In this, our 2017 update we feature some brand new websites such as JET.com and Lynda.com.

All 30 website sales have been at valuations of over 1 Billion USD and the largest grossing exit was for 26.2 Billion!

Truly starting a website is still one of the best routes to riches!

If you are planning to sell your website one day then there can be no better advice than to start with the end in mind or as Ryan Allis succinctly puts it:

“You have to work with the end in mind and every day make sure your working towards it”

That last bit is particularly important:

Ask yourself daily – are you working towards your goals?

The entrepreneurs who founded the businesses below are outstanding examples of starting with the end in mind and working towards your goals.

I am inspired, I hope you are too!

Special Notes:

a) We are focused on successful Website Sales by founding entrepreneurs. We have not included businesses that went public (eg Facebook and Twitter) – However an number of the successful Website Sales have been as a result of the business being bought by Public Companies.

b) Not all Website Sales worked out well for the purchaser. An example of that was Microsoft paying over 6 Billion in cash for online display advertising company aQuantive in 2007 (No 2 in our list)

Top 30 Website Sales Of All Time

Final thoughts on Website Sales:

=> Every website I create is a asset I will sell one day.

=> My websites don’t just earn me money every day – they are my retirement fund!

Are you considering selling your online business?

=> Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

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The post Top 30 Website Sales Of All Time appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Worse still, there is a multitude of so-called online “website value” calculators that claim to tell you how much your website is worth! Think about it – how can any website claim to give you a website valuation, without knowing your revenues, your profit?

No wonder website owners get confused!

If you own a blog, an eCommerce site, an Amazon FBA site, a lead generation site or any type of website here are:

21 Smart Ways To Increase Website Value

Special Note: No matter if you intend to sell your website now, or indeed never sell, there is much information here that will help you build a better website business.

#1 To Increase Your Website Value, Start With the End In Mind

It was Stephen R. Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, who in habit #2 introduced us to “starting with the end in mind’.

This one ‘simple strategy’ makes the difference when it comes to building website value – but it is often overlooked!

Fact is – you are never going to build website value and worth without first acknowledging it and stating it as a GOAL.

So let us start with this thought…

What is your exit plan?

Who will buy your website business?

Why will they buy your business and for how much?

A wise friend once said:

The Biggest Mistake A Small Business Can Make Is Thinking Like A Small Business

If your goal is a successful exit with a life-changing sum of money in the bank, then thinking and acting like a small business is one of the first things you will need to stop doing!

Millions of dollars (or Pounds, or Euros or whatever your currency) does not fall into your lap by accident.

There is lots more we could add here – but perhaps the most important thing is knowing who your potential buyers are.

Even if it may be many years in the future, now is the time to appear on that buyers radar, to make connections with them, to network with them.

Knowing the largest players in your market and understanding their intentions is invaluable when it comes to finding buyers for your website..

Do You Buy Websites?

Join Our Website Buyers List – subscribe below:

#2 Use Diversified Traffic Sources

Bloggers and online business owners boost about getting huge amounts of business from SEO, or Facebook or whatever the latest Hot Traffic method is.

But what if Google no longer likes your site or suddenly advertising on Facebook doubles in cost – where are you then?

Experienced buyers of websites and online investors will down value your website business if most of your income/traffic comes from one source.

Having most of your traffic coming from a single source leaves you vulnerable to future changes in search engine algorithms, increased competition, and other factors.

Diversity in traffic is also a factor that search engine algorithms increasingly consider more and more.

You should try to get traffic from a multitude of the following sources:

• Search (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.)
• Social Media (Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)
• Direct
• RSS Feeds
• Partner Websites
• Other Industry Specific Blogs
• Industry Specific Forums
• PPC Ads

#3 Create Unique Evergreen Content

Over the past few years, online marketing has shifted from ‘outbound’ to ‘inbound’ marketing. For you, this means that you must educate your customer, not just sell to him or her.

Unique content is one of the best ways to provide educational material about your industry, which informs the client and explores his needs and concerns. In addition, through such content, you can position yourself as an authority in your industry. Having a blog is one of the best ways to present your own content.

When possible, your content should also be “evergreen” – meaning it should preferably be on topics that are unlikely to change significantly in the future. Evergreen content will keep attracting visitors even in the long-term future and will keep generating new clients.

You can find many content writers for your business through freelance platforms such as:

• Upwork.com
• Freelancer.com
• Guru.com

For an example of evergreen content check out this IncomeDiary post from 2012 – Thoughts On Success

Over 5 years later this one post still brings this website traffic every day!

#4 Secure Domain variations | Major Social Media Extensions

With so many domain extensions available today it is difficult, not to mention impractical and costly to secure every domain extension.

Our advice – focus on securing at least the .com plus your local domain extension [e.g .co.uk and .com.au]

Then if you are serious about your brand also secure .net and .org

Website buyers are impressed and reassured if you own all the major domain extensions for your brand.

If you are a Startup, a great place to check both Domain Name combinations and social media username availability is NAMECHECKR

In test search below, you will see that the .com plus Twitter handle is not available – while the .net, FACEBOOK and YouTube extensions are.

Website buyers like to see that you have secured your [brand name] in all the major social media channels.

Having a different username on Facebook compared to say Twitter or YouTube is not ideal.

Again being on every social media channel is impractical – focus on the BIG ones like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Linkedin. In short, establish yourself on the social media channels that your customers frequent most often.

A lot of social media can be automated – but we discourage anything spammy or BOTS crawling across the Internet auto liking certain hashtags!

Suddenly losing your Facebook or Twitter accounts because of spammy practices is a way to decrease website value!

A great way to automate your social media is to use IFTTT

For example, with IFTTT you can easily set INSTAGRAM up so that every time you do a post it also posts to Twitter, your Facebook page, and Pinterest account.

By automating your social media marketing and presence, you increase your website value faster.

#5 Increase Website Worth Through Testimonials and Star Ratings

Social proof is an essential persuasion tactic.

It creates trust with your customers, making it more likely that they will commit to making a purchase. It will also make the information you provide appear more reliable.

And there’s no better way to give social proof than by using testimonials and Star Ratings.

By placing testimonials on your website, you significantly increase your website value.

Customers relate to your brand more easily when they see active engagement coming from others like them.

Today’s evolved entrepreneur doesn’t just deliver a product – they deliver an experience!

How will buying from you differ from buying from a competitor?

It is that difference that will create the biggest increase in website value!

Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit put it brilliantly:

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

This is why testimonials and endorsements are essential when building website value.

How Do You Get Testimonials?

In short – ask for them!

Follow up with customer satisfaction surveys that ask questions like:

What, specifically, was your favorite part of my product, and why?

