Sell Your Website If It No Longer Inspires You
Updated on February 29, 2020
Let’s get real.
You have a website that is worth X amount of dollars right now, but you have taken an indefinite hiatus and the site is laying dormant.
Think of your website like a ship, and you’re the captain. You see a huge iceberg up ahead, but instead of turning the ship around or taking any action, you choose to hang out in the galley.
You could have done something but now it’s too late and you have sealed your fate. You and your ship crash straight into the frigid death rock.
Thomas Andrews: “From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder.”
Bruce Ismay: “But this ship can’t sink!”
Thomas Andrews: “She’s made of iron, sir! I assure you, she can… and she will. It is a mathematical certainty.”
By letting it sit and do nothing, it is a mathematical certainty that your site will eventually die.
At this point there isn’t anything that we can do. Your magnificent ship which was once worth somewhere in the upper six-figure range, your pride and joy, is reduced to a heap of unsalvageable junk, along with all the dreams you had for it.
In order to save yourself from having to witness all your hard work sink to the bottom of the Atlantic, or in this case the Google search index, you must first recognize that there is a problem and it’s a problem that can be fixed if you take action.
Identify the Problem
You realize you have a declining asset on your hands but you’re not quite convinced you should sell it.
Do you hang on to it and wait until you feel inspired again? We’re not talking about being inspired by your site but rather inspired by what your site has the potential to become.
The site isn’t where you’d envisioned it would be. You just don’t have the time or interest right now to take it where it needs to go. You don’t feel any desire to do anything with it anymore. The thrill is gone.
Let’s see if you can relate to either of these two buyers below:
- “DIY David” You bought a site because at the time it looked like an exciting challenge. However, you’ve become bored with tinkering with the site. You would sell, but you feel a sense of guilt that you couldn’t get the site to where you would have liked it, so you’re hanging on to it in the hopes that one day you might feel inspired to start working on it again.
If you relate to “DIY David”, when will you have time to work on the site? Be specific and really give it some thought. If you can’t determine when you will have time, you either do have the time but are choosing to do something else that interests you during that time OR you really don’t have the time to maintain the site. Either way, it’s time to consider selling.
- “Newbie Norm” You purchased a site that you thought was going to be a great source of passive income but it has since become more of a thorn in your backside. You know it’s there and it’s demanding your attention but you really just do not want to go there right now.
If you relate to “Newbie Norm”, have you thought about outsourcing the extra work you don’t have time for? Are you interested in pursuing another project or opportunity—would the cash from the sale of your site help you get moving on it?
Feel familiar? So, what can you do?
There’s a Difference Between ‘Blocked’ and ‘Uninterested’
Figure out if you might have ‘empire block’ and just need to step away, recharge, and reboot, or if you’re really uninterested and just done with everything to do with the site.
When you’re blocked you tend to focus less on the long-term, bigger picture and more on the right here, right now.
A few red flags to look out for include:
- You find yourself not being able to come up with any other types of revenue streams or ways to increase traffic. Nothing. You are drawing a blank.
- You have too many ideas, but can’t focus on a single one.
- You find yourself staring at the site statistics/infographic page instead of taking any real action or making improvements on the site.
Often, this is a rut that you encounter when building a website. We all hit them, a time when you just aren’t sure if it is worth putting in the extra work and/or money to pull it out of the dip and back on course.
Here are some things you can do to get your wheels turning again to get past the blockage:
- Have you thought about expanding your already existing brand into different niche markets?
- Any new features or site updates you’d like to experiment with?
- If the site is providing you with a consistent revenue stream and you find you do still enjoy most of the work involved in running it; why not outsource the work you dislike?
Now, let’s say you have no further desire to try out any new monetization methods, produce new content, or anything else that has to do with the site. You are uninterested and you have no motivation. You are finito!
Don’t Procrastinate
If you procrastinate, waiting too long before coming to us, and your site has already passed the point of no return, unfortunately there’s not much we can offer you.
A site that’s been collecting dust for the last 5 years and hasn’t had any new visitors in over a month isn’t something our clients are looking for.
Your site needs someone to breathe new life into it. Someone that has the time, is motivated and inspired. Someone who could potentially turn the site into a cash cow.
You might be asking why you would want someone else to take over your site and run it better than you did?
Well, think of the reverse scenario. You had a site that ranked #3 in the Google rankings, you sold it and moved on, however, a few months later you took a quick peek and found your old #3 had fell to #26. Why did this happen? Because the buyer didn’t give a shit. How does it make you feel?
We’ve had this happen and it doesn’t feel too good.
Recognizing your site no longer serves to motivate and inspire you; selling before it starts losing traffic and value is key.
Don’t worry, we can help you with that.
Use our free valuation tool when figuring out how much your site is worth. What would you be able to do with the cash generated from the sale of your site? Purchase a site or pursue a project that really lights a fire under you?
Salvaging A Wreck
Perhaps, after thinking on it, you have decided to take action instead of letting your site fall into ruins. Perhaps, you have decided to add new features, content, or expand into a different niche.
By adding more value to your site you will hopefully gain some momentum, which will serve to inspire you again.
Or maybe determined yourself to be uninterested, detached and ready to sell, allowing someone else the opportunity to run with it. By selling your site you will be receiving cash to either re-invest in another website, pursue other interests—or sail around the world on your private chartered yacht.
What happened the last time you sat on a site too long? Or do you have some special tricks for making sure you get off a sinking site before it plummets to the ocean depths? Let us know in the comments!
