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Making regular income online

by cooler1
18 replies
Hi, Im looking to buy a website that will provide a regular income online but without much work involved in running the site (not that im lazy, i just don't have the experience/expertise in this field) so something like a forum site would probably be suitable.

I haven't decided on a set budget but i don't want to spend anymore than around $10,000. I want to earn at least $1,500 per month in revenue from the site through Adsense and advertising ad's so the site has to be quite well established.

Ive seen various sites for sale around this price that have a good monthly income but my main concern is, will that income keep coming year after year or will it dry up eventually. I know the internet is ever changing so there is no guarantee that the site will be popular for ever and maintain high traffic but what specific type of sites should i be looking for to have a decent chance of having long term traffic.

Also where is the best place to look for such a site? Flippa doesn't seem to have a great reputation.
#income #making #online #regular
  • Profile picture of the author farfrombrooklyn
    I think you're looking in the right direction and although the wording is right on, so far I have not found anything to be quite low maintenance. Looking at the forum as an option is a good move because your user base creates content which attracts visitors in essence creating a traffic base which with a little help can really move. Like everything, there are pro's and cons, this format limits you as to the revenue options and some maintenance is required.

    The ultimate effect on the traffic would probably depend on how involved the previous owner was, your expertise in the area or in the case of a free forum type sites how well the support of the board is managed. This last category will give you more wiggle room.

    I've looked at quite a few places, but ended up always buying from Ebay, the signal to noise ratio is getting bad for the website category, but finding the right match will take some time.

    If you need any additional help, PM me.
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    • Profile picture of the author cooler1
      Originally Posted by farfrombrooklyn View Post

      I think you're looking in the right direction and although the wording is right on, so far I have not found anything to be quite low maintenance. Looking at the forum as an option is a good move because your user base creates content which attracts visitors in essence creating a traffic base which with a little help can really move. Like everything, there are pro's and cons, this format limits you as to the revenue options and some maintenance is required.

      The ultimate effect on the traffic would probably depend on how involved the previous owner was, your expertise in the area or in the case of a free forum type sites how well the support of the board is managed. This last category will give you more wiggle room.

      I've looked at quite a few places, but ended up always buying from Ebay, the signal to noise ratio is getting bad for the website category, but finding the right match will take some time.

      If you need any additional help, PM me.
      Thanks for your advice. There's a site on Flippa mydellmini.com for $8000, they say it brings $2,320 per month revenue which most of it is from their sponsor. Does that seem like a good deal, with there being over a week left in the auction i expect it will sell for a lot more than that.

      My mine concern is, he said that he found it hard to cope with the business parts of the site which is his reason for selling it. I don't have any experience in running a business so would this be a bad purchase. The traffic of the site seems to have taken a dip recently as well.

      Also do you have any suggestions on where to look for such sites. Ive only really been looking at Flippa so far but a lot of people don't seem to think that sellers very genuine there.

      My post count is to low to PM you.

      Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

      Nobody with a low-maintenance site making 1,500 a month is going to sell it for 10k. They'd be crazy. For that kind of money you could get a nice site built and have plenty left over to promote it. Hell, you could get hundreds of sites built for that.
      Well the guy on Flippa selling mydellmini says running the site requires little/no work although he did mention the business part of it was proving difficult.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        I don't understand why you posted the question as you to be rationalizing your decision to purchase the Flippa site.

        Nobody with a low-maintenance site making 1,500 a month is going to sell it for 10k. They'd be crazy. For that kind of money you could get a nice site built and have plenty left over to promote it. Hell, you could get hundreds of sites built for that.
        That is excellent advice. The guy on Flippa is trying to SELL the site so may tend to tell you what you want to hear. If he's having trouble with the business end of his own income producing site - running it hands-off certainly isn't the answer.

