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So I am moving forward with my blog network, looking for a few good blogs

Posted by pointlessbanter • 6/18/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blog networks, blogging, paid writing positions, writing

For a long time I have wanted to really sink my teeth into building a large blogging network akin to b5media.com.

After weeks of working on the background setup and getting some of the business stuff in line I am ready to start talking about it.

pointlessbantermedia.com

Let me explain to you what the site is going to be.

This is going to be a blogging media company with one main hub and "channels" dedicated to various subject matters (entertainment, sports, music, politics, humor, dating, technology, etc.). Within the channel there will be different blogs, with their own specific subject on their own pages.

For example lets use an "entertainment" channel:

Channel: Entertainment
Blogs: Simpsons, Greys Anatomy, Celebrity Gossip, Movie News, Paris Hilton, Celebrity Justice, so on and so forth

Channel: Health and wellness
Blogs: Body Image, dating over 30, dating in your 20s, working out, nutrition, marriage, etc...

These are all general ideas, I am open to ideas about channels and subject range.

What I am looking for:

Channel Editors:

Each channel is going to have their own editor who is in charge of making sure people hit their required posts, reviewing their content, giving performance reviews, helping answer questions, etc. I want to start bring in channel editors and have them start sorting through applications for blogs. (I will not be fully opening up applications for another week or two, until I have the main page done and a few channel editors in tow.) This is a paid position.

Bloggers:

I am looking for writers for various blogs on various topics. We will set up a domain for them, handle all technical aspect and provide training. Bloggers will be expected to post a certain amount of blogs per week, maintain the commenting, and promote their blog through various means. This is a paid position.

The goal of the site is to build up a strong number of blogs and leverage our traffic for higher advertising dollars. So the people that want to get paid to write can do so, and the people with already established blogs can earn a higher revenue. Also by building a strong network we can gain exposure through other media outlets and further the writing careers of dedicated writers.

I figured I would get the ball rolling here in the blog catalog community and start talking to interested parties.

Please let me know what you think and any questions you have, you can contact me through the contact page on pointlessbantermedia.com

User Comments

6/18/07

m38967

Hi---Pointless: I might be interested, i have an idea for a blog that could fit nicely within your proposed network. I will fill out the contact form on your new media blog tonite. With your expected launch of Sept, is this when bloggers would begin or am i understanding that incorrectly? Missy.

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  Hey Missy,
  
  We would reach out to the bloggers at the end of July. Start building their pages, and they could start posting in August. We are going to require a certain amounts of posts before their pages go live. But we plan on giving them ample time to do it.
  
  -Kevin
6/18/07

m38967

Do you know how many posts you would be looking for on a daily or weekly basis for network blogs?

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  5 posts per week is the minimum we are going to be asking for
6/18/07

m38967

sounds good. thanxs pointless. i'll fill out the app later tonite.

[reply]
6/18/07

churchie

Just filled out the contact form! I would love to be a part of this.

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I just sent you a quick message.
6/18/07

jphillips

Kevin, lemme know if I can help in any way, either promoting pointlessbantermedia on my blog (smartwealthyrich.com, and on a new one I'm working on) or be a part of it and be included on your network, no need to manage any technical aspect or anything, I have my own hosting plan, domain names and all, I can definitely manage my sites, but would like to know if there is a way I could have my blog included on your network, it would surely be beneficial both for the network and for my blog (I think)

Lemme know

Thanx

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I sent you a message via your website.
2. 6/18/07
  
  jphillips
  
  Thanx a lot, will check my e-mails right away
3. 6/19/07
  
  jphillips
  
  Kevin, I didn't get your e-mail, I checked in my junk mail folder, but nothing there, can you please re-send it. I'm sorry about that.
6/18/07

42media

Kevin, I'm very interested in getting in on the ground floor of your network. I was curious if there would be a way to incorporate any of my existing blogs into the network. Not sure about technical issues with hosting, but that might come later. I was also wondering if you had any plans for podcasts as part of the network (since I have some pretty decent experience with my own podcast).

Let me know and let's get this thing going.

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I think both of your tech blogs would work, we can move the domains over because this is wordpress based. Do me a favor and go to the site listed on my first post and drop me an e-mail I am trying to keep everything organized and it helps me out a lot.
  
  And I would totally be interested in having a podcast on there.
  
  Thanks!!!
2. 6/18/07
  
  42media
  
  Alrighty, I'll get right on that. Nice to know you're a fan of podcasting!
3. 6/18/07
  
  42media
  
  Just sent you a message on your form page. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
6/18/07

FemmedeBat

Will you have a category for crime/criminal justice news?

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I haven't sat down and narrowed all the categories down yet. I think that would be an interesting blog you should submit the information.
  
  Right now I am trying to gather enough information from bloggers, see interest. Then narrow down channel editors and start breaking down the channels.
6/18/07

JayNeely

I'd be interested if not for the name. I feel like if I went to a blog and saw that it was part of a "Pointless Banter" network, I'd automatically start selling it short. "b5media" might not be a particularly inspiring name, but it doesn't have any kind of negative connotation either. Who wants to call their blog "pointless"?

For entertainment, humor, gossip, etc. channels, that sort of label could at least be taken as a tongue-in-cheek humor. But for technology, politics, business? It's just not going to cut it.

