When you go about the process of selling your weblog, the first question in your mind should be its value. There is no yardstick to determine the exact value of your blog though. We can talk all about the site visitor count and the profits, but in the end, remember that your blog is worth what someone will pay for it.
What Is My Blog Worth?
Most buyers will only consider a blog with a high number of unique visitors to be valuable. Of course, the definition of 'high' for the buyer is different from what your definition may be. A thousand visitors per month are good for you, but do not expect a large sum for your site. You usually cannot sell a blog based on its potential. If you believe your blog has great potential, market it so that you are getting a high number of unique visits each month; then you'll be able to command a better price for the blog.
In addition to raw traffic numbers, the profitability of your blog is important. A buyer will likely want to see that your blog can be made profitable. One method of getting a price estimate for your blog is actually to take the monthly profit and multiply it times 10.
Blog buyers may also be interested in the stickiness factor of your blog. Having a visitor once is not the end aim, they want visitors to come back to the site, and they want it to be the site that fulfills the needs of the visitors.
Other factors also play a role in the value of your site, including the number and quantity of backlinks to your blog, your search engine rankings, your Google PageRank, your blog platform, etc.
Selling Your Blog
After you have a rough calculation of how much you are looking for in terms of profit from your blog sale, prepare yourself for the marketing and negotiations. Get your blog’s statistics together - seriously interested buyers will always ask for them.
The average investment you make on the site per month (cost of hosting, domain names, marketing, writers, etc.) as opposed to what your advertisers pay is a very important stat to have handy. Depending on your situation you may want to use Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA) when you are giving out classified information about your blog. Remember that there is a fine line between saying too little and too much; if you hold back information the buyer can not completely trust you, but being too open can hurt you as well, when it comes to unethical buyers.
Once you have all your stats together, then you are ready to put your blog on the market. Finding buyers is always the hard part. There are several good ways to find buyers, including posting your offer on forums, alerting your contact base to your offer, etc. If you prefer, you can try using a blog broker to sell your site.
Using A Blog Broker To Sell Your Blog
Most people start off thinking they can complete the sales on their own, what they do not take into account is the fact that they don't have the expertise and contacts that a blog broker would have.
Of course Blog Brokers will cost you some cabbage, but think of that as an investment, just as a lawyer looking at the contract or an accountant overseeing the process would be. The percentage you pay the broker from your sale is well worth the effort most will make for your sale since a good sale.
While dealing with blog brokers though, take care to be honest about your site’s positive and negatives. That ensures that they do not waste your time in return by bringing people who are not interested in what you are selling. They can also give you good assessments of your blog’s value because they have experience in the market. Remember though, not all brokers are alike, you want one who can pay attention to your project.
Once you have a potential buyer, remember that it is going to be a time consuming process to go through the negotiations and it can be helpful if you have a good broker in the middle to help. There are things you need to discuss on your own, but at times when you have bad news to share, use your broker since you are going to work with the seller in the transition period later, it helps to keep the repot.
Another thing to keep in mind while selling is to run your blog as if it is business as usual while the negotiations continue. Large website sales can take up to several months with the kind of money involved, so keep your visitors interested and never show that you are impatient to get the deal through.
Before choosing a broker, remember to get references from them for previous clients. Contact all the references and find out about their experience with the broker. Most people do not explain problems they had well enough, they can generalize when telling you about their experience so put them in the spot where they would judge their best: ask if they would work with the broker again if they were selling their site. More often than not, that is the question which will get you the most honest opinion on the broker.
Also make sure that the broker you use has experience and strikes the right tone with his words. A bad choice for a broker can ruin your chances of a profitable sale which means there can be times when a different broker will bring the same client and you will note a difference in how things are handled. Choose your broker wisely and communicate well…that’s half the job done.
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