Siteflipu – The Hot Potato
It's very easy to criticise and make fun of things. Some people believe that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. So, with those admissions of guilt out the way, please excuse this post as it's purely for my own amusement.
Quitting While You're Ahead
There is something I find insanely funny about the new auction of siteflipu. Yes, the new owner is selling this gold mine after owning it for a mere two weeks. You might be forgiven for thinking that those two weeks have yielded massive profits for that lucky owner and he is now retiring from the game. Alas, the implausible truth real reason is that he now has a "government position that requires seven days a week away from home". Those government positions sure catch you unawares, don't they?
I don't know about you, but I suspect that this is a porkie pie. I have my own suspicions about the real reason the new seller is selling the site:
There is no hotter potato right now in the make money online world, than site flipping.
The quote is taken from myself, who I overheard say it just now.
What could possibly be the real reasons for deciding to sell so soon? It's certainly not the sudden emergence of a "government position". Wouldn't he already have known about that before his ill fated purchase? It's only been two weeks, after all.
Don't Give Up On Us Baby - Don't Make The Wrong Seem Right
Perhaps he didn't understand the "business model" for the Blog Flipping Blueprint. Or maybe he suddenly realised the business model was weak. My money is on the fact that he discovered:
- how much work was really involved in running the site (I think I already mentioned the new owner inheriting a boatload of work without the recompense)
- how much its success depended on the personality of the previous owner
- how transient those $10,000 / month earnings were. Product launches are very special times with preferential rates of return
- he didn't have the experience to run the site
The question that boggles my mind is what was this new guy doing spending $32,500 on this kind of site? He is clearly out of his depth and seems bewildered by the whole situation he's found himself in, as can be seen from his comments in the auction. They're rambling and nonsensical in parts. The written word is obviously not his strong point (and I mean no offense by this; some excellent internet entrepreneurs are ignorant and illiterate), but surely maintaining the blog, forums and membership site require a lot of communication with his customers - in a mentor role.
Intuitive Ice Selling
I think what I'm distilling from his comments is that, basically, a whole lot of marketing effort is needed to make this site a success. One of the previous owner's friends, when talking about the previous sale, commented:
Don’t you know Bryan can sell ice to eskimos.
And I think that that is the level of skill required to sell BFB subscriptions to the discerning public! But you know, the ability to sell ice to eskimos is not a skill I particularly admire. I would rather a salesperson sell me the product that was right for me. But that's another bee in another bonnet.
Yo, I’m feeling this site man…I love your style of writing and your humor is off the chain! Keep it up man!!!!
I know I said this on a previous article, but man you got the skills to make me tinkle in my pants.
Hot potato? That’s a funny ass analogy man. lmao.
The great thing is you got killer sarcasm (which I don’t find to be the lowest form of wit, so keep it comin’!) but also make intelligent points in your articles.
I especially love the throwback to “1999 blogging” with links leading to random stuff for fun. lol
Great stuff man
Cheers!
Jay
@joe – Lol, that’s praise from the master – thanks Joe!
@Jay – thanks man. I thought I’d struggle for material, but it seems there’s plenty to go around
Newsflash: New bid of $35,000 on this auction.
The weird thing is, the bidder’s writing style is very similar to the seller’s. Call me cynical…
Hi Paul. I am the new owner of SFU & BFB and I assure you, I am a NEW owner.
A lot like the guys above, I like your style as I think it’s a lot like mine in many ways. None the less, ask around a bit, I’m a pretty well know fella in some parts of the web world and really would like to be on your side… rather than the butt of jokes of course.
I look forward to reading more news from Sitepoint and Paul of course.
Hi Flurrie Creative! Congratulations on your new purchase.
I just tried the Sitepoint listing, but the page has now been removed so I can’t find any details about the sale.
It will be interesting to see how your business progresses. Will you be active on the blog and the (free) forum?
Paul: Thanks! I just rechecked Sitepoint and I can see it just fine. Might be an ISP thing??? Here’s the link for sake of having one as I’m not too sure what you’ll manage to pull from it.
http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/auctions/51443
Ha ha… Oh… I plan on being pretty darn active. more importantly though, I plan on implementing an action plan that won’t have anyone feeling hung out to dry.
The forums: I’ll be getting a hold of a few stellar blog flippers and pay them for their active and ongoing participation. Look for that in the coming weeks.
The Blog: Oh yeh! We’ll be posting there quite often so stay tuned, it should be fun!
Thanks for the link Flurrie!
You sound like just the kind of enthusiastic personality that SFU needs. I shall watch this space.
[...] his website siteflipu.com, plus blogflippingblueprint.com, for $32,500 to an investor, who in turn sold the websites on again after a couple of weeks. var addthis_pub = ‘paultoon’; var addthis_language = ‘en’;var [...]