I’ve pointed to Blog Explosion (referral) as being a sound acquisition at the right price before. It’s the cream of the crop as far as increase your blog traffic sites go and there are numerous ways it would compliment MSN Spaces and other MSN ventures.

Detailed news on the helpmeblog indicates that they are up for sale and IMO this would be a smart acquisition for Microsoft to snap up before one of their competitors (maybe Yahoo) does. Scoble, who is currently on hiatus from tech.memeorandum says he needs something fresh to explore, well here’s some stats to email to the execs:

- BE is approaching 50,000 members
- … have served 22 million visits via surfing blogs and millions of others across the site
- BE signs up on average 100-150 new members per day
- BlogExplosion has over 1 million listings in Google
- … are ranked #4714 on Alexa and trending in the right direction

Monthly sites revenue:
February 2006 - $4,234.50
January 2006 - $4,132.00
December 2005 - $3,877.50
November 2005 - $4,203.00
October 2005 - $4,066.00
September 2005 - $4,695.00
August 2005 - $4,778.00
July 2005 - $5,284.00
June 2005 - $5,416.00
May 2005 - $4,482.00
April 2005 - $3,372.00
March 2005 - $4,453.00
February 2005 - $4,692.00
Januray 2005 - $5,577.00
December 2004 - $5,872.50
November 2004 - $3,695.00
October 2004 - $1,365.00

From the financial figures it looks like Blog Explosion hasn’t really been able to propel itself to the next level and this could be part of the reason why it wants to sell (and could make the price tag more attractive to someone looking to acquire). They have all but been ignored in the whole web pooh point … oh scene, but they are actually delivering a service and turning a profit, unlike many of those sites/services/products.

They are also selling all related properties which includes BlogCharm (uh oh, should we be concerned that we just started a group blog there?) which is splitting the ad revenue 50/50 with its bloggers. Something that would be an awesome concept for Microsoft with their upcoming contextual ad program to dip into (with smaller member base than MSN Spaces).

I know some purists think of traffic being the wrong thing to focus on for a blog, but let’s cut through the BS here and call it like it is: if there are no readers (no traffic) then who the hell are you writing for? Yourself? Ok, then why not make it a private diary? I have one of those, there’s nothing wrong with them. If you are writing for business, then you are definitely looking for traffic and exposure. Most, if not all, of the people saying they don’t write for the traffic already have the traffic.

Another possible Microsoft tie-in would be the new Office Live offering businesses integration with a professional blog and a service which would help them gain new readers (traffic) in their area. Think geotarged readers = geotargeted potential customers.

Then again, maybe some people think I’m just talking up this service because I earn traffic from those who sign up under me (see referral link in the first sentence). Let me share reality here. The first two months Blog Explosion was out (this was back in 2004) we were able to land about 40 referrals. That was when they had a five tier system which they later stripped back to three.

To date this blog has received 1,587 visitors from Blog Explosion readers. Today Hmm will have more visitors then BE has ever sent here since day one, so maybe, just maybe it’s possible that I actually like their service and what I think it would do for another company, not because all of our sites are getting a zillion readers from them or because I have any other conflict of interest.

I did refer a programmer friend of mine to work there and he was hired, but it seems like things didn’t work out and he’s working elsewhere now. You’d think that would be more reason for me to dislike them, but I’m not wired that way. If I honestly like something and think it has value I will promote it whether it benefits me or not.

Those with the acquistion powers at Microsoft, take a serious look at this site. I’m guessing you could get a good deal. That is before the VCs stroll into town and up goes the prices. Hopefully that hasn’t already happened … hurry.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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