Building Networks to Thrive on the Net

If today’s internet actually looked like anything, it would look like a rainforest. We think of rainforests as beautiful, lush, and magical, but the truth is that for the plants and animals that live there, it’s brutal. The canopy blocks out most of the sun, every other creature is a threat to your survival, and every inch of space is a battleground for resources.

Well-established, deep-rooted sites are the tall trees that block out the sun for the rest of the net, and they present the biggest challenge to anyone who hopes to establish their site’s presence on the net. That brings us to the question: How can anyone smaller compete with those giants?

First of all, you have to actually grow your site. If your site’s not regularly getting bigger & more content-rich, then it’s in trouble, because a lot of other sites are growing by the day.

Second of all, your chances are much, much, better if you’re part of a group. Colonies, packs, flocks, herds, swarms, hordes, flinks, floats… networks.   Networks grow faster exponentially with size. They cover a broader range of topics while still functioning as specialized areas of information. Their links intertwine with eachother as well as spread outwards into the net.

Become part of a network of sites, or build your own.

And just how are you supposed to do that? Bear in mind that a network doesn’t have to be official. Many bloggers intuitively understand the value of networking—it’s not uncommon for unspoken, mutual agreements to develop between bloggers to comment & link with each other regularly. Try to find another blog that’s relevant to your own and start commenting & linking to it. There’s a fair chance that the other blogger will do the same (and don’t begrudge them if they don’t, it’s not established etiquette).

You can also participate in group events. This post is part of The Writing Experiment. The beauty of this experiment is that anyone who takes part in it becomes one node of an unofficial network of sites.

Or form your own network based on friendship, business ties, shared interest, or some other bond. This site is part of the LGL network, along with AnotherGuy and To Capture Beauty.

There’s also the option of creating your own network all by your lonesome… but I don’t recommend it. The greatest value of a network is in the shared effort involved. Each post helps not only person’s site, but others as well, and more people means more content, which means more mutual benefit. It’s about building relationships as well as site traffic, really.

Hopefully this post has encouraged you to more actively network your site with others on the web. You can start by looking at the writing experiment I mentioned earlier, or by posting comments on other blogs (e.g. this one ), and let me know how it goes!

P.S. The Writing Experiment topic that this post covers is actually, “Why did you start blogging?” This post is my answer: I had the idea that a network of sites would be better than just one site, so I created this personal site with the intention of building a node in a greater network.