Making Money From "Offline" Flipping - Is this where the flippers will migrate?

[Clinton]

tvanslooten has a post on his site about a new book teaching people how to flip websites "locally" i.e. to offline customers. Basically, it's doing what developers have been doing for ages, but seems targeted at attracting the flipping crowd. What with flipping getting a lot of bad press recently and various flippers giving up their night job, it would seem he has timed this book well.

This is the site selling the book (sorry, Travis, I stripped your affiliate link out).

When I flip websites to people who are not business owners I get anywhere from $300 – $500 ...When I flip websites to business owners (The Consultant Model) I get anywhere from $595 – $1500 or more depending on the industry, the type of website and what it has for “bells and whistles” or “add ons.” A basic small business website goes for $595 while a small business website with e-commerce capabilities which allows the business owner to sell their products and services online can go for upwards of $1,500 or more....

Who's tempted?

[tke71709]

Without reading the actual book, or visiting their website let me sum up the business model here as per reading the interview.

Build website, sell website to local business, profit, repeat.

Not sure how any of this is groundbreaking. Maybe he goes over the use of city specific keywords so that you can market it to multiple buyers at once but seeing as he says that traffic and SE rankings are not important I'm not sure he even does that.

One other nitpicky item, none of this relates to site "flipping" at least not by my definition of the term (buying a site, making some improvements, and reselling it at a [hopefully] higher price).

All in all I'm sure it would be an interesting read but I don't see any added value for anyone knowledgable about the industry.

[meathead1234]

Interesting. 200 copies isn't bad for a WSO but am assuming most of those "100 sales in 2 and a half hours" came from an existing list.

To me, this is no better than "flipping" turnkey sites online - the only difference is you can command a higher price offline. The sites are still brand new and I'd imagine a huge percentage will fail other than offering them an online presence. The other issue with flipping offline is your average client will want a lot more hand holding, the sales process takes longer and inevitably they want 100s of tiny tweaks to make the site perfect (which is annoying if you are not a designer/coder). I got fed up with dealing with offline clients, hence moving online.

I'm sure it will be useful to the "flippers" who are struggling with their turnkeys - I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing though Technically, this isn't flipping either. People seem to apply the word "flip" to selling websites - which it isn't.

[Alastair]

I read this yesterday and wasn't 100% sure I understood the concept. But like tke71709 it struck me that its pretty similar to what 1000's of Web developers have been doing for ages. I'd have thought it would be beneficial to create longer term relationships with these businesses and make money from maintenance/updates etc?

[tke71709]

He also provides hosting as well.

[flipfilter]

I read this yesterday and wasn't 100% sure I understood the concept. But like tke71709 it struck me that its pretty similar to what 1000's of Web developers have been doing for ages. I'd have thought it would be beneficial to create longer term relationships with these businesses and make money from maintenance/updates etc?

I guess I'm a bit late to the party here, but I couldn't agree more.

I think someone's had the idea of 'let's put a coat of paint on being a web designer'. Attach it to something current (website flipping - although technically creating a website and selling it to a pre determined buyer ISNT technically flipping!) and turn the model around a little (build first, then find out if someone wants it after).

I'm being a little harsh - but I don't quite get it?!

Justin

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Check out my latest book - "Profits from Job Flipping". I'll show you how to

- Get a job
- Earn some money whilst doing it
- Lose it just weeks later then try to get another job, taking home a tiny pay cheque in the process

[flipfilter]

Clinton!!!

Please restore the bit at the bottom of my post.

It was a joke but puts context to what I'm trying to say.

[ClaytonL]

I know some professional job flippers. I wonder if they read your book.

[flipfilter]

I know some professional job flippers. I wonder if they read your book.

Hey Clayton,

I have a catering company and sometimes it feels like half the people who start working here are professional job flippers

I guess that's why I'll always prefer web - no dependence on people other than myself!

[hooperman]

Can I flip my current job for 10x monthly "profit"?