If you were to recommend my product to your best friend, what would you say?

Of course, some customers will give you testimonials without asking – but the best policy is to ask.

You can add a link on your website where customers can provide their testimonial.

See the Expert Photography Submit Testimonial Page

Star Ratings are a slightly different subject and one that worries some entrepreneurs.

What if your competitor or a disgruntled ex-business partner decides to give you a nasty review?

Yes, that could happen – but most Star Rating services give you the opportunity to respond.

A website with thousands of 4 and 5-star reviews you will have a lot more website value than one without any star review scheme.

Accept it entrepreneur – transparency is essential in the modern business.

Businesses such as Amazon and Tripadvisor would not be the massive sites they are today without a Review Scheme.

TrustPilot and YELP are two of the biggest review sites.

Also, check out: 19 Online Review Sites for Collecting Business & Product Reviews

Want even more proof?

Check out useproof.com

This website helps deliver higher conversion rates on your website by displaying recent sales and opt-ins.

#6 Get A Premium Domain Name

Premium domain names are short, memorable, easy-to-spell names that end in popular extensions like .com. They cost more than normal domains (often a lot more) – because they are more likely to drive traffic to a website.

Also, when it comes to branding and authority – owning the generic keyword domain name (especially the .com) adds a lot of value to a business. You can use these Premium Domains to point at your main website or develop new websites on them that compliment your business. See also #8 below – Turn Your Website Into a Hub

My Own Experience:

Back in the early 2000’s, I was running a portfolio of successful lead generation sites in the home improvement niche. As that business became successful we invested in a number of generic keyword domains that added to the authority and reputation of our business. This strategy paid off handsomely when we eventually sold the business.

And it doesn’t even have to be an obvious strong generic term – check out this example:

SumoMe pays $1.5 million for Sumo.com domain name

Getting a premium domain that relates to your industry or products can give you a significant and lasting competitive advantage.

Quality domain names can also help your website achieve higher rankings in search engine results, giving you greater visibility and increasing your website value.

To purchase premium domain names, you can visit any of the following markets and search for key terms in your industry:

• Flippa.com
• Sedo.com
• Auctions.godaddy.com
• Register.com
• Or a broker like lumis.com

Of all the suggestions we are making for increasing website value this one has one of the highest cost implications – but if you have a successful business and are serious about building a valuable brand this is still one of the best things you can do.

#7 Inbound Link-building (Backlinks)

Getting back-links from reputable, high authority websites is a great way to build value. Overall, it helps you achieve two things.

First, getting back-links from highly reputable and authoritative websites makes your own domain more authoritative. Higher authority means you to rank higher in Search Engine results resulting in more traffic and greater revenue.

Second, back-links increase the diversity of your traffic sources directly by adding referral traffic.

That’s two benefits into one!

A good way to start link-building is to join the conversation on other blogs in your industry, provide valuable content to other websites in your industry through guest posts, and get links from partner sites. [ see #13 Guest Posts]

Related: Link Building – Without The SERP Risks

#8 For Maximum Website Value Turn Your Website Into a Hub

A good copywriter friend of mine once told me that as soon as he discovered a winning product or offer he would ‘knock himself off”.

Success breeds copycats – and my friend’s strategy was that in this instance, he may as well “compete with yourself” by creating a related but not identical product. (It could be a superior product with better features and more expensive or even an inferior product with fewer features and cheaper)

A hub is the center of activity. If you can turn your website into the center for your industry, it will become a strategic asset. You can achieve this by providing access to vital resources about your industry through your site or a series of related sites.

In point 6 above – we emphasize the advantages of buying Premium Domains.

For example, if they are 6 main keywords that describe your product offering and you own most or all of them as .com’s you will be default be creating a HUB and recognized as the premier authority.

Education of the customer is essential.

Customer education can come in the form of your own content, links to other highly authoritative industry leaders, as well as a place where customers can come and discuss.

So long as customers can navigate to everything they would need from your website, you are achieving this goal.

Reality is there will always be those who will try to emulate you – and unless you have a patent-able concept it will be difficult to protect yourself from them. The successful entrepreneur knows this and will of course also do all they can to protect their Intellectual Property (IP)

Indeed another way to add website value is to create IP (Courses, software, systems) related to your websites. If you can show that you are doing this and successfully protecting yourself, buyers will be encouraged and more likely to make you a substantial offer.

Talking of copycats here is a brilliant 2.15 min video that is too good not to share.

#9 Keep Good Records

Prepare for your buyers’ due diligence – in particular financial, legal and website due diligence.

If you run your website keeping in mind you plan to sell it one day, this kind of information will be at your fingertips.

Keeping financial records for a website is relatively straightforward – just make sure that if for example, you have more than one website that all income attributable to each website is clearly defined in your accounting. Likewise with costs. This is essential if you only plan on selling some of your websites and not all of them.

Likewise keeping track of traffic and sources of traffic is pretty straightforward with Google Analytics.

Again, make sure if you have multiple websites that you can show each website’s traffic individually.

Are there any skeletons in the closet?

Disagreements with former business partners, disputes with suppliers? unpaid bills? unhappy customers?

Don’t be naive and think the due diligence process will not discover these ‘issues’.

Indeed nothing puts off a buyer more than that feeling you are trying to hide something.

A sensible buyer will require you to sign a disclosure making you liable for any undisclosed issues that come up after the sale is concluded. All the more reason to disclose everything remotely legal or negative – even if you think it is not that important.

In fact, disclosing issues is more likely to make a potential buyer feel confident in purchasing your website business.

Related: How To Sell A Website For The Most Money

#10 Make Sure To Optimize Your Website For Mobile Access

OK, this should be obvious but it is remarkable how many ‘old websites’ with good evergreen content have never been updated to mobile friendly. Of course, this represents an opportunity for the entrepreneur who can pick them up cheaply and convert them to mobile-friendly.

The ever helpful Google have a mobile friendly test

Without a well optimized mobile experience, you’re likely to lose a lot of traffic, and with it significant revenue.

Not to mention that given how fast the mobile age is developing, you’re liable to fall behind the competition. If you want to increase the value of your website, it’s a must to ensure that it is mobile-optimized.

You can use an online tool, such as HubSpot’s Website Grader, to check how well your site is doing in terms of mobile optimization amongst other things.

#11 Use Great Copywriting

Effective copywriting is key to communicating your brand’s message to the consumer. It’s also the key to more sales. With well-written copy, you can tap into your buyers’ psychology, and start getting the results you’ve always wanted.

In this manner, you can increase customer engagement, click-through rate, conversions, and purchases. Great copywriting will make your online real estate more attractive and more valuable – and this is true regardless of your monetization method.

