If you’ve been searching for information on how to sell your blog, this complete guide will teach you all you need to know.
Starting a blog is one of the most lucrative careers you will ever venture into. We have discussed the benefits of blogging for businesses in one of our previous articles.
However, many bloggers tend to move from blogging to other money-making projects after some time. That leaves them with something they can make money from, but how can they go about selling their blog? Blogs that are well-established can be sold for six figures, but how can you achieve it? In this article, I will shed light on the nitty-gritty of selling your blog in 2021.
3 Things You Need To Know When Starting A Blog
Selling your blog starts right before you list the blog in a marketplace or you receive a private inquiry from a potential buyer. You need to think about selling your blog or handing it over to someone else even before you start it.
That’s because anyone that wants to buy your blog wants to see the profit reports. The potential buyer also wants to be able to move on his or her hosting and keep on operating without any complications. Highlighted below are the three things that you need to pay attention to when you start a blog and want to sell it.
1. Ensure your accounts are up to date
If there are issues with your account details or maybe you have some missing documentation and poor accounting and reporting practices, no one will be interested in buying your blog. Ensure that you have all the financial records of your business so that it will be easy to sell your blog. This will show that you have nothing to hide from your potential buyers.
2. Keep the blog separate from other interests
It is difficult to sell a blog when it is mixed with other interests. Try as much as possible to separate your assets, accounts, and business from other businesses that you own. You should always separate the blog you intend to sell from any personal interests and accounts that you have.
The more you mingle your business blog with personal interests, the easier it will be for details to get lost. The last thing you want to do is surprising your buyers; no one loves surprises when money is involved.
3. Build a blog that can operate without you
If you plan to sell your blog, you need to build it like a business that does not depend on you for survival. The buyer will want to have a blog that will keep making them money even when you’re no more involved in running it. Ensure the blog is managed without you and does not depend on you or your brand for survival.
How Much Can You Sell Your Blog For?
The typical formula for determining what you should sell your blog for is easy to calculate. You can get the selling price by using the average net profit that the blog made within the past six to twelve months and multiply it by a particular multiple
You can use a multiple that is between 20 and 40. The figure is usually determined through different factors. If you want to sell your blog through a broker, you may be asked to list your blog at this price. For instance, if your blog makes an average profit of $200 per month, you can sell at a price between $4,000 (multiple of 20) and $8,000 (multiple of 40).
Other factors that will determine how much you sell your blog for are the age or earning history of your blog, specific sources of income, diversity of the sources of income, diversity of the sources of traffic, and the reputation of the blog within the niche.
Where To Sell Your Blog
When you want to sell your blog, you can do so by selling it via a broker or marketplace. You can also sell it independently. More on this later.
You can work with the following marketplaces when selling a blog:
1. Blogs for Sale
This marketplace specializes in blogs operated by Chelsea Clarke. Many bloggers have sold their blogs through this platform.
2. Flippa
Flippa is a massive marketplace for tons of listings. The site uses an auction model for buying and selling blogs.
3. Empire Flippers
This online business marketplace vets websites and contains blogs of higher value.
The advantage of selling your blog through any of the platforms listed above is that you won’t have much to worry about because a broker will handle most of the transactions for you. It can be likened to working with a real estate agent when selling a house.
The disadvantage, however, is the commission you will need to pay when you eventually sell your blog.
If you choose to sell your blog by yourself, you will not pay any commission fees. However, you will handle every aspect of the transaction by yourself. You can explore Facebook groups that are meant for selling and buying blogs if you want to sell your blog independently.
We will take an in-depth look into these methods in the next section.
3 Ways To Sell Your Blog
1. Sell it independently
The first option (which was discussed earlier) is to sell your blog on your own. This means you will look for buyers, answer questions and provide details to prospective buyers, negotiate the terms, and also manage the transfer of assets. The disadvantage of this method is that you may not have the network required to sell to find a buyer at the right place.
Also, the process can be intimidating if you are not experienced in selling blogs. You can also end up making mistakes with the terms of the contract of the sale if you are not properly guided.
The advantage of selling your blog independently is that you will be able to keep all the money for yourself. You will not have to worry about paying a broker, listing fee, or success fee. This will mean a big difference in the money you make from the sale.
