Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to write this particular article. It’s about a good friend of mine – Robert Kaay.
Robert is many things – but primarily, he is an entrepreneur. He came into the domain industry just a few short years ago, and in that time, he has excelled. He is now arguably the best domain broker in Australia.
For those that haven’t read how he started out, then I suggest you read the 3-part article he wrote here on Domainer about his “first year as a domainer”. I just read it again – it’s amazing. š Here’s the last part – it has links to the first two parts.
How Did He Succeed?
He’s done so by putting in the “hard yards”. In the early days, he made mistakes that would have sapped the energy and drive from most people. But not Robert. Like a true champion, he learnt from these mistakes. He was prepared to engage with others that had been there before him – and he also adapted the best traits of other highly successful domain brokers / market places from around the world.
He has buckets of enthusiasm and excitement – and his persistence and tenaciousness is amazing. Most importantly though, I believe him to be a person of the utmost integrity.
I’ve watched him grow over the past few years, and I am so genuinely chuffed at his success. Whilst “luck” is always at play in our industry, I’m a great believer in the old adage that “the harder you practise; the luckier you get”. This applies in spades to Robert. Nobody works harder than he does.
His success has now played out on the world stage – notably Ron Jackson’s DN Journal. Congratulations and well done Robert!
Given my own experience in the domain industry (and by virtue of this blog), I get many requests to buy or sell other people’s domain names. However, now that I’m in semi-retirement, it’s the last thing I want to do! My final foray was the successful campaign I ran on this premium domain name.
So when I get a serious enquiry these days, I have no hesitation in recommending Robert for the job. In my opinion, he’s an even better domain broker than I ever was. Seriously.
P.S. A picture of the two of us together in Perth during early 2016. He’s the young one!
Ned O’Meara – 11th April 2017
Congrats Robert. Outstanding sales.
Good to see you back in print Ned. Don’t sell yourself short either. You were definitely the champ.
Jeff
Ha ha – thanks Jeff! I’m just happy to see the young bull in action.
Thank you so much, Ned, for the kind words.
In my early days (3 years ago?!) you were the very first professional domainer who reached out to me and told me if I wanted to learn the facts I should call you asap.
IĀ called you that afternoon.Ā And one of the first sentences you ever said to me was, “what the hell are you doing?!”
From there, you were one of my biggest mentors over the next two years and I can’t thank you enough for that.
Above, when you said:Ā “he also adapted the best traits of other highly successful domain brokers / market places from around the world”, this definitely includes yourself (as well as lessons I learned over at Michael Cyger’s awesome website DomainSherpa.com).
Your Insurance.com.au campaignĀ late last year was massive and inspirational.
Thanks again for all your advice over the years and be sure to keep your phone around, because you’re stillĀ atĀ the top on my speed-dial contact list for those tough deals!
I am hopeful this is just the beginning of my own professional domain brokerage career and am very enthusiastic and excitedĀ to seeĀ what is about to happen to our Australian domain name industry over the coming years.
Congratulations, Robert! Ā It was a pleasure seeing you at NamesCon in January.
Brilliant effort Robert.
A lot of jokers come through the domain industry and quickly move on without success, but you’re clearly doing amazingly well. Ā It’s super impressive!
And to echo Jeff’s comments, good to see some writing from you again Ned! š
Thanks Shane – I’m happy to be writing again (I think). š The lazy blogger am I!
Can’t believe the price paidĀ for fetch.com.au. Seems like they pulled down their pants and applied Vaseline liberally before being rogered. Seller and you must be over the moon. Congratulations.