My Biggest Secret, How to Sell a Site in Two Hours, yep 120 minutes for top DOLLAR

[Todd Walker]

Hello Warriors,

So, I get this asked all the time, and so I figured I will place it here for multiple reasons, mainly because it will get indexed faster then on my blog lol. Also you guys are cool, so anyways the question that i get is:

Where do you Sell your Sites?
Where do you Sell Your Site to Make Top Dollar?
How do you sell your sites in two hours?

Honestly, the concept is fairly simple, but warning this is not something you can do tomorrow, but it has made me $XXX,XXX because I did this.

It was a blissful day outside when I was sending an email notification to a list of 120 people that signed up with me to receive information on traffic and revenue. My email was an apologic email notifying them that I will be selling the site and all related content on this site. I feel it is always best to warn your community that you will be heading off for two reasons.

1) They might come with you
2) They will be inviting to the new owner

To my surprise, when i sent this email out, I started getting replies:

Todd, How much are you selling for?

Todd, I'm interested, can you let me know your Buy It Now Price?

Todd, Where is the auction being held?

I never got a response like this from my readers, first I was happy they were actually reading my emails, but I got 15 emails in regards to me selling the site. I didn't even set up the auction yet.

So... I made a new page for a private auction for my readers, I never had to list on Sitepoint, DigitalPoint, Ebay, etc... right on my own site I sold it to my own reader community.

The Site sold for $950.00, it had a 120 email list, and about $130 a month in revenue.

Since this amazing happening, besides selling on the Big Three, I started to create these lists of people who were interested in buying that niches sites.

So, I would purposely build a site, bring revenue/traffic to it, and then notify that I'm selling, and if you were interested in receiving the analytics reports and revenue statistics to Opt-In... Then i sold the site to one of the Opt-In's...

My list of Opt-Ins is now around 1,700+, it carries in a variety of niches, and when i want to sell my site, I go back to this list and notify them... We have a very good relationship.

It takes me about two hours to get a site off my hands before it will hit my reserve or a subscriber will offer me the BIN.

Well, that is one of my big secrets... like they say it is all in the list.

Toddy Walkerish

[Terry Hatfield]

Great tip Todd,

You have hundreds of people on your list of the site you want to sell. Almost all of them look forward to receiving your emails and trust youl

Who better to sell your site to?

Seems like a lot better solution then listing your site on one of these auction sites.

Life is Great,
Terry

[Todd Walker]

Terry,

Thanks for the comment... Also, it really saves on dollars, if you want to list a site on SitePoint it can cost you up to $35.00 for the listing, especially if you want to highlight it and bold it up a bit...

Now, the lower crappier sites I have that sell for $100 make $100 instead of just $65, profits are up a lot higher, and that matters the most.

Originally Posted by Terry Hatfield

Great tip Todd,

You have hundreds of people on your list of the site you want to sell. Almost all of them look forward to receiving your emails and trust youl

Who better to sell your site to?

Seems like a lot better solution then listing your site on one of these auction sites.

Life is Great,
Terry

I recommend Sitepoint.

[Tyler Ellison]

Sitepoint is great to sell your sites at as long as you know the market and can provide what they're looking for. Automated traffic system with proof, solid dependable revenue with proof, good copy, and a low price.

If you're not good at preparing those things you can always sell your domain on eBay.

[TeamGlobal]

Hello Todd,

Thanks for sharing that. This is a method that I'd never thought of.

It just goes to show you that opportunities to profit are sometimes sitting right under your nose.

All The Best,


Tony

[Terry Hatfield]

Hey Todd,

You know the more I think about your idea the better it sounds.

You should make this into a WSO. I'm sure it would be a hot seller.

Life is Great,
Terry

[Amino Zawawi]

Originally Posted by Terry Hatfield

Hey Todd,

You know the more I think about your idea the better it sounds.

You should make this into a WSO. I'm sure it would be a hot seller.

Life is Great,
Terry

Ditto, you should consider the WSO idea. Not only will it sell like hot cakes, you should incorporate more ideas in relation to domaining. Plus the thread's title is already catchy, all you need to write your ways out and bam, you're done.

[Texas_Guns]

Todd,

If you don't mind me asking, why did you sell for
so cheap? I get 24-36 times monthly rev.

