Matt "Handshakin" Holmes
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May 2020: Gratitude List

5/6/2020

 
Let's take this time to take a few steps back and think about what we're thankful for. 

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Quarantine pass:  Now I can walk around without getting arrested

4/25/2020

 
Here in the Philippines, I asked a friend if they thought the above title was a good title.  They responded, "No that title doesn't work because that's not the purpose of the quarantine pass.  I am only supposed to use it for going outside to buy essential goods."

Anyway, here's the update. 

On April 24th, I got my quarantine pass here in Taguig, Philippines.  A 'quarantine pass' is something which I'm still learning about what exactly this all entails.

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WE'RE LAUNCHING A PILOT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (TO BUILD LEAD GENERATION SITES)

4/18/2020

 
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Recently, I've been partnering with some friends from the domain name investing conference NamesCon.  The first friend I got a site live with was Mike Law.

We did some research and decided to launch a site in the city where he lives, Denver, Colorado USA.  

We lightly researched the following, we decided the site would be called Denver Mobile Dent Repairs. 

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HANDSHAKING.COM STOCKS DROP 93%, THANKS COVID19...

3/28/2020

 
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Thanks to the coronavirus we now have to hide our hands.
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Whoever would've thought that a simple handshake could be dangerous and instantly taboo.

Guess the old saying, "your handshake is your word" is no longer valid.

Now its an elbow bump, which is not nearly as elegant. 

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Just imagine businessmen elbow bumping as they close multi-million dollar deals. ​

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Outlook after Surviving Coronavirus from the Nomad Cruise

3/25/2020

 
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Below is a very encouraging outlook from a company that got his hard from the coronavirus that is spreading around the world quickly. 

​I am an optimist, and optimism is contagious so it's very nice to hear others think about the silver lining, blessings, or opportunities when there's big changes for the world and how you as an individual live your daily life.  Check out what they sent me:

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Thinking about the Coronavirus Lockdown and Remote Work

3/16/2020

 
I arrived here in Manila, Philippines on March 12th at 4:30am from Los Angeles. Things have been escalating quite quickly both home in the USA and here in Philippines.

When I booked this flight it was for a team retreat in May with my managers at Handshaking, and well before there were the amount of searches for 'coronavirus' in this pic. 

However, as you can see with Google Trends it's not surprising that some things are changing fairly quickly. 

​Here's the story on what it's like here in BGC/Taguig City in Metro Manila, Philippines.  Quarantine, Lockdown, Lack of Hand sanitizer and more!
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The truth about why Johannes Voelkner started Nomad Cruise

2/23/2020

 
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This is from Johannes, the founder of Nomad Cruise:

​"I’m sure you’ve heard about the cruise before but perhaps you haven’t heard my story yet and the true reason why I started the cruise…


It’s 2005. After years of short backpacking trips and studying in Germany I moved to South Africa with a study abroad program, where I fell in love with a girl.  So it was decided, I wasn’t going back, I would start a new life with my partner in Cape Town.

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Are you reconsidering moving from a big city to a small city in New Mexico?

1/23/2020

 
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​For me, a big city was very important when technology was first starting to create conveniences for us. In Denver, it was easy to get an uber anywhere at anytime, where when I would visit family in Santa Fe, NM I would find myself having to call for a taxi and wait and that was an awful experience and waste of time after taking Uber and Lyft for granted in Denver. 

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Private Journal Entries documenting my acquisition of Handshaking.com

9/27/2019

 
But, I almost named this post:

GoDaddy’s huge conflict of interest

...for startups trying to buy their domain

Anyway, here's some contextual information before we dig into the wild wild west of acquring domain names.

I’ve been CEO of Handshakin.com for just over 4 years, and it’s my second year speaking at the domain name investor conference.  Finally, in 2019 sales were at a point where it was time for us to grow up and to acquire our exact match .com: ‘handshaking.com’.
​​

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September 10th, 2019

9/10/2019

 
This year (2019), I've been living in Philippines for the majority of the time since May!  Before this, I've visited two other times, including a 2 month and 3 month stint.  Many of my friends ask, "Matt, were you ever scared?"  "Did you ever feel like you weren't safe?  

My answer, YES!  At times I thought I was going to have to kill someone while my phone was dying and I had no connection and I couldn't get home quickly!

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Thoughts on Growing an Online Business with a Fully Remote Team

7/6/2019

 
It's been over 4 years since I sold most of the equity I owned in my first real estate company and launched Handshaking.  I knew I wanted to have an online company, and it took the first 2 years to actually get profitable, and now for the last 2 years I've been going to the 'school of hard knocks' learning how to manage a remote team and grow the profit of a now proven business model.  

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Why $10,000 For A Domain Name Is Still Low-cost

6/22/2019

 
Domains are now an essential part of any kind of business. Whether the usage is mostly for e-mail, a site, or component of an advertising, branding and marketing campaign any person with a growing startup has to safeguard a domain name.  And the right one.  And the .com.

