Think of buying websites like you would buying a franchise or established business. Most of the hard work has already been done, and you can buy the business based off known facts: income, traffic history, monetization strategies, etc. Since the business model has already been established, you can enter from day one with a business that is already making money (the assumption is that you are buying a website that currently is making money).

Most people struggle with knowing which types of websites to buy, so here are some of the best to consider. Remember, this section is about buying and selling websites, not building or monetizing them…more on that in later sections

 

Business Related

Business related topics are just easier to make money with. The reason is, businesses KNOW THEY HAVE TO SPEND MONEY on things. They know if they need advice, they need to pay someone to get answers (consultants, trainers, etc). They don’t expect people to give them something for nothing.

They are in business as well, and they charge for the things they do for others. They will PAY for the things they need to help their business. Some business related examples could be:

1) Internet Services / Advice (search engine optimization, web hosting, web design, marketing advice, pay per click advertising management, accounting services, etc).

2) Offline Services (office cleaning, business card printing, delivery services, travel booking, sales training, insurance, etc).

3) Physical Products (office supplies, furniture, computers & electronic supplies, etc).

4) Solving Specialized Needs (finding the best suppliers, how to make their business more efficient, help get their emails delivered, hiring the best talent, etc).

5) Increase Profitability (how to do certain things to make more money, advice & tips for increasing the money already being made, how to prevent losing money, etc).

There are hundreds of niche markets within the business topic, many of which you can build a highly profitable web business around.

 

Health Related

There are a few key things almost all humans want. It just so happens, these key things make up the biggest niche markets as well as the most profitable ones. These are health, wealth and happiness (in no particular order). The wealth part I already covered above, we’ll put that under the business topic. Up next is the health topic.

The reason I like this market is because it is very large. I know some people tell you to stay out of big markets because it’s so competitive. I think that’s bad advice. I’d rather have a small piece of a huge market

than a moderate piece of a tiny market, especially when the huge market is willing to pay money for things while the tiny market wants everything for free. Some health examples can include:

1) Diets (cooking, eating healthy advice, pre made meals, etc).

2) Exercise (lose weight, burn more calories, gain muscle, lose fat, have more energy, be more attractive).

3) General Health (live longer, look younger, reduce chances for illness).

 

Personal Development

This one is relatively new, but it is rapidly gaining in popularity. I don’t know if people are just now realizing they are messed up, but many people are interested in how to become a better person lately. Here are some profitable personal development niche markets to consider:

1) Motivation (motivational speaker, coaching, mentoring, bootcamp, counseling, etc).

2) Time management – Productivity, organizational skills, overcome procrastination, etc.

3) Spiritual (help people find their purpose in life).

4) Dating (finding a mate, first date tips, how to be more attractive, matchmaking services, cooking lessons for at home dates, etc).

 

Parenting / Children

Being a parent myself, I want to try to give my son as many good life experiences as possible. Whether it’s a better education, traveling, more toys, better foods, whatever. It’s a weird feeling, but parents just want their kids to have a great life, no matter what the cost (if they can afford it). In other words, kids can make a parent go broke! Not good for parents, great for businesses who are in this niche. Some good niche markets related to parenting and children are:

1) Child Education (learning toys, learning games, activities, computer software, field trip ideas, etc).

2) Parent Education (how to get babies to sleep at night, how to potty train, how to make your kids smarter, how to prepare healthy meals for kids, internet safety, discipline, child care, etc).

3) Gifts (birthday gift ideas, Christmas gift ideas by age range, new baby gifts, most educational gifts for kids, etc).

4) College – As kids get older (how to get into the best schools, student loan assistance, get a higher score on SAT test, how to get into grad school, what type of degree to get, etc)

 

Pets

Pet owners often consider their pets as children. They buy their pets all kinds of toys, specialized food and take them on vacations with them. Anytime someone is this passionate about something, it’s sure to be a good niche market. Here are some popular pet niche markets:

1) Training (obedience training, tricks, behavioral training, videos or books on training tips).

2) Food (organic pet food recipes, special dog treats, etc).

3) Grooming.

4) Boarding (when pet owners travel and can’t take pets with them).

5) Health (helping pets live longer, be sick less often, etc).

