Is there Room for Another Blog Network?
This is the question that Darren Rowse poses and I commented with:
I think you are asking the wrong question Darren. The real question should be:
Is there room for another successful blog network that can establish a brand and mindshare amongst readers?
Obviously the answer is yes. It usually just means you replace one of the existing ones.
Later in the comments someone hits upon a point that I was going to bring up, but figured my time talking was done, that the blog networks hold no value; it’s the blogs themselves that people value. I partially agree with that one. It really is a two-way relationship. The quality of the network is measured by the blogs that are in it, but the success of a blog might only be measured by the quality of it’s network.
There will always be blog networks and there will always be new ones sprouting up for one simple reason: people always think they can do better than what is out there. b5media is taking that approach. They have Jeremy Wright, Duncan Riley and Darren Rowse working behind the scenes to create something different. Will it be different? I don’t know because I know very little about the network.
I also find it interesting that people are starting to group the blog networks as the Big 3 and including 9rules as one of them. When you run anything for a certain amount of time you kind of lose sight on how people view you or what you do so the best you can hope is that everyone voices their opinion, unfortunately they don’t.
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12 opinions for Is there Room for Another Blog Network?
Ben
Sep 15, 2005 at 1:44 pm
9rules is certainly one of the “big 3″ but the big 3 are only big by standards set on the web. Obviously the majority of the population doesn’t know that 9rules or Weblogs, Inc. or Gawker exist.
I think if you can take a blog network and figure out a way to take it to every day internet users, not just the early adapters and geeks, then you’ve found a way to start a new network.
Scrivs
Sep 15, 2005 at 1:51 pm
Agreed Ben. How people view you is all relative to their perspective of things and many of us bloggers have a very insular view on how things work. For example many of the major blogs in our minds don’t even crack the top 10,000 most trafficked sites on the web, yet we might make them out as the biggest things around.
Bringing a blog network to the mainstream is no different than doing it with any other content network. Once you start viewing blogs as websites you can begin to see this.
barry bell
Sep 15, 2005 at 2:32 pm
And one way to bring blogs to a traditional, mainstream audience is to start advertising and promoting them in traditional, mainstream ways.
Anyone doing any of that yet??
Scrivs
Sep 15, 2005 at 2:39 pm
Interesting that you think that way Barry since many people are starting to see blogs themselves as the new mainstream way to spread the word. The bigger bloggers are getting linked more and more by the mainstream media and advertisers are looking more closely at blogs for advertising.
A bigger problem is that many people find their group of sites that they like and they stick to those without venturing out and since many blogs are relatively new you have to work even harder to bring those people onboard.
Jeremy Wright
Sep 15, 2005 at 5:28 pm
Paul, bang on… If you have time, I’d love to chat with you to hear some of your thoughts and share some of our vision on this. Skype / email / phone (my dime) all works for me. Drop me an email. You were on my list of people to talk to before we officially launched :)
Sep 15, 2005 at 5:41 pm
I would like to see blog networks taking on strong editorial tones. Not formal editorial but opinionated editorial. This is something bloggers do well that journalists can’t; be biased, be opinionated, be human.
I can then go to the networks that suit me rather than making do with networks that try to please everyone.
For instance the Gizmodo chaps have a distinctive style and editorial bent. The other sites affiliated with them have a similar style. It is not a style I like but many do and that is great. I go get my gadget fix at another blog which has a loose cluster of like-styled sites around it.
Essentially a blog network could become a loose magazine with a recognised editorial style.
(btw, your TypeKey sign in link is borked.)
