When you think Christmas gifts, you don’t usually think of websites… but we are entering 2009 and times are changing.

Today we ask the question, would a website make a great gift this Christmas?

The short answer is YES, but, it has to be for a certain type of person.

A good understanding of the Internet is a plus, and the person should have an hour or so of free time per day to work on it.

Also, you should match the topic of the website to their passion.

So, for example, if they love football, you can buy them a fansite of their favourite football team.

How To Buy The Site

There are loads of articles on this site to show you how to buy a website, but the first step is to set a max budget. e.g $500

Then, you wanna head over to a site like Sitepoint.com and use their marketplace to find your site.

You can use the search feature to search for your chosen topics, or you can post a “Want To Buy” post which will request that type of site.

Summary

Buying a website as a gift can be a life changing gift, it can give them a whole heap of new opportunities, and potentially set them up with a monthly income for life.

That said, there are some technical aspects to the process, so consult with an expert first.

Midascode

The fansite can be an attractive investment, afterall, getting paid to run a website based around one of your favourite rock bands, tv shows, celebrities etc sounds like a dream world.

However, the reality is often quite different, and if you are not careful, you could be left heavily out of pocket.

So let’s get straight to the single biggest danger when buying a fansite:

Today’s news could be tomorrow’s chip wrappers.

Or in plain English, that huge boyband that everyone is talking about, may not even be together in 2 years time.

This means that fansites can be a ticking time-bomb investment… you are not only taking a gamble on the website itself, buy you are taking a gamble on the continued fame/popularity of the tv show, or celebrity in question.

Which leads us to the second major issue when buying fansites…

The Expiry Date

Unlike most other sites, fansites have an invisible expiry date, after this point the traffic will drop to a trickle, and so will the value of the site.

Even huge tv shows like LOST carry an expiry date, afterall, there is going to only be 2 more seasons, so you have a max of three years to make your money and get out… but how can you sell the site when there are no more seasons left?

The result is that you are left with a nostalgia website, and trust me, there is not much money in those. I would much rather have a website on a hot-topic.

The Lawsuit

Owning a fansite can bring a whole host of legal issues… infact, it can be a real minefield.

For a start, today’s celebrities trademark their name, they also have copyright over all logos, images, art work, lyrics and videos. So simply by having the celebs name in your URL, you could be in legal trouble.

If you are lucky, the management team will realise that you are promoting their artist, and they will leave it at that, at worst, you will be taken to court for damages and your site will be shutdown.

Summary

Fansites can be a great way to make money from a subject you are passionate about, but you must factor in the above when valuing a potential investment, and always look for the REAL reason the site is being sold.

Buying websites is a great way to own your very own successful web business, it is also a very fast way of doing it… however, there is one factor that a lot of people forget, and if you are not careful, it could happen to you to.

Websites are businesses, and therefore require time, effort and resources to maintain.

This sounds obvious, but many people purchase websites with the dream of sitting on a beach whilst their website keeps pumping out money.

Yes, there are a few types of websites that can be automated, but they are few and far between, and even automated sites still require some effort to improve them.

For the other 99.99% of the sites on the Internet, you will need to put aside time each day to run the site. This could be anything from answering emails, being available during server or technical issues, adding new content, creating ad deals etc…

What’s more, unless you are experienced in all of these areas, it may require a LOT of time to complete these tasks.

Of course, you could outsource and hire employees etc… but even employees need managing, and don’t forget that they can eat into your profits.

Our advice when buying a website is to ask the owner for a list of tasks that are required on a monthly basis, and a rough estimate of the time taken for each one… once you have this list, add up all the time and then double it, for a more realistic estimation. If the result is more time than you can spare, then avoid purchasing it.

Remember, what may take 5 minutes for the current owner, may take 50 minutes for you.

An area where I often see this is with blog sales. Often the owners say things like “just 5 minutes per day is required for a new post”.

The reality of course is much higher.

A blog post of any sort of quality is going to take at least 20 minutes, and then you have the process of coming up with the idea for the blog post, which for some people can be a very lengthy process.

So be warned, running websites is a time-vampire, and if you don’t treat it like a real business, it will likely fail.

Midascode

Everyone seems to think that my lifestyle and income has been hit hard with the current recession… but truth be told, if anything it is booming.

I don’t know the economical reasons, but a lot of people tell me they now use the Internet to find deals, as they need to save those extra pennies.

In fact, the only website owners I know of who are struggling, are those in the real estate industry.

So this begs the question… can owning websites be a useful acquisition during the recession?

I believe it can do.

More specifically, I think you should spread your investments around, and websites should be just one of your portfolio.

That said, if you only have the funds for one or two investments, then I would strongly consider websites.

Afterall, most websites require almost no running costs, so when times are hard, you are not paying rent, staff, bills etc…

They can often be automated, so they won’t use up a big chunk of your time.

Unlike stocks and shares, you can start earning from websites from day one, so it may be that extra cash required to get you through the months ahead.

All in all I think buying a website would be a great investment, and there has never been a better time, afterall, many people are selling their sites right now… which I think is a huge mistake, but nontheless, it is happening, and that means there are some bargains to be found.

If you want to know more, contac us via the form below.

We have bought many websites in our time, but looking back, the sites that we got the best deals with has one thing in common… today we are going to share that magic factor with you, and perhaps you will be able to buy some great sites at low prices too.

We are not psychologists, but we are good at sales, online selling in particular, and there is one simple yet consistent formula we have noticed:

If the website owner contacts us then we often get a good (low) price, if we contact them, we often get high prices.

Like we said earlier, we are not psychological experts, but somehow we feel that the above swings the balance of power and control dramatically to one side. The fact that they contact you means that they need you, they want something from you… this is a powerful position to be in.

So this begs the question: how do you get people to contact you with websites for sale?

What we do is simply put the word out. Via our IM, by telling our friends, by telling our contacts etc… Perhaps write a blog post saying you are looking to buy a website. Once people know that you are looking for a site, they will remember you when they come to sell, even if it is years later. You are planting seeds in their head, and with time those seeds will grow.

Another reason we believe that this is the key to getting a good price on a website, is that often, if the seller has gone to the trouble of contacting you, they are most likely desperate to sell. Perhaps they need the money, perhaps they are bored of the site, perhaps they want funds for another project… so this eagerness to sell will mean they will sell cheaper just to get rid of it.

So if you have ever considered investing in a website, start sewing the seeds today, you never know what might grow.

Midascode