Blog About Your Blog » Blogger Interviews http://blogaboutyourblog.com Giving you your daily blog fix Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:55:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 How To Sell Your Blog Interview http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/07/29/how-to-sell-your-blog-interview/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/07/29/how-to-sell-your-blog-interview/#comments Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:51:59 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/?p=1190 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "How To Sell Your Blog Interview", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/07/29/how-to-sell-your-blog-interview/" });]]> Sell Your Blog

I like to follow the sales of blogs, I find it interesting. We blogged about Blogging Fingers getting sold a while back. The blog on the block this time was Bloggin-Ads. Mike has become a friend and contact over instant messaging since his blog has emerged. Lately he has fallen on some hard times.

I hate seeing a blogger down, so I did my best to help his sale along. I thought now that his blog has sold it would be a great thing to interview him.

If you missed the sale, he recently sold his blog for $5,000, expecting a lot more (as did I). He cited other blogs being sold.

http://onemansgoal.com sold for $10,000
http://cashquests.com sold for $15,000
http://johncow.com sold for $25,000
http://bloggingexperiment.com/ sold for $15,000
http://bloggingfingers.com sold for $6,000
http://www.blogohblog.com/ sold for $10,000

According to this list, his blog was definitely valued at about 15-20k in my opinion. Whoever got it, definitely got a steal in my opinion.

I interviewed Mike Huang to see what went wrong.

Was selling your blog harder or easier than you thought?

Yeah, it was actually a lot harder to find bidders and potential buyers than I thought. I really thought I would receive bids up to $10,000, but that was out of the picture. Not to mention, the sale was hard on my wife and I especially after all the hard work put into it.

Why don’t you think you got the price you wanted?  The long term advertising promises? Or something else?

From what I’ve been told, it is because of the long term advertising. What I should’ve done was not mention that, just receive bids, and if it goes high enough, I would just refund all the advertisers. I believe I could’ve gotten a least $7,000 or $8,000.

Another problem is the domain, which has a dash in it, which could cause problems with SEO, but not too much.

You mentioned the sale at Mybloglog, Blogcatalog, and Twitter. I also saw it on a lot of forums, which ones? What do you think drove the most bidders?

I mentioned it EVERYWHERE (mybloglog, blogcatalog, twitter, etc). Digital Point, Bloggeries, and NamePros. The most bidders most likely came from twitter or from other bloggers that mentioned it (hopefully BAYB!)

What did you learn from the sale?

What I learned is that you should never expect too much from selling ANYTHING because it may come out different than expected.  A sale is much harder than what it seems and actually requires a lot of work.

Anything else we should know? Is the sale for $5,000 finalized?

It’s pretty much finalized and it’s in progress on escrow.com right now. Another thing to mention is that Escrow.com is the safest way to sell a site. Depending on the amount, if it goes over a few thousand, a seller should use escrow.

My Insight

The advertising slots that were already promised seemed to be the downfall, there were also other negative comments in sale thread.

A few pointers by observation when selling a blog:

  • Tie up future advertising. I generally don’t like to sell a year in advance lately, but I have as of late.
  • Along with advertising tie up any lose ends to make you look bad. Mike still had an open contest that wasn’t finalized which caused problems.
  • Don’t change the blog around, keep the theme and posts going regular so the bidders can see how the blog functions and won’t take over with nothing left.
  • Offer to stay on as a paid blogger to keep the “face” of the blog there, if possible.
  • Lastly, this goes for Mike, don’t redirect the URL to another site in the closing hours of your auction!

Any other questions you have for Mike that I missed I’m sure he’d be happy to answer!

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/07/29/how-to-sell-your-blog-interview/feed/ 13 Interview with Victor Franqui of Blogger Unleashed http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/05/19/interview-with-victor-franqui-of-blogger-unleashed/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/05/19/interview-with-victor-franqui-of-blogger-unleashed/#comments Mon, 19 May 2008 16:30:12 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/05/19/interview-with-victor-franqui-of-blogger-unleashed/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Interview with Victor Franqui of Blogger Unleashed", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/05/19/interview-with-victor-franqui-of-blogger-unleashed/" });]]> Recently I watched a few video blogs by Vic and I was interested in his opinion and a few things I had questions about. As many bloggers know, Vic has really taken off as a blogger with his strong opinion and personality. His blog, Blogger Unleashed has really taken off in the past weeks and months. He seems to be pretty controversial, so I thought I’d get to the bottom of a few things.

Due to the fact I had so many questions and Vic’s time restraints, he made a video blog to my interview questions.

As I mentioned in Is Vlogging the Best Way to Blog, vlogs can be time consuming. So I’ll do my best to recap and summarize the answers the best I can. However the video is definitely worth a watch and will give the complete answer. If you are looking for a different voice in the blogosphere don’t miss this interview.

What exactly do you do? You seemingly came out of nowhere.

Vic stated that the people who are really making money online don’t have a face.

He didn’t exactly answer the question, but we all know he does very niche websites and mentioned early in the interview that he has over 100 domains.

