Website Investing Weekly 🎲 Roll Up
Welcome to Website Investing Weekly, bringing you up-to-date with what’s been going on in the world of website investing and alternative related asset classes. If you’re not already on the list to receive these updates, sign up below. You can also leave comments at the end of the post.
📦 Instant Portfolio
Since they started less than a year ago, the team at Investors Club have made numerous marketplace innovations.
We've seen them abolish buyer fees, offer zero-cost website migrations, and provide done-for-you legal documents.
The latest addition to their selling features is 'portfolio listings'.
Sellers who have multiple sites can now package them up and offer them for a single price.
Investors Club have just published their first-ever portfolio consisting of 8 sites making over 16K per month.
This is a great way to get immediate diversification from Our Google Overlords.
☝️Look at All the Upside
We all make mistakes. Especially the first time we attempt something new. And don't be lulled into a false sense of security because you managed to pull off one successful deal, and now think you know it all.
Dom Wells recently listed the most common mistakes made by buyers when purchasing their first (or second) website. He outlines 6 areas that buyers either don't fully understand or that they focus on for the wrong reasons.
Two of his comments stood out for us.
The first is that we often pay attention to the wrong risks.
When you're looking at a whole heap of data on traffic sources, the backlink profile, and the quality of the content on a site, it's easy to get distracted by things that aren't really a big deal.
Sure, there may have been a few PBN links made in the past, but the bigger risk is that 75% of the traffic is going to a single article on the website.
The second stand-out mistake is the risk of paying too much for a site based on its potential.
As Dom said:
Sellers love talking about potential and how easily it can be unlocked, but the truth is that if it were easy, they’d have unlocked it already.
To be fair, some site owners don't have adequate resources to put into their website - whether that be time, skill or money.
Still, this is great advice to take into a negotiation to purchase, because there are no guarantees on "potential."
If the site needs work, then you're the one who has to do it. The seller doesn't deserve a bonus just for identifying the various growth paths.
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🤔 Commission Decision
Who doesn't like something for nothing?
Jon over at Authority Website Income has come up with 5 ideas to sell your website for free.
Of course, he mentions Motion Invest first because he's a part owner. But, they are a viable option, and if you sell directly there are no listing or success fees involved.
We particularly like the idea of selling out to a competitor. You might think that your site is too small/niche/new/weird, but if your site has steady traffic and you're generating revenue, then it's a saleable asset.
Approaching a competitor to do a deal isn't a tactic reserved for the big players in the market. Competitors come in all sizes and all it takes is a bit of research and an outreach strategy to get your website in front of buyers.
Think about targeting indirect competitors too. For example, your business may produce incredible infographics, but not offer content writing services. These services both fall under the umbrella of content, but they're not in direct competition. You never know who is looking to expand their range of services unless you ask, so add indirect competitors to your list of prospective buyers.
The simplest idea Jon offers is to slap a 'For Sale' banner on your website. This could backfire if your loyal fans and customers feel like you're disappearing on them so make sure you communicate your intentions and share your plans with your audience.
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😮 We’re Not Surprised
Surprises are great when they affect us positively, but none of us likes an unexpected, nasty surprise.
In business, we're always seeking to minimize risk in various aspects of our operation. This is especially true when the risk involves money, because unexpected costs have detrimental effects. People often underestimate the costs of starting an online business. Just because you don't need to rent office space, that doesn't mean you can forget about the basics like insurance and legal fees.
We've seen too many business owners suffer undue stress because they failed to take professional advice when they started out. Many owners didn't set aside funds every month for their self-employment taxes and legal requirements.
As Dan Fries says in his article on the Flippa blog:
Taxes and legal fees is one of the main concerns of any small business owner. Failing to set aside money for these expenses can literally bankrupt your business within the first year.
But, there's more to be budgeted for.
You might think that you have the best product or service on the planet, but if no one knows about it, then your revenue (and your chance of digital survival) will be zero.
Marketing is a big startup priority and it's also one of your largest expenses. In fact, the U.S. Small Business Administration advises budgeting 7% to 8% of your gross revenue for marketing and advertising. Even if you're selling only 100K of goods every year, that's nearly $700 that you need to accrue each month to cover your advertising and content marketing costs.
There are thousands of articles online that tell people how to start a business over the weekend for zero dollars. They're lying.
At the least, you'll need a small fund to publish even the most basic website, pay for hosting, and set up an email service provider.
This is one of the reasons that entrepreneurs choose to purchase online businesses that are already set up and producing an income (however small) from an existing customer base.
💰 Short and Sweet
George Hong of Guta.com recently brokered the sale of LT.com. for a reported 7 figure sum.
LT.com had been registered by Telepathy, the company owned by Nat Cohen, but, according to this report, no one is prepared to disclose the buyer's name or the exact price.
We checked on LT.com and it currently redirects to LeTou. They're a gaming company in Asia who provide a platform for online betting on sports and entertainment events.
We'll need to wait and see whether a rebrand occurs or if they're just covering the bases for accessing their site.
Top domain investor Josh Reason stated on his podcast (he was on ours) that there’s likely one seven figure domain sale every day of the year, it’s just that they’re not reported.
Had the LT.com sale price been reported publicly, it would rank as the largest domain name sale of 2020 to date.
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That’s it for another week, hit us up in the comments at the bottom.
Cheers!
Juliet Lyall & Richard Patey