So last month I sold one of my blogs for four figures. This was the first big-ish sale of a blog that I’ve made, and I came away from the experience a little wiser. Here’s what I learned.

1. 4 Lessons Learned from Selling a Blog for ...
by Tristan - http://thebacklight.com/4-lessons-learned-from-selling-a-blog-for-4-figures/
4 Lessons Learned from Selling a Blog for 4 Figures
So last month I sold one of my blogs for four figures. This was the first big-ish sale of a blog that I’ve made, and I
came away from the experience a little wiser. Here’s what I learned.
(And 4 figures might not be earth-shattering, but it’s the most I’ve ever sold a blog for.)
1. Transferring most things was easy, but…
… not everything went smoothly. Here are the things we were able to transfer easily and without a hitch:
The Feedburner feed
The Twitter account
The YouTube account
The Gmail account (I create a new Gmail account for each new blog I create.)
The Facebook page
The email newsletter (I was using AWeber and the person I transfered the blog to is using MailChimp. I
exported the list as a CSV document and the other person was able to upload it easily.)
For many of those it was as easy as changing the password and giving the password to the site’s new owner,
who I assume has changed the password since.
The domain name transfer wasn’t too terribly difficult but was made more so by the antiquated documentation by
the relics that are domain registrars.
Things that we couldn’t transfer?
The Google Analytics profile for that blog. The blog’s Google Analytics profile was on my personal Google
account and not on the new one I made when I started the blog. My mistake.
The Amazon Associates tracking IDs for the blog. You can’t transfer Amazon affiliate IDs, though there’s
apparently a way to change all of them on your WordPress blog.
2. Migrating a blog sucks, but…
…I found a plugin that makes it a LOT easier.
Before I sold the blog, I knew that migrating a blog sucked because I’ve switched web hosts before and had to
migrate all of my blogs then. And it still sucked this time, but the WordPress plugin Backup Buddy (not an affiliate
link because I’m too lazy to join their affiliate program) made it a lot easier. I saw it mentioned in a Zen Habits
blog post, and I bought it right then. It’s a blog backup and migration plugin. You install the plugin and then can
backup everything—posts, images, databases, WordPress files, plugins—with one click. You can also have it
automatically backup your site and send the backup file to Dropbox. You don’t even need to have WordPress
installed on the new host that you’re migrating it to. Backup Buddy backs up EV. RY. THING. Pretty slick.
It’s not a cheap plugin—a licence for two blogs costs $75 and the developer licence, which I bought, is $150—but it
was definitely worth it. Plus I did a Google search for a coupon code before I purchased the plugin and was able
to get an additional 30% off.
There are a few plugins that are free that are supposed to do something similar, but I’ve never had very good
experiences with those. I’ve a very satisfied Backup Buddy customer, and I recommend it for anyone migrating a
blog to a different host or different hosting account.
3. Selling a blog isn’t easy, but…
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2. 4 Lessons Learned from Selling a Blog for ...
by Tristan - http://thebacklight.com/4-lessons-learned-from-selling-a-blog-for-4-figures/
…it’s a lot easier if it’s making money. In this case, the blog sold for about 10x the current monthly revenue. The
person approached me and asked how much I wanted for the site. I asked the purchaser to make an offer. It was
10x the revenue amount and I thought it was fare, so I accepted.
I remember seeing a particular Flippa auction about six or so months ago. (For those who don’t know, Flippa is
an online marketplace for websites.) The auction was for a website that made zero money, but the person was
asking for $500. Come on. That’s like trying to sell an old car that doesn’t run for $5,000.
If your blog is making money, someone will buy it if your asking price isn’t ridiculous.
4. I could have gotten more money if…
…I’d been paying more attention to the site over the previous 6 months or so. I had done zero promotion for the
site and updated it only grudgingly. The blog was only a year old and I had been a largely negligent father for half
of its life. If I’d sold it at its peak, I could have gotten probably 2.5x the amount I got for it. But hey, all’s well that
ends well.
Final words
So overall, there were some sticky points in the transfer process, but I’m happy with the way it went. The vast
majority of the process was done in one day. I was able to get rid of a site I wasn’t interested in anymore and
make some money from it. The site now has a new owner and a new lease on life.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding the sales process, and chime in if you have any more tips for
selling a blog.
As always, I’m on Twitter.
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