Related: How to Create a Killer Offer

#12 Use Multiple Monetization Channels

Buyers like websites that have multiple sources of income.

For example, if you are a blogger you can make income from selling your own informational products, creating a mastermind group, run your own events (seminar/conferences), run Google Adsense, website sponsorship and as an affiliate.

If you have an eCommerce store, you can also add Google Adsense to your site or launch your own affiliate program.

If you train your mind to look out for opportunities for additional revenue streams they will appear.

One store we know was selling herbal teas – but then discovered there was a huge demand for the tea caddies the teas got shipped in. (all because one customer emailed to ask if they could buy the empty tea caddies)

Whatever the case, multiple sources of revenue make your business stronger.

#13 Guest Posts | Write For Authority Websites

Quality guest content is a great way to form relationships across your industry. You can invite other authorities from your industry to post articles on your blog. And you can also get your content on other valuable sites as a guest writer.

Note the word Quality here!

IncomeDiary gets a huge number of guest posting requests but publishes very few.

The reason is simple.

Most of the so-called guest bloggers are more interested in getting a quality link back than they are in delivering quality content!

If you are going to write for an authority website take the time to produce something of real value, something that adds value to the readers’ life, something that makes the reader appreciate the website more.

Writing a load of average commentary that could be found on just about any average website is a waste of your time and the authority websites time!

IncomeDiary guidelines for writers include:

=> Your post must be original — NO SPUN CONTENT;

=> You agree you will not publish the content anywhere else (i.e., in your own blog or as a guest post in other blogs);

=> Author bios/bylines which are displayed on the post page can include one link (no keyword stuffing);

=> Articles can include non-self-serving useful and relevant links, none in the first paragraph (spammy and self-serving links will cause the article to be rejected);

=> Great grammar and spelling required — US or UK English and

=> Guest posts need to be no less than 1,500 words. (ideally in excess of 2000 words)

Guest posts are a wonderful way to generate high-quality back-links, get referral traffic and increase your brand awareness.

Creating quality guest posts is also one of the best ways to increase your site’s rank in Google search results. An incredible asset to have, which will certainly increase your value.

#14 Create A Sales Funnel

Not every website is a Sales Funnel.

Many websites are just information sites – where the visitor leaves and buys elsewhere!

A Sales Funnel, on the other hand, collects your information (usually with a lead magnet or offer) and SELLS you something.

Or as a friend of mine likes to put it:

“Give me your information, let me sell you something”

Without a properly thought out Sales Funnel your website will not be able to convert adequately.

A sales funnel involves integrating all elements of your website such that everything works together to drive sales.

From building customer awareness to gathering leads, to finally monetizing them, a sales funnel helps you bring everything together.

It also helps you clarify your strategy, and understand where future growth may come from. Such understanding can help you extract a higher value from your existing customer base.

Being able to demonstrate a sales funnel that works is one of the best ways to add value to a website.

#15 To Add Website Value – Build An Email List!

If you have been following IncomeDiary for any time, you will know the importance we attach to email marketing.

An email list of clients is precious since it provides access to a particular, targeted group of people. And you already know that your services and products interest your subscribers.

Putting out future offers to your list of subscribers is likely to give off much better conversions than cold emails. Not to mention that if you ever decide to sell your business, this will be a precious asset. A list of customers is one of the key assets buyers are looking for and without question a sure fire way to add website value.

#16 Make Use Of Original Image & Video Content

The use of image & video content is one of the best ways to drive user engagement.

Having a multitude of ways to present content, marketing material and products increases conversions and customer enthusiasm.

Video content, especially when hosted on YouTube, can also help improve search rankings. It will also improve user engagement and will increase share frequency on social media.

Visual content is also essential to create a clear brand image. With original pictures and video, you can increase the value of your online real estate.

Well produced videos are a great way to add value to not only an article but your website.

For example 21 life Lessons from Steve Jobs

#17 Deliver Your Content Through a CDN

A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, is a series of cache servers that store your online content and provide it to users from the closest server. Nowadays, CDNs deliver more than half of all traffic over the web.

A CDN adds value to your website for the following reasons:

• Faster page loading speed.
• Can handle high levels of traffic.
• Blocks spamming bots.
• Increases security against DDoS attacks.

The speed benefit is the most important. Delays in page loading time cause significant drops in conversion rates. You can check your current page loading speed here. You should preferably aim for pages that load under 3 seconds.

There are both free and paid CDNs. From the free CDNs, two excellent choices that integrate well with WordPress websites are Cloudflare & Incapsula. From the paid options KeyCDN, MaxCDN and Amazon’s CloudFront are all good options.

For more on CDN and ways to increase y0ur website speed see click here.

Also, 18 Things making your website slow.

#18 Use an SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

Acquiring an SSL certificate is essential to assure your customers that their connection to your website is secure. Its presence significantly increases customer trust, as well as the value of your online property.

Among the many other benefits, SSL encrypts data your clients send to the server. The certificate ensures that the data can only be read by the intended parties.

Other advantages include:

• Protects against phishing.
• Required for Payment Card Industry (PIC) compliance.
• Provides certification that the website is yours and not a carbon copy.
• Increases customer trust and conversions.

Despite the cost of acquiring an SSL, the benefits it provides are well worth it!

#19 Use Personalized Content

Many successful websites today make use of personalized content. Such content is most effective in eCommerce businesses, but it can work with other monetization methods as well.

Personalized content allows you to target the products/information shown to users based on personal data. This data includes:

• Geographical Location.
• The device used to access the website.
• Search terms used.
• Local time.
• Referring URL.
• Visit frequency.
• Client behavior on the page and viewing history.

With personalized content, you can increase conversions, improve lead nurturing, and be more customer friendly. Besides, you can also target your customers with more specific marketing material.

This is why having personalized content can have a significant boost in your website’s value.

#20 Build A Network of Internal Links

The following is especially important for BLOGs.

It is a fact that every time IncomeDiary publishes an article it appears on other websites (scrapped) often within minutes.

The worse culprits get a cease and desist – but even those who get past our radar will find that this article they have ‘published’ will have lots of links embedded within it linking to our content. This article alone has 14 links to other related articles within the site.

A website without a proper system of internal links is very difficult to navigate.

Isolated, un-linked content is also more easily stolen by competitors or internet bots.

If you publish an article with many links to other pages of your website, it’s easier for users to navigate to resources they may be interested in.

In addition, it’s harder to copy your content since internal links will still redirect to your domain.

Such links also help you build the relevance of individual pages with regards to search engines.

Of course there is content (such as in a Sales Funnel) where you would not wish to cross-link or take the visitor away from the task at hand, but generally speaking, that is not the kind of content that gets stolen.