2. Sell through a marketplace
There are websites that you can list your blog on. These websites will match you with buyers. To list your blog on any of the sites, you will pay a fee. Listing your blog on the websites will give you the exposure you need to find a buyer for your blog. If you want to sell your blog quickly, then you need to consider listing it on a marketplace because that will get you tons of exposure.
The downside to selling via a marketplace is that it doesn’t come with the highest selling price since most of the buyers want to buy a blog at a great price. This is not always the case because marketplaces are bargain hunters and are usually more favorable for buyers than sellers.
Although there are lots of marketplaces that you can sell your blog on, Flippa and Empire Flippers are the most reliable options. Flippa is an established marketplace that has a huge amount of buyers and sellers. Lots of new websites are listed on Flippa every day and thousands of buyers are looking for websites they can buy on the site.
Empire Flippers is like a hybrid between a broker and a marketplace. You can list your blog on the platform to have access to their audience. Apart from reaching their audience, you will also get personal service like what you would get from a broker.
It is, however, important to note that you will need to pay some fees when selling through a marketplace. You will pay a listing fee of $19 to list your blog on Flippa. There are also upgrades that you can pay for if you want your listing to get more exposure. Also, if your blog wins an auction, you will pay 10% of the listing price as the success fee.
However, the site does not provide you with any assistance when selling your website. It is just a listing platform that will help you get exposure. Also, not all auctions won at Flippa will lead to an actual sale.
Buyers often back out and there’s little you can do about it. For instance, if after the auction has been completed the winner of the bid is no longer interested in buying your blog, Flippa will still charge you the success fee because they consider winning the bid as the success.
On the other hand, you will pay $297 as a listing fee if you want to list your blog on Empire Flippers (if you have listed your blog with them in the past, you will pay only $97). The site you to allow about 90 days for your blog to sell. The site claims to have a success rate of at least 95%. According to Empire Flippers, most of the websites on their site sell for approximately 20 times the profit they make monthly.
Apart from getting the exposure that will help you sell your blog, Empire Flippers will also provide personal advice and connect you to potential buyers. Buyers will have to deposit to Empire Flippers before they can go through the information on your website; this gets rid of unserious prospects. They will also help you transfer your site to the buyer.
3. Sell through a broker
The third way through which you can sell your blog is by hiring a broker. The advantage of this approach is that you will have good connections with potential buyers and the broker will handle the difficult process for you.
The broker will also help you figure out how much you should request for the blog. Apart from this, the blogger will also communicate with potential buyers and also assist you through the whole process. In most cases, the broker will have the contract and all necessary forms, so you should not worry about that.
The disadvantage of this approach is the fee the broker will charge. The broker will charge a percentage of the selling price of the blog. Despite the fee that you will pay for using this approach, you will still have more money in your pocket. If the broker helps you find a good buyer, the money you will make will worth the commission the broker will charge. A broker will also assist you with the details of the sales process (such as the contract).
Blogs with high earnings can also hire the service of an investment broker. Such professionals also play roles that are similar to a broker by helping you find a buyer for your blog.
FAQs
1. How much can you sell your blog for?
The general formula that most people use when they want to determine the value of their blogs is to multiply their monthly earnings by a figure between 20 and 40. So, if your blog makes $600 per month, it is worth between $12,000 and $24,000.
2. How do I sell my blog?
You can make use of marketplaces or directories to sell your blog online. They include Flippa and Empire Flippers. You can also sell your blog by yourself or through a broker. You can end up selling yourself short if you sell your blog on a marketplace.
3. Do blogs sell?
A profitable blog is a good business, and good and legitimate businesses are valuable if they are making money. There are different ways through which you can make money with a blog; they include affiliate marketing, advert revenue, selling your products, sponsored content, and premium content.
Conclusion
I hope I have done justice to the issue of selling your blog. The process of selling a blog for profits is not something that you can achieve overnight. You need to invest both time and money.
If you want to sell your blog and make money, ensure you prepare for all related legal issues even before you make your blog available for sale. This will ensure that the whole process goes smoothly with less hassle.