You have such a strong opinion and personality. Do you think you are intimidating?

The short answer, yes. “Apparently so”. Instead of being nice about it, he’ll tell you what he thinks.

Why do you promote niche’s so much?

Working a niche is a lot easier to move up the SERP’s, which in turn brings in the traffic that will make you money.

In one of your vlogs you mention TLA and Payperpost was bad for blogging. What else has been bad?

TLA and Payperpost are the worst thing for blogging. What he said that basically happened was by selling links at these prices and with PR juice etc, it essentially drove down the cost for advertising across the board.

What else has been bad for blogging is the A-listers. By the A-listers being at the top of the pyramid, that makes it harder for bloggers like me to make money.

In your opinion, what has been best for blogging?

Overall the whole idea of blogging and the fact it’s just getting started. Vic has already turned to video blogging which he calls the future.

What do you have against so called “A-List” bloggers?

“They are self centered b@#^%^ that scam people to death” Couldn’t ask for a better quote.

Why do you have such a problem with Caroline Middlebrook?

“Shes a scammer” You definitely need to see his video response to this, pretty interesting. However thats what a lot of people with followings end up doing. Offering ebooks or affiliates without actually using them or benefiting from them they way they are saying they do.

Why was it such a big deal for you on the sale of OneMansGoal? Wouldn’t that be good for bloggers like you and me?

Basically he said that the sales of overpriced blogs will end up driving down prices, because those people investing, won’t ever get a return on it. Which would discourage future investors.

You mentioned John Chow is basically screwed by saying ’screw google’. What do you think he should do now?

Keep buying adwords and the traffic. If you want to make money you need google.

I just wanted to thank Vic for this interview, hopefully we can work together in the future.


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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/05/19/interview-with-victor-franqui-of-blogger-unleashed/feed/ 3 Blogger Interview with Ian from TheRandomForest.com http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/04/05/blogger-interview-with-ian-from-random-forest/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/04/05/blogger-interview-with-ian-from-random-forest/#comments Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:58:13 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/04/05/blogger-interview-with-ian-from-random-forest/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Blogger Interview with Ian from TheRandomForest.com", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/04/05/blogger-interview-with-ian-from-random-forest/" });]]> Welcome to another edition of Blogger Interviews. Our last interview was with Karthik.

Ian Parks is a loyal reader of BAYB and I thought would be great for an interview, especially since he has quit his job to become a full-time blogger. We asked Ian some blogging questions. Here is what he said:

What is your age? Where do you live?

I’m 26 and currently living in Montreal, QC but Original from London, England.

What do you do when your not blogging?

I have been pretty inactive socially, as it’s been winter but have been going to the gym, watching the odd movie and I’m becoming addicted to catching up on the show Lost.

I work full time as a blogger now and enjoy taking photos. Before I came to Canada last year I was a Freelance Graphic Designer / Artworker and I was most recently working in a kitchen as a line chef.

What are your favorite blogs? What type of blogs do you usually read?

Garry Conn provides me with a wealth of blogging tips, tricks and ideas and he is a bloody nice guy.

Bush Mackel as he is kind of at the same level as me when it comes to blogging but gives out great ideas and fun posts.

Vegan Momma is close to being a freelance writing and business guru and I like to see what she is up to. She always inspires me with her energy and enthusiasm.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I like the freedom to express myself, the challenge to make it my full time career and the chance to constantly try and keep up with better writers than myself.

How many blogs do you have?

At present I run 3 main blogs and have a few that I have just started working on.
The Random Forest is my flagship blog and
TheRandomForest.info is my shameless blog. I make almost all my money from here.
The Condom Monologues is a new project in conjunction with my partner.

What is the best feature on your blog?

I don’t really have any feature heavy blogs but I think I like writing posts about animals mostly and people seem to like reading them.

Why do you blog?

Right now, to make a non geographically constrained living and work on my own terms. I also love reading other blogs and enjoy the communal aspects.

Any upcoming projects?

New and Reviewed is an experiment in progress, I want to try and make money using affiliates and search engine traffic only and then report the results back on The Random Forest.

Amazing Arcades will be finding new games and arcade websites. It’s a simple website that will be somewhere between an arcade site and a blog.

I have a ton of other ideas, just no time right now and need to concentrate on the things I have.

Why did you start blogging?

Initially I wanted to see if I could make a few pennies and see if I had what it took to make money from writing reviews and articles.

Why did you choose your topic?

I had no clue what to write about, so I made it random.

What are your blogging goals?

To be earning enough to allow me to embark on some charitable projects.

Where do you get the majority of your traffic?

It seems that recently the majority comes from Google and recently I have been using Micro Niche Finder to choose post titles. This has really been helping getting people to come visit.

Opinions of BAYB, anything you’d like to share?

I like BAYB very much and visit whenever I get a chance and enjoy the tips you offer me. I don’t think there is anything I would really change! Maybe I would make the green into a nice blue, but that’s solely because I like blue!

