The Great Selling Blogs Debate: My Response

After the initial wave of reactions to the selling of Blogging Fingers, which mostly consisted of a mixture of awe and congratulation, I’ve noticed things in the blogosphere have taken a rather sinister turn.

I read all the comments on every post that has mentioned Blogging Fingers even if I don’t have time to make a reply of my own. Blogging Experiment wrote a post about selling blogs that started a bit of a debate in the comments and combined with the related post from Xfep and a few on other blogs I felt compelled to respond.

Image Credit: Jim Philips Thumbnails

Some readers say they feel betrayed and that they unsubscribed despite the me repeatedly saying I am staying on for over a month. All that is going to happen this month is that the posting frequency will drop and the post quality will increase. Even if this were not the case surly if new blogger took over they deserve a chance to prove themselves?

I think people are saying these attention seeking comments for that very reason, that they are eye-catching, send more traffic, build more of a brand and show they have an opinion about things; even if their opinion is based on theories rather than fact.

I see some bloggers that chose not to sell attempting to take the moral high ground, while others who perhaps regret not selling have written a post about why bloggers shouldn’t sell just to make themselves feel better, at the expense of those that did sell.

I am not trying to get at anyone in particular, but it is a general atmosphere in the comment section on various posts that I do not like.

I have gone through the issues that have arisen 1 by 1 and dealt with them.

1. Reader Trust Betrayed.

I don’t see how selling a blog has anything to do with reader trust. Readers get disappointed because they aren’t being given free stuff to read anymore, they are bound to complain. Trust is about telling the truth, as far as I am aware I and the other authors who sold their blogs never said we were not planning on selling one day. There are no lies here.

Ultimately if a reader feels let down, that blogger has done a fantastic job at making them feel like they are a part of the community of blog.

When the last Harry Potter book was published you didn’t see riots of people saying how J.K Rowling was a lier who took their money and abandoned them. She deserves every penny of her millions.

2. The Sellers Are Foolish To Sell So Soon Because In The Long Run More Can Be Earned With Less Effort

People who say this have no idea about the bloggers personal situation. They may know about the bloggers personality and a few facts about them (which again shows the blogger has done a good job again in having a personal writing style) but if these commentors have the right to say they could have made more in the long run, I have the right to say why they are 100% wrong in my case.

I have no doubt that Blogging Fingers will end up earning the new owners a handsome profit over 1+ years but but saying I should not have sold means you are assuming I have another 1+ years to keep blogging here and getting incremental earning increases.

A Few Facts You Should Know About Me Before Judging

No matter how much money I make this year I am going to University next year to study Entrepreneurship and once there I would not be able to maintain Blogging Fingers to allow these “massive future earning rates” to be attained.

While at the moment I am a full time blogger and loving every exhilarating minuet of it, I have bigger plans for this year including traveling the world and a whole bunch of online money making projects that need funding. A common situation for many bloggers is they have a full time job and are writing 1 blog post each day in the hope to one day be able to quit their job and just live from that 1 blog post per day. While that is a perfectly reasonable goal for the 25+ age group, mine is not never ever have to get a full time job and make more than “just a living” from blogs.

My 1st 3 month old blog sold for $1000, now the 4 month old Blogging Fingers is sold for $6000. I have every confidence that if I were to start another blog in in this niche there is no reason why I cannot multiply those figures again and sell another one for over $12000 in a few months. Starting a new blog similar to Blogging Fingers is a very real possibility, but if I already know I could do it, why do it? Why not go for something new that develops new skills and opens new door ways?

Apparently having a 3-5 year plan for a blog means you are thinking long term and that selling sooner than that is breaking the plan. I disagree with this. I believe a blog that is meant to make money should always have the option of being sold and that keeping that option of selling open means you can never truly fail. The sign of a successful blog is either attaining the monthly earnings you aimed for, or selling at a price that means you can start again with extra money to put into it this time around.

This is becoming a rather long and personal rant but I am simply trying to discourage judgment of bloggers who sold their blogs.

3. Credibility Is Lost From Selling Out

How can this be true? The sale of Blogging Fingers has brought more traffic, attention and links to this blog than any single piece of linkbait I have ever conducted. In addition I now have a moderate level of expertise having sold 2 blogs for good prices. As well as that I am blogging here for at least 1 more month so networking and making contacts can still be done and I can still launch new sites and blogs from Blogging Fingers providing it doesn’t damage the readership.

Conclusion

The internet is evolving at an ever increasing rate. It is because of this that making money online is not like any other industry and it is difficult to form a long term strategy. Having a solid money making exit strategy is the safest way to ensure a profit and shows good planning not poor planning.

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