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[WARNING] Never Put All Your Eggs Into One Basket

by fated82
37 replies
I believe all of you have heard of this phrase before. Well, I went through that recently and had to pick myself up and think of what to do next. I was quite successful at website flipping for almost 2 years before Flippa decided to shut me down for 'seriously violating T&Cs'. Since all my time and energy was spent building that business, it came as a shock to me when I was banned the next day I woke up.

Overnight, all my income source was gone and I was stuck in a junction and do not know what to do next. It seems like my world was tumbling down. After my 'sacking', I told my girlfriend "Now i know what it feels like been 'fired' from a job". Yes, it's a job to me and I love it very much, but I can't do anything because I don't own the platform and I am at their mercy.

I realize I made a mistake of putting all my eggs in to a basket and that basket burnt on me. Now I am more careful. I just have to choose another set of good eggs and put them in different baskets.

My warning to fellow Warriors is this, if you are depending on one source of income or traffic, it's time to rethink your strategy. The 'what ifs' should always be on your mind.

- What if Google decide to ban my adsense account?
- What if Google changes their algorithm again?

Start spreading your eggs around....
#basket #eggs #put #warning
  • Profile picture of the author lollobrigida
    It's never a good idea to depend on just one income stream...
    even in day time jobs...but even more in the web business.

    May I ask what you have turned to now?
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott M
    Thank you for the advice. I have always said that i would like at least 6 income streams going before i can "relax". The flip side is that it takes time to get good in one area before you can spread it around.
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  • Profile picture of the author koreancowboy
    That sucks...can't you go to Sedo and Godaddy auctions? Would it be the same?
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    • Profile picture of the author fated82
      Originally Posted by lollobrigida View Post

      It's never a good idea to depend on just one income stream...
      even in day time jobs...but even more in the web business.

      May I ask what you have turned to now?
      I now turn to content creation. The business is easy to set up and I can do this both online and offline. I am currently targeting local businesses who need content writing.

      The sales circle is longer but at least you get to control the businesses.

      Originally Posted by koreancowboy View Post

      That sucks...can't you go to Sedo and Godaddy auctions? Would it be the same?
      Sedo and Godaddy doesnt have the kind of traffic Flippa has.
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    I tell everyone this, but most don't believe it until it happens to them.

    Too many focus on too few things and they're putting a huge risk on their income.

    You've got to have more then one income stream to survive online.

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  • Profile picture of the author davidsu
    Banned
    Yes it happened to me when eBay closed my seller account. All of your hard works for months vanished in just a day...

    Learn another way to make money online, open new sites for another niches... so you could have more than one stream of income.
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  • Profile picture of the author zuberr
    In fact, I am in the process of moving some eggs to a new basket

    What I am doing, is moving a bit from running affiliate website by providing
    an article writing service... and also using another payment processor which
    is not Paypal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Levintry
    Very wise advice. I get the feeling this post is going to help a ton of people, especially newer folks like myself. I hope you found a different source of income and that all is well. It is no good to hear anyone is having a rough go at it, especially someone in our community.
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  • Profile picture of the author abugah
    You can put ALL your eggs in one basket and then watch it like a hawk. It is actually the best policy. Why? You keep away complacency which has seen many mighty people and businesses fall. .
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    • Profile picture of the author PaulBaker
      Originally Posted by abugah View Post

      You can put ALL your eggs in one basket and then watch it like a hawk. It is actually the best policy. Why? You keep away complacency which has seen many mighty people and businesses fall. .
      I wholeheartedly, but respectfully, disagree. It's 2012 and scammers, spammers and opportunists have put the major players on the defensive and if for some reason they think you 'may' belong to one of those categories, it's all over. Paypal just bit me due to 'potential security issues' WTF? They are holding my money for 180 days and I cannot appeal. My paypal account is many years old, I use it as an Ebay seller with an imppecable history.

      Heed the advice from the OP, we work in a volatile and constantly changing environment.
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanEagle
    It's 2012 folks.... revenue streams in the abundance.
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    I think its pretty funny how often I hear people saying "ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING!" then I see threads like this and realize maybe thats not such a good idea afterall.

