There was a time, ~1999 - 2001, when folks shared a bit more.
As time passed those who did realized there were a fair number of folks who also "knew stuff" but kept such info to themselves. This caused many to question sharing useful insights, often insights that had a "learning cost" of time and money. This lead to "why give it away for free" thinking.
Then there was the time of STFU messaging, that is, "your sharing will kill the goose that is laying the golden eggs". Think: exact match domains. People keep talking about them. Google says "Enough already!" and changes their algo.
Then, as economies move up and down, folks also realize they have better things to do than "be chatty".
Then came wave after wave of folks want to make a name for themselves, to stand out from the crowd, and so much of the volume of content was just about the incessant need to publish. No significant value. Much parroting of one another. Etc.
Somewhere along the way domaining, competitive SEO of websites, etc. became global and the entire process became more competitive / challenging and, as a result, there was less time to kill chatting or even less desire to share.
FWIW, I learned a long time ago that once people began publicly chatting about ~keys to success those keys rarely held any advantage. Those who work hard on carving out or creating an advantage would usually already be 2 or 3 steps ahead of what the "public experts" were touting. (Heck, 20 years ago I learned that if any "secret" was so good at making money NOBODY - at least in their right mind - would be sharing that secret, even at a paid monthly fee rate).
FWIW, odds are you have no idea how others who are making coin domaining are doing. It invariably comes down to the quality of the domains that you hold and how rational your pricing is . . and how patient you can afford to be . . and what your personal cash flow is and how good you are at cash flow management . . which ties into patience. In other words, can you afford to be patient.
I see very little opportunity in the current market. I see the same old same old "shilling" of new TLDs. Anyone rememeber the hype about .mobi domains? Ditto .info for informational websites? The folks that buy the hype rarely have success in reselling the hype.
There's still the market for those attemtping to acquire a winning lottery ticket by crafting catchy or creative domains. As far as I can see that's just like the lottery: you can spend a lot of money on those lottery tickets and NEVER win or win back a small percentage of what you have laid out.
I wish everyone all the luck in the world but, AFAIC or AFAICanSee, the odds of success as a domainer in 2023 are more challenging than ever.
Lastly, I don't publcly report my sales, but I've had a few in 2023 so - after ~25 years - I'm still in the game . . but . . meh . . in some respects domaining is a bit more of a PITA than it was in 2007 or '08 or '13 or '15.
I wistfully remember the days when domain parking revenue could support a LARGE portfolio's renewal costs and still provide a nice net-revenue stream. Now? Meh.
Still, if you hold a number of decent domains, you can cover renewals fees . . up to the point where the registrars or central registry keeps jacking up prices . . and then, as you drop domains to conserve cash flow . . you watch . . sometimes painfully . . as noobs or machines pick up your droppings in hopes of better days.
#SMH #Sigh
