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$100,000 Flipping Sites-Is it possible? If so, how?

by Jason_V
23 replies
Warriors,

I need a little bit of help. I'm wondering if it is possible to make $100,000 in a year flipping sites. I'm pretty sure if you put the proper time/work into it, you probably could.

Here's the deal, I've finally realized what I'm good at. I'm good at finding low competition well-searched keywords. I'm good at writing content: articles, product reviews, short info reports, auto-responder messages, etc... I'm good at setting up WordPress blogs or making static sites. I'm good at on site SEO. I know how to do article marketing. I know other SEO tactics.

My problem is a lot of the time, I'll build a site, but get bored with it.

I just recently sold a couple of sites and I really enjoyed the rush of selling them.

I'm thinking that maybe my calling is site flipping. I would like to make $100,000 in one year from doing this. If someone can point me to the right resources or even offer me some tips/pointers I'd really appreciate it.

Understand that initially, I won't be able to buy sites to rehab and flip for more. I'd have to start out selling brand new content sites.

Any help for me, or other Warriors wanting to do this and reading would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
#$100 #flipping #sitesis
  • Profile picture of the author Biggy Fat
    It is possible to make $100,000 a year by flipping sites. Kate Anderson, a renowned site flipper, did it in five months.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gee S
    Hey Jason,

    I'm not too sure about 100k flipping sites but what you could do is work on flipping sites to get a steady income. If you're making 2-5k a month then great. But don;t just stick all your eggs in one basket. You that moving to expand in to other areas of IM. You say you're good at writing content. How about every so often doing some research and writing info reports, and running them as WSO's for example. Or if you're good at SEO do a bit of offline work, that's all the rage at the moment and people are really doing well with it.

    Just start with flipping sites, and build your business. It seems like you've got a lot of skills so make the most of them.

    Hope that helps.

    Gurpreet
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  • Profile picture of the author XiahouDun
    Through scaling and outsourcing, i'm sure almost any business could make 6-figures
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  • Profile picture of the author Twonickle
    Jason,
    You probably know about Flippa (Sitepoint) already, you should be able to sell your websites like hotcakes there. The value would increase depending on the amount of unique traffic and revenue each site brought in. The prices are all over the map there. Also buysellwebsite url. I'm sure you know more about all these than me.
    Since I'm pretty new to the IM world ... I would def buy a start-up site if it appeased me (graphics and content were professional) I would also be interested in an established website that has traffic, list and revenue already. I'm only interested in "white hat" business. I also want to crank out a legit clickbank site.
    There is probably allot of newbie kind ready to buy your sites...you seem to have all the right stuff to put it together. Let me know when your selling again.

    Good Luck,

    MikeB
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  • Profile picture of the author Money on the Side
    Site flipping can be lucrative, but without showing the sites makes decent money, the money you get for the effort often doesn't add up. There are people doing it, but it's a lot of work.

    Have you tried to monetize these sites for any length of time? I mean setting up the site, running adwords, doing article marketing an letting them make you $$$ while you are setting up your next site?

    I flipped sites for a while (outsourcing everything) and would make $500 or so a week. But then I went and looked for niches that I could monetize and then sell for serious money. My last site, I wrote an ebook (I actually outsourced the writing for $400) and had a website made. I set up adwords on it and let it pretty much run itself. I netted a little over 25k in the first year through sales and then sold that site last month for 48K (73k profit in 12 months for just one site).

    And Flippa is ok for flipping new sites, but i would definitely not use them for a serious site that is profitable. There are some good brokers out there who have lists of buyers who are begging to be the first one to see a new Internet business for sale.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by killercopy View Post

      Site flipping can be lucrative, but without showing the sites makes decent money, the money you get for the effort often doesn't add up. There are people doing it, but it's a lot of work.

      Have you tried to monetize these sites for any length of time? I mean setting up the site, running adwords, doing article marketing an letting them make you $$$ while you are setting up your next site?

