Introducing The Finance Blog Network

August 11th, 2008 · No Comments · Subscribe to this feed

Today I would like to announce the official launch of The Finance Blog Network. The network launches with three initial core members: Curt from Penny Jobs, Andy from Saving To Invest, and I. While we chose to start small, we will be looking to expand and take on new members in the coming weeks/months. If you would like to join, please check out the guidelines and contact us via the provided contact form.

Why Another Blog Network?

A few of our general reasons for starting a blog network are covered in this article on the network website, but there are additional reasons specific to me and my blog. Yes, the cross-marketing and network promotional efforts will be a huge help in circulating traffic between member blogs and gaining exposure to new readers who might otherwise have never discovered my blog. But for me, the benefits of being a member of a wider network of like-minded blogs is more of a social things.

Blogging can sometimes feel a little solitary. Sure, you read the blogs of your peers and comment on them, but for the most part you do your thing and they do theirs. There isn’t nearly as much interaction or intellectual debate as you would think for such a medium. A blog network gives bloggers an opportunity to not only promote each other, but to build on each others’ work to create something even greater. Group writing projects, for instance, give participants an opportunity to debate topics in a way that would be much more difficult for a lone blogger. Instead of merely presenting your own viewpoint on a subject and leaving it at that, you may choose to refer to a post from one of your peers saying, “I respect your opinion, but I disagree because…” This sort of cooperative dynamic tends to force you to broaden your horizons and really think about why you believe what you believe. It also forces you to do your homework, because if you don’t you’re probably going to get called out on it. The obvious benefit to readers, of course, is that you are presented with a well-rounded, nuanced discussion of a particular topic rather than just one blogger’s opinion, which may or may not jive with your particular circumstances.

I invite you to subscribe to our network’s RSS feed which right now is just an aggregate of our individual feeds but which we hope to do more with as our network grows. Bet on the lookout for more from the network and various projects we have planned.

Like what you see here? Subscribe to my feed for more great content every day!