Written on August 25th, 2009 at 03:08 am by Darren Rowse
Let me Show You Inside a Secret Blogging Alliance
In this post I want to take you inside a secret blogging alliance. A small group of bloggers who’ve committed to work together in secret for the mutual benefit of all members of the alliance.
Image by and[w]
Last week I was talking with a successful blogger about factors that had helped us improve our blogs the most and in a comment that I think he regretted making shortly after he mentioned that he was in a ‘blogging alliance’ with a group of other bloggers.
I immediately honed in on the term blogging alliance and began to push him a little on it. What was it? What did it do? What impact did it have?
At first he was hesitant to share but once I promised not to reveal who he was or indicate what niche he was blogging in he began to loosen up and shared some details on the understanding that I’d be writing it up as a post here on ProBlogger (he actually checked with other members of the alliance before he told me any details). Here’s what I learned:
What is the Blogging Alliance?
From what I can piece together the alliance started, as many good ideas do, over a beer between two bloggers. They had both been building their blogs for a couple of years in the same niche and had been meeting up occasionally to share stories and swap ideas on how each other could improve their blogs.
The meetings had been informal, irregular and usually disintegrated into more of a social catchup than much else – but they were reflecting on this one occasion that despite this they’d both really benefited from the relationship. As they drank their draughts they began to wonder out loud what more they could do together to benefit them both.
They tossed around a number of ideas including a formal partnership (a blog network of sorts) but shied away from that as they began to realize the legal ramifications of starting a partnership and company together. Instead they began to wonder what would happen if they pulled together a small group of bloggers on related topics to work together rather than competing with one another.
One of them suggested that they form an ‘alliance’ – the idea caught on.
Each of the bloggers sounded out 3 other bloggers to see if they were interested. 5 of those that they sounded out responded positively – the 6th didn’t (and interestingly is the only one of the original group not blogging today).
The 7 bloggers who founded the alliance all came from the same niche. The niche was a very wide one though and each had different approaches, skills, strengths and focuses. None really were competing with each other directly but all were on related topics.
They decided to ‘meet’ at the same time each week on a conference call (they were scattered geographically so a face to face meeting wasn’t possible). On their first meeting they didn’t really know what they were going to DO together but they committed to keep meeting, keep sharing what they were doing, keep talking about their niche and keep looking for opportunities to help each other.
They committed to keep the group secret and to keep all activities of the group to be for the mutual benefit of one another.
This all took place two years ago.
Since that time each of the 7 bloggers have seen drastic improvements in their blogs. None are what one might consider to be ‘A-lister’ blogs but of the initial group 5 are now full time bloggers and the other 2 could be if they wished to be but have decided to keep working other jobs.
They have talked about inviting other bloggers into the alliance numerous times but have decided to keep things small.
What Does the Blogging Alliance DO?
OK – so at this point I was intrigued by the idea of a blogging alliance. I didn’t know who was involved (and still don’t) but I did know the blogger telling me the story and he’s a credible guy with a great blog who makes a good living from his blog.
So my next question was to ask what the blogging alliance actually looked like? What did they do? How had it worked?
We talked for a good 45 minutes about this but here’s a summary of the notes I took (with a few of my own thoughts) on the different activities that they engaged in to help one another grow their blogs:
1. Commenting on each others blogs
I’ll admit, when he shared this one first I was a little disappointed. I was envisaging a secret group gathering in robes practicing dynamic new tactics to grow one another’s blogs…. and he tells me that they comment on each others blogs!
However this was where they started and he tells me that it actually had a big impact. They decided as a group that rather than starting with anything too big that they’d simple each subscribe and read one another’s blogs and leave at least one comment on each others blogs once every weekday.
The idea came out of the fact that each reported on their first meeting that one of their biggest frustrations was that while they spent hours each week writing their blogs that they always struggled to get comments – it was depressing. So they started commenting on each other’s posts.
So instead of each post they wrote getting 0 comments – they each started getting 7. The impact was interesting because not only did the comments stimulate great conversations between them – but they started to notice others leaving comments too. The idea of ’social proof’ came into effect – people coming to a blog with comments are just more likely to leave comments.
Interestingly the blogger I spoke with told me of another impact on his own blogging – he started writing better posts. He reflected to me that knowing that these other 7 bloggers from his niche were going to be reading his posts spurred him on to write better and better articles. Not only that – the comments being left were not just ‘great post’ comments but each had committed to adding useful comments – so quite often he got great ideas for new posts as well – his blog improved almost overnight simply by having other bloggers leave comments on his blog.
2. Linking to One Another
The next thing they did was again simple but effective (in fact everything they did was simple) – they began to link to one another. Actually this didn’t really start as a formal strategy as such – they did it naturally as a result of each subscribing to one another because they began to see posts on one another’s blogs that related to their audience.
However they did end up getting a little more formal with it and devised a bit of a system (they ended up using Basecamp to keep track of a lot of this type of thing) where they could each suggest a single post that they’d written each week that they’d like one another to consider linking to.
They decided not to force one another to link in this way because they wanted posts to be relevant to the blog linking to them but over time what started happening was that each of the blogs in the alliance started getting linked to by at least 2-3 of the other blogs each week.
They also committed to add blogrolls to their sidebars which linked to one another (as well as a few other blogs in their niche).
The result of this simple strategy over time was that they started sharing readers with one another and that their search engine rankings started to grow.
3. Social Bookmarking and Tweeting
An extension of the linking to one another’s posts was that the bloggers also started to help one another out in social media by promoting each others links on Twitter as well as bookmarking each other’s posts on sites like Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon.
While this didn’t have a massive impact as they were such a small group of bloggers it did drive some traffic (it drove more over time as each of their social media presences grew) and also generated links for posts.
They didn’t do this for every post each of them wrote – but again were selective and did it with a single post a week each (I think this grew to a minimum of 2-3 posts a week later on).
Some of the bloggers now not only automatically tweet when they post a new post on their own blog but have got things set up to automatically tweet when other blogs in the alliance tweet.
4. Guest Posts
Another thing that they regularly do is write for one another.
This started out simply as a way to help each other out when one of them was going on vacation (the other bloggers would fill in) but they found that it ended up benefiting everyone because it helped each of them to grow their profile with each other’s readers.
Now they each commit to write at least one guest post per month on at least one of the other blogs in the alliance. In reality most of them do guest posts as much as once a week. They mix it up so everyone gets and writes guest posts and so that the one person isn’t doing the guest posts on just one blog.
5. Joint Promotions/Competitions
A couple of times now they’ve run promotions together. I won’t go into too much detail of what they did for fear of revealing who they are but they have centered around competitions with bigger prizes open to readers from each of their blogs. The results were great as they were able to attract sponsors to donate great prizes with the guarantee that the sponsor wouldn’t just get exposure on a single blog but 7.
6. Monetization Leads
This is a more recent development but has had some real success. They realized after a while that each of them were spending time each month trying to find advertisers as well as testing affiliate programs on their blogs. They were duplicating a lot of their efforts and actually competing with one another on occasions to sign up advertisers.
They talked about pooling their efforts completely and setting up an ad network to run across all 7 blogs but pulled away from that idea for the time being as it was a little complicated and they didn’t want to formalize partnerships or have to write up contracts.
Instead what they’ve done is commit to share with one another when they sign up new advertisers, to share how much they’re getting, to introduce one another to advertisers etc. The result has been great so far – a number of the advertisers have signed up for multiple blogs where they’d previously have signed up for just one.
They each still handle their negotiations with advertisers but the introductions alone have helped all improve their revenue.
They also share information with each other on what affiliate programs are working for them and what techniques they’re using to increase sales.
7. Spot Promotions
Another technique that they’ve used a few times is to run what they call ’spot promotions’ of each others blogs. I’m not sure how they came up with that name for what they do but in effect it involves them doing a promotion for another blog in the alliance by giving a strong call to action to readers of one blog to become subscribers to the newsletter list or RSS feed of another.
This is usually done in a blog post (ie Blog A writes a post talking about how much they love Blog B and highlighting it’s newsletter and/or feed).
The results of these promotions have apparently been fantastic.
8. Thank You Page Promotions
Another similar thing that they’ve recently been trying is to add promotions to each others newsletters and feeds to the thank you pages of their own newsletter signups (ie when you sign up for the newsletter for Blog A you’re taken to a thank you page that suggests 6 other blogs that you should subscribe to with links to each of their newsletters/feeds).
This is a technique that many internet marketers use to ‘up sell’ people to products – but this group have committed to ‘up sell’ each other’s lists on their thank you pages (a great idea).
9. Remnant Ad Promotions
Another technique that they’ve done a little with is to serve ads for each other’s blogs when they have spare ad spots on their blogs. So if Blog A has a spare 125 x 125 ad slot on their blog they rotate buttons for each of the other blogs in that position – driving traffic from one blog to another.
10. Product Promotion
More recently a couple of the bloggers in the alliance have released products (ebooks/membership sites). The group have committed to promote one another’s products heavily.
They have also committed to give each other ’super-affiliate’ status of each other’s products where the affiliate commissions that they pay to affiliates are significantly higher on each other’s products (so it’s not just those who release products who benefit more from the alliance but those promoting them).
11. Joint Products
They’ve also recently just started about talking about joint collaborations on products. The ‘alliance’ itself will release a product next year which they’ll all contribute content to as well as receive a share of the profits from.
12. Networking
Another thing that this group of bloggers has done really well is to help one another to expand and deepen one another’s networks. Of course a great deal of networking has gone on amongst the bloggers themselves but there have been many occasions where bloggers have made introductions for one another to other bloggers, journalists, developers, designers etc etc etc.
Collectively these 7 bloggers know a lot of people and they’re more than willing to help one another expand their networks.
13. In Person Meet Up
In the last few months the group met up for the first time in person. They all booked rooms in the one hotel and got themselves a meeting room and spent a weekend together.
The weekend involved a lot of socializing but also some intentional times together where they did
- some training (each had to present for 30 minutes on something that they’d learned and had success with)
- brainstorming (they spent time brainstorming what they could do together – this is where the idea for a joint product came from)
- blog reviews (they spent an hour workshopping each of the 7 blogs – each blogger came away with a long list of things that they could do to improve their blogs, topics that they could write on, ideas on how to better monetize etc)
A few Concluding Insights on Blog Alliances
I found this conversation to be a fascinating one. Much of what this blogger told me is similar to things I’ve been suggesting bloggers do together for years in posts that I’ve written about finding ‘blogging buddies’ (in fact this group took on some of the ideas in my posts and implemented them in their alliance) however this group has taken things to a whole new level and formalized many of them (in an informal way as there’s no contracts or legal agreements).
In chatting to the blogger I got the sense that the group has worked well because each of the bloggers had (and still have) similar sized blogs, that each of the bloggers has an attitude of being humble and committed to the idea of mutual benefit and because they have never forced anyone to promote anything that they didn’t feel was a natural or organic fit with their blog.
There have been times where a blogger (or more than one) have opted out of things that others were doing because of their own commitments or because it didn’t ‘fit’ with their blogs – but each of the bloggers has invested time and energy into the greater good of the alliance.
The Results
Lastly by all reports this alliance has helped a great deal. As I mentioned above – 5 of the 7 bloggers are now full time bloggers and the other 2 are doing pretty well with blogging as their 2nd job.
One of the side benefits that the blogger I talked with talked about was that the he didn’t think that he’d still be blogging if it wasn’t for the alliance. He’d been through a couple of times in the last two years where he’d wanted to give up blogging – but the alliance pulled him through. Other bloggers covered for him through tough circumstances and on other occasions other bloggers gave him a kick up the pants and told him to get his act together when he was slacking off. The combination of accountability and encouragement really helped him a lot.
Thanks to this alliance for allowing us to see some of what they’ve done – I’m fascinated by this glimpse into this alliance – I think it could (and should) spark ideas for other bloggers who I think could benefit a lot from similar approaches.
137 Responses to “Let me Show You Inside a Secret Blogging Alliance” - Add Yours
Web Marketing Tips
August 25th, 2009 3:45 am
This one remind me the story of strength of one single stick and strength of bunch of stick.
Nice to see that this one always work … you just need faith.
Bruno Auger
August 25th, 2009 3:48 am
Darren
Thanks thats quite and interesting story. It is really facisnating to hear that a group of bloggers are working together to benefit one another.
It is also good the see that people can work together as a team and benefit. I have read a few thing but I haven’t heard much about others doing the thingsthese bloggers are doing.
I’m sure that this will spark a lot of interest for bloggers to reach out and help one snother in small groups.
Melanie
August 25th, 2009 3:54 am
This is an intriguind idea. I think that the hardest thing to do would be just getting it started and trying to figure out which bloggers to include and how to go about getting it all together. This definitely gave me food for thought.
Arif | DebugLife.com
August 25th, 2009 3:55 am
This sort of reminds me of Mastermind concept in “Think and Grow Rich”…the blogging edition.
-Arif
MK (Casey) van Bronkhorst
August 25th, 2009 3:59 am
Definite food for thought. One strength + sharing = far greater ability for success. Thank you for sharing this and so many other fantastic motivators.
John
August 25th, 2009 4:15 am
Thanks for the advice. What is the best way of approaching a new blog with the hopes of getting them to link to your site?