      I flipped sites for a while (outsourcing everything) and would make $500 or so a week. But then I went and looked for niches that I could monetize and then sell for serious money. My last site, I wrote an ebook (I actually outsourced the writing for $400) and had a website made. I set up adwords on it and let it pretty much run itself. I netted a little over 25k in the first year through sales and then sold that site last month for 48K (73k profit in 12 months for just one site).

      And Flippa is ok for flipping new sites, but i would definitely not use them for a serious site that is profitable. There are some good brokers out there who have lists of buyers who are begging to be the first one to see a new Internet business for sale.
      Wow, that is absolutely amazing!

      I do keyword research, find a Clickbank product, write a review, and put Adsense on the site. Some sites I tried using an auto-responder but never really had any success with it.

      Sometimes I do article marketing, most of the time, I don't. I'm very inconsistent with my promotional methods. Then I just kind of get bored with it. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true. Yet, because the little bit of effort I do put into a site, I do get some income from them without really touching them.

      I'm thinking my plan is going to have to consist of making 3 sites a week. Make 2 specifically to flip, and 1 for me and to hold.

      By doing this, I'll have a good income for the 2 I flip per week. By holding the other ones, I can actively and consistently promote them. The income from flipping the two per week can help me to outsource tasks for the sites I'm holding. Pretty soon, the sites I make for me, will start making a consistent income to the point I won't have to flip anymore.

      Or, if I want to keep flipping, I can. I can afford to outsource everything for the sites I want to flip. Also, my sites that are making income, if I really wanted to, I could do as you did, and just flip them for a nice profit after I have them and they are earning money for a while.

      I've decided that my goal for the next 12 months is to make $100,000. I know that's a massive amount. The way I see it, even if I don't hit that amount, and I make $50,000, I'll be happy.
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      "When you do something exactly wrong, you always turn up something."
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      • Profile picture of the author Money on the Side
        Originally Posted by Jason_V View Post

        Wow, that is absolutely amazing!

        I do keyword research, find a Clickbank product, write a review, and put Adsense on the site. Some sites I tried using an auto-responder but never really had any success with it.

        Sometimes I do article marketing, most of the time, I don't. I'm very inconsistent with my promotional methods. Then I just kind of get bored with it. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true. Yet, because the little bit of effort I do put into a site, I do get some income from them without really touching them.

        I'm thinking my plan is going to have to consist of making 3 sites a week. Make 2 specifically to flip, and 1 for me and to hold.

        By doing this, I'll have a good income for the 2 I flip per week. By holding the other ones, I can actively and consistently promote them. The income from flipping the two per week can help me to outsource tasks for the sites I'm holding. Pretty soon, the sites I make for me, will start making a consistent income to the point I won't have to flip anymore.

        Or, if I want to keep flipping, I can. I can afford to outsource everything for the sites I want to flip. Also, my sites that are making income, if I really wanted to, I could do as you did, and just flip them for a nice profit after I have them and they are earning money for a while.

        I've decided that my goal for the next 12 months is to make $100,000. I know that's a massive amount. The way I see it, even if I don't hit that amount, and I make $50,000, I'll be happy.
        The money you should get for an online business is between 2-3x your yearly net. But this doesn't mean that you necessarily have to keep a year. You can work it hard for 6 months and still use the year factor based on those 6 months. I'm working on another one now that is netting me about 2k a month. At the six month point, I will hand it over to my broker to put up for sale with a 50k asking price.

        This is not so much flipping (in my opinion) but similar. If you want to make 100K, you need to start by breaking it down to smaller pieces and figure out exactly what you need to do to get there.

        What I would do is this:

        100k = 4 websites that sell for 25K

        to get 25K for a website, you would have to show it is netting 12k a year (or 6k in 6 months). This would be a safe bet because you are looking at just over 2x the yearly net.

        You could do all four at once or work 2 of them for 6 months and then the other 2 for the next six months. Believe me, if you can show (with proof) that the site can make 1k a month net (steadily for at least 6 months) you can sell that site for 24k or more. And, trust me on this as well: there are serious buyers out there for these kind of sites (and no, they are not on Flippa!)