#21 Ensure You Have High-Quality UI/UX Design

Get a professional design for your site’s user interface and user experience. It will help you build a stronger brand image and will increase your website’s conversions as well.

Having a professional image that customers can relate to is one of the main ways to increase the value of your website. You can contract professional designers through crowd-sourced design competitions on the following sites:

• 99designs.com
• designcrowd.com
• crowdspring.com

Alternatively, you could also use the freelance platforms previously mentioned especially if you’re looking to work primarily with only one designer.

Implementing a high-quality design plus the other 20 steps is essential if you want to sell your website at the highest price as quickly as possible.

Final Thoughts!

To create a truly valuable website business you should:

a) Systematize and automate as many procedures as possible.

With the technology available it has never been easier to automate tasks. If you can show to potential buyers that you have been reinvesting profits in making your website more efficient and that they can reap the benefits when they buy your website, they will pay more for your website.

b) Remove Yourself

For a successful exit, you should be able to demonstrate that the business can operate without you.

A business that relies on an owner to succeed is going to sell for less than one that can operate without the owner.

You know you have a successful business when you can remove yourself and the business operates perfectly well without you.

Looking for a Website Broker?

Our grateful thanks to Logan Chierotti and the team at BizSold.com^SM for their assistance with creating this article.

BizSold are masters at extracting website value with over 500 successful sales and 10 years of website broker experience.

Have Logan and the BizSold team provide you with a Free Website Appraisal & Exit Strategy

Author Bio:
Barry Dunlop is a lifelong entrepreneur, Mastermind Facilitator and sales coach who launched his first Internet Business in 1998. He invests in renewable energy technology, Domain Names, and Website Flipping.

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The post How To Sell A Website For The Most Money Possible appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

#1 DigitalExits.com – Best For High End Sites

Digital Exits is our #1 recommended website broker for 2018. They represent websites making $100k – $5m a year in profit. They are best if you have an established business over 2 years old making at least $100,000 per year.

#2 Flippa.com – Best for Startup and Small Sites

Flippa is great for smaller sites making under $100,000 per year in profit.

#3 FoundersIB – Best Large Companies

Founders Investment bank is great for sites making over $5m a year in profit. They specialise in larger deals and do more strategic transactions.

Would You Like Our Help To Sell Your Online Business?

Selling a business is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. Don’t get it wrong! If you own an eCommerce, Amazon FBA, SaaS & Technology, Service Based, Adsense, Affiliate, digital products or content-based business and are considering selling or just want a valuation, the IncomeDiary recommended website broker team can help: Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

++++++++++++++++++++

The history of website brokers

Classified businesses like flippa.com that sell small websites ($10k range) have opened the market to the possibility of selling your website. However you may be sitting there with a decent business on your hands that is making over $5,000 per month in net profit or even doing $1million per year in profit and you want to sell, that is where a website broker comes in.

If you research multiples on auction platforms you will find an average of around 8-12 times monthly net multiples. On a site that makes $5,000 per month that is $40,000 to $60,000 at the close of sale.

While this this may be a respectable sum, you might be sitting there thinking about all the hard work you’ve put into your site and you deserve a better return on the sweat equity you have invested.

That is why you need to find a retail buyer not a wholesale buyer.

A retail buyer is an investor that is looking for better places to put their capital than earning low returns in the bank. They want assets that are relatively hands off and have good growth trends. You won’t find these retail buyers on many of the auction platforms because they want to deal with bigger sites with more established revenue streams (minimum 2 years) and pay a premium for them.

That is where a website broker comes in.

You may get $40,000 for your website from a wholesale buyer. Whereas with a retailer buyer you can fetch anywhere between 2-5 times yearly earnings, with the average around 2-3 times yearly net earnings.

Would you rather $40,000 or $180,000 for selling your business?

Website brokers introduce you to retail buyers.

What is a website broker?

The primary function of a website broker is to help webmasters sell their web business.

Your site will get evaluated and then presented in a way to gain the highest possible price.

In that process there are a number of tasks performed to try and maximise price:

• Determine an appropriate valuation range
• Compile an information memorandum (sales memorandum)
• Market the website
• Present the website to potential buyers
• Draft and present offers
• Assist in negotiation on behalf of the seller
• Protect sellers’ confidentiality
• Look after paperwork
• Provide after-sales support.

How does it work?

The process is similar to that of a realtor (real estate agent). You approach a website broker looking to sell. You enter into a sales agreement with them. This is normally an exclusive agreement that is valid for 90 days. The broker will then prepare the information memorandum about the website to be used to show potential buyers. In this document is all the relevant information about the website, its financials, traffic stats and answers to general questions.

The broker will then go out and sell your website to potential buyers. Screen them with their screening process and present you the best offers.

The buyer will normally sign a letter of intent (LOI) and ask for a set period for final due diligence. It is your choice as the buyer as to whether you allow this to be exclusive or not

They will make a formal offer after due diligence, you will either accept or decline that offer.

Then the transfer process happens. Money is normally transferred using an escrow service. That can either be the brokers trust account, a lawyers trust account or an escrow service. We prefer our own service or escrow.com. The site is then transferred to the new owner, the seller receives their funds and the buyer will take ownership of the website.

What is your online business worth?

What your online business is worth is relative to your individual business, the market and what potential buyers are willing to pay. However, there are some common questions to consider, including:

• What are the sales and profit?
• How big is the business?
• What are the growth trends?
• What channels do new customers come from?
• What is your market position?
• How reliant is the business on the owner?
• What systems and processes are in place to run the business?

Your business is also worth what similar businesses have sold for, we recommend you checkout this website appraisal report that analyses past transactions for internet businesses. In the report it analyses $380m over 714 transactions.

Which Website Broker should you use?

Marketplaces – best for smaller websites (business value under $100k) – Smaller business and micro-businesses are usually best sold privately by the owner through forums or classified websites.

To sell your small business, check out:

• Flippa – the best marketplace for buying and selling small websites

Website Broker – best for medium businesses (business value $100k – $25m) – Medium sized businesses in the $100k-$25m valuation range are best sold through brokers who help with finding buyers, negotiating and structuring the deal.

To sell your medium sized business, we recommend:

• Digital Exits

Small M&A Forms or banks – best for larger businesses ($25m +) – Larger businesses are best sold through investment banks or merger and acquisition companies.

To sell your large business, check out:

• FoundersIB

What is the time frame for selling an online business?

Anywhere from two weeks to 6 months. Factors that influence timing of sales include getting access to the relevant website information from the seller, negotiation time and sellers getting finance available.

Who will buy your business?

