It doesn’t take long when you’re trying to build a successful blog network to realize that nobody has written a book on the subject.

Truth be told? We could use one right about now. Don’t get me wrong, the hammer is down and we’re banging some juice on all cylinders. We have, almost literally, hit the ground running.

But success in this game is far from guaranteed, especially if you plan to play it with your cards facing outwards for the world to see.

And this, friends, is exactly what we plan to do.

Energy Does Not Equal Efficiency

Just because we’re busy does not mean we will succeed.

What if we’re facing in the wrong direction? What if we’re not focusing on the right things? How would we even know if we weren’t? We may be the new kids on the blog network block, but we are far from the first kids on the block.

This trail has been blazed and well manicured. Many have gone before us. We have a few well-respected, and reputable, role models in the blog network space.

And while we can monitor them from afar, and model our approach on the successes we see publicly, we have no way to know what has gone on behind the scenes to contribute to, or take away from, their success.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, when it comes to doing this thing we’re doing, nobody has gone out of their way to document the process.

Until now.

If we’re gonna do this thing, you’d better believe we’re gonna write about it, for better or for worse.

So, if you’re interested in following in our footsteps, jumping on the bandwagon, or competing with us directly… I welcome you. And I intend to give you everything you need to pwn The 8Bit Network at our own game.

If you fail, it’s on you brother. Srsly.

Blog Network Starter Kit

I intend to really dig deep and pragmatic, but that will have to wait for future posts. Let’s start at the top. What are the basics? What do you need to start a successful blog network?

1. A Regenerative Felt Need

Good blogs scratch an itch, but it’s not enough to merely scratch an itch these days. You can’t run a successful blog, let alone a network, if the itch can be satisfied in short order. The itch needs to be recurring. Self perpetuating. Regenerative.

You want to launch a blog network? Cool. Trollop out into the wilderness of your mind, or better yet pay attention to your daily life, and seek out the poison ivy. The itchier the better.

2. A Successful Anchor Blog

So you found a niche. You’ve discovered your own personal poison ivy, so to speak, and you think you have a cure to share with the world.

Stop right there, turn around, go back and bath in the poison ivy.

Saturate yourself in the topic at hand. What I mean is, launch a single blog and explore every inch of your subject matter until you become an expert.

Post daily, interact with your community, and grow your audience. You’re off to a great start! This blog will be your network’s anchor. Or, in reality, its incubator.

You’ll know you’re on the right track when certain subcategories start to trend in your posting habits. Your blog represents a category, but this category is the sum of its parts. And its parts are well organized subcategories. When these subcategories define themselves, and start to collect enough posts, you will be able to identify how to multiply your one blog into many.

You should consider the most popular subcategories to be well-vetted proofs of concept. When they get big enough, kick them out of the comfortable safety of the incubator and give them a chance at life as their own blog.

3. A Band of Merry Men

No way you will be able to pull this thing off on your own. You’re going to need a crew.

If you’ve made it this far, you’ll know who to invite in on your little venture. They’ll be the ones that encouraged you along the way, jumped in and helped when necessary, and made your house a home by hanging out in the comments.

Could you hire a professional blogger to jump in and carry the load? Sure. But I wouldn’t go there as a first resort. Bring in the third string that have a deep passion for the game. They may be a little rough around the edges, but they’ll have your back in a way no hired gun will.

You can’t train someone to be passionate about your niche, but you can train someone to become skilled at doing the work necessary to operate your blog or network.

4. Sexy Sexy Branding

Fight the compulsion to save some pennies here. You only get one chance to make a first impression, right? If you want your blog to be taken seriously, you need to stand out.

Spend some coin on branding. It will pay for itself in the end, I promise.

5. A Spoonful of Mental Imbalance with a Hint of Audacity

Blogs are a dime a dozen. Any 9 year old with an iPod Touch can start a blog before home room these days. Just who do you think you are, anyway? You’re probably not that great of a writer. You’re probably not that great at social media.

Now that I think about it, you’re probably going to waste a whole lot of your time, or worse: my time, and fail anyway.

The itch, man! Cling to the itch! Frolic in the poison ivy and sing about the itch every day! You will succeed because you are dedicated!

Sure, one hundred other people are out there scrambling to do a better job than you but you will prevail where they fail because you are audacious enough to believe that if you just wake up every single day, log in, and write your words you will get better, and better, and better until you are the definitive source for information in your space.

I promise you are going to be really bad at this in the beginning. Learn and write and learn and write. You will level-up your blogging craft if you are mentally imbalanced enough to do it wrong A LOT and if you have the audacity to think that you deserve to succeed.

We Don’t Have Need for a Good Poker Face

If you’re reading this blog, then you know our goal is to resource the church with information about technology. Maybe you’re not impressed with our efforts so far. Maybe you think you could do a better job.

Just maybe, I think you could be right.

We’re in it to win it but our cards are showing. Your move, dude.

[Images from YtseJam, Niles Geylen, Eleaf, dewde, RatRanch