The transition will likely take place over the next few months, as the three main people at 9rules – Mike, Scrivs, and Tyme, help the new owners become more acquainted with how things are run and in doing so, help them introduce new features and changes.

More than anything else, these changes may not have too much of an impact on the community, but will allow the site to continue to grow and introduce new bloggers into the network as more resources are allocated.

What are your thoughts on this change, if any?

In some cases, you’ll want to keep some of your sites private, or are not related enough to the other sites to promote them together.  For example, you don’t necessarily want to place your personal blog if you are writing on a serious subject, in that others don’t necessarily want to read about your personal life.

The First Approach – Create a Separate Domain

Much like a “portfolio” website, you can create a separate domain, perhaps under your company’s name or a blog network name, one that is associated with all your blogs, making it easy for others to find all affiliated sites you publish to.

You want to market this single site much like you would market your portfolio (photography, sites, work, or otherwise).  Rather than having to include links to all your sites in your email signature, you’d simply need to spread word about this single site, which contains links, information, and business statements to draw in new readers, members, and visitors to your site(s).

Rather than requiring you to post privacy policies, comment policies, and terms of service on each of your sites, you could instead include this legal information on your main network website, then link to these pages from individual network blogs.

Make sure this site is as creative as the line of websites that you’ve been creating.  While it isn’t necessary, include thumbnails, logos, and more to complement blog descriptions on this page, or individual pages for each website profile.

Second – Include Links on Each Site

A large number of blog networks have certain pages with the links to all blogs in the category that the blog is listed in.  Otherwise, they are somewhat creative, and have drop-down menus, links in the sidebars, or other methods of linking to posts from a more trafficked blog to the smaller blogs in the network – mainly to create a more uniform blog network.

There are several sub-methods to doing this, explained below.  While there is no best method, as everything depends on how your network is already set up and the amount of work that you want to put into networking them together.

1. Drop-down Menus – In the header/sidebar/footer, you can design a drop-down navigation menu, which links to all your blogs, assuming that you don’t have more than ten to twenty.  However, you must make sure that this menu is placed in a prominent area of your site… likely your header.
2. Sidebar Links - Should your network focus on different niches/categories, you’ll want to categorize and alphabetize them, according to how you think visitors will best be able to find them.  In many cases, a subscription link should be placed next to the title.
3. Special Areas - Depending on your time “budget”, one of the best ways to showcase content from each of the blogs in your network.  This area is typically placed in the footer, so it doesn’t reserve the respect or views that it should; however can also be extremely helpful for people that are new to your network, or for people that want to stay updated on the sites in yo

Finally –  Be Creative

Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of strength in your network.  The closer you connect your sites, the more likely it is that readers will continue to come back and subscribe to your blog.  The leading blog networks, whether they started as a company, then expanded by building blogs, or started with a set of blogs and created their network from that point, all have a method of connecting blogs to each other.

For this reason, you should use the best practice for your blog and break from the current mold of what a blog network has been defined as.  You should create the network similar to how you run your blogs, yet adapting along the way to create the brand that you wanted to create from the very beginning.

One main similarity between many blog networks is that each site appears similar in design, with minor tweaks, and each contains links to different blogs in the network through the sidebar or header, along with a main page with “popular articles” from the entire network.

How the Big Guys Do It

Listed below are a few examples, although not the best practices, to create a well-designed collection of your network blogs and methods for having people find your blogs.

9rules – Although not technically a “blog network” per se, 9rules contains members and uses a drop-down list, member list, and displays recent posts when you view each category individually.

b5 Media – On the b5 Media home page, you’ll find a horizontal bar in the top portion of the page, with links to each blog, plus quick links in the sidebar, directing to main categories of blogs, plus links to “top” blogs in the footer.  Because there are more than 300 blogs in the network, each is also connected (except certain ones) through a header bar and list of blogs in the sidebar with associated RSS feed link.

451 Press – List of channels is displayed in sidebar, redirecting to archive pages, along with links directly to articles found on the blogs in the network.

Splashpress Media – Main page consists of a “Network” link, containing images placed under distinct categories, making it easy to browse all the sites, simply by their logos.  Clicking on a link will direct you to an “about” page for each site/blog.  A list of bloggers is also included as an off-shoot of the main list.

BNET – Recent news from all blogs is included on main page; related blogs linked to in navigation bar and main page (as it is now owned by CBS Interactive).

