I want to bounce back to talking about Wall Street Japan, the company that Terrie Lloyd said was bought by EN-Japan for $22 million last August.
This is my Alexa screen shot for these guys, taken a few days ago. As I mentioned, they are at #1418 among “users” in the Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York (Pennsylvania) area. This must simply be me. I am the only one that checks that website everyday from this part of Pennsylvania.
What does this tell you, though, about internet-focused businesses in Japan? Sure, these folks actually have an office in Ginza. I saw it. But I what I can also safely say is that nobody is viewing that website. “Hey, hey, come and check us out!” Well, one person doing this every day in Lancaster gets you to #1418!
I have made these points already.
So let’s compare Wall Street Japan to Debito.
Holy Cow! Debito is ranked #648 among users in the city of Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York! What a coincidence! Hey, he should hurry up and sell his blog address to EN Japan for a couple hundred grand.
Check out Mutant Frog:
Oh my gosh! Mutant Frog—that I occasionally visit—has a strong ranking in the Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York market. Funny, that. All these Japan-focused blogs have this significant following in South Central Pennsylvania.
One final one for you: the topical blog Flyjin.
Oh, boy! Gets a special mention for being popular in the city of Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York! Hasn’t updated for a month and still ranks #6461.
So, you see? “Big” Japan-side expat blogs may not be much more than a couple hundred people checking it out. When one of the group returns to America, or their home country, suddenly that one user puts the site on the map.
Obviously, I cannot control what the Japan figures are for these sites. But pretty clearly, I am making-or-breaking them around Lancaster PA!
What do you think this says about a Gaijin Pot or a Japan Today? How many people do you think are actually using those sites? Why do the advertisers always change? Interac and Dominos were not on there six months ago. Now, they’re exclusively on. What happened to the ones who paid money before?
Once you know that the advertiser has a web presence, why should the advertiser keep paying someone else to tell you? See? I am telling you. It costs you nothing. Now you know!
These things are much more interesting to me than bickering about political opinions. Maybe it’s because I am an accountant by trade.
The blogs don’t monetize at all. “Businesses” that are web focused, for one aspect or another, allegedly monetize.
Are you just giving credit to glorified bloggers?
Hoofin 