Michael Arrington is the founder of Tech Crunch, a blog that profiles new Web 2.0 startups. Tech Crunch has become a must read for Silicon Valley venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, and has helped propelled Mr. Arrington into one of the Valley’s most influential people. If your startup is featured on Tech Crunch, you can expect a flood of traffic and even venture capitalists knocking on your door with offers of money.
Tech Crunch started less than two years ago and has grown at an amazing rate. Currently the site is averaging 55,000 visitors and 74,000 page views per day, with over 130,000 RSS subscribers. What do those numbers means in terms of site income?
Tech Crunch’s main revenue comes from 125×125 sponsorship buttons. The buttons cost $10,000 per month and there are six of them on the blog (seven last month). CPM banners ad sale via Federated Media brings in additional advertising income. There is also the Crunch Job Board, where companies can post open job opportunities. A 30-day posting cost $200. There were 20 new job postings on November 8, but the average seems to be 3 to 5 per day. Tech Crunch also profits from throwing parties and having companies sponsor them – the next party is in New York on November 16. All together, the Tech Crunch network brings in about $120,000 per month, according to Mr. Arrington.
Like all successful site owners, Michael Arrington had to deal with his share of haters. These people point out that people like Arrington are helping to set the internet up for another dot com crash. I personally think that is hogwash. Maybe they’re just jealous because Mr. Arrington once dated a Miss Universe contestant from Denmark.
A more serious issue is conflict of interest. In the past, Mr. Arrington has given positive reviews on companies that he was an investor in. He has started posting more detailed disclosures about his financial ties to Tech Crunch featured companies.
Mr. Arrington’s goal for Tech Crunch is to become bigger than CNet News in two years. That’s a pretty lofty goal, and given the limited niche that Tech Crunch covers, I don’t see how that is possible. However, I wouldn’t bet against him.
Sources used for this article: Blogging for Dollars – Business 2.0, TechCrunch Site Makes Arrington A Power Broker – Wall Street Journal, Crunch Notes