        Unless you have $10k you can afford to throw away, take the time to learn more about sites and what maintenance/attention they need - and how to evaluate the truth about a site for sale.

        kay
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      • Profile picture of the author VicOnline
        Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

        Thanks for your advice. There's a site on Flippa mydellmini.com for $8000, they say it brings $2,320 per month revenue which most of it is from their sponsor. Does that seem like a good deal, with there being over a week left in the auction i expect it will sell for a lot more than that.
        What happens if/when the sponsor decides they don't want to sponsor anymore? Then youre stuck with no income at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    Nobody with a low-maintenance site making 1,500 a month is going to sell it for 10k. They'd be crazy. For that kind of money you could get a nice site built and have plenty left over to promote it. Hell, you could get hundreds of sites built for that.
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    • Profile picture of the author sal64
      Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

      Nobody with a low-maintenance site making 1,500 a month is going to sell it for 10k. They'd be crazy. For that kind of money you could get a nice site built and have plenty left over to promote it. Hell, you could get hundreds of sites built for that.

      Correct!

      With that sort of annual residual, you'd looking at least $50k to buy.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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    Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

    Hi, Im looking to buy a website that will provide a regular income online but without much work involved in running the site (not that im lazy, i just don't have the experience/expertise in this field) so something like a forum site would probably be suitable.

    I haven't decided on a set budget but i don't want to spend anymore than around $10,000. I want to earn at least $1,500 per month in revenue from the site through Adsense and advertising ad's so the site has to be quite well established.

    Ive seen various sites for sale around this price that have a good monthly income but my main concern is, will that income keep coming year after year or will it dry up eventually. I know the internet is ever changing so there is no guarantee that the site will be popular for ever and maintain high traffic but what specific type of sites should i be looking for to have a decent chance of having long term traffic.

    Also where is the best place to look for such a site? Flippa doesn't seem to have a great reputation.

    Actually, a forum site probably would not be a good idea. They are labor intensive. They need constant moderation or they will soon be nothing but junk and spam.

    As for income drying up ... most sites take some amount of work and promotion and updating to keep them earning. If you buy one and let it sit without doing anything, chances are that the income will slowly disappear. Popular sites are sites that keep fresh content flowing to give people a reason to visit and return to the site.

    You can find good sites that make money on Flippa. Not all of the sites are junk. You just have to be very careful about due diligence. Don't take anything for granted. Get proof of traffic, proof of income and screenshots of referring urls or Google Analytics. You will want to know where that traffic is coming from and you will also want to know how much money it costs to get that traffic. Does the owner use Adwords? If so, what is the spend? Do they have any other costs? Does the site have writers and what do they cost?

    Investigate thoroughly.

    Edit: Just checked out the forum you mentioned. If he is having problems with the business end, you're going to want to know exactly what problems those are and if you are willing to cope with those problems. He is not a site flipper. Looks like this is the only site he has listed on Flippa.

    The income is dependent on the one sponsor that he has. If that sponsor goes, so does the income. The Alexa shows a slow dip in traffic. If the traffic dies, the sponsor goes.
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    • Profile picture of the author cooler1
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      Actually, a forum site probably would not be a good idea. They are labor intensive. They need constant moderation or they will soon be nothing but junk and spam.

      As for income drying up ... most sites take some amount of work and promotion and updating to keep them earning. If you buy one and let it sit without doing anything, chances are that the income will slowly disappear. Popular sites are sites that keep fresh content flowing to give people a reason to visit and return to the site.

      You can find good sites that make money on Flippa. Not all of the sites are junk. You just have to be very careful about due diligence. Don't take anything for granted. Get proof of traffic, proof of income and screenshots of referring urls or Google Analytics. You will want to know where that traffic is coming from and you will also want to know how much money it costs to get that traffic. Does the owner use Adwords? If so, what is the spend? Do they have any other costs? Does the site have writers and what do they cost?

      Investigate thoroughly.

      Edit: Just checked out the forum you mentioned. If he is having problems with the business end, you're going to want to know exactly what problems those are and if you are willing to cope with those problems. He is not a site flipper. Looks like this is the only site he has listed on Flippa.

      The income is dependent on the one sponsor that he has. If that sponsor goes, so does the income. The Alexa shows a slow dip in traffic. If the traffic dies, the sponsor goes.
      Thanks for the advice. If a forum site is popular wouldn't many people be moderators for free anyway so the site is maintained?

      Ive just won an auction on Flippa, im the new owner of highforextrading.com It cost $175, i haven't got a clue if it's a good deal or not i took a risk. It's automated so new articles get posted to the site each day automatically.

