General

I make the real estate analogy often when I describe how to sell a blog. When a blogger sells a blog it can be just as personal as putting the family home on the market. You’ll also have to do some upkeep and make reparations in order to have a blog worth selling. Just as you would with a house, you’ll have to make sure your blog is staged properly, and also, that you have an asking price in mind.

Prepping Your Blog for Sale

When you’re ready to sell, you want to be sure your blog appeals to potential buyers. Though there are several ways to do this, there are three areas a potential buyer looks into the most.

1. Traffic: Obviously, the more traffic your blog has, the higher price you will receive when you sell. Most buyers will ask for proof of traffic so if you’re on a downward spiral, it won’t bode well in your favor. When I made the decision to sell, I worked hard at building traffic for several months in order to appeal to buyers. I studied search terms, gauged the needs of my community,posted content two to three times a day and promoted the heck out of my blog and its content.

2. SEO: If your blog reaches the top of the search engines, you’ll attract potential buyers. Though my blog had been at the top of many important search terms for several years, I continued to use those keywords and phrases to stay at the top. This doesn’t men that I wrote spammy SEO copy, because I didn’t – my community always came first. However, freelance writing blogs are a dime a dozen and I knew it was only a matter of time before I was dethroned from Google’s top spots.

3. Revenue: If you want top dollar, you’ll have to be taking in a decent amount of revenue. Serious buyers want ROI action. I had a heavily monetized blog which helped my bottom line. If you’re selling a blog or website, revenue is the single most important factor in determining a price.  To prep for sale I built relationships with several private advertisers and now the new owner has continued those relationships. I also worked on other revenue streams.  If I didn’t earn at least several thousand per month in revenue, my blog would not have been as attractive to potential buyers.

Everything else such as community, subscribers, and bells ans whistles are gravy on the proverbial potatoes, but it’s those big three details that matter the most.

Determining a Price for Your Blog

My biggest dilemma in selling my blog was in asking for and receiving a fair price. I did a little research on the subject and while there are a few links available, truthfully there’s not much out there that gives step by step details in regard to how to sell a blog. Fortunately, I have a friend who flips blogs and web properties on a regular basis and he was able to advise me through the process.

I learned:

• Private sale is better than a public auction for a blog the size of mine. The folks who buy and sell websites at auction or mostly doing so with smaller properties or domain names and the bids are lowballs. So, I reached out to the people who have inquired about buying my blog in the past. I also reached out to a few webmasters and network owners who might be interested.
• A rule of thumb is a year’s income times two or three, plus monetary consideration for search engine rankings and daily traffic.
• The amount of money spent on the blog each year is also a factor. For example, I paid ten bloggers and a webmaster, plus various guest bloggers. This amount doesn’t figure favorably into the bottom line.
• I had a price in mind, but also asked for two appraisals. The appraisals put the blog at a lower price than I originally intended, but a lot more than I expected to receive – if that makes any sense. I sold my blog at two years income, plus extra consideration for the search engine rankings and other amenities including a large Facebook group, 11,000+ RSS readers, a newsletter and more.

Next up…

When we continue this series, we’ll discuss how to reach out and what to present to potential buyers. Thanks to all who have reached out via email, Twitter, or comments – I hope you continue to find this series useful. In the upcoming weeks we’ll discuss everything I went through in selling my blog. I hope it helps you when it comes time to sell your own.

If you found this helpful, please see the other posts in this series:

• How to Sell a Blog Part 1: Having a Blog Worth Selling
• 5 Things I Learned From Selling My Blog

Related Posts:

• 5 Things I Learned from Selling My Blog
• 10 Publishing Options for Your Blog
• Should You Monetize Your Blog? A Few Things to Think About
• Why Your Company Should Have a Blog

Tagged as: blog, blog auction, blog monetization, blog sale, blog traffic, how to sell a blog, SEO

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A couple of weeks ago we discussed the salting v. tasting approach to business. If you missed it, I blogged about how some people are cautious and will taste their food to be sure it needs salt before reaching for the shaker. Others prefer to jump in and throw caution to the wind. They salt their steak without checking to see if it’s properly seasoned, even though it may lead to a super salty slab of meat later. Though I admitted to being a taster, I also know there are bennies and cons to each side.

