9rules - The best content from the independent web.

Well, it’s that time. Below you will see the accepted sites. You’ll notice the list is short. It will most likely expand over the next month. Once again we had sites that were too young to add now but we had a slew of sites that had good content but finding something on the site was ridiculously hard. Why? The person picked a bad theme and the theme doesn’t help the end user browse the site…enjoy the site. Everyone does this sooner or later. I’ve paid for themes that didn’t accomplish the job. It’s a learning experience. Suggestion: if you get spam look at some of the spam sites. See what theme they are using. If your theme matches theirs, stop using it.

The other major reason: the content lacked depth. If you are doing reviews the more thorough the review the more the reader benefits from it. This does not mean it should be book length, but it should be thorough. “I watched the Eureka premiere. This is what happened. OMG, he’s gone! Overall I liked it.” lacks depth. Stretching those sentences into paragraphs doesn’t give depth.

Scrivs and I were talking about doing a chat or stream so we could talk to multiple people on these types of issues. Point out why some sites made it and why some didn’t so it can be a true learning experience. Don’t feel bad if your name isn’t on the list…that doesn’t mean your site won’t sport the leaf.

Other reasons why sites weren’t accepted:

• The site was new: We require at least six months of consistent posting. Please resubmit your site in November so the guys and I can drool over them again. I cannot stress enough to resubmit.
• No focus: The author of the blog used their blog to randomly dump information. Every blogger has their own style but our readers are looking for more focused content where the blog has a clear direction on the content being published.
• Inconsistent posting: If you only write a couple of articles a month or write sporadically the content can be superb, but it would be lost on our site. Especially in the larger communities.

Those are the main reasons. For the sites we had questions on, I’ve already sent out the emails. I will be contacting the new members NEXT WEEK - NOT THIS WEEK - NEXT WEEK. Yes, that’s right, I said NEXT WEEK to get your sites set up. After I get everyone set up I’ll go back and open it up for those that weren’t accepted to find out specifically why, working with them. We always have sites that weren’t accepted get added - that’s one of the reasons why there is a gap between rounds. It gives me time to work with sites.

Ok…here’s the list…CONGRATS!!!!

http://9to5ers.ultracrepidate.com/
http://www.adventures-in-motherhood.com/
http://www.adventuresinparenting.org/
http://www.afrigadget.com/
http://www.alexshalman.com/
http://baglady.dreamhosters.com/
http://www.balkhis.com/blog/
http://www.barrywise.com/
http://www.bitheway.co.uk/
http://www.blackzedd.com/
http://blog.charlenechua.com/
http://blog.miragestudio7.com/
http://blog.ivman.com/
http://blog.mastykarz.nl/
http://www.bloggerbuster.com/
http://www.bloggingtips.com/
http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk
http://brainblogger.com/
http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/
http://chenpn.com/
http://christianpf.com/
http://chuboi.com/
http://condomunity.com/
http://www.concretebadger.net/blog/
http://conflictzen.com/
http://www.designer-daily.com/
http://discoveringdad.net/
http://experimentsinliving.wordpress.com/
http://www.flakphoto.com/
http://freelancefolder.com/
http://www.fuelyourcreativity.com/
http://www.getelastic.com/
http://www.guitarnoize.com/
http://www.happiness-project.com/
http://www.heyitsfree.net/
http://www.highlighthealth.com/
http://www.idiotsguidetoblogging.com/
http://www.ipatrix.com/
http://jamesmckay.net/
http://www.jefflittle.ca/blog/
http://jen-sized.net/
http://www.marcofolio.net/
http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/
http://myillusion.net/itsumo/
http://www.neverhappen.com/
http://nicethingsbaddebt.blogspot.com/
http://onefusedlife.com/
http://ourfourpenceworth.com/
http://parentingsquad.com/
http://perishablepress.com/
http://www.phoenixcentre.com/blog
http://www.problogdesign.com/
http://punditmom1.blogspot.com/
http://putthingsoff.com/
http://www.puttingblogsfirst.com/
http://scrumptious.animeblogger.net/
http://www.shankrila.com/
http://www.showyourpony.com/
http://www.simplehelp.net/
http://www.simplemarriage.net/
http://simplemom.net/
http://spaceagesage.com/
http://sparklette.net/
http://www.thehealthylivinglounge.com/
http://theredzonereport.com/
http://www.thiswomanswork.com/
http://www.tutorial9.net
http://vividlamp.com/
http://www.webrampage.com/
http://www.whatgeekseat.com/wordpress/
http://www.wine-girl.net/
http://www.wisebread.com/
http://wilcosworld.co.uk/

Many people have been asking when we will be announcing the results from Round 7. We will be announcing the results Sept. 3, 2008 (Wednesday) on this blog. The holiday will be over, most will be back at school/work so the odds are higher everyone will be available so I can start processing sites.

I’ll explain this when the announcement is made but let me quickly explain the process.

1. A list of the new members will be posted on the blog.
2. Within the next couple of days after the announcement, I will be contacting the new members to begin processing their sites so their content displays on 9rules.
3. At this time I will be sending out questions to those blogs that were not accepted but we had questions for the owner. If you saw the stream those are the sites we said were “maybes”.
4. During this time it is not unheard of for there to be shifts within the communities. Depending on the sites accepted new communities might start, others might be merged, etc.
5. If time permits (after I am done getting the new members settled in) I will post here on the blog how you can contact me to find out why your blog was not accepted. This is done privately via email.

That’s it! I just wanted to give everyone the date when the results will be posted.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Scrivs inches one year closer to 30. A few hours ago we did a superstream going through some of the sites that were submitted. Fun times - one of the people in the chat is going to be a member. Everyone wished him happy birthday early. It’s a good way to spend the prelude to a birthday. On Friday we’ll be having a real party with music, drinking etc. More good times - the occasion demands it.

Thank you for starting 9rules. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for being you.

Happy Birthday Scrivs!

The guys are going through sites. I’m monitoring the chat. Come join us.

This Wednesday the crew will get together and go over some of the submissions live so you can get a feel for what we look for in submissions to 9rules. It will go on for at least an hour so there will be plenty of quality information flowing throughout. Make sure to be there.