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/04/05/blogger-interview-with-ian-from-random-forest/feed/ 3 Blogger Interview with Mark from MeAndMyDrum.com http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/15/blogger-interview-with-mark-from-meandmydrum/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/15/blogger-interview-with-mark-from-meandmydrum/#comments Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:42:21 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/15/blogger-interview-with-mark-from-meandmydrum/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Blogger Interview with Mark from MeAndMyDrum.com", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/15/blogger-interview-with-mark-from-meandmydrum/" });]]> Welcome to another edition of Blogger Interviews. Last week we interviewed Karthik.

It was another easy decision to select this weeks interview due to their dedication to BAYB.

I’d like to introduce Mark Sierra from Me and My Drum.

I asked Mark several questions about blogging in general. Here is his answers

What is your age? Where do you live?

I’m over 40 and live in North Texas.

What do you do when your not blogging?

My day job is to implement web-based software applications for clients. These applications are meant to help in their recruiting and managing talent within their companies.

A hobby of mine is that I enjoy baking desserts and breads on occasion. I used to do it as a side business for a few years, but other interests and demands on my time have caused it to take a back seat, which I’m fine with. Cookies and brownies are something I usually bake for my family most often to satisfy our sweet tooth. Birthday cakes were the usual things I’d bake for people back in the day. One-, two-, or even three-layer cakes in all shapes and designs were quite common. It’s something I still enjoy doing when I have the time.

What are your favorite blogs? What type of blogs do you usually read?

That’s tough because there are so many I enjoy. First, I’ll start with the types. The topics vary greatly: technology, blogging, personal, make money online tips, and so on. The blogs I look for first in GoogleReader are Brown Thoughts, ThingsByMike, and Garry Conn dot com.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

The interaction I have with my readers and authors of blogs. When my posts go comment-less I feel slightly disappointed, but then there are times that the responses I get are overwhelming and they make up for it.

How many blogs do you have?

I currently have 10. Three of those I would categorize as social blogs. The rest are niche blogs whose primary purpose are to be found by search engines and for people to click on the ads.

What is the best feature on your blog?

I’d have to say the layout is clean and attractive. But equally as important (and evident) is the interaction I have with readers. I try to reply to every comment that readers leave. I never want them to think that their words have gone unnoticed or that they’re unappreciated.

Why do you blog?

A variety of reasons. The topics that my three social blogs focus on are parts of me that want to speak out. For example, MeAndMyDrum, allows me to voice my interests in technology and blogging as well as concerns over current events.

Another blog, Family WebWatch, which was my first blog, is centered around my interest in family and helping parents be more aware of the darker side of the Web. But it’s also about providing educational and entertaining things I find so that they and their children can have a more fulfilling online experience.

When you add it all up, it comes down to helping out others and learning from them.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

I think my primary focus for the short term is to get organized and not spread myself so thin. As I mentioned earlier, I have 10 blogs, but some of those I’ve neglected because I have allowed myself to be spread so thin. So I want to polish them up a bit. I’m also a contributing author on other blogs, so I’d like to get back into those (especially BAYB) once I feel I’ve got a firm handle on things.

Why did you start blogging?

Family WebWatch first started out as a website. I wanted to help educate parents on a topic that their kids were already experts in. Then I saw the benefit of transitioning to a blogging platform, which allowed me greater flexibility and a better way to communicate.

What are your goals?

To market my flagship blog, MeAndMyDrum, to a broader audience and increase my subscriptions. Get my niche blogs to a point where they generate a steady stream of income. And maybe some day, I can make blogging my full-time job.

Where do you get the majority of your traffic?

StumbleUpon, direct, Google, and Entrecard, in that order.

We’d love your opinions of BAYB, anything you’d like to share.

I think BAYB is doing a fine job of providing useful information to its readers. You have developed a strong following here and that’s something to be proud of. It’s also great that you offer it as a platform for bloggers like me to have another voice.

As mentioned in the interview we hope to have Mark more involved here again. Keep on the lookout from great posts from Mark Sierra.

Do you think you should be interviewed? Contact us and tell us why! Next weeks interview will be with Forest Parks.

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/15/blogger-interview-with-mark-from-meandmydrum/feed/ 4 Blogger Interview with Karthik of Shankrila.com http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/08/blogger-interview-with-karthik-of-shankrilacom/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/08/blogger-interview-with-karthik-of-shankrilacom/#comments Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:02:49 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/08/blogger-interview-with-karthik-of-shankrilacom/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Blogger Interview with Karthik of Shankrila.com", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/08/blogger-interview-with-karthik-of-shankrilacom/" });]]> Due to a large demand I have decided to bring back Blogger Interviews. The first two I chose were obvious choices due to their dedication to BAYB.

I’d like to introduce our first as Karthik Ramadoss from Shankrila.

I asked Karthik aka K-IntheHouse several questions about blogging in general. Here is his answers

What is your age? Where do you live?

I am 30 and live in East Lