I sold my Bloggst
Posted on June 16th, 2007 in Project Development) by Lars-Christian |
Tags : bloggst, project, sold
I do feel like somewhat of a sellout writing this post, but the title doesn’t lie. Bloggst has indeed been sold. When I started the auction I really didn’t expect the kind of attention the auction got, and I certainly didn’t expect it to receive four BIN within the first 24 hours. To be honest, I really didn’t expect to sell the site at all, seeing how I wouldn’t have sold for anything significantly lower than the BIN price, but my expectations were most certainly proved wrong in this case.
So why did I end up with the decision to sell the site that I’ve been working so hard with for the past few months? My reasoning was relatively simple actually. From a business-perspective it was probably a bad decision. The new owner seems like a dedicated and knowledgeable guy, and I am absolutely certain that if he puts the right amount of effort into the site, it will be worth at least twice of what he bought it for within three months.
I am sure you must be asking yourself why I didn’t just keep it for a couple of months then, and then sell it for twice as much. The answer to that is coincidentally also the reason why I ultimately decided to sell the site now. As most of you have probably noticed, since my exams race started, I have hardly had any time to work on the site. Even when my exams ended, I’ve still been too busy because of my “real” jobs (right now I have two of them). This is because I want to improve my financial situation, and by working hard in jobs that guarantee me the return, I can do just that this summer. Now couple that with the fact that when working this much, I won’t have much time to work on the site, which would ultimately have led to a decline in the activity there, which would only decrease the value of the site this summer. The final ingredient in the mix was that even though it might not seem like the world, the money I got from Bloggst goes a long way in stabilizing my finances. I’m just a poor student after all!
During my time working with Bloggst, I also had an epiphany of sorts, or a moment of self discovery if you will. I discovered that as much as I like to work with websites, the constant maintenance most websites demand is extremely tedious for me, and it drains a lot of motivation from me. What is it that I enjoy then? Writing. I love to write, and my writing was also the main reason why Bloggst attracted a decent amount of exposure in such a short timeframe. So I have decided that from now on, I will be focusing my online ventures towards the area that I take most pleasure from. Most likely I will start a new blog sometime soon. I will use the summer to brainstorm for ideas and make sure that I pick the right niche, and then I hope to have everything ready by the time school starts up again.
I’m really looking forward to having a place where my writing is the main focus, and not every cool feature that I’m able to implement. This also means that I’ll be putting more effort into this blog as well (how many times have I said that by now?). It’s a nice place for me to relax and be more personal about what I write. I think many will be pleased to hear that I’ll be covering some of the same subjects that I’ve covered so far over at Bloggst. I’ve been thinking hard to try and define a niche for this blog, and I’ve landed on two things that will get the bulk of my attention here. Promotion and branding (online and offline), as this is something I enjoy very much (I study it). The other topic is “Web 2.0″ - Yeah, I know, done to death. I will however be focusing mostly on the social aspect of it, and try to tie it in with promotion and branding.
That said, I’m not afraid to venture outside of these topics and touch in on other things here on my blog however. It is after all just that, my blog, and if something catches my immediate attention I won’t be afraid to write about it. Hopefully there are a few souls out there who’ll still be interested in reading and participating!
I will be writing at least three posts every week here, and if you don’t believe me, just subscribe to my feed, and I’ll prove you wrong 
The next post might come as soon as later tonight, where I will be telling you how I managed to create a site that was worth $3,000 in less than three months. Seeing how most of the people reading this blog are aspiring entrepreneurs and website enthusiasts myself, I think it should interest most of you!
It won’t be the same without you!
Don’t worry Malin, I’ll still be around. I’ll be posting in the forums, and I’ll even be writing articles. Like I mentioned in a post there, I have ideas for a bunch of new articles that fit better there than anywhere else, and I’ll definitely get those written down
[...] Lars-Christian has sold Bloggst. It was actually a minor shock to read that in his blog. After all his hard work I thought he would hold on to his precious baby ;). It won’t be the same without him. But I hope the new owner will continue what he started, cause it would be a shame to see such a good community and resource to fall apart. [...]