Brian
August 25th, 2009 4:18 am
This really goes to show you how powerful the strength in numbers concept really is. Groups of people supporting each other can lead to success for everybody.
I’ve always felt that if I support others in blogging then I would be benefited in some way in return. It doesn’t always happen but helping smoeone out never hurts you or your cause. Only good things can come of it.
Because of my reaching out to others I feel as if I am developing a support system. Though it is not as formal as this alliance concept, some of the same benefits do apply.
Thanks for sharing Darren!
George
August 25th, 2009 4:29 am
Just to add to this, say if the same member is part of seven different secret blogging alliance, each of which had seven members in return then you have 7 * 7 = 49 in your alliance in one go. Its a numbers game after all.
Same blogger can be part of different alliances without overlapping, this way you have more alliances and strength.
The Casual Observer
August 25th, 2009 4:30 am
Interesting idea. I don’t have a formal “secret alliance”, but I do make an effort to comment on the posts of a few friends of mine (most of whom I met through blogging). I’m also a bit more likely to link to one of their articles than I would be to someone else’s. I get links and tweets in return. Nobody has ever sat down and said “hey, we should do this”, though.
CommentLuv can also be a great way to drive traffic to your commenters’ blogs – including those of your “partners”. I’ve stumbled across a lot of cool blogs by clicking the CommentLuv links on my own blog.
@ John – I’d suggest following the new blogger’s blog for a while, making insightful comments. Then, when you approach them, you won’t be a random blogger – you’ll be their friend John who has been supportive of them since day 1. I think I’m going to add you to my blog roll – I just took a quick glance at your site and like what I see. I’ll take a closer look later.
natalia
August 25th, 2009 4:44 am
I’ve seen some bloggers commenting on each other, but I don’t know if that’s planned. I guess it’s all comes down to be less shy, talk to others in the niche and find a plan that suits everyone involved, like an extension of the blogging buddy!
John B.
August 25th, 2009 4:55 am
Darren,
What an incredible post! thank you VERY much for taking the time and giving the oeffort to tell us about something so powerful. I normally don’t comment my appreciation, but this more than warrants a THANK YOU!
It is a GREAT inspiration as I work diligently to launch my own blogs.
Anali
August 25th, 2009 5:07 am
This must happen far more than we realize. I can think of several alliances that I see in the blogs that I visit. Epecially with some groups of prominent writer-artist-designer women bloggers. And it works! They are doing amazing things!
Issa
August 25th, 2009 5:18 am
Wow. What a fantastic idea! I just love the idea of people working together instead of competing for a greater benefit all around. I read lots of other blogs (of course!) and you know this has me thinking about how we could work together! This posts outlines so many different ways bloggers can help one another out – thanks!
Mike Billeter
August 25th, 2009 5:25 am
Fascinating is probably the best word to describe this (as you and Bruno both emphasized), and it’s certainly something I plan to get rolling here in little ol’ Sioux Falls, South Dakota (which, I can assure you, isn’t actually that “little.”) It’ll be interesting because a lot of our online and social media-driven community is skewed to a younger demographic as far as the “professionals” would be considered, so something like a blogging alliance now could become a very long-lasting institution in this region. If, of course, we’re able to stick with it and build a solid foundation early on.
Looking forward to pursuing this and I appreciate you sharing the contents (and adding your ever-wise analysis to the concept as well).
Curt
August 25th, 2009 5:27 am
I think networking or partnering in this way is perhaps one of the greatest ways to grow your blogs influence. Me and a few bloggers started working together about one year ago and have seen some great improvements.
But as things change and time is tight, it’s difficult to continue spending time working together when you don’t have time to keep up your own blog.
Another thing that is difficult is that as you work together you discover different political and financial views that are perhaps fundamental to your understanding and teaching. Therefore making it difficult to put aside what you believe would be the best information for your readers, by recommending another blogger with a different oppinion.
Guy
August 25th, 2009 5:34 am
This is very true. I’ve experienced this on a smaller scale myself but one observation I would make about alliances is that they can get pretty boring for the readers. What I mean is, you can go from blog to blog to blog and all of the people in that little clique are writing about the exact same thing. If they do this frequently it gets tedious. Just sayin’. :-)
dinu
August 25th, 2009 5:34 am
BRILLIANT & AMAZING .. nothing else to say !!
Yee Shun Jian | RichGrad.com
August 25th, 2009 5:39 am
Great idea! I’m going to start implementing this =)
Sudeep
August 25th, 2009 5:43 am
Hey ,
Those who are reading this .. any one actually intrested in do thing the same way .. I write in the field of Medicine and alternate health , lifestyle and yoga .Please email me to start such alliance with each other .What do you say ?
Thanks Darren with such neat post …
Regards
Sudeep
Jeffrey Tang
August 25th, 2009 5:45 am
So much fantastic material here. I’ll be thinking hard about this in the next few days.
I’m wondering, though, about the informal nature of this blogging alliance. Is that an asset or a problem? Would it be better to formalize an agreement between blogging allies? Would that prevent conflicts – or spark them?
Any thoughts?
Torrey
August 25th, 2009 5:47 am
This is awesome and inspiring! Shows that a clinched fist is much more powerful than five fingers. I would love to do something like this.
Karlil
August 25th, 2009 5:56 am
This is a very interesting read. However i believe it will be hard to pull off by bloggers who just started out new as he wouldn’t know who to look for in forming this alliance. Nevertheless, if he’s lucky enough to find a couple, this will work extremely well. No doubt about it.
Thomas J. West
August 25th, 2009 6:03 am
Here is another great example of the primary credo of any kind of direct marketing or network marketing campaign – IT’s ALL ABOUT BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS!
Annemieke
August 25th, 2009 6:11 am
I think it is really a great idea, thanks for giving such a detailed and clear overview on how that works.
Last year on the Gaia community (with many discussion forums and every member has a blog) they had what they called a symposium. It was a subject where several people had been discussing about and they decided to write a blogpost on the subject in the course of one week.
So every day one person blogged about his view on the subject and the others where meant to comment on each blog.
This became a very exciting and energetic experience, althoug the subject was rather difficult (something like ‘enativism, integral theory and spirituality in the 21st century’).
But it was amazing to watch and even participate in and I could hardly wait to read each post and especially the comments that were made each time. And although they often did not agree (which made it the most interesting actually) there was much respect for each other.
Just like between the members of this Blogging Alliance as it seems. Seems like blogging of the future to me!
Sarah Vivienne
August 25th, 2009 6:13 am
Brilliant article. Lots to think over. Thanks for sharing.
Josh H
August 25th, 2009 6:19 am
Outstanding insight. I am very interested in doing this myself. I think you have to have some pretty good relationships with other bloggers in order for it to work out the way it is intended.
