8 Traits All Successful Entrepreneurs Have In Common

Posted on May 3, 2018 by ibuysites

What makes an entrepreneur successful?

Is there a common trait all successful entrepreneurs share or is it more about individual personality?

When you study a small selection of the twenty-first century’s most prolific entrepreneurs, you’ll notice 8 similar traits that stand out in each of them.

Learning from The Best

By isolating common traits found in those who have been successful on their own entrepreneurial path, itâ€™s possible to incorporate such mannerisms into our own entrepreneur mind-sets. After all, if it works for Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos then it must be worth a try!

1. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Passionate

8 Traits All Successful Entrepreneurs Have In Common

Without a doubt, all successful entrepreneurs have passion and plenty of it.

Itâ€™s this passion that inspires them to create their own unique product or service. This passion is obvious in their work and the results they derive. With this passion comes a belief they’ll be able to offer something unique, or they can do something better than anyone else.

Without passion, there’d be no drive or motivation. Passion is a huge reason why they became entrepreneurs in the first place. It gets them up in the early hours of the morning and pushes them to work firmly through late hours of the evening to succeed, without veering off course.

2. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Determined to Succeed

8 Traits All Successful Entrepreneurs Have In Common

Almost every successful entrepreneur has, believe it or not, experienced some form of negativity regarding their chosen path. However, they’ve also chosen to ignore pessimistic comments, lack of confidence and the sheer hate of those around them. Likely using it to their advantage.

The successful entrepreneur has become determined to prove others wrong and works hard to achieve the last laugh! Many say what they’re doing goes against the grain, but this only fuels them to reach that end goal. Where most people say it will never be done, a successful entrepreneur buckles down and through sheer determination, proves otherwise.

3. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Self-Starters

Successful Entrepreneurs Are Self-Starters

It goes without saying that all successful entrepreneurs are self-motivated. They’ve had to be from the very beginning of the entrepreneurial journey. There’s no employer breathing down their neck or micro-managing at every stage of their work. They are that employer!

Successful entrepreneurs make an extra concerted effort because they understand no one else is going to do it for them. When successful entrepreneurs encounter a problem, they’re fully responsible for solving it themselves. This dynamic trait often makes them a force to be reckoned with.

4. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Confident

Successful Entrepreneurs Are Confident

Successful entrepreneurs need a huge amount of confidence to make their way in any industry. The confidence to speak up, promote their cause and sometimes work on what many feel is impossible requires an inner confidence. Above all, the confidence to believe in their own abilities goes without saying.

Assurance gives a successful entrepreneur the ability to move forward and continue going it alone, even when the going gets tough because they donâ€™t stop to doubt their efforts.

If you want to see a great example of healthy entrepreneurial confidence, follow Elon Musk on Twitter.

5. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Not Afraid Of Failure

Successful Entrepreneurs Are Not Afraid Of Failure

Almost every successful entrepreneur has encountered failure. Whether big or small, understand that failure is an essential component of the entrepreneurial route because it’s all about taking risks. These are not careless risks, they’re definitely calculated, but the successful entrepreneur knows when to take them and when to hold back.

More so they fully accept the fails that may arise when such risks donâ€™t go according plan. The difference is they have at least tried and aren’t wondering what if? Successful entrepreneurs take their failures on the chin, scrutinize them, learn from them and then move on, job done.

A great example is when Steve Jobs was fired from his own company in 1985 only to return in 1997; subsequently turning it into one of the worlds most profitable businesses.

6. Successful Entrepreneurs Have A Vision

Successful Entrepreneurs Have A Vision

Successful entrepreneurs often have a vision only they can see. At times this vision may seem to others as madness, or completely unattainable. But thereâ€™s no denying that the most successful entrepreneurs are usually the ones who spot the opportunity others have either overlooked or deemed undeserving of their time.

A huge part of being a successful entrepreneur is having an unquenchable curiosity. This curiosity can only be satisfied by attempting to recreate their vision and staying ahead of current markets. At the same time not being afraid to act upon those ideas.

7. Successful Entrepreneurs Respect Their Peers

Successful Entrepreneurs Respect Their Peers

Contrary to popular belief, successful entrepreneurs are people persons! Though the mainstream image of an entrepreneur is solitary and going it alone, the most successful entrepreneurs know that to achieve their objectives and the greatest of success, they must work alongside and with others.

They build effective and long-lasting relationships. These entrepreneurs realize a solid support team and network of contacts exponentially increases their chances of accomplishment. In fact, most entrepreneurs will need to build their own team at some point in time, and the most successful of them will have their full support every step of the journey.

And if you’re looking to team up with talented designers, developers or marketers, definitely check out AwesomeWeb.

8. Successful Entrepreneurs Continually Evolve

Richard Branson Constantly Learning

The successful entrepreneur never stops learning.

