

Ask YC: Would you sign this if you were me? - PStamatiou

I was recently approached by a media agency looking to syndicate my blog's content, make it mobile friendly, find and put ads on it and revenue share with me. The term sheet is a bit daunting though. The highlights are:<p>I get 30% of adjusted gross advertising revenue.<p>"Initial term is one (1) year.  Then, repeated one (1) year automatic renewals, unless Owner notifies [media agency] of non- 
renewal in writing.  [media agency] will have a 30-day exclusive right of first negotiation after any termination, expiration or non- 
renewal.  Owner will not have discussions or negotiations with any third party until 30 days of negotiation are complete." That was initially 2 years but I got them to work it down.<p>I only get paid if my amount payable exceeds $1000.. which I think will take a long time.<p>I have to put their logo and slogan on my site.<p>"Owner must ensure that factual assertions in the Internet Blog are true and that no content on or linked to by the 
Internet Blog will be obscene, pornographic, abusive, harassing, intimidating, deceitful, deceptive, offensive, or violate any 
law, or any right of any third party (including copyrights, trademarks, or trade secrets), or disparage [media agency] or its products or 
services."<p>I'm a bit wary about that one as they hold me liable for what I write about.<p>"Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability.  [media agency] makes no representation or warranties express or implied and 
disclaims any implied warranty.  In any case, [media agency]’s liability to Owner will be limited to $100."<p>Feedback greatly appreciated. Also, is Google okay with essentially duplicate content floating around elsewhere on the net? I thought this was a big no-no.
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dpapathanasiou
No.

They're asking for too much in exchange for too little.

If you're interested in the economics of pro blogging, read this about how
Gawker pays its bloggers:
[http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/gawker-cuts-
st...](http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/gawker-cuts-staff-pay-
rate-for-third-consecutive-quarter.php)

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alaskamiller
What's the relevance between Gawker and his syndication deal?

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create_account
It shows how much Gawker pays its bloggers per page view.

While the article implies the amount is small, it's still a number Paul can
use as a baseline for comparison & negotiation.

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alaskamiller
It's not an equal comparison. These links are more relevant:

A post about blog syndication: [http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/01/17/make-
money-from-you...](http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/01/17/make-money-from-
your-blog-through-print-syndication/)

Another competing syndication network: <http://www.blogburst.com/>

~~~
dpapathanasiou
Picky, picky.

Anyway, as create_account said, that was the idea...

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izak30
Here are my thoughts on it:

Have you tried going to advertisers directly and failed? It seems like this
would be the only way that they could benefit you. If you want money, direct
advertising seems like the best way to go. The rest of the terms put you in
their pocket, and if they can't give you numbers (based on your current
numbers) of when you may or may not get to the $1k threshold (based on their
other numbers), then can you really trust that you will in 'no time at all'?

It seems like and infomercial, all promise and no product..

You can sell ad-space, or sell blog-posts (you already do some great reviews)

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greyman
>>> You can sell ad-space, or sell blog-posts (you already do some great
reviews)

As I understand it, he could sell ad-space anyway. They are offering to
syndicate his content on another website and monetize it there...which is not
mutually exclusive with selling ads himself on the original blog.

Only thing I would not agree with is the $1000 cap - there's a big risk of
ending with nothing.

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izak30
Ah, Thanks. That's not how I understood the OP, if that's the deal, and he
still has full ad-control over his website and RSS..it's worth a second look
at least.

I'd still want some sort of estimate of their expected timeframes..If they
can't give you that, then you're an early adopter, and you should get better
terms.

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fnazeeri
You'll never get paid. If you figure they can sell ads on your content at a $2
CPM (which is generous), then you'll need $1000/$2/0.3*1000 (or 1.67e6) page
views to get paid and that ain't gonna happen.

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greyman
If I understand it correctly, what they want is to continuously copy your
content to their website, making money out of it and give you 30% back? I
think that isn't a bad deal, provided you can place any ads on your original
blog. Is that true? Because then I see it basically as an additional income.

What I would worry about is the $1000 cap. If they give you 30%, it means that
they need to make at least $3333 from it - and making such number from a blog
is not easy. So you may really wait a long time, in which case it might not be
worth it. IMHO reasonable cap is $100.

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PStamatiou
I ended up declining. Thanks for your help guys!

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reemer
start at the beginning: you don't say what you want to get out of your blog.
fame? a job? money? a place to play? an audience?

if you've figured that out, there's an easy answer to whether you should sign
this deal or not.

my 2c: you'll make a lot more because of your (great) blog than with it. a
blog is one place you can truly be yourself and have control - do you want
cede some control of your online personal brand to another party for a few
thousand bucks?

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PStamatiou
I'm just looking for some spare cash to deal with credit card bills, rent and
so on.

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lyime
Dont do it. I dont think the returns are high for the caliber of your blog. I
think you should be able to find a deal much better then that and with much
higher returns. As others are saying you tell them exactly what deal you want.
Dont accept their offer. Now I know i would be lost as to what to ask them so
you should consult someone who is already running a profitable blog.

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MoeDrippins
If they approached you, you have the ball. Feel free to walk away.

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brm
Can't you just use a wordpress plugin to make your content available for
mobile phones? What is this company providing beyond ad sales that it deserves
such control. I'd run the other way

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PStamatiou
They host the mobile friendly site on a 3 letter domain along with other such
syndicated content. I think the big thing is just that they find advertisers,
but is that worth agreeing to these terms?

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Retric
No.

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jzawodn
Paul, this is pretty common legal language. I've seen a number of deals like
this. As others have said, though, don't do it. You can probably come up with
something much better.

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ScottWhigham
My advice: if you're the least bit squeamish, don't sign. Better yet,
procrastinate on it for a few days and see if your thoughts change. Who knows
- they may get antsy and start writing back with more info.

I do that - it's, "The Art of Decision Making by Procrastination" lol. I
figure that if, after a week's time, I still want to do it, I should do it.

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PStamatiou
yeah i've procrastinated for about a week, and decided to get your opinions
here. I could go either way but I feel like they would get more out of me than
I would get out of them and I don't like being a means to an end.

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pongle
Comparing it to the Internet TV world, 30% revenue share seems awfully low.
Hulu, for instance, passes about 70% of its ad revenue on to the content owner
(i.e. you).

If they won't negotiate on the other terms then definitely get a better deal
on the revenue share.

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babul
No. The terms are unfavourable with too many escape clauses, and you should
try to moneytize the blog on your own first (adsense/adverts/etc) to try and
establish its market value/worth.

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ssharp
Try to negotiate that $1000 threshold down.

Better yet, try and negotiate an advance on ad revenue.

Do you currently have any AdSense or Affiliate ad revenue?

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PStamatiou
I already tried to negotiate that:

"I’m sure with your fan base and the cross-pollination you will automatically
receive form other blogs and content within [domain] you will reach our
minimum threshold in no time whatsoever. Unfortunately this clause is a
requirement as is by our CFO."

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sachinag
Get the advance of $1,000 if you're worried that it will take so long. If
they're so confident they can get there, then you're fine. Standard book
author terms - hooray for precedent that strengthens your position. Again,
they think that their $1,000 is enough - but only you can decide that.

I have no comment on the "harshness" of the other T&C's.

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benag
You have the whole rest of your life to sell out. You can afford to wait.

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xlnt
They say you can't link to anything "offensive"? That is a blanket clause that
lets them say you have violated their terms whenever they want. It's also a
wildly unreasonable restriction on your freedom.

