Case Study - Flipping a Site for Profit

Building the Site's Value

There were literally hundreds of little changes that were made to the site, but there were four key changes that I instigated before it was made available for sale:

1. ensuring the community grew up a little,


2. implementing a leadership group and structure which was healthy and active,


3. starting a newsletter and


4. improving the income through simple advertising initiatives.

Today the community still has some of the old Orlando Bloom discussions, but there are many more interesting discussions going on all the time about a variety of LOTR-related subjects. The leadership group is coming into their own now, as they implement new features and ideas that I could never have come up with on my own.

The newsletter subscriber base is now 50,000-strong, the site receives more traffic than any other Lord of the Rings site, and it is now profitable.

Making The Sale

This step was definitely the hardest. With previous sites it was easy -- after all, they were just some code and a few images -- but with RingQuest I was effectively selling members and friends into the care of another. That buyer might not have the same sense of honor or care that I had for the community. They might be someone who'd sell the site on in just a few short months, causing irreparable harm to the community. Or the buyer may be someone so inexperienced they would simply break the site. How could I avoid this?

I decided that I would sell the site only to a purchaser who had the community in mind. Once I found someone, I put together a plan for the hand-over, which we agreed would need to be a long-term process.

The hand-over is still ongoing, but the new owner has now registered and is becoming active in the community. The leadership team has been informed of the sale, and information has been leaked through to let the members know that a new admin will be "arriving" in a couple of months, while I will be stepping back.

Within the next few weeks the new admin will become a "Guide" (similar to the Mentors at SitePoint forums) and 2-3 weeks later will become a Leader (mini-admin). After about 3 weeks in a leadership role I'll promote him to co-admin for several weeks so he can become familiar with the powers, responsibilities and inner workings of the site and its userbase. Then -- and only then -- will I slowly step back in much the same way that he stepped up.

Is it Worth it?

Absolutely. By buying this site, I was able to turn a hefty profit in just a few months, make a community healthy, and gain incredible experience in community management. But, more than anything else, I gained friends and had a lot of fun.

I doubt that this experience is rare. After all, to really build up a site and add value to what's there when you make the purchase, you must be extremely involved with that site. Through this involvement, you'll have the chance to learn, enjoy, and make new friends. Buying and selling Websites is well worth the effort!

So to those who are looking to buy or sell a site, the PISTT and TERM analysis may well be the best tools you will ever find... and all credit for the PISTT analysis goes to the crew at SitePoint Forums! Until my next endeavour, keep your eyes open for value and your heart open to dream!