Motion Invest Review – Can You Trust the Platform?

Motion invest is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell websites.  As a platform, they focus specifically on websites that are making between $50 - $2000 per month.  

The most interesting thing to me about Motion Invest is that even though it seems like a website broker to the end user, it’s really just a large portfolio of websites that are owned and being sold by some of the foremost experts in the online business industry.  

As an FYI, this review took about 8 hours to complete, so it's very thorough.

Why did I do it?  Because I know people want a reliable place to buy/sell websites and I think this company is really interesting in the way they approach the whole process. 
100%
Overall Recommendation

The Verdict?

Motion Invest is an awesome place to buy or sell websites that aren't too new, or too far along.  It's not a website broker which is nice because the multiples for buying/selling are at the industry standard but you'll avoid fees and shady listings.

Full Video Review and Tutorial

Who are the Founders of Motion Invest?

Jon Gillham is a husband, father of 3 and engineer who used his love of systems to build his online business allowing him to leave his day job. He has been at the internet marketing game a year or two longer than I have and has done very well for himself.  He’s found ways to grow 7+figure businesses and I remember years ago when he was acquiring websites like mad to try to grow a portfolio of over 100 websites, which I think he did achieve! You can find more about all that on his website.  

***On a side note, I've actually spoken personally with Jon and frankly, I think he’s a very niche/honest guy who wouldn’t be willing to attach his name to something that was shady in any way. 

Spencer Haws is, what I would call, an “OG” (Original Gangster) of internet marketing.  He’s been around just as long as Pat Flynn and has a large influence as well.  He’s a blogger, podcaster, and software entrepreneur.  If you’ve ever used Long Tail Pro software, he was the mastermind behind it and later sold the company for a hefty sum.  He has bought and sold several websites over the past 10 years.

***Another side note, I’ve actually spoken with Spencer as well and am confident in saying that he has a track record of success and I don’t think he’d ever start anything that would break the trust that he’s built with his audience over the last 10 years. 

Kelley Van Boxmeer is a wife, dog mama and online entrepreneur, who has used her passion for learning over the past 6 years, to develop a deep knowledge on building and growing profitable sites. She has also actively managed other peoples portfolio of sites and enjoys looking for ways to improve and grow their profits. 

***I don’t personally know Kelley, but I do know that she used to be Jon’s assistant and was so good at that, she ended up becoming a partner with him here.  She seems to have flown a bit under my radar, but I’m already confident in her due to the company that she keeps.  

Interview With Founder Jon Gillham

What Makes Motion Invest Different?

Founders are very experienced and respected


One of the unique things about Motion Invest is that it’s owned by people who have a lot to lose. Not necessarily from a revenue or income standpoint, but from the years of trust that they built within the online business community.  


Not to say that those who own a website brokerage firm don’t have a lot to lose, but this isn’t necessarily a website broker and is instead a portfolio of websites that’s owned by experts. That said, because I personally know Spencer and Jon, I know that they wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice all of the goodwill that they’ve created by offering an inferior product or service. 


Created by People with Skin in the Game 


This is a big one.  The thing about other brokers is that they are essentially a middleman connecting website buyers with website sellers.  Then, they charge both parties a fee in order to facilitate the sale. This is great and all, but it means that they have absolutely nothing to lose if you buy a bad website. After all, they can’t help that a seller convinced you to buy something that was of low quality.  This is in stark contrast to what’s going on with Motion Invest.  


If you purchase a website from them and feel that the product is inferior, they’re going to have to answer to you directly. While I don’t personally know how they will handle this type of situation, knowing the type of people that they are and the level of expertise that they have, I’m sure that they’ll be able to discuss the problems with you and figure out a solution that’ll keep both parties happy.


Focus on the Website Income Range of $50-$2000


Something that I find really cool about Motion Invest is that they’ve drawn a hard line in the sand and decided that they are going to focus on websites that make between $50-$2000 per month. Because I know a lot about this industry in general, I’d say that this is what spurred their idea in the first place. 


Prior to Motion Invest, it was difficult to find quality websites in this revenue range.  Websites earning less than this are not that interesting to buy and websites earning more than this cost around $100,000. 


Now, while my income reports do show solid growth, I definitely don’t have a couple hundred thousand dollars sitting around. So, I really like the position that they’ve taken here in that it gives me confidence in buying a website at a price point that I can afford.


They Personally Buy and Sell These Websites  


I think it’s also a unique approach that they’ve decided to personally buy and sell these websites themselves. This is good because prior to making a website purchase you know that they’ve already run it through their vetting process and see potential. 


Beyond that, I think it’s cool that they are doing this themselves because you don’t have to wait around to find someone to purchase your website or to sell the website. They can give you a quick answer after they run their due diligence, which means a faster turnaround time to finish the purchase or sale.


Plus, this is the greatest assurance of rigorous due diligence because if a broker lists a poor quality site that ultimately doesn’t sell, they still made a little on the listing fee. However, if MotionInvest buys a poor quality site that doesn’t sell they will be holding it forever.


Run Websites Through a Rigorous Vetting Process 


I just mentioned how they buy and sell these websites themselves, so you know that they have a very in-depth vetting process that checks enough boxes for them to be confident in purchasing a website.  


So, in other words, they’re doing this vetting process for themselves and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. If you’re curious what the vetting process is like, Jon created this blog post that I think really helps articulate just how detailed this is.


Only Sell Profitable Websites 


One of my biggest pet peeves with Flippa is how they have a ton of websites that haven’t turned a profit. Frankly, at this point, I’m not even interested in those types of websites. I know that they have filtering mechanisms to help with this, but I just find it annoying that people are even trying to sell them. 


