Blogging Networks : Top 5 Pros and Cons

The previous post of this miniseries was: What are Blogging networks and which ones are the best?

While doing my research on blog networks, I searched for posts dealing with the advantages and disadvantages. To my surprise there were very few on this subject. I tried to contact the networks through there emails but they haven't replied as yet. So, I went to some forums, dug up some discussions and got some ideas. To protect there anonymity, I wont mention the names but they were pretty useful.

This post will try to weigh the pros and cons of joining a blog network. I have also made it a part of the Top 5 writing project on Problogger, for better exposure. Here it goes:

Advantages of Blogging Network

• Shared Expenses

The funds required for a blog design, domain name, hosting etc are substantial. The blog networks take care of these expenses for you.

• Assistance and Feedback

Ranging from the technical stuff like latest blog hosting version to help for creating content, a blogging network will help you with everything. It will help you to notice a glitch on your blog or a way to improve the user friendliness. If you don't want to handle the technical stuff, they will do it for you and you have to create only the content.

• Makes you noticeable in blogosphere

Organizations pay more attention to bigger organizations. Whether it be sources, press access, freebies, review units or whatever.

• Money

Some blog networks pay you to blog which keeps you motivated. Indirectly, the increased traffic and exposure a network brings to your blog can be converted to money through Adsense and similar networks.

• Motivation and Friends

This is an intangible benefit which brings a sense of team or a group in your blogging. The people of your network have similar goals and want you at the top. They will motivate you from time to time and wouldn't let you slack as far as posting or quality is concerned.

Cons of a Blogging Network

• Loss of individuality

Believe it or not, people start calling you a member of the blog. Example: "Oh, that blog, yeah it is a XXX network blog, so it is good."

• Sharing the good times and money

If you want a blog network to pick you up through your bad times, it naturally will pick up a share of your good times. The ad space is another think that you will have to sacrifice for the support.

• Things might not work out

The blog networks have a lot of power in there hands. Suppose, you join a network and for one reason or the other, things don't work out. After leaving the group, there is always a possibility(however small) of hard feelings or even worst, revenge of some kind.

• You Become one of them

For me being generalized as a part of the group is the worst thing. When you join a network you have to follow some of their procedures as a part of the group. Whatever you do you will always be a part of the group. Wherever your blog goes, the network name will reach first.

• You have a Boss!!

You are the boss of your own blog. You write whatever you want, whichever way you want to. After you join a blog network, you are responsible to someone else for your blog. However good a network might be, you will still have somebody above you questioning you and your blog.

Blogging Networks - Miniseries Part I

I have been hearing a lot about blogging networks since I have started blogging. Recently, I Googled each aspect of it and thought it is quite a powerful medium and is potentially the best way to give you motivation, tools ad readers for your blog.

In this miniseries I plan to discuss each aspect of blogging networks. This is a tentative breakup of this series:

• What is a blogging network?
• A list of blogging networks out there
• Advantages of a blogging network.
• Disadvantages of a blogging network.
• How to be a part of blogging networks?

What is a Blogging Network?

A blogging network is a group of bloggers working to achieve a common goal with there combined efforts.

Basically put, a blogging network is a community of bloggers that are loosely connected by theme, by ownership, by language or by any other factors.

Some networks actively organize topics, paying bloggers for providing fresh content. Others are groups of professional writers who band together for promotional purposes

If you are an active blogger and reader in the blogosphere, a blogging network gives you the opportunity to make friends for life who share the same motivation and goals as you do. The pros and cons of a network will be dealt in details later in the series. This is just an introduction.

List of Blogging Networks

Here is a list of blogging networks compiled by The Blog Herald. (list of blogging networks in alphabetical order)

451press

About Weblogs

Aratso

Blog Carnival

Bloggy Network

Blog Logic

Blogo
Italian langauge blog network

Blogpire Productions

Breaking News Blog Network

b5media

CommunicaGroup
Italian language blogging network

Corante

Creative Weblogging

Daily Pixel
Canadian blog network

Dutch Cowboys
Dutch blog network

Duct Tape Marketing
line ball on meeting the guidelines, but each writer has a seperate sub-domain and heading so it fits….just.