        Anyway...your 100k can be done. My suggestion is to break it down into smaller and easier pieces.

        I wish I had your research ability-mine sucks. So, I do have confidence that you can make your 100k if you break it down.
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        • Profile picture of the author Wide Eyed Concepts
          Originally Posted by killercopy View Post

          The money you should get for an online business is between 2-3x your yearly net. But this doesn't mean that you necessarily have to keep a year. You can work it hard for 6 months and still use the year factor based on those 6 months. I'm working on another one now that is netting me about 2k a month. At the six month point, I will hand it over to my broker to put up for sale with a 50k asking price.

          This is not so much flipping (in my opinion) but similar. If you want to make 100K, you need to start by breaking it down to smaller pieces and figure out exactly what you need to do to get there.

          What I would do is this:

          100k = 4 websites that sell for 25K

          to get 25K for a website, you would have to show it is netting 12k a year (or 6k in 6 months). This would be a safe bet because you are looking at just over 2x the yearly net.

          You could do all four at once or work 2 of them for 6 months and then the other 2 for the next six months. Believe me, if you can show (with proof) that the site can make 1k a month net (steadily for at least 6 months) you can sell that site for 24k or more. And, trust me on this as well: there are serious buyers out there for these kind of sites (and no, they are not on Flippa!)

          Anyway...your 100k can be done. My suggestion is to break it down into smaller and easier pieces.

          I wish I had your research ability-mine sucks. So, I do have confidence that you can make your 100k if you break it down.
          Man that is unreal.

          I take back my previous post, lol. I didn't know people would actually pay that amount for that type of monthly revenue. I guess the big question now is how do you find brokers or those that can connect you with the people that want to buy?
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          • Profile picture of the author Money on the Side
            Originally Posted by YoYoPro View Post

            Man that is unreal.

            I take back my previous post, lol. I didn't know people would actually pay that amount for that type of monthly revenue. I guess the big question now is how do you find brokers or those that can connect you with the people that want to buy?
            Yeah, it's really about getting away from the Flippa crowd who are looking for deals and instead, dealing with business people that are looking to expand their portfolio with a profitable business. There are people out there with money to buy a business that is making a profit.

            You mentioned being turned off by the business model/plan. I was the same way at first. Yes, it would be great to have numerous sites (streams of income) all bringing in money but lately, it seems that the competition starts cutting into those profits. So, with this model, you make it profitable for 6-12 months, then sell is for 2-3x your yearly net (or projected net). You can cash out serious money and when added to the net you made, you can sustain a full time income doing this...and that's with just one site making 1-2k a month!

            If you're looking for a good business broker that deals just with websites, let me know.
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  • Profile picture of the author Wide Eyed Concepts
    For me... every time I get excited about flipping sites and start to want to focus on it, something in the back of my head stops me because of the logic of the business plan.

    I mean, why would I sell a site that's making me money when I can just keep building new sites that will eventually add up to a whole lot of money collectively?

    Maybe I'm missing the point or just see it differently. I do admit though, the idea of making 100k in a year from just flipping sites sounds appealing but how much money would I make if I didn't sell any of them and just let them grow on top of each other?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by YoYoPro View Post

      For me... every time I get excited about flipping sites and start to want to focus on it, something in the back of my head stops me because of the logic of the business plan.

      I mean, why would I sell a site that's making me money when I can just keep building new sites that will eventually add up to a whole lot of money collectively?

      Maybe I'm missing the point or just see it differently. I do admit though, the idea of making 100k in a year from just flipping sites sounds appealing but how much money would I make if I didn't sell any of them and just let them grow on top of each other?

      Right, but my problem is, once I make them, I abandon them. Yes, I get a little bit of traffic/money anyway from the little bit of promotion that I initially did.

