State Of The Industry Report For July ‘09

July 3, 2009

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Most of you know us as website flippers, some of you may not. Some of you came to us through wanting to learn SEO, Traffic, or some other Internet marketing tactic.

For us SiteFling is the whole process of building a website, turning it into a revenue stream, and then flipping it for a big paycheck. We have always been a leading force in the website flipping community and now more then ever.

We want to see website flipping become as big as it is in our hearts in the hearts of everyone across the world. There is no reason why it can’t be as big and as popular as real estate. So from now on, once a month we will be creating a “State Of The Industry Report.”

This report is for all the website flippers to learn the latest statistics, research, and popular news in the industry. We are spearheading this movement and hope we can get your help to spread the word about website flipping as a legit and profitable form of doing business on the Internet.

This is bigger than any of us, bigger than an ebook or a membership site… This is the flag in the ground moment when we say “Website Flipping Is Here To Stay” and rally the world behind the acceptance of a whole new sector of business.

Please enjoy this first edition of the monthly State Of The Industry Report for website flippers!

Click Here For Early Access

You must be an action taker and you must be willing to document your success along the way. We’re only doing this so that we can have live people to test our course. We want to make sure our course is already proven when we release it later.

Basically, for the next 30 – 90 days you will be sent video tutorials, interviews, checklists, website scripts, templates, and action plans. These are for you to use the way the course tells you. Then you document your experience along the way and give us feedback.

I’m sorry if it’s gone when you get there, I didn’t know of a better way to pick the beta testers. I did create a waiting list for after the first 3 are picked. If they don’t work out they’ll be kicked out and we’ll fill that spot with someone else from the waiting list.

Click Here For Early Access

Go Bigger,
Justin Brooke

P.S. If you liked our video above or had questions, then please leave us a comment below. We read every comment and try to reply to most.

P.P.S. If you’re looking for the case study about the guys who flipped the 5 websites in under 48 hours… Here’s the link http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/02/17/startupcamp-sydney-sites-go-under-the-hammer

Garrett

Why sell if a site is making you good money? I got into this business so I could work once and get paid over and over (i.e. continuity).

Justin Brooke

Hey Garrett,

To be honest for the longest time I didn't know how to answer that question. I just knew that the numbers were working out for me. Then I started to explain it like Matt did below... You flip one to move up to the next to move up to the next. Eventually you're in the levels where you're making tens of thousands per flip.

Now with a couple years of experience under my belt I see it differently. I can finally answer the "why flip a site" question.

The reason you flip a site is because you make more money for less work. For example lets take the scenario of a membership site.

I build the site, charge $29.99 per month, and start marketing it. Getting just 25 members into that site means almost $750 per month. If I keep that site and work on it for the next 6 months I'll make about $4,500 ($750 x 6 = $4,500).

OR... I can flip that site after 30 days for the same $4,500 and not have to wait or work for the next 5 months for that money. It's leveraging time and the marketplaces to make more more in a shorter amount of time.

For me, getting 100 members into a membership site is really easy. Those numbers work out to ALOT more then $4,500. If you do the math you'll find that 100 members paying $29.99 valued at 6x it's monthly value (very common) can flip for more then $15,000. That's not bad for one website per month!!!

Desmond Ong

One more key point that I want to add there.

Most businesses lose its momentum after launch. But if you sell the site at the income that you will receive in the next 5 months instead -- you are guaranteed to get that money in your pocket.

If you are to manage the site for up to 5 months -- you might have ups and downs in your businesses. If there are more "downs" you will actually make less money.

Cheers

<abbr>Desmond Ong’s last blog post..Why I Gave Up the ‘New SitePoint’ Project</abbr>

Mikael @ Retire Rich

I can see that from your point Justin, but what about the members. What if they signed up for the membership because they know it is YOU and that they will be getting great information. If someone new take over then they might get what they signed up for and leave. That will not only make the former members angry but also the one that purchased the site because they will not be able to recoup their investment.

Any thoughts on that?

