Why you should not buy a developed blog?

Buying and selling developed websites is a common trend in the web. Hundreds of websites, blogs and others are up there for sale at different marketplaces by the original owners. And hundreds of people are looking up for a good deal there. They often buy a website to jump straight into the web entrepreneur’s role and start earning.
 
If you buy a well established directory or a p0ker website, that’s fine. I have nothing against your reasons. But I would always recommend you not to buy a blog, leave alone an established blog.

(By the way, if you are buying a blog just for the domain name, go ahead and reconstruct the whole thing as you wish.)

Why you should not buy a well established blog?

What does a blog have to sell?

Great content or resources, huge reader base, an existing revenue generation model, a brand name. Is that all?

Nope; a blog has something more than that – it has got the original author of the blog who has developed it into what it is today. We read Matt Cutts’ blog not just for information! We read that blog because we trust him as an authentic source of information from Google.

Can anyone replace Matt Cutts and retain the same reader base? I don’t think so. I am not saying that the new owner or blogger cannot offer similar information. But, he or she is anything but Matt Cutts. People go there to read Matt and nobody else.

Or think about Chris Brogan or Seth Godin or Darren Rowse. Hundreds of bloggers write on the same topic everyday but is there any replacement for these bloggers! People read these blogs because of the bloggers who write them. It is not just about the great tips they offer – it is also about the trust those bloggers have won. It is also about the communication they have developed with the readers of the blog. These people are worth more than their blog. Those blogs are nothing without those authors.

These people are worth more than their blog. Those blogs are nothing without those authors.

You may be thinking that if we always read those blogs for the bloggers alone, why do some of them invite guest posting?

A guest would write for one day or just for a certain period of time (like a week when the blogger was out of town). They will not be there forever. People continue reading the blog because they know that the original blogger will be back soon.

What about group blogs like Smashing Magazine or Mashable or Read/Write Web? They either have different bloggers or invite others to post in those blogs. What if someday these blogs change ownership?

People will still continue reading these blogs. These blogs have grown into something bigger than a blog – these are now some great online publications – like a newspaper or magazine. People have different expectations from them.
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