My career path has been… well, weird.
My second book ended up becoming a Wall Street Journal and USA Today besteller, so I’m “obviously” (the operative word) an author.
My YouTube channel is doing better and better (~31,500 subscribers), so I’m a YouTuber as well, just as obviously.
However, in my case, crypto tends to generate more revenue than book sales and YouTube-related stuff, so I am (you’ve guessed it: obviously) a crypto investor.
What about domaining? Well, I’ve been blogging here on DomainingTips since 2009 (!!!), have done quite well over the years and have more friends in domaining than in any other industry. OBVIOUSLY, I’m a domainer 🙂
But do you ever stop being a domainer, deep down inside at least?
I mean at this point, while I still keep my finger on the pulse of the industry, I dedicate far less time to domaining than I used to. I’m not nearly as active on the reseller market, for example. I spend considerably less time blogging and the list could go on and on. But still, whenever someone I know tells me about a new project, my eyes sparkle as I think about the domain possibilities. The same way, even if there are “hotter” places to be right now (crypto, even after the crash), I’m still on a constant lookout for domain bargains. Or when I see people make mistakes in the industry (new gTLDs, hand regging a gazillion worthless names, etc.), my blood boils.
Is domaining an addiction?
Kind of… but not really.
It’s not an addiction in the sense that there’s never room for anything else and it always has to be the focal point of your existence. Not at all. I’ve sometimes dedicated a ton of time to domaining, sometimes a lot less. However, never have I abandoned domaining completely and a lot of those who have been around for a while surely feel the same way. I guess that once you’ve caught the bug, it’s hard to completely rid yourself of it. But here’s the thing: I for one don’t want to.
At the end of the day, we’re living in a crazy but genuinely awesome world. A world where a random dude from Eastern Europe like yours truly can write a book in English and become a bestseller. Or make a name for himself via YouTube videos… once again in English. Or invest in assets our parents/grandparents couldn’t have even imagined would exist, like domains and later on crypto. To put it differently, a world of immense opportunity where you don’t *have* to choose a career path. Where you don’t have to be defined by just one thing. Or two things, or three.
Am I an author? Yes. Am I a YouTuber? Yes. Am I a blogger? Yes. Am I an economist? Yes. Am I an entrepreneur? Yes. Am I crypto investor? Yes. Am I a domain investor? Yes.
Will I ever stop being any of the things listed above?
Maybe… but I hope not 🙂
September 1st, 2018 at 4:01 am
Congrats on your book becoming a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best seller! The book is truly an interesting read!
September 1st, 2018 at 4:31 am
Thanks Frankie! 🙂
September 1st, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Can you tell more about yout crypto path?
Tia
September 1st, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Sure!
The “cliff notes” version (will try to write a more detailed post later this month):
Started buying gradually after the 2013 crash and until 2015.
In 2015, I sold a lot to buy short domains, did pretty well with that and then bought back in.
Stopped investing fiat at ~$5,000.
Been trading as of that point. And by trading I mean anything from traditional TA-based trading to things like arbitrage. For example, I have accounts at all major South Korean and Japanese exchanges. At a certain point (during the insane bull run), there was a premium of ~30% in South Korea, I kid you not. A premium in Japan as well, just not as impressive.
However, it’s hard to make stuff happen in South Korea as a foreigner and you can only withdraw crypto, not fiat. This makes arbitrage harder and explains the premium. One of my best moves in crypto has been selling at around the highs ($20k at most exchanges but ~$26k in South Korea!), keeping that fiat (Korean Won and Japanese Yen) in my trading accounts (since again, foreigners cannot withdraw fiat) and buying back in after the panic lows of February. Doing that at a “regular” exchange meant selling at let’s say $20k and buying back in at $7k. Not bad. In South Korea however, it meant selling at ~$26k and buying back in at $7k since after prices started crashing, the premium disappeared. In a few instances, there was actually a negative premium for a while in South Korea.
Did I sell all my crypto at the highs? Unfortunately, I didn’t. Sold about 1/3 but most of that was in SK and Japan, so those returns have been high enough to make me quite happy. As far as the remaining 2/3 are concerned, my timing wasn’t as amazing but we’re only human, so I’m more than content with how things unfolded. The impressive premium is no longer there though, so that ship has sailed… for now. Other opportunities however still exist. At this point, I have accounts at 17 exchanges. Hand-picked exchanges, not random ones. In some cases, it took me ~4 months just to get approved but a bit of work never killed anyone 🙂
September 2nd, 2018 at 6:02 am
I agree, the Internet has made it so you can easily do many different things at once, and that presents a lot of opportunity. You don’t have to be an expert at something to try it, you just get started by doing it.
September 2nd, 2018 at 7:21 am
Yep, story of my life 🙂
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:29 pm
No – you don’t.
The act of domaining is just the act of being a futurist and a believer that in the future, the technology and infrastructure that makes names useful will grow so that more than 1% of the people on the planet will own a domain name.
There are hundreds of millions of names registered, but after you remove those owned by companies, or large portfolios held by single commercial registrants, and you discard the unusable test names and strings of mechanically created SPAM and SEO names, only 1% of the human race have any kind of name at all.
That’s because to the average person, or company, domain names are still confusing to use, difficult to obtain, hard to bring to life and a challenge to make useful. This has become more so as ICANN and other regulators make getting and provisioning a domain name in some Countries, more difficult than buying a gun in others.
My life work has surrounded breaking down those obstacles and I really think in the next few years the company I started and the good people growing it, will engineer the solutions to make it possible for perhaps 2-3% of people in the World to own a domain name. When we’re successful, there will exist a path for many more people who share your future minded instinct to buy domain names and keep them safe, breath life into their names with a website and email, and to sell and trade names using a secure and stable market that is interlinked with all great registrars.
Visions and dreams are driven by passion and this is mine. Just like you can’t suppress your constant itch to check-up on names, I can’t arrest my desire to bring utility and life to them. I hope my eventual success will empower yours and others now and and in in the future, who think like you.
Until then and thereafter, we are both domainers.