Blog Minx

It’s common knowledge that most blogs simply die alone.

Starting a blog is damn easy; it takes two seconds. Name and template, then go. But maintaining a blog is not easy and many bloggers give up early, hit the snooze button and nothing happens ever again.

I’ve been guilty of this on a number of blogs over the years, sometimes because my life changes and the blog no longer fits, and sometimes because I simply get lazy or distracted by other things. But there is a choice: let your blog slowly fade, or go out with a bang. Perhaps you’ve worked hard and grown your blog to a point where it is worth something, and the time is ripe to sell.

RyanShamus.com ran for over six months, started by Ryan Shamus at about the same time RichMinx.com was started by Rich Minx (I’ve legally changed my name now). Over that time Ryan has come up with a zillion ways to make money online.  And Ryan even quit his day job, such is his determination to make it online as his own boss.

Now Ryan has sold his blog for $2,500. While I felt a little sad at this news, I think Ryan got a good price and it’s fitting that Mr Shamus’s energy and Make Money Online philosophy has carried through to the end.  But it’s not exactly the end; buyer Gavin will continue in Ryan’s footsteps and keep the blog alive.

I think this growing trend of selling blogs is great. Why not pass your “baby” on to someone who will love it and look after it, instead of abandoning it completely? Not to mention making some $$ in the process.

Some thoughts/questions about blog selling:

• What makes a blog valuable? Is it PageRank, age, name, content, traffic, personality, pictures, revenue?
• If it’s all of the above, how many of those factors translate over in the sale, and what are some success stories from the buyer’s perspective? (I just had a glance at CareerRamblings.com for the first time in ages, since BBB – Bubbly Blond Businesswoman -  Jane May sold it for a reported $25K earlier this year. I notice her image is still in the header and as the favicon – why? I wonder if the sale was a good investment – activity seems somewhat lighter than it was…)
• Would you sell your blog? I feel like I wouldn’t but everything has its price What are the “selling points” of your blog? My blog can tap dance.
  
• How do you determine the price? Is it by a year’s projected revenue? But how can you really tell? Who knows what will happen on the internet?
• Would you ever buy a blog? Here is an article with tips on how to sell and buy a blog.
• What about ‘renting’ a blog out instead of selling it? Or is that too close to pimpin’?

Answers on the back of an envelope.