    =/
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    • Profile picture of the author Andy Fletcher
      Originally Posted by RedShifted View Post

      I think its pretty funny how often I hear people saying "ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING!" then I see threads like this and realize maybe thats not such a good idea afterall.

      =/
      Both pieces of advice are valid at different times.

      When you first start out, focus is all important. Get really good at one thing and to hell with the risks. It's far more risky to constantly have a bunch of stuff on the go and risk never finishing anything.

      However, once you've got something up and running you absolutely have to look at ways to diversify your income and protect it from single events that can sink the whole thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    I came to this conclusion many years ago, after spending a lot of money building my websites and spending all my time with my business. You have to diversify without depending on only one income source.

    Of course, one of your activities will always be your favorite for one reason or another, so you’ll put more eggs there. However, being prudent is indispensable.

    I loved Google’s Panda but the Penguin froze my heart.

    Who could imagine that suddenly Google would decide to make so many drastic updates?

    My best website disappeared from the first results page and is somewhere between the seventh and the eight page (!) when an internet user types its main keywords. It used to appear many times in the second spot of the first page or on the fifth paragraph of the first page. Now, let’s see how I’m going to put it back where it was before…

    Google is making all these updates to oblige us to spend money trying to do something and follow their rules.





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  • Profile picture of the author peewhy
    At any moment in time, some big giant is going to pull the rug...just as you got comfortable anf planned your pension!
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  • Profile picture of the author Venkat001
    The best method is always to diversify the income from various other sources
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  • Profile picture of the author MaggieDavid
    Great Thread with some sound advice. the big players can change direction like a flick of a switch the fodder (us) cannot do a damn thing about it!
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      I think its pretty funny how often I hear people saying "ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING!" then I see threads like this and realize maybe thats not such a good idea afterall.
      Depends on what they mean when they say it.

      For example, if they say, "Develop and sell sites," that could be the focus, and might be good advice. If they add "on Flippa," it's automatically a bad idea. It places a channel limitation that can be fatal if, as happened here, Flippa is suddenly no longer available to you.

      "Developing content sites based on an advertising model" might be a good focus. Change that to "AdSense advertising," and the same problem comes in. It's easier to adapt those sites to other types of advertising, though, which makes it a little less dangerous.

      The most commonly disastrous errors aren't from focusing on a single business model. They're made by getting too heavily dependent on a single channel, payment provider, or other supplier.


      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author fin
    Never put all your eggs in someone else's basket
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  • Profile picture of the author Romi
    Originally Posted by fated82 View Post

    My warning to fellow Warriors is this, if you are depending on one source of income or traffic, it's time to rethink your strategy. The 'what ifs' should always be on your mind.

    - What if Google decide to ban my adsense account?
    - What if Google changes their algorithm again?

    Start spreading your eggs around....
    Cheer up fated82,

    Really appreciate you sharing your experience here in the forum. It takes guts for a man to share his misfortunes or what not to other people.

    The most important thing is you learned your lesson and was generous enough to advise and caution fellow marketers on what & what not to do in this business. Rethinking the 'what ifs' in our business is not negative thinking but strategic planning in my opinion.

    "Relying on 1 business model is good, but 2 is better!"

    Regards,

    Romi
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    • Profile picture of the author fated82
      Originally Posted by Romi View Post

      Cheer up fated82,

      Really appreciate you sharing your experience here in the forum. It takes guts for a man to share his misfortunes or what not to other people.

      The most important thing is you learned your lesson and was generous enough to advise and caution fellow marketers on what & what not to do in this business. Rethinking the 'what ifs' in our business is not negative thinking but strategic planning in my opinion.

      "Relying on 1 business model is good, but 2 is better!"