Gawker Media

Goblog Media
Our first Indonesian language blog on the list

iFroggy

Ist network

Mink Media
UK blog network

Mazoo
Our first entry to the list of a Russian language blogging network

Metroblogging

Most Valuable Network

NinerNiner

The Podcast Network

SBNation

Seeking Alpha
Investing and financial blogs

Shiny Media
UK Blog Network

Social Media Group

Space42
German language blog network

Spreeblick
German language blog network

Weblog Empire

Weblogs Inc.,
The No.1 blog network from Jason Calacanis

Weblogssl
Spanish Language blog network

Writers Write

101 Ways to Create Original Blog Posts - Part 4

Read the 101 Ways to Create original blog posts:

Tips 1-10
Tips 11-20
Tips 21-30
Thanks to all of you for your valuable contributions and you can still contribute to this project after reading the rules.

101 Ways to Create Original blog posts Part 4:

31. I try to queue my posts which helps me create shorter, more frequent posts. If I know I'm only going to have one free night to play on the computer, I'll queue up several posts to publish in the future. My sister once told me ... By Michelle

32.I like sharing my projects. I think that just in itself promotes some originality in my posts. And certainly running in a pretty cool circle of bloggers provides me.. By Michelle

33. I have a cat named Atticus. He alone, is foder for many, many posts. When I first began my blog, he was usually my topic. He's funny, furry, likes to climb trees, and... By Michelle

34.Meditate daily.

As I shared in My Daily Habits for Success, I meditate daily. Among other things, I have found it to be very helpful for “tuning in” to my Higher Self, especially for... By Raymond.

35 .Ask my Higher Self.

Before an article (and after meditating), I try to use the power of a “beginner’s mind,” clear my thinking, and ... By Raymond.

36. Invoke an Emotional Response - This approach takes practice, and quite frankly, it takes emotion to pull it off well. To elicit an emotional response for a reader ... By Wendy

37. Reel ‘Em in Right Away - You must give the reader a reason to continue reading within the first paragraph or two (at the most). There is too much ... By Wendy

38. Industry Happenings-My job provides me with an exclusive view into the happenings of the scrapbook industry-when something tugs at me I share it... By Wendysmedley

39. Connections-I like to highlight other people and their accomplishments.
By Wendysmedley

40.I often write about current projects - whether that’s personal scrapbooking projects, magazine articles recently assigned/finished/published, or projects for my scrapbook marketing clients. By Angie.

How can you boost your blog's credibility?

Whenever you are trying to build an online business, it is of prime importance to earn the trust of your readers. Whether you are trying to sell a product online or trying to build a loyal readership for your blog, you must yearn for an image that your readers trust.

Stanford University has compiled a list of 10 guidelines for building website credibility. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included more than 4,500 people.

If you are serious about your blog you should read each point in detail and try to apply them to your blog. Make it a checklist which you go through every once in a while.

The detailed report: Stanford Guidelines for Website Credibility

The main points, if you want to skim through them (unrecommended) are as follows:

• Always cite references: The user should be easily able to crosscheck the information you have provided.
• Post a physical address, mail, photo: Whatever level of personalization you choose, your readers should be able to see a physical existence behind your blog.
• Cite Credentials: If you have won any blogging awards make sure to show them. Traffic graph, feed subscriptions, number of comments, blog position in technorati are some of the many ways you can instill faith.
• Contacting you should be easy: Emails, phone numbers, or physical addresses will help.
• Visual Design: The appearance of the site holds a lot of importance when people judge a blog. It should look professional, or better stated; The visual should match the concept of your blog.
• User Friendliness: Don't just cram up every hack or new technology you find. The blog should be easy to use and fit several criteria for being user friendly viz loading time, browser compatibility, color scheme, font size etc.
• Update regularly
• Separate Ads and your content: If possible, avoid ads completely. But, many people would like to put ads on there blogs. In that case, you should clearly differentiate between your content and the ads.
  
• Avoid errors: Typographical errors, misquoted statistics, incorrect English should be avoided at all costs.
  

This is just a short list. I have seen people going to extremes to assure users of there credibility. All these rules might not be applicable to your blog, but most of them are easy to apply. Have you used any such measures on your own blog?

101 Ways to create original Blog posts - Part 2

Read the 101 Ways to Create original blog posts:
Tips 1-10
Tips 21-30
Tips31-40
Thanks to all of you for your valuable contributions and you can still contribute to this project after reading the rules.
101 Ways to create original blog posts Part 1:
Tips 11-20:

11. Networking: Sometimes suggestions for topics to address or products to review come to me from friends, companies or readers who send me information on things they think might be interesting to me and to Scrapbook Update's audience. By Nancy

12. Development: I try to make sure that I follow a story as it changes from what I initially wrote, and report new updates. This happens especially with news stories such as the closure of PaperKuts Magazine, or the sale of the Primedia Enthusiast publications. Once the initial pieces were written the follow-ups were natural to write. By Nancy

