Yourownfranchise.com Popular Franchise Website

Description

Up for sale is a long-standing and popular domain.  Yourownfranchise.com (YOF) was started in August of 2003.  I run the site on a part time basis and it has provided me with an excellent return on investment.  Below are some of the search terms people used on Google to find Yourownfranchise.com over the past week (5/7-5/13/08).  You will find that Yourownfranchise.com appears on the first page of Google results for most of these terms and is often very close to the top of the page.
 
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While all of the above terms were for Google searches over the past week, we also received traffic from Yahoo, AOL, Ask Jeeves and MSN searches.  All of this traffic was from being listed high in the search results and none is from PPC (pay-per-click) advertising.  In fact, the only advertising I do for this site each year are Yahoo and Business.com directory listings (around $500 for the entire year). We are also listed on Dmoz.org, which provides additional traffic.
 
When I initially started the site, I charged a flat fee for advertisers to be listed.  Their ad included a brief description and direct link to their website.  The site was profitable.   A few years later, I became unable to manage the site due to other work obligations and decided to simply run Google ads as a means of generating income.  Once again, YOF was profitable, but not to the extent that it was before.  It was a fair trade-off as I did not need to dedicate any time to managing the site.
 
I was approached by a company (another franchise portal) that was interested in buying YOF in September of last year.  I was offered $10,000, which I accepted.  Unfortunately, the other party wanted to push the deal back to January 08.  I was in no rush so this was not a problem.  Then, on November 16th, I was approached by another company that wanted to partner.  They would maintain the relationships with the franchisors and would develop and manage all of the ads.  I would simply need to provide the domain and do some basic SEO.  My partner would set up a mirror site and all visitors to YOF that conducted a franchise search would be directed to the mirror site (this is the current arrangement and the ads that you see on YOF are as a result of the partnership).  Franchisors would be charged on a per lead basis and my partner and I would split the proceeds 50/50.  This seemed an ideal situation for me as I had limited time to dedicate, but knew the value of YOF I decided to pursue this opportunity rather than to sell the site outright. 
 
All seemed to be going well at first, with the exception that I was not being paid on time.  When I complained, the leads mysteriously seemed to dry up.  February was the last decent month with the site generating $1691.27 ($845.64 my end).
 
YOF has so much more potential.  You could choose to partner with another franchise portal or, in my opinion, the best bet would be to take on the job of soliciting Franchisors and hosting the ads yourself.  Not only would you make more, you would have so many more keywords giving you even more natural traffic.  There are also several franchisors that regularly email press releases.  This helps to keep YOF fresh and also adds to the keywords.
 
Right now, the YOF domain consists of just a few pages, yet we receive a significant amount of highly targeted traffic.  For the week above (5/8-5/14), we received 1,088 visitors (639 unique).  We typically receive 120 unique visitors per day on average.
 
Once again, the ads you see on the site are as of a result of the partnership and do not come with the site.  If you click on the search box, you will be directed to the mirror site from which the shared leads are gathered.  Again, these advertisements and relationships are not part of the deal.  You will need to insert your own information and advertisements in order to keep the same look and feel.
 
As mentioned above, I do not spend anything on pay-per-click or other advertising.  In the right hands, this site could receive more traffic with some Search Engine Optimization and much more with an organized advertising campaign.  Yourownfranchise.com is an ideal opportunity for someone who already owns a franchise or business opportunity portal.  It would also be great for someone looking to put in a little hard work and could be operated on a full-time basis.
 
I am no longer interested in owning this site (I am also trying to raise money for a new venture) and am therefore offering it for sale in a no reserve auction.  The winning bidder must deliver payment via PayPal or a certified or cashier’s check within 3 business days of the end of auction.  At that point, I will begin the process of transferring the site (the site can be transferred on May 27th or later as that is when the current partnership ends).  I am making no promises or guarantees as to past, present or future revenue.  You are bidding to purchase the Yourownfranchise.com domain, goodwill and HTML for the pages hosted on the YOF domain only.  I can also add a database of Franchise Companies and a few hundred emails from those who subscribed to our newsletter.
 
I encourage you to visit www.yourownfranchise.com as I am sure you will see its potential.  I also have this business listed for sale both on Ebay and privately and reserve the right to end the auction at any time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at mike@yourownfranchise.com.
 
Thanks & Happy Bidding!
 
Michael Muscarella
Founder and President
Your Own Franchise, Inc.