Blog Sales: Blogging Bubble Bursting?
By Matt Jones on Nov 23, 2007 in Blogging Ideas
I don’t want to seem over the top here, but could it be that a “mini blogging bubble” has burst? I’m not suggesting the recent sales of “make money online” blogs is going to have any major affect on the internet/blogosphere as a whole but it does seem there is an imbalance between bloggers’ confidence and that of the buyers; which is forcing our little bubble to burst
The sale of Blogging Fingers combined with a few other blogs started an avalanche of blog selling. What has surprised me so much is that they continue to sell like hot cakes to the very last!
The latest and one of the greatest blogs to go up for sale is Blogtrepreneur. A fine blog with nearly 1000 RSS subscribers and monthly earnings of over $600 with just a couple of posts per week. CashQuests sold a few days ago for a mighty $15,000 although there is no word on the actual site about the sale yet. I’m not even going to attempt to mention every sale. There is enough for a 10 part series! (nearly)
Are Bloggers Giving Up?
Blogging Bits published a post today that made me want to understand more why other bloggers are selling.
1. Google PageRank update. This was a major factor that jump-started off the initial sales. I was already planning to sell and the PR update simply slotted in with perfect timing (despite the penalized rank). It seems likely that other bloggers had been holding off their sale until they got an improved Toolbar PageRank.
2. The high prices previous blogs sold for. Being one of the first to sell I did not have this luxury of knowing that I was going to get the price I wanted. It was a hell of a risk. Now that a whole bunch of blogs have sold I expect Blogtrepreneur to sell very quickly as well. CashQuests sold so fast I didn’t even have time to write about it!
3. The Winter Blues. I’m not suggesting they just gave up because of the cloudy climate, but in the UK the “winter blues” are known to cause mass pessimism, which may have been a factor in other parts of the world too.
4. Tis The Season To Sell And Buy. At this time of year just before Christmas “the little guy” needs money to pay for Christmas. The idea that everyone gives to each other so it all balances out is an illusion. The merchants profit, the consumers spend. Bloggers (being both) need to profit from their blog so they can spend.
Conclusion
I’m predicting this rush to sell will end before Christmas. It’s not about giving up, this is simply a logical time to sell. Bloggers are opportunists. You only have to look at John Chow’s Facebook Fortune Cookie (see pic at top) to realise that.
P.S. Remember to check out Blogtrepreneur for the details about the sale.
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I notice that most of the blogs being sold make a very large part of their monthly income from Text Link Ads and Review Me. Since both of those seem to be on Google’s radar and negatively affect PR, I wonder whether they are trying to get out while they can before things get worse.
That seems very likely, Google has shaken things up and taken away what was some bloggers main streams of income.
Great post Matt - and thanks so much for the shoutout for the Blogtrepreneur sale. I have already got some cool offers, so hopefully it won’t be long before the sale finishes.
I love your reason about the “Winter Blues” lol. This damp, cold weather (whilst it doesn’t make me feel suicidal), is mighty annoying and makes you want to stay in doors all day. Some may even say it helps blogging!
Thanks anyway dude, and cheers for all your help over these past few months. Will def keep in touch with ya!
I’m glad to hear you are getting some offers
hmm, never thought of that matt. your on to something here.
All the bloggers are looking for a quick buck now. What really happened to bloggers actually blogging for fun.
-Mike
well the point with make money blogs…is making money