Mikael

<abbr>Mikael @ Retire Rich’s last blog post..To Become Rich You Must Learn How to Sell</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Like any business model there are some pro's and con's and there are ways to minimize the cons.

For example building a microcontinuity site like Russell describes at microcontinuitysites.com you can have a site that people will never even know that you are no longer the owner.

You can also build sites where the brand doesn't involve you. For example this is SiteFling.com not JustinAndChaunna.com - If we wanted we could still deliver kick ass content without putting our faces on everything.

Then the brand would be the star like Ebay, Amazon, SitePoint, and many many other sites.

It also doesn't have to be a membership site... Can be an app, an affiliate site, or one of many other types of sites.

Mikael @ Retire Rich

Thanks Justin. So to make sure I get this right, you say that this flipping is a great idea for sites that will need your ongoing efforts and not for sites that will "take care of themselves"?

<abbr>Mikael @ Retire Rich’s last blog post..To Become Rich You Must Learn How to Sell</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Flipping is great for projects that never got the traction you thought they would get. Flipping is great for an exit strategy to any business plan. Flipping is great for just flipping every site you ever make.

It's not like other forms of making money where there is a specific time and place for everything. It's a business model, strategy, and tactic all rolled into one.

You can start from scratch and persue it as your main business or you can be a multi-millionaire and add it as a tactic in various stages of your business.

Mikael @ Retire Rich

Well I'm just glad that people are creating and selling websites that I can buy. If I can make 100% ROI in a year or less I'll gladly buy the site.

<abbr>Mikael @ Retire Rich’s last blog post..To Become Rich You Must Learn How to Sell</abbr>

Matt Davis

Hey Garrett,

I am sure Justin has a good answer for you, but my thinking is that because you don't necessarily want to run a ton of sites... so you can flip the ones you don't want to keep.

If you can get a site making you a few hundred a month and sell it for a few thousand... all of a sudden you have a few thousand to invest into your bigger and more profitable projects if that's your main goal.

Matt

<abbr>Matt Davis’s last blog post..Selling 101</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Thanks Matt... You were damn close but it gets even better then just being able to afford bigger projects. You should read my reply to the other guy. I'll bet it'll open your eyes as to why I love website flipping so much!

David King

cool stuff...

Not really into website flipping but i Know who the "Go to Gurus are!"

;-)

Have a great fourth!

<abbr>David King’s last blog post..twitter influence finalrender.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Everyone in business is eventually into website flipping. One day you'll want to retire and selling your business/website will be a must.

Or if a project doesn't catch on like you thought... Flip it

Denise McNerney

Wow, Justin, Huge value. The recording cut out for me so I didn't hear it all, but loved what I heard. Thanks,
Denise

<abbr>Denise McNerney’s last blog post..How to Give Yourself a Natural Facelift</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Hmmm it shouldn't have cut out on you... It's on Viddler and they are quite reliable. I'll watch to see if it happens to others to make sure there are no problems! Thanks for the alert

Donny

Awesome Justin - I'm really excited for this. Now that it's summer, I'm diving into this whole Internet thing once again, and this is something we all need. Thanks :).

Justin Brooke

Be sure to let us know how we can help you make it the best summer of your life!

Lucas Adamski

Thats a great idea! I see its closed already..

<abbr>Lucas Adamski’s last blog post..The beginning</abbr>

BD

Got space for one more? I would love the opportunity!

<abbr>BD’s last blog post..HOW WE WORK WITH YOU</abbr>

Justin Brooke

One guy seems to be having a problem with his credit card - Join the waiting list and if he doesn't work out then I'll take on another.

Vicki

Hey Justin- really like your quest to make a difference and help people.. leave a legacy. Look forward to working with you on this website flipping phenomenon!!

<abbr>Vicki’s last blog post..Cardiac Arrest and Heart Attack in Men</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Thanks Vicki we need all the help we can get if we're going to try and spearhead a whole new economy.

Jim

Hi Justin, I'm really interested in flipping websites, look forward to learning more.

By the way what happened to http://www.androidcontrolpanel.com/google-takeo...

