Website Flipping Techniques

4 replies
Selling Your Blog

love this part!

If you're a website flipper then of course the whole point of building and developing your blog
is to maximize its value and then sell it on to somebody else for a nice profit. So you've
created and developed your blog - now it's time to actually sell it... And the best place to do
this is probably Flippa.com

As you might know, Flippa is one of the largest sites on the internet that enables people to
buy and sell websites.

Take a look on there and you'll see thousands of websites and products for sale at any one
time - and the great thing about Flippa is that it gives you a hell of a lot of exposure and thus
maximizes the chance of you selling your site at the right price.
There are several important things to think about - and all of them can have a significant
impact on the success of your auction:

1.) The starting price

The starting price can have a massive effect on the final sale price.
You might be tempted to start your auction off at a high price - or somewhere close to what
you believe it is worth - but this can be a mistake.

Generally speaking a lower start price will mean that your auction will attract more bidders.
And if you've got lots of bidders competing against each other then this can really drive up the
price.

By starting your auction at a low starting bid (let's say $1 or $5) you can often achieve a
higher price for it than if you started off at a higher price.
But of course we fully understand that you want to protect yourself and the time, effort and
expense you have invested in your blog. You obviously don't want to risk your blog selling for
$1, but what you can do is put on a reserve price. This is quite simply the minimum amount
that you are willing to sell for - and if bidding doesn't reach your reserve price then you don't
have to sell to the 'winning' bidder.

2.) The quality of your advert

This is perhaps THE most important aspect as your advert is obviously your chance to really
see your blog to viewers.
The more information you can include in your advert, the better...

1. The blog URL
so that people can check out your blog for themselves. Screenshots are great but they only
tell people half the story.

2. Traffic history
so that people can see exactly how much traffic your blog is receiving. Remember that the
higher the traffic levels you have, the more money your blog is potentially worth. Remember
to include screenshots as proof.

3. Details of earning
Again, any earnings that your blog is making will really push up the price. If you have a blog
that is making $100 a month (or whatever the figure) then that is really your main selling point
and it is the thing you should focus on in your ad above anything else. Again remember to
include as many screenshots as you can as proof of your earnings.

4. Details of the theme you have used
So that people know if it is a custom or ready-made theme, whether the graphics are unique
etc.

5. Details of the type of content contained on the blog
Custom content, PLR, etc.
The biggest advice I can give is to find the main selling feature of your blog and focus on that.
Always be honest, include as much information as you can and try to answer any questions
that people have. Look at other people's auctions too to see how they do things.

Transferring The Blog
Once you have sold your blog you'll need to transfer it to the new owner.
Here's how:

1. Create a new folder on your desktop and call it something like "Your Blog Transfer Files"
2. Log in to your C-Panel, scroll down to where it says "Files" and then select "Back-ups"
3. Scroll down to where it says "Download a MySQL Database Backup" and select the blog
database to download.
4. Take the Zip file you just downloaded and drag it across to the folder you made in step 1.
5. Open your FTP program (e.g. FileZilla) and login as usual. Go to the root folder of your
blog domain (www) and download the following files and folders to the folder you create in
step 1 - '.htaccess' 'wpconfig.php' and 'wp-content.'

6. Zip up the folder and send that across to your buyer for them to upload to their own
website.



Flipping blogs is a great way to make money online - and I hope that this report has inspired
you to go out and do this for yourself.

As we have mentioned, there are two main strategies you can take with this business. The
first is creating a new blog and then flipping it almost immediately for a quick profit - and the
second is building and then developing a blog over a number of months (or even years)
before you sell it for a higher price.

Whichever option you take, blog flipping can be an extremely profitable and interesting
venture.

The keys to success?

Well the main one is probably developing a good looking, content driven blog and then
marketing it well with a good advert.
#flipping #techniques #website
  • Profile picture of the author jungl
    Thanks for the tips, but the reserve price was always a bit stupid to me. I understand it's a marketing thing, but seriously, why are you starting the auction at $0.99 when you'll only accept $999 or more...
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    • Profile picture of the author Deezign
      Originally Posted by jungl View Post

      Thanks for the tips, but the reserve price was always a bit stupid to me. I understand it's a marketing thing, but seriously, why are you starting the auction at $0.99 when you'll only accept $999 or more...
      Actually, there are two main aspects: psychological and visibility.

      Psychological: When you manage to get a lot of bids (and activity), people will automatically think that your site is "worth" buying. Basically, they will think: "Woow, if people are fighting to get this site, there should be a reason". This usually allows you to get even more bidders.

      Visibility: By having a lot of bids, you'll get a chance to have your site listed in the "Most Active" section. This is an awesome way to get even more bids and exposure!
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  • Profile picture of the author jungl
    Yes, but it's a bit unfair to the buyer. "Make an offer and we'll accept it, but please know we won't actually take your money and give you the site".
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by jungl View Post

      Yes, but it's a bit unfair to the buyer. "Make an offer and we'll accept it, but please know we won't actually take your money and give you the site".
      I don't know about the whole "unfair" label. I made my name in this industry as one of the very first website flippers and all of the points above are excellent.

      You might also set a "Buy it Now" price for a little bit higher than what you think it might go for - certainly higher than your minimum price and that might give prospective bidders an idea of how far off they are when their bid immediately triggers the "below reserve price" message. Most people bidding on websites on Flippa realize that their initial bids are not enough, but they start low to keep the bidding low. If you start high, the only place to go is even higher.

      There was an excellent post last week about the factors that influence how much money you can get for a website auctioned at Flippa. Check it out - The Data Driven Guide to Website Flipping
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