Whether it be formal education, vocational training or hands on experience, every opportunity is a chance to enhance wisdom. The most successful usually have a thirst and a hunger to learn as much as they can. Knowledge gives them a head start and an advancement in the industry because they know that with knowledge comes power.

Arm yourself with as much information about the goal you want to achieve, and then read everything into it, test everything available to you and work on expanding knowledge upon the areas you didnâ€™t initially know much about. The entrepreneurial path is a constant learning curve for all those who effectively navigate it!

If you look closely, you’ll notice each of these traits relate to one another. If you possess all these core characteristics, you’re that much closer to emulating the success of those before you.

Success by choice, not by chance!

-David Aston

Author Bio: I’m David Aston, Entrepreneur and Founding Nomad ofÂ AdventureHacks, Inc. My mission is to inspire adventure on the ground, in the water and through the air!

11 Tips For Better Phone Etiquette And More Telephone Sales

Posted on December 6, 2017 by ibuysites

Key Tips On How To Improve Your Phone Etiquette For Better Business Sales

Improve Your Phone Etiquette

Using a phone for doing business never gets old. In fact, thousands of business deals around the world are being closed right now over a phone call. You can do it too, but it requires that you know the correct phone etiquette for closing a business sale over a phone call.

It is so important that you follow the correct phone etiquette for any business transaction. This is especially true if you are selling something to your customer over the phone. Having a business sale over the phone can prove to be a difficult task, but it can also be very rewarding too.

If you want to increase your business sales over the phone, you should follow the business phone etiquette tips listed below:

1) You must always maintain a positive tone when speaking.

When talking to customers over the phone, you must make sure that you maintain a friendly, enthusiastic tone with your voice. You need to develop a positive tone in your voice so that your customers can feel comfortable. Your voice should be something that will soothe their ears so your customers wonâ€™t be annoyed with you when talking on the phone. Always control the pitch and timbre of your voice and avoid speaking in an annoying or exaggerated voice.

2) For Best Phone Etiquette – Always be sincere.

Your customer might be calling you because they have concerns with your products or services and theyâ€™re reaching out to demand some answers from you. No matter what your customerâ€™s mood is, you must politely listen and answer their questions all the time. Make your customers feel that they are your top priority. This way youâ€™ll have them coming back for your products or services in the future.

Phone Etiquette For Better Business Sales

3) For Best Phone Etiquette – Talk as clearly as possible.

When you speak to your customers on the phone, you must say your words very clearly. Donâ€™t use complex or slang words. You donâ€™t want to confuse your customer with overly complicated vocabulary or disrespect them by using unprofessional words. Also, avoid using filler words like â€œumâ€, or â€œahâ€. These words might get your customers annoyed. If this is new to you, practice the words you are going to use when talking to a customer over the phone.

4) For Best Phone Etiquette – Donâ€™t talk too fast or too slow.

Talking very fast will only make you stumble with your words. Talking slowly, on the other hand, can make your customer feel annoyed. Itâ€™s better if you can talk at a normal pace where you can correctly pronounce each word that comes out of your mouth.

5) Take a deep breath before making a call with a customer.

Having shallow breaths when talking to a customer over the phone can make you sound tired. Now, you donâ€™t want your customer to feel like you are not enthused when talking to them. You must always sound happy and very willing to answer their call. To help you out, practice your breathing by taking a big, deep breath before picking up the phone. This should allow you to breath normally during the phone call.

6) Always listen to your customers.

Now, you want to be listening attentively to your customers first before you start talking. You must treat your customers like theyâ€™re your top priority, and in order to do so, you must listen to them attentively. Focus on what your customer is talking about over the phone call. Stop anything that you are doing and put all your attention into the phone call. You donâ€™t want to make your customers repeat what they just said because it means that you donâ€™t care about them. Remember that customers hate being ignored. If you fail to listen to them even once, they may get frustrated and hang up.

7) Donâ€™t interrupt a customer while they are still talking.

If your customer is still talking, donâ€™t even attempt to interrupt them. This is especially true if the customer is complaining about something. Just let them talk and listen to them attentively until they are finished. Situations like this tend to happen from time to time, so you need to teach yourself how to properly deal with complaining and angry customers.

8) Always address the customer by their name.

Donâ€™t make up names for your customer. Always address them by their true name. This is to show that you really value them as your customers.

Phone Etiquette For Better Business Sales

9) Use a professional greeting.

Be sure to use a professional greeting when speaking with customers over the phone. Donâ€™t just say â€œhiâ€ or â€œhelloâ€. Address your customers correctly by using their titles like, â€œGood morning, Doctor Johnson. How may I help you?â€.

10) Introduce yourself properly.

Your customers must know who are they speaking to over the phone. You need to introduce yourself properly. If you are calling for your company, donâ€™t forget to mention its name as well. Be sure to include your position so that your customers will know that they are speaking to someone who is credible. Keep your introduction short and generalâŽ¯no need for many specifics. Also, if thereâ€™s someone from your company whoâ€™s going to join the call, make sure to properly introduce them to the customer as well.

