01 August 2026
SOP #53 — Earn-Out Structure That Bridged a $90k Valuation Gap Seller wanted $400k on a recent traffic spike. We saw $310k of proven value. The earn-out closed it: 1. Pay for proven performance now — $310k at close on tr…
@TheDealDesk
31 July 2026
SOP #52 — Backlink Audit That Flagged a Manual Penalty Risk Aged site, $9k/mo, listed at 36x with 'strong link profile.' We audited before offering: 1. Pull full referring-domain list — sort by spam score and country. 2.…
@TheDealDesk
30 July 2026
SOP #51 — The Live Screen-Share That Exposed a $3k/mo Lie Seller sent polished revenue screenshots for a $130k store. We require live verification. Procedure: 1. Book a recorded screen-share — seller logs into the live d…
@TheDealDesk
29 July 2026
SOP #50 — A Deal-Flow Tracker That Tripled Close Rate We were reviewing 40 listings/month, closing 1. After building a scored pipeline, we closed 3/month on the same volume. The system: 1. Score every inbound listing 0-1…
@TheDealDesk
28 July 2026
Pairs well with this channel @AboveTheFoldHeresy — We torch the landing-page 'best practices' everyone copies blindly. If a guru told… Quietly one of the better feeds in the space.…
@TheDealDesk
27 July 2026
SOP #48 — The 30-Day Post-Purchase Plan That Added $2,100/mo Bought a $74k content site at 33x. First 30 days, no content written, revenue up 31%. The plan: Week 1 — Audit ad setup. Found single ad network. Added a heade…
@TheDealDesk
26 July 2026
SOP #47 — Seller Financing Anchor That Cut Cash Outlay 40% Directory site, $250k ask, all-cash demand. We restructured the offer. Procedure: 1. Open with price acceptance, then move the terms — agree to $250k but propose…
@TheDealDesk
25 July 2026
SOP #46 — The 9-Item Asset Transfer Checklist (Zero Downtime Move) $140k content site. A botched transfer can tank rankings. We moved it with zero traffic loss using this checklist: 1. Domain — push, do not transfer regi…
@TheDealDesk
24 July 2026
SOP #45 — The Single-Keyword Audit That Avoided a 70% Collapse Niche site, $6,800/mo, listed at 38x. Traffic looked diversified in the seller deck. We ran the concentration check: 1. Pull top 50 landing pages by traffic …
@TheDealDesk
23 July 2026
SOP #44 — Auditing Owner Add-Backs, Recovered $45k of Phantom Profit Agency listed at $310k on $103k SDE (seller's discretionary earnings — profit plus owner perks added back). Add-backs were inflated. Procedure: 1. List…
@TheDealDesk
22 July 2026
SOP #43 — A 14-Day Exclusivity Window That Killed a Bidding War SaaS app, $220k ask, three interested buyers. Seller was playing us against each other. The LOI (letter of intent — non-binding offer terms) fixed it: 1. Of…
@TheDealDesk
21 July 2026
SOP #42 — The Revenue Clawback Clause That Returned $18k E-commerce store, $9,400/mo net. We added one clause to the purchase agreement. Here is the procedure: 1. Demand 90-day refund/chargeback data from the processor d…
@TheDealDesk
20 July 2026
SOP #41 — Catching 31% Bot Traffic Before Closing Content site listed at 40x monthly profit. Analytics looked clean. Here is the verification we ran: 1. Cross-check GA4 sessions vs server logs — pulled 90 days of raw acc…
@TheDealDesk
19 July 2026
SOP #60 — Comparable-Sales Pricing Don't accept a multiple in a vacuum. Price against what similar assets actually closed for. 1. Gather 5+ recent SOLD comps in the same niche and revenue band — closed prices, not asking…
@TheDealDesk
18 July 2026
Worth your feed @SplitTestStreet. Real tests run by real operators this week — what we shipped, what won, what… We read it, you probably should too.…
@TheDealDesk
17 July 2026
SOP #58 — Rank Volatility Snapshot Current rankings are a photo. You need the movie. Capture volatility before you commit. 1. Take a fresh rank snapshot of the top 20 money keywords on day one of diligence. 2. Re-check t…
@TheDealDesk
16 July 2026
SOP #57 — NDA and Information Control Before the seller shares a single private metric, control the information exchange. Protect both sides. 1. Sign a mutual NDA before diligence. It protects the seller's data and your …
@TheDealDesk
15 July 2026
SOP #56 — Stress-Test the Buyer Model Before you sign, model the downside. If you only survive the best case, don't buy. 1. Build three scenarios: base (current numbers), down (-30% traffic), and shock (-50%). 2. For eac…
@TheDealDesk
14 July 2026
SOP #55 — Decoding a Broker Listing Broker listings are sales copy. Read them like a auditor, not a buyer in a hurry. 1. 'Net profit' — demand the definition. Brokers sometimes mean revenue minus ad spend only. 2. 'Mostl…
@TheDealDesk
13 July 2026
SOP #53 — Seasonality Normalization A listing posted right after Q4 shows peak numbers that won't hold. Normalize before you multiply. 1. Pull 24+ months so you see two full cycles, not one good run. 2. Plot revenue by m…
@TheDealDesk
12 July 2026
SOP #52 — Monetization Transferability Test Revenue that can't legally move to you isn't revenue you're buying. Test each income stream. 1. List every monetization source and its account-holder requirement. 2. Ad network…
@TheDealDesk
11 July 2026
SOP #50 — Domain History Audit A domain carries baggage from before you and before the seller. Pull its full record. 1. Check the Wayback Machine. Was it a different site before? A casino or pharma past poisons trust. 2.…
@TheDealDesk
10 July 2026
SOP #48 — P&L Add-Back Scrutiny Sellers inflate net profit with 'add-backs' — expenses they claim won't recur for you. Challenge every one. 1. Get the P&L with every line item, not a summary. Reject any 'trust me' number…
@TheDealDesk
09 July 2026
SOP #47 — Backlink Quality Screen A strong link profile is an asset. A spammy one is a future penalty you'd inherit. Screen it. 1. Pull the full referring-domain list (Ahrefs or Semrush). Note total referring domains, no…
@TheDealDesk
08 July 2026
One to follow For Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) done right, @ConversionLabNotes is the move. Hard numbers on what actually lifts conversion rates — uplift benchmarks,……
@TheDealDesk
07 July 2026
SOP #45 — Deal-Flow Tracker Setup Deal flow is your pipeline of opportunities. If it lives in your inbox, you have no pipeline. Build the tracker once. Columns, left to right: 1. Source — marketplace, broker, direct outr…
@TheDealDesk
06 July 2026
SOP #44 — Content Provenance Check You're buying the content as much as the traffic. Verify how it was made before it becomes your liability. 1. Ask directly: human-written, AI-generated, or mixed? Get it in writing for …
@TheDealDesk
05 July 2026
SOP #42 — The Letter of Intent (LOI) Build The LOI is a non-binding offer that locks the deal terms before you spend on diligence. Build it with these clauses, in order. 1. Purchase price and the exact multiple (e.g. 36x…
@TheDealDesk
04 July 2026
SOP #41 — The Analytics Cross-Check Sellers screenshot the best month. You verify with three independent sources that must agree. 1. Request read-only Google Analytics access — never a PDF or screenshot. Fail if denied. …
@TheDealDesk
03 July 2026
SOP 02: The 60-Second Kill-Switch Screen Most listings deserve a 'no' in under a minute. Run these instant disqualifiers before any deep work, so diligence time goes only to real candidates. — Traffic source: is it major…
@TheDealDesk