Questions on The Blog Herald sale
by Duncan
January 17, 2006
I’ve been getting a couple of questions and interview requests through about the sale of The Blog Herald. I’m happy to do interviews for various websites and blogs if people are interested, or answer any questions where I can. Drop me an email (note I’m phasing out the [email protected] email address) or leave your questions in the comments here, and I’ll endeavour to answer them. It’s sort of bizarre being a topic of news as opposed to reporting on the news. My 15 minutes of Andy Warhol fame perhaps? :-)
My question: so how much then? :)
darren on the problogger.net site says its up for USD 72000
Who’s buying?
What criteria did you consider in calculating the value?
Massive congrats on the sale Duncan.
It dawned on me last night when I was out with mates at a pub that I hope you’re set up behind a Pty Ltd company structure otherwise if you are just a sole trader this will be added to your total income and most likely entirely taxed at our atrociously high top tax rate of 48%.
Hope you’ve got a great accountant that can work some magic.
Well done on the sale, Duncan.
The blogosphere want’s to know: Who’s the Buyer?
Answers:
How much: $72,000 USD. I don’t get all of this though, Jeremy gets a cut for selling it and b5media gets a small cut as well.
Who’s buying: to be announced.
The Criteria: this was the hardest part, although I think we got it right in terms of money given we had 3 bids within pretty close proximity to one and other.
Naturally the income is a consideration, but we also looked at potential income as well. I’ve never done advertising as well as could be done here. Being in Australia is a big factor in this as well, I get a pile of advertising enquiries but its difficult to contact people by phone when your on the other side of world. Certainly I’d expect the new owner to be making a lot more than I did (its also one of the reasons I’m in b5media as well, because I knew that advertising/ the ability to attract and discuss things with advertisers is one of my weaknesses at a higher level). We also took into account The Blog Heralds position in terms of links, history, and its spot in the “top” lists at places like Technorati, CNet and others. Also I tend to get quoted a fair bit in the press as well (email works for this, plus MSM are happy to quote stuff directly from posts) 2 weeks ago I made the New York Times and the Guardian all in one day. In the past its been WSJ, CNN, Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald….to name but a few. But I’d note the references are nearly always related to “The Blog Herald” and not me personally.
Re: Tax: I’ll getting some advice on this, however selling sites isn’t my full time job (writing is) so its a question of how the ATO will treat the asset. I don’t really want to say a lot on this only that I’m confident that it will be treated as an asset. No, no pty ltd company behind me unfortunately, only Duncan Riley t/as Nichenet registered in WA.
I hear you on the difficulties in dealing with potential sponsors/advertisers because of our distance – it’s a cross I’ve had to bare for years, but lately I’m getting easier access to corporate America via voip and video confrencing advances.
One question though, Duncan: why does b5 get a cut of the proceeds as if my memory is correct, b5 owners have retained ownership of their own blogs.
On the advertising side I hear you on the VOIP stuff, its getting a lot easier, but not being able to attend conferences and being able to network like..say Jeremy does means I cant build up the depth in a relationship. I know a lot of ppl in the blogosphere and have corresponded with a pile of advertising firms, but it never can fully replace being there in person, shaking their hand, or talking to them in their own time zone.
On the sale side I thought it was only fair that b5media gets a small cut because although I retained ownership it was still in name part of the network. Its only a small cut though, and like most money that goes into b5media it will be spent on improving the running of the place, we are advertising for a book keeper at the moment for example, and that was previously my job :-)….you should see the grey hairs!
Oh boy, would I love to attend some of the conferences going on in the States and spend some time networking with advertisers. There’s gotta be a better way for those of us not able to get to the US to have the same opportunities.
HeHe, I’m a bookkeeper by trade till I moved into journalism – and I’m never, ever going back :-) I’ve got the journalism/writing bug and that’s where I’m headed.
All the best, Duncan – hope you won’t become a stranger in the blogsphere after this sale :-)
Interesting interpretation. If it is classed as an asset then you’ll still have significant Capital Gains Tax liabilities as the asset wouldn’t have had a high value when you acquired the domain name. Either way it’d make a good Problogger post for people to understand the implications of selling blogs and the need for an adequate corporate structure to cover the various revenue options available to Probloggers.
I’m reading this stuff and I’m thinking 72k USD actually sounds low to me, I mean – the BloH is a daily read for a shit load of people surely. Anywayz, gratz man, being able to travel is a cool reward in itself.