In this episode of the Website Investing podcast, Avi talks to Jen Anderson about how she became involved with online businesses after her time in the financial services world. We also hear how Jen has grown her businesses and the techniques and tools she’s honed to achieve results.
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📝 Show Summary & Insights
The Beginning
Before getting involved in the online world, Jen worked in the financial services world. She worked at Citigroup and also linked up with multiple startups. She was reasonably active in the financial markets and was big on investing.
Jen eventually bought real estate and a few websites. These assets did really well, especially the websites, considering that she didn’t come from an online business background when she purchased them around 2013.
The Learning Curve
Through self-learning and networking, Jen learned the ropes of website development and online business. Information wasn’t as readily available back then so it was a struggle.
One of the 3 websites she bought was in the sports niche, and she is still growing and developing it today. When she bought it, it wasn’t making any money, and she used it to test and learn everything about website development.
Further Acquisitions
Jen then started to look for other websites to acquire. Being an entrepreneur at heart, she committed to buy small websites at first. These were under $100,000 and generated at least $1,000 per month in profit.
Jen eventually bought an FBA website on Flippa for $50,000. She took on the business full time and hired a VA to help it grow substantially.
Growing Sites
Jen ran a lot of Facebook ads and affiliates, as well doing a ton of SEO work. She also put up a Facebook community which grew exponentially.
In 2018, this site initially made $2,000-$3,000 a month in 2018. At the time it was sold in 2020 it was making $8,000-$10,000 a month. It was purchased at $50,000 and sold 2 years later for $225,000.
The paid advertising world wasn’t an easy one to learn. But, with the help of free resources, Jen got the hang of it for her websites.
Admittedly, Jen made a lot of mistakes at first, especially with Google, pay-per-click, and unnecessary SEO.
Jen bought another website; this time through Empire Flippers. The site is a 'mommy' blog, and Jen still owns the website today. She’s used the site to learn and practice her SEO skills, and it continues to grow.
She is not afraid to make mistakes because she learns along the way.
Other Activity
Jen has a channel on Clubhouse called Buying Businesses Club. Here, she chats with people who are interested in buying businesses in general, not just online businesses.
Funds are on the rise now, and Jen says that if she were a newbie, she would definitely invest in a fund.
Resources
Facebook Group: Women Buying Businesses
Guest Info
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/anderjen/
What did you think?
Did you enjoy this episode or do you have a question?
Please leave a comment to let us know.
Cheers,
Juliet
Ep 36: Jen Anderson: Growing a 50k Site Purchase to a $225k Sale