Matt Haughey recently unloaded his PVRBlog.com domain and content on ebay for $12,110.00 at the conclusion of a 7 day auction. As with most items that attract seasoned bidders, the reality was closer to a 20 minute event — during which time we saw PVRBlog‘s price more than double. However, the week-long listing provided plenty of time to mull over a purchase. And to be approached by a variety of folks looking to team.
But how do you value a website? In it’s heyday, PVRBlog held an amazing 9/10 Google PageRank. And despite hardly any new content (8 posts in 2009), the site still sees several hundred visitors a day. Perhaps most impressively, PVRBlog may have over 180,000 RSS subscribers thanks to some early Google promotion. Yet Matt says his revenue maxed out at $3,000 a month (and currently brings in about $100/mo). Given those top flight numbers, I would have expected significantly higher cashflow. I’m not entirely sure where the disconnect is, but it did give me pause.
Also, despite Davis Freeberg‘s grand plans for me, I’ve never aspired to preside over a blog empire. In fact, my post count is down this year in a conscious “back to basics” blogging effort. We’re going with less press release regurgitation in favor of sharing more personal experiences in tech. It’s a blogosphere conundrum, which probably results in less traffic and less income, but a better product. I can live with that.
Some folks I conferred with on the mater suggested “PVRBlog” is somewhat limiting given the current state of digital media affairs. Perhaps. Although it’s surely much less limiting than “Zatz Not Funny” — originally the name of my college radio show, later ported to the web as a place to share travelogues with friends and family. Which has since (obviously) evolved into something far different.
Early on I chose to pass on the partnership angle, due to the various ownership, management, and financial complexities. At which point I began working on a two-phase implementation plan and a dollar amount I’d be comfortable with, given my current mindset detailed above. As it turns out, $12,110.00 exceeds the amount of risk/commitment I am willing to make in assuming the stewardship of PVRBlog.com. But, if Matt’s ebay deal falls through for whatever reason, I hope he’s willing to have a conversation outside of ebay. (I’m not a fan.) As I’d like to think I can preserve his PVR legacy, while making a positive contribution to the blogosphere and earn us both a little money in the process.
Had Matt not gone the ebay route, I would have proposed something like $X thousand upfront and Y% of profits until I recoup $X at which point we bump the revenue share to something like Y% x 2. Although given his current interest level and personal situation, he might just prefer to wipe his hands clean of PVRBlog.com for the most amount of cash. And I can’t blame him for that. Although, if that’s the case, I would have chosen a different venue to unload the site.
With ZNF and the fake Tom Roger’s twitter account, PVRBlog would have given you a DVR trifecta. You may not want to be a blog mogul, but you’re still a leader.
Matt said that A small web firm in Austin, TX bought the domain and they’ll be transitioning it at the beginning of the year. Sounds like we’ll get to see it live on to a certain extent :) I wondered about the PVR part boxing the site in a little bit too. I think over the next 2 years we’ll see a lot of new fans, but also realize it’s a niche and there are only so many people interested in this amazing technolgy. End of the day, I’ll just be happy to see new PVR fans voicing in with their opinions.
Dave, I think pvrblog.com would have been great in your hands. I thought about making a play for it, but it didn’t make sense, since we’re essentially a DVR “vendor”. I’ll be interested to see what the new owners do with the site!
Please keep ZNF focused on context – data rich, unique, entertaining personal content – that’s the reason I began reading, to the exclusion of all other gear blogs.
Spending thousands on a domain name will prove to be a poor value – Why? All the antiquated terms like ( “page views”, “uniques”, SEO, “google juice”, page rank ) are on their way out, replaced with the immanent revolution of activity streams and real time web.
Google just hired Joseph Smarr for a reason.
Dave, I agree with everything you said about content, etc. So many blogs today just rehash other blog stories (you see it in the links). I’ve tried to launch a couple of sites over the past year or so to no avail – it’s harder than it looks and you have to be committed. Good thing for readers of this space, you are. My next attempt will come early next year, coincidentally named after my college radio show. It’s content will be different from yours, but the philosophy will be the same. If I can keep it as well-formed as ZNF and make $100 a month, I’d be happy.
$12k is a lot for a pigeonholed domain name. gadgethound is for sale at 2.5k on godaddy’s premoim domain and is much more diverse, and still a cool domain.
Dave,
I wouldn’t worry about your domain name too much. You provide a lot of great content and at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter what your domain is.