If you have no clue as to the meaning of my headline, please refer to my post about my blog flipping challenge. Well my friends, the challenge has been accepted, and here’s how it’s going to play out.
I don’t have any free time until Friday to do this, due to prior commitments and the fact that I need 24 hours straight of work time. So here’s the deal. I’ll build 5 sites using Wordpress, and then attempt to sell them for as close to $1,000 as humanly possible. I think I’ll actually go a bit over $1,000, but I did carefully word my proposition by saying that if I don’t make 1k, I’ll get pretty close. So, for arguments sake, let’s just say I have to make $1,000 in 24 hours. Impossible? Maybe, but I’m pretty confident that I can do it. It’ll be impressive no matter what happens, because the blogger that accepted the challenge doesn’t think that these will go for any more than $20 each.
So the requirements for the challenge are pretty basic, I have to use 5 domains that were registered no earlier than 24 hours before they go to auction. So basically, I’ll be building 5 sites, from scratch and then listing them for auction within 24 hours. Crazy? To say the least!
I’ve never actually attempted something like this, but I have had some success with sites that were less than 24 hours old, so we’ll see how it goes. 5 sites in 24 hours though? That’s nuts. I have to write content, install plugins and a theme, and get them listed in such a short time, that it’s a bit more than crazy. The sites don’t have to sell in 24 hours, that’s up to the buyers… but they do have to be listed within 24 hours. I woud go for the whole shabang and say they have to sell in 24 hours, but I’m not turning down more money by selling to the highest bidder after 24 hours, when it’s possible that I’d be leaving money on the table. After all, this is going to be a pain in the ass, so I want as much as I can get for these sites.
What’s at stake?
- 1 125×125 Ad in the losers sidebar for a period of no less than 3 months
- 1 Guest post by the loser, on the winners blog. This post should explain why they lost the bet, and if possible, offer suggestions on how they could have improved the effort.
- Loser must write a post on their own blog admitting defeat, and explaining that they were wrong in their opinion.
Not a big loss either way right? Yeah, just more of a fun challenge. It’ll be fun for The Net Fool to watch, but it’s going to be a pain in the ass for me to try and work for 24 hours straight, or as long as it takes me to get 5 blogs up and running. Wish me luck, and we’ll see you Friday.
I’ll start Friday afternoon sometime, and if you want to know the exact details of when I get started, check me out at Twitter. I’ll post a message there moments before I start. It’ll probably be sometime in the mid-late afternoon, as that’s when I wake up…Follow me at http://twitter.com/bryanclark. I’ll try to hop on Twitter and keep everyone updated on my progress, assuming I’m making good time. If I’m not, then you’ll just have to wait ’till it’s over to see the results.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Good Luck with the challenge. Friday!! Olympic Basketball semis, that`s 2 hours off your challenge
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August 19th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Thanks Barry, should be interesting!
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August 19th, 2008 at 8:23 am
(korprit)
perhaps its all just wishful thinking, but after the challenge i would LOVE to see a DETAILED write up on the whole process.
domains chosen (so we can look over the content for keyword density and such), niche (what, how chosen, and why), keyword selection (what, how chosen and why), link building strategy (apps used, how many links, PR of links, etc.)
and so on
that kind of information would be an amazing read as it would be a live case study the likes of which i have not encountered anywhere else (hint: a post like that would get you a **** ton of social traffic, one way links and blogging notariety…if that is not motivation for details i don’t know what is lol)
win or lose, that kind of documentation of the process would be amazing and bring in a flood of readers imo (for the IM or MMO crowds)
–korr
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August 19th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Am in your corner with water in the wings. This is a kick ass challenge, and i know you wouldn’t have proposed it, had you thought you couldn’t do it.
Sweeeet!
The Net Fool is a cool guy, too. No bad words towards him here. May the BEST MAN WIN.
Will feverishly watch and follow the challenge. May even try one myself.
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tax liens investing reply on August 19th, 2008:
(korprit)
pretty eager to see the results myself. saturday should prove to be some interesting reading.
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Bryan Clark reply on August 19th, 2008:
Thanks Missy. It’ll be tough, but you are right, I never would have made it had I not thought I could do it. That said, I’ve never tried… so, we’ll see. I generally go for the gusto with blogs that sell for over $1,000 profit. Not 24 hours blogs that go for $200 each. It’ll be interesting to say the least.