      Do you think it's a good deal? They say it's a $6,000 a month potential, i certainly don't expect it to earn that much but do you think this site has potential to make at least a reasonable monthly income.
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      • Profile picture of the author sal64
        Is that you, Bob??
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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        Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

        Thanks for the advice. If a forum site is popular wouldn't many people be moderators for free anyway so the site is maintained?

        Ive just won an auction on Flippa, im the new owner of highforextrading.com It cost $175, i haven't got a clue if it's a good deal or not i took a risk. It's automated so new articles get posted to the site each day automatically.

        Do you think it's a good deal? They say it's a $6,000 a month potential, i certainly don't expect it to earn that much but do you think this site has potential to make at least a reasonable monthly income.
        Beware of sites that do not make money and say $6,000 potential and I wouldn't buy automated sites. Google likes fresh content. I've had autoblogs and they didn't have a very long lifespan as far as indexing pages. In fact, when they got to the point of thousands of pages, Google started removing pages instead of adding them. Sellers who use the xxx potential line are BS. It simply means this is a site that makes no money. Your problem now. Good thing about that site ... it does have a nice domain name. Someone might even give you what you paid just for the domain.
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        • Profile picture of the author cooler1
          Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

          Beware of sites that do not make money and say $6,000 potential and I wouldn't buy automated sites. Google likes fresh content. I've had autoblogs and they didn't have a very long lifespan as far as indexing pages. In fact, when they got to the point of thousands of pages, Google started removing pages instead of adding them. Sellers who use the xxx potential line are BS. It simply means this is a site that makes no money. Your problem now. Good thing about that site ... it does have a nice domain name. Someone might even give you what you paid just for the domain.
          I thought it sounded to good to be true $6000/month but do you think the site has potential to make maybe around $500/month through ClickBank, Adsense and Amazon if it's well promoted. I know that Amazon affiliate commisions are low so i probably have to hope that i make some sales via ClickBank products on the site.

          What would you say is the best way for me to promote this site?
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          • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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            Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

            I thought it sounded to good to be true $6000/month but do you think the site has potential to make maybe around $500/month through ClickBank, Adsense and Amazon if it's well promoted. I know that Amazon affiliate commisions are low so i probably have to hope that i make some sales via ClickBank products on the site.

            What would you say is the best way for me to promote this site?
            Never been in the forex niche, but from what I've heard, the sites that really attract visitors are the sites that provide fresh ... real ... content by people who are knowledgeable about forex. That will be difficult if you are not knowledgeable about forex. Maybe some forex people can give you better advice about the site. It's not my niche.
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            • Profile picture of the author cooler1
              Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

              Never been in the forex niche, but from what I've heard, the sites that really attract visitors are the sites that provide fresh ... real ... content by people who are knowledgeable about forex. That will be difficult if you are not knowledgeable about forex. Maybe some forex people can give you better advice about the site. It's not my niche.
              Maybe i'll have to promote the site on specific sites instead of relying on Google traffic then?

              Would i be able to buy infomation from people who are knowledgable about forex then put that on the site? Or would that method just be to expensive and not viable.
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              • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
                Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

                Maybe i'll have to promote the site on specific sites instead of relying on Google traffic then?

                Would i be able to buy infomation from people who are knowledgable about forex then put that on the site? Or would that method just be to expensive and not viable.
                After reading this entire thread, and then seeing this last response from you, I really want to know why you asked your question to start with.

                It seems you have already decided to buy the site, even though you know nothing about Forex, nothing about maintaining a site, do not understand how to generate traffic, and are being told it is not likely a good investment by people who do this for a living.

                I'm not trying to sound rude, but did you really want answers, or validation?
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                • Profile picture of the author Kay King
                  I was wondering the same thing as every good answer has a rationalization in reply.

                  Here's the basic problem:

                  If you have money to invest you can begin to create an online income faster and easier than someone without money can do it.

                  However, you have to know how to evaluate a site before clicking the "buy" button:

                  Is the niche viable
                  Who is your target market
                  How big is the competition (in this case, very heavy)
                  What products will work in this market (sales)

                  In addition, buying sites without learning how to evaluate their potential and the truth of claims made by the seller...is a crapshoot. Read the advice from sbuccariel - she sells a lot of websites and she knows what she's talking about.

