Site Flipping Tips For Newbies

Posted on 2nd June 2010

Whenever I’m at a gathering and I tell people what I do for a living the first thing they always ask is how can I get into what you’re doing! How can I start flipping sites ? Where do I start ? etc etc. The questions go on but you get the gist of things. So for that reason alone I thought I’d put together a little and very brief (and I mean brief) starter guide on how to get started.

Webmaster Forums

First step is to get to know the main webmaster forums and choose one to hang out on. I would personally recommend digitalpoint (DP for short) for it’s pure activity levels and that people on there actually give away some really beneficial information sometimes. It’s not a classy joint that’s for sure, and certainly it’s got its fair share of shady characters but if you stick around long enough you’ll find some really cool, friendly and helpful people.

Another aspect to the site that’s not noticed by many is that it has a great mix of people starting out and those that are in the process of becomming successful. That blend of users makes it an ideal place to not only feel comfortable but also drive you forward with motivation. So check it out, follow the marketplace, monitor the sites being sold (on an almost hourly basis) and get a feel for how things work.

Other forums to check out include sitepoint, V7N and webmasterworld. Check them all out and choose one that you like.

Skill Up

So you want to get into websites but what do you actually know about how websites are built, how they work, and more importantly how you promote them. These are all questions you should begin to explore and for the most part you’ll be able to answer most of them by simply reading threads and hanging out at one of the major webmaster forums I mentioned above.

This step needs to be done slowly and you really need to enjoy your time doing the exploration. Take your time and just enjoy discovering new information and knowledge about websites. If at this point you’re not enjoying the work you may need to seriously question if this line of work is for you.

Types Of Site Flippers

So you’ve started to gather information and you’re getting comfortable with most of the key terminiologies mentioned on the webmaster forums. So the next step is to decide what angle you’re going to play the game from.

I broadly categorise site flippers into two categories, people that have the money and simply want to be managers. These types usually don’t have too much knowledge on the specifics of XHTML, CSS, or PHP code, they mostly don’t have any knowledge of photoshop or the other major graphics suites but will have an overall understanding of what works and what doesn’t.

If you’re looking to go down this path you’ll still need to learn about all the technologies used in the business but obviously won’t need know too much about using them (as you’ll be paying others to do the work for you). Now despite sounding like an easy path I have to openly say it’s not! This is 100% not an easy route into the game because although you’ll skip over all the technologies and the dirty hands on work your lack of knowledge in that department will need to be offset with a much higher understanding of costing and more importantly the marketing and SEO side of things.

If your personality suits this approach and in your life you’ve shown a track record for having been successful with detailed complex tasks with just general concepts and a high level knowledge then I’d say go for it. Otherwise stick to the next approach which obviously requires less money but takes longer!

So for all of you hands on types (just like me) let’s take a look at how to get started. Firstly you’ll need to master the technologies involved and the best place to start will be the front end technologies like XHTML, CSS, JQuery.

The front end technologies will be enough to help you build fully functioning profitable websites but for those (again like me) who want to go further you’ll need to step into the realms of PHP code and then eventually if you have the patience and desire to get a little artistic then photoshop and graphic design work would be your next stop. Those in essence are the core skills you’ll need in my line of work. Learn them, master them and become one with them!

Oh and for SEO, read around and experiment, I would normally recommend a book or even an e-book on basic SEO as it’s good to have when you first start to understand the theory behind it all. Once you have the basics the next step is to experiment and try to implement all of the various aspects of good SEO such as link building, article writing and other promotional means.

Give It Time

Once you have all of the above locked down, you’re pretty much ready to go full steam ahead but don’t rush it. Once you know what you’re doing and it could take anything from 2-6 months. Enjoy your new found knowledge and start small. Buy a site here and there and try to improve it, most of your early sites will probably be failures but you’ll most likely also pick up some good ones too. Learn from the failures and motivate yourself from the successes.

We all gotta start somewhere so just keep going. If it makes you guys feel any better it took me around 12 months to really feel like an expert site flipper and every month that goes by I usually learn a little more.

Good Luck

As always if you read this article and found it helpful or maybe want me to go into a specific area in more detail just drop me a comment and I’ll be sure to respond. I may even re-open my forums if I get enough requests for help and advice.