Description

DESCRIPTION:
When Facebook launched the now infamous News Feeds back in September 2006, I decided to start a site to follow all the Facebook hoopla and thus FacebookTalk.com was born. There were only two other Facebook related fan sites open at the time, but a quick Google search now will find dozens. To say that it's a growing market of sites would be an understatement. Just think about how many (and profitable!) Myspace-related sites there are out there. Facebook is no different.

Basically, I've used the site over the past 20 months to post videos, pictures, stories, commentary, hacks, tricks, etc. on the Facebook community. Since every other fan sites treat Facebook like Holy Scripture, I've taken a more sarcastic and joking approach. Obviously, the new owner could continue to take my approach or change paths and go the more serious, "reporting" style of posting. Either way, I think the site would still continue to be highly successful.

UNDER THE HOOD:
I use Wordpress 2.5.1 and a select handful of plugins to run FacebookTalk. I also have a traffic trading script set up and it's fully working / tracking traffic, but I don't have it currently displayed on the sidebar. That's it!

TRAFFIC:
All traffic is a result of search engines and organic links on other sites. I've never promoted nor bought advertising for FacebookTalk. Currently (and for many months now), the site ranks on the first page, if not number one, for many Facebook-related searches - such as Facebook news, Facebook tricks, Facebook hacks, Facebook contact, and many more. The site gets about 400 uniques/day, but like I said, I've done absolutely zero promoting for it and I only post a few times a month. Also, as you can see from the attached pictures, the traffic has steadily increased ever since Jan. 2007.

Finding topics, stories, and ideas to post about is super easy, however. Setting up an RSS feed from Google News for "facebook" provides enough content for at least three or four posts a week. Throw in all the funny pictures and videos from sites like YouTube and College Humor and all the user submissions I get via e-mail and it'd be easy to make at least one quick post a day. I simply have not had the time nor desire to do so.

PROXIES?
I've got six Facebook related proxies that have been up for only about a month now. There's been a lot of news recently of schools, work places, and even the military blocking Facebook and as a result, I just slapped some proxies up to see how they'd do. I haven't even promoted them on FacebookTalk, but if the bidder wants them as part of the package, then I'll throw them in. So far they've made about $5 total with only a trickle of traffic coming via Google.

FBAnywhere.com
FacebookAnytime.info
FBAnytime.info
FBNow.info
IWantMyFacebook.info
LetMeOnFacebook.info

All six of these proxy domains were registered last month with GoDaddy, so you'll get almost a year's worth of domain registration from them. They all have different generic themes and are monetized by Adsense and Adbrite.

MONETIZATION:
- Private advertising sales (125x125 banners for $15/month and text link ads for $10/month) yield on average $55/month. I keep the price down simply so I didn't have to worry about the spots not selling. Many of the current advertisers have asked if I'd sign a longer term deal with them, but I've been holding off so the new owner would be able to get that money.

- Application reviews for $25/each are hugely popular, but I absolutely hate doing them. I think Facebook Applications are beyond stupid, but I think I'm the only person on the planet who feels that way. I get press releases constantly sent to me about new applications that companies are rolling out and very often you can e-mail them back and offer to do a full interview / review for a fee. Many of them will take you up on the offer, but like I said, I'm not a huge fan of them so I don't bother. If the new owner doesn't mind playing with new Facebook applications and quickly writing a few hundred words, then this easily is a gold-mine.

- Adsense brings in about $10/month but there's certainly room for improvement. I don't have a banner ad at the very top of the page simply because I think it looks better this way. But if somebody were to put an adsense spot there, I imagine these earnings would at least double.

WHAT YOU'LL GET:
- Much of the tips, tricks, and "hacks" content of the site was written by myself. All of the posts were written by myself as well. You'll get full ownership of it all.
- Free push from GoDaddy. The domain expires in September of this year.
- All of the files for Wordpress and a copy of all the images I've posted on the site so far.
- I'll send you a spreadsheet with contact info of every other Facebook site out there, as well as a list of potential advertisers who have discussed interest in buying ad spots on the site
- Any help you might need getting the site set up and running.

CONTACT:
If you have any questions, feel free to ask or e-mail me.
admin #at# FacebookTalk &dot& com