Blogs and Beer

It seems everyone is happy that blogs are finally proving to be worth something. Cursed with a long(er) memory, I remember a debate that we had on this site about measuring value. Perhaps we were Nero and the market was burning. Regardless, it seems to me that there are two relevant questions to ask ourselves:

1. Do you believe that JobCentral and Jobster are run by idiots? If so, then you can write their profligate ways off to “Bubble 2.0.” If not, then it is apparent that blogs have value.
2. How did these buyers measure the value of their transactions? Assuming this wasn’t a drug-fueled 60’s flashback that ended in outrageous outlays of cash and stock, how did the buyers rationally decide that they would get more than they paid for?

It would be interesting to see (real) commentary from the buyers on this. The speculation has been rife that Jobster wanted a URL and Recruiting.com was the best one available. Maybe, but I think that Jason G. is shrewder than that. My take is that he realized that Jobster is maturing as a company (they grow up so fast, don't they?), and that as you move from early adopters to mainstream recruitment buyers you have to add some credibility inside to the value proposition you have been building on the outside. From the start the Jobster team has used blogs to build a recruiting community around their products, so adding “more blogs” to the value proposition doesn’t seem that compelling. But their blogs did not have the community credibility and reach that Recruiting.com does. I think it is interesting that Jobster elevated key recruiting-industry expertise inside their organization around the same time that they started working the Recruiting.com deal. Of course I could be the one smoking something here, but I think that Jason G. got a lot more than a name in the transaction.

And what about those diehards who believe that the measuring of value is a distraction to the creation of that value? Well, I guess the market thinks differently. I for one will blog out of love, but it’s nice to know that somebody, somewhere could be thinking about the value of my site. Labor of love or investment in big money opportunity? Tastes great or less filing? I think we have entered the “Miller Lite” era of blogging.

PS – To continue the beer analogy, we eventually get the big guys who just care about packaging and distribution, and the micros that lay claim to “quality.” Will Joel Cheesman be the next king of beers? Will I end up drunk on Fat Tire? Only time will tell…

Comments

[Joel]

Sounds like the progression from my 20s to my 30s: Going from thinking I was a King of Beers to just ending up with a 'fat tire' around my gut.

[Jeremy Langhans]

the plight of the common man

.o0.

[John]

Your customer is not "just" and lot of people think they are. Which is the reason they can't see these intangible wants of customers. This doesn't hold true for beer seller only. Quality has, indeed, become the day to day fundamental.