Gawker – Links and logos to each blog is placed in the sidebar (below fold) to each of the network blogs.

GigaOM - Blogs linked to in header, with links to blog posts, and related content throughout the main website.  In addition, each blog contains a universal header, with a favicon/blog link duo, about, advertise, and contact page links on each blog in the network.

Mr. Bloggy – A rather basic landing page brings you to a list of blogs listed under “Our Blogs”, with main sites also listed on the main page, including the services that are offered.

TechCrunch – Main sites listed in the “page” header, with links to other blogs in the network dispersed throughout the sidebar and related pages.

Web 2.0 Workgroup – Main page contains recent posts from each of their blogs, as well as a feed link.

Creative Weblogging – Main page contains list of blogs, listed under categories, along with the language the blog is in.  Also contain a corporate blog.

Shiny Media – Sites listed in the sidebar of main network page, again listed by category – articles discuss topics its authors have written.

Know More Media – Blogs listed in sidebar, with links to subscribe, view larger network list, and news is also posted on main network page.

Gothamist LLC – This “city” network’s main page consists of popular articles from the network, along with a simple drop-down list of the sites in the network.

Blorge – A tech-oriented site, it is more of a small “category” site, consisting of a main page and sub-domains covering different aspects – sub-domains each have a link back to the main network page, along with a search box.

Bloggy Network – Under “Our Blogs”, you’ll find links/logos of the blogs in the network, along with blog categories to the sidebar.

ScratchBack is reporting that Splashpress Media, a blog network with more than one hundred blogs and blogging-related services, will be adding the ScratchBack/Top Spots widget to most of its blogs.

For people that haven’t heard of the ScratchBack widget or are unfamiliar with it, it is a widget that you can add to your blog for “tipping” other blogs, with the opportunity to receive visitors, similar to buying links, except that it is using a JavaScript element, making it Google-friendly.

The widgets on most of the Splashpress blogs will run for about $5, which is a huge savings compared to conventional advertising such as banner and link advertising on those blogs. Currently, a few of the top trafficked blogs on the network including Blog Herald, BloggingPro, and Blog Search Engine have the widget enabled.

With the addition of the ScratchBack widget to a network that has hundreds of thousands of pageviews each month, the growth of the widget will grow and people that didn’t have the chance to advertise on the above mentioned large blogs now can.

Performancing has announced the winners of blogs within twenty-eight different categories.

In one week of voting, more than 61,000 votes were tallied, and the process of selecting the winners was daunting – as the Readers and Editors selected the same winners.

Without further ado, I congratulate the winners and wish the best of luck to those of you hoping for a win next year!

Listed below are the Readers’ Choice and Editors’ Choice winners in each category. View the full results here.

Best Overall Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Zen Habits
• Editors’ Choice: TechCrunch

Most Influential Blogger

• Readers’ Choice: Darren Rowse (ProBlogger)
• Editors’ Choice: Brian Clark (CopyBlogger)

Best Blog Design

• Readers’ Choice: CopyBlogger (Designed by Chris Pearson)
• Editors’ Choice: Pearsonified

Best Blog Typography

• Readers’ Choice: Freelance Switch
• Editors’ Choice: Freelance Switch

Best Blog Name

• Readers’ Choice: John Cow
• Editors’ Choice: Velveteen Rabbi

Best New Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Freelance Switch
• Editors’ Choice: Snarfd

Best Blog Community

• Readers’ Choice: Freelance Writing Jobs
• Editors’ Choice: Metafilter

Most Improved Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Mashable
• Editors’ Choice: DoshDosh

Best Blogs You’ve Never Heard Of

• Readers’ Choice: The Astonishing Adventures of Lord Likely
• Editors’ Choice: Dear Rockers

Best Use of a Corporate Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Prosper’s Official Blog
• Editors’ Choice: Matt Cutts/Google Guy

Best Blog Podcast

• Readers’ Choice: Freelance Switch
• Editors’ Choice: On The Pod

Best Video Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Daily Idea
• Editors’ Choice: 1938 Media

Best Writing/Blogging Blog

• Readers’ Choice: CopyBlogger
• Editors’ Choice: Daily Blog TIps

Best Science/Technology Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Pharyngula
• Editors’ Choice: Ars Technica

Most Controversial Blog

• Readers’ Choice: John Chow
• Editors’ Choice: 1938 Media

Best SEO Blog

• Readers’ Choice: SEOmoz Blog
• Editors’ Choice: SEO Book Blog

Best Celeb/Style Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Go Fug Yourself
• Editors’ Choice: Oh No They Didn’t