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I usually agree with Jim on most things but in this case I’ve gotta agree with you - his ideas about site flipping are wrong and your goal is definitely achievable (although I’d do ten sites - less work on each one and easier to achieve) within a day.
Good luck buddy will be interesting to see how this pans out.
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Ah man this sounds good…I have to see the outcome. I’ve been reading your blogs and I know you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve but selling not 1, not 2 but 5 blogs for close to 1000$ in 24h?! If you can pull this off I’ll rite the best damb review for your blog! I do hope you succeed. Good luck.
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Asuka reply on August 19th, 2008:
…oops write…
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Bryan Clark reply on August 19th, 2008:
That sounds awesome. Thanks Asuka.
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August 19th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Okay I’m running the numbers… the anxiety is a killer.
1 new domain names: = $ 7.95
Assuming your going to use Your HG hosting: = $ 5.00
SitePoint listing fee for start up sites: = $ 10.00 (10 each)
Lets guess at it and say that the average startup cost is 20.00. Could be more if you do private domain registrations and whatnot, but we’ll leave it at $20.00 for everything start up related.
I’d also say that if you have a developers license for some premium themes, you could install those for a little added value in the sale. However, you’d then have to calculate a small percentage of the license cost to the cost of this contest. But since that is too iffy, we will avoid that expense for now.
Now… if you do the math… 24 hours X twice a week = 48 working hours.
Assuming $200 earned for each sale, and 10 sales for the week = $ 2,000.00 in income
$2,000.00 - $560.00 928% (tax bracket) divided by 48 hours = $30.00 an hour.
All jokes aside… I’m hoping you can do it… at least without becoming a raging alcoholic…. too late for that right?
So is there a time frame in which you have to sell? I know you don’t want to sell yourself short… but by definition, you could no longer work on the sites during the listing period right?
Otherwise, you could always adapt the auction page with your latest stats and traffic counts. In which case, you’d be exceeding the 24 hour deadline period… that is because I am assuming the bet is more about not working longer than 24 hours. Theoretically, if you pull it off… you could do this 4 times a week.
Wow… great money maker and if you could get it down to a science… you get partner up, take the load off, and kick ass! Anyway… rambling I know, but this will be VERY interesting!
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August 19th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Error: 28% Tax Bracket… not 928% LOL Thankfully
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August 19th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Good math, but I actually only pay around 17% in taxes. I’ve got a good accountant. And there is no way in hell I’d do this twice a week…
So if you replace the 28% with 17%, you’ll get around $41 per hour. Still less than I normally make with older flips, but it’s significant to most who are working their $10 an hour desk jobs.
This will show that money CAN be made very quickly, and yes the hourly rate is less than I usually work for. But then again, I don’t generally sell one day old sites.
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August 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Certainly exciting and am looking forward to seeing if you are able to pull this off. However, how do we know that you aren’t going to do your research and content prior to the start of the challenge? Or is that allowed? Just making sure everyone’s honest here:)
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August 19th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I want to help, to get a part of the cut. How do i help? There was no mention of not receiving help, so i think it is allowed.
Let me know.
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Link Building Bible reply on August 20th, 2008:
Why not do your own blog flips, and get 100% of the sale?
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August 19th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Sorry Missy, this one has to be a solo mission. I appreciate the offer though.
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Missy reply on August 19th, 2008:
Dang it. I wanted a piece of the pie!
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Bryan Clark reply on August 19th, 2008:
You can always take me up on my writing offer if you want a piece of the pie Missy.
Details are in the forum. Just have to do this one solo.
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August 19th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Ok, you got me watching. However, if you really want to turn it up a notch, set up a 24 hour cam and stream your experiment live!
However, even if we can’t see it being done as it happens, this is very interesting. There should be more of these kind of challenges between everyone for fun.
LOL@ PB working out the $$/math to do it “regulalrly”.
Jay
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August 19th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I had thought about the streaming video, but it’s not all that appealing. I can’t imagine how great I’d look after a 24 hour work day, plus it’d be boring as all hell staring at my face while I stared at the computer screen. Maybe some other time.
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Ryan reply on August 19th, 2008:
Yeah I mean Bryan looks like crap after a few drinks at the bar - let alone after 24 hours of setting up blogs - LOL!
All the best bro - props to the Netfool - but obviously he doesn’t know who he is up against. Although tiring, I forsee a pretty quick win for the Clark camp.
