I've got $5,000...what should I spend it on?

This is somewhat hypothetical, somewhat not. But say I had $5,000 to spend on anything...what should I spend it on?

I'd prefer it to be associated with the web in some way (a website, ecommerce, whatever).

I'm not looking to blow this money...but make the money back and then some. So a solid return on my investment is a must.

I'm also not necessarily looking to just buy something and passively let it make money. Something that requires some upkeep/work is perfectly acceptable.

Ideas?

 

Buy RICK!

 

Cute...but not looking to invest in stocks...like I said..."web related".

 

Assuming you know how to manage and improve sites I don't see how you can go wrong buying existing websites. The standard price of 10-12 times monthly net seems very low. CD's at the bank double in value every seven years of so. The websites should do much better.

 

I'd take some of that money and donate to DP, for the servers.

Your return on investment would be the link on that page (with enough donation) which would be valuable for web site popularity. Not to mention better servers and faster performing tools, etc.

I'd also think about buying a couple quality inbound links and then probably buy an established site to improve, or improve my own.

 

Are you interested in buying adspace for an existing site? What kind of websites do you already run?

 

Eh, not really interested in adspace...actually wanting something new to get involved with.

 

Wow, I didn't think anyone would mention that but that's exactly what my suggestion was as well. I'd buy existing sites with good traffic, SERP rankings and revenue.

That way for your money you have brand new sites to advertise your existing sites on while at the same time returning your investment every month.

 

Yeah...I guess the problem is FINDING decent sites for sale. Seems like all the forums I visit just having hundreds of turnkey sites for sale and I'm really not interested in that at all.

 

As awareness of the value of a good site increases I would expect to see prices increase. I suspect that what looks like overpaying today might look like a deal in a couple of years.

That doesn't make good ones easier to find of course. Gotta love those two posting sales here that last about five minutes. "You snooze you loose." and "You can't steal in slow motion." come to mind

 

Is it not amazing that when someone says he has some money, some people come out and offer ad space?

I agree that you should buy an existing website.

I disagree that the 10-12 x revenue is a good rule of thumb, however. Which I shall ellaborate on:

If you have a site that has 1,000 pages and has a monthly revenue of $200, you would be buying a site for $2000.

Yet, if a site has 10,000 pages and has a monthly revenue of $200, you would still be buying a site for $2000.

As you can see, the second option is more viable than the first as you have 10x the marketing, 10x the potential advertising, etc.

You then have to take into account the PR. If the first site is PR 4 and the second is PR 5, then buying the second site at $2000 would be a steal, but you would more than likely be laughed at with that bid.

You also have to think of the content that is on the pages that are indexed. If it is poor, then value decreases, but if it is good, it adds value.

You may think I am just talking for talking sake, but the guys who believe that 10x monthly revenue are the sharks who want a website they know they can sell on. They don't want to buy it for their own site.

If you want to spend your money on a good website, and be taken seriously, take the other factors into consideration.

 

Buy 3 letter domains

Offtopic - Buy me out, I'll be earning 20 times in 12 months.

 

Not really interested in going the domain route...just isn't really my bag.

 

Hire some cheap coders and designers online, form a team, you know what next!

 

Funny you should mention this as I am planning to raise $5k for a new site's launch and this is how I was planning on spending it:

Links and banner ads:
$500 to DP Forums (PR7 link, plus it's for a good cause)
$300 for Yahoo Directory Listing (1Yr)
$600 for Banner/Text Ads on other sites
$100 for Paid Directory Listings
Traffic:
$500 for Newsletter Advertising (Ex: Cool Sites have a newsletter going out to 55k users for $75)
$250 p.m. on Adwords for 12 months = $3,000

 

buy $5000 of anything you can sell on eBay for $10,000+

 

Buy our hosting with a free shopping cart!!! And Custom Template

3dgamics.com/store

 

First and foremost, evaluate what your interests are. If you are going to buy a website it would be better that is has to do with a topic you are passionate about. Especially if it is a long term play.

-Fractal

 

Signup with ShareASale.com, CommissionJunction.com, and LinkShare.com, you're now in the biggest affiliate networks on the web.

Find a few programs in each that you like and allocate a budget of $500 to each. Do PPC and online ads for 6 of them (spending $3000 total). Within a month or two of spending that you should have a good idea which of the programs you picked will perform well and which don't.

Drop the programs that didn't perform, and spend that last $2000 on the programs that did.

You've not got a couple PPC campaigns that convert into sales, which means long term income for you if you maintain them properly.

Works really well if you get the right programs - here's a hint, work with programs that aren't really popular. Otherwise you'll end up with alot of competition from affiliates on the same networks.

 

I vote buy a website, could be a very good investment =)