                  You can outsource work for link building, article and content writing, etc - but you can't hire people if you don't know what needs to be done.

                  You could buy a profitable brick and mortar store but if you didn't restock, advertise and stay current with what your customers want, the sales would quickly disappear. It's no different when working online.

                  You can't buy basic knowledge - you have to spend a few hours learning. If you don't do that you will quickly run out of money and have nothing to show for it except some non-producing sites.

                  kay
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                • Profile picture of the author cooler1
                  Originally Posted by Barry Unruh View Post

                  After reading this entire thread, and then seeing this last response from you, I really want to know why you asked your question to start with.

                  It seems you have already decided to buy the site, even though you know nothing about Forex, nothing about maintaining a site, do not understand how to generate traffic, and are being told it is not likely a good investment by people who do this for a living.

                  I'm not trying to sound rude, but did you really want answers, or validation?
                  My initial question was about buying an expensive website as i wanted to know if it could provide a good stream of income in the long term so i wanted advice before deciding whether to take such a risk.

                  I bought the Forex site because a) it's automated and b) it's not expensive so even if i make zero sales through it at least i can sell it on later and wouldn't have lost much money.
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              • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
                Banned
                Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

                Maybe i'll have to promote the site on specific sites instead of relying on Google traffic then?

                Would i be able to buy infomation from people who are knowledgable about forex then put that on the site? Or would that method just be to expensive and not viable.

                Like Kay said ... this is a very saturated niche. Automation won't do it for this site. From my experience, hands off sites that make good money are rare. Most sites need TLC to keep traffic and revenue.

                For the 4X site, like I said ... if you really want to try to compete in this niche, you will need to outsource fresh, relevant content that people are looking for to attract these people to your site. As for costs and whether or not it would be worth it, I have no idea. I'm not in that niche.

                Personally, if you are not willing to make a real commitment to the site, I would re-flip it or sell the domain and get your money back and then ...

                Do not ever buy a site that says $6000/mnth potential again, particularly without anything really going for it. It would be a different story if this site had something unique to offer ... an ebook with info that people really want ... that would probably be a hands on forex how to guide ... quality ebook ... not junk. Or build a list from the traffic and sell ... forex stuff. But you would still need forex knowledge and have to provide that list with good information for free ... you can't just send a bunch of sales messages to a list and expect them to stick around.

                But basically ... if people want a no work method of making money, I never recommend site flipping or even just buying sites up because sites need attention and the goal of the site owner should be to grow the site and make it profitable and there's no real way to do that without ... WORK
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                • Profile picture of the author cooler1
                  Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

                  Like Kay said ... this is a very saturated niche. Automation won't do it for this site. From my experience, hands off sites that make good money are rare. Most sites need TLC to keep traffic and revenue.

                  For the 4X site, like I said ... if you really want to try to compete in this niche, you will need to outsource fresh, relevant content that people are looking for to attract these people to your site. As for costs and whether or not it would be worth it, I have no idea. I'm not in that niche.

                  Personally, if you are not willing to make a real commitment to the site, I would re-flip it or sell the domain and get your money back and then ...

                  Do not ever buy a site that says $6000/mnth potential again, particularly without anything really going for it. It would be a different story if this site had something unique to offer ... an ebook with info that people really want ... that would probably be a hands on forex how to guide ... quality ebook ... not junk. Or build a list from the traffic and sell ... forex stuff. But you would still need forex knowledge and have to provide that list with good information for free ... you can't just send a bunch of sales messages to a list and expect them to stick around.

                  But basically ... if people want a no work method of making money, I never recommend site flipping or even just buying sites up because sites need attention and the goal of the site owner should be to grow the site and make it profitable and there's no real way to do that without ... WORK
                  I need some advice. The guy who im buying the forextrading site from is from India and he's only willing to accept payment by Western Union money transfer.

                  I asked him why he won't accept it via Paypal and he said that Paypal takes to long to process.

                  Ive searched up Western Union on the net and there's a lot of people saying this is what scammers use as there is no safe guard for the transfer being made.

                  I told him i had doubts but he said that he's willing to transfer the domain over to my name.com account first then i can make payment to him after. Does he sound trustworthy? If he's willing to transfer the domain before the payment, does this mean he's legit. He does have 100% feedback on Flippa.
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