Hi guys
I came across this listing on flippa and thought it was a pretty decent listing.
It's got a decent PR, good unique content and a large mailing list...but that's just my noob opinion.
It seems like there's a lot of value in the mailing list but do you think it's a particular problem that most of the website's revenue is generated from their mailing list? Almost 90% of what they earn comes from this.
What do you guys think?
That's a very good model. If the income from the mailing list is genuine, it's far better than a site that makes income reliant on a lot of Google traffic or even affiliates (affilates can be tempted away by a competitor)! Some sites pay several dollars per sign up to their mailing list.
The listing at Flippa
Other pluses: It's a really old site so you could do much better on the SEO and it shouldn't be too difficult to more than double that traffic. And if Adsense isn't earning much you could increase subscribers just by removing the Adsense code. Marketers on here like Michelle would salivate at the kind of improvements available on this site to increase signups. It's not very optimised at all.
Areas of caution:
- The list is single opt-in, not as good as double opt-in.
- Older subscribers may have changed email address by now.
- As with any site, you need to check all the figures carefully.
- Can you transfer the list?
Worth trying:
Asking the seller to include your tracking in their next mailshot.
Finding out how clean the list is.
DD on here is a collaborative effort and I look forward to what others can spot, good and bad.
All the best with your bidding.
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Hi 3stacks,
Mailing lists vary in value because no tws lists are alike. However it should be fairly easy to get some ideas how good the list is if the owner will cooperate.
First: lists are dynamic not static - people tend to sign up for stuff and then lose interest over time. A good number of subs will sign up and never unsubscribe. This means that the longer the list the more people who are on it who may never buy anything. Don't worry about that just understand and expect your open and response rates may decline over time.
There are some things you might want to consider here:
How fast is the list growing? is the rate new subs increasing or decreasing? Why?
How many unsubscribers are you getting? Again increasing or decreasing? You may want to compare a ratio of subs/unsubs over time.
If you can take a look at the last 10-20 emails - what are they offering? what sells well? What doesn't sell well? Do you see any correlation between offers and unsubs? HOW MANY TIMES DO THEY REPEAT AN OFFER? Generally speaking an offer should be repeated 3X to any one list before you take a rest. However this is not a hard and fast rule and you should be sensitive to your subs preferences.
How often is the list mailed to? You can usually judge the value of the list by multiplying the total number X the ave sales X ave $$ per sale X %profit. So if you have a 1,000 sub list at a 10% average open rate and they like to buy $50 products that pay 50% commission...
You can expect each mailing to be worth $2500. Considering the BIN on this auction, I suspect this is somewhat hopeful but you get the idea.
Second: Lists like this tend to be highly personal. I would think a list like this should be handled by someone who is really into scrapbooking with a great "voice" in their writing. If you don't have someone you may have to find them. I once set up a scrapbooking blog for a friend of mine. She liked to organize scrapbooking weekends. She was pretty good at that but she never got into the blogging. Put your list into hands like hers and it will die.
A site with a good list can be a great investment but it can also be a fast way to lose your investment.
Andy
There is no revenue proof or am I blind? The first thing I'd ask for is proof of earnings over the last 12 months, month by month break down (net profit.)
Is the promotion they ran in March/April one of many list promos? Or was it the one and only? If there were previous promos then finding out the open rates and conversions of those and this most current one would be telling. They could easily upload open rate screen shots to give you an idea of how responsive the list is and they should be able to give you the sales conversions on those.
There is opportunity there but I agree with Andy, to do the site (investment) justice, a passionate dedicated voice would work best in this market. It would be possible to outsource though and if you have the funds and inclination to throw at it then it could be a great project. I'd definitely get sight of the monthly historical income though before doing anything.
I agree with the others when they say that more detail on the stats is needed.
Traffic is on the decline (looking at the GA stats) so with the averaged monthly uniques being 4,826 (not 5,700 as claimed), you can bet that the true figure is much lower.
The video's are captivating though, I watched them for ages.
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