Who Owns Your Digital Empire? Protect & Value Your Invisible Assets Before You Sell Your Business

Welcome to ValuationPodcast.com—your go-to resource for navigating the world of business growth and valuation. I’m Melissa Gragg, a financial mediator and business valuation expert in St. Louis, Missouri.

In this episode, I sit down with Paige Wiest, CEO of Tree Ring Digital, to uncover one of the biggest blind spots business owners face today—digital asset ownership, continuity, and valuation.
If you think “I know where my website is,” or “my marketing team handles that,” this conversation will open your eyes. Paige breaks down the hidden digital assets that can make or break your valuation, delay due diligence, trigger legal conflicts, or even destroy a deal entirely.
We talk about:
✔️ What digital assets actually are (it’s far more than a website)
✔️ Why owners lose control of their online presence without realizing it
✔️ How digital chaos affects valuation, due diligence & post-transaction headaches
✔️ Business continuity, digital continuity & avoiding operational breakdowns
✔️ The rising importance of AEO (AI Engine Optimization)
✔️ How small oversights—like a past employee’s phone number—can cost you thousands
⭐ 5 Key Takeaways
1. Most business owners do NOT own or control all their digital assets. Logins, domains, hosting, ad accounts, social profiles, CRMs, and tools are often scattered, vendor-owned, or tied to former employees.
2. Due diligence can break down without digital asset clarity. Buyers lose confidence when ownership is unclear—leading to retrades, lower valuations, or stalled deals.
3. Digital continuity is as critical as operational continuity. If a vendor disappears or an employee leaves, businesses can lose access to websites, analytics, systems, or customer funnels.
4. AI-driven search (AEO) will not replace SEO—but requires a clean, authoritative digital foundation. Without SEO fundamentals and trustworthy structured data, AEO strategies fall flat.
5. Digital asset audits need to happen BEFORE going to market. Fixing gaps can take months (or legal battles), so owners should inventory and secure everything early.
If you’re preparing for a sale, planning expansion, or simply want to protect what you’ve built, this episode gives you the blueprint to regain control of your digital empire.
Learn More & Download Paige’s Digital Asset Protection Checklist:
treeringdigital.com/valuation
Paige Wiese (W-ee-s) is the founder and CEO of Tree Ring Digital, a top-ranked Denver-based marketing agency that develops high performance websites and digital marketing strategies for businesses nationwide. With 16 years of industry experience, Paige has seen companies and CEOs struggle to manage and maintain their assets through growth or transition. She has
recently developed a proprietary digital asset management service to track and protect companies’ over 200 data points. Paige is a dedicated speaker and mentor on the topics of brand protection and business growth.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigewiese/
https://www.treeringdigital.com/
Connect with Melissa:
Melissa Gragg 
Expert testimony for financial and valuation issues 
Bridge Valuation Partners, LLC 
[email protected] 
http://www.BridgeValuation.com 
Cell: (314) 541-8163

Support the show