Nelson's first taste of online business came when he was just 19, when he and his Dad co-wrote and sold an eBook on how to buy and sell used vehicles. That was in 1995 and the eBook made around $6,000 all told. Not a fortune by any means, but a hefty enough sum for a college student! Fast forward ten years, and the Internet entrepreneur from Orlando now brings in twice that sum every MONTH through his new web site!

BuySellWebsite.com -- the site Nelson built himself to provide Internet entrepreneurs with an online marketplace where they can buy and sell web businesses -- generates $120,000 in annual revenue... $100,000 of which is pure profit!

With figures like that, there's no doubt that Nelson has a lot of secrets to share. So read on to discover how he channeled his never-say-die attitude into becoming the leader in his field... and how he always keeps one step ahead of competitors eager for a slice of the action.

QUESTION:

Nelson, to start with, would you mind giving our readers some background on what your site is all about?

Nelson:

Sure! My Internet business is the #1 most visited web-site-for-sale marketplace in the world! I help web site owners buy and sell their Internet businesses -- from established web sites to start-up sites with no traffic or revenue. We also offer the Internet's longest-running web site appraisal service to help buyers and sellers determine a fair market value for their online business.

QUESTION:

Can you tell us about how you first got started on the Internet? What was your first web site, and how did you grow/expand from there?

Nelson:

I must give credit to my brilliant Mom. Somehow she knew ten years ago that the Internet would be big and handed me my first Internet marketing book. Thanks, Lana!

My first web site was built in 1995, and it sold an eBook my Dad and I co-wrote about how to buy and sell used vehicles. The site was part of one of the many Internet "malls" popping up back then. Almost no one had their own URL in those days, so my URL was just a sub-domain of the mall's address.

It made around $6,000, which I was ecstatic about at the time -- being a college student.

Then, in 2000, my Mom handed me the Internet Marketing Center's Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet course. I really pored over all the information and took the advice to heart. It gave me a lot of inspiration and left me flushed with ideas and confidence. Thanks, IMC, for helping so many.

QUESTION:

Can you give us some background on your experience before you first got started online?

Nelson:

I started an online business when I was 19, so all my working experience is related to the Internet. After graduating from college, I joined Walt Disney World as a webmaster in 2000. That was a great experience, allowing me to learn different ways to build web sites.

I got to see how software like Microsoft FrontPage and Dreamweaver were used to build web sites at Disney, and I was able to learn from the different web designers how they designed certain things.

QUESTION:

What compelled you to take the plunge and start your own Internet business?

Nelson:

My job at Disney ended and, even though I'd already realized that I'd only be truly happy working for myself and didn't really want to take another full-time job at another company, I had an offer from Southwest Airlines to be their Internet Marketing Manager.

Then fate stepped in! That job fell through and, knowing how long it took me to find that job in the first place, I decided right then that I was going to start my OWN business.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I was determined to make it succeed no matter what!

QUESTION:

What gave you the idea to start a web site that sold other web sites?

Nelson:

It really happened by accident! I first built a site that provided a service -- appraising and valuing web sites for their owners. I'd seen an opportunity there as the only company I'd seen doing that on the Internet closed down... so I filled the gap!

Well, as it turned out, most of the people that got appraisals from us also wanted to sell their web site, so it was a natural growth area to provide this service as well.

And the appraisal section is still fantastically beneficial to our site -- it adds both credibility and revenue.

QUESTION:

Do you own any other web sites?

Nelson:

Yes, I'll be launching a new web site this fall -- BuySellCompany.com. It will expand on my original idea of buying and selling web sites to buying and selling all kinds of businesses. I'm really excited about the launch, and it should turn out to be an absolutely fantastic web site.

QUESTION:

Can you give us a feel for the size of your site -- in terms of the number of employees, the number of offices, the annual revenue, and profits?

Nelson:

I have one person who works for me out of my home office in sunny Orlando, Florida, and she has been with me from almost the start. She has been absolutely great, and I wouldn't be where I am today without her. Thanks, Melissa!

The site is averaging around $12,000 a month in total revenue, with about $10,000 a month of that being profit! It's a fantastic web site and is easy to run... if you know what you are doing. :o)

QUESTION:

How much time and money did it take for you to initially get the site up and running?

Nelson:

I spent about 50 hours per week and about $200 a month for hosting and advertising.

