If you’re thinking about investing in digital assets but aren’t sure where to start, Heidi and Mariano’s story will show you what’s possible. This savvy couple spotted an opportunity others missed – a quality website hit hard by Google updates. Where others saw risk, they saw potential. By applying careful due diligence and strategic timing, they purchased a $130,000 website for just $30,000.
Their journey proves you don’t need to be a tech expert to succeed in digital investing. Working around full-time jobs (he’s an engineer, she’s a government writer) and raising teenagers, they managed to quadruple their website traffic and double their revenue in just four months.
In this interview you’ll discover:
- The exact due diligence process that helped them spot this hidden gem
- Why timing their purchase during a Google update created the perfect buying opportunity
- How they’re on track to recoup their $30,000 investment within the first year
- The surprising reasons they chose digital assets over real estate investing
Whether you’re looking to start a side hustle or build long-term wealth through digital assets, Heidi and Mariano’s experience offers a practical roadmap for getting started. Their story shows that with the right approach, it’s possible to find incredible deals in the digital marketplace – even as a beginner.
Click below to listen to their full story and learn how you could apply these same strategies to find your own digital investment opportunities.
Finding the Hidden Gem: A Website Hit By Google Updates
The website in question, MassageGunAdvice.com, reviews massage guns and provides medical articles about muscle recovery. At its peak, the site was generating $45,000 per month. However, after being hit by Google updates, its income dropped dramatically to just $1,000 monthly.
“The site had been advertised for a few months,” explains Mariano. “With the Google issues and panic happening, it wasn’t getting any offers at $130,000.”
This is where proper due diligence proved crucial. Mariano, whose background is in engineering, spent considerable time analyzing the site before making an offer. He maintained contact with the broker, Quiet Light, and gathered detailed information from the previous owners.
What he discovered was encouraging – the site contained over 170 articles and featured hands-on reviews of more than 70 massage guns. The content wasn’t superficial; it included detailed measurements, noise levels, and amplitude testing. This level of detail and expertise suggested the site had real value despite its temporary setback.
Making a Strategic Offer in a Challenging Market
While Mariano initially thought the site might be worth $50,000-70,000, coaching advice helped them realize they could make an even lower offer. The key factor was timing – they were buying during a period when many website owners were panicking about Google updates.
The offer of $30,000 was fair because they are taking a risk, the site had been hit hard by the Google update. But what I love about what Heidi and Mariano did is that they did a lot of due diligence. Because they followed that process, they knew they had found a good website.
Their thorough analysis revealed the site’s strong foundation. In previous years, it had generated significant income:
- Last year: $130,000
- Previous year: $240,000
- Peak monthly earnings: $45,000
Turning Around a Struggling Asset
After purchasing the site, Heidi and Mariano took a methodical approach to improvement. They focused on learning WordPress, understanding plugins, managing affiliate links, and optimizing images. While maintaining full-time jobs – Mariano as an engineer and Heidi as a senior writer for a federal government department – they dedicated their evenings and weekends to the project.
Their efforts began showing results within four months. After appearing stagnant for the first three months, traffic suddenly increased dramatically following a Google update.
We went from 3,800 to almost 12,000 visitors, we’re now ranking for 80 keywords in position one, with another hundred in positions two and three.
This improvement in rankings translated directly to income. The site’s monthly revenue doubled to $2,000, with expectations of reaching $2,500 or more during the upcoming holiday season with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas sales.
A New Approach to Investment
For Heidi and Mariano, this website investment represented a significant shift from their previous focus on real estate. They had been considering commercial property investments that would have required $150,000-200,000 in capital, plus ongoing interest payments.
“The issue was that we needed a lot of upfront capital,” Heidi explains. “We were taking equity out of the home… The interest rates were continuing to creep up and that was just eating into the positive cashflow.”
In contrast, their website investment required just $30,000 in capital with minimal ongoing expenses. The site generates pure profit through affiliate commissions when visitors purchase massage guns through their review links.
Building on Their Success
The couple isn’t resting on their initial success. They’re already exploring ways to expand the site’s revenue streams by reviewing related products like neck massagers, foot massagers, and therapy belts. Their position as established reviewers has even led to companies sending them free products for testing.
Heidi, with her professional writing background, has taken charge of content strategy. While she initially wrote some articles herself, they’ve now connected with the site’s original writer and are planning content expansion. They’re also considering adding a YouTube channel to further secure their position in the market.
Lessons for Aspiring Website Investors
Heidi and Mariano’s success offers valuable insights for anyone interested in website investing:
- Start with thorough due diligence. Mariano analyzed 15 different websites before making this purchase. “Even if it remains making just $1,000 a month, it’s going to be a good training website for me,” he notes. “There’s so much we can learn from it.”
- Don’t fear Google updates. While many investors panic during algorithm changes, these periods can create buying opportunities if you can identify quality websites temporarily affected by updates.
- Be willing to learn new skills. Despite having no previous experience with websites, the couple dedicated time to learning WordPress, SEO, and content management. “Every spare minute” went into developing their digital skills.
- Consider starting small. Before buying their main site, they purchased a $400 website to practice website transfers and basic management skills.
Today, Heidi and Mariano’s investment is on track to pay for itself within the first year, demonstrating how strategic digital asset acquisition can provide significant returns with relatively low risk. Their story shows that with proper research, patience, and willingness to learn, it’s possible to find and profit from undervalued digital assets in today’s market.
For those interested in following a similar path, Heidi offers this advice: “Just stick with it. Like they say, you won’t see the results straight away. SEO doesn’t take a couple of months… So just persistence, consistency, stick with it, you’ve got it.”