JamesF
August 25th, 2009 6:23 am
This is a great idea. It just goes to show that in most things, “Together we stand, divided we (may) fall.” It’s also good that they decided to keep it small. Or at least they should be very picky (if any) in adding new members. In any large community, it is hard to keep everyone happy and everyone contributing.
This is one virtual utopia you could achieve in the net.
Caitlin
August 25th, 2009 6:26 am
What an interesting idea! It sounds like a load of fun on top of being mutually beneficial (especially the weekend meet-up)! I bet there are other secret blogging alliances out there!
Mr Uku
August 25th, 2009 6:30 am
Some real food for thought, Darren.
This sort of thing should be really obvious, and yet, here I am not doing any of it. And I could be. I mean, I have the connections, and we do try to do this sort of stuff, but we don’t.
I think it’s time I had good long look at my approach to this whole blogging thing. You’ve really got to commit to it and put in all sorts of work if you want to make it a success, haven’t you.
Thanks again Darren.
Keep it up.
Tamikka
August 25th, 2009 6:33 am
This sounds fantastic. I’m going to look into creating a version of my own. Thanks for sharing.
Real Life Sarah
August 25th, 2009 6:35 am
This is very informative and interesting. The interesting part is that Mom/Women Bloggers have been doing all of these things for years, just because it comes naturally to us. It is such a “male” thing to process through it before implementing, and formalize it, and it’s kind of cute.
I wouldn’t have even thought to write it down as a “guide,” because it has been so organic in our world. But you put it together very nicely, and I remember you pointing some of these things out through the years.
Maybe the larger blogging world in general can learn some things from Mom Bloggers, after al! ;)
Lovelyn
August 25th, 2009 6:37 am
What an interesting idea! I’m so glad you wrote about this conversation you had. It goes to show how much can be accomplished by working together.
Denise at howmommakesmoneyonline
August 25th, 2009 7:27 am
I’ve done this with other webmasters and it is true, those that share in this way and just by ‘being in the next virtual office cubicle’ helps. Venting tends to help and that overwhelming feeling of being in this ‘all alone’ is gone when you network in this way. (_)? anyone want a beer…
Stretch Mark Mama
August 25th, 2009 7:37 am
*running out to buy a set of secret robes*
Kimmoy
August 25th, 2009 7:40 am
I really love this idea! Thanks for sharing!
Is there anyone here that would like form an alliance with me? I blog about empowering & inspiring entrepreneurs in the plus-size industry.
If so, don’t be shy. Connect with me via twitter @Kimmoy or on my site (click my name)
Robby G
August 25th, 2009 7:43 am
This is a great idea and it works wonders. It does take work though not only to support each other but to find people that are willing to put as much into the group as you are.
Angela England
August 25th, 2009 7:54 am
Sarah – Here, here! :-) I recently introduced a male friend to the world of web writing and he came to me all excited two weeks later, “Did you know you can comment on other people’s blogs and they will come to yours and comment too?” hehehehehe
Yes dear, it’s called “conversation”. Lol!
Still, I think the idea of having a slightly more formal arrangement if only for the accountability factor. If I KNOW someone will be commenting on a couple posts that week, then I better have a couple posts that week!
Angela <
needmoney.com
August 25th, 2009 7:56 am
Pretty sure I know who these guys are. I KNEW something was going on!
Wade Bloggs
August 25th, 2009 8:03 am
Excellent piece. I have often thought of doing something similar with my site. Glad to see there are like minded people out there.
Eric C
August 25th, 2009 8:09 am
The interestign follow up would be on how to develop one of these alliances. I firmly believe this idea would work.
I think many “new” blogs rise up together, because they are the ones commenting and linking to other blogs, while established blogs don’t need to.
Somehtign I’m interested in, but need to decide how to go about it.
Karen
August 25th, 2009 8:43 am
I love this idea! I have a collaborative nature, so I love the idea of coming up with some “coworkers” and helping each other out, especially so you don’t feel alone and competitive within the niche.
I also love how you mention in the article that they’re not A-list bloggers but make enough to make it their job – gives me hope!!
Matt Robold
August 25th, 2009 8:48 am
I’ve seen this happen before…in fact I’m part of a not-at-all-secret alliance of bloggers.
In my particular niche (cocktails and spirits), a large group of bloggers met at Tales of the Cocktail last year and then kept in touch via email/IM/phone/blogs afterward. Eventually we started asking each other for contacts, story ideas, to share cocktail recipes and tasting notes on spirits and we realized that our value to both the reader and to the brands that were trying to connect with the readers was stronger when we worked together than apart.
So we formed an actual corporation (non-profit) to help foster better access to information and product for the bloggers, which meant that our readers all got more information that was better than what we got before. We even held our first conference less than a year after forming the Cocktails and Spirits Online Writers Group, along with our group blog and chat room at the Mixoloseum.com.
While none of us are living off of our blogs (I think we’re all still loss-leaders), our readership numbers are pretty much universally up, both brands and the public are paying more attention to us both individually and collectively, and we’re engaging the community in ways none of us would have been able to do on our own.
As a member of the group’s Board of Directors, I now spend my time almost evenly split between promoting my own blog and the CSOWG as a whole, and I have to say that it’s worth every bit of effort.
Muzi Mohale
August 25th, 2009 8:56 am
Given that 5 of them have turned blogging into a fulltime career, surely it has worked. Would love to explore such a collaboration, pity my niche is not popular with bloggers here in South Africa.
Arvind Devalia
August 25th, 2009 9:02 am
Some great ideas! And so obvious too if you think about it.
As for the informal nature of this blogging alliance, personally that is a strength for me. Rather than getting bogged down with formal agreements the team can just get on with the creative and collaborating bits.
I suspect that the real trick here is to identify like-minded, highly motivated bloggers who will be up for sticking ot the alliance for the long haul:-)
Technology Slice
August 25th, 2009 9:07 am
I love the pic of the lego men.
Dayo Nurudeen
August 25th, 2009 9:12 am
Its very late in Poland now, so I will read the rest in the morning since I haven’t got enough time to finish reading it now, but I enjoyed the little I read so far. Goodnight Daren.
bells
August 25th, 2009 9:32 am
this was fascinating and reinforced that a lot of what I’ve done within the knit-blogging community has paid off for me – and for those I’m connected with – we’ve supported each other, joined into activities together and generally helped build each other’s communities and blogging strengths. Also, we often admit to writing for each other. We have broader audiences but in our minds, posts are written for the specific audience of our closest friends – this is not meant to be exclusive – it actually helps build better blogs I think.
Doug C.