I was incredibly frugal with the money I spent on the site and, because I taught myself HTML, database management, and graphic design, I didn't have to pay for someone else to do this for me. I really think learning to "do it yourself" is the absolute best long-term solution to the success of your Internet business.

QUESTION:

How long did it take for BuySellWebsite.com to start making a profit?

Nelson:

I was probably making a profit within the first six months, but it wasn't a lot. It was probably a year and a half to two years before things really started to pick up. Being patient will get you further than you think!

I've seen many people start their own Internet businesses, but then give up if they don't see money coming in the door within the first month or two -- their expectations have just been too high.

I think many people's expectations of success on the Internet is measured in weeks, instead of months or years. But in today's Internet environment, it's not that easy to get everything to work in under six months. I know there are exceptions to this, but they are incredibly rare.

QUESTION:

You mention that you believe learning to build your site yourself is the best way to ensure the success of your Internet business. Why do you feel this is so?

Nelson:

I think it's because I've watched and talked with hundreds of people who have run Internet businesses and those that know how to build the ideas in their head ALWAYS make more money. It's much more effective than using templates that make your site look like everyone else's, or spending a lot of money paying someone else to build your site when they may not understand what you're looking for.

I think it's worth every minute of your time to learn as much web design as you can.

QUESTION:

Can you tell us a bit about your experience of designing the site yourself?

Nelson:

Sure, I started off using Microsoft FrontPage and have continued using it ever since. I think it's every bit as good as Dreamweaver -- although both tools work great for building web sites.

I use Photoshop to create my site's graphics. It's not that easy to learn, so you can hire a designer to make your main graphics for you for about $500 and then build the site yourself around those graphics.

QUESTION:

Nelson, what do you think really makes a web site stand out from the crowd?

Nelson:

I think what makes a web site great is if it provides fantastic information that is VERY easy to find. It's amazing how many sites are hard to use. If you make your site instantly easy to navigate -- using graphics and links -- you'll separate yourself from the pack.

In terms of the content itself, you should focus on quality -- not quantity. One great article is better than ten okay ones.

QUESTION:

Who is your target market, and where can your visitors be found online?

Nelson:

Our target market is anyone looking to buy or sell an Internet business. They can be found online in places like webmaster forums and Internet marketing sites.

QUESTION:

How much traffic are you seeing to your site, and where do your visitors predominantly come from?

Nelson:

We're seeing about 27,000 unique visitors a month, and it breaks down like this:

• Natural search engines, using keyword phrases like "sell my web site": 50%
• Links from other sites: 20%
• Bookmarked (repeat) visitors: 15%
• Pay-per-click advertising: 10%
• Affiliate links: 5%

QUESTION:

Have the sources of your traffic always been split like this?

Nelson:

No, in the beginning pay-per-click probably accounted for 50% to 60% of our traffic. I think it's OK to have that kind of ratio during your first year while you're trying to get established and build up your natural search engine rankings.

QUESTION:

What are you doing to collect the opt-in e-mail addresses of potential customers?

Nelson:

We try to collect visitors' e-mail addresses on the home page as well as on three or four other highly visited pages on our site. I think you need to provide a compelling reason for people to sign up.

In our case, we invite them to sign up to receive a regular newsletter containing an updated list of web sites for sale.

QUESTION:

Nelson, why do you think a regular newsletter is a good strategy for building a business?

Nelson:

Newsletter sign-ups can easily become the most important and valuable asset to your business. Most times people won't buy from you the first time they visit, but if they get a weekly or monthly newsletter from you that builds a relationship with them, then the chances are much higher that they will eventually make a buying decision.

I can't stress enough how important it is to be in contact with your customers on a consistent basis with useful information. Selling online is all about building trust and credibility with your customers. Without it, your site just won't work.

QUESTION:

How often do you make a point of following up with your leads and previous customers?

Nelson:

Our newsletter is the main way we follow up with our customers. Everyone who has purchased a web-site-for-sale listing or web site appraisal is automatically added to our newsletter list which makes it easy to follow up with them.

We send our newsletter out every week and it contains all the new web-site-for-sale listings that were posted in the last seven days. It's amazing to see how quickly people click through and visit the new listings. In fact, it's not uncommon to see listing views jump by 100 or more within an hour!