      However, the reality is, at least for me, I'd make out better flipping them. It's perfect for me because I can do what I like to do with a site, then get instant cash, and let the new owner worry about promotion.

      It was very liberating for me to sell the sites that I sold which I didn't really do anything with.

      I guess you have to make a distinction. The sites at least initially, that I would be selling would have no traffic, no money. Just good content and a nice design/WordPress theme.

      Obviously, I couldn't sell them for as much as I could if I did some promotion got traffic going and some money. However, I wouldn't be bored. I could finish a site, get it listed and be off working on another one.

      Like I said, once the money starts coming in, I could actually afford to pay for outsourcing of my own sites, the ones I choose to make for me, so I don't get bored with them.

      You have to come up with a business model that works for you. Trust me, I get what your saying. Letting go of those sites was bitter sweet. However, as I said, those sites deserved better, they deserved a new owner that would put work into them and give them the attention they deserve, rather than the neglect I was giving them.
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      "When you do something exactly wrong, you always turn up something."
      -Andy Warhol
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      • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
        I'm working on making $100,000 in the next 6 months flipping sites - it's probably one of the easiest ways to make that much money in 12 months. Like you I lose interest in my niche sites easily - I do have a few more established 'authority' sites which form the core of my business (and I'll be keeping for a long time to come), but my smaller niche sites have a high turnover and usually get sold within 3-9 months. I normally sell my sites for $750 - $5000.
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  • Profile picture of the author Desmond Ong
    I've sold a site for $80,000 (pretty close to $100,000 I guess) after buying up a site for $30,000. So, that's $50,000 in profit.

    The trick is to pay whatever it costs to get the site on the first ranking of the first page of Google, at least 1,000 unique per day and well, make at least $10,000 per month.

    But you gotta start small first if you are not experienced in flipping websites.

    Cheers
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    • Profile picture of the author Ehsan_am
      Originally Posted by Desmond Ong View Post

      I've sold a site for $80,000 (pretty close to $100,000 I guess) after buying up a site for $30,000. So, that's $50,000 in profit.

      The trick is to pay whatever it costs to get the site on the first ranking of the first page of Google, at least 1,000 unique per day and well, make at least $10,000 per month.

      But you gotta start small first if you are not experienced in flipping websites.

      Cheers
      Why would you want to sell a website that makes you 10k$ a month????
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      • Profile picture of the author Dean Martin
        Originally Posted by Ehsan_am View Post

        Why would you want to sell a website that makes you 10k$ a month????
        Probably not sustainable income - either a passing niche - or - $10k revenue based on $9k adwords spent.

        I purchase a couple sites a month and even with careful buying habits find more than half of them are pumped up w/artificial traffic to pad the stats and/or paid ad campaigns to boost the revenue.

        The site flipping model is mostly about creating a facade of profitability and finding a sucker... Can you tell I'm not a fan??

        That being said, as a buyer - every now and then I find a gem - never from a professional site flipper though.
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by dlmartin View Post

          Probably not sustainable income - either a passing niche - or - $10k revenue based on $9k adwords spent.

          I purchase a couple sites a month and even with careful buying habits find more than half of them are pumped up w/artificial traffic to pad the stats and/or paid ad campaigns to boost the revenue.

          The site flipping model is mostly about creating a facade of profitability and finding a sucker... Can you tell I'm not a fan??

          That being said, as a buyer - every now and then I find a gem - never from a professional site flipper though.
          That really isn't true. There are a lot of honest site flippers. Things like traffic can be easily verified by requesting referrers and carefully checking out stats before buying. I've bought a lot of sites and only one person had purchased fake, junk traffic for the site. I personally didn't care because I only wanted the site to redesign and flip. I requested that she terminate all the fake traffic and I redesigned, promoted and got real traffic and resold the site at a profit. I know on this forum quite a few site flippers who are completely honest.
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      • Profile picture of the author Desmond Ong
        Originally Posted by Ehsan_am View Post

        Why would you want to sell a website that makes you 10k$ a month????
        Simple mate.

