Blogs generally require a sizable time commitment, much more than websites that are less focused on frequently-added content. It’s not at all uncommon for a blogger to get tired of updating his or her website and auction it off, handing the responsibility to someone else and making a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
Sadly, the new owners of the blogs don’t always end up putting the required effort into their acquisitions, and the sites languish. I don’t like seeing a great blog with a large community fall apart when the creator leaves, but it happens too often.
I’ve subscribed to a few blogs in the past that have had this happen. I have come to dread the words “This blog is up for sale.”
One such blog is North X East, formerly run by web designer and Envato CEO Collis Ta’eed. I had been reading it since it was simply Collis’s personal blog, and I continued to when it became a weekly guide to blogging. It had attained a large readership, and I found myself looking forward to each weekly post. Then, on September 19, 2007, Collis put it up for auction since it was taking up time and resources, and didn’t really fit in with the other Envato sites. It netted $8,200. Only a handful of posts have been published there since the site changed hands, and Collis’s very nice design has been mucked up a bit. I assume it’s still making the new owner a bit of money, but the readers kind of got shafted.
Another example is WP Designer. I had jsut gotten into the site and subscribed, when the author sold the blog. I remained subscribed for a year, but no new articles came, until recently. A couple weeks ago a post went up that was essentially just affiliate links to cheapy shared hosting providers. Yeah, real nice…
If you ever end up wanting to sell a well-established blog for some reason, think of your readers. Before you just sell to the highest bidder, put up a post asking if any of them would like to buy it. Someone from your community is more likely to keep it going. Shop it around to some blog networks or other bloggers on the same topic, maybe.
Having a good blog disappear can be like having on of your favorite TV shows cancelled mid-season.
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