Digital Asset Deals 8th October
There were 23 new content site listings (+14 from last week) over the last 7 days earning > $500/m:
There are currently 176 live listings with verified traffic (+2 from last week) across the main players in the market, for established content sites earning > $500/m:
This week we’re able to feature 1x aged domain package, 3x established sites, 1x newsletter and 1x social account ranging from $3,900 to $126K. We had written up even more - an aged domain by ODYS which we couldn’t fit into the email length, and a starter site on Motion Invest which was sold yesterday.
We are working on a solution to fix both of these issues - to get you even more deals and get them to you faster, without having to wait until Wednesday / Thursdays. There are big changes coming soon and we will be stacking additional value for paid subscribers.
You can comment on these deals and leave us a question at the bottom of the web version of this post. The Reminder and Terminology sections are here, and SOPs for due diligence and generating upside are here.
Cheers
Colin Ma & Richard Patey
Aged Domain Package
Company: Niche Website Builders
Domain Name: 24hoursofbooty.org
Domain Info Page: https://www.nichewebsite.builders/expired-domain-24-hours-of-booty/
Price: $8,895
Niche: Sport/Outdoors
Google Trends: cycling equipment
Ahrefs:
Wayback Machine: October 23rd 2016
Pages Indexed: 156
Supplier Recommendation: We would create an affiliate site promoting cycling/biking products.
Our Thoughts
With the sheer number of organic keywords in the top 100 (according to Ahrefs) and number of pages still indexed in Google it’s clear to see that this is a pretty powerful domain. The cycling niche is very popular and lucrative despite some seasonality with peak months in the Summer. We’ve worked on a cycling website before that has done 5-figures a month in revenue and it was still growing, so the potential is definitely there.
Our Verdict: ★★★★★ Powerful domain that is ready to rank the 100K word package
Established Sites
Company: Empire Flippers
Listing URL: https://empireflippers.com/listing/48843/
Price: $126,487
Earnings: $3,627
Niche: Outdoor
Monetization: Amazon Affiliate (69%) Adsense (31%)
Wordcount (Weglot): 412,221
Ahrefs:
Our Thoughts
This could be a great opportunity for someone looking for an established site in the outdoor space. Given its specific domain, it won’t overwhelm the new buyer with endless keyword opportunities, but there are also enough keyword opportunities for solid growth.
The first action step would be to aim to recover some rankings that it lost in the past 6 months - doing so should drastically improve earnings and traffic since its Ahrefs estimated traffic is just 40 percent of its peak.
There is an immediate way to improve revenue by applying to the Ezoic platform or an ad shop such as Adthrive (if you have an existing account) to improve RPMs and revenue from display ads.
Potential Upside
144 keywords ranking on p2 with 200+ search volume with high buying intent
Homepage has 142 links (!) - can improve architecture to better funnel link juice to priority pages
Can improve homepage and misc. pages to better improve brand and credibility
Create informational content (the site has nearly none to boost topical relevance)
Apply for ad network to improve RPMs
Potential Risks
Check GA to see if traffic has stabilized after the May Google update or still trending down
Seasonality makes it hard to evaluate
Our Verdict: ★★★★☆ Solid site but is seasonal and has had a decline
Company: Empire Flippers
Listing URL: https://empireflippers.com/listing/48641/
Price: $64,506
Earnings: $1,832
Niche: Home
Monetization: Amazon Associates
Wordcount (Weglot): 134,744
Ahrefs:
Our Thoughts
This site is in a space that we have been excited about recently. The niche is surprisingly large and the site domain and topic can get to at least five figures per month in revenue. To realize this potential, the buyer should work on improving existing pages as there are some awesome keywords on page 2 with high buying intent and a healthy 4-figure monthly search volume.
There are some immediate wins that can be done to monetize pages that currently don’t generate income, through advertising and selling leads. How much it can generate is hard to say, but at the higher end, low 4 figures a month is not unreasonable given the page traffic value. Monetizing pages by finding a network or client to sell the leads to isn’t as straightforward as adding an ad network though.
The only serious risks are overpaying for this space as there is some seasonality (not as much as an outdoor site) and the fact that it is on an expired domain with the original site being added as a 301 redirect. Negotiate the price down based on these points and aim for sub 30x monthly multiple for a good deal.
Potential Upside
270 keywords ranking 11-20 with 200+ search volume
Many content opportunities in this niche, both in the form of informational pages and money pages (best listicles)
One page has many opportunities for lead-gen and is currently unmonetized
Can leverage ad network to monetize pages that don’t have affiliate links which should add a few hundred per month
Use Pinterest to diversify traffic
Potential Risks
Has a (relevant) 301 redirect
Short pricing period (6 months) due to lack of history
Some seasonality to this niche makes it hard to evaluate the site
Our Verdict: ★★★★★ The site is on the rise with lots of upside. There are some risks and this is right between a 4 and 5 but with the upside and opportunities we decided to round up.