Great! Sounds good! I’ll look forward to it
It is good to know you will still be a regular visitor and contributor, Lars. You have set up a great resource here, with a real community feel to it - the only social networking site that I get that gives me that feel.
Congratulations on the sale after such a short time. I can understand the site must have taken up a disproportionate amount of your time.
I will look forward to reading your articles.
Congratulations on the sale! I wouldn’t consider you a sell out at all Lars. You gotta do what’s best for yourself at all times. I know how it feels to become drained on a project and it’s probably best that you let go of it now before it only became more draining to you. Besides like you said you’ll still be around in a writing capacity and as a regular posting member of the forum so it’s not like you’re just abandoning the whole thing
Thanks for the support Mike and Sue, I appreciate it
I’ve been out of touch for a little while — no exams like you, but other things like my work. But WOW, this was a shocker to read. You must feel a little pride knowing that you built something that actually could be sold. Congratulations on that and good luck with your new endeavor!
It’s awful how I was never even aware of existence until it’s sold; just shows my lack of knowledge. I liked the little promotion of your feed at the end, by the way: nice and tactful… I subscribed.
Haha Amber, nice that you caught the humour/sneakyness of it
I’ll do my best not to disappoint you!
We’re gonna miss you.
[...] Bloggst Has Been Sold - Lars-Christian the creator of Bloggst, a great community for bloggers sold the domain Bloggst.com recently. He explains why he did so. Best of luck to Lars in any of his future endeavors. He did a heck of a job putting Bloggst together and fortunately it will continue under new ownership. If you’re new here, please consider subscribing to our RSS feed. Related Posts [...]
1 critical thing any/all online entrepreneurs should gain from this post is this:
One must weigh your talents, interests, desires, motivations and skill-set to empower and encourage you to succeed both personally and professionally with your business decisions.
This is a very courageous step you took Lars to come to an inner-peace that the “tedious work” is *not* your thing! And, that “writing” is.
I, too, am a writer-at-heart…having started journaling at 9 years of age (interestingly…I proved to myself and others that one can ‘journal’ at a younger age. Since we homeschool are girls, each one has their own journals that they are 7, 6 and 4 yrs.old).
Anyways, I turned my love into a profitable business, freelance writing, becoming a best-selling author, syndicated columnist…and where I’m focusing all my attention now: building my online business around “writing for the web”. Undoubtedly, coupled with your skill-set and passion to write, soon this blog (and others) will serve to be much more profitable for you personally and professionally
What you discovered only 1-quarter after starting a biz (and at such an early stage of your career–being still in school) is something the majority of entrepreneurs *fail* to understand, thus dying out, and not “selling out”…if you dare to use those words to discribe your situation!
Last note, this is why I have a Team…those I outsource my “tedious” work…and well, all the technical stuff that I don’t know about, care about, nor have the interest or time to learn and do myself.
I always call myself an “entrepreneur” and not “solo-preneur”; because I can not and will not do anything without the help of others!
Ponn: You make some very valid points, and I’m in full agreement with everything you’ve said up there. Knowing what to do yourself, and what to delegate to others is crucial for anyone who wishes to succeed online, and those who aim to be the jack of all trades, and do everything for themselves, will soon find themselves burned out I think.
Especially on the internet, it’s virtually impossible to stay on top of everything with the pace things are moving at, so it’s better to focus your attention towards the things that really interest you, and be the best you can be in that area. Leave the rest for the others who live and breathe for it
[...] like when Lars-Christian sold Bloggst, he got nice cash from it, but when the new owner took over, members stopped coming and the quality [...]
I personally believe that no site is worth holding on to, once you feel even the slightest hesitation in working on it. That is the first spark of abandonment, and things will only get worse. I’d say that selling off Bloggst was at the right time for you, albeit at a lower price than deserved. It is hard to start up and grow a website (which you did), whereas someone buying it can grow it easier.
The first time I came across Bloggst was when you left a mail about it. Came a long way since then, ain’t it?
Good luck for your new ventures, especially the blog. I’m eager to know what/how it will be.
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Subscribed to your feed - let me see you post thrice (I’ll be happy