I can't seem to find it anymore, I just get the android controlpanel home page, any chance of putting the video back on line as it was awesome.

Thanks
Jim

Justin Brooke

We no longer own ACP so we'll have to remake that video... We'll do it soon here on the blog.

Chris Jensen

Hey Justin!

Great video. I was looking forward to this for a while now, and I am glad to have finally watched it. I am really interested in getting into site flipping. I was pretty upset to see that I was not one of the first three to fill your positions. I was hoping that you were going to do something like this, but you did not make it available until I was at work! Damn you!

Oh well, I am on the list, and I will be looking to step in as soon as you have to boot someone for slipping!

Great content as usual. I look forward to more of these reports.

Keep up the amazing work.

Chris Jensen

<abbr>Chris Jensen’s last blog post..Niche Marketing | Finding a New Niche</abbr>

Justin Brooke

Stay tuned good buddy... We'll open up the waiting list once we know how many people we can handle. Wanted to start with 3 and see how that feels. But we need as many testers as we can get - Just have to make sure we can also give them the personal attention they'll need.

David G

Where are all these membership sites at?
I mean real membership sites? The ones with
verifiable income, verifiable owners, verifiable traffic, etc...
In addition, most of the sites being sold are
"$5000/mo (potential) income now!",
as in, "not earning that, but certainly could
be earning that, with just a little work :) "

Well, just looking for some solid and credible seller's and
sites to buy from.

David G

(I was specifically talking about membership sites as opposed
to sites making money with CPA using PPC that you have
to change and tweek every day. With membership sites you
should only have to work on more traffic, higher conversions,
and retention.)

Justin Brooke

Too many of the knock off reports are teaching the easy way out methods of just putting up a plr site and flipping it with no traffic or revenue.

We are one of the few people teaching people how to really make a business out of website flipping instead of just some quick pocket cash that disappears after 3 days.

When these kind of membership sites do hit the marketplace they are scooped up incredibly fast. However, only a handful of us are actually putting them out there. If more people would heed our advice they would make thousands and thousands of dollars with this.

Thats why we are taking such a stance in this industry to try and get it into the mainstream. While also teaching that it's not about creating $35 sites and selling them for $100.

It's about creating $100 sites and selling them for $1,000 or more.

Hrvoje

Hey Justin,

Just listening to the audio. wanna start in web site flipping since i'm building web sites myself and working on the content part. just tell me in your personal experience if the site is not membership site and has no or very low traffic what's the usual numbers they are selling for? some price ranges.

i know a lot of people recommend sitepoint as one of the places, seen that warrior forum have a new section for it if i'm right...

thnx for your reply.
Hrvoje

Justin Brooke

I have sold over $10,000 worth of websites in the warriorforum before they even had it's own special section. Now it will be booming!

The good news is it will eat up a lot of the smaller level sites so that they don't clog up Flippa.com

Let the warriorforum handle all the $100 and under flips and Flippa.com handle all the big money serious players!

Ray Miller

Hey Justin

Great post!

So how do you determine when to flip and when to keep It?

Thanks

Ray

Justin Brooke

When you are a website flipper you just always have the goal to flip it. I'll usually plan in the beginning that I want this to be a $5,000 flip so that means I need to get it to this point first.

Then I get it to that point using various marketing methods and then I flip it. Keeping a site isn't something I'm interested in really. Unless it's one of my personal sites about me.

Hrvoje

Cool. Thnx. for your response and that site info.

will pull up my sleeves and try and make something out of that business.

Craig

Hi Justin,

I'm really happy you are going back to site flipping. When I first started listening to you and joined your forum it was because I wanted to learn about site flipping and then you went all over the place so now that you are back on site flipping this sounds like it's going to really rock.

I just wanted to answer Ray's comment if you don't mind. Ray what I like to do when deciding to keep a site or flip it is look at the long term potential. If a site I built is making some good money fairly quickly and I can see that I can increase that over time I will keep it. The longer you keep it and the more money it makes increases your end selling price when you decide to sell it. Like Justin said, he flipped the sites because they weren't making money for him through affiliate sales. Also if you don't want to spend a month or so getting traffic to it then it's a good flip.