At 24 months, that would have made you: $3,120.

Man, if you are selling your sites that cheap...
I want in and I promise that I'll be the highest
bidder most of the time. Seriously.

[Ken Leatherman]

Hey Todd,

You wrote:

The Site sold for $950.00, it had a 120 email list, and about $130 a month in revenue.

If I may ask how long you worked with the site prior to selling it?

Do you build these with the sole intention of getting them to producing revenue and then sell them for "a quick profit"?

If so it seems if you held on to them for say 12 months at $130 a month you would be looking at $1560 a year. Which is an additional $610.00 in profit. It seems if you sold it at the end of a year, you could well have expected to make around 10 - 15K.
Based on the formula of 10 X Yearly Income.

I understand the temptation of a "quick profit" and that is what so many people are looking for on the internet. (Not saying that's you) But I see where you and others could develop this into a long term, very profitable business.

Ken Leatherman

P.S. Texas Guns just hit on it while I was wrtiting this.

[Texas_Guns]

Originally Posted by Ken Leatherman

Hey Todd,

You wrote:If I may ask how long you worked with the site prior to selling it?

Do you build these with the sole intention of getting them to producing revenue and then sell them for "a quick profit"?

If so it seems if you held on to them for say 12 months at $130 a month you would be looking at $1560 a year. Which is an additional $610.00 in profit. It seems if you sold it at the end of a year, you could well have expected to make around 10 - 15K.
Based on the formula of 10 X Yearly Income.

I understand the temptation of a "quick profit" and that is what so many people are looking for on the internet. (Not saying that's you) But I see where you and others could develop this into a long term, very profitable business.

Ken Leatherman

P.S. Texas Guns just hit on it while I was wrtiting this.

Ten Times Yearly income?????

I'm sorry, but I've never heard of such a thing.

People are willing to pay as much as 24 to 36 times
MONTHLY earnings. Yes, it can be a little higher if
you have a site that has a ton of opportunity or fits
into a business model of a few buyers and they get
into a bidding war.

If you know of anyone who will buy at ten times
annual earnings after one year, send them to me
and I will give you 15% per site that I sell. That
is a standing offer to any Warrior!

For 10 times yearly earnings, I would sell EACH
and EVERY single one of my websites and I'd
cash out for several million dollars. That would
make for a very nice weekend... and a very,
very happy wife!

.

[Ken Leatherman]

Sorry I meant to say monthly income. Got carried away with my thunking process. Being from Texas too I tend to think Big.

As far as the higher number it's great when you get it. Just don't go below the 10 - 20 X rule.

Ken

[martinp]

Originally Posted by Ken Leatherman

Just don't go below the 10 - 20 X rule.

It's not always that easy to find someone to pay as much as 10x monthly income - it depends on how developed the site is and age makes a difference as well.

I do alot of site flipping and because I usually sell when the site is only 3-6 months old I generally get 6 - 12x monthly income (mostly around 8x), and after having the site for such a short time I'm pretty happy with that. If the same site was over a year old though I'd expect alot more.

[dburk]

Hi Todd,

Great post!

How long does it typically take before you are ready to sell a new site. Can you do this in just a couple months, or is it better to wait at least a year?

[Jose Delgado]

Great Post Todd.

I'm surprised you sold it so cheap.



.

[Todd Walker]

Hey,

Thanks for the comments, that site was up for about a month when I sold it. I'm in the business of quick setups, quick traffic, quick revenue. I have a very speculative mindset and don't hold onto things for that long unless they have a certain goal to be reached.

That site actually was a good sale, 7 Times the Monthly earnings after being online for One Month....

If it was consistent for 6 months I probably could of gotten a lot more, but like I said, that is not my business model.

So, Don, Ken, I work about a month or less on a site before I sell it...

The model is to build about 20 of these sites per month, work on them, sell them the next month while I have my team start developing 20 more...

Sometimes one or two will transfer into more months if the potentials are high enough.

Thanks

Todd

[lauraswane]

It's a good technique. Now if only I had the email list you do. I have to rely on sitepoint and webunload for their traffic to get offers like you get. I'm a bit jealous.

[Todd Walker]

Laura,

PM me your stuff, if it is valuable I will present it to my list.