[reply]
1. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  Most people like the name, for stuff with a little more serious tint I can just do pbmedia. I have had the name Pointless Banter trademarked for almost a year and had it on an initial blog network experiment I did, it isn't going anywhere.
2. 6/18/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  like SS doesn't have any poor connotations
3. 6/18/07
  
  JayNeely
  
  That's a rather tasteless remark.
4. 6/19/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  sorry to point out the irony of you talking about connotations with that avatar.
5. 6/19/07
  
  JayNeely
  
  You seem to be confused about the definition of irony. First of all, there's a difference between a connotation and an association. From the tone of your remarks, I can tell that you are associating "SS" with the Nazis. But it's ridiculous to assume that's the automatic association of everyone else. When you see the letters AA, do you assume everyone automatically thinks, "Alcoholics Anonymous"? There's a huge difference between an association a person may or may not have with a word, symbol, abbreviation, etc., and the actual *meaning of a word itself*.
  
  Saying that people automatically associate SS with Nazis is a crass attack on myself and my site after I tried to give you sound business advice. Branding 101: Do not say negative things about your own brand, or present your brand as a negative image. I wasn't insulting your domain or taste in content. I specifically said that calling something "pointless" could be considered acceptable and humorous if that something fell into certain categories. But calling a business blog, tech blog, etc., "pointless" will associate the actual meaning of the word, not just whatever associations a person might have with it, with that blog.
  
  You suggested a fine alternative, pbmedia. That's an excellent choice, but from a business perspective, if you're using Pointless Banter Media for some sites and PB Media for others, you're beginning to suffer brand dilution and working against the point of having a network in the first place. It's not a game-ending move by any means, and if you choose to go that route, all the best. You're more than welcome to act against my advice and who ever else gives it.
  
  But if you are going to post in a community built for advice, do not insult people who give it to you just because you don't like what advice they give!
6. 6/19/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  First of all I made a JOKE that you got all bent out of shape about.
  
  Second of all I appreciate the advice, you don't like the name, others do, I am moving on with a name. Nobody is holding a gun to your head asking you to be a part of it. There are plenty of dumb, non professional sounding names of websites that have serious content and do quite well.
  
  Thanks for the branding advice, I appreciate it but I am confident in what I am doing.
6/18/07

dharmagypsy7

I like Pb Media.. it's catchy but I do think that pointless banter network would work as well for entertainment, humor, off beat news and such.

[reply]
6/19/07

iluvmonkeys2

well you had me right up until the 'do you have any wordpress knowledge' part of the application form

[reply]
1. 6/19/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  that can be worked around
2. 6/19/07
  
  iluvmonkeys2
  
  okay then...i'm in...i'll go back and check it out again...thanks!
6/19/07

jphillips

Kevin sent you an e-mail through your contact form (my contact form on my blog seems to be acting a little funny, so the e-mail you sent me probably didn't went through)

[reply]
1. 6/19/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I didn't get it yet and um... I guess my contact form might be acting funny, it is coming on a delay...
  
  my email is kevin AT pointlessbanter.net
  
  Nevermind... Got it!
2. 6/20/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  did you get my message the other day? I did reply back to you
6/19/07

pointlessbanter

I am bumping before I post any of this information on MySpace for the bloggers on there and get flooded

[reply]
6/19/07

confessing7girl

this seems like a great idea!! but i guess im a little too general to apply to the network!!

[reply]
1. 6/20/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I am sure you can narrow it down to something you are passionate about.
6/20/07

m38967

hi---pointless: did you receive my idea and contact details. i sent it yesterday morning via your contact form. missy.

[reply]
1. 6/20/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I replied back to you, it was an environmental blog correct?
2. 6/20/07
  
  m38967
  
  I never got it. It might have gone in my bulk folder, anything that goes in there is auto-deleted. could you send it to me again, when you get a chance. thx! Missy.
3. 6/20/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  Hey Missy you might want to add my e-mail kevin at pointlessbanter.net in your address book. I resent it.
6/20/07

legbamel

I'm trying to fill out the contact form, but I have no idea if it went or not. I clicked "Send Message" and it just refreshed the screen with all of the fields filled out. I read through my message looking for errors, made certain that everything was filled out, and clicked it again. The result was the same. Is there a character limit on the "Subject" or "Your Message:" field? Or did I already send you two?

I just wanted to ask before I sent a third one!

[reply]
1. 6/20/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I will check that... If you haven't gotten a reply from me I haven't gotten it.
  
  Just e-mail me directly at Kevin (AT) pointlessbanter.net
2. 6/21/07
  
  legbamel
  
  I sent my lengthy blather - I mean, application - to your e-mail address. Thanks!
3. 6/21/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  I got it! And I replied!
6/20/07

Conscious

Hmmm How are you going to promote it once before it officially goes live?

[reply]
1. 6/21/07
  
  pointlessbanter
  
  Well there will be standard ways of promotion (off the internet), plus you have so many people bringing their readerships to this site, all the blogs will be link together via their channels.
  
  Bringing in readers, turning them onto like themed blogs, and sharing the readers is a prime goal. Also we will be looking into running different ad campaigns and trying a few different things out.