They are a lot of potential buyers on the market for ecommerce businesses. Through experience, many of them fall into one of the following personas:

• Corporate Guy – This is someone looking to buy his or her first business. They usually are a high paid employee or C-level executive with disposable cash, IRA, savings or access to an SBA loan. They generally buy businesses up to $1m.
• Entrepreneurs – These are either online or offline entrepreneurs. They are generally either looking for a business to add to their portfolio or looking for their new venture. They don’t have any size of business that they buy. It is usually dependant on the buyer.
• Private Equity/Media Companies – Companies that look to keep the existing management in place and grow the business through varying sized stakes in the business. They generally acquire larger businesses in the $4m plus valuation range

What does a website broker cost?

A website broker will generally charge 10% of the gross sale price to sell your website. If the site is smaller some brokers charge up to 15% for the transaction.

Are website broker fees charged up front?

They are 100% commission based. They do not make any money until they sell your website so there is a low level of risk of listing your site with them.

How do I get a higher price for my online business?

• Premium money is paid for:

• • With premium domains
  • Have an existing active community
  • Make recurring yearly income
  • Have multiple income streams
  • That are highly systemized
  • Have strong earnings history

What if I can’t sell my website?

A website broker will ask for a 90-dayexclusive agency period. Good brokers have a clearance rate of about 80%. Main reasons for a site not selling is generally price related and the seller wanting more money than the market will offer them.

Do You Buy Websites?

Join Our Website Buyers List

Whether you’re looking for a Blog, content-based business, eCommerce, Amazon FBA, Adsense or Affiliate website we have exclusive opportunities not found anywhere else!

Are you considering selling your online business?

=> Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

The post The Best Website Broker of 2018 appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

This post was contributed by the team at www.digitalexits.com – is you are looking to sell your ecommerce business they are offering a free valuation for all income diary readers.

You have grown your ecommerce business over time with a lot of time and effort and now you are looking to sell. You want to get the highest price possible and you are looking at the options as to what you can do to sell the business. We will cover all of the questions you have about using an ecommerce business broker.

Would You Like Our Help To Sell Your Online Business?

Selling a business is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. Don’t get it wrong! If you own an eCommerce, Amazon FBA, SaaS & Technology, Service Based, Adsense, Affiliate, digital products or content-based business and are considering selling or just want a valuation, our recommended website broker team can help: Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

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First let’s start with the number one question that every business owner asks us…

What Is Your Ecommerce Business Worth?

Always the first question that we get asked at Digital Exits by clients is what is my business worth? The answer to any valuation question is what the market will pay. The below graph shows the distribution of the multiples that ecommerce businesses sold in a report that we analyzed.

The multiples range from 0.5X to 6.6X in this distribution graph. This means if you have a business that makes $300,000 in net profit per year, the valuation range is from $150,000 to $1.980,000. Visually what you can see from the graph is that most businesses sell between the 1.5X – 3.5X range. This backs up the commonly held belief that a small to medium business sells in the 2-3times earnings valuation range.

Are bigger ecommerce businesses worth more?

Yes. The large the business the higher the value that the business will sell for. As you can see from the graph the larger the business the higher the selling multiple. So a business that sold for 6 million on average sold for a multiple of 3.5 times earnings which would mean that it was making $1.7 million in profit per year.

What Is An Ecommerce Business Broker and What Do They Do?

An ecommerce business broker sells established ecommerce businesses. The role of the business is as follows.

• Value ecommerce businesses
• Develop a selling document
• Market the business to qualified buyers
• Field offers
• Assist with due diligence
• Assist with deal closing
• Manage the admin

How Does The Process Work?

The selling process if fairly straight forward but can be more complex and take more time depending on the size of the business. In general, most sales will be structured like this:

1. Learn what your business is worth with a valuation
2. Digital Exits prepares the selling document
3. Market your business to qualified buyers
4. Negotiate an offer
5. Transfer the assets & money
6. Help train the new buyer

Why Would You Hire A Broker?

There are two main benefits of using a broker:

• Qualified buyer database
• Knowledge and expertise in the deal making process

What you don’t have as a business owner is a network of buyers that are looking to buy businesses like your or the knowledge or time to go through the process

How Long Does The Process Take?

The graph below represents the summary of all the deals that we have completed and the time it took to complete them on average. As you can see, over 50% of deals close within 90 days and over 70% close within four months. The reason this is so fast is that there is a lot of demand to acquire established online businesses.

How Much Do They Cost?

An ecommerce business broker will charge around 10-12% of the total selling price.

This fee is due due upon the success of the deal so if you don’t get paid they don’t get paid.

How Much Should My Business Be Making to Engage A Broker?

If you business is making up to $3,000,000 in net profit per year then a broker will be able to assist you in the sale. If you business makes more profit than that we suggest you use a small market mergers and acquisitions firm. Please contact us for recommendations on the best company to work with.

Why do buyers say “No”?

Here are some of the main reasons a buyer will say no to a deal:

• They just don’t like the business
• The niche isn’t a fit
• They can’t verify the stats and data
• The find something in the due diligence that makes them re-consider the offer
• The price is too high
• The funding of the buyer falls through

Are you considering selling your online business?

=> Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

Are you looking to buy a Website or Blog?

=> Then Join Our Website Buyers List…

Whether you’re looking for a Blog, content-based business, eCommerce, Amazon FBA, Adsense or Affiliate website we have exclusive opportunities, often not found anywhere else!

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The post Best Ecommerce Business Broker To Sell Your Ecommerce Website appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

He uses his existing network and unique outreach strategy to get in front of the right investor to buy your business.

If you’re thinking about selling your website. Check out what people want when they’re buying a website and sell your own.

Ideas are cheap.

Every man and his dog has an amazing idea for something. But it’s only the people that get moving on those ideas and turn them into a profitable business that prosper.

Jock Purtle gets asked all the time, why there isn’t extra value for a prospects domain, traffic and email list?

The simple answer is this – there is no extra value.

The sum of all your assets does not add up to total value. Value is derived from the profit that those assets generate.

That said, Jock feels that selling your business and having a million dollars in the bank is plain stupid unless you have a plan for it.

The man has a point…

If you don’t have an asset that is appreciating at the same or greater rate than the asset you are selling (where an asset is defined as something that makes you money, could be a property, a business etc.) then it may not be the right time to sell.

The Best Thing I Did For My Business

Networking and contacts.

How I Make Money

I offer services because If you can provide massive value to people you can charge a large price.

This is specifically related to consulting as information is one of the most valuable resources.

A Productive Day In My Life

The Day I Realized I Made It

Honestly, I don’t think I will ever have an “I made it moment.”

I Would Have Become Successful Sooner If…

I don’t regret any actions I have made, they were made for a reason and I don’t think I would be here today if I’d change the timing.

