Earning Money

I love when someone leaves a comment asking a question because then it inspires me to write a blog post. So, thanks to Tyler for the question. Just in case you aren’t sure what the question was, here it is:

Purely from a hypothetical viewpoint, would making blogs, and getting some traffic to them in hopes of getting bought out make you more or less money than just keeping the blog and your readers?

So, in a sense, he is asking me whether I think that it would be a smarter idea (in the hopes of profitability) to create blogs, get some traffic to them, try and earn some money on it and then flip it before it becomes too much work OR if you should create blogs and build them up as if you were really trying to become an expert of niche. For example, this blog. I write on it regularly and I am becoming (not an expert) an informed individual about the niche. So, which is better? Instantaneous gratification of one lump sum of cash for one site or the slow, passive income over time of one site. Which is better?

I have to say that it depends entirely on what you’re looking to do. When I started to invest in the stock market, my cousin asked me: “are you looking to make some money fast for a car or because you want a nice cushion to retire on?” Why are you making money? Are you doing it because you want to replace your job? Or are you doing it because you know that you are going on vacation in four months and really need to pay that hotel, airfare and everything else? If the latter is your answer, then the build and sell method is definitely for you.

Basically, if you’re looking to get fast money (which, fast would still be a minimum two months), then the build up and sell method is for you. Why? Because after two months, you’ll have earned some money so you can flip it for higher than $50.00. Now, I also say two months because it gives a trend of earnings. Now, I mentioned in one of my cruisin’ the web posts about an article on how to make $1000.00 on the sale of your site. If you read the article, you’ll see that, with following the 10 months revenue for the price method, you can make $100.00 in a month and then sell the blog for $1000.00.

Does this work? I don’t know, I never tried it. Could it? Yeah, it could. You’d need to really pump hard to get content up as well as get those links sold and the reviews written and all of that. Once the site is showing $100 or $200 a month, sell it for a grand or two and you’ll walk away with a pretty profit. Does it always work? Like I said, I’ve never tried it, but I can say that I doubt it does. People like passive income when they buy a site. Is that method passive? That depends on your opinion of the word passive.

If you’re looking to hold onto these sites and really build them up and get a nice passive income each and every month, the build and sell method is useless. Sure, you can build and sell for profit only to reinvest in that one site you love, but I really believe that the investment method is the one where you don’t even think about selling. The only thought in your mind is how to make it bigger. How do I make this blog just a bit bigger? And you set goals for yourself. You don’t set goals with the build and sell method. With this, though, you do.

So, which do I recommend to make more money? I prefer the investment method. I prefer to invest my time and my money into a site that is going to be around for a while. I like to become an authority. However, if you’re looking to pay for tuition (like I am soon), then perhaps the build and sell is for you. You build it up, you get it earning and then flip it fast and hard. You make as much as you can and then try again. It’s a different kind of work. It’s not passive. It’s aggressive. You need to go out and find people to buy those links. And you need to ensure that your income stays at over $100 a month so that you can sell for that $1000. So, which would I do for money? The passive. Passive income is always nicer. But, if you are in need of some hard cash? Try the build and sell.

Hope that answered your question, Tyler. I don’t get very many questions, so when I do, I tend to go off on a rant. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an e-mail at jacob@dormearning.com or leave a comment.

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