11) Donâ€™t forget to say thank you.

Even at the start of a business phone call conversation you must express your gratitude to your potential client. Thank them for having the time to talk with you and for allowing you to explain what the call is all about. Tell them that you wonâ€™t be taking too much of their time and start immediately with your business presentation. At the end of the phone call, thank the client again for listening to you and for taking the time to talk with you. You must always express your gratitudeâŽ¯regardless of the outcome of the call. By showing gratitude to your client or customer over the phone, you are showing that you are sincere with your business proposition. This could actually help you in convincing them to close a deal or do business with you.

Having proper phone etiquette is absolutely essential for effectively communicating with current and potential clients and customers. While steps like these are easy to implement, improving your teamâ€™s phone etiquette is something that should always be a focus, and should be consistently be improved on over time. The communication experts at Fone Dynamics know that a phone call can make or break a deal and by following these tips and improving your phone etiquette, you can boost business sales.

Author Bio: John Taylor

John Taylor

John is a long-time professional with over two decades of experience in analytics and communications technology. He works as the Senior Data Analyst at Fone Dynamics, a leader in call tracking, voice, and SMS communication. When John steps out of the office, he loves to spend time with his family and bike riding.

How to Write Amazing Content for Your Website or Blog

Posted on May 9, 2017 by ibuysites

The Secrets of writing amazing content, your customers will love….

How to Write Amazing Content for Your webSite

The Secrets of writing amazing content

Your website is a gateway for potential customers to interact with your brand, business, and ideals. Whether you sell services or products, your website needs to show potential customers what your brand represents, and why they should care.

Content is equally important on your website even if you arenâ€™t selling anything. If you want to be taken seriously as a brand, itâ€™s essential that the content you produce is engaging, interesting, and of course, accurate. So you can produce the best content possible, itâ€™s essential to use online tools, and learn from the experts.

Learning from Marketing Experts

There are many online resources that help you establish your brand online. Websites like Kissmetrics, for instance, offer regular updates on how you can improve customer acquisition and make the most out of the content you produce. Their websiteâ€™s blog has really detailed information about producing quality content, and can be an invaluable tool for a variety of websites and businesses.

When you learn from experts online, youâ€™re obtaining knowledge that has been gained through years of trial and error. Other writers will have spent years studying the algorithms used by search engines, and the ways in which readers react to different kinds of content. This is the advice you canâ€™t afford to miss.

For Website Great Content – Enlist the Help of Researchers, Proofreaders, and Editors

As well as learning from marketing experts, you can enlist the help of writing and research professionals who can assist you in the creation of quality content. If you need assistance with research, you can enlist professionals from UK Top Writers to help you find the material you need.

If you have already written your content, these same professionals from UK Top Writers can assist you in editing your content, and finding grammatical or factual errors. By enlisting professionals like these, you can ensure that every single word on your website is right.

Keep Your Readers Happy

Readers will only return to your website if they enjoy the content you produce. For this reason, itâ€™s important to craft copy that people actually care about. Ask yourself what is good about the story your writing, and how you can add an entirely new angle. By adding additional information not found anywhere else, youâ€™ll be providing an extra incentive for people to visit your website.

If youâ€™re not sure about what your readers want in the future, consider asking them. Through social media, you can set up polls where you ask your readers directly what kind of content they love both. Not only does this give you an important insight into what your readers want to see, but it also shows potential customers that you really care about what they think. This is essential for any brand that wants to continue expanding while keeping loyal customers happy.

Understand the Importance of Social Media

So you have great content, but your readers arenâ€™t finding it. The solution is simple â€“ social media! As much as search engine optimization has a huge part to play in helping people find your content, your social media will be able to direct people who are immediately interested in your brand to your website.

If youâ€™re unsure about how social media really works, or you need assistance with PR, there are many online tools you can use. A great example is The Content Factory, a website which connects you with social media marketing, PR, and content writing specialists.

Remember Formatting

Not only is the content you write important â€“ the way you present it is essential too. When a reader is presented with a huge block of text, it looks daunting and tough to read. However, if you split up your content into subtitles, and then use lots of bullet points, you make it significantly easier to read.

Ensure that you break up the content you write, and provide hyperlinks to your sources. You can also make use of images and graphics, which is another essential tool for making content look easier to read and understand.

By taking advantage of all the online tools available to you today, and considering these five tips, youâ€™ll be able to entice new customers and keep your readers consistently happy.

A Social Media Guide to Branding Yourself [But Not Really]

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Vanessa Poulson

Looking at Branding yourself?

How to do it!

How not to do it!

Social media, in the years since its development and rise to popularity, has become a mass tool for anything from marketing your new business, to creating a personal page for your dog and their daily activities.