How To Value A Website

A websites value is determined by the net profit that it produces. Often times, people will pay a multiple of net profit between 1.5 and 3.5 times.

So for example if your business makes $200,000 in net profit per year and the buyer pays a 3X multiple then your business is worth $600,000 per year.

Check out my ultimate website valuation guide here.

There are a variety of factors that go into determining what the multiple someone is likely to pay. You should talk to a website broker about what multiple your business will likely get when selling.

Buy A Business Instead Of Starting From Scratch

The main benefits from buying a business are as follows:

Buy time – With any business there is a certain period of time that is required for you to get the ball rolling, start acquiring sales and customers. If you look at it through a return on investment if you bought a company, would you be at the same place in 1 years time if you started a company from scratch versus buying one?

Increase market share – If you have a long term vision for your market then you should be considering acquiring your competitors to increase your market share. This is a classic strategy of larger corporate companies .

Gain staff – If you can’t get them to join your company, then buy the company. This is a classic strategy of some of the larger tech companies.

With a shortage of good talent sometimes it is easier to buy a company for the team then to try and poach the team members.

Eliminate competition – When you buy up your competitor there is one less company that you are going to have to compete with in the market place.

Increase profits – The easiest way to quantum leap your business and skyrocket your profits is by acquiring a company.

How I Meet New Contracts

How I Get More Traffic

The highest converting traffic source for me in terms of % conversion rate is a targeted Adwords campaign.

That’s a campaign that has been optimized for conversions. I have seen up to 30-40% conversion rates for very targeted keywords.

What YOU Should Be Focusing On

I’d say you should ALWAYS be focusing on selling and marketing.

How do you get more clients?

That is the number one thing you should be addressing every day in your business.

Why I’m Successful And You May Not Be

Time, persistence and contacts.

The post Jock Purtle – Get More Money For Your Online Business appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Website Broker – Ryan Sorensen answers these questions and more in…

Creating a Profitable Buying and Selling Websites Business

Just like other investments such as real estate, equities, or brick and mortar businesses, there is significant upside to selling online businesses.

However, with upside also comes risk!

In experience gained flipping my own sites and working as a broker at Flipping Enterprises (I completed $1.3m in deals in 2012), when sales are done correctly, you could be rewarded handsomely and mitigate many of these risks. I’m going to go over a 10-step plan on how you can buy and sell your first website profitably and relatively safely.

To get in the right mindset, think about buying and selling online businesses as you would with flipping houses. A smart house flipper looks to purchase an undervalued property which can be improved at minimal costs that they’ll be able to sell for a profit after a certain amount of time. Simply put, there are people who make a full-time living closing only 4 to 5 such deals per year. One of the differences between short term house flipping and website flipping is that you’ll have the opportunity to not only make money upon selling your website, but add a monthly profit stream in the meantime.

Would You Like Our Help To Sell Your Online Business?

Selling a business is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. Don’t get it wrong! If you own an eCommerce, Amazon FBA, SaaS & Technology, Service Based, Adsense, Affiliate, digital products or content-based business and are considering selling or just want a valuation, our recommended website broker team can help: Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

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10 steps to Making a Profit Buying and Selling Websites

=> Enjoy these 10 steps and most importantly, take action!

1. Know your limits

• Money
• Time

You have to be honest with yourself. How much money can you afford to lose? Really think about it. If you lost that $5,000 that you are planning on investing, could you survive? No investment is guaranteed no matter how attractive it is. You need to prepare by knowing how much money you are able to put in. Once you have that number, think about how much time you can commit to managing a new business. While many websites are passive in nature, there are things you will need to be doing in order to increase its value. Prepare to spend some time gaining the knowledge or skills necessary to work on your new acquisition.

2. Know what sites will grow

A term you may have heard before is “evergreen” niches. This type of niche does not have an obvious expiration date and is fueled by constant human needs and wants. Examples include car insurance, consumer electronics, clothing, sports, business, beauty and health, etc. Keeping lifecycle dates in mind on websites you may be interested in is critical. If you buy a site that makes money on something that will soon become illegal due to recent passed legislation, or that is based on a fad, you may find yourself out of pocket.

A positive reason for buying an established site, no matter how competitive the niche, is that it has a history of performance to measure from. If it has made $1,000 a month in profit from search engines, you’ll know what keywords it’s ranking for and where it can be scaled. You’ll also see what revenue sources its used and what quick chances can be made to increase profit instantly (negotiating better affiliate payouts, optimizing ad placements, increasing conversions in sales funnels, etc.). Just as a house flipper looks for simple fixes and improvements like replacing the carpet, painting, and renovating the kitchen, you should be looking for websites that can be improved on and scaled up.

Also, find those that align with your interests. It will help keep you motivated when things get tough. Here’s a basic checklist:

• Evergreen niches
• Upside potential
• Aligns with your interests

3. Where to find websites for sale

As some of you may have seen, the quality of sites for sale can sometimes be very poor. Wading through it all is a part of the process, and something to remember for most cases, you get what you pay for. Don’t expect to be able to buy a quality $5,000 a month profit earner for only $15,000 (3x monthly multiple) – it can happen when a site is still in its beginning stages and unproven, but it isn’t the norm. Generally speaking, a good range to be in as a buyer is 12-18x the monthly profit average for a relatively small site (<$50,000). If it’s making $1,000 a month, an asking price of $12,000 to $18,000 is reasonable. However, each listing and its seller is unique, and great deals can still be made, especially if you can spot growth opportunities. Below are some of the most popular places to find websites for sale:

• Website brokers (FlippingEnterprises.com, Wesellyoursite.com, etc.)
• Website marketplaces (Flippa.com, Bizbuysell.com, WebsiteBroker.com, etc.)
• Forum marketplaces (Experienced-People.net, Warriorforum.com “websites for sale” section, Digital Point forums, etc.)
• Directly from buyer (Google search and email contact or people you know)

Do You Buy Websites?

Join Our Website Buyers List

Whether you’re looking for a Blog, content-based business, eCommerce, Amazon FBA, Adsense or Affiliate website we have exclusive opportunities not found anywhere else!

4. How to conduct quick due diligence

As a general guideline, use the following questions for each listing that you are interested in as a quick “rejection” filter:

• Why are they selling it? Common red flags are dying niches, borderline products/services, such as phone unlocking or movie downloads, and recent Google update hits (losing traffic from Google updates can be recoverable and present a unique opportunity for those with the available skills and resources).
• Do they provide proof of revenue and traffic? Look for screenshots of revenue that show the website URL or evidence it comes from the claimed source and traffic analytics from a trusted platform like Google analytics.
• Can you trust the seller? Take a quick look at their account feedback and history and do a Google search on their name and look at least 2 pages of results.