Best Business/Money Blog

• Readers’ Choice: The Simple Dollar
• Editors’ Choice: The Simple Dollar

Best Photo Blog

• Readers’ Choice: I Can Has Cheezburger?
• Editors’ Choice: Photopreneur

Best Sports Blog

• Readers’ Choice: True Hoop
• Editors’ Choice: Joe Posnanski’s Blog

Best Blog WebHost

• Readers’ Choice: WordPress.com
• Editors’ Choice: Mosso

Best Family and Parenting Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Parent Hacks
• Editors’ Choice: Dooce

Best Political Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Daily Kos
• Editors’ Choice: Huffington Post

Best Food/Health Blog

• Readers’ Choice: The Girl Who Ate Everything and 101 Cookbooks (tie)
• Editors’ Choice: 101 Cookbooks

Funniest Blog

• Readers’ Choice: The Sneeze
• Editors’ Choice: Violent Acres

Best Travel Blog

• Readers’ Choice: The Cranky Flier
• Editors’ Choice: Gridskipper

Best Education Blog

• Readers’ Choice: Study Hacks
• Editors’ Choice: Eduwonk

Best Entertainment Blog

• Readers’ Choice: /Film
• Editors’ Choice: Firstshowing.net

Don’t forget to add a image designating that you won the ‘best blog’ in your niche category. The Performancing Blog Awards has proven to be one of the largest and most popular blog voting events.

You may now vote for your favorite blogs at the 2007 Performancing Blog Awards.
Select your favorite blog from a narrowed down list of six candidates in each category. Encourage your blog readers to vote for your blog. A write-in option is available if you feel your favorite blog deserves winning and isn’t listed.

Dates: January 3rd until January 10th voting is open, with winner announced from readers and judges on January 11th.

2008 (Eighth Annual) Weblog Awards 

One of the biggest awards as blog can receive is from the Weblog Awards, now in its eighth year. It is an annual non-profit competition that determines which blogs are the best of the best. Categories include, but are not limited to: best blog about music, best gossip blog, best food blog, best (regional) blog, and best blog application. The awards ceremony will be held in Austin, Texas, USA. Winners in the final four categories will receive US $20.07.

Dates:

• Now until 10:00 PM EST Friday, January 11, 2008 nominations will be accepted for favorite blogs.
• January 13 until Friday, January 18 at 10:00 PM EST – Three panels of fifty voters will privately submit five favorites (six for Weblog of the Year) in each category, from a list of weblogs receiving the most nominations in ten total categories. The five (or six for Weblog of the Year) receiving the most votes will become finalists.
• January 22 until 10:00 PM EST on Thursday, January 31- Finalists will be announced, voting will reopen to choose the winners.
• March 9 to Tuesday, March 11 – Winners will be announced sometime in this period.

Support your favorite blogs by nominating them and casting your vote.

Details: You may nominate your own blog, but it is encouraged that you nominate other bloggers – those that provide inspiration and motivation, those that you truly believe in.

Performancing wants you to spread the word about the awards, so they allow you to hotlink the image (shown above) and tell others to nominate your blog.

Each of the categories listed blow will have one winner, two runners up, and possibly some honorable mentions. Their key objective is to highlight the best bloggers around.

Here are the official categories:

1. The Best Overall Blog

2. The Most Influential Blogger

3. The Best Blog Design

4. The Best Blog Typography

5. The Best Blog Name

6. The Best New Blog

7. The Best Blog Community

8. The Most Improved Blog of 2007

9. The Best Blogs You’ve Never Heard Of

10. The Best Blog Podcast

11. The Best Use of a Corporate Blog

12. The Best Video Blog

13. The Best Writing/Blogging Blog

14. The Best Science/Technology Blog

15. The Most Controversial Blog

16. The Best SEO Blog

17. The Best Celeb/Style Blog

18. The Best Business/Money Blogs

19. The Best Photo Blog

20. The Best Sports Blog

21. The Best Blog WebHost

22. The Best Family and Parenting Blog

23. The Best Political Blog

24. The Best Food/Health Blog

25. The Funniest Blog

It’s the people’s awards after all…

26. The Best Travel Blog

27. The Best Education Blog

28. The Best Entertainment Blog (Music, TV, Movies)