From 9-5 to financial freedom: A step-by-step guide from two successful website investors
What if you were just 3 websites away from quitting your job?
Miro and Blanka are proof that it’s possible. By strategically buying and renovating three websites, they replaced their full-time incomes and built an online business that gives them both freedom and financial stability.
In this interview, you’ll learn:
- How they chose the right websites to buy
- The exact steps they took to grow their income
- How long it took before they could quit their jobs and retire early
- The key lessons they learned along the way
If you’re looking for a way to transition into early retirement or semi-retirement, watch their interview below or read the article.
When Miro and Blanka purchased their third website in October, they didn’t realize it would be the final piece that would allow them to quit their government jobs and embrace a lifestyle of freedom.
Through strategic website investments and careful renovation, they’ve built a portfolio generating nearly $5,000 per month in semi-passive income – enough to support their transition to semi-retirement.
Their story demonstrates how methodically building a portfolio of content websites can create meaningful passive income, even for those with no prior digital experience. Let’s explore their journey and the specific strategies that made it possible.
Website 1: How Starting with a Small Passion Project Became Profitable
Miro & Blanka’s first success actually began as a hobby. Eight years ago, Miro started drawing with his daughter and created a website teaching kids how to draw called “Lets Draw That”. For years, the site sat mostly dormant, generating a modest $20-30 per month in advertising revenue.
However, everything changed when they learned about professional ad networks.
“We switched it to Media Buying Journey this April and suddenly it jumped to $200-300, then $500 income per month.”
After reaching 50,000 monthly sessions, they qualified for Mediavine’s premium ad network, pushing earnings to over $1,000 per month during peak seasons.
The site’s transformation required minimal work – just updating the homepage seasonally and sending a monthly email newsletter. “We’re sitting without new content for almost three years now,” notes Miro.
This early success showed them the potential of semi-passive website income and motivated them to expand their portfolio.
Website 2: Using Their Negotiation & Digital Skills to Purchase Below Cost
Miro and Blanka’s second website acquisition demonstrated their growing online skills as Digital Investors students.
They purchased a crystals and metaphysical website for $18,000 – a site that had been hit by Google updates but maintained stable traffic from other sources.
“It was making about $600-700 US dollars a month, so it’s about a two times yearly multiple. This was significantly below the typical three times multiple for content websites, providing us with an immediate equity buffer.”
The site primarily monetized through display advertising, but they’ve begun diversifying revenue by adding affiliate offers for crystal jewellery and decorative items. While still primarily passive, they’re steadily improving the content quality and have seen Google traffic begin to recover, with 20% month-over-month growth after renovating just a few articles.
Website 3: A Food Blog Built With Authority From A Real Chef
Miro & Blanka’s most recent acquisition perfectly illustrates their maturing investment strategy. They purchased a well-established food blog from a Canadian chef for $30,000 – negotiated down from an initial asking price of $75,000.
The site generates approximately $1,200 per month consistently, with seasonal peaks reaching $2,500.
Created by a professional chef with original recipes and photography, the site represents exactly what they look for: genuine, high-quality content with established authority.
“The site was built by a legitimate chef. All the recipe articles and photography were done by him. We did due diligence calls with him over Zoom. He’s just got three kids now and is too busy to keep the food blog running.”
Growing their Sites To Create a Sustainable Semi-Passive Income Stream
Combined, these three websites now generate approximately $3,000 US ($5,000 AUD) per month in largely passive income. Being debt-free, this covers their basic living expenses and has allowed Miro to quit his full-time IT contracting position with the government.
“I believe both websites were making $2,500 a month just with the articles already there. There’s potential to double the income just from what’s already published if we tune it up.”
Their goal is to reach $10,000 per month, which they believe is achievable just by optimizing their existing portfolio. “I think we can do it with these three websites if we just push a bit harder on them and optimize them. It probably doesn’t even need much more content – it might be just optimizing what’s there.”
Miro & Blanka’s Lifestyle Transformation
Perhaps most importantly, this portfolio has allowed them to design their ideal lifestyle. Blanka describes their typical day: “We love to have slow mornings. We don’t need to set alarms, we just wake up and chill. We do our exercising – I do yoga, and if anything needs to be done around the house, we have time to do it during the day whenever needed.”
They’ve maintained a casual connection to traditional work – Blanka works one day per week in childcare to stay social – but their websites provide the foundation for their financial independence.
Key Lessons for Aspiring Website Investors
Their journey offers several valuable insights for others considering website investing:
1. Value of Semi-Passive Income: While their sites require some maintenance, the income is largely passive, requiring just a few hours of work per week.
2. Smart Acquisition Strategy: They consistently purchased sites at around two times yearly profit instead of the standard three times multiple, creating immediate equity.
3. Gradual Transition To Early Retirement: Rather than waiting until they had “enough” passive income, they began their transition when their websites covered basic expenses, knowing they had skills to fall back on if needed.
4. Focus on Quality: Their most successful acquisition was a genuine, high-quality food blog rather than a purely SEO-driven site, demonstrating the value of authentic content.
For those interested in following a similar path, Miro emphasizes the importance of starting small and building expertise gradually.
“We bought little sites, but using the skills we learned in Digital Investors, now we are confident buying larger sites. It’s all been working out.”
Their story shows that with strategic website acquisition and patient optimization, it’s possible to build a portfolio of content websites that can support a comfortable semi-retirement lifestyle. The key is focusing on quality websites, maintaining them consistently, and gradually scaling up as your expertise grows.
