Did you know there are at least 80 blog networks out there? (Well, BNL is tracking 80 now.)

Most bloggers might be familiar with:

• b5Media, the vehicle for Darren Rowse (ProBlogger.net)
• 9Rules, the social blogging commuity
• weblogs.us which puts out a number of blog templates too (which this blog is currently using).

Let your favourite blogs go head-to-head, either on a mano-a-mano or blog-vs-blog basis.

Let them fight it out on a traffic basis, using the Alexa traffic rankings

Or look at the blog network values, currently led by 9Rules with 212 blogs, valued at $72.8 million. cool huh?

Besides doing cursory stat comparison, you can also use the rankings to determine the market leaders in your niche.

Visit the blog network or individual blogs, establish relationships with the network owners or bloggers. Take it from there.

Just remember to leave some room for your own blogging.