Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

Over the weekend I accepted an invitation from Paul Scrivens to join his blog network, 9rules. I had briefly passed by the 9rules site previously and while the blogs there all seemed quite solid (especially the design, I’m quite envious of the very polished designs of some of the other blogs in the network - there are a few web designer blogs in there were the owners are quite clearly showing off their skillz, and good on’em too, that’s smart marketing), I noticed they had recently finished the second round of drafting new sites into the network so I didn’t hang around too long. When Paul shot an email invite to me out of the blue I looked into it a bit more and then decided joining the network would be good for a few reasons:

• The chance to meet more bloggers and clearly some bloggers that were putting in a lot of effort into what they do. The diversity available is great. This is a network where the qualification to enter is the owner’s commitment to blog quality, the subject matter doesn’t impact eligibility as long as it’s “kosher” (ahh, the usual, not racist, not sexist, etc.). In 9rules you will find all kinds of neat topics like this one guy, My Mean Girl, that blogs about his girlfriend and only his girlfriend, to some gadgetry blogs (HiFi Blog, HDBlog) and some of my old friends that I have linked to or had links from in the past (WorkHappy, To-Done and Particle Tree). All great quality blogs and worth checking out along with all the other blogs in the network.
• One of the main concepts behind 9rules is bloggers supporting each other. There is a members forum, which given there are not that many members yet, is quite active, demonstrating the commitment these guys and girls have to blogging and the network. No doubt participating in the forum will help me to meet some of these fine bloggers and exchange helpful hints now and then so that we can all improve our blogs.

I’ll put my marketers hat on now…

• Increase in exposure for Entrepreneur’s Journey thanks to front page links from 9rules. Member site articles are linked from the 9rules homepage and while the traffic from the site might not be massive (I’ll find out soon) the PageRank points should be helpful because 9rules is a PR7, not to forget links from other 9rules blogs will help too (it’s starting already as you can see I’ve linked to six of the network blogs in this post alone).
• An improvement of my credibility as a blogger, web marketer and writer. Many bloggers scramble to join this network and only those blogs that express unique qualities get in. As much as I have disdain for “in-clubs” of which 9rules certainly is one and has no doubt already suffered from some criticism from those not in the club, it is a great “badge” I can wear with honour that I feel I have earned over the last few months for my consistent writing, teaching and blogging. Credibility means a lot to me, especially as I continue to grow my credentials as a web marketer and internet business entrepreneur.

About 9rules

9rules is weblog network with some simple principles. It aims to link together quality blogs, have bloggers help each other and also help the bloggers increase their exposure by leveraging the 9rules brand, website and network. 9rules is not like other blog networks that either employ writers to blog that are paid to complete a certain amount of posts per month, or a network that shares the revenue earned by the blog.

In this way 9rules is more of a community of bloggers. Yes if I wanted help to make money from my blog the 9rules community would help out through advice and suggestions, but it is not the primary job of the network to pay bloggers or monetize their blogging.

The 9rules Network

The 9rules Network is about building a community of high quality websites as well as a community of highly discerning readers. Content is king and looking good helps. We add sites that meet these rigorous standards and leave bribe money under our keyboards.

Many people hear the word “weblog” and go running to Google to find weblogs on their favorite topics, but weeding through the crap to find the cream is a daunting task. Fortunately there are hundreds of thousands of great websites and weblogs that provide quality content, and our goal is to connect hungry readers with passionate writers so that they can live in harmony.