Hey peeps
This month’s update is bittersweet as it’s the final update on the site I started on the 1st Jan 2020 – because I sold the site.
I’ll answer right off the top what most of you reading this will be thinking; why sell it? and how much did you get?
I sold it for two main reasons;
- I didn’t have enough time to work on the site as much as I wanted to, and
- selling it helped me achieve some personal financial goals
I sold the site for $115,000, which was about a 37x multiple.
It’s been a wild ride, here’s a summary of how the site performed in the 2 years and 7 months I had it and more on why I sold it:
Contents
Lifetime Site Stats
| Year | # Articles | # Pageviews | Ad Revenue | Amazon | Other Affiliate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 442 | 437,251 | 7,823.13 | 480.42 | 321.85 | 8,625.40 |
| 2021 | 182 | 1,428,563 | 29,193.48 | 990.60 | 2,526.57 | 32,710.65 |
| 2022 (Jan-Jul) | 180 | 668,583 | 15,337.37 | 502.64 | 2,687.02 | 18,527.03 |
| Total | 804 | 2,534,397 | 52,353.98 | 1,973.66 | 5,535.44 | 59,863.08 |
P&L Jan 2020-July 2022
| Income | $ | |
| Ad Revenue | 52,353.98 | |
| Affiliate | 7,509.10 | |
| Sale Proceeds | 115,000.00 | |
| Total Income | 174,863.08 | |
| Expenses | ||
| Domain name | 60 | |
| Hosting* | 185 | |
| *approx due to shared account | Ezoic Premium* | 600 |
| Broker (10%) & Sales Fees | 12,564.50 | |
| Total Expenses | 13,409.50 | |
| Net Profit (Before Tax) | 161,453.58 |
The good news is that the sale qualifies for 10% tax here in the UK, so I get to take a good chunk of that sale price home.
So, Was It All Worth It?
Yeah, it was worth it for me and I’d do it all over again pretty much the same.
I’ve seen case studies where people have made a lot more than I did with a lot less effort, but we also know that most sites fail.
But as far as making a living goes here in the UK, that’s a pretty bonkers return for me.
This wasn’t my first or only site, so I knew it was going to be profitable.
You can just never really tell exactly where a site is going go, how quickly, and how you’ll navigate all the bumps in the road.
I would estimate that I spent about 1,000 hours working on the site in total. I know that’s a nice round number, but seeing as each post takes around an hour and change, I think that’s a fair number.
That means I made around $161k for 1,000 hours work, so that’s $161/hr before tax.
I’m more than happy with that.
The Process of Selling the Site:
I opted to go with one of the smaller brokers, I don’t want to say who it was out of respect for the new buyer as it would be very easy to look up the site.
They listed the site at a 40x multiple, which was $125,000. They charged me 10%, as opposed to 15% like EmpireFlippers would so that was a small win.
I’m sure some people enjoy the sale process, but I didn’t. Lots of low-ball offers coming in, a little anxiety wondering if it’ll sell and how it will go, and the grieving process of letting the site go is real.
Back to the actual sale process, I’d actually accepted an offer much closer to the sale price, but the buyer pulled out without explaining why – after I’d handed in my notice with Mediavine.
So, I just took the next best offer at that point to keep the ball rolling and sell the site.
It is what it is, the site is sold and chatted with the new owner. He was really cool and is experienced with sites, so I’m interested to see what he does with it.
More on Why I Sold the Site
The main reason why I sold the site is that due to personal and work circumstances, I just don’t have time to focus on it like I want to.
Sure, I could have sat on it and collected ~$3k/mo, but I feel like the site would probably decline in traffic.
Knowing I could get a multiple in the 40x range, it made sense to sell it and maximize the sale value while it was probably at the highest monthly revenue it was going to see unless I worked on it.
On the financial side; I’ve become interested in FIRE and am in the process of selling other sites and throwing all the funds into the stock market, but that’s a topic for another subreddit.
So, What Now?
Well, obviously that’s the end of this case study.
And that makes me a little sad as I’ve met some awesome people and made some good friends as a result of doing this.
I’m still blogging, and I think I always will be, it’s a hobby, an addiction, and I need the money!
I’m actually selling all but one of my sites. I’m keeping my largest traffic site and the one I enjoy working on the most, and I’m going to hard on that site to see how big I can grow it.
I might post an update here if anything interesting happens, you never know!
Otherwise, I wish success on anyone who is grinding out on a site and you are all welcome to keep in touch.
🙁
Followed your blog from the beginning. I’m both happy for you and sad that my favorite case study is now over.
Thank you for all the knowledge over the years and best of luck on your projects!
Thanks Rei, was a fun 2 and a half years, hope your site(s) are going well!
Hey Phil, it truly is bittersweet. But definitely a good call. Taking some of the risk out of the business definitely is important. Your journey has been incredibly motivating and inspiring to many of us, so thanks for sharing 🙂
I do have some questions:
How’s your largest site doing in terms of traffic and revenue? And do you also write all the content yourself or are you going to outsource? If so, where do you find your writers?
Are you still doing your keyword research with the same approach or has something changed?
Appreciate any updates on this site and see you soon!
Cheers
Hi Elias
Thanks, and yeah, the risk factor was a big factor in why I sold up instead of just leaving the site.
The site I’m working on is closing in on 250k pageviews/mo. I write everything myself and built the site the same as all my others.
I’m intending on hiring a writer actually, I really want to put a lot of effort into growing this site quickly and scaling up.
I haven’t looked into it yet and am not sure where I’m going to find someone.
I’m actually trying to target higher volume keywords, that’s the only difference. But I’m still fine with the smaller volume KWs, the return on the site I sold was fine.
Good luck to you and what you’re doing!
Finally the update on this website comes to an end. I keep checking on here almost everyday to see new update. I am happy you exist on the website at a fascinating profit.
I hope you are going to update this website (Not the one in the case) regularly with some other updates and your insight on search engine optimisation generally.
I am glad to tell you that my website cross over 6,000 pageview last month and finally on Ezoic. I was able to achieve this with over 420 published contents.
I have some questions I would like to ask you but not on here, probably I am going to use contact form to reach out to you.
Hi Kayode
Yeah, I do want to share more stuff here if I can find time.
You’re making progress in the right direction, 6,000 pageviews is a good start – I saw your message, I will get some thoughts to you soon.
Hi Phil,
First of all congrats on the sale!
I have a question though. You say you think that the site would decline in traffic. Is that because you couldn’t write enough content for it?
Do you think Google favors sites that produce a lot of (quality) content over sites that post just once a day?
I work on 3 sites simultaneously and I also feel I spread myself too thin. My only motivation is to balance the risk a bit.
Cheers
Thanks Jay
I was spreading myself too thin and didn’t want to just put in the basic effort on the site. I think it may have declined due to that, yes, it’s about managing risk and I figured it was better to cash in while it’s riding high.
Hi Phil
Congratulations… You did a good job inspiring a lot of people and helping them to achieve success as you did with your sites.
We get used to see new updates about your site. I hope we will see new article on this site when you will have a time.
Good luck to you in your next projects.
Thanks, Mehdi – I appreciate it, it means a lot to me to think I’ve helped inspire others to make some extra $ and push harder. 🙂
Thanks you too …
After all these months from the first month to the last month, can you tell us what is the conclusion or the tips that you have learnt from this site ?? The ultimate tip for new peoole who will create a site today.
Hi Phil,
Congrats on the successful sale of your website!!! It has been a good journey following you on how you built it and helping us out to also build our websites.
I appreciate your willingness to share knowledge and help others.
If you don’t mind, I have spent you an email with specific questions. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them.
Wishing you continued success in your projects as well!
Hey Phil,
Your case study was both enriching & inspiring. Congratulations on the sale and wish you the very best for all your future endeavours.