      Regards,

      Romi
      Hi Romi,

      Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, it's lesson learnt and I hope other Warriors will be able to learn from my mistakes too.
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  • Profile picture of the author fresh68
    I have a Flippa account with 100% positive feedback ,, maybe you want to work out a deal where we can sell your product through my acount.
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  • Profile picture of the author Theeban
    Thanks for the warning mate,

    I already afraid about it, and spread my work into SEO services as well as on affiliate marketing, but still I want to do diversification in these to make sure, when I am down in one, others will help me
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  • Profile picture of the author CBusiness
    this should not be news to most. You see these stories every week now but def good you spread the word to try and help
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  • Profile picture of the author jaiganeshv
    ....and hand over the basket to Google
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross Petal
    With anything in life, you have to diversify your portfolio, especially when it comes to earning money online. Relying on one stream of income is risky nowadays
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Tayler
    Developing a business off Flipa sales isn't bad... have you developed a list of all the flippa customers youve had over the years? Do you keep active with these customers? Have you tried giving them value and building long term income streams on your past customers?
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  • Profile picture of the author Suzimcdragger
    Never Put All Your Eggs Into One Basket
    I've been burnt once, so I always follow this approach from then on.
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  • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
    I feel your pain... I too got burned and learned the hard way a few years back.

    Look at the bright side, at least it's happened now and you've learned a valuable lesson in the process... That's priceless in itself.

    James Scholes
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  • Profile picture of the author larry1113
    Originally Posted by fated82 View Post

    I believe all of you have heard of this phrase before. Well, I went through that recently and had to pick myself up and think of what to do next. I was quite successful at website flipping for almost 2 years before Flippa decided to shut me down for 'seriously violating T&Cs'. Since all my time and energy was spent building that business, it came as a shock to me when I was banned the next day I woke up.

    Overnight, all my income source was gone and I was stuck in a junction and do not know what to do next. It seems like my world was tumbling down. After my 'sacking', I told my girlfriend "Now i know what it feels like been 'fired' from a job". Yes, it's a job to me and I love it very much, but I can't do anything because I don't own the platform and I am at their mercy.

    I realize I made a mistake of putting all my eggs in to a basket and that basket burnt on me. Now I am more careful. I just have to choose another set of good eggs and put them in different baskets.

    My warning to fellow Warriors is this, if you are depending on one source of income or traffic, it's time to rethink your strategy. The 'what ifs' should always be on your mind.

    - What if Google decide to ban my adsense account?
    - What if Google changes their algorithm again?

    Start spreading your eggs around....
    Well said. Diversify or die.

    Also mastering things that deal with PEOPLE means forever money. I'm referring to copywriting, advertising and other direct response related skills.

    Spending all your time learning SEO or creating apps, etc is dangerous because technology changes, Google throws hissy fits..

    but at the end of the day PEOPLE don't change. Good salesmanship skills back 100 years ago is still applicable nowadays so if you master good salesmanship then you can always sleep well at night.
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  • Profile picture of the author jgrigs711
    That is a very rough thing to have happen. I lost my main money making site in the old Google slap and I had to start over from scratch. I know your pain and it was a lesson well learned!
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  • Profile picture of the author Chuck Avants
    Did everyone not notice the reason you were shut down?

    Putting your eggs in one basket can have it's downfalls but if you are running an operation that is skirting on the edge of being illegal what do you expect?

    You said they "shut me down for 'seriously violating T&Cs'." Sounds like this wasn't just a case of eggs in one basket but eggs being used improperly with or without a basket.

    Put your eggs in baskets (more than one) and use those baskets according to the rules. You might possibly get shut down anyway but you have much less chance of something bad happening.
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    • Profile picture of the author honestim
      Thanks for sharing your experience, there's a lot to learn from it.

      Diversification and multiple income streams are the way to go online and offline. Think of companies like Apple coming up with new line of products to reach a bigger audience and reduce the risks of depending on one product. Same applies to our online business as well. However every revenue stream that we build must get its fair share of focus and attention to grow to a level where it is sustainable all by itself.

      HonestIM
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  • Profile picture of the author seoimninja
    This is great advice.
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  • Profile picture of the author Romi
    Originally Posted by fated82 View Post

    I realize I made a mistake of putting all my eggs in to a basket and that basket burnt on me. Now I am more careful. I just have to choose another set of good eggs and put them in different baskets.

    My warning to fellow Warriors is this, if you are depending on one source of income or traffic, it's time to rethink your strategy. The 'what ifs' should always be on your mind.