August 25th, 2009 10:38 am
Yeah, commenting on each other’s blogs. That’s a biggie. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work.Out of the hundreds of blogs I visit and comment on only a handful ever make any comments on my own blog. As they said, “…that one of their biggest frustrations was that while they spent hours each week writing their blogs that they always struggled to get comments – it was depressing. So they started commenting on each other’s posts.”
This does indeed stimulate other visitors to leave their own comments once they see other people doing likewise. Of course, I still comment on the other blogs from time to time. One never knows when they may wake up and do likewise.
Leah Kaiz
August 25th, 2009 10:42 am
Thanks for writing about this alliance it’s such a great idea to stay motivated and to keep working toward improvement. Often times it’s easier to work in a team atmosphere verse going it alone. Others naturally have strengths where you have weakness and I believe that life is a huge lesson to be learned from others. I’d be intrigued to read the blogs with in this alliance too bad you can’t reveal the sources.
I would love to find an alliance like that to bounce ideas off, to give and get feedback etc. I, like the alliance, find that it would be great to have more comments to find out what people are really thinking about my blog to be able to tweak and improve it. But as others have pointed out it would be a definite test to find the right bloggers to align with.
Thank you so much for finding and writing about this alliance. Though simple idea, it’s powerful when implemented as a whole by a group.
Kudos to the alliance for working together to create something great.
Travis Tasset
August 25th, 2009 10:46 am
As someone just starting up a blog this is very intriguing and also inspiring. But like so many have said it’s all about relationships and conversing, but these people are taking it to another strategic level, and I can’t say anything bad about that. Good for them and for everyone else who makes a shift from ‘competing against’ to ‘working with’. Industry competition can easily be strategic alliances/partners. If not formally through legal partnerships & legal agreements then through informal alliances like this. Love, love, love it all.
G. E. Marrs
August 25th, 2009 11:58 am
I’m going to let this post and it’s ideas marinate in my head for a few days… I really like it, but If I’m going to do it, I want to do it right.
Wonderful post…
Andi Putra
August 25th, 2009 12:00 pm
Fascinating. Really dig the idea of having an alliance with other blogs. The challenge is to find similar sized blogs to work together with. Now, who’s interested in having an alliance with me?
MrRoadRage.com
August 25th, 2009 1:12 pm
I was introduced to the world of blogging last year and love it. I’ve spent a short while away and am getting back into it. I’ll be setting up blogs for a number of subjects, from RoadRage issues to health, to motivational, and more.
I was hoping to set up a blogging alliance (your terminology is better than mine) and ran across this blog on the very subject…wow, how lucky is that? Or is it destiny? I’ll go with the latter.
Anyone interested in considering the possibility of forming such an alliance, please feel free to email me at MrRoadRage@gmail.com
I love that unlimited email from Gmail. No more wasted time deleting junk…how brilliant was that idea?
So what are you waiting for…email me! I may be fairly busy this week and will be out of the office quite a bit, but will get back to you as quick as I can. Are you still reading this…email me now.
And Darren…let’s hear from you too! I’m working on a huge project, actually, two huge projects. Let’s double your income…LoL!
rainwebs
August 25th, 2009 2:15 pm
Would be nice to have a place finding other bloggers to build an alliance.
Andy
August 25th, 2009 2:34 pm
Forming such an alliance seems like a smart idea. And in a sense the collaboration (in that niche) is not a secret as they openly comments and do guest posts on each others blogs.
As a sidenote, I think the social aspect of such a group can’t be denied, even that they only “meet” virtually, as blogging can be quite lonely art at times, especially with the most in the mastermind blogging full-time.
Headless Mom
August 25th, 2009 2:55 pm
I love this idea! Some of their strategies are obvious, but others not so much. Sounds like I need some secret blog pals of my own!
Shiju Alex
August 25th, 2009 3:44 pm
Mini Social Network!!!
The term ‘Secret Blogging Alliance’ and the dark image gave a feeling as to you are going to unveil some kind of mafia. LOL.
Ultimately, it boils down to what you and many others are advising. Build your networks.
Probably, in this case, it was predetermined, mutually binding (?) and exclusive. But they sure were not stepping over the line [or they didn't step over and reveal to you ;) ]
Anyway, thanks for sharing. It was inspirational.
mobiledan
August 25th, 2009 5:02 pm
Thank you, I have been working on something loosely based on this with other bloggers in the same genre of my own, I find that our tones are different, and we cater to different readers, but it is true, strength in numbers helps!
Thanks!
Gerry Faehrmann - YourLawnAndGarden
August 25th, 2009 6:07 pm
Sounds like a collusion of sorts!
Buzzlair Voufincci
August 25th, 2009 6:13 pm
Last year, i did try to gather some like minded people to join me to do this thing. But none of them are like minded enough. I mean, some of them are so want to blog alone instead of sharing knowledge and keep improving from there.
I am in college and i believe only 10 percents of the students really know what blogging means. The other 50 percents are girls that signed up at blogspot and talk about crap, problem with loved one, attention grabber and they often talk about sex which i found really annoying.
As today, i blog alone. None of my close mate really know what blog is, none of my classmate really how to blog (they are a software engineering student and they have no idea what wordpress is, what is AJAX?). None of my housemate really share the same interest.
But i keep blogging. I let myself inspired by other writings such as this one. I let another blogger inspire me as the author did.
I believe in i keep doing this, and as long as i keep learning, and keep improving, i can go further than where i am now.
Money-Era
August 25th, 2009 6:18 pm
Darren, another “you made my day” post of yours. Thanks and keep up the great job.
It wouldn’t be me if I did not ask anyone who is interested to form an alliance :-) Please visit my blog and see if you are interested in cooperating.
I really need a kick, creative critique, need to cooperate with someone so we can go to the next level.
I would obviously help you, too. This post inspired me so much that I simply _must_ form an alliance and achieve success! And what is more I feel I am capable of it :-)
Let’s do something great!
Andrew
August 25th, 2009 6:20 pm
It’s a fantastic idea, and I’ve personally tried to pull together a few people to form such an alliance. The real difficulty is in finding the ‘right’ people to join you.
Just as in your post, at least one of the people is no longer blogging and unless the alliance is truly committed then there is plenty of room for it to fail.
I guess the real challenge is finding people who are genuinely committed to putting in the work. I can see that the benefits are well worth the effort of both finding those people and of actually getting the job done.
I particularly like the idea that they have a weekly mastermind call. No doubt this has had a very positive outcome to the effectiveness of their group.
Annemieke
August 25th, 2009 7:08 pm
As I was thinking further about it, I was wondering how important it is that the members of a group are in the same niche. And I thought that is indeed one way to do it, but personally I would prefere a mixed group where every member writes about all kind of aspects of their own expertise, in a way that is understandable for everyone.
