Peter Askew is the kind of person who has always believed in giving more than receiving.
He worked as a marketing manager for several companies and helped generate solid profits during the early days of online marketing. But time and again, those companies let him go—often during acquisitions or layoffs triggered by mergers. Despite his contributions, the places he worked never truly valued him. This repeated pattern led him to question his self-worth, identity, and purpose.
Peter Askew ”All I remember feeling was, I GOTTA FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT. NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE ME. Self-preservation was my primary goal. I’d figure out the rest from there.
So I sold my house to stay afloat – unloading a $130,000 mortgage that I was fortunate to break even on; my brother lived nearby, so I moved into his 2nd bedroom.
The first 6 months of job searching were fruitless; the web had imploded – most folks felt it was a fad. I didn’t agree, so I kept looking.”
After ten months, he received job offers from two companies—Google and Auto Trader. Seeking job stability, he chose Auto Trader. While Google was a tempting option, Auto Trader was already a well-established company in the offline space and was now expanding online. Both roles were for Advertising Analyst positions.
He started to lay them off them
This time he had a different plan altogether. Instead of getting laid off by them he started to lay them off. So he used his employment as a way to get free education while getting paid for this role.
In his previous job he implemented a new service called Adsense. With this service he is adding an extra $50 a day for that firm. So he requested the senior manager of the Auto Trader to try Google adwords. But he received huge pushback from them but he persisted enough to try it.
After a test implementation, and proof of revenue, I fully set up our accounts & generated in excess of $1M+ of additional profit. – Peter Askew
During this time his mind is always nudging him with “You can simply build your own site & generate this cash, you realize?”
At his yearly review, he asked for a salary raise—to $35,000 per year. Instead of recognizing his impact, they told him to slow down. Thankfully, his instincts were already nudging him to try something on his own. So, he decided to quit.
Shortly after, he took up a six-month role at a multinational shipping and receiving company—using the time and money as a safety cushion while preparing for his next big move.
“I pitched in on all avenues of marketing, branding & lead generation. Billboards in Shenzhen (Guangdong), China. NASCAR driver sponsorships. $500k month-long paid search budgets. When my consulting contract expired, they extended a $100k+ offer of full-time employment. Without pause – I rejected it.” – Peter Askew
Colleagues who worked alongside him during that time gathered around his cubicle, stunned and scratching their heads in disbelief.
“The company had served its purpose, and I’d saved enough cash, so I was ready to move on.” – Peter
Journey of Domain Development
Throughout his career at Auto Trader and other companies, Peter gained a wide range of skills—SEO & PPC, Web Development, Email Management, Graphic Design, Sales, Ad Operations, Domain Names, and Analytics.
He then started creating small projects coded in HTML. His first project was a basic directory of Bed and Breakfast establishments worldwide. It didn’t seem to make much sense at the time for him, but he decided to dive in anyway.
For his next project, he turned to Adventure Travel. It didn’t feel like work to him, and it satisfied his inner passions. While researching tourism destinations, he stumbled upon AppalachainTrail.com. The domain was undeveloped, so he contacted the owner and purchased it for $3,000.
“I was still learning HTML in those days, so I simply expanded the site from 4 pages to 20 pages. Folks would then email me questions about the Trail, so I’d find answers. I experienced a vague hue of usefulness, and became hooked. It began generating $500/mo for me (via AdSense). That made me happy. So I kept going.” – Peter Askew
He didn’t stop there. His search for expired domains continued. After two years, he purchased DudeRanch.com for $17,949 and created a ranch directory, partnering with his friendly competitor, GuestRanches.com.
We’d embark on thousand-mile road trips to visit ranches, and share that knowledge with travel-seekers. We made ad deals through hand shakes. We’d forward partners valuable leads. The revenue generated from that project allowed me to quit the 9-5 world permanently. – Peter Askew
Path Leads to DudeRanch.com
His journey wasn’t just about buying a domain; it was about trusting his instincts and continuing to build a business around a domain that instilled curiosity in him to move forward in his entrepreneurial adventure.
“My development philosophy was just forming – that idea being : skip the ‘idea’ phase and just buy a great domain name, and let the domain guide me towards what it wants to become.” – Peter Askew
His early domain developments were small projects, but he craved a big opportunity—one where he could have a sole focus on a single industry and play the long game with a great .com domain name.
So he stopped his earlier projects and searched for that ‘one’ domain name seven days a week in expired domain name lists. Finally, one domain name showed up to him—DudeRanch.com—which had expired and was up for auction.
Peter personally felt that the dude ranch industry was perfect for him. It is also 130 years old.
Peter said “The personal parallels were surprising: I prefer mountains to beaches. I prefer unplugging. I prefer hand-shakes to LinkedIn connections. I prefer authenticity. All are hallmarks of a dude ranch vacation.”
He loves this domain name, but he is unsure how much he can bid for it in the auction. So, he used several factors to determine the actual price he could bid.
- He checked various business models as a compass to bid the right amount. On average, a typical all-inclusive weekly rate for a family of four is around $8,000, with upscale destinations reaching up to $20,000 per week.
- Advertising is not new to the ranch industry. They advertised both offline and online.
- Even though many competitors are doing that online, he thought he could create a simple user experience and user interface for his website.
- If he sells 50 ad spots at $250 per year, he could earn $12,500 per year, and for two years, $25,000.
So he fixed an amount in his mind—$25,000 per year. He thought that if it exceeded that, he would use his gut feelings to make the final call.
“At 3pm the active bidding began. In online domain name auctions, there’s no ability to snipe – all bids placed within the last 5 minutes trigger the countdown clock to reset back to 5 minutes. Pre-bidding had pushed your price up to $3,433. That’s where I began.” – Peter Askew
Bidding went back and forth. After making countless bids, he finally succeeded in acquiring this beautiful domain for $17,949.
