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Comment by mtlynch | Hacker News Reader

It's just a content site about the keto diet. It runs in the background and earns money from Google AdSense and Amazon Affiliate links, the latter of which are dwindling because I haven't had time to fix dead product links. It's a plain static site, so it doesn't need any server maintenance or software upgrades.

Not totally passive because I actively tried to grow it for three months when I had to cancel my main business due to COVID.[0]

Jan: $786.71

Feb: $682.62

Mar: $362.28 (Amazon slashes affiliate payouts + drop in traffic due to COVID)

Apr: $220.48

May: $221.53

Jun: $180.66

Jul: $369.91

Aug: $486.22

Sep: $362.18

Oct: $510.86

Nov: $431.52

Total: $4,614.97

If you're interested in the details, I write retrospectives every month sharing stats and thinking through strategy.[1]

[0] https://mtlynch.io/retrospectives/2020/04/

[1] https://mtlynch.io/retrospectives/2020/07/

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Are you interested in selling your Keto site?

I'll code you a competitor for much less than that person would charge, if they are even willing to sell :)

they want the traffic and recurring revenue, they don't care about the site

How'd that work out for fox when they bought myspace?

Despite the failure, I'm guessing somewhat better than if they had hired you to make a clone?

comparing multimillion dollar sites with niche sites is pointless

Well if we're going to ignore all of the variables in this manner it seems to be doing them super well, they're still in business!

I assume that this was a tongue in cheek comment, but in case it wasn’t...

The site code and content itself is worth very little. The history, traffic, and back links are the value.

Even if the site was copied or even improved on, it would take somewhere between 6 to 24 months to reach a comparable level of traffic assuming no black hat strategies are used.

Why would someone pay a 4x multiple on a site that probably wont be making anything 4 years from now? (4x being a rough estimate of the buying price).

That's 40 grand that could be used on traffic to the new site

Hmmmm...

1. 4x ~$4600 annual revenue = $18400, a far cry from 40 grand.

2. I seriously doubt that this site will be making $0 in four years. My vote is for the over by a lot.

3. Most folks who would purchase it at a 4x annual revenue multiple would have a clear plan to increase traffic and/or monetize the traffic more efficiently than the current owner does.

Speaking for myself, buying existing traffic is like printing money for me. Most people do not monetize their traffic very well at all. That said, getting white hat traffic from scratch is a slow and tedious process.

Not really. I find it fun to own it and watch what happens to it, so I likely value it much higher than its real market value.

I have considered finding someone who wants to manage it under some sort of revenue-sharing agreement. I don't know if that's a common practice or if there are existing precedents for that, but I feel like the numbers are too small for it to be worthwhile for anyone.

Happy to chat if you change your mind!

Why does Covid drop traffic for a content site about keto?

Stress eating? I bet fewer people are dieting right now than last year.

I'm guessing just a shift in priorities. People felt panicked when COVID hit, and I imagine for most of them, learning about a new diet wasn't the most important thing.

Also, in some places, there were food panics, so people might have been less interested in buying keto groceries, as keto's heavy on meats, cheeses, and other things that spoil quickly.

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