Sort of like a blog network, but a site network

[christianwins]

About 6 months ago I had a product I wanted to sell so I looked into how I was going to do that...

Now here I am having gone through almost every book, guide and site on internet marketing.

I don't pretend to know everything yet, but as I go through each site and do more testing, I am considering starting a network of sites similar to a blog network.

The basis would be letting people who love a topic create articles, videos, content and letting them blog about it, sell their guides, products, etc. I would handle all the IM aspects of it, so they wouldn't have to get involved past their expertise level.

I'm curious to know who has tried anything like this before and what experience they have had.

Sort of like making a business out of working wtih friends and family who want to have their own site but don't know anything about it.

-Christian
(Somewhere in the middle of the ocean right now)

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Christian,

Would this be similar to blogger.com (Google's free blog option)?

[christianwins]

I should have worded it better.

Your probably well aware of blog networks like b5media, basically letting bloggers write all the content they like, while they takes care of the internet marketing side. More along those lines.

Pretty much working side by side with a group of people who are only interested in developing content (as blog posts, videos, products). My first thought would be people you know well such as friends and family.
While you do all the internet marketing for a 50/50 split of the profit or whatever numbers you and each individual decide.

The network part would be creating resources to help them pick the topics, what types of content to put out, etc. As well as letting related sites feed off each other with links or ads to each other. A forum dedicated to everyone in your network to let them feed off each other too.

[Lynn Terry]

Blog Networks are awesome if you get the right group of people together. I remember when b5media was forming. You'll have to get & keep them pumped in the beginning, and make sure they understand it's a long term project. The return won't be immediate, and can't be promised. If you can get them over that hump, you're good to go!

[danwangert]

I should have worded it better.

Your probably well aware of blog networks like b5media, basically letting bloggers write all the content they like, while they takes care of the internet marketing side. More along those lines.

Pretty much working side by side with a group of people who are only interested in developing content (as blog posts, videos, products). My first thought would be people you know well such as friends and family.
While you do all the internet marketing for a 50/50 split of the profit or whatever numbers you and each individual decide.

The network part would be creating resources to help them pick the topics, what types of content to put out, etc. As well as letting related sites feed off each other with links or ads to each other. A forum dedicated to everyone in your network to let them feed off each other too.

It does sound VERY feasible but would take a lot of planning I think and would take some time before you could get it running smoothly unless of course you have partners with their own areas of expertise who can help you run it. It DOES sound like genius to me.

[drmani]

Nice idea. Proven by many other companies, earlier.

If you want to learn from a BIG company which works on this model
(and has since 1997, when I was one of their 500 'guides'), study
www.About.com

I learned a LOT of my online marketing from watching their team get
traffic to our content. Perry Marshall was a consultant at the time, when
they launched a PPC network called Sprinks! Nostalgia lane

All success
Dr.Mani

[Engage]

Thumbs up, sounds like an excellent idea to me, go for it.

I'm very interested in any plan that helps users escape the "lone wolf" webmaster model, and learn to work together.

You could create a "group site", that is, one domain with each user having control over one category within the domain.

You could use forum technology to accomplish the same thing, another option.

If you and your team are serious, I'd consider providing you with free technology for either option.

A word of caution perhaps. The lone wolf paradigm of webmastering is very well established, and very deeply rooted in the ego dynamics that propel all our sites.

You will likely be facing the "herding cats" challenge, which requires a lot of patience and skillful diplomacy, like being the leader of any group, club, organization etc. Not everybody has these skills, like me for instance.

That said, the marketplace logic is on your side. If groups can be guided to work together constructively, they have substantial advantages that single individuals will have a tough time matching.

I wish you great success, and hope you will keep us posted on your project.