Scrivs
Sep 15, 2005 at 5:46 pm
Yeah, I get what your saying Paul and that would definitely require a different network than our’s. However, we have some sites in the works that will be owned by 9rules that might fit the bill, but then they won’t be their own network.
jake longley
Sep 15, 2005 at 10:49 pm
I have to wonder if the web is going to become saturated with blog networks ? I mean information can only be new once. Its like going to the supermarket and seeing the tabloids, they all have the same content just different pictures and editors.. do you buy a copy of each just to make sure you don’t miss something ?. I’m not saying I want to see the end of blog networks, but surely all good things must come to an end. Or perhaps, blogs will just stop being a trend and become a way of life defining what the internet is ?
barry bell
Sep 16, 2005 at 3:21 am
Yep, Scrivs, I agree that links to blogs in the mainstream media are growing, and exposure to the mainstream is building. But right now, I think that blogging is still very insular - the majority of blogs are read by other bloggers. Take your 9r network… by its very nature, and by the huge buzz generated amongst the blogging scene only, I bet its readership consists of a monster majority percentage of other bloggers.
However, that’s only speculation, and is difficult to measure. But I’m not saying that won’t - or can’t - change. And I’m certainly not saying that it’s a bad thing.
I’m actually talking about blogs breaking out of this blogging circle, and using direct marketing and advertising to promote the blog itself as a service to non-bloggers, too. And also educating them as to what blogs are - which is an important part of the equation. For example (and this is just an example) Engadget running a TV or radio ad that says ‘hey, if you’re into gadgets, log on to Engadget’.
It’s great getting linked to, don’t get me wrong, but I think turning on a truly mainstream audience to blogs is going to take more than just a few passive links.
Ebay in the UK did just that. Yep, they were starting to get the odd mention in the press, but as soon as they started running TV ads, their ‘mainstream’ audience rocketed. To the point that virtually everyone I know has used it at some time - and understands what it is and what it does.
For the big commercial blogs, I really believe they’ll need to follow the same kind of path somewhere down the line if they want that kind of audience.
Hence my question… it’ll be interesting to see who’s gonna be the first.
Peter Flaschner
Sep 16, 2005 at 1:24 pm
I don’t think it’s a matter of getting there first. ‘There’ hasn’t been defined for 90% of the potential market. This whole game is in its infancy. The market is changing daily (hourly!). The business model has yet to be written.
Scrivs, your comment on Darren’s blog is interesting. I’m not sure that what you ask matters though. I suppose it depends on how you define the success of a network.
I don’t see that network brand recognition actually matters in this case. I think the power of the network is the ability to deliver targeted eyeballs. There is no need for reader to know the network to even exists. For example, the network could manage and distribute income, assist in design, and help with promotion. All without developing its own brand in the readers’ mind.
True, this minimizes the interlinking traffic benefits that exist on most networks. But if your network is very distributed, does it matter that your car site isn’t sending traffic to your diabetes site?
I suspect we’ll see Blog Managers (http://www.peterflaschner.com/index.php?id=218) forming silent networks of their own in the coming decade. They won’t be trying to replace the big 3. They’ll be playing a completely new game entirely.
Yikes - sorry for going on so long!
Joe Maddalone
Sep 16, 2005 at 3:38 pm
When comparing the business of blog networks to other industries, namely magazines and television networks, which also depend on customer loyalty and advertising revenue, there are a number of things that have happened and will continue happening that parallel the history of those industries.
The primary difference between the network blog business and these other industries is that the evolution of blogging will go through all the changes of the others in a much, much shorter timespan.
And then the gears will shift, the business model for blog networks will begin to look less like existing models and these other industries will begin watching the blog networks for thier next move.
Right now most of the blogging efforts being put into play are still looking back but soon there will be no choice but to look further down the road than these other industries.
Cary
Sep 16, 2005 at 3:40 pm
Hmm, I’m not sure if I’m the person whose comment you mention in this post, but if I am I just want to clarify that I didn’t mean to suggest that blog networks have no value, only that as a reader of blogs I pay little to no attention to what network a given blog may belong to.
I’m not at all sure how a consumer benefits from blog networks, but obviously there are any number of reasons a blogger would want to be a part of one.
I wouldn’t personally want to be a part of something like Weblogs Inc, because I think the quality of their blogs from one to the next is erratic at best. I guess this is a side-effect of blogging solely for money?
I do, however, like the idea of a blog collective like 9rules. It obviously allows you to choose blogs based on quality, which is definitely a plus in my book.
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