Donâ€™t be fooled by the range of prospects that social media provides and immediately discount its power.

Social Networking Sites, such as Twitter or Instagram, are incredible tools for getting the message youâ€™d like shared with the world, out to the world, and faster than ever before.

Creating a successful online brand for yourself is one of the first key steps in maintaining a simultaneously satisfying start to your personal goals when it comes to social media, as well as reaching and connecting with your target audience.

However, with all of the variety that is present online, and the constant shifting in preference for specific topics, products, and people, starting a successfully operated page for yourself may conflict with allowing yourself to maintain your own personality and beliefs while online. Observing the way that trends shift, people lose interest, and audiences wain, may make you desire to start fresh and parrot those brands that have suddenly obtained mass success from being ahead of audience trends.

In reality, jumping around from subject manner to subject manner, changing your entire brand appearance, and only sticking to trends without maintaining the message that your started your project with, will not lead to success; it will confuse your audience, making it more difficult for them to connect with you as a person or a product.

The key here, is balance.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BRAND YOURSELF

Imagine that yourself as an entrepreneur. You have a new product that you really want people to like and buy so that you can gain some recognition and potentially make a fair profit. When going about crafting a successful social media based brand and profile, you have to first establish a couple of foundational aspects in order to maintain character, consistency, and creativity (the wonderful three Câ€™s). Without these three incredibly important aspects, you are never going to be able to keep clear what the message is that youâ€™re trying to get across, what you want your audience to take from your work, and how you are able to connect with that audience by maintaining a certain level of relevance and trend in order to encourage more people to be enticed by what youâ€™re trying to get across.

ESTABLISHING CHARACTER

In order to properly execute this first step, youâ€™re going to have to start with a bit of soul searching. Whether youâ€™re looking to develop a new line of clothing, advertise for your new restaurant, or simply sell yourself as a marketable employee for a job prospect, you have to know your skills forwards and backwards, and what makes you different enough to get the followers you need to grow your brand.

You can start by asking yourself a variety of questions that could lead you down the right path to a solution on becoming socially savvy:

What am I primarily interested in?

Is your page for a social movement, business, or personal brand use?

What makes your page different from the millions of other pages that people stumble across in their newsfeeds on a daily basis?

What makes your page worthy of a follow, like, share, or comment?

What kinds of fresh content are you providing, that wonâ€™t just become the â€œdigital junkâ€ people scroll past in a quest for cute cat videos?

Once youâ€™ve established an answer for these questions, you can establish the character youâ€™re attempting to craft on this profile, get a niche you think will stand out, and start moving forward in your endeavor.

MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY

Great. You have a character that youâ€™re trying to get your followers and potential followers to buy into. Youâ€™ve gained a solid footing in the community of, let’s say, deep fried oreos and donuts. Your quality photographs of beautifully decorated donuts is going completely viral, and celebrities across the country are re-posting and liking your stuff, urging everyone to get their hands on one of your products.

Everything is going great, so of course, youâ€™re reveling in your success, and scrolling through your own Instagram explore page to see that the new rage is all about kale salads and detox smoothies. Immediately, you run a couple of quick searches to confirm your worst fears: donuts are out and detox is in.

Obviously, you panic.

Everything that you sell screams the opposite of what the new â€œtrendingâ€ idea is, so your first thought is to buy a juicer, throw away all of your deep fryers, and compose a new method and branding for your store.

In this moment, stop yourself.

Yes, the trend of what people believe to be the next great thing is not currently in your favor, and your social page reflects something that may not be at the top of the charts right now, but that does not mean that you need to scrap every post, change all of your ideas, and become a brand new style of page.

The reason your initial success was gained was BECAUSE of your quality of donuts, and the specialization youâ€™ve established in the deliciously non-nutritious fried food industry.

Scraping the brand you have and seeking out a new one will lead your original followers to potentially un-follow you and seek their fried food elsewhere.

Changing ideas and jumping around all the time makes your followers not want to follow you anymore, simply because they canâ€™t keep up with what youâ€™re trying to say. Stick with what you got, it will go better for you in the long run.

BE CREATIVE – But don’t be a dumb marketer!

Just about everyone recognizes these classic click-bait tactics

â€œCLICK HERE FOR INSTANT FOLLOWERSâ€

â€œYOU LIKE PUPPIES? CLICK HERE!â€

â€œSHE DID WHAT? YOUâ€™LL NEVER GUESS!â€

These pages may win some people in with their foolishly ambiguous titles and language.

But these tactics quickly get found out!

By all means, you want people to notice your well written article – but what ever you do, don’t use Click Bait to do it!

If you are looking for the perfect way to drive your audience nuts and canâ€™t think of anything, look no further than an annoying click bait title. Itâ€™s not creative, and it wonâ€™t bring you the brand success that you think it will. Sure, you may get a lot of original clicks, but nothing drives someone more angry than clicking on a click bait title and finding a post that has relatively nothing to do with the title and that theyâ€™ve been tricked into wasting moments of their life on a page they really didnâ€™t actually care about.

