🌱 Niche Site Evolution?

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As someone who spent more than a decade growing and flipping niche sites, the last year or so has been an interesting one for me.

I’ve always had my hands in a lot of cookie jars, but flipping sites was my main thing.

Since HCU, I’ve spent a lot of time not only thinking on what’s next for me, but what can replace niche sites when it comes to flipping digital assets.

So, I’ve got some thoughts to share.

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Here’s What I Think…

Even before HCU, I’d identified YouTube channels as a good option for flipping.

With faceless channels, you eliminate a lot of the friction that comes with doing video. Cause you’ve got decent AI voices now and there’s some okay-ish one-click video tools.

Though the really valuable channels require more video editing skills than those tools give you out of the box. But, just like with niche sites, plenty of buyers are okay with outsourcing 100% of the work.

Newsletters are another thing that’s pretty easy to flip. And pretty easy to grow, if you know what you’re doing. Plus, you can pair them with a niche site.

One thing I’ve noticed with newsletters though is that not all niches are easy to flip. Just look around Duuce at sold newsletters vs ones that have been there a while.

But pick the right niche and you can sell even if you’ve got no revenue.

With UGC and communities gaining prominence, I’ve been watching to see what happens in this space. I wasn’t sure what would end up being more valuable - something like a niche forum or something like a Circle group or even Discord channel.

I’ve been loving Skool in recent months, but the issue with it has always been that you can’t change ownership.

Until now.

That screenshot is actually from a Skool community that I’m in called Digital Asset Marketplace.

Since I prefer the user experience of a Skool community, that’s what I’m placing my bets on when it comes to UGC and communities.

Of course, the ideal flip is going to be combining some of these assets.

That would look something like this: newsletter + niche site + Skool community

You could sell digital products on the site, so maybe it’s not even a niche site.

You’ll notice two things are missing here - Etsy stores and KDP accounts (for Kindle books).

That’s because the terms and conditions of each of those says that you cannot sell them. Sure, people sell them all the time, but it’s risky.

Oh, and I should probably mention Rank & Rent sites and Directory sites. You can flip those as well. These two options have been around for probably more than a decade, but still decent enough options if you want to try it flipping them.

And ecomm sites, but I don’t really see too many niche site folks transitioning to ecomm.

I’m also seeing people selling Facebook pages that are in the Bonus program, but that’s short term thinking and not something I’m a fan of.

What do you think?

Stay awesome,

Shawna

P.S. If you’re looking for high level discussions or tips on things like local SEO and Rank & Rent, I highly recommend Jacky Chou’s Advise community. I’ve been in it for several months and there’s tons of value in it, including a SOP for local SEO.

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