I’m interested in learning if you’re a salter or a taster and why.

For the next week, I would love to read your blog posts discussing whether you take the cautious or jump in with both feet approach to business and life, and if I dig yours the most, I’ll send you a brand new smart phone.

So first some rules, and then we’ll talk about the prize.

• Title your post anything you want, as long as it lets us know whether you’re a salter or a taster and why this approach works for you.
• Link love isn’t necessary but it’s appreciated.
• Drop the link to your post in the comments section of this post.
• Contest ends July 6, 2010.

Do I have everything covered? Cool. Now, the prize.

So when I was at the Mashable Summit a few weeks ago, everyone in attendance received a free Motorola smart phone. I received a Motorola Devour with Motoblur, running on the Droid operating system. As I have a brand new Droid that I love dearly, I don’t need two phones. My options were to ebay it, give it away or have a contest. I’m choosing the contest. Please be advised this is a Verizon phone and it retails for about $150.

Pretty jazzy, right?

I’m looking forward to your post. My favorite gets the phone. It can be humorous, a video, a cartoon or anything else that you feel will get my attention. I like to award bonus points for creativity, so have fun with it.

Once again, the contest closes on July 5th. Are you a salter or a taster?

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I’m totally digging CardioTrainer, a fitness app for my Droid. I especially appreciate how it’s keeping my accountable and on track with my weight loss goals. I don’t know how it is with you, but eight years of blogging can take a toll on a girl. What started out as a little extra baby weight spread out of control as I spent every spare moment working instead of taking care of myself. Now, I realize that if I want to be a good role model for my son and teach him good habits, plus maintain my own healthy lifestyle, I have to work on my own bad habits.

No More Excuses

I had lots of good reasons for not working out:

• I need my spare time to work.
• I’m too tired at night after working and playing Mom all day.
• The house is a mess.
• I’ll do it tomorrow/later/next week
• I don’t need to exercise, I just need to stop eating

Really lame, right? The truth is, I don’t enjoy going to the gym. However, I do enjoy walking, hiking and swimming. So when a bunch of my neighbors invited me to join them on their morning walks, I jumped at the opportunity.  I have been taking the dog for a walk to get exercise but I’d rather have human company. My friends are interesting and engaging and breaks up that work at home isolation.

Facebook Updates

I noticed some of my friends had apps on their smart phones that updated their Facebook statuses as to how many miles they walked each day. If some of them didn’t post their update on a particular day, other friends would call them out (in a nice way) for not walking. I liked how the app and Facebook update held them accountable for their workouts.

Cardio Trainer Pros and Cons

What I like most about my CardioTrainer app is that it records all the miles I worked and calories burned.  Here’s the kicker: If I know I just walked off 450 calories, the last thing I want to do is put that food back in my mouth. As mentioned earlier, I set it up so each workout is automatically posted to my wall on Facebook. I’m sort of proud at displaying my results and I get encouragement from my Facebook friends. I pair this up with a subscription to Weight Watchers Online and I’m accountable for my fitness and weight loss and it’s all apps and online geeky fun.

CardioTrainer, the brain child of WorkSmartLabs, isn’t without its faults. Though my friends keep their Droids in their pockets and fanny packs, I walk with mine in my hand because when it’s in my pocket I bump into it with my legs somehow and it pauses. It also pauses on its own if I slow down too much. Also? I’m still trying to figure out the swim option. Because I don’t know how I can swim and hold my Droid in my hand or attached to my side without getting it wet. I’m thinking swim updates won’t happen with CardioTrainer.