We track the number of click-throughs and what people look at when they're visiting to keep up to date with what our customers are interested in.

Our newsletter is always well received, and we normally enjoy a 22% to 24% click-through rate which is just phenomenal!

QUESTION:

If someone is planning to buy a web business from your site, what should they look for? What factors indicate a web site's potential for success?

Nelson:

You should be able to verify its finances by looking at bank statements and, hopefully, by logging in live to their online merchant account.

You should also check out the history of their site using Alexa's Wayback Machine -- a great tool that lets you view old versions of web pages -- as well as their Alexa traffic ranking.

Since every business is different, you should also check out the product or service being sold to make sure it's something you can sell.

You can also check them out with the Better Business Bureau. If all of this looks good, you can start negotiating the sale!

QUESTION:

In order of importance, could you please tell us about the top marketing strategies that you use on a regular basis?

Nelson:

1. Search engine optimization. We get most of our traffic through this strategy, but it doesn't take too much time to maintain. After you've selected your keywords to use, use them at the top of the page, as the title of the page, and save the file on your server using the keyword as the name of the file. Remember, don't try to target more than one or two keywords per page.
2. Building a great web site. This may not necessarily sound like a marketing strategy, but if your site is great and contains great content, then people will bookmark it and link to it.
   
   This accounts for a combined 40% of our traffic so I really pay attention to the site itself, making sure it's easy for visitors to navigate and find the information they need. The visitors to your site should know what your site is about in less than three seconds, or you risk losing them. It's amazing how many web site owners violate this rule with their web sites!
3. Pay-per-click advertising. I use Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing and have had good success with both of these. It's essential to track your results, and they both have fantastic tracking tools that let you know what keywords are converting for you. In terms of budget, a couple hundred dollars a month should generate the traffic you need to make PPC advertising worthwhile.
4. Affiliate marketing. It can be tough to find good affiliates for your site -- less than 10% will really work for you and earn you good money. But placing a link at the bottom of your site requesting that people join your program is a great way to pick up affiliates. I'd also recommend using affiliate software to track their sales and manage your affiliate program.

QUESTION:

You obviously place a lot of emphasis on search engine placement and optimization. How do you keep on top of this to ensure your site is highly ranked?

Nelson:

The search engines have done a great job for me so I pay careful attention to them and check my keywords and my competitors' rankings all the time -- at least three times a week.

So I really stay on top of it. The search engines you really need to focus on optimizing for are Yahoo and Google. If you get those correct, the rest fall into place.

QUESTION:

How do you research the keywords you use when optimizing your site for search engines?

Nelson:

There are really three ways I do this:

1. Yahoo Search Marketing has a keyword selector tool that is absolutely great. It lets you enter a keyword related to your site and then shows you related searches that include your term and the estimated number of times that term was searched in the last month.
2. I also use Wordtracker for further research and information. It lets you find new keywords related to your site and shows how often they are used to search for information. Wordtracker also lets you see how many competing sites are using those keywords.
3. I type some of the better keywords I've found into the search engines and see what sites come up. I then take note of how these sites are building their pages to make use of keywords and work out what I can do to emulate them.

QUESTION:

You also mentioned that you use pay-per-click advertising. You seem to have two fairly distinct audiences -- people who are looking to buy a web site, and those looking to sell. Obviously the people who pay to list their site for sale are your paying customers, but do you run different PPC campaigns to attract buyers as well as sellers?

Nelson:

Absolutely! I need to attract both buyers and sellers otherwise I just won't survive. I spend probably half my marketing budget every month on attracting buyers. I make great money from people coming back to sell other web sites they own, and I would never get that repeat business if my marketplace didn't work for them.

QUESTION:

Have you ever bought other types of online advertising? If so, what kinds, and were the results successful?

Nelson:

I've done everything at one time! I would stay away from banner ads and concentrate on things like e-zines that are targeted for your industry. These can sometimes turn out to be a gold mine!

To find relevant e-zines, type in the keywords related to your industry and check out the top sites -- most of them will probably have an e-zine. If they don't have an advertising option set up, just send the site owner an e-mail asking about advertising possibilities.

Always ask for an advertising discount -- most sites will give you one, even up to 25%. And make sure you buy the ad nearest the top -- it's worth the extra money. You'll also need to make sure that you'll be able to track your sale conversions.