If we return back to the donuts example, and you have your heart set on selling the best donuts in the world, cultivate posts that show your audience that you have the ability to do it.

Learn about photography and editing software to make your photos the best that they can be, show people your brand, your specializations, and where your heart is.

A lot of really good photos can be taken on recent smartphone cameras, and edited with fairly cheap applications you can download onto those phones. Check out these Apps!

These days, thereâ€™s no excuse for your feed not to be creative and specialized and crafted with an artistic level of care.

People get tired of being bombarded with ad after ad, and seeing photos that lack a certain depth or creative quality. Do your donuts justice, and take good pictures of them. Artsy pictures. Pictures even the donuts themselves would be proud of.

WHAT IT MEANS TO STAY UNBRANDED

Youâ€™re probably thinking that the title of this section appears as if it is going to undo everything that was mentioned in the previous section, simply because it sounds like it would be counter-intuitive to move backwards after establishing a foundation for a brand. If you know your product, your audience, your goals, and youâ€™re maintain the creativity that you need in order to keep all of them interested, this should be all wrapped up neatly and tied together; all this new knowledge pack safely away for your journey into being a successful social media star. But in all this talk about making sure that you cater to your audience, while maintaining your brand and your ideas, you cannot forget to also maintain yourself.

Sure, social media is a massive concept when it comes to keeping it updated frequently and making the best content, but all of this can become overwhelming. Not only do we as brands, because yes, you yourself are a brand that you are maintaining on a daily basis, in the real world, but we also have to keep up with an online persona that may be starkingly different from the one that we choose to maintain offline. Sure, you may love making galaxy painted donuts, but that is not the only thing in your life that you put Â value on. There is so much more to a person than just one idea, passion, or hobby.

Believe it or not, your audience knows and wants to see that too.

So while branding yourself for the public is wonderful, thereâ€™s a couple of things to remember about staying rather UNBRANDED, and quite human in the process.

You are always going to be your most important advocate. If you need to take a break from being online or caught up in the digital world of branding, marketing, and likes and comments, you are allowed to do so. As soon as you close your computer or shut your phone off, the digital world fades for a little while. Your audience of followers will thank you for it when you come back revitalized and ready to get back into the swing of things.

Offer your audience glimpses into your life that make you a human being. Yes, youâ€™ve established an online persona that contains features and elements that you are trying to get your audience to enjoy, but remember that they know that you are a human being just as you do, and thatâ€™s something they want to see too.

It makes you relatable, flesh behind a glowing screen. If you can connect with your audience on the most fundamental level humans can connect, through compassion and relatability, your brand will be twice as successful too.

Understand that not everyone will love what you are posting, commenting, or trying to put out there. Do not get caught up in the idea that you have to please everyone in order to be a success, simply, you have to be yourself, and nothing more, nothing less.

Social media is becoming more and more of a daily part of our lives, intricately winding itself into our portfolios for work, resumes, and general livelihood. In the end, as important as itâ€™s become, we cannot forget that underneath that digital persona is a real person who is striving to thrive and be successful just like anyone else. The tools we use and the legacies we leave in trying to be successful in our attempts to make something worthwhile are only matched by the notion that we are individually unique in our brands and in our brains.

The key is balancing them both. Â

Author Bio: Vanessa Frances has spent the last two years of her life in charge of the Instagram account @ProjectHeal, a nonprofit dedicated to providing treatment grants to those suffering with eating disorders, which she has helped to obtain a massively successful audience. She is the author of the book â€œlaundryâ€, an active blogger for a variety of digital news organizations, and a junior ambassador for ProjectHeal.

You can contact her at vanessa@theprojectheal.org or her Facebook Page.

All You Wanted To Know About Website Buying & Selling

Posted on January 12, 2010 by ibuysites

Here’s a headsup: People wanting to discuss matters relating to the buying and selling of websites now have a new forum where they can chat with like minded individuals.

The quality of the chat is extremely high and though the forum is only a week old today, it boasts some of the most respected members from places like Sitepoint and elsewhere who advise on the subject. Already signed up are brokers, accountants and lawyers who deal with matters like Accountancy Due Diligence and Contracts of Sale, buyers and sellers. Flippa is there asking questions and getting feedback on how they can improve their service.

It’s a place where you can find out about the best places to buy a site, what scams to watch out for, what’s a fair price, how to perform due diligence, the best places to list a site for sale, how the pros make money from site holding and site flipping …and much more. Head on over and pose them your most difficult question.

If you interested in any aspect of website buying or selling – you need to be there. Go to the Experienced People forum right now. If yours is not an internet business, the related site for selling a business is this one.