5. How to conduct thorough due diligence

If a site passes the first test and you’d like to dig deeper, most sellers will be willing to send you specific details. Take a deeper look at:

• Traffic analytics. Are there any periods where traffic was down? Are their traffic sources well distributed rather than relying too heavily on one source? Have a look at their referring sites. Are any of those owned by the seller and will the links remain in place after the sale?
• Revenue proof. If needed, ask the seller to provide a video of them logging into their affiliate or merchant accounts and prove it is coming from the claimed URL or associated account. For example, get the “URL channel” reports for Google Adsense.
• Speak to the seller. One of the best ways to gain trust is by speaking to the seller on the phone or on Skype. It will not only help you get a feel for who they are, it will increase the chances they’ll be willing to work with you on the price when it comes time to make an offer.
• Speak to a professional. If you are unsure how to proceed or are not confident with the process, speak to a third party. Many brokers are willing to offer “buy-side” services and help with due diligence. A third party can help remove any emotion from the deal.

6. Making the right offer

If you feel that this is the right website for you, it’s time to make an offer. The key is to start with your lowest offer but to make it high enough to get the sellers attention. If they are asking $10k and that’s an 18x monthly profit multiple, offering only $2k will most likely get you nothing but an annoyed rejection email. 70% of the asking price is a good starting point.

Giving reasons for why you are offering a lower amount by highlighting some of the website’s negatives can help your cause. Also having the cash and being able to prove it, and helping the seller trust that you’ll take good care of the site are ways to sway them to pick you over someone else, even if your offer is lower.

To give you that edge going into making an offer, study this informative rundown on how to negotiate effectively, published by Inc. magazine.

7. You own the site, now what?

The short answer to this questions is, get to work! The more you increase monthly profit, the more it will be worth once you decide to sell. Literally thousands of articles have been written on the subject of building traffic and monetizing websites, a few of the better ones can be found on Income Diary here and here, respectively.

If you don’t have the time, resources, or energy to do the work yourself, be sure that who you hire has good references/feedback and isn’t overcharging. You may be able to increase your bottom line just by finding more affordable help, but just be sure you aren’t sacrificing quality – SEO (search engine optimization) work, customer service, and sales reps are good example here.

Another key point is to automate and systemize the website where you can. A site that takes an owner only 5 hours a week to conduct basic maintenance will sell for more than one taking 20 hours a week.

8. Making the decision to sell

If your website is attractive enough – steady or increasing traffic and earnings in a solid niche – it will most likely sell for more than what you paid for it, even if you’ve only owned it for a month. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if it’s the right time to sell for you:

• Have you exhausted all possible ways to optimize traffic and earnings? This is the reason many sellers decide it’s time to let go. But don’t feel bad, buyers may see opportunities to expand that you don’t.
• What percentage of your investment has already been returned? Will you make a positive return on your investment if you sell now?
• What will you do with the sale proceeds? If you are selling to invest into a different website or project, stop and think about it for a minute. How likely is this new website of project to earn more money? Is it worth taking a potential hit on price by not waiting longer to sell – for example if you have a few down months or if it’s during the typically slower season for buyers during the summer?

If you need to sell it due to the website’s poor performance from a Google update, sudden change in available monetization options, etc. and you need to cut your losses, our suggestion is to do what you can to stabilize it or put it up for sale in time for someone else to stabilize it and hopefully grow it. Once the revenue hits zero the value follows.

9. How to sell it

This is the best part! Selling a website works in the same way you would sell any other product online – it needs to be put it in front of your most targeted audience. You’ll find the most qualified buyers in the same places you went to purchase a site, through brokers, marketplaces, directly, and in industry forums. Key points to remember:

• Be prepared by keeping detailed records of traffic and income (Google analytics, monthly profit/loss statement, access to reports from affiliate networks or merchant accounts, etc.)
• Be upfront and honest and available to help with due diligence questions. Most buyers just want to get a clear picture of the past performance and more importantly, that they can trust you.
• Don’t be greedy. Unless you have the time and patience to wait for someone to jump up to your unrealistic asking price, it’s best to stick to the “sweet spot” which is where both buyer and seller feel it’s fair. 12x to 24x monthly profit multiples is a good range to be in. If you are unsure, do a quick search on what similar sites have sold for on website brokers “sold listings” pages or Flippa.

Brokers specialize in selling listings for fair prices and in reasonable amounts of time for a success fee. Most will give you a free valuation and advice on how to either sell it yourself if they can’t take it on, or how to increase its value.

If you venture on your own by listing in one of the marketplaces be sure to filter out scammers by always using an escrow service (we suggest escrow.com), review their feedback and past activity, and speak with them on the phone or Skype prior to accepting their bids.

10. Rinse and repeat

Pay into the “University of Life” as my Mom used to say, by taking action and keeping notes. Then, take the advice of many a successful internet marketer – once you have a system that works, repeat it! If you do end up losing some money on your first deal, don’t give up. You’ll have more confidence and experience to try again and hopefully make a profit.

Conclusion

A colleague of mine bought a site for $2500 that was making $200-$300 a month in profit. He changed how it was monetized and brought it to over $2000 a month, without doing anything to the existing traffic. 3 months later he sold it for $25,000 for a profit of almost $30,000.

While this is one of the more successful website flips that I personally know on a percentage increase basis, it’s not that uncommon to find. Just like traditional real estate, established quality websites and domains will increase in value over the long term.

If you have any questions about the process of buying and selling websites, feel free to ask me in the comments. If interested in our website brokerage services, please visit flippingenterprises.com.

Thanks for your time!

Are you considering selling your online business?

=> Claim Your Free Website Valuation & Exit Strategy Today

=> Related: Sell A Website For Top Money

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Today I wanted to let you know… I’m a millionaire! Well… sort of.

I’m a millionaire just like Mark Zuckerberg is a billionaire. You see Mark founded Facebook and Facebook is worth billions so technically he’s like a billionaire?!

You see, I own IncomeDiary and a whole bunch of other websites and based on what a broker told me, I’m worth a fair chuck of change.

Websites typically sell for 12 – 18 times monthly revenue. However this isn’t the rule. If your website is an authority website, has a great brand, has real “potential”, is making a significant amount of money (lets say… at least tens of thousands of dollars a month), then well it can be pretty much any amount you money someone is willing to pay for it. In a down economy (or so the broker called it), you should expect 2 – 4 years revenue. But again, let me stress, this isn’t the rule. Some sell for a lot more.

Back to my point, based on that hooharr of a paragraph, yes my business would in fact sell for at least $1,000,000 (I’d hope significantly more), which would make me a millionaire? Right?