QUESTION:

Do you promote your site offline as well?

Nelson:

I did an article for an offline magazine -- Internet Magazine -- and the exposure was fantastic. But you'll need a great site before anyone will pick you up.

QUESTION:

How did you get your article in Internet Magazine?

Nelson:

I e-mailed them out of the blue and they accepted my idea. It's a good idea to target specific magazines rather than write off to a whole bunch of them. And you should be creative with your request for inclusion -- try to show how their readers would benefit from having you in their publication.

QUESTION:

We see that you also sell advertising space on your site. How do you attract advertisers, and is this a successful extra source of revenue for you?

Nelson:

We attract advertisers using the links on our site. It's a fantastic source of extra income. But you shouldn't add too much advertising to your site -- it can distract from your own content. It's better to keep it simple and stick to a couple of good advertisers.

QUESTION:

Nelson, you mentioned that your affiliate program is an important strategy for you. How many affiliates do you have, and what percentage of your revenue is generated by your affiliates?

Nelson:

I have about 80 affiliates. They generate less than 5% of my revenues, but they provide me with great link popularity, which helps improve my ranking in the free search engines.

QUESTION:

What kind of help do you give your affiliates in terms of marketing advice, salescopy, and other promotional materials?

Nelson:

We provide them with an extensive information sheet, telling them how to place the links on their site and how to promote our site. This is sent to them automatically when they sign up for the program.

QUESTION:

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting an affiliate program?

Nelson:

Don't set your expectations too high. It will take a while for things to start to happen, but you can speed things up if you go out and actively look for sites that are suitable for your program and then help them set up links to your site.

QUESTION:

What have you done to automate your site?

Nelson:

I made sure that I automated the way web-site-for-sale listings are submitted to BuySellWebsite.com. I manage the listing process through a database set up in FrontPage, and it was well worth the time it took to learn their database "wizards" as the process now works really well.

The database accepts payment, directs them to fill out the ad form, automatically posts the new listings, rotates new listings onto the home page, and deletes the old listings automatically. It also tallies the number of viewers to each listing and allows the seller to modify their listing at any time. I couldn't do it without the database, really.

I also use automated software to help run my e-mail campaigns and affiliate program.

Something else I did to help automate the business and make sure everything runs smoothly, was to write a guide for anyone working for me to teach them to run the site. It's really all the little things I do to make sure everything is going smoothly. If you can't leave your business for a week while someone else runs it, it's probably not automated enough.

QUESTION:

Nelson, could you tell us about three online tools or web sites that you've found to be powerful resources for marketing your business or locating e-business strategies and information? What are they and how have they benefited you?

Nelson:

1. Since we deal exclusively with buying and selling Internet businesses, I'm always interested in the history of sites, and it's truly fantastic to see how a site has grown over the years using a tool like the Wayback Machine.
2. I also like visiting Webmonkey.com for great tips and tricks for designing and coding your site.
3. Yahoo Search Marketing and Google AdWords are fantastic resources for pay-per-click advertising and for researching keywords

QUESTION:

How many hours per week do you spending running your business versus growing it?

Nelson:

It's probably about a 50/50 split right now, but I'm always trying to spend more time on growing the business.

QUESTION:

Can you tell us what steps you've taken to grow your business?

Nelson:

Sure. Once you have a great business up and running, one of the best ways to make it grow is to find new places to promote and advertise your web site online -- increasing traffic to a proven web site will always result in more money earned.

We're also trying to generate more money from our current products. For example, we're working on a way we can certify the web site appraisal we do for clients by officially verifying their financial statements. We should be able to charge a premium for this much needed service that will make their sites more attractive to buyers and help them achieve a higher buying price.

QUESTION:

How do you keep ahead of your competition?

Nelson:

I continually make small improvements to my site. A lot of people don't do this -- they build their site and for the most part walk away. I think one of the things that has made me successful is the continuous small improvements that add up over time.

There are always things to improve with your site -- just pick small, but important projects and spend time working on them every week.

QUESTION:

Can you provide an example of a small improvement you've made that has had a big impact on your business?

Nelson:

One example is that I discovered that when people were submitting their ads to my site, the database was displaying their business descriptions as one long paragraph -- instead of separating them into different paragraphs.

I had to find out how to change the code to make this work with FrontPage, but it made a big difference to how the listings looked. It may seem like a small thing, but it was a very nice improvement.

