Flipping Web Sites for Profit
One of my favorite television shows is called Flip That House. The concept behind
the show is as simple as the work for the participants is hard: they buy a house that
needs renovations, they do the work, and they sell the place for a profit.
The reason I like this show is because of the profit potential that it highlights: it
basically mirrors what we can do with web sites. Better still, you can buy a web site
and perform much the same exercise with it, but without getting your hands dirty
or risking as much of your precious capital resources as you would with a house
purchase.
On today’s Web, it’s possible to make an investment of well under a thousand dollars
and, with some conceptualization and some time, increase that investment at a rate
of return that’s unheard of in other industries. That’s why so many people are getting
into this speculative market of web site flipping, where an online property is bought
for the sole purpose of improvement and quick sale: there’s money to be made, and
it can be made comparatively easily.
In this chapter, we’ll see how you can become a site-flipping mogul almost overnight!
We’ll look at the steps involved in assessing a web site as an investment, talk turkeyabout valuing a site, and discuss the negotiation process. We’ll consider just a few
of the ways in which you can add value to your new asset quickly and affordably.
We’ll then investigate the task of selling the site—preparing to sell, and making sure
you receive the best price for your asset. First up, though, let’s get our heads around
the basics of site flipping.