How to Flog Your Blog

Until fairly recently, if you no longer had the time or interest in blogging, your only option was to stop posting and let it die a natural death.

If you think your blog is of no value because you never managed to monetize it, think again, buster. Today, even newbie sites can earn their outgoing owners a little cash.

While the financial worth of a blog is traditionally based on one to two times its annual income, it’s also possible that, even with no revenue, it may be sellable due to its archive of posts, its domain name, Google PageRank or traffic.

Spreading The Word

Getting the word out that your blog’s for sale needn’t be time-intensive. In fact, it’s often as simple as creating a listing on a blog sale specialist site such as   Flippa.com   or through online forums.

Don’t forget to let the folks in your blogging network know you’re planning to jump ship—they may very well want first dibs. 

Sellers take note: as tempting as it may be to inflate your metrics to hook would-be buyers, you’ll soon be caught out, and your online name could quickly become mud.

In the words of   BlogTyrant  , who has sold several websites for large sums of money: “The guys spending $5k plus on websites know what a cheat looks like and they will, most of the time, take legal action if you mislead them.”

Exit, Stage Right

If you’ve been cultivating your online community for some time, chances are you’ll feel a bond with your readers and won’t have made the decision to walk away lightly.

The good news is that often it will be a condition of the sale for you to stay on for a period of time, to offer readers a sense of continuity. Be sure to write the specific terms of your tenure into your sale agreement, including any royalties and other compensation.

Also be aware that most blog sale agreements now include Twitter and other social networking accounts to accompany the site, so you will need to provide personal contacts with alternative means to reach you.

If you’re thinking about selling your blog, don’t just shut up shop and be done with it. Consider whether there’s a loving home out there for it somewhere and whether someone will part with their hard-earned cash for the pleasure of owning it.