Company: Flippa
Site URL: scrapdigest.com
Listing URL: https://flippa.com/10691008-mma-news-est-oct-2015-10k-profit-ltm
Current Price: $1,150 (reserve not met)
Earnings: $1,031 L12M revenue
Niche: Sport
Monetization: Display Ad Network
Wordcount (Weglot): > 1,000,000
Ahrefs:
Our Thoughts
Multiple five-star website listings in one newsletter? Yes, miracles happen and this site earned it.
Although some of the content is a little unsavory and presents a minor risk, we think it’s unlikely to materialize to be a real problem. The poor EAT is something that can be fixed but can be an issue with Google updates.
There is a lot of opportunity here. With diversified traffic (mostly organic, 19 percent social) the site doesn’t solely rely on organic traffic. Additionally, the site is Google News approved which means there is another potential source of traffic.
The site hasn’t yet targeted any product review pages which are very lucrative. Many competitors in the space that do target those keywords are fairly young with medium DR, so this site can reasonably compete for those keywords and may even rank for a few once topical relevance is established. Though it will take a content push to do so, an investor would be rewarded with another revenue stream and solid Amazon earnings.
Potential Upside
836 keywords ranking 11-20 with 200+ search volume as informational content
Publish money pages targeting ‘best product reviews’
Improve ad earnings by adding an ad network, though it might be difficult due to the nature of some the content
Comes with several FB accounts
Approved by Google News
Can improve home page architecture to funnel link juice to high priority pages
Potential Risks
Small potential legal risk due to nature of content
Very poor EAT - no about me/us page, generic home page
Our Verdict: ★★★★★ Site with a load of potential and limited risk (for a content site).
Newsletter *NEW*
Previously, the only way that people were trying to monetize their niche site list was through dropping affiliate links. (This is a practice we no longer do as feel it can create a conflict of interest in terms of recommending deals and getting paid for them).
But the whale newsletters of The Hustle and Morning Brew as well as successful, smaller six-figure ones such as Stacked Marketer, reminded people that running sponsored ads can be a big business. Then came Substack giving people the ability to charge for locked-down content, enabling MRR income.
We mentioned in this week’s free newsletter the new newsletter marketplace Duuce which already has over 10 listings including this $500K one which Paul Metcalfe from Letterstack tweeted about.
But today, we’re starting small.
Company: Duuce
Newsletter URL: workshapes.co
Listing URL: https://duuce.com/listing/workshapes-newsletter
Niche: Sales & Marketing
Asking Price: $6,000
Monthly Revenue: $500 (Sponsorship)
List Size: 1800
Our Thoughts
First up we like the valuation at one year’s revenue. We also like the fact it's a sales and marketing professional audience where the landing page states:
Join 1,800+ others in this weekly newsletter for indie-minded, curious, learners interested in online business, remote work, side hustles, self-education, and leadership.
It’s a double opt-in newsletter built on Convertkit currently run by Jeff at dogwoodprojects.com. Richard reached out to Jeff and he states he’s selling to focus on his main newsletter leadershipthinktankgroup.com. Contrary to what the listing states, revenue only includes sponsorship (course revenue is not included). Jeff states that “average weekly sponsorship is $150 with a range of $100-$300 (hence, ~$500/m)”, and that it takes him one hour a week to publish.
Our Verdict: ★★★★★ Solid curated newsletter in a valuable B2B niche
Social Media *NEW*
Company: Insta Sale
Social Platform: Instagram
Listing URL: https://insta-sale.com/listing/cars-bikes-instagram-account-for-sale-225/
Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/suzuki_gsx_r/
Niche: Motorcyle
Followers: 137,211
Price: $3,900
Original Email: No
Our Thoughts
Even though Richard sold his Flipping Websites facebook group back in 2019 to Andrej at Alpha Investors who uses it to drive traffic to Investors Club, we are all new to buying, selling and valuing social media assets.
We’ve picked a listing from Insta Sale for a type of motorbike and were actually able to find the account, linked above. At a price per subscriber of $0.03 (rounded up) this appears to be at the top end for an Instagram account but engagement is high - it’s last post, 6 days ago has over 6000 likes.
Is this possible to fake? We would imagine so, but the account appears to feature photos by what look like real users. From clicking around we can’t find any post where the owner is trying to drive traffic to anywhere or make any money from selling sponsored posts. Either this is an asset that can be used to drive people to your bike niche site, or the business model is to post 400 photos, get 100K+ followers and then sell for $3,900.
Stefan at Alternative Assets wrote a great post on this emerging asset class.