If the sound is on, a monotone male voice will call out periodic updates while I’m working out, letting me know how long I’ve been at it, my miles per hour, and how far I’ve gone so far. As my friends and I walk, someone’s pocket is always shouting out an update.

I like CardioTrainer. It holds me accountable for my workout, encourages me along and even displays the calories burned so I’m not tempted to over indulge once my workout is over.  My only gripe is that it pauses on its own in the middle of my workout sometimes and I have to restart it from time to time. If your body is suffering from Blogger’s Spread and it’s time to get back into shape, consider CardioTrainer or another smartphone app. It adds an element of motivational fun and I’m not inclined to give up after a few days of working out.

What apps do you use to help stay in shape?

Related Posts:

• Does Social Media Matter to Civilians?
• 10 Tips for Using Your Competition to Become a Better Blogger
• 10 Publishing Options for Your Blog
• 5 Things I Learned from Selling My Blog
• Shaming Unfollowers: Should We Really Take it So Personally?

Tagged as: bloggers, blogging, blogs, cardio trainer, cardiotrainer, Droid, droid app, facebook, fitness, worksmart labs

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I often come across Facebook fan pages and wonder about the motivation behind them. Plenty of fan pages make sense. I follow the local news and some of my favorite blogs and websites. I can even see following a favorite celebrity or television series. Others, are head scratchers. For example, what inspires someone to create a page title such as “That Public Toilet Probably Has an STD on the Seat?” Did the person who created the group come across this toilet in his travels? If so, I have to wonder about some of the places he’s visiting. And, really, what does one do in a group such as this? Those who “like it” certainly aren’t in there discussing toilet seatery. They’re liking for the sake of liking since not one of the 3,200 people who “like” this page find it especially discussion worthy.

There are no innocent parties when it comes to Facebook fannery. Everyone has either started a page, “liked a page,” or, at the very least, smiled and nodded after seeing a friend “like” a page that especially resonates with us. Indeed, I’ve even considered starting my own Facebook fan pages, mostly out of frustration or boredom. Some titles I’ve toyed with include “Why Do I Bother Making Up a Shopping List When I’m Going to Forget Stuff Anyway?” “Stop Telling Me to Put On a Sweater, I Shouldn’t Have to Dress in Layers in My Own Home,” “If you don’t read my blog how come you can quote everything I write verbatim,” and “If You’re the One that Wanted the Dog So Bad, Why Am I the One Picking Up His Crap?” I don’t have the nerve though. I’m afraid that people would actually join and then I’d have to stimulate some sort of discussion. Frankly, I don’t have that kind of time. Even so, I thought it might be fun to explore some of the more interesting Facebook pages and groups out there.

How many of these do YOU “like?”

1. I don’t care about your farm, your fish, your park or your mafia – 6,007, 186 members – (I’ve been tempted to join this one myself.)
2. Pretending to Text in Awkward Situations – 3, 718,385
3. I Will Go Slightly Out of My Way to Step on a Crunchy  Looking Leaf – 2,075, 261 members
4. Awkwardly standing there as your friend talks to someone you don’t know - 2,608,062 members (Who among us hasn’t been there before?)
5. Dear Pringles, I cannot fit my hand inside your tube of deliciousness – 1,184,671 members ( Then maybe you should just pour them out like the rest of us?)
6. I Hate When One String of My Hoodie Becomes Longer Than the Other – 1,525,749 (bummer.)
7. If You Tailgate Me I Will Intentionally Slow Down to Piss You Off- 1, 438, 313 members
8. The Guy Who Discovered Milk…What Was He Doing With That Cow? 1, 316, 399 members (Part of me wants to know this answer, the rest of me is thinking it’s best not to know.)
9. Finding a Bruise on Your Body and Not Knowing Where You Got It – 649, 891 (Who wouldn’t be a fan of anonymous bruising?)
10. I Wasn’t Grumpy Until You Accused Me of Being Grump. Now I’m Just Pissed -671,452
11. Half my problems would be gone if I never associated with you 331,082 members
12. Can This Poodle Wearing a Tinfoil Hat Get More Fans than Glen Beck? 277,754
13. Why Don’t Mosquitoes Suck Fat and Cellulite Instead of Blood? – 194, 288 members
14. If Guns Kills People, Do Pencils Misspell Words? 94,949 members (Silly, no one uses pencils anymore.)
15. I Hate Battery Low - 1,250 Members (Perhaps you might charge that puppy rather than create a FAcebook page in protest? )