        I like the quick money. I am getting the money that I will get in 8 months and instead of waiting 8 months to get $80k, I got that in like 14 days.

        So, I spent that $80k buying 3 sites worth $20k each. And then spend the rest of the money ($20k) for SEO, keyword research, PPC, articles, site design, content refurbish, branding and codings for all these three sites.

        So, if these three sites sell for $50k each, I am making a revenue of $150k. That is pretty decent to me I would say.

        That's not all, my buyers often buy an SEO and traffic generation package with me which means each of them will pay me $2k a month and all the works are done by my Phillipino friend. (Do you see the passive income?)
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  • Profile picture of the author forrar
    I'm reading this thread and I can't believe what I see. Your posts are inspiring me. I'm total newbie in sites/blogs flipping but for now I really like it. The biggest problem for me is getting traffic to blog. Keyword research, content creation, I like this part, but when it comes about traffic I stuck on it...

    Till this time I have sold 2 blogs, one for $50 USD other for $55 USD. I still can't understand how to make a blog/site that I could flip it for $100-200 USD.

    If I will work on speed like this.. My max earnings will be $200 USD / month.
    Guys, could you give me any advice how to extend it to $500 USD ? It would be great, then I could pay for my studies and parents would have to send me money anymore..

    Thanks in advance,
    Laurynas
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  • Profile picture of the author websubs
    If you have a optimized site earning over $10k a month why would you want to flip it?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lou Diamond
    Hello,
    flipping works,here is a method my brother uses.
    He looks for domains for sale,he fixes them up,makes some money first,
    and then he sells it.
    This sounds like real estate sales.
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    Something new soon.

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  • Profile picture of the author David Chung
    Running a website can involve maintenance, updates, link building, and lots of other little things. Say you worked 6 months to build 200 websites making $1 a day each and have $200 coming in a day, but how would you maintain all that? The internet moves faster and faster by the day. Different niches get new updates constantly. With your focus divided among so many sites perhaps you screw up somewhere and 10 of your sites stop making money, so now you're down $10 a day or $300 a month.

    If instead you sold all your sites for 1 year's earnings each, you'd have $72,000 in hand, right now, without any risk of losing it and without having to work to maintain it. You could do no work at all for 1 whole year and still have the money you'd have earned if you'd kept the sites and did the maintenance work.

    Of course you're losing out on potentially increased income, but again you don't have the risk of potentially decreased income either.
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  • Profile picture of the author Wide Eyed Concepts
    So here's a question i'm sure crosses the mind of some potential site sellers:

    Say you are article marketing for your traffic and are able to make 2k a month on a site. As soon as you pull back on the article marketing efforts it's likely that the income will drop. Does this ever effect the sale for a potential client that just wants a smooth running hands off investment site that's making money?

    I'm not worried about getting a site earning X amount of dollars for X amount of time, it's the selling of the site because of the reason above that I feel may deter a buyer. Anyone dealt with this or are buyers assuming they can outsource this to keep it going and don't mind?
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    • Profile picture of the author Money on the Side
      Originally Posted by YoYoPro View Post

      So here's a question i'm sure crosses the mind of some potential site sellers:

      Say you are article marketing for your traffic and are able to make 2k a month on a site. As soon as you pull back on the article marketing efforts it's likely that the income will drop. Does this ever effect the sale for a potential client that just wants a smooth running hands off investment site that's making money?

      I'm not worried about getting a site earning X amount of dollars for X amount of time, it's the selling of the site because of the reason above that I feel may deter a buyer. Anyone dealt with this or are buyers assuming they can outsource this to keep it going and don't mind?
      I'm sure that you could still make the sale. If you think in brick & mortar terms, when someone buys a pizza place, they know that there will be work involved on their part--at the store flipping pizzas as well as marketing, bookkeeping, etc. Sure, an ebook site would probably be an easier sale, but even in the case of my sale, I told them up front that they need to do article marketing, managed adwords, etc to keep things rolling.
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