QUESTION:

What are some of the challenges you have personally experienced while building and growing your site?

Nelson:

Just staying on top of things has been a big challenge. I used to work seven days a week to make sure everything was running perfectly. Now I set work hours of Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can get burned out if you're not careful -- even if you completely love it like I do.

QUESTION:

What would you consider to be your major achievements?

Nelson:

It's a major achievement that I've built a highly useful and legitimate web site that people gain substantial value from. I'm still incredibly pleased when people place ads with me and write me later to tell me their site has sold. I always feel honored they have chosen to use my site.

I also like making money! Just getting our site past the first two years was fantastically difficult, so it's a major achievement that I've made it to my current position where I'm making a great profit every month.

QUESTION:

What do you think has helped to make your site so successful?

Nelson:

That I stuck with it! I really believe one of the biggest mistakes people make in starting an Internet business is not putting enough time and effort into what they have chosen to do.

I just don't see how you're going to be successful in 90 days, or even 180, unless you're lucky. It's obviously very important to choose the right business or the right product, but it's also vital that you keep going and don't give up too soon.

QUESTION:

What is the biggest mistake you have made since you first launched your site?

Nelson:

There's nothing big I can point my finger at -- it was all a thousand little pieces of learning that started to add up to wisdom.

QUESTION:

Could you tell us about a "light bulb" moment that you've had? A moment when you've thought to yourself, "If only I'd known that earlier..."

Nelson:

I think a light-bulb moment was when I realized that I didn't have to lock myself into the notion that the only way for me to make money online was the "traditional way."

I could branch out into "outside the box" ideas. For example, I sold duplicates of my web site to other people wanting to run a web-site-for-sale marketplace except in a different market like Australia or the United Kingdom. Through doing that, I was able to pick up some much needed money early on to keep my business going -- things like that should never be overlooked.

Every web site owner can probably find new ways to make money from their site if they look hard enough. If your site isn't making a whole lot now, try out other revenue streams and see what happens.

QUESTION:

Do you have any other "outside the box" ideas you could share with us?

Nelson:

I think it's really a mind-set you need to get into -- every web site is different. If you sell a product, try not to limit yourself to that being the only way your site can make money.

If you've turned your site into a profitable venture, maybe think of selling your consulting services or helping design someone else's site for a fee. You could even write an e-book detailing how you've been able to become so successful.

The main thing is not to limit your idea of how your site is supposed to make money. Sometimes you need to entertain other ideas to really grow your business -- on your own or through joint ventures.

QUESTION:

What major mistakes do you see other Internet entrepreneurs making?

Nelson:

I've addressed this a few times before, but it bears repeating. Many Internet entrepreneurs give up too soon. You should stick with what you've chosen and keep working at it. Don't expect to start making lots of money immediately!

Also, some new entrepreneurs get sidetracked into spending time on things like printing business cards, buying new computer equipment (unless the current system is totally unacceptable), buying lots of office supplies (you probably have enough to get by with already) -- when they should be devoting all their money and energy to building their web site.

QUESTION:

What advice would you give new online entrepreneurs who get frustrated and feel like giving up?

Nelson:

If your site is already up and running, and you've done all the Internet marketing you can think of -- but nothing is really happening, I would advise you to go and search for the main keywords for your industry and see who is coming up on the first page.

Then look at what they're doing and how they're doing it, and think how you can emulate them and improve on their techniques. Many people don't bother with this, but you can learn a lot from this kind of research.

QUESTION:

Where do you see your site one year from now?

Nelson:

Blasting along at the same clip of growth it's had for the last four years! I'll also be running the newly launched BuySellCompany.com.

QUESTION:

What advice do you have for beginners who are interested in selling over the Web?

Nelson:

I would say it will be very difficult for you to succeed if you don't know how to implement your web design ideas yourself. Paying a web designer is costly and you never seem to get exactly what you want. So spending two or three months learning Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver is time well spent.

QUESTION:

Finally, how has running BuySellWebsite.com impacted your personal and professional life?

Nelson:

It's made it fantastic! I get a lot of pride from running a successful company, and I completely enjoy the freedom it provides. I can leave at any time, start at any time, and vacation as much and as far away as my budget will take me! I can't imagine working for anyone else -- I'm having way too much fun!