How to Buy or Sell a Business Without a Broker

Buying or selling a small business doesn’t always require working with a broker. In many cases, business owners and buyers prefer to work directly with each other to save on fees, maintain privacy, and move at their own pace.

For sellers, going the “for sale by owner” route allows full control over the process. Owners decide how their business is presented, which details are shared, and how conversations with buyers unfold. This approach is especially appealing for small and mid-sized businesses where broker commissions can significantly reduce net proceeds.

If you’re considering selling your business independently, it’s important to understand the process and prepare in advance. A well-structured guide can help sellers organize financials, evaluate their business realistically, and avoid common mistakes. The Sellers Guide at
https://businessforsalebyowner.us/sellers-guide
walks through the key steps business owners should consider before listing their business for sale.

Buyers also benefit from direct transactions. Communicating straight with an owner often leads to clearer answers, faster negotiations, and more flexibility around deal structure. It can also reduce the friction that sometimes comes with third-party intermediaries.

Before making an offer, buyers should review financials carefully, understand the industry, and perform proper due diligence. Resources like the Buyers Guide at
https://businessforsalebyowner.us/buyers-guide
outline what buyers should look for, which questions to ask, and how to evaluate a business opportunity responsibly.

Online marketplaces and educational resources have made owner-direct transactions far easier than in the past. With the right preparation, clear communication, and realistic expectations, buying or selling a business without a broker can be both efficient and successful.

Media Buying

Google is not the only possible source of traffic. While Google Adwords is huge and delivers excellent quality traffic, there are many more companies and web sites that can deliver similar quality traffic.

Some sell the traffic based on clicks, some based on impressions, some based on visitors and some based on leads.

It all boils down to knowing the traffic source, building offers that work for that particular source and then tracking and continually monitoring everything.
Here is a list of possible traffic sources:

Table 4 comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.) November 2010 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)		% Reach	Rank	Property		Unique Visitors (000)	% Reach
Total Internet : Total Audience			212,296				100.0
1	Google Ad Network**	197,882		93.2	26	Adify**		113,336	53.4
2	Yahoo! Network Plus**	182,757		86.1	27	Undertone Networks**		109,570	51.6
3	Yahoo! Sites	180,987		85.3	28	ContextWeb**		108,637	51.2
4	AOL Advertising**	180,428		85.0	29	CPX Interactive**		108,526	51.1
5	Google	170,464		80.3	30	AdBlade Network**		96,391	45.4
6	Turn Media Platform**	168,396		79.3	31	Ask Network		92,369	43.5
7	ValueClick Networks**	167,554		78.9	32	Kontera**		90,293	42.5
8	24/7 Real Media**	165,706		78.1	33	Glam Media		89,864	42.3
9	Collective Display**	158,718		74.8	34	Bing		86,154	40.6
10	AdBrite**	157,129		74.0	35	ShareThis		81,116	38.2
11	Facebook.com	151,722		71.5	36	Windows Live		76,428	36.0
12	Microsoft Media Network US**	149,840		70.6	37	Lotame Solutions**		74,500	35.1
13	Specific Media**	149,816		70.6	38	VideoEgg**		73,451	34.6
14	Vibrant Media**	144,415		68.0	39	Meebo		70,792	33.3
15	AudienceScience**	142,259		67.0	40	Dedicated Media**		70,754	33.3
16	Tribal Fusion**	141,937		66.9	41	RMM (formerly Red McCombs Media)**		70,561	33.2
17	Traffic Marketplace**	141,313		66.6	42	Amazon.com		70,188	33.1
18	FOX Audience Network**	140,745		66.3	43	Monster Career Ad Network (CAN)**		69,076	32.5
19	interclick**	139,427		65.7	44	Technorati Media**		67,195	31.7
20	Adconion Media Group**	133,844		63.0	45	MediaWhiz**		67,126	31.6
21	Burst Media**	132,277		62.3	46	Demand Media		64,831	30.5
22	Casale Media - MediaNet**	131,040		61.7	47	MTV Networks Music		57,789	27.2
23	MSN	130,024		61.2	48	Ybrant - Oridian - ADdynamix Network**		55,861	26.3
24	YouTube.com*	116,867		55.0	49	Walmart.com		48,579	22.9
25	AOL, Inc.	114,484		53.9	50	NetShelter Technology Media		45,819	21.6

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in November. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 85.3 percent of the 212 million Internet users in November. * Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities. ** Denotes an advertising network.


The list above nicely illustrates, that Google is the largest single traffic source, but there are many more that can deliver excellent quality traffic for you.

You can hire a media buying agency to buy media from different place for you and help you to set up campaigns and monitor it. The fee for this is usually 15% of your advertising spend.

Each network has different minimum buys (usually between $500 to $10,000).

I suggest to start with one additional network. The benchmark would be Google Adwords, as you already do that and are having good results and numbers to compare with.

Once the first additional network is producing (producing means spitting out high quality leads that turn into buyers), we would ramp it up and in the mean time get the next network running.

If Google produces excellent results now, there is no reason why the other networks should not work. By using other networks, you can get more leads, possibly reduce the price per lead while keeping the quality the same or even increasing the quality.

Also, you would reduce your risks:
The barrier to entry on Google Adwords is extremely low. $5 and anybody is in business.

A couple clicks and any competitor can duplicate what works for you.