After a few years, Peter partnered with GuestRanches.com, operated by David McCollough, for advertising only. When owners pay for one, they get it advertised on both sites.
“We began traveling to as many dude ranches as possible. Most often with David. Sometimes solo. I wanted to soak in the soul of your industry; one that has been around for well over 100 years. To understand how it evolved over time, and how it continues to evolve today.” – Peter
With each new visit to a dude ranch, Peter shook his head in delight at the unique charm each ranch offered.
Path to RanchWork.com
Being in this industry for a very long time, David found that there was no job board for the ranching industry, so he developed one in 1998.
This new site acted as a bridge—linking ranches in need of staff with eager job seekers. It expanded beyond just dude and guest ranches to include cattle ranches, farms, hunting lodges, fly fishing retreats, and more.
In 2013, David partnered with Peter Askew, who then owned DudeRanch.com, to re-launch RanchWork.com with a modern, streamlined design optimized for speed and mobile accessibility.
The collaboration proved highly successful — their concentrated efforts significantly increased the site’s visibility, pushing monthly web traffic to over 100,000 pageviews.
In 2017, Peter acquired RanchWork.com from David, and in July 2019, he completely rebuilt and redesigned the site from the ground up, with guidance from Jill Lynn Design & Development.
Peter Askew ” Since day one, we’ve focused our efforts on serving the ranching, farming, and outdoors community. While we encourage Paid listings (the revenue enables us to keep the site online), we’ll always allow Free listings for any operation that has special needs or financial constraints. We realize ranching is more than a ‘job’ – it’s a calling. We feel so honored to serve everyone in this capacity. Thanks for dropping by. And most importantly – best of luck in your search!”
After great success with DudeRanch.com, he sold this business to David to fund various side projects. But after four years, David sold his entire portfolio to Peter (DudeRanchVacations.com, GuestRanches.com).
You’re home now. I’m so relieved you’re back. I can’t wait to see where we go this time. – Peter Askew
Path To Selling Vidalia Onions
His relentless quest for buying domain names, flipping them, and developing them into projects fed his soul. In 2014, VidaliaOnions.com went up for auction. As a Georgia native, he immediately recognized the domain. Vidalia onions are sweet, unlike regular ones, and some people even eat them like an apple.
He backordered the domain for $2,200, thinking he wouldn’t win the auction. But to his surprise, five years later, the domain became his. When it finally hit his account, he shifted his focus back to his previous projects, leaving the domain untouched.
Yet, the domain name kept nudging him, urging him to develop it.
Build me… build me… you know how. And you know what I should be… – Peter Askew
A month later, he started paying more attention to the domain. When it came to the business model, he decided to follow in the footsteps of Harry & David. They successfully sell pears online, and Peter had been a loyal customer, buying from them every year. Inspired by their approach, he planned to sell onions online in the same way they sold pears.
I don’t usually rush into development. The path of some domains is apparent before I acquire them. Others, the path reveals itself down the road. Vidalia was the latter. And after I acquired it, it kept nudging me. – Peter Askew
Although he didn’t have much experience executing this kind of business, Google Trends showed that Vidalia onions had a strong search volume.
Soon, he discovered the Vidalia Onion Committee, which represents all the Vidalia farmers. They were kind enough to listen to his interest and referred him to several farmers. The third farmer he met was Aries Haygood. Aries had never done direct-to-consumer sales before, but he understood the potential of it.
They set a modest goal of securing 50 orders for the 2015 season, but they ended up with 600 orders instead.
While the farm concentrated on Vidalia, I concentrated on customer service, marketing, branding, web development, & logistics. I didn’t have other projects that were this front-facing, customer wise. And I discovered I immensely enjoyed it. – Peter Askew
Marketing Channels they have used:
- Placed a billboard on I-95, just south of Savannah, GA, facing northbound traffic
- Sponsored a cross-country charity bike rider
- Sponsored a high school basketball team
- Contributed to a grade school auction fundraiser
- Introduced a phone order hotline, which occasionally outperforms online sales.
Of course, not everything went smoothly. They made a few colossal mistakes along the way—one in particular that still haunts them. Early on, they spent $10,000 on shipping boxes from a manufacturer in Dalton, GA. Unfortunately, the boxes turned out to be faulty, and that one decision almost pushed them to the brink of shutting down.
He was returning a call about a phone order when the gentleman’s wife answered. As he began to introduce himself, she suddenly interrupted, shouting with excitement to her husband:
“THE VIDALIA MAN! THE VIDALIA MAN! PICK UP THE PHONE!”
Their customers, more like fans, would be totally disappointed if they disappeared, so they started paying attention to the small details to prevent anything like the fault boxes from happening.
“At that moment, I realized we were doing something right. Something helpful. Something that was making a positive impact. And it’s immensely gratifying. I feel so fortunate to be associated with this industry.” – Peter
In pursuit of continuous improvement and trying different things
Even though he successfully runs the onion e-commerce business, he still checks how customers are receiving their products through UPS. To verify delivery conditions, he occasionally orders onions to his own address.
“If you double the number of experiments you do per year you’re going to double your inventiveness.” – Jeff Bezos
It’s hard to stop someone who truly loves what they’re doing. Peter loves Vidalia onions almost as much as he loves his family, so he often does interesting things like monitoring the term “Vidalia Onions.” online.
Right Marketing Question
The wrong question is, “our project isn’t catching on, how do we promote it better?”
The right question is a little more nuanced and far more important,
“We’re seeking to make a change in part of the world. How do we find the right people and tell them the right (true) story that helps them get to where they’re going–and that they’ll tell to their peers?”
Seth Godin