Brokering Big Blogs: How is that for an alliteration? If you have missed this peice of news, Jeremy over at Ensight is brokering the sale of a “big” blog that is within the Top 100 Top 200 blogs on the Internet. If nothing else, he is creating enough chatter about it. He is a blog marketer and he is doing what he does best, drawing attention to himself (and more power to him for being so good at doing that, remember the eBay blog sale?).
Blogs, especially successful blogs, are quickly becoming sought after commodities that can make decent money for the seller thanks in part to Jeremy and others like him. However, I firmly believe that the author makes a blog and not the content or the network that the blog resides on. My initial thought was that Om Malik was going to be selling his blog (which does not seem to be true). Robert has already denied his involvement (along with a few others). However, in each case, I could not help think how the content of the blog would miss the idiosyncratic influence of the blogger. If this big blog being sold can live on without the creators’ juice, that is great for the buyer. But if I were the creator, I would just build a new, competing blog and continue to write, I know my readers will find me again if I have/had good content.
That’s one way to look at it. The other way is the recent Wonkette.com example, where celeb blogger Ana Marie Cox departed and handed the reigns over to successors.
It goes back to the running argument: Are the bloggers or the blogs the real stars? In the case of a single-author site, probably the former; but for group blogs, I’d say the latter. And it all depends on how the blog is structured, and what attracts people to it. If a blog develops a community atmosphere, I’d argue it’s grown beyond being just the author’s outlet, and becomes very much a commodity unto itself.
selling blogs is nonsense, except that it makes money, of course. a blog’s success depends on the bloggers’ character. you can’t play tricks with your readers. i wouldn’t sell mine anyway.
So, basically, he’s selling an address and some formatting.
It’s web design with a twist! We’ll select the name, create the overall design, and generate the content right up until the time that you complete the purchase. Then we’ll take the value with us, and leave you with a $20 monthly payment!
I have got to find a way to get famous.