Five Scary Things You Didn’t Know About Escrow.com

Posted on December 15, 2009 by ibuysites

When buying or selling a domain you are often dealing with a party you don’t know. Do you remit a large sum of money to them and trust them to transfer the domain to you? Probably not. But then again, they don’t know you either, so they can’t transfer the domain to you first in the hope that you will indeed keep your promise to pay them in full.

That’s where escrow companies come in.

An escrow company will take the full payment from the buyer and hold it till the seller transfers the goods. Once the buyer confirms that he’s received the goods the escrow company releases the funds to the seller. Should the buyer reject the goods, the escrow waits for the seller to confirm receipt back before they refund the payment to the buyer. So everyone’s safe.

But it’s important to choose a good, trusted escrow company to handle what is often a large sum of money. Who do you go to for that? The most well known name is escrow.com. Most experts in website buying and selling swear by escrow.com and they do so with the experience of many transactions behind them. But today I’m going to tell you five secrets that you really should know before you deal with them.

Five Things That You Did Not Know About Escrow.com and Which Should Scare You

1. There is no company called escrow.com. The company you are dealing with is IES that rents/leases or has some other arrangement involving the escrow.com domain (I don’t know what it is and you likely don’t either). That’s not a reason to distrust them but you need to know who you are dealing with. Should IES go bust sometime – no company is immune from the laws of finance – the escrow.com name will likely continue and many buyers and sellers will likely be unaware that anything has changed even though they may be dealing with a brand new company with no history! They’ll assume it’s the good, old escrow company they’ve always dealt with. On the escrow.com website, you’ll find bold claims about “services provided by escrow.com“. They flash “escrow.com” all over the site. Even their postal address is “escrow.com” (no mention of IES). You need to go to the small print to realise that it’s IES you’re dealing with and, in their own words, they are only “one of the operating subsidiaries of Escrow.com”.

Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting anything about IES’s current financial position. They may be rock solid for all I know. And do bear in mind that they are heavily regulated (more about that later) so they don’t do a runner with your money.

But “they” are not escrow.com.

2. Escrow.com/IES doesn’t provide an escrow service for websites: Seriously! It never ceases to amaze me how few people know this. Or realise the huge risk involved in putting website transactions through this company. IES has four categories: Motor Vehicle | Domain Name | General Merchandise | Services.

The closest you have to websites is “Domain Name” and people happily choose that as the closest match and think all is hunky dory. It’s not!

Risks for Buyer: You can end up getting just the domain name and none of the files, templates, designs, databases or anything else that is contained in the website you’re buying and, as far as IES is concerned, they’ll release the funds to the seller on the sole grounds that he has transferred the domain control to you.
Risks for Seller: You can transfer all the copyright, other rights, programs, files etc., to the ownership of the buyer and the buyer can then demand IES give him a refund because he’s changed his mind about taking control of the domain.

3. IES/escrow.com don’t give a fig leaf about your contract. In the purchase of a website the buyer and seller often negotiate terms and draw up a Sales Contract. It may say that certain conditions need to be met and that the buyer/seller can pull out of the transaction if there is a material change. Example: You agree with the seller that if his PR9 site suddenly drops to a PR4 then the deal is off. You send your funds to IES for them to hold during the 10 day “inspection period”. The seller changes the WHOIS for the site and sends you the password to take control of the domain. But on the very first day you find that the PR has dropped (or there is something else drastically wrong with the site and it doesn’t match what the seller described). Tough! As far as escrow.com/IES’s terms are concerned your agreement has no value. The seller gave you control of the site and if he wants to complete the transaction then IES is just going to release the funds to him. The contract entered into by the Buyer and Seller is a carefully constructed document designed to protect each party’s interest. IES won’t even look at that contract. They go by their own terms and conditions and it may or may not be in your favour.

To be fair, you can try raising a dispute or arguing the terms with IES, but there’s no guarantee you’ll succeed, it’s entirely up to them.

4. Many of the “experts” who recommend escrow.com are doing so because they get a commission. Escrow.com is one of the few (if not the only) escrow companies that has an affiliate program. That they are paying people to recommend them is not reason enough to shun their services. But be aware that any recommendation of their service may be driven by expectations of commission rather than a desire to help you.

5. Escow.com is regulated by an authority on another planet. Most experts agree that while the banks took a lot of liberties it was ultimately the regulators who failed in controlling the financial institutions and were responsible for the credit crunch of 2008.

But there is no regulator on this planet quite like the Commissioner in California. He sounds like a cross between Saddam Hussein, Michael Jackson and Imelda Marcos.

He’s power mad and a bit crazy. Nobody – anywhere in the world – can do this business with anyone based in California unless they pay the Californian Commissioner huge amounts of money, bow to his authority, promise to jump when he says jump and sign up to lots of nonsense. But the madness doesn’t end there. If an escrow company in Syndey or Singapore or Sierra Leone decides they can’t be bothered with some jobsworth in California, they need to be aware that he has banned anyone, anywhere in the world, from saying anything critical about him. I promise, I’m not making this up!