Have you come across some funny or unusual Facebook fan pages? Feel free to share them in the comments.

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Five years ago I started a private family forum as a way for my mom, five brothers and sisters and our families to keep in touch and share photos of our kids and talk about our lives.  Though it’s sort of like our own private family social network, it was started as a way to share without cluttering up everyone’s emails. Even five years ago email was a problem with me. I can receive up to 1,000 emails a day, mostly from people looking to learn how to break into blogging, social media or freelance writing. I can tell you that it is hard to keep this many emails under control each day.  As a result, I’m finding ways to deal with people without dealing with emails.

Phone v. Mail

I’m finding I prefer the phone to email. With the phone I can usually take care of all business in one fell swoop without having to do a lot of back and forth with emails. I can ask questions and give expansive answers.  I also have a better idea of how the party on the other end is feeling because I can tell from his tone. I find that the people I do business with feel they trust me more when they can hear my voice and that’s fine by me. The only time I don’t appreciate the phone is when others are abusive. For example when a client calls after 9:00 p.m. because he knows it’s a good time to get me at home. I handle that by making no mistake about the hours I’ll talk on the phone, and the hours I’m unavailable. One 15 – 30 minute phone call can cut down on up to a dozen back and forth emails.

Skype

I’m also digging Skype. It doesn’t matter if I use the phone, video or text function, it’s a way to have a discussion without cluttering up my inbox. Like the phone we can answers all those back and forth questions and make sure we’re clear on all the issues. My friends, colleagues and clients know that if my Skype is on, I’m available to talk. If it’s off, they’ll have to catch me the next day. If I’m in a meeting or on a call I can set my status to show I’m busy. However, if I set the green light, we’re good to go.

Face to Face

I don’t have many face to face meetings because most of the people I work with aren’t in this area, but I do try and arrange to do business  at conferences and I’ll travel for important contracts and collaborations. Face to face is the absolute best way to communicate. I know meetings can be a time suck, but they can also be the most productive part of your day. Sitting with the person I’m doing business with allows me to get really creative. I can read the other person’s expressions and know if I’m on the right track. I can tell by his or her body language when it’s time to wrap things up and I can expand on all points of the conversation without having to worry about cluttering an inbox or running out of battery power. Plus, it’s that trust thing. People have more trust in those they meet than those they don’t meet.

Managing Email

Let’s get to the meat of the matter, though. This is really all about how I receive an obscene amount of email today and it’s taking over my life. Most of the time, it’s a matter of organzing my email as well as the time I spend responding. My biggest problem is that I don’t always have time to respond immediately and if I don’t respond immediately emails get buried. Here are some practices I’ve been implementing to better organize my email – and my time:

• Sort email into folders: I delete all spam and silliness and sort emails into folders to deal with at the designated time.
• Set a time to respond to email: Instead of checking my inbox throughout the day, I have scheduled time.  During that time, I sort new email and respond to the most pressing emails in each folder. Sometimes I’ll send emails out to let people know I haven’t forgotten about them or lost their email, but I will respond within the next couple of days. I don’t like anyone to feel ignored.
• As outlined above, I find other methods of communication so my email doesn’t take over my life.

Now it’s time for you to share. How much email do you receive each day and how do you keep it in check?

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“Who are you with?”

