for a while to understand what is going on with these folks. But I am also careful to see the distance between the herd and the horizon. Because as picturesque as the horizon may look, that’s where the Cliff is.

If you don’t see the cliff, you are in for a big fall.