I very much like that if it is done by journalists who manage to get a difficult topic (of science or medicin or art or classical music or whatever) understandable for the average reader.
And I mean in a normal intellectual way, so not so much in a ‘I will teach you dummies’ way. But every professional has a level of speach that he uses with colleagues or others in the same branch.
And I think it would be great if there would arise a field around all those specialities that could be followed by everyone that was interested.
So maybe that would be an idea to use in the setup of a group, a great mix of niches. Think of a scientist who is very interested in classical music, but can not read notes. Or an artist who wants to know more about gravity. Well, I can think about a million combinations right now.
I don’t know if that would be to difficult to set up, but the potential is infinite, I think.
Wasim Mughal
August 25th, 2009 8:49 pm
Wow! Bloggers working together as Team, a Great Idea infact.
I learned some things for this article, may be implimenting for my BLOG!
Not having an Alliance will affect the tips, which were consulted between the Author and the subject blogger?????
I don’t think so!
I f some is going with these routine without having an Alliance, i think he is going in right direction.
At All! I liked this Idea Overall!
Regardsss!
Richard X. Thripp
August 25th, 2009 9:03 pm
Wow this idea is awesome. Anyone want to start a blogging alliance with me? Drop me a line at richardxthripp@thripp.com if your blog is about photography, personal development, blogging, politics, WordPress, PHP programming, web development, piano, writing, technology, or librarianship.
Duia
August 25th, 2009 9:05 pm
Thanks for the advice. It is relly useful for me.
Doug C.
August 25th, 2009 10:26 pm
If there’s any graphic designers here who would like to give this a try just let me know.
alex mazilu
August 25th, 2009 10:27 pm
I am in.
Photography Blogs will help :D
Ursula
August 25th, 2009 11:11 pm
This is such a great idea! Blogging while working full-time is not easy, and having that kind of support to encourage and help you would be awesome! I would love to do something like this!
What do you think would be the best way to find blogger who might be willing to do this? I’m still relatively new to blogging… maybe sending out a tweet? I guess I just answered my own question – heheh. :)
Chuck Parish
August 25th, 2009 11:14 pm
Darren, Just finished your great book, and now going to get the workbook. I have been a web designer for years, but now moving into blogging. Is there a WP simply image rotator that you reccommend? I need something simply and solid, with no navigation necessary, but want the images clickable. There are so many on the WP site.
Blessings! Chuck
Paul
August 25th, 2009 11:21 pm
Griz has set up a “blogging alliance” that is working for the rest of us. With his “How to Make Money Online for Beginners” site and others there is a way for many of us to set up the alliances that you list here.
Robert Bravery
August 25th, 2009 11:30 pm
Great post Darren,
A couple of Guys and Gals that I follow have joined together in a such blogging alliance. Gordie Rodgers has set one such thing up.
I would encourage you all to check it out. http://www.twitter12.com.
You create a alliance of twelve members, and then you do exactly what you propose here. Works Great.
When you join, just mention I sent you. It will really boost Gordie’s moral.
Kent Austin
August 25th, 2009 11:51 pm
This is a seriously good idea. I welcome contact from any marketing / copywriting-orientated (on and off-line) bloggers who are interested in forming an alliance. Let’s get this thing off the ground!
Reza Winandar
August 26th, 2009 12:04 am
Just contact your blogger friends in scholl or office to make a blogging alliance, it’s easy.
Wayne Key
August 26th, 2009 12:07 am
Wow!! There was a stunning amout of real actionable info in that post! Thanks Darren!
I am going to try this out on a geographically local basis. There are lots of people in the loosely aggrated Human Potential movement in my area and I am thinking that adding a geographical piece to the alliance could work nicely….
Thanks again for the most helpful single post I have read this year!!
fas
August 26th, 2009 12:39 am
For a better blogosphere you need to do that, you need to refer others and not be greedy. John Chow recently posted a video of his new camera in which he is wearing shoemoney tshirt.
Janet (@KidCrunchMom)
August 26th, 2009 1:03 am
I am interested in forming a blog alliance with other moms (or dads) who blog about kids products – books, movies, tv, technology, toys, food, clothes, etc.
If you’d like to join, contact me through my website or Twitter (@KidCrunchMom.)
Great post, Darren.
Brandy
August 26th, 2009 1:30 am
I have been really thinking about finding a blog alliance, but was more thinking of awesome friends or fantastic friends as a way to interact the same way this group is doing. I admire their efforts and am so happy you shared this story. I have a few bloggers I talk to daily and we do share ideas this way but the newsletter idea is awesome!!! Thanks for this post!
Adele
August 26th, 2009 1:33 am
Thank you for a most informative article. This could be a course in itself. It seems to me that what the group of 7 did was simply maximize all the tools of blogging in a mutually powerful way. I also like that number of 7 – one for each day of the week.
If anyone with a yoga blog would like to gather an alliance, I would be interested.
Joshua Elliot
August 26th, 2009 1:43 am
Haha, that was a great post interview with this unknown blogger.
It’s true that with some buddy at your side, you will not feel that you want to give up, even through they did not meet before.
This is a commitment between the 7 bloggers that form an alliance to help each other out no matter what.
I will search for such alliance if there is any, thank you Darren.
Frugal Dad
August 26th, 2009 1:50 am
I also like the idea of a “guest post swap.” Rather than writing an additional post for another blogger, offer to swap posts on the same day. So the post you were going to run anyway shows on their site, and you run their guest post on your site. This way, no one has to do any additional work, but you both benefit from reaching a new audience.
Lady HotchKiss
August 26th, 2009 2:15 am
What perfect timing . . . as I have been intentional about something similar for a while and I am developing this organically with friends. YES; it works!
Eranda
August 26th, 2009 2:21 am
This is a great post. I do not mind joining something this nature but it will be impossible to meet other bloggers as I live in Sri Lanka. If someone is forming a committed online bloggers group, ( A small group consisting less than 10 members) I will be more than happy to join and share…
Marelisa - Abundance Blog
August 26th, 2009 3:48 am
When I first started blogging I gravitated toward a group of other new bloggers and we started doing a lot of this for each other, without ever saying out loud we were doing it. We would visit each other’s blogs and comment, link to each other, help each other out on social media, and so on. I think it’s one of the best ways to get over the “new blog” hump and start attracting other readers.
Forex Trading Blog
August 26th, 2009 5:02 am
I love the term “alliance”. I was thinking along the line of “network” which is what drew my attention to this post headline however alliance gives off the impression of dominance. I like it!
Angela Treat Lyon
August 26th, 2009 5:10 am
this is a great post – makes me very aware of how important understanding what your niche market is. thanks for your great blog – I read it avidly.
aloha -
Angela
Renita
August 26th, 2009 5:13 am
As a new blogger, I must say the best thing about this article is that it exposes just how many tools there are available to me that I was personally unaware. Thank you so much for sharing.
