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.
- 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.
I’ll put my marketers hat on now…
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 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.
Yaro – welcome to the network! Your site is really cool! I hadn’t seen it before you joined 9rules so this is great. I’ve already linked to your site from mine. I really like the subjects you choose to write about.
Wow! Big congratulations, Yaro! Your already wide readership will no doubt expand considerably. I was very surprised and impressed to load up your site to see the 9rules logo. Well done.
S.
Membership to an exclusive group is fine when based on merit. You certainly deserve it in this instance. Take a bow Yaro!
Thanks for the props guys and hello to Chris, another 9rules member (check his site out for randomness). I must say I do like the 9rules logo – the really colourful one I have on my sidebar…
Nuts — Paul got to you first!
Sorry Dane you got to be quicker with your Skype chats!
Ooooh, I don’t know Yaro. the last thing i expected from you after coming to your blog 2 weeks ago and reading every article was this
sounds sort of elitists in that you only interlink with one another and don’t beat around the bush – it’s about money no matterwhat 9rules says – they try to sugarcoat this but dig deep and that’s the eventual endgame.
i like independent blogs from strongly independent people – be careful you don’t alleniate your readers with this move
i wouldn’t do this, but good luck anyhow
Hi “newreader” – I don’t agree that 9rules is all about money. Sure the guys behind 9rules are planning on creating a profitable entity no doubt, but as with any business it’s the melding of a good idea that brings in profits that ultimately leads to success (you can’t have profits if you don’t offer something great in return). Certainly from my point of view 9rules won’t be making me any money nor will I be making them any money. Maybe long term traffic they send my way (or vice versa) might make money but that’s very indirect.
I’ll probably end up helping the other 9rules guys to make money if they read some of my articles – which are of course available to anyone – not just the 9rules network members.
This membership doesn’t really change anything at all about my blog. No one tells me what I can or cannot blog about. No one pays me any money or do I pay anyone a membership fee. I can leave or be booted at any time.
In reality 9rules is just another networking tool. Yes it’s a tool that is somewhat elitist to get in to, but as Dion said, it is based on merit and open to anyone willing to do hard work. The only criteria is hard blogging work, if people complain about that being elitist I just think they aren’t working hard enough.
Welcome to 9rules! Thank you very much for that link in the post.
I’m glad you were invited — it’s how I found this website. And it’s very infectious (in a good way, haha). I ended up opening several tabs while browsing your Articles page. And there’s a lot of material that I’ll have to come back for.