It really depends on your personal preference and what you like to do. Personally I don't like to keep sites very long. I like to build and flip and move to the next. I hope that helps you.

Craig

Justin Brooke

Hi Craig - It wasn't that I went all over the place. I was trying to figure out the best ways to help the most people. Before when I was just focused on website flipping I couldn't figure out how to get people into the $5,000 and higher flips... Because they had a hard time with traffic.

Then I started teaching SEO, PPC, social media, blogging... and people started being able to break through the traffic and money barriers.

Now we're combining both of those to create a website flipping system where people will not only learn how to flip sites but how to build Internet businesses and sell them for 5, 10, 20 thousand dollars per flip.

I have been a little scrambled, it's just me trying to find the best system that helps the most people replicate what I do online.

Suite J

The "Site Flip King" is back!

Great interview Justin! I love that you're back on the site flippin' path!

Perfect answer to"why flip sites?" above. Personally, I still build sites to "keep" as well, and 99% of the regular flippers I know also still build long term projects that they keep for residual income. Nobody ever said you had to choose only ONE business model if you're a website flipper. In fact, I think it's a good idea to implement a few (the whole eggs in one basket thing).

I was worried about Flippa with all the negative complaints, etc. surrounding it, but it really doesn't seem to be affecting sales. The first blog flip I posted for sale still sold well - in a little over an hour. ;)

I have a friend who had a slow start, but she just had 3 sales at once.

Matt has really been on the ball answering customers' concerns and getting the team to implement the ideas/changes that people suggest as well, which is a big plus.

Looking forward to seeing you back out in the flippin' trenches man (not that you were totally gone, but you know what I mean!)

Cheers
Jay

Justin Brooke

You're right... I'M BACK BABY! And this time we're taking website flipping to CNN or I'll die tryin'

Dontrell

Hey Justin,

Is there any way I can still get in on this? I'm already a very active site flipper thanks to your information.

I make anywhere from $500 to $2,000 each flip but I want to step it up to those $5,000 to $15,000 flips your talking about.

I'll be your #1 Student! :)

Thanks,
Dontrell

Justin Brooke

We're getting emails, twitter DM's, and blog comments asking for us to open it back up. Join the waiting list and we'll notify everyone as soon as we figure out how to open it up to more people and still give them personal attention.

Tyrone | Millionaire Acts

Website flipping is one of the best source of passive income. I've been reading about this. But I still do have some question: how do you determine the selling price of a site? Some forums I visited say that the site should be sold for like at least 6 months of the monthly income it can generate.

Nevertheless, website flipping for me is not an easy job. It takes a lot of hard work in writing articles and marketing it to be seen by readers and to be indexed by search engines.

<abbr>Tyrone | Millionaire Acts’s last blog post..Success Story of Chikka</abbr>

Sunny Tan

Hey buddy,

Glad to hear you are back on website flipping world.

I've been flipping sites for years with typical 4-5 figure return on each site

Hope to be on your list...

Juan

Hey Justin,

I didn't have a chance to listen to the whole call until today. In the event you are considering new proteges in the past, I'd love to be considered.

In my previous business life I was a project manager for a number of companies and I always managed to put myself in a position where helped develop new website tools and online functionality. I loved to take applications apart and then teach others how to use them. I would do online trainings using GoToMeeting and make short training videos.

Sorry if this is not a good place for these comments but I did want to offer my service to your cause.

Best to you.
Juan

NevadaGal

Great post Justin...thanks.

Question? Where's the link to the guys who did those app's over the weekend and then flipped for bucks. I can't find that and you mention that in your podcast.

Thanks Lisa the NevadaGal

P.S. Glad your focus in back on flipping as that was why I connected with your offering in the first place.

Justin Brooke

Hey Lisa, here's that link you asked for...
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/02/17/start...

Kevin Puls

I look forward to leaning from you how I can build my 100's of domain names into "flipable" websites.

Best,

-Kevin
.-= Kevin Puls´s last blog ..StomperNet Evolution =-.