Site flipping is an extremely exciting business model that can be perfect for you even if you’re just starting out. Everyone wants a great, money-producing website. Not everyone wants to take the time to create one themselves.
That’s where you can come in. You can create incredible mini sites and sell them to business owners.
Each mini site you create will be an asset. You might build it to the point where it’s making money. Someone will buy it so they can turn it into an even bigger moneymaker.
Or, you might want to go the turnkey route. This means you’ll create a mini site that has a ton of potential… but you won’t wait until it’s making money. You’ll sell it right away. You’ll create the mini site the right way so the buyer has a high chance of turning it into a moneymaker.
You’ll earn more money if you can get the site earning first, but many people have earned wonderful incomes over the years by creating turnkey sites. Some people love creating mini sites but don’t want to promote them or drive traffic to them. If that fits you, then you’ll want to stick with the turnkey model. It can be faster money. If you want to earn more money for each flip, then you’ll want to get your site earning income first.
Flipping mini sites is sort of like flipping houses. You’ll create something and then “flip” it to a new owner. You can even buy sites others have created, give them some TLC, and then sell them to a new owner for more money.
The possibilities are endless and exciting for how you can earn money flipping mini sites.
What Is A Mini Site?
Just so we’re on the same page—a mini site is a site that’s highly targeted and focused on one topic in particular.
For example, you might create a mini site focused on a certain problem people have—say, working from home as a freelance writer. You’d dedicate all of the content to that.
Or, you can create a mini site dedicated to a certain type of physical product. This is a mini review site model. You’ll create a site with pages on different products. For example, a site that reviews popular models of high-end toaster ovens.
These sites tend to be quick and easy to create with great potential for earning an income—either for you or the person you sell the site to down the road. Generally, you’ll put affiliate links or some type of ads on the website.
The site itself might have anywhere from 5-10 articles or so. It’s a “mini” site because it can do well with a limited number of articles because it’s so highly targeted. You aren’t targeting all small appliances, in other words. You aren’t targeting all types of work from home opportunities. You’re focusing.
Doing Your Mini Site Research
Research is one of the most important parts here. You have to research to make sure you’re choosing a hot topic. If you choose a poor topic (one with a low moneymaking potential) no one is going to buy your site.
Follow the money. Create mini sites that focus on highly profitable topics.
Reverse engineer what’s already working and selling by doing your research at Flippa.com. This is the most popular resource for selling sites online.
If turnkey and established sites on a particular topic are selling really well on Flippa, you can bet these topics will flip well for you and are selling well on the web overall.
In short—don’t waste your time where there’s no money. Follow the money and trends. Create sites people will buy by researching via the established website marketplaces like Flippa.
Creating the Sites
I’m not going to go very in depth as to how to create a website in this space. I’ll assume that you know the basics of website domains, hosting, and WordPress. If you don’t now’s the time to hit YouTube and learn. It’s easier than you think.
I recommend you use WordPress for your sites because it’s so popular and widely known. You want something you can transfer to others intact.
You will have to buy the domain and hosting, but you’ll hopefully be getting that output back many times over once you flip the site.
When you do flip the site, you’ll have to transfer or “push” the domain to the buyer. You’ll have to transfer the site to them. Or, you can get reseller hosting, give them account access, and give them 3 months or so to move the site themselves. There’s software, such as WP Twin, that makes the WordPress transfer process so much easier. It’s a worthwhile investment.
Creating a Mini Site That Earns Money
If your goal is to make a bigger sale, you’ll want to create a mini site AND market it so that it starts earning money.
You’ll write the articles, place the ads and/or affiliate links, and work hard to drive traffic.
You might wait until it’s earned just a few dollars or you might wait until it’s earning a more substantial monthly income. The choice is yours—it depends on what you want to flip the site for and how long you’re willing to wait.
Flipping a Mini Site That’s Earning Money
Take a look at the different categories on Flippa.com. You’ll see the difference in price for sites that are earning a lot and sites that aren’t.
You’ll need to prove traffic and income numbers in order to sell the site. Flippa (or whichever marketplace you’re using to sell) will help to guide you through the process.
Creating and Selling a Turnkey Mini Site
If you don’t want to wait, then create a site with high moneymaking potential without actually marketing it yourself.
Make sure there’s a market for such a site in your niche on Flippa or another website marketplace.
In some cases, you can “clone” the site and sell it as PLR to more than one buyer.
List the site, focusing on its moneymaking potential. Be very clear on the fact that it’s not yet earning.
You’ll earn less money, but these sites are so quick and easy to create that you can build a nice turnkey website business for yourself.
Buying and Selling Existing Mini Sites
Those who flip houses tend to buy houses they know they can fix up and sell for more profit. You can do the same thing when you buy mini sites others are selling and flip them for more profit.
AS you browse through the site marketplaces, you might find turnkey sites you can work to drive traffic to and then flip for much more money than you paid.
You might find fledgling sites that just need some TLC to start earning a lot more. Do the work and then flip the sites for more profit.
Rinse and Repeat
You aren’t going to get rich off of one mini site sale. But you can build a great business creating, buying, and selling mini sites. Site flipping can be a lot of fun. If you like building and nurturing sites and then seeing a big, instant payday, this is a great business model for you.