    - What if Google decide to ban my adsense account?
    - What if Google changes their algorithm again?

    Start spreading your eggs around....
    Hello Again fated82,

    Again, congrats for the positive feedback you are getting from your generous share on this thread.

    Just wanna chip in some things so as not to confuse others following your thread here especially the newbies and those who are just starting...

    Putting all your eggs in one basket, in my opinion, is not a good business strategy just like what you had experienced...it can be taken away from you just like that.

    When we advise on not putting all the eggs in a single basket, we are referring to people who already had the experience and knowledge on running a particular business.

    If you are a newbie or just starting something, I would strongly suggest you don't follow our advice. In fact I strongly suggest you do the exact opposite, meaning you should only concentrate all your efforts and focus on ONE business model. Work on it continuously up to the point where it's bringing you profit on a regular basis.

    When you reach that stage, well you can then start thinking about diversification as your next strategy. From there, you should no longer put all your eggs in a single basket.

    I hope this should clear things up especially to those who might be confused and taking our advise the wrong way.

    All The Best,
    Romi
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    Due respect, ya'll are missing the real lesson in the original post.

    The OP said he lost his only source of income because Flippa
    banned him for violating their TOS. The lesson isn't to diversify
    simply for diversity's sake. The lesson is to follow the rules when
    you're using someone else's site to conduct business.

    Had the OP respected Flippa's TOS we wouldn't be reading this thread.
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    • Profile picture of the author fated82
      Originally Posted by Brian Tayler View Post

      Developing a business off Flipa sales isn't bad... have you developed a list of all the flippa customers youve had over the years? Do you keep active with these customers? Have you tried giving them value and building long term income streams on your past customers?
      Yes, I have a list of buyers who bought from me previously and will be contacting them again. Since I have a content writing business, I think these site owners may find my service very valuable.

      Originally Posted by xxxJamesxxx View Post

      I feel your pain... I too got burned and learned the hard way a few years back.

      Look at the bright side, at least it's happened now and you've learned a valuable lesson in the process... That's priceless in itself.

      James Scholes
      Yes, it takes awhile to get back up but once you learn the lesson, you know what NOT to do in future.

      Originally Posted by jgrigs711 View Post

      That is a very rough thing to have happen. I lost my main money making site in the old Google slap and I had to start over from scratch. I know your pain and it was a lesson well learned!
      Thanks for the encouragement.
      Originally Posted by Romi View Post

      Hello Again fated82,

      Again, congrats for the positive feedback you are getting from your generous share on this thread.

      Just wanna chip in some things so as not to confuse others following your thread here especially the newbies and those who are just starting...

      Putting all your eggs in one basket, in my opinion, is not a good business strategy just like what you had experienced...it can be taken away from you just like that.

      When we advise on not putting all the eggs in a single basket, we are referring to people who already had the experience and knowledge on running a particular business.

      If you are a newbie or just starting something, I would strongly suggest you don't follow our advice. In fact I strongly suggest you do the exact opposite, meaning you should only concentrate all your efforts and focus on ONE business model. Work on it continuously up to the point where it's bringing you profit on a regular basis.

      When you reach that stage, well you can then start thinking about diversification as your next strategy. From there, you should no longer put all your eggs in a single basket.

      I hope this should clear things up especially to those who might be confused and taking our advise the wrong way.

      All The Best,
      Romi
      Thanks for clarifying.

      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      Due respect, ya'll are missing the real lesson in the original post.

      The OP said he lost his only source of income because Flippa
      banned him for violating their TOS. The lesson isn't to diversify
      simply for diversity's sake. The lesson is to follow the rules when
      you're using someone else's site to conduct business.

      Had the OP respected Flippa's TOS we wouldn't be reading this thread.
      Well, there are alot of kind souls here who got shut down for no reasons. One email from them and you are gone. It doesn't have to be Flippa, it could be eBay or Google or any other platforms. The lesson is, not to depend a single platform to conduct your business, same principle as not to depend on a single product to bring in the money. The 'what ifs' scenario is very real and it could strike anyone next.
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