There was an article in the NY Times recently about people who are buying web sites and flipping them for a quick profit.I called up Matt Mickiewicz, founder of SitePoint.com. The Times article said his site is where the entrepreneurs are going to buy and sell web businesses.
If you download my conversation with Matt, you’ll hear step-by-step how to take a web site from idea to profits. Matt should know. Not only is SitePoint.com a hub for online entrepreneurs, but the site is profitable in its own right.
Like me, Matt believes in building companies for the long-term, so we discussed what we could learn from flippers about building long-lasting value.
Here are somethings he told me about:
A few lessons from this program
Niche – The Times article talked about flippers who turned a profit by buying and selling a bird cage business. That’s the kind of super-targeted niche that Matt says is most successful.
Content – Don’t write it yourself. Just buy it from guru.com.
Community – In my interview with Andy Oliver about PR, I learned the same thing that Matt taught me. You don’t have to build a community on your own site to be part of the conversation. Andy told me about Twiistup using sites like Facebook. Matt talked to me about the value of participating in relevant message boardsand including a link back to your site.
