Lost interest in your blog? Then sell it!
More than any other type of website, blogs are more likely to be abandoned or sold. There are many reasons for this. Some bloggers struggle to find the time to update their blog whereas others get frustrated at the lack of money they make. However I believe the number one reason blogs are abandoned is lack of interest ie. the blogger loses interest in the topic or in the blog itself (sometimes referred to as Blogger Fatique).
There are several reasons why a blogger loses interest in their blog topic, the main one being a lack of passion for the topic in the first place. Many people have started blogs in topics which they are unfamilar with or have no passion about because they thought there was a quick buck to be made. In the short term I believe a blogger can write about any subject but in the long term I believe that bloggers will lose interest if they are not passionate about the subject.
I don’t want to delve too deeply into the reasons why bloggers lose interest in a blog, I want to discuss what I believe is the best course of action for you when you find yourself in that position. In my opinion, if you have completely lost interest in your blog and you are updating it less and writing posts feelsl like a chore, then you should sell it sooner rather than later.
- The longer a blog goes without posts the higher the chance that earnings and traffic will drop. Regular readers to a blog will also frequent the blog less and less if it is not being updated. Therefore the value of the blog will decrease as time goes by which is why it’s better to sell the blog sooner.
- Most bloggers rarely make the decision to sell a blog quickly. Many believe that they will go back to the blog later and start it up again but this is rarely successful. Not only is it very difficult to get an abandoned blog started again, the reasons why the blogger lost interest in the blog in the first place usually remain and by this time, the overall value of the blog has decreased. Think about it from a buyers point of view. If the blogger realises quickly that they are losing interest and lists the site for sale then they will get a higher price ie. buyers are more inclined to purchase blogs which are still being updated rather than a blog which has been left to rot for a few months. Remember, if you list the blog for sale sooner rather than later it isn’t even obvious to readers of potential buyers that you have lost interest.
I’m not suggesting that bloggers should abandon their blogs the minute the going gets tough, far from it. However, when you come to the conclusion that you are losing interest in your blog and updating it feels like hard work, the sooner you sell the blog the better as the value of the blog will decrease as time goes by.
Bottom line, try and not let a blog rot to death. If you really don’t think that you will keep it long term then sell the blog and use the money you make to fund a project you are passionate about 
cmanlong | September 5th, 2008 at 3:46 pm #
I have been struggling with this for a while now….I haven’t lost interest in my blog but I have been pressed for the time to really maintain it properly. I was seriously considering trying to sell it but decided against it. Now that I am finally getting more time to put back into the blog it has been really difficult to get back the readers that I lost.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Com | September 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pm #
I remember almost a couple months ago when I almost lost ALL interest on my blog. I was soooooo close to selling it on SitePoint because I know it would net me a huge chunk of money. But in the end, I stuck with it (and I’m glad that I did). Now I’m back in the business and I’ve gotten my readers back and have found new readers.
But to second this post, selling a blog that you are not interested anymore is a very good idea. Why just leave it dead when you can sell it for some ca$h?
Aryadewangga | September 5th, 2008 at 5:07 pm #
Yes sometime I feeling lost of idea to improve my blog to be better. Selling my blog maybe will be better, right?
Andre Thomas | September 6th, 2008 at 3:32 am #
Great advice. I have lost interest in several of my blogs in one time or another but I have always managed ti get back in the game. I did abandoned one though… perhaps I should have sold it.
Julie | September 6th, 2008 at 8:55 am #
Thanks for the post. But are there successful blogs out there that have been sold? I’m assuming readership would go down due to loyalty. New author with new viewpoints. I am new to blogging, so this is interesting news to me!
Kevin Muldoon (Post Author) | September 6th, 2008 at 9:01 am #
Julie - Selling a blog when it is successful is the best time to sell it as the value will be at it’s highest (of course, I’m assuming that the blogger wants to sell the blog because they no longer like updating it).
Ganesh | September 6th, 2008 at 10:40 am #
I’m having the exact problem now. I’m willing to sell my PR 3 blog, but I don’t have any buyers coming.
Kevin Muldoon (Post Author) | September 6th, 2008 at 10:45 am #
Ganesh - Why don’t you list the site at sitepoint. Give as much detail of the blog as possible ie. stats, earnings, how much you update the blog etc. I’m sure you will get a few offers.
Missy (from G34 Media) | September 6th, 2008 at 11:01 pm #
Site and blog flipping is very hot right now. It makes sense really when you think about it, as 2 to 3 years ago is when the majority of blogs launched.
Now 3 years laters, people are either tired, have no time, or as Kevin stated no longer as passionate about the topic.
So selling is big right now, and will continue to be. Virtual real estate has value, just as much as offline property.
slee | September 8th, 2008 at 5:53 am #
Funnily enough i have to sites ive been thinking about selling as i have not had the time to write anything for them. it is quite a hard decision though ive had them for some time and the url’s i have are pretty good but as i have left them for some time im not sure if i will get much for them. The other thing is how do you price the sites?
Boende | September 8th, 2008 at 9:26 am #
Kevin: It’s not always true that you should sell when the interest in the blog is at its highest. A well-written blog that gets to gather dust for a year or so generates tons of backlinks and higher PR, so you can charge more for it (if selling for PR juice). Blog and/or domain age has been a very important factor in ranking this far, and will probably continue to be.
From a buyer perspective it’s nice since the price is usually very much lower after an inactive year, unless the seller is very SEO-minded.
Kevin Muldoon (Post Author) | September 8th, 2008 at 10:36 am #
Boende - I think there are exceptions but in most cases I would disagree. If someone has used a blog script to publish content and hasn’t attached a date then sometimes it could gain more value over time.
However, this isn’t true for true blogs. Although PR is important to some people and backlinks are of important too, the value of a blog is most determined by the number of subscribers it has and over a year the majority of the blogs subscribers would unsubscribe since it wasn’t being updated. Remember, there is a difference between a ‘blog’ and a website which has used a blog script as a content management system. Blogs are updated regularly and a high percentage of readers view the blog via a newsreader.