That’s just the start. If you read the California Financial Code (div 6, 17000-17305) there’s some pretty serious stuff in there that should dissuade anybody from buying or selling a site if the party they are dealing with is California based. But if the escrow company is registered there it’s even more serious. You will almost certainly lose should a dispute arise. In fact, if they file a court case against you in California, they don’t even need to inform you of the action. In can be all decided in your absence.

Read the full story of the California Risk here.

So even if IES is a very trustworthy company, has a strong balance sheet and great customer service, the fact that they are based in California and signed up to the California Financial Code is reason enough to go look elsewhere for your escrow needs.

Reliable escrow companies that proudly declare they are not registered in California:

Moniker:

Moniker is an ICANN Accredited Registrar and the only company with a special domain escrow account at its registrar to safely hold domains and protect both buyer and seller of domain related transactions. (not registered in California… for the moment)

iEscrow:

I-Escrow, Inc. is Licensed by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions (No. 540-EA-42257) and adheres to its strict regulations, as well as the ordinances put forth by the Revised Code of Washington.

SEDO, escroweurope, Escrow Europa (recommended by eBay) etc., are other alternatives.

One Of My Best Secrets On Finding A Good Website To Buy

Posted on December 4, 2009 by ibuysites

shhh Shhh! I’ve got a killer tip for those interested in finding good sites to buy.

Send the owner an email.

No, no, it’s not about searching Google for sites saying “copyright 2002” to identify abandoned sites and email the owner. Nor does my tip involve crawling through DMOZ listed sites to see which ones look dated. The first is a very hit and miss affair. The second is far too time consuming as well as hit and miss.

It’s where you look and how you time it!

But first, the example: Today I bought a $35K site. It didn’t come through any of the methods described above. It came through a very simple route – something any of you could duplicate (but probably don’t).

And I Got It At Half Price

History: I keep track of sites that I have been interested in but didn’t end up buying. And I revisit those sites after a reasonable lapse of time.

One of those sites listed in Sitepoint a long time ago went for over $60K. I thought the bidding was too high and there may have even been some shill bidding involved. So I took a back seat. Today, over a year from when that site “sold”, I find the WHOIS hasn’t changed, the contact email address for that site hasn’t changed and the appearance of the site hasn’t changed.

Conclusion: The purchase didn’t go ahead (surprise, surprise) and the owner didn’t get to do much with the site either.

So I emailed him out of the blue. Now, these emails don’t normally work. At least they don’t work when people email me. They often get my email address from WHOIS and write to say they want to buy xyz site of mine. Usually they are lowballers looking to pick up something on the dirt cheap. They first express interest and it’s only after a few emails back and forth that they disclose their budget is a paltry $100. I’ve learnt to ignore those emails. And other webmasters do too.

But this email was different because of timing. I worded my email carefully and, importantly, offered him a decent price. I quoted $35K for a quick deal via escrow. Voila! It worked!

Why Did It Work?

What was different was that I had identified someone who was motivated to sell and had been motivated for a long time. Further, he may have been disillusioned with the sale process as he spent a lot of time trying to sell his site and it didn’t work. So when a half decent offer came up, he grabbed it.

Can You Do It Too?

Yes, you can. Let me give you an example. webmasters.org came up for sale here. It raised quite a lot of interest because of the domain name. And it sold for $50K about 15 months ago. Apparently. In the thread you’ll find the owner signed his replies with the name “Chad”. If you do a WHOIS on that domain today, it’s owned by a Chad and the email address is chad@xxxx. Coincidence? Hardly likely.

The site has dropped in PR, from a PR7 to a PR5 – a good reason why there is extra motivation for the owner to sell and why he may be even more open to a lower price. This isn’t a recommendation to go buy that site but to demonstrate that sites where the owner expressed interest in selling, went to the trouble of listing and actually sold… may not be sold. And he may still be interested in selling, even if it’s at a lower price! It won’t always work, but the success rate is a hundred times better than for a completely blind approach.

Have you got website listings you’ve ever bookmarked or added to your shortlist? Have you tried re-visting those sites or checking on their progress? Are you doing it with just Flippa listed sites or all the main site selling forums?

Does it take a bit of work? Sure. Is it worth a shot? You tell me.

Is The Internet The New Property Market?

Posted on January 14, 2009 by midascode

As someone who bought a house a few years ago and has since watched it drop in value faster than an athlete who just lost an leg, I am well aware that the property market is really struggling, and is set to continue to do so.

house market crash

So this begs the question: If property is no longer the solid investment that it used to be, could websites be the new boys in town?

There are of course, many factors at play, but I was recently looking at an apartment in a tourist area in Europe, it cost $200,000

I am told that I could rent that out and if I do it right, I could cover my mortgage.

