Over the past few weeks, I’ve been researching this article heavily. I’ve scoured every marketplace looking for transactions of $10,000 plus, and a blog. I’ve learned a lot, and I want to pass this on to you so that you can see just how easy it is to make over $10,000 with one blog flip. Blog flipping isn’t for everyone, but it’s obviously profitable in this case. Let’s take a look.
I found over 40 sites that sold for $10,000+ last month, with the winner going for $90,000. Not a bad day at the office right?
The average sales price of these sites was $18,482, and none of them were that impressive. Even the one that sold for $90,000 reached that price mostly because of a super premium domain name.
So what does it take to get $10,000+ on a blog flip? Well, here are some numbers for you, all are averages for the 43 sites that I found that sold for $10,000 or more.
- Unique visitors daily - 1,110
- Pageviews daily - 4,931
- PageRank - 4
- RSS Subscribers - 619
- Revenue - $1,488
- Age - 2.4 years
Now, after looking at those statistics, you come to one conclusion. It’s not that hard to build a blog that sells for $10,000+ on the open market. The easiest niche to sell for high profits was celebrity gossip, as these sites made up almost 1/5 of the market. I can see why too.
- Easy to attract traffic (most are interested in the topic already)
- Due to fickle customers, there is no need for an established brand
- Revenue should be easy with Adsense, or a CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) ad service.
So you want $10,000 for a blog? Start writing about celebrity gossip! Bear in mind, by the time it’s ready sell, this “hot” topic may be passed over for something else. And there are negatives too. The blogs that sold for $10,000 or more generally had 4-5 posts per day, which is a hectic posting frequency to try to stay on, and they almost all had significant media exposure. For example, they break a story, and then an offline medium sites them as a source.
I’ve personally only sold one blog for over $10,000, but I’ve had several come close to that point. The key is to present yourself as an authority on the subject, and marketing like crazy. Content is king, unless you have no readers to see it.
I just wanted to give you guys and girls a quick overview of what it takes to make a significant chunk of change selling a blog. $10,000 seems to be an enigma to some people, but I want to show you that not only is it possible, it might not have been as hard as you’d assumed.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Good info there. The being “first” on the story angle is going to be a bit of a challenge unless you have an few insiders. Wouldn`t a 1.5k income make flipping become less off a goal (unless the sale price was way above that 12 times average).
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
1.5k in income is pretty good. However, the average sales price was 18k, and I’m sure people can do quite a bit with that. Blogging is a pretty trend driven industry, and making $1,500 with a gossip blog is definitely not something I’d want to be on in the future. And yes, being the first to report something with a gossip blog would be tough. Just wanted to give folks an idea that making $10,000 from a blog flip isn’t always that difficult.
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August 11th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Very interesting, especially the statistics and averages among this high priced flippers. I’ll admit, flipping is new to me, I’m trying to learn to love it…something about getting rid of something I’ve poured my heart into doesn’t sit well…I’d most likely have a hard time flipping! Especially a blog. Now an ebook with a landing page…that’s a different story.
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
Flipping isn’t for everyone Joe. I just don’t tend to get attached to my “investments”. As I said above, blogging relies too heavily on trends for me to put a lot of weight on one particular property. That said, I highly recommend having short term (flipping) and long term strategies. Never put all your eggs in one basket.
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August 11th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
(korprit)
with that kind of posting schedule and unreliable future, i can see selling/flipping.
but what about a niche site that gets all its traffic from serps and retains a 1500/month income?
granted im probably a bit off the topic of this blog, but i see a clear definitive case for holding long term and a clear definitive case for selling for the immediate capital gain.
if you have a blog that has limited shelf life (like celebrity gossip), there is no way you should hang on to it. but if you have a consistant earner, that will sustain itself for years, why would you sell it?
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
You aren’t at all off topic Korprit. People get the misconception that I sell everything… not true, I’ve got quite a few niche sites that are making a decent amount, and wouldn’t sell them under most circumstances. Blogs however, are generally expendable. Siteflipu.com won’t be mine forever, but it’s a great way to teach something I know, and then move on to something else. Ask anyone that’s been with me from the beginning, it’s what I do. Unfortunately I may lose a few readers each time, but I am too scattered to focus on one topic for too long. So flipping works for me.
