Here are some excerpts from the article featuring me on Flippa.com:
No doubt by now you have heard of the tremendous opportunities to build your own website-selling business on Flippa. Flippa is the largest website marketplace in the world, making it an absolute must for those seeking to buy or sell websites.
To most people the words, “moneymaking” and “hobby” just don’t seem to go together. Usually a hobby costs money and is done purely for the fun of it. What if I told you that you can have a hobby that you really enjoy and make money from it? With that said, let me tell you how I started selling websites as a moneymaking hobby.
A Bit Of Background Info:
My business of analyzing global financial markets can be fast-paced, non-stop, and about as stressful as any business can possibly be. Those who are able to relax and keep a cool head in the hectic world of global finance stand a much better chance of long-term success. I’ve loved the markets from the moment I bought my first stock and have been very fortunate to have the markets love me back! With that said, I’m basically just a number cruncher who sifts through mountains of market information to find those opportunities with the greatest probability of success.
So how did I start to build websites as a hobby as I grew my investment business? I was always interested in the limitless information-sharing potential of the internet. Creating a website seemed like a great way to share my investment ideas with other interested parties. As I starting building websites I discovered something amazing…building websites relaxes me. Who knew?
Enter Flippa.com
When Flippa opened it was a natural fit for me as I was already skilled at creating effective websites. Initially I had only built websites only for my own online portfolio, which was growing everyday. With Flippa I saw an opportunity to share my site-building expertise with those that seeking a quality, ready-made website. I also saw an opportunity to sell some of my existing websites as I was looking to reduce the size of my portfolio and focus on just a few core websites.
So if you are looking to sell websites on Flippa as a moneymaking hobby here are some tips to help you get started:
Tips:
1 – Study The Flippa Terms and Conditions and Site Rules
Get a smart start in your business by familiarizing yourself with the Terms and Conditions and Site Rules. These form the foundation of how buyers and sellers should operate on Flippa.
2 – Plan Your Flippa Strategy
You may have heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail”. This saying holds true regardless of what you are trying to achieve, so planning is essential.
Decide why you want to sell websites on Flippa. This may seem obvious to you, but remember that the motivation behind why you want to do something will serve as the driving force behind your success.
Decide early on how you plan to position yourself in the Flippa marketplace. Will you sell new/startup websites or will you develop websites and sell them once they are earning a healthy profit? Alternatively, will you buy existing websites and sell them for a profit?
List the skills you will need….what things you can do yourself and what things you will have others do for you.
Create a schedule – Allocate the amount of time you have to dedicate to building your business.
Those are just a few components of planning to get you started.
3 – Don’t Be In A Rush To Sell
If you happen to have a day job or you own currently own a business you are in a perfect position to create your own moneymaking hobby in website selling. You see, by already having income coming in you are in a unique position to not have to sell anything. When you do start selling websites, you are in a position to not have to give your websites away for nothing. Unless you are a retail giant like Walmart, you will find that competing on price alone may not be the route you wish to take.
4 – Always Do Business With Integrity
It should go without saying that you should do business on Flippa with integrity. For a seller of integrity, “Honesty Is The Best Policy” is more than just a saying or quote, it is a way of life.
How do you do business on Flippa with integrity? It’s really very simple if you adhere to a few core principles:
A – Create something of value – Remember that there is a difference in the mindsets of person A, who creates something just to sell and person B, who creates something to benefit the buyer.
B – Creating listings that are truthful – It’s natural to be enthusiastic about a website that you have for sale. Check and double-check your listing information to make sure that you have given potential buyers an accurate description of what they are getting.
C – Say what you mean and do what you say you will do – If you say you provide service after the sale then provide service after the sale. If you state that you will have a customer’s website up and running in three days, then make absolutely certain that you do exactly that.
5 – Keep Up With The Times
The internet is ever-changing and techniques that worked yesterday simply may not work today. An example is much of the auto-generated content you see on spammy websites. This technique was actually very profitable years ago, but is certainly not recommended these days.
6 – Know What You Are Doing
One of the things which has served me well is that I learned to create effective websites long before I began to sell them on Flippa. My analytical nature basically dictated that I learn what works and what doesn’t. As a result of a lot of testing and tracking you can discover which strategies are most effective. Naturally, this is an ongoing process.
So it is logical that before you make a claim in your Flippa listing that you actually have the experience to back it up.
7 – Forge Your Own Path
It will be tempting to emulate other sellers who appear to be successful. While it makes sense to learn certain things from those who appear to be successful, it is important to create your own unique “presence” on Flippa.
8 – Think Long Term
Do yourself a favor and prepare to do a great job for your customers for the long haul. Remember, success in business and in life is more like a marathon than a sprint. Pace yourself and prepare to deliver quality products and extraordinary customer service from day one.
Hopefully, you will see the potential in selling on Flippa as a moneymaking hobby. You can start small on Flippa and grow your business to any size you want.
This article was originally published on Flippa.com on Jul 3, 2013