In other words, I could break even.

Now, on the other hand, I could purchase a large entertainment website which also can be bought for $200,000

However, this site is making $7,000 profit per month.

Let’s assume the mortgage on the apartment is $700 per month, and the re-payments to finance the website are $1,000 per month, that is still a $6,000 per month advantage to the website.

I would love your opinions on this, considering the current climate, if you had to choose, would you rather invest your money into property, or into a website?

Midascode

6 Kickass Tools For Website Buyers & Sellers

Posted on October 20, 2008 by midascode

They say a good workman never blames his tools, but having great tools on the Internet can save you a lot of time and hassle. Today we are going to look at 6 kickass tools that will help you find websites to buy, and research the quality of a website.

Hub Finder

Hubs are known as authority sites by the search engines. Owning one of these sites can be hugely valuable. But how do you find them?

Simple, use this hub finder tool

Trend Finder

Here is a common scenario. You buy a website because it made $2k per month in the past three months, but now it seems to be making only $100 per month. Why is this?

A common reason is because there are trends in any market, and it is best to be able to detect those trends.

You can use this trend finding tool by Google.

As an example, I used the search term “halloween gifts” and it gave the following trend patterns:

halloween gifts

Duplicate Text Checker

Are you looking to buy a website with a lot of content on it?

If so, it is vital that you know whether the content was created, or stolen from another site.

Copyscape is a tool that will let you know whether the site owner has been a bit naughty.

Creative Commons Content Source

Have you purchased a website but it looks kinda plain and boring?

What better way to spice it up than with some images and perhaps a video?!?

However, you don’t have the money to create your own, so instead, why not try using content that is free to use under the creative commons license?

Here is an amazing resource for creative commons content.

Source Viewer

Have you ever wondered how Google views a website?

This tool will show you.

This is vital to check for spam. Especially if you are buying a WordPress blog, as even the authority sites can get hacked.

URL Research

If you are buying a website, the last thing you want to do is spend the next 6 months fixing problems with the code.

This tool will check the site and give detailed information on a number of key areas.

Finally, The Ultimate Website Valuation Guide & Tools

Posted on July 30, 2008 by midascode

The single question that we get asked the most here at Midascode is “How do I value my website?”, it is a question that had no simple answer, and often it would take a 500+ word reply just to cover the basics.

We all secretly longed for a solution, and authorative, definitive answer that the website buying and selling industry could use as it’s very own declaration of indepence-esque guide, we waited, and we waited, and we gave out snippets of information to keep the dogs at bay.

Well, I can happily announce that our prayers have been answered, an expert has taken up the challenge, and not only achieved the desired result, but grealty exceeded it.

Now, before your spam radar starts spinning, I should point out that this was not done by one of our team, In fact, we are not connected to this at all.

It was actually developed by a guy named Clinton Lee, and you can read the full guide over at Sitepoint.

The guide, dubbed ‘The Ultimate Website Valuation Guide’ is 6-pages long, and covers every main aspect of valuing a website.

Many myths are debunked, many records are set straight… and the upshot is that finally, the website buying and selling industry has a guide, a bible, a series of guidelines etched into stone for us all to benefit from.

So how can this valuation guide benefit you?

Quite simply, it can prevent you from being ripped-off. It can also ensure that you don’t sell for less than your site’s actual value. It can save you money, as you may no longer need to go to an “expert” who will charge you for 38-pages of jargon.

Website Valuation Tool

If reading a 6-page comprehensive guide is not your thing, fortunately there is a new valuation tool that takes all those 6-pages and crams them into one shiny, new tool. What’s more, this tool is free, and for the first time EVER, it is accurate.

But wait! I hear you cry, there are already numerous free site valuation tools on the market.

No there are not!

There are site valuation gimmicks, designed to inflate your ego and trick you into linking back to them. These tools are for fools, and they are severly damaging and confusing in an already noisy industry.

In fact, I decided to test out this new tool on my personal blog… the tool asked a lot of sensible questions, such as:

Domain name,

Monthly Profit,

Cost to maintain,

Expertese required to run it,

& a lot more…

When it finished, I hit submit, and got my valuation… and you know what, for the first time ever, I found myself nodding in agreement.

Actually, it was a little lower than I had hoped, but I couldn’t disagree with the valuation at all. It seemed to know the true valuation better than I myself did.

So today is the day that the website buying and selling industry can breathe a sigh of relief… the weight has been taken off our shoulders, there is now in my opinion a definitive overview of the site valuation procedure, and hopefully the industry will use it and we can all benefit from it for years to come.

That said, it is more than likely people will stick with the stupid gimmick tools, and continue to pull valuations out of thin air… but hey, at least now we have an alternative.

Thanks Clinton for boldly going where no man has gone before, this is one giant step for Internet businesses, one giant leap for the site buying and selling industry.

Midascode