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Bryan Clark reply on August 19th, 2008:
This is true… about the drinks and all
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August 20th, 2008 at 1:07 am
I’m taking bets on this, 3-1 odds for the Net Guy winning this. You can also place bets on the over/under 1,000
… do a google search you might find an arbitrage for this 
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August 20th, 2008 at 1:15 am
LMAO. I’m going to go with a bet on the over.
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August 20th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Cool man! I think this will be fun to watch! It will be interesting to see what happens and what they sell for.
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August 20th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
@ Nick: I am going to go for the under…but not by much. At a guess I would go for $900
@ Bryan: That is not to say I doubt your abilities but this is untested waters and one day old sites we are talking about. Regardless though, you have me watching and waiting for something special to happen. Good luck Fella
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Suite J reply on August 20th, 2008:
Are we really getting action going on this, cause I’m in if we are.
I think he can do it. He has to average $200 per site, right?
Has anyone seen new sites sell on SitePoint?
If he prepares a little beforehand, I’d say it’s very possible.
There’s no rules as to what kind of site or what can be included with the sale, etc. That’s a huge advantage.
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Missy reply on August 20th, 2008:
Jay: I’ve seen 4 and 3 day old site sites profitably. One day old, no. But i don’t see why not if in right niche and good sales page.
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Bryan Clark reply on August 20th, 2008:
No problem Nota. The under might be the smart bet here…
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Nick reply on August 20th, 2008:
Get em in, betting closes at 11:59PM EST Thursday
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August 21st, 2008 at 5:35 am
Hi Bryan,
I just came across your blog and I’m already avidly reading it. This is a cool contest: I wish you all the best !!
ciao
alexander
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Bryan Clark reply on August 21st, 2008:
Glad you made your way over! Enjoy the archives, there will be much more to come. I recently committed to posting more content here since it seems to be growing without my doing anything…
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August 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am
Great contest!
Whatever happens, you are drawing some attention to your site. Heck, it got me here and I am very interested.
Clark if you pull this off, I will be on your site daily trying to figure out what you are up to.
Good luck and I think all you guys are awesome.
I am learning so much!
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Bryan Clark reply on August 21st, 2008:
Thanks Freddie. Always glad to see new readers. Let’s see how this contest goes, I’m pretty excited too.
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August 21st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
You guys must have some insider info that I don’t have. Everytime I buy a new domain at Godaddy, it takes 24hrs just to have them update the new nameservers! LOL
I’m such a novice!
best of luck!
AL
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Bryan Clark reply on August 21st, 2008:
LOL. It’s gonna take a few hours just to get the 5 domains and the Wordpress blogs installed, that’s for certain. Hopefully they can do it pretty quickly, so that I can get to work!
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August 21st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Bryan,
You’re a bold man. 24 hours of straight work? Ouch! I must say Friday is going to be a long day, but I think you can do it — maybe
Hey, you should take up Suite J’s idea on that live streamcast man. I’ll sure be up here watching — not for 24 hours though!
But, I love the fact that you took the challenge, this certainly shows you mean business!
Hope all goes well; I’ll be watching from the sidelines. And think about the streamcast idea some more
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Bryan Clark reply on August 21st, 2008:
Thanks for the comment Luis. SuiteJ got me thinking about a streamcast, but if I were to do something like that, I’d need more time to market it. I’d feel like a complete tool if I had like 4 users that popped in over the course of 24 hours. That, and in my opinion, it’d be extremely boring.
Maybe I’ll videotape a normal flip, and then edit it down from 30 days to about 10 minutes… that might be a bit more exciting. Or, I could possibly do some more video on finding sites and then take you through the rebuilding stages. I’ll work on that after I get this challenge wrapped up.
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August 21st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Okay Bryan… do that stream cast! I’ll do a post and I’ll volunteer our whole network as well
I’m sure NO ONE would have a problem promoting such a cool gig. In fact, if you agree, maybe I can find you a sponsor… I’ve got a graphic design company that I’m almost sure would participate 
E-mail me if you want to discuss! Kick some ass bro!
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August 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I’m new here and now subscribed watching closely I hope to see some ownage here so good luck!
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Bryan Clark reply on August 21st, 2008:
Glad to see you here Ben! I’ve browsed your blog more than a few times! Hope that we can bring home a winner.
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August 21st, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Lets go Bryan! Lets go! We want that stream cast!
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Bryan Clark reply on August 21st, 2008:
haha… I’ll consider it.. I still think it’d be the most boring thing in the world to watch. But I’ll give it some thought!
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