Im Looking to Sell my Business Online for Free

Im Looking to Sell my Business Online for Free

So you're looking at selling your business and you want to find free ways of advertising the business for sale? There are a number of websites that have free business for sale advertising - hello Gumtree, ebay, Facebook marketplace and those 'business for sale' websites that just started - but are they any good and should you use them in your marketing strategy to sell your business?

Understand Why They are Offering it for Free!

 

1. Limited traffic

 

A website that provides a free service is usually because it is a relatively new website or has no traffic (with some exceptions). You may have found these websites via Google adwords that appear at the top of page results or via a rather long or obscure search result. These websites tend to have very little traffic so have few people visiting the website so your business sale will receive very little interest.

There are hundreds of 'business for sale' websites that claim to be credible, however in Australia there are only 5-6 leading websites that can deliver you quality enquiries. 

 

2. They will want you to upgrade

Some websites will offer a free service, after youv'e had very little enquiries they will then offer you a paid upgrade service to continue (this is how they make their money). Advice: ask questions or shop around. Speak with customer service about the amount of direct traffic the website receives and if they have any examples of statistics for you to view. Dont waste your money on a website with very little traffic.

 

3. They want your information

 

Data is king and websites are often built to collect information and data. Check the credibility of the website, look at online reviews. 

 

What makes a good business for sale website?

1. Good Rankings

Perform a search and see where the website is ranking for top key terms, here is an example of some of the highest googled keyterms for business sales, this will give you an indication of how business buyers are finding the website:

• business for sale
• businesses for sale
• franchise for sale
• franchises for sale
• business for sale CITY (eg. Sydney)

 

2. Active Database

 

A good business for sale website will have a well established database of buyers. Signup to their newsletter, see how often they are sending communications. If they are serious about selling your business they will have a good database and be actively communicating with it. This also goes with their blog or articles, check how often they are sharing information. 

 

3. Presence and Accountability:

If a website works, the owners and customer service will believe in its product. Search on social media, facebook, twitter and see what sort of interaction the website is having with its customers/public. See if the website has an identity or someone you can contact if you have any problems, this is a true testament to the functionality of a website.

 

4. Content:

How many businesses are currently advertised for sale on the website? How many of these are actually business owners vs business brokers? There are some large business brokerages in Australia which are offered free/reduced advertising on some websites just to create content. if you see multiple ads by the same broker this could be a strategy of the website to gain content. Websites with excessive content, tend to result in your ad dissappearing behind multiple broker ads.

 

So Should you Use These Free Websites?

A website that charges no money for its services is not making any money (very little money is generated for banner ads etc). It has no money to pay for Google Adwords, Facebook Campaigns, SEO or additional marketing. Your business sale may never be seen. Remember, it is important to create an ad that has great content and is click worthy!

Use these free services to advertise your business, but dont rely on it solely or expect it to deliver results. You need to have the most exposure possible if you want to get quality enquiries. Respectable and trusted websites like Bsale are known to deliver these results. Keep a record of where you have advertised your business for sale, so you can update the information.

So all in all, use websites that allow you to advertise your business sale for free... just dont expect big results. Make it part of your marketing mix, not just your marketing. It could mean the difference between you selling your business, or being deflated and dropping the price $10,000 all because you didnt have a good enough marketing strategy and exposure.

Tags: selling a business marketplace

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