The difference in between a domain and also various other advertising costs nonetheless is you are obtaining an existence which help future customers clearly understand your brand. 
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My Crypto Update and Recap of 2018

1/14/2019

 


​Hey all, I wanted to give you some updates on how it's been going for me since I started investing in crypto just over one year ago!  As anyone who invested may know, everything is pretty down right now.  Some of my friends had tens of thousands invested, like Morgan Linton where you can see his assets from 2017 here.
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How to do Jordan right in 5 days

1/14/2019

 
Make your 1 week count while visiting Jordan.  In case you didn’t know, you need to stay in Jordan at least 3 days, one or two of which can be spent seeing Petra, one of the world’s seven wonders.  

Jordan also has the Citadel, Dead Sea, and Wadi Rum, which I’d recommend you check out. 

Oh, and for being a Muslim country, they actually have great Petra beer hehe, try it!
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3 Huge Problems with the 'Gig Economy'

11/2/2018

 
​I read an article recently about how popular the 'gig economy' is becoming in Colorado, but realized it didn't mention 3 big problems with the notion 'gig economy.'  Many gig workers are not focused on created long-term wealth, and the 'gig economy may take great advantage of those workers.

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Update on my 2018-19 World Trip

10/17/2018

 
​Hello from Manila, Philippines! I've been abroad 44 days (~3 more months to go before returning to USA)

For those of you that aren't following my Instagram, here's where I have recently traveled to.

Sep 4: Manila, Philippines to meet assistant & sales manager in Makati city for a week
Sep 17: Singapore, Singapore + explore Marina Bay, etc
Sep 18: Johor, Malaysia to give my first keynote speech to a Global Business Services Summit
Sep 23: Phuket, Thailand to explore beaches...

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An example of a web property that generates great monthly income

10/8/2018

 
It's been over a year now that Handshakin turned from an online marketing services company to a web property investment company.  ... What the heck does that mean?

It means we build our own websites on our own domain names.  Instead of building websites for clients.  Here's a concrete lead generation website.  We built a referral website "Fort Collins Concrete Contractors" and after waiting and blogging for 6 months...

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Bought a $10,000 domain on Sedo for $100... I thought.

9/11/2018

 
​Recently, I've been bidding on not just domain names, but domain names that come with a website.  You can buy pretty inexpensive websites that are 'starter' and may not be making money each month, but have a ton of original content and viewers already visiting it.  If it's a niche that you're familiar with, you may have a good chance of making money at it!

I have bid on domain names on Godaddy Auctions for years acquiring domain names for my company Handshakin, but recently have started to spend more time on Flippa and Sedo.  
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23 Places for American entrepreneurs to visit in Metro Manila

9/1/2018

 
Hello from Dubai - I just arrived here after 3 months in Philippines (spent 5 months in Philippines in 2018 total), and here are my top choices for you to check out if you are looking for good food, a good time, and good networking.  I wrote this on the flight with Cebu Pacific, which is a great budget Philippines airlines, too, if you haven't booked your flight yet ;)
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How to buy a car $1,500 less than Dealer Invoice

7/18/2018

 
Hey guys​, I helped a friend buy a car here in Denver, Colorado earlier this month.  It was a brand new 2018 Mazda Miata RF.  Before we go how we got the car for a good deal, I'd like you to consider a few important questions I had my friend ask before we decided a Mazda Miata was the right choice for her...

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Colorado, Home of the Entrepreneurship Capital of America

4/20/2018

 
What city is the entrepreneurship capital of the United States? Where does one find the densest enclave of concentrated, up-and-coming startup culture? Silicon Valley? Palo Alto?
​
Nope. It's Boulder, which boasts twice as many startups per capita versus any other American city; this pole position has been a long time in the making: "Since 1960, it has quietly nurtured nascent industries, including natural foods, computer storage, biotech, and now Internet companies." While Boulder is famed for its emphasis on work/life balance, make no mistake; its citizens take the 'work' part of that equation seriously.

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I'M ABOUT TO BOARD MY FLIGHT TO ASIA

4/5/2018

 
I'm at SFO with just a few minutes to get this published before flying to Tokyo, Japan with my Startup Denver co-organizer Mike Kilcoyne.  We're mostly visiting Tokyo for pleasure and it will be my first experience staying in a hostel for a few nights.  We'll see the Cherry Blossoms with a 3rd friend who is in town, and then I'm quickly off to Philippines on April 11.
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Advice from Morgan Linton for startup founders seeking to buy their domain name

3/26/2018

 
After organizing Startup Denver for over 3 years now and being a domain name investor for over half a decade, I've had my fair share of startup founders ask me if I could help them 'get their domain name.'

My friend Morgan Linton absolutely wrote the best article that allows you to go about it yourself, enjoy:




How to buy a domain name – here’s why nobody is responding to your domain name offers.
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HOW TO PRICE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

3/23/2018

 

​​Knowing how much to charge for a product or service is going to be a make or break decision for a successful business. Price too low, and you will probably receive a ton of business but won't make ends meet, but price too high, and it will push customers away. ​
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HANDSHAKIN' IS HIRING IN PHILIPPINES NEXT MONTH

3/14/2018

 

​That's right.  I'm traveling to Asia next month for half personal (seeing Cherry Blossoms in Japan), and half business.  I'm incredibly excited to finally meet my team in Philippines, including one who I have worked with for over two years!

I'm planning to hire two key roles while I'm out there, a trial and sales manager, and a SEO specialist.  Here's more information on the vision of Handshakin in 2018 and my next blog post will be more details on who we're looking to hire.
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