If you’re an individual that’s on the fence on whether or not you should purchase a profitable or nonprofitable website, I would tell you to purchase a profitable website every single time. I know you spend more money doing so, but when you have a profitable website you have something that’s already working and you know it will immediately start giving you a return on your investment.


How to Buy a Website on Motion Invest

The first thing that I'm going to say about buying a website with Motion Invest is that you need to move quickly. Ever since it's been launched, I've noticed that a lot of the websites that get listed take less than a week to be marked as sold.  So, I feel like if you’re serious about buying a website with them, you should move very quickly and have your offer in as soon as you possibly can.  

1)  Decide What You Need: The first step to buying a website is to decide whether you want to purchase a site outright, or book a call with their team to discuss your situation.

If you’re comfortable with the process, maybe own a website or two, and wouldn’t have too many questions, you can click right here to view the websites available.

If you’ve never done this before, or have a lot of questions that you want to ask, I recommend you book a call by clicking here.

2)  Determine What Website to Buy: Once you have your criteria selected, you can then focus on buying a website that you like.  Of course, this sounds simple but there are actually a TON of different things you need to consider prior to making your purchase.  That said, I think it’s best that you read this guide which is easily the most comprehensive guide out there at about 17,000 words.

And I know...some of you may think that’s too long and you’ll be too lazy to read it.  But, to that my reply is, Really? You’re going to spend thousands on a website and one of the first rules of investing is to be educated in what you’re investing in.  Take the time to review the whole guide and really educate yourself prior to making the purchase to decide if it’s right with you.

But once you are 100% sure this is for you, make your offer online or have a call to let them know.

3)  Fund Your Purchase:  Now that you’ve made the offer, you need to fund the purchase.  At present it looks like the funding options they accept are Wire Transfer, Paypal or a Credit Card and this makes sense considering most of the websites aren’t extremely expensive.  You can make the purchase directly online, or just schedule a call with them. If you have the money or credit limit for it, I recommend that you just purchase it online directly so that you don’t potentially lose it to someone else.

4)  Transfer of Ownership: Now that you’ve purchased the website, the next step is going to be to have them transfer ownership over to you. This will consist of them transferring the domain name over to your domain name registrar which usually takes up to 14 days and then they’ll give you the files required to put on your own website host. 

The good news is that since you’ve already purchased the website, you won’t have to worry because it’s reserved for you so no one will be able to bid against you.

If you’re curious as to who I recommend for the domain/hosting, for the domain name I always use Namecheap and for the website hosting I use Siteground.  

For most of the websites they sell, I think the lower Siteground plan will work as the traffic load shouldn’t be too high.  If, however, your traffic is higher than 10,000 visitors monthly, select the plan that is best for you.

5) Make it Rain: Okay, this point is a little bit of a joke but once you’ve finished the four steps above you should be all set to go.  Now you’ll need to focus on optimizing and growing this sucker so that you can make more money and/or quit your day job.

How to Sell a Website on Motion Invest

Selling a website on motion invest is a very simple process because the owners of the company are the purchasers and you don’t have to wait around to find someone who is a ready and willing buyer.  Compared to other platforms, this is a big positive because it will reduce the time it takes to make the sale and also, you won’t have to pay a 15% broker fee to get it done.  

1)  Submit For for a Free Evaluation: When you’re looking to sell your website, the first step is to submit this form to get a free evaluation from their staff.  This is going to help their team understand the background of your website and what you’ve done with it up until this point.

2)  Analysis: The next step in the process is for the Motion Invest team to analyze your website.  In order to do this appropriately, they’ll need your website URL, access to Google Analytics/Search Console, Monthly Profit, and Proof of Income.  If you don’t have all of these components (specifically analytics/search console access) don’t worry! Just talk to them about your situation and they’ll be able to work with you to help facilitate this process.

Generally speaking, after they have the information they need, this is a hands off process from your perspective.  You’ll just sit and wait to see what their analysis comes back with and what price they offer you based on a number of factors.

Keep in mind that with them you avoid a brokerage fee which is usually 15% of the purchase price of a website and there is no listing fee.

3)  Buyer Agreement:  The third part of the process is a buyer agreement.  This is given to you once both parties have agreed on the price and have decided to move forward.  Once this has been signed by both parties, Motion Invest will send funds to escrow, which is a third-party that’ll hold the funds as the sale is fully facilitated.  As an FYI, this is a standard practice to protect both parties while the transaction of a website processes.

***After speaking with Jon personally, I learned that most of their sales have been sign APA, transfer domain, transfer money, transfer site backup.  I think they’ll still offer whatever terms you prefer, but it’s something to speak to them about.

4) They Will Transfer Your Website Over:  They will need access to your website and will make a backup of it in its current state on to a hosting plan that they have.  This means you will still maintain a copy of the website you’re selling and they’ll have an identical clone of that same website.  When that part is done, you’ll then be required to transfer the domain to their registrar. They can help with this if you have questions.

5) Domain Transfer Completed:  Once the domain name is transferred and the site is connected to the backup they made in step 4, they’ll then release funds from escrow and into your bank account.  

From here, you’re all done!  You can now take those funds to buy me a gift for writing this helpful guide 🙂

Final Thoughts

So, that’s it.  I hope you found this guide helpful and it made you better understand how Motion Invest works and why I personally believe in it as a platform.  

If you’re not sure if you should buy a website and want to schedule a consultation with me to discuss what your plan of action should be, you can click right here to schedule something up.  

Fair warning, my hourly consulting rate is in the range of $250-$500 an hour depending on other projects and availability.  But, if you want to be absolutely sure you’re making the right move for your situation, I’m here to help.
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