A lot of people seem to be extremely talented observers and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that as long as they understand that at one point or another, one needs to stop observing and start DOING. Unfortunately, most people don’t and here’s the thing:
Observing Doesn’t Put Food on the Table
On the one hand yeah, observing is kind of fun. Lots of folks like to think that they know absolutely everything and forums are great examples. They’re full of people who know everything… maybe in theory.
Their attitude towards Rick Latona (I’ve noticed a thread on dnforum about him a while back and found it pretty funny) is a great example: “dude, this guy sells expensive minisites which suck… what a joke”, “yeah… and remember when one of his auctions had almost no bids! LOL WTF!” and the list could go on and on. But while they’re laughing their asses off:
Rick Latona Is Making Bank
A classic example of a “throw lots of shit at the wall and see what sticks” way of thinking, plain and simple. And guess what: it works! He failed with AEIOU.com, right? Yep, he did. But what about his newsletter? He makes a nice commission whenever a domain is sold and even if he doesn’t sell hundreds of domains each month, he is still making some decent cash without working all that much via his newsletter.
And let’s not forget about his auctions. People used to laugh right from the beginning, it’s like they were waiting for him to screw up just so they could have their 10 seconds of “I told you so” pride. Talk about an attitude which doesn’t get you anywhere! Rick made lots of mistakes and then gradually started upping his game. Anyone with half a brain will figure out that he will probably make some decent coin in 2010 thanks to his auctions. And with his new platform and everything, things seem to be going in the right direction, wouldn’t you agree?
Wait, You’re NOT Criticizing Him?
Look: DomainingTips.com is all about being realistic. If I think that a concept sucks, I’m gonna “say it out loud” through this blog. If I think that a person’s behavior sucked, expect me to blog about it. But not everything sucks, seriously!
What I’m trying to explain is that Rick Latona has an approach which puts money in his bank account. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he fails miserably but after drawing the line, you can rest assured that he’s not disappointed with the way his bank account presents itself.
Don’t be afraid to throw shit at the wall and see what sticks if your budget allows you to, that would be the conclusion of today’s post. What everyone else is saying doesn’t matter, just do your thing and make bank!
November 13th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I like that you say it like it is. Nobody’s perfect and all we can do is try hard until we finally achieve what we wanted with one business. And then we move to another and try again.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Good for him for trying so many things and you’re right. What others have to say has no influence on the way we live our lives and make money. Or at least it shouldn’t if you plan on being successful. Others or at least most of the people who know you exist don’t care about you, so why care about what they have to say?
November 13th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
And let’s not forget the free publicity someone who publicly says something negative gives you, free is free!
November 14th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Too bad he stopped with aeiou, maybe he could have found a solution like lowering his prices without it affecting the quality of his sites too much. He said there’s no money in web design but I think what he meant is that there’s no money for him in web design because it’s too much work compared to how much he’s making. I know designers who earn a living online but it’s also true that they don’t make 100k+ yearly, so that might have been why Rick pulled the plug.