I’ll get this out of the way immediately: Daily Candy isn’t really a blog, it’s more of an email newsletter. But still, this is impressive: after buying the company in 2003 for what seemed at the time to be the enormous sum of $3 million, making founder Dany Levy a millionaire, Bob Pitman is now flipping for a $122 million profit.
It’s rare to see a property like Daily Candy sold twice, for an eye-popping sum each time, so this is definitely good news for those who want to be able to monetize their websites. It’s also an important reminder: if you want to make money from a website, put a lot of effort into turning your blog(s) into some kind of email product. Email reaches millions of people who never read blogs, and advertisers often adore it.
In the world of financial blogs, Dealbook has probably understood this better than anyone. Yes, it’s a popular website. But more than that, it’s an email newsletter. Most financial executives simply don’t have the time or the inclination to surf the web for news — yet at the same time they’re addicted to their Blackberries. As a result, email is by far the best way to be able to deliver their attention to advertisers.
Dealbook might not be as valuable as Daily Candy: it doesn’t reach an audience which is looking to shop right now. But there is a large number of advertisers wanting to reach high-level Wall Street types, and there are precious few means of effectively doing so. Dealbook is one of them.