Thanks to James Marcus at the House of Mirth for alerting me to the New York magazine cover story about bloggers. Few periodicals have their finger on the pulse of current culture like New York Magazine; when no pulse is detected New York Magazine becomes the ER doctor reviving the zeitgeist with thunder bolts of wit. Here’s the bottom line on blogging: sell now, little blogger, before your property drops like a condo in a mudslide. Some guy named Jason collected 25 million bucks for his collection of blogs; it’s an American success story, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wish you were Arianna Huffington.
Tips on selling your blog: be sure it has several thousand incoming links. Time Warner or whomever may want to kick the tires before purchasing your blog outright; have close relatives visit your page over and over. There is an A list, a B list, and a C list. Power lines and charts are a plus; have many charts made showing your progress over time. Go back weeks if you have to; chart everything, though. No chart, no sale.
Calculate the value of your blog: don’t assign a dollar value, leave that to the media experts. Be clear about why you started your blog, what demographic you’re gunning for. Use words like exponential, but wait until the financial analysts have examined your charts. If the chart looks bad, turn it upside down; those arrows need to be pointed up. Okay go ahead and say exponential before boxes of donuts arrive. Donuts are deal killers. Donuts flatten yield curves, subvert monetary policy, dull the senses; if your blog is about donuts rub your stomach in a circular motion and say yum. That’s a sale, my friend.
Couldn’t have said it better myself–turning the chart upside down is an especialy cool trick during the due diligence phase.
It’s similar in old-fashioned publishing: if you start a magazine and get thousands upon thousands of subscribers, you can sell it for a boatload.
Morgan Stanley is repping me now. No, wait, it’s Stanley Morgan, or just plain Stan.