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August 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
BarryO… $1,500/month probably includes lots and lots of writing…. Most people dont have time to do that with multiple blogs…so why not sell for 10k… be 10k richer…. and start another blog doing just as well.
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
This is more along the lines of what I’m trying to pass on with this blog. I teach flipping, but I only use it for cash flow. I believe in long term investing as well. If you can cash out of a blog that takes all kinds of time to maintain, you can use the 10k to start another blog that you may be able to turn passive by hiring writers. Cash flow for future investments… that’s what I flip for.
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August 11th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Great post…. 10k for two years isn’t a great thing to aim for but if you buy an already aged domain you could get it all cleaned up and re-sold pretty easily I am sure.
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
That was the average age of the domain Forest. Some were much younger. The older one’s were generally at the higher end of the spectrum, with the younger one’s coming in at around 10-15k. The domains can be aged also …
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August 11th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
@ Forest: Agreed.
@ Bryan: These are the little gems I look forward to when you write. Hands down THIS is the way EVERYONE should study their own niche markets. Well done!
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
Thanks PB
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August 11th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
What’s up Bryan?
The cool thing about these stats is that not only do you have a great post for your site when you do that research, but you’ll learn what’s going on in the marketplace if you do it on a regular basis.
I do little “resarch runs” quite often, and watch for trends, etc.
@Forest: There are a few ways of looking at the 10k/2 years scenario. If you owned the site for those two years and sold it for 10k, don’t forget that you also made $1500 x 24 in monthly revenue.
Aged domains with PR and even a little revenue would be better to start with for faster flips/profit. It’d be pretty hard to get 10k out of a 30 days flip. Maybe Bryan should make that the next “challenge”!
Also, let’s say you bought one that was already making $500/month. You could build it up to making $1500/month, and make your investment back during the time you owned it from the consistent monthly revenue. Then, the sale price is profit.
What about the workload? The perfect scenario (IMO) is to do this with multiple sites and outsource the updating/articles at low cost, as well as other super duper tricky site flip tips that Bryan will no doubt be providing here for us all!
And, please, nobody try and register “SuperDuperTrickySiteFlipTips.com”! It’s mine!
@Bryan: It’d be cool if you linked to the sales/auction page of your flips in your sidebar too.
Cheers!
Jay
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Bryan Clark reply on August 12th, 2008:
Yep, you are right on the money. As far as linking to my auction/sales pages, I’ll have to think about that one. It’s potentially dangerous. I do have some enemies.
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Jay reply on August 12th, 2008:
Haha. No worries. I know how to find you.
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August 12th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Thanks Jay…. very well put. Thanks
… also Bryan, not sure if it is new but I love the list of blogs flipped and what price they went for.
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August 12th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Thanks Forest!
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August 15th, 2008 at 10:33 am
It is cool to see the $10,000 blog sale stats. Good post. In many ways, it seems easy, and in other ways, not.
I suppose like anything else in life, one must give it 90% (uh..i mean 100%), and see how one fares with it.
Go 90% percenters! Go go go!
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September 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Hi Bryan,
Great blog post. The idea of flipping is pretty new to me and I haven’t done it [yet].
I like the idea of flipping a blog(s) and with the profit either start another project only this time hire out the work or simply take the money and run.
Being new to all this, I assume your blog has all the info I need to be successful at flipping…right? Or, can you recommend any good resources? - besides yours of course
Cheers
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Bryan Clark reply on September 16th, 2008:
Scott, my blog is still relatively new, so it doesn’t have ALL the resources you need just yet. But it has enough to get you started, and making some money. I can’t really recommend any other sources, unless you want to pay for them. The only other sites that offer valuable information in this niche are subscription based.
I can promise you this though, my blog flipping blueprint is on it’s way, and it’ll be the only resource you need!
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Scott reply on September 16th, 2008:
Hi Bryan
Cheers, I’ll definitely keep an eye out for sure!
Hey, I may even write you a quick email. I got this “idea” that’s either silly or could work but will take lots of work and would be grateful for an opinion.
There’s a reason I don’t wanna post about it in public. No, it’s not “that good” of an idea, just a bit hush-hush.
I’ll explain
Cheers mate
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