13. I keep a notepad handy to jot blogging ideas down. I often get the best ideas when I'm not near my desk and writing them down helps me remember them. So the notebook travels with me. It makes a great reference for those days you just can't think of anything to write about or when you are planning your posts. By Susan

14. Plan out my weekly posts. Yes, I know it sounds a bit obsessive/compulsive but it works. Often I'm trying to fit blogging into an already tight schedule so knowing what I want to write about makes it much easier.......By Susan

15. Random stuff that happens throughout my day. Just things I experience, both weird and mundane. By Latharia

16. Issues that have been floating around in my head for a while. Mostly existential stuff, some of it prompted after reading a book or visiting a website.By Latharia

17. Discuss my daily life. You just can't get more original than that one - lol! One of the things I enjoy about reading other blogs is the small "peek" you get into what daily life is like for someone else... By Katie

18. Post Layouts. Um, I do call myself "Katie the Scrapbook Lady" so I think my readers probably like to see some scrapbooking in action! When I share my creations I am (hopefully) putting ideas out there for others to enjoy and use.....By Katie

19. When something really pisses me off ................I blog about it. By Simplystated

20. When I have a question and need general advice..............................I blog.By Simplystated

101 Ways to create original Blog posts - Part 1

It has been a week since the "Be Original" project has been started. Thanks to all of you for your valuable contributions and you can still contribute to this project after reading the rules.
As I had promised, I will now make a super resource post which will help bloggers and readers alike. It will have a staggering 101 ways to create original posts from some of the best minds in the blogosphere. Hopefully, we all can create more original content till the project comes to an end.


101 Ways to create original blog posts Part 1:
Tips 1-10:

1. Write about what I love. This is probably the most important step. If you write about something you’re not very interested in, it will show. If you write about something you passionately care about, that you read about on a daily basis, that inspires you to write, it will shine through. And more often than not, it will be original, because the original part is the passion in your writing, not necessarily the information. By Leo.
2. Put myself into every post. It’s incredibly difficult to come up with an original idea, as so many great thinkers have come before us. Most thoughts have been thought before. But there has never been a “me” before, and if I put my thoughts, experiences, hopes, fears and deepest desires into my writing, it will be different, at least a little, from other writing. By Leo.
3. Google Alerts. This the best resource for keeping abreast of what's going on in one's industry. The down side is the flood of information I get, but I'm pretty good at scanning and picking the one thing that jumps out at me. I keep a running list of blog ideas and blog posts as inspiration. By Patsie and Denise
4. Questions and Answers: As blog and marketing consultants, we get a lot of questions from clients and others about how to do stuff. I could simply reply by email, and I usually do. But then I will often use the Q and A as a blog post. I'm a big fan of repurposing content. By Patsie and Denise
5. Selectively read other blogs- I used to have a huge list of scrapblogs I subscribed to via Bloglines, but this became difficult to maintain, so now I have chosen a few choice blogs - the ones which give me the news as soon as it’s announced. These are normally by industry leaders (not necessarily celebratory scrappers either) and digital store owners / designers, or about the blogging industry itself. I subscribe to several newsfeeds, with simple search tags such as “scrapbooking” or “digital scrapbooking”. Many of these can be delivered to my normal inbox as they are found, others can be subscribed through a blog reader (mine is bloglines). By Michelle
6. Selectively read forums and communities dealing with the topic of interest. For me, this is normally digital scrapbooking communities at the moment, and you never know what thread started by someone will pique my interest, and what one may not. By Michelle.
7. Listen to original music and get inspired ( I love Jimi Hendrix, Eminem, Green Day, Mozart ...). By Steli Efti
8. Be bold ( say what you wanna say the way you want to say it - it´s your blog). By Steli Efti
9. Interaction with the Real World: I write a lot about tools I use in my real life. If I use software, buy a piece of equipment, discover a new site or read something useful in a magazine, I post about it. If I find it useful or interesting then chances are that someone else will too. So I share. Nothing more original than good old real life (as opposed to the surreal feeling I get while reading dozens of blogs one after the other in my news reader. Know what I mean?). By Kim.
10. Things I Want to Say to My Friends: Given that some of my very good friends can barely browse the web without getting help (really!) I post about things I would tell my friends if only they were HighTech friends. I find this helps my posts to have that friendly voice I want to have. While this may not actually help me come up with ideas, it does help me present them better. By Kim.

Tips 11-20
Tips 21-30
Tips 31-40