The man asked me this question as I was in line for the fruit platter at the Mashable Media Summit yesterday. It was the first thing he said to me,  his way of breaking the ice and starting a conversation. I don’t know why I find this phrase so off-putting, but it’s one I heard often both at both the Summit and Internet Week Headquarters in New York City yesterday.  It’s as if more people were interested in my business or someone else’s brand than me.

Do I have to be “with” someone?

When I’m at a conference such as BlogWorld or South by Southwest I generally introduce myself by holding out my hand and saying, “Hi, I’m Deb.” The party on the other end of the handshake will generally respond with a name and chit chat will ensue. If not, I’ll ask that person to tell me about him or herself. I want to know about this person and I’m not sure yet if who he or she is “with” is relevant to our conversation.In fact, I find that having a conversation about anything in the world other than business, makes the business conversation less stuffy. We’ll get to the inevitable eventually, everyone knows that.

I realize that we’re at conferences to network and do business but someone walking up to me out of the blue and saying “who are you with” never fails to throw me for a loop. Does he mean the person I came to the conference with? My husband? My job? Stupid?

What if I’m not there with anyone, is that OK?

I tried an experiment. A polished P.R. person walked over to me at one point and said, “who are you with?” I told him I was an independent contractor and he couldn’t get away quick enough. Yes, I could have told him (as it clearly stated on my badge) I was there on behalf of BlogWorld, but I wanted to see if he was still interested in having a conversation with me even though I claimed no affiliation. He wasn’t.

I’m finding a big difference between social media and blogging conferences and more schmoozy conferences. When it’s about conversation, the conversation is front and center. When it’s about who you’re with, that takes precedence over everything. In fact, a couple of people who wanted to know who I was “with” didn’t tell me their names, they handed me business cards. So being affiliated “with” a brand is more important than names.

Please say hello to me…not my affiliation

I get why I’m at a conference. I also get why other people are at conferences. That doesn’t mean who we’re with is more important than who we are. If you see me at one of these shindigs, please come over and say hello if I don’t do so first, because I really do want to meet you. I want to know about you, your passion, and yes, even your business.

But please don’t ask me who I’m with.

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Anything good is worth sharing, right? Here’s what I’m digging this week:

• 50 Female Bloggers You Should Be Reading: First foremost let me say I’m not a fan of “top women/female/diva blogger” type posts because I believe a good blogger is a good blogger regardless of gender. When I first started blogging, there were lots of “top blogger” posts. Folks would get all up in arms and ask why women didn’t make the lists. So then someone would throw together a “top female/women” bloggers list we and all was supposed to be right with the world. Except I never felt that way. A top blogger is a top blogger is a top blogger whether a woman, man or hermaphrodite. With that said, I dig Ignite Social Media’s “Top 50 Female Blogger’s” post because it’s dead on – and it includes more than the usual suspects. You absolutely should be reading them. I’m especially thrilled to see my friends Thursday Bram and Meryl Evans on the list.  I guarantee you’ll add some new blogs to your feed reader after this!

• 13 Truths About Social Media Measurement: Everything you know about measuring is probably wrong. Once again, Amber Naslund is right on. My favorite? “Measuring acitivity isn’t as important as measuring results.”

• Registration is Now Open for the BlogWorld and New Media Exp0: Will I see you there?

• How to Monetize Your Site Without Causing an Audience Revolt: Lordy, can I relate to this one. David Risley’s post at CopyBlogger discusses taking on sponsorships without being labeled a sellout.

Did you read anything interesting today?  Tell us what you’re digging too!

P.S. Feel free to join the Kommein Facebook “like” page. It’s brand new and a way to receive updates,etc.

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Do you listen to what the other person is saying…or are you simply waiting to talk again?

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I wrote a post for the BlogWorld & New Media Expo blog I felt would be of interest to the community here. What happens when you encourage your community to join various social networking groups? Sometimes, it only encourages them to hang out somewhere else rather than your site. Read: Are Social Networking Groups Driving Away Your Community and please share your thoughts.

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