[Kate Anderson]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi Todd,

Great post!

How long does it typically take before you are ready to sell a new site. Can you do this in just a couple months, or is it better to wait at least a year?

I have been flipping sites for quite some time as well and my primary focus is selling brand new websites (no traffic, no sales, nothing).

I've had better success offering complete website packages that are brand new and offer unique content or a product. They typically sell from $397 - right up to $900.. and these are sites created within a few days, in fact I never have the domain from the time it's registered until it's sold for longer than a week in most cases.

I know that a lot of people push the flipping system based on traffic generation, PR rank and revenue, and I also know that this works as well, having done both. Between the two though? I definitely prefer the fast flips, just because being a writer, it's simply easy for me to do.

When analyzing the different offers in the marketplaces I am a part of, I often find that there are three types of sites:

1) Sites with existing traffic, sometimes a bit of revenue and a product that is either PLR, over-saturated or poorly presented. Usually the design leaves a lot to be desired, as does the sales page. The interest in these packages are primarily focused on the traffic, rather than the actual content. Not always, of course, but usually.

2) Websites with no traffic or revenue, but offer unique content or exclusive rights. PLR won't work on these sorts of website sales for the most part. People are primarily interested in these sites because of the exclusivity that's offered from having a new product never released before.

3) Sites based on existing scripts (Shopping cart systems, directories, blogs, etc). These sites don't always have any traffic whatsoever, and in many cases, aren't even customized in any way.. they look exactly like the demo script does on the developers website. Most of these sites sell for about $250 or less.

I know that a lot of people who are interested in flipping believe it's difficult to get started simply because they aren't sure how to generate traffic to them.

My advice?

Don't.. Instead, focus on the other equally hot sellers. If you are a decent writer, create a package that has never been sold before or ever will be sold again, people love fresh content and will pay high prices for products that only they will ever own.. OR if you are good at installing scripts and working in code, you could model your websites after the current popular packages such as nicely designed directory sites, or pre-made blogs with a bit of content.

Create your flipping business based on what you can do. If generating traffic isn't something you are good at or enjoy, focus on a type of flip that doesn't require it. Just keep it simple. Transferring lists, membership sites, and all that stuff can eat away at your time, over complicate the process and even discourage you.

[Dana_W]

That is very generous of you, Kate. And you too, Todd. If they were still giving reputation points I'd give you rep!

Kate, do you sell most of your sites at sitepoint?

[nRehman]

SitePoint is a good place..

[Kate Anderson]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

That is very generous of you, Kate. And you too, Todd. If they were still giving reputation points I'd give you rep!

Kate, do you sell most of your sites at sitepoint?

Hi Dana =)

I started flipping sites about five years ago or so, and back then, I focused exclusively on Ebay. These days, I wouldn't bother listing my sites there because it's a lot harder to reach out to seasoned buyers and a lot of newcomers don't understand the difference between high quality site packages from turnkey sites that are typically only worth a few bucks.

These days, I do a lot of private sales from previous clients and custom site package requests from people who have seen my own sites or ones I have flipped on domain/site marketplaces, like Sitepoint, DNForum, etc.

In my opinion, for quick site flips (and that is what my previous post was focused on since when it comes to larger flips there's a lot more involved), I do find it's best to start with Sitepoint only because the demand is there, the money is there and the cost to list in Start Ups' is only $10.00.. definitely doesn't take much to recoup your costs.

I have never added any of the SitePoint upgrades to my auctions and I have never failed to flip a site that I have listed. It's only ever cost me $10.00 in the Start Up category and while there is less traffic to it apart from the Established Sites, don't let the lack of questions or comments in auctions fool you. The glory of selling on SitePoint is that most people are experienced so the silly questions are usually few and far between. Apart from that, people will typically PM you with questions, rather than post them openly.

As well, if you are going to list a site there, use the BIN feature. If you don't, you will be spending a lot of time responding to potential buyers who PM you asking what your price is. People don't want to wait around and a BIN will definitely increases your chances of selling.

Just remember, you can set a high BIN and decrease the price, but you can't increase it so always start off a tad higher than you initially planned. Test the waters and go from there.

