If you’ve got some bookkeeping skills you might like to head over to b5media where we’ve just advertised that we need someone like you.
In other b5media news – with the last few blogs that we just launched (3 more from the merger) we now have 63 blogs (and over 40 bloggers) in the stable. We’ve stopped taking applications for new blogs but have a few more still to launch from the last round and from internal bloggers starting new ones.
It’s hard to believe that we only launched the network under 4 months ago. The growth has been quite staggering. 63 blogs and 9 channels (we just launched video games and a science/health channels which have been popular) so far. It seems we’ve expanded very quickly but one of the things that I realized today is that for every blog that we’ve started there is at least another 5 that we’ve passed on. The numbers of applications were above our capacity to act on (and at times there were too many to even process).
Phase Two – We’ve got many things to work on still but I’m looking forward to the next phase where we slow down expansion and turn up the heat on getting our current blogs to the next level. As with any new business it’s easy to loose track of the little things in the rush to get established and we’re more than aware of a number of areas we can improve in.
Social Blogging – One of the things I’ve been amazed about with the new network is the large numbers of bloggers who have a desire to belong to something bigger than their own blog.
In speaking to many of our bloggers and asking why they wanted to join b5, the topic of making money was almost always lower on the list than I’d expected. While b5media is a commercial venture it is also emerging to be a social and relational one.
I’m not saying that we’ve arrived on the relational level – but for many of our bloggers the major benefits have been the relationships that they’ve formed with other bloggers and the networks that have opened up.
update: no sooner had this post gone live that we launched two more blogs. I guess we’re up to 65 now…. although I could have miscounted :-)
Congrats on the success! Most bloggers just want to be heard. Very few make any money. I hope that my blog becomes as successful as yours someday.
I was blogging and nobody was reading; and yet I still blogged. A year later, my “target” audience (in more ways than one) is here in droves, reading daily, and providing me a quite decent income supplement. It can be done; just keep at it. And get off Blogger ASAP. :)
I’m with Michael Hampton on this one… get off of Blogger ASAP. It’s just too limiting, especially for someone looking for a much larger readership. I switched to WordPress, and it’s made quite a bit of difference in my enjoyment of blogging and how well I can attract readers.
Why leave Blogger? It seems to be working fine, plus the interface is pretty simple. How is it limiting?
I noticed a blog which has been in the network since the beginning is missing now. What happened to Martha Fishcer and her TheFootie blog, Darren?
Unfortunately Martha finished up with b5 in the last week or so. Sports is something we still definately want to cover but it’s probably a matter of timing of finding the right people at the right time. Lots of potential there though.
I like B5Media’s BlogFabulous but I’m wondering how, you are going to monetize such blog, the Adsense there is totally off-topic and the blog doesn’t promote stuffs like Cooking-Gadget does .
My queston is the same as Leon’s.
What’s wrong with Blogger? I found that changing an address (URL) just confuses people. I found that out just by changing the Name just a little.
Joe
Darren Rowse muses on 4 months of b5media
Over at Problogger, Darren muses about the first 4 months of b5media: It’s hard to believe that we only launched the network under 4 months ago. The growth has been quite staggering. 63 blogs and 9 channels (we just launched…