It’s a weird world but I wouldn’t ever consider saying that out-loud in a public places around actually people. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t have a million dollars till it’s in your bank. Having said that, I do own a website network worth a lot of money, so let me give you a few ideas on how you can do it yourself.

First however I would just like to make perhaps the most important point in setting up any business:

What is your website exit plan?

Who is going to buy your online business and how much for?

I can’t tell you how often I ask a website owner what their Exit Plan is and they cannot give me a straight answer. Yet so many website owners just make this assumption that somehow it will just all work out fine? To put it another way, lets say today that I want to do a North American road trip from New York City to Los Angeles – do you think I would ever get to Los Angeles if I did not decide in advance that was my destination? My Exit Plan? Of course I wouldn’t make it – and nor will you either with your business if you don’t have an exit plan!

How To Build a Web Business Worth a Million Dollars

Building a massive online business is quite simple. Actually, when I go over it in my head, it seems almost idiot proof, that surely nobody could get it wrong. Of course I don’t believe that to actually be the case but I do believe online entrepreneurs who have made a few bucks online can follow in my footprints and do the exact same thing. The idea is simple, build a great website portfolio with lot’s of great websites.

Here’s how:

My 6 top tips for creating a big, bad-ass, money making online business.

1) Outsource Everything (Not like those newbies tell you though)

Whoever is going to buy your business, they want to know that they can be relatively hands off and that you have a great team that runs everything. (If the website relies on you alone it will be difficult to sell)

So just hire lot’s of people in India to do everything right? Wrong!

Nothing against Indian Programmers or article writers – (Or indeed any non-native English Speaking teams) there are some fine ones around but my experience has been that I get a better result for some skills – hiring locally. Sure it costs me a lot more but if it gets me a better job done and adds more value to my business, that is what counts.

You will have heard me say before – “You can’t outsource Passion” – and it is true, but you will get closer to it I find with individuals who understand you and your objectives and my experience has been that I stand a better chance of that by hiring locally.

I pay my web team lb45 a hour (approx $70 per hour). In the past year I have spent well over lb40,000 ($64,000) on my blog network alone with them, getting them to improve sites and build new ones. Every time they do a redesign, I make more money because I learn from the past one.

I pay my brother a decent wage for his age and education. He does a lot of articles for different sites I own and that means I can spend that time I use to spend on writing, on doing other things like managing my team. If I paid $6 for a article on some forum, I would see a article written by someone most likely who’s first language is not English and doesn’t have any interest in what they are writing about. This is obvious to the reader and Google and doesn’t benefit my business in anyway. Bottom line, pay more, get someone better, it’s so worth it!

OK, I will admit there are some excellent overseas outsource teams – I have friends who swear by teams they employ in the Ukraine and also Romania and of course India – but all of them admit they had to go through a lot of teams before they found a team they could rely on. And yes, you can get let down by local teams also – it is just that my personal experience that you can manage local teams easier and while cost will almost certainly be higher the chances of getting what you want, done as you wish and to the standard you require first time is much higher!

2) Diversify Your Traffic Sources

One thing people buying your site will be looking at is Google Traffic. If I’m getting 1000 visitors a day from Google and that’s 60% of my traffic and then Google decides that they are going to change their algorithm and rank sites differently, then I’m screwed! Thousands of top sites have over night lost over half their traffic from Google because of something just like this. To a potential buyer, this would worry them because you are so reliant on the big G.

Here’s what you do: You drive traffic in more than 1 way. Here’s a quick check list of things you must be doing:

• Social Media
• Social Networking (network with people online so they become your friend and then make them link to you Mwahahahahah).
• Content Directory’s
• Make Your Website Sticky (so people keep coming back).

3) Invest, Invest, Invest!

Hand on heart, I would not be anywhere near as successful if I didn’t invest so much into my business. If your making money, forget spending it on a nice car (at least not right now) and invest it into your business. Spending $5,000 on getting some software developed could see a $50,000 return in a month. The same for so many other things. I’ve begun investing quite a lot of money into article writers, not cheap ones, but ones that know a lot about the subject that they are writing about! Content means I can get more traffic which means I’m going to make more money. Here’s a few suggestions on what you could invest in:

• New website design
• Article Writers
• Software Development
• Graphics
• Buy Other Peoples Websites
• Invest in Educational Products To Further Your Learning
• Buy Traffic
• Get a Better Computer

The list is endless. I’ve done all this and it makes your business bigger and better. Here’s the simplistic way to show you why you should invest:

Build a website, make $100 a month and do nothing new month after month and keep making $100 a month.

Month 12, your making $100

Or….

Build a website, make $100, invest the $100 into a premium theme, next month you make $120. Keep investing and investing.

Month 12 your making $340

Now imagine the increases when your making $10,000 a month and investing half of it.

4) Work Hard (At least at the beginning)

Entrepreneurship is about living a few years of your life like most won’t so that you can live the rest of your life like most can’t.

This means, work now, make lots of money and spending years to come in a lovely house watching your neighbor go to work every day while you live your idea of “the dream”.

I’ve always been lazy, it’s so hard to work when you don’t have to. When I lived at my parents, I was young, didn’t have to pay much rent and my lifestyle didn’t require me to earn a lot of money. I moved out, had to make more money, worked hard, got my business up to the level where it could maintain my lifestyle and then got lazy again. This is something I’ve done time after time as I have increased my spending and lifestyle. The importance here is, make sure you have the right team so you aren’t reliant on the success of your business.

5) Build a Network Of Websites

When you start your online business it’s vital you don’t do the following: Build lot’s of different websites.

It is not best to have 10 small websites, it’s best to have 1 massive one. Once you have achieved that, then you move on and build more sites related to that first website. This is exactly what I have done. A great example of this is TutsPlus network. They started with a blog about Freelancing, then Photoshop Tutorials, then Coding Tutorials and it just kept growing, creating new sites offering what their readers wanted to know more about. In 5 short years they are making millions because they expanded and invested.

6) Have The End In Mind & Work Towards It

I find this to be really vital to my success. If I didn’t have a clear understanding of where I wanted my business to go, what I wanted it to stand for and what It’s going to look like, then I wouldn’t be as successful as I am. I know that replying to negative emails won’t get me closer to my goal. There are so many things you are probably focusing on that are irrelevant to your end goal and the success of your website. Cut them out and you find you will have a lot more time to focus on the things that are import.

Just make sure you keep working towards an Exit that makes you very wealthy!

I would really love to hear about your exit plans in the comments below? Better still if you have already made a successful exit? Share the experience – and of course if you have any questions or suggestions for even more improved business clarity share that as well.

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