 
These are my favorite niche markets to be involved with. There are many other good topics to build an internet business around, but these are proven time and time again to be profitable due to huge amount of people that belong to each market. You have to go where the people are and where the money is. That’s how you make money online.

What is Flippa?

If you’re not yet familiar, Flippa is the reincarnation of the buying/selling websites section of the Sitepoint Marketplace. Due to increased demand, the founders of Sitepoint set out to create the definitive buying and selling websites marketplace in Flippa.com.

In early 2009 Flippa was released, and it’s quickly become a popular destination for website buyers and sellers.

Who Uses Flippa?

It’s important to understand the type of people that use Flippa. Flippa is what I would call a “mid range” website marketplace and for this reason attracts a more “mid range” seller. Generally, prices will not go above $100,000, and for the select few that do, I would caution you against purchasing something at that pricepoint on Flippa (I’ll explain why a little later).

Let me first explain what I mean by “mid range” sellers.

Fact: Most websites for sale on Flippa are complete garbage that you should avoid at all cost!

Flippa tends to attract the template style websites where the seller has only put together a turnkey package that is “ready” to make money (ready being the important keyword).

They’ll use phrases like “Clickbank Ready,” “Sky’s The Limit,” and “Potential” to entice you to purchase something that is basically worthless. Most of the websites (even the non-template ones) are mediocre at best and not the type of websites worth buying.

Think of it like eBay but for buying and selling websites. That’s exactly what it is. And what do you expect when you go to buy something on eBay?

A good deal.

That sort of mindset is exactly what makes these marketplaces both a blessing and a curse. Legitimate sellers do use Flippa, and you occasionally will find a gem, but when you attract such a large market (anyone who has a website they’d like to sell), you are going to have to spend some serious time sorting the wheat from the chaff.

This is also the reason I would be reluctant to spend over $100k for a website on Flippa. If you are working with that type of budget, you need to ask yourself the question, “Why would this website seller use Flippa to sell their site when most sales in that price range are handled by brokers?”

Again, it does not mean that you cannot find a good deal for a website north of $100K, it just means you need to be all-the-more diligent in your due-diligence.

But then again, this is what makes marketplaces of any sort so much fun. You KNOW there are hidden gems out there, and for the discerning and patient buyer, you’re diamond could be waiting.

The Right Way To Buy Websites On Flippa

I mentioned this above, but the “secret” to buying websites on Flippa is to be patient when browsing through the listings. As I write this, there are approximately 800 websites for sale, and somewhere in the ballpark of 20-50 are listed each and every day.

While there is no set number of sites you can review before finding a good one (for instance, I can’t say 1 out of 10 or 1 out of 50 is good), finding the winners boils down to removing as many potential red flags as possible when doing your research, and thankfully, Flippa has built-in many features to assist.

As you can see, Flippa does a nice job of summarizing all the facts about a website (and the seller) so you can quickly get a snapshot of the site for sale. Similar to eBay’s feedback, Flippa has a Trust score that takes into account previous sales, verified contact information, length of account, and more important information to help prospective buyers learn more about the sellers and their background.

Note: Like what you’ve learned so far? We have several Flippa Guru’s in our full training program that would be happy to assist with any Flippa related questions.

Join Buying & Selling Websites

Second, for those who don’t know, my name is Kyle and I’ve been the owner of BASW for the better part of 2009. Since the new sales page isn’t entirely finished yet, I’ve simply copied over the old content for the time being. Rest assured it will all be updated within about 2 weeks.

BASW has never been better. The content has all been updated, I’ve launched a new BUILDING section based on my 6 years of marketing online (more of my story on the new page), and it’s nice to see so many people enjoying the new material (on top of Max’s stellar foundation). Just this week a member in the Mastermind Forum posted a detailed entry titled “$100,000/Year From The Ground Up” detailing how he has used this information to start building up a new network of sites that are already showing great potential. That’s just what this product has been about and will be about going forward.

It’s December 23, 2009, and since I’ve just started transitioning the site, please pardon the dust for the next week or so while we get everything up and running. Members can continue to access their accounts and be sure to watch the preview of BASW 2.0 that will be launched in early January (there’s an incentive if you join now).