[Kate Anderson]

Also, just a few quick tips if you are new to site flipping:

Register your domains with NameCheap. You can find coupons on www.RetailMeNot.com decreasing the cost of your registration, but the primary reason I suggest using them is how quickly and easy it is to push the domain to your customer. Unlike GoDaddy, which can be a bit confusing, you can push a domain over to a customer in two minutes.

Also, if you are going to flip a blog, go to HostGator (once again use a coupon such as "interface" which gives you one month of hosting for a penny). Set up the blog there, point the domain - do all that work. When you sell the site, hand over the account to the customer. It's a lot easier than transferring the blog and you can literally close the sale in under 30 minutes that way.

The objective when flipping smaller packages (or start up ones) is to move quickly, if you spend a lot of time transferring sites, lists, databases, blogs, domains - etc.. that's time taken directly from your bottom line. You need to develop a smooth system that lets you settle the sale quickly and seamlessly.

Besides, it makes it easier on the buyer who might not know how to upload files, edit databases, install scripts or deal with transfer issues or bugs caused by your transferring the site over.

[Dana_W]

That is really, really great information, Kate. I know the biggest cliche on the board is to say "You could sell that as a WSO!" but you really could. I've paid for ebooks that were less useful than that free post.

[Girish]

Kate, I saw your auctions on SitePoint and am wondering whether you write the eBooks yourself or get them written by freelancers?

From what I've seen, you list at least 3 packages a week and creating 3 x 50 page eBooks is no easy task

[Kate Anderson]

Hi Girish,

Yes, I write all of my own content including the sales pages to the sites I flip.

Three ebooks a week (at 50 pages each) is not that difficult really, but I've been writing for a very long time. I usually only write about things I know as well, (IM, WAH, online business, etc) and when I do that, there's little if any, research required and I can write as many as two 50-70 page ebooks a day.. my only problem is that I tend to get a bit bored if anything ends up being repetitive and so I take a few days off in between flipping, just to focus on other things.

Site flipping is a great way to make some extra money, but since you are working on a per project basis, once a site is sold you start from scratch again.. it's always (always) wise to be working on something else that can generate cash from one project, over and over again, hence my ContentGrab.com and ProfitableContent.com sites that I'm working on.

Good luck with your flipping =)

[mariochase]

That is a very interesting technique you are doing. I'm right now trying a lot of different stuff... and this could be one of the thing I will try. Thanks for the insight my friend..

[braver55b]

Thanks Todd,

I'm always looking for tips on how to get into the site flipping niche.

[pmore]

Good advice. I agree about letting your community know if you're selling. The paycheck is nice too

[Adeel_Chowdhry]

Now all you've got to do Toddy is make more websites to sell to that list!

- keep giving them what they want, easy $$$!

Adeel

[Louis Raven]

Hey Todd, congratulations and keep up the good work.

Are these blogs, forums, or standard content sites?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, how are these monetized, Adsense, Clickbank etc?

Louis

[oneempowered]

Originally Posted by Kate Anderson

Hi Girish,

Yes, I write all of my own content including the sales pages to the sites I flip.

Three ebooks a week (at 50 pages each) is not that difficult really, but I've been writing for a very long time.

Kate,
Your sites always look great. Do you create your own graphics as well?

[mudmat]

It all boils down to having a list.. The money is always in the list..

How many times have I heard that?

[blairezon blenn]

Thanks Todd, you've given me a clue to expand my talents... hehehe. great post!

Cheers!

[laurieslegends]

Wow, this has been a very educational thread for me. I just listed my first auction at sitepoint yesterday.

I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, I got a wso the other day about making content ebay rss sites and joined a forum with videos that showed me how to do that. I took what I learned their and what I already knew, building an article directory and created the best of both worlds.

I have high expectations for this auction, but I figured it was better to aim high and go down, rather than low and go up.

I also have a list I am trying to get a series of autoresponder messages to shoot out, you can read about it in one of my other threads.

I had already thought about doing what you have done Todd, before the auction was over, I would send a mention about my listing to them, but I really need some coaching as far as my list is concerned.

I am trying to stay focused on one thing to finish and the site that I created yesterday to sell on sitepoint, already earned adsense revenue today. That was a suprise, I am sure it had to do with traffic from sitepoint, though.

Laurie

[sweetanahita]

nice little thread but a nicer method...
anyways, going to try this out...! Thanks...