Dave
August 26th, 2009 5:24 am
Thanks for getting my wheels turning. Already in talks with others to do something similar. Great info!
Dave
LifeExcursion
Casey Armstrong
August 26th, 2009 6:14 am
Another great post. I am in the beginning stages of my Sports Site, but this has given me some great ideas. Teamwork is always better. I like how they motivated each other to keep going and improve.
Christine @ GoGoMamaGo
August 26th, 2009 6:30 am
This is fascinating. My blog is all about featuring the stories of entrepreneurs and I find that I receive a lot of reciprocation from these relationships. Like most, my blog has benefited from these informal relationships. I can see how one would benefit from organizing a formal one. Definitely the wheels are now turning!
Iman Yusef-Yahya
August 26th, 2009 9:05 am
Thank you Darren for the incredible value that you always provide here at Problogger – this was really an awesome post. It got me to thinking about forming an alliance in my own niche.
Bradley Will
August 26th, 2009 9:34 am
TREMENDOUS POST! I have been working on organizing a mastermind group and this will bring a whole new dynamic into play. Thank you and I will be taking serious action from this post. It is exactly what I needed.
Bradley Will
Dedicated Traveler
August 26th, 2009 10:25 am
This is a great article thanks Darren for the insights to building a blog Alliance, I have thoughts of similar ideas but this just confirmed it. Thanks for sharing.
Christa M. Miller
August 26th, 2009 10:56 am
A few weeks ago two “competitors” entered the space I had till then occupied more or less alone. However, we too seem to be working toward an alliance. We’ve already done a couple of things on this list and I can see room for more. We all agree that there is a broader purpose to what we are doing, for the audience we’re working to reach, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to try to step on each other. All that does is show a bad example to those we’re trying to help! I sent this article to them both and I’m hoping we will be as successful as the group you wrote about. :)
David King
August 26th, 2009 11:10 am
WOW!
Great post Darren! that is one of the best blog posts that i have ever read!
that was some great advice for bloggers… I will be sure to implement as much of it as i can right away!
I can see why you have like 100 million rss subscribers!
Take Care!
David Stillwagon
August 26th, 2009 12:27 pm
an alliance sounds like a great idea but it also sounds like it would take time to develop and it would take time away from posting and other blog chores
Dan Rippon
August 26th, 2009 12:41 pm
That’s a great post on an even better topic Darren, could be “Day 32″ in the next revision! Loved the “Cosa Nostra” feel you gave to it as well.
I think it really goes to show how the power of the internet can (and should) be utilised. Likewise the lesson can be applied to the offline world. While there can be obvious reasons not to get “in league” with your competition, there is strength in numbers, and setting up an alliance can definitely power a small business to go much further than it would on its own (wasn’t that the idea behind the first franchises and co-op’s?). If you want proof of that – just take a look at your local business networking group.
My own field is highly competitive, but that doesn’t stop me getting in touch with the guy down the road doing the same thing and offering my services; hopefully I can refer custom to him when I’m too busy (which is also useful if he has a particular skill set I don’t, and vice versa). A win/win result for all.
Vilmis @ Travel Tips
August 26th, 2009 1:35 pm
Interesting…Darren, you are talking about some third party alliance in which you are not involved, but people who are reading your blog for awhile probably notice your links to some blogs and promotion of other bloggers’ products and opposite – yours blog/e-books are promoted on their blogs. So isn’t you actually are writing about yourself? Of course your are not commenting on each other blogs any more, but other stuff is so familiar.
Duncan Riley
August 26th, 2009 3:35 pm
I’m surprised the idea is new to you. Any blog with sizable traffic that does regular links post is in a “blogging alliance” in one shape or form, it’s a common practice (we’re not doing it, but we’ve had offers previously.)
I am though surprised here by the level they’ve taken it. Certainly chatting etc isn’t uncommon, but ad swapping, guest posts, meetups…. that’s pretty cool.
Mike Hooke
August 26th, 2009 7:47 pm
Sounds like a great idea to me, since I’m just getting startedl
edwin joseph
August 26th, 2009 9:46 pm
I loved this post so much.. I’ve been talking to some friends of mine about creating this kind of alliance. Good that I get more insights from you.. :-) Thanks Thanks…
Amanda Formaro
August 26th, 2009 11:33 pm
I’ve only been blogging for about a year. However, I was a webmaster for 12 years. I took my site (www.familycorner.com) from nothing to over a million page views a month using these types of strategies. Webmasters have been doing these types of things for years, bloggers should definitely be doing it more. :) Great article.
akhlis
August 27th, 2009 12:54 am
United we stand,divided we fall. I was wondering,however, what if one or some of the united bloggers betray(s) the alliance shared goal? In my humble opinion, casual or informal alliance like that may cause some potential drawbacks in the future. Any advice for precautionary measures?
Jodith
August 27th, 2009 1:36 am
What a fabulous idea. My niche is *extremely* small at the moment, so there’s really only a few of us. If we could all get together, we could really help push all of our blogs forward. I’ve got this in my immediate to do list to try and implement.
Linda
August 27th, 2009 5:31 am
Well it all sounds like it worked well but finding like minded bloggers isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Justin Levy
August 27th, 2009 6:02 am
This is a very interesting story and one that I think is happening more and more within our industry. It definitely happens among “traditional” businesses.
There are a number of business groups that an entrepreneur, executive, or a young professional can join on local, state and national levels which are meant to help them out.
Within blogging, I think there are groups of people, who may be less formalized than this alliance, who get together and help each other out in some of the ways you listed the alliance does.
forlan
August 27th, 2009 8:33 am
this is the good idea
unfortunately, we are hard to find our real friend
HanaDaddy
August 27th, 2009 3:56 pm
So it’s very important to provide quality article and quality comments. Hey I got an idea. It would be great to create a portal or forum to provide a meeting place for bloggers to gather and to create a blogging group or alliance for the common interest.
RickHendershot
August 28th, 2009 1:37 am
Great article. I’m surprised these guys were able to hold their alliance together for as long as they have.
Karen
August 28th, 2009 8:32 am
Intriguing post! Thanks for sharing.
Paul Hassing
August 28th, 2009 9:16 am
Fascinating article! This is the first ProBlogger content I’ve read and I’m not disappointed. Many thanks for the learning! Best regards, P. :)
CoolestGeek
August 28th, 2009 2:37 pm
Sounds great post. I like the concept has been given there.
sandiegox.com
August 28th, 2009 3:16 pm
The fact that this exists does not surprise me!!
In all areas of the market this is prevalent:
In business for instance, there are groups of people that get together and form “lead groups” and share what should be deemed “private client info” for the sake of the group obtaining more sale$. This is a normal thing…
Iowa Freelance Writer
August 28th, 2009 4:21 pm
This seems to go along with supporting that old adage: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” This makes sense that working together would help more than trying to compete in the same niche. Interesting post, thanks for sharing.
Random Blogger
August 29th, 2009 10:24 am
This is probably one of the most unique ideas I’ve seen for blog traffic. I think I might try this and make my own blogging alliance B team. Actually my alliance would probably be more like the Y or the Z team, but hey, it could still work.
Giorgio Marandola
August 29th, 2009 12:26 pm
Is the classic example of web 2.0 public relations! Facebook is really helpful for build it.
For me fb is working.
MakeMoneyAffiliateMarketing
August 29th, 2009 1:04 pm
what a great post, I love the idea of forming an alliance with other bloggers that are interested in promoting themselves more online. Group think is always better then just yourself.
Julia
August 30th, 2009 1:21 am
I always love reading your posts, but this one is special. I just starting my blog, and yes, it does frustating not having any comments in most of my posts (it’s good to know there are somebody out there feel the same:D)… i think i’m gonna look for alliance to grow together… building a blog is really not as easy as it seems to be… thank you..
Matt
August 30th, 2009 4:42 pm
This is an excellent post. i have been trying to make such contacts by getting involved in social sites such as twitter and linked in. Also, by emailing the owners of various blogs directly. Then another blogger who read your post came to me wanting to try and act on this idea. I told him I am definitely. I am hoping that we are successful and maybe will be back with ideas of our own.
Thank you,
Matt
Jimi Jones
August 31st, 2009 11:11 am
A great illustration of how bloggers with similar goals and commitment levels can band together and operate in a business-like fashion.
These Bloggers have walked the walk, not just talked the talk. I’m really inspired by this success story.
MaximizingMoney.com
August 31st, 2009 12:13 pm
PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU’D LIKE TO FORM A SIMILAR ALLIANCE AS DESCRIBE ABOVE.
My blog covers a wide range of financial topics, and I would love to create similar alliances with anyone who is willing to perform some of the actions described in the article above, particularly comment exchanges, link exchanges, blog review exchanges, and social media promotional exchanges.
I won’t spam out my info here, but you may contact me through my blog, and feel free to comment in my blogroll to get yourself added to our financial blog list.
Basically, anything you can do to help my blog reach more readers, I will be glad to return the favor.
What an incredible insightful article, I’ve realized certain bloggers seemed to work together, but the idea of formal blogging alliances is definitely enticing.
Thank you much for the info, please feel to contact me to work together.
Beltwayboy
August 31st, 2009 2:50 pm
I would join an alliance. I have been blogging for about 8 months and love it! I’m trying to learn all I can and would love to hear any ideas my fellow bloggers may have in joining or starting an alliance!
Dean Saliba
August 31st, 2009 9:36 pm
This is something that I could never do as I like work on my own. If things go wrong I have only myself to blame and don’t have to rely on other people.
Linn
September 1st, 2009 5:17 am
this is a great article.. fantastic read…
thanks for sharing
Vijay - Meditation Techniques Guide
September 1st, 2009 1:40 pm
Excellent post! You brought to my attention a lot of things which I was unaware of! It’s really true that a blogging alliance or working as a group definitely helps to boost up the mutual traffic of similar themed blogs, as well as websites. So, it definitely makes more sense to devote some time in cross-promotion of friend blogs and websites, rather than just focusing on creating solid content!
MiaHysteria
September 2nd, 2009 2:25 pm
Great post.
I agree with Real Life Sarah, this is something that women, mommy bloggers have been doing for some time. I *almost* was in one. Okay, I was, but for us (or rather for me), our blogs were so completely different and it was “mandated” rather than suggested links, etc. Many times, I didn’t feel comfortable sending out a tweet or linking to any of the posts of the others… Needless to say, I dropped out.
Your post has me thinking about making it a little closer to home and possibly starting a “new” one. Thanks!
Amit Sodha
September 4th, 2009 12:27 am
I always had an incling that many successful bloggers used this method but I didn’t realise how many. It’s a great method and thanks for sharing and bringing it to light! :-)
Kim
September 4th, 2009 4:16 am
This was such a great article, really gave lots of insight and tips for ways to maximize a blog…I’m looking at launching mine soon and this will come in handy for sure..thanks again, great work.
Jody Maley
September 4th, 2009 8:00 am
Thanks for this great article! I have wanted to get a blogging group together…and your article has definitely given me some ideas!
I also use bookmarking demon, and have been told it can really pull up numbers when you have a group all using that program too!
Jody In Beautiful BC
Dave Doolin
September 10th, 2009 4:08 am
Printing… some friends and I have started this already. 3/100
Jason
September 10th, 2009 4:38 am
This is a great concept and I am interested in speaking to anyone that may want to do this. As long as there are understandings in place and it’s on the up and up, I’m ready!
Sean
September 12th, 2009 3:34 am
Hello Darren,
Great post and thanks for taking to track down the story.
I had a question about the photo used in this post. I would like to use more photos in my posts, but am unsure of the creative commons regulations.
The picture from flickr mentions two issues:
No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Isn’t writing text on top of the photo considered altering or building upon this work?
Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Since your blog is about making money and has sponsors next to the post, isn’t this commercial use? or does it only mean that you cannot sell the photo itself.
I am not trying to call you out, just trying to follow the rules (laws) correctly, thanks again.
margaret gilmour
September 15th, 2009 12:59 am
I love this idea and am so glad to hear that it worked. I can’t help but think that in my niche–Simple, Sustainable Living– there must be a way to share content/ideas with other sites like mine–tho not hyper-local, but that fit our mission and share the same voice.
Robomaster
September 20th, 2009 3:06 am
INTERESTED IN CREATING SUCH AN ALLIANCE?
I think this post holds alot of worth and I love the idea of creating an alliance. Is anybody interested in creating such a group? Please leave a comment with your name and a link to your blog if you are!
http://www.blogalliance.wordpress.com
dvd
September 24th, 2009 9:12 pm
I think it’s an intriguing idea and embodies all the great things about social networking. Social networking is all about building your community, learning, helping, connecting and sharing. I don’t think there is anything discrediting about in it as long as the comments are honest and nothing is forced from anyone. I think the idea is great and obviously working well.
BookMarking Demon
September 25th, 2009 7:44 am
Very true. Any time you can collaborate with like minded individuals; you are able to develop things quicker and better. That of course includes your blog! Thanks!
DanielthePoet
October 24th, 2009 6:48 am
This is easily one of the most important blog posts I’ve ever read. This is potentially life-altering. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Now it’s time to start my own blog alliance! :)
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