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I am seeing a few resellers struggling with the issue of Internet Traffic being presented with generic system branding when signing up for a reader account on their customers Web logs instead of their own brand. They wonder why this is not separated into their own offering and kept disconnected from other reseller offerings citing competitive concerns.

“We are not only competing against other Blog Software providers, but also against other resellers!”

IMHO this is completely wrong , and to explore the details there is some great reading from all the way back in 1997 that will expose the reason why in detail when you read Point #2.

One of the key aspects of this new Blogging communication technology is the inherent networking capabilities of the tool and how all reseller offerings are connected via the Blogware engine. The value of any communication network depends on the total number of people in the network.

The greater the number of people that participate in the network, the greater the value of joining the network.

If you are the only person in the world with a phone connection, it is of no real use. If many people have a phone, it is useful to have a phone yourself and the returns to participating in the network increase with the number of users. How useful would the phone network be if a phone customer of ATT couldn’t call a phone customer of Bell?

The fact I have a reader account means I can comment not only on one reseller's blogs, but also on other reseller's blogs without having to create new accounts. The value I derive from a reader account is far greater than just being able to access one reseller's Blogs and will mean more of a likelihood I will sign up to become a paid member of the network no matter which provider I choose.

The bottom line? This is probably the only service we provide to our resellers where it actually benefits the value of a reseller offering to somewhat expose their competing reseller's blogs as being part of the network a user signs up for. That user will eventually sign up for a Blog and whether that be with reseller A or a Blog of Reseller B, the more blogs and readers in the system the more exposure the system receives which will eventually result in more new customers for me.

ATT competes with Bell, but neither denies they don't co-exist in the same ecosystem.  Promoting each other and our differences is the only way to help each other succeed in the network economy of the burgeoning Blogging industry of today.

Market the service how you wish which is what was always intended, just make sure you understand what you give up when you try to segregate your offering from the Network.