Flipping Websites 101 – Finding Buyers

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I know I am jumping ahead in the sequence of how we find a website to buy, fix it up and then sell it but there is information in the middle that we are not ready to share just yet.

People often ask us how we find buyers for the websites we sell. The simple answer to that question is we don’t.

In fact, when we first got started in internet marketing, flipping websites never even entered our brains as a possible business model. It all sort of happened by accident as many new business ideas do.

Our goal was to have 12 websites that all made $300 a day by the end of 2009. That would have been about $1.3 million a year. As we were building up the websites we owned we had people inquire about buying our biggest websites within a two month time span.

We weren’t looking to sell but they really wanted to buy the sites. So after selling the first one and seeing how much we made ($250k) we realized that we were on the right track with the type of websites we were running.

Then as mentioned we received offers for two more of our sites. One buyer wanted both sites. One of these sites was our biggest money maker and we were hesitant at first and then finally conceded to sell. (Keep in mind that at this point flipping websites was not our business model)

Two days before the sale of the websites our big site lost most of its rankings. The buyer backed out with the agreement that if we got the rankings back he would still buy.

That is when we realized that flipping websites was the right business model for us. We saw how quickly the rug could be pulled out from underneath us and realized that selling a website at its peak is the best method. Take a website, fix it up, the site makes money, then you sell for a hearty profit. Repeat.

Why did these people want to buy our sites so bad? Because these sites receive all of their traffic through search engines so we didn’t have to spend money to make money.

Also the sites run themselves (see Prosperly Way). You really can buy one of these and make money without adding much time at all to your work schedule.

You build a good site like this and you will have people asking you to buy. It has happened to us over and over again. We have never put one of our sites on the market and yet we flip websites for a living. Build Prosperly style websites and you will be able to dictate when you sell your websites.

How We Make Money

  1. Step 1: How To Make Money Online
  2. Step 2: Evaluating Potential
  3. Step 3: Looking for websites to buy
  4. Flipping Websites 101 – Finding Buyers
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Paid vacation to Disneyland – My boss gave me a nice bonus

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I don’t really have a boss, but I did get a nice bonus. I just wanted to check in with you and let you know how my first day at Disneyland with my family went. We spent all day walking around the two parks here and had a great time. My legs and back were so tired I thought I was going to die.

Here is a pic of me and my boys (middle row) on Tower of Terror.

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After laying down on the bed for 30 minutes and having my kids massage my feet (with the promise of a new toy) I decided to check my sales for the day. What a pleasant surprise it was to see that one of my websites had a record day and pulled in close to $700.

I know I have mentioned this before but everyone I talk to about this stuff tells me this is exactly what they want, I website that makes money no matter what they are doing. It really is such a blessing to have something like this where I can bring my family to Disneyland, stay at the Disney hotel for 4 days and actually come out of this in the positive.

I hope this post will motivate you to get working on your website. Do those 3 things to add value to the site.

I’m off to ride California Screaming.

Get your priorities straight – Joy then money

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Last night as I was waiting for my wife to come home so we could watch “The Office” together I decided to do a little channel surfing. I came accross a show on Discovery channel called “Treasure Quest”. It is about modern day treasure hunters who look for ship wrecks at sea and try to find gold and other valuables. They recently made a discovery of over 17 tons of gold and silver from a ship wreck.

Any way this peaked my interest so I started watching and they interviewed the captain of the ship. He told of how he was a Navy captain who went into work at corporate America where he was financially very successful.

He then went on to say how when he was offered this current job it was a big pay decrease but he then went on to talk about how they gave him a beautiful new ship and said go find stuff with it. I could really hear the joy of his new journey in life. It wasn’t just about money for him but doing something he loved to do…and the money came later.

I have talked alot about how much I value my freedom and working for myself. I value it alot more than I value money. I chose to go out on my own and build my internet business and live my dream of coming and going as I choose and doing the things I wanted to do during the day. I have loved every second of it. Even when in the beginning I was making just enough to take care of my family.

Years later the joy remains and the money has come. I have been truly blessed.

“Well you know. Money isn’t everything, Jim. Not the key to happiness. You know what is? Joy. You should remember that.” – Michael Scott

Get Ready To Buy Internet Real Estate

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I get tired of hearing about the “recession” and “economic downturn” from the media people that want you to believe that we are all doomed. I personally have never had such a stretch of economic success in all of my life. I will admit that certain industries (house, auto) are struggling but that doesn’t mean everyone is doomed to poverty.

Having said all of that, peoples perception of the economy is their reality. The reason I am writing about this is because there are going to be really good opportunities for gaining wealth in the near future. Specifically, alot of people who are running somewhat successful websites are going to be willing to part with their site at a bargain to get cash in their hands. During the great depression was the largest transfer of wealth in the history of US. Some people were getting richer and richer because they were buying while everyone else was selling.

My suggestion to any readers of this blog is that you put some money aside and be ready to pounce when the great deals come around. Be a buyer when everyone is selling and build up a portfolio of money making websites and you can build up and make even better. My personal goal is to have 10 prosperly websites that all make $500 a day. Set your own goal and then make it happen. There is no need for you to be in a recession.

LCD Test – Selling Two Products Is Better Than One

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For those of you that don’t know, on my lawn care website I sell a kit that helps people start a lawn care business. I sell two versions of the kit, a basic kit for $49.95 and a Premium kit for $99.95.

I just finished running a test through Google’s website optimizer tool where I tested just selling the Premium kit against selling both the basic and the Premium. To my surprise in a side by side AB test the original version where I push the basic and premium together converted 36% better than the version that only pushed the Premium. Ironically, during that time of testing 80% of the sales that came through the original version were for the premium kit.

What I learned from the test:
People like to have options. Even though the vast majority of the customers bought the Premium Kit, they seem to be more at ease knowing there is a cheaper version. At least the conversion rates would suggest so.

I will next be testing adding a third version of the kit. This should get interesting.