Matt Craven interview

By Ben on March 5, 2006

Matt Craven is the guy in charge at BlogMedia (no one really listens to David) and he was a big part of the deal that got us The Blog Herald. I asked him a few questions regarding buying and selling blogs and this is what he told me:

1) How did BlogMedia value The Blog Herald? Inbound links? PageRank? Traffic? Feed subscriptions? What were the most appealing aspects of the site to you?

We valued The Blog Herald based on its traffic and documented income. We were able to view some statistics during the first attempt at a sale a few weeks back in terms of web stats information, income screenshots, and other information. We also used publicly available services like Blog Network List, Technorati, and others to verify some information.

Probably most important to me though was the reputation that Duncan had built for The Blog Herald and its wide following throughout the blogosphere and mainstream media.

I can honestly say I didn’t look at PageRank or Feed Subscriptions.

2)How did you negotiate the details of the sale? Did you have lawyers involved?

David Krug, our VP of Sales and Marketing, negotiated directly with Duncan. I did have counsel review the sale contract and had sought advice from him verbally prior to closing the deal.

3) Is there anything you would advise readers to do or not do when thinking about buying a blog?

I would tell everyone to do their own due diligence. Research the facts as they are being presented by the seller and ensure that they are correct.

For large purchases, have counsel review your documents (bill of sale, etc) and ensure that your terms are airtight and protect both buyer and seller. Using a contract that one finds on the web is not the way to go. Our corporate counsel is worth his fee every time we avoid an issue because of his advice.

Remember that in the end, this is a business, so approach things from a business like manner. Be professional in your negotiations and aim to leave a first-class impression no matter which way the sale turns for you.

4) Does it scare you that people may be used to Duncan’s “voice” and not want to read when someone else starts writing?

I wouldn’t say that this scares me but it is one factor that we considered when we looked at buying the blog. Our aims for The Blog Herald may be a bit different than Duncan’s in that we’ve already established multiple authors and will likely add more down the road. We’re looking at a different design and some integration into our other blog news / jobs / problogging sites.

The track record for blogs changing authors is pretty good. Gawker, Gizmodo, and Wonkette are just three examples where the original blogger moved on and others took their place with the same level of success - and greater in some cases.

5) How does The Blog Herald fit into BlogMedia’s long term plans?

The Blog Herald is the leading blog / blog technology news & discussion site. We’ll be using this as the centerpiece of our new “blog channel” that contains all of our blog sites & blog services such as blog network list, etc. You’ll see tighter integration between the various sites in this channel - and that will be our model for future channels as well.

6) If there was one blog you could buy right now what blog would it be and how much would you pay?

If I had one the $340+ million lottery a few weeks back, I’d probably be aiming for Engadget or a similar site. I’m a gadget geek and would love to be able to say that we own Engadget… besides the traffic and income would be a nice addition.. Then again, I know that’s never going to happen.

I’m also partial to The Scotch Blog, mostly because that’s my drink of choice, and having married the daughter of a liquor distributor, I have a well stocked collection of my own.

7) Do you think there are any blogs that could be with $1,000,000 or more? Will there ever be? What would it take to reach that price range?

Sure, there are many likely. I’m sure that several of Gawker & Weblogs, Inc. properties fall into this category. Some of the blog networks clearly do as well if taken as a whole.

I approach these things from a business standpoint that’s probably different than what Chartreuse or others may take. For a blog to be worth $1m in a sale, I’d need to see a monthly income multiple well over $50k (figuring that 18 months income is about right). Otherwise I would have to have a really strong belief the blog was underperforming and that we had the time and talent to make that sort of an investment worthwhile.

8) Do you have any other comments on the sale?

A couple actually.

I’ve said publicly, and I can’t say it enough, that Duncan was an absolute professional to deal with through this process. In the same vein, Aaron Brazell was also a joy to deal with as we moved the site over last week to our servers. I wish them both the best of luck in the future with their endeavors.

David Krug, formerly known as the “Cowboy”, is the guy that got this deal done. David gets alot of grief for his outspoken opinions at times, but he negotiated this deal with grace and professionalism, and was really the reason that we were able to get it done. There’s alot more to David than what the popular opinion is out there. I’m glad to have him on our team and will always have his back.

Thanks,
Matt

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"Matt Craven interview" was written on March 5th, 2006.

2 comments to “Matt Craven interview”

It was a joy to work with you guys too. Best of luck with the Blog Herald. It’s sad to see it leave our folds but I’m sure you guys will do well with it.

Aaron Brazell on March 6th, 2006 at 8:00 am

[…] Problogging.com has an interview witt Matt about the Blog Herald deal. There is a little bit of interesting stuff about the valuation and some advise on buying blogs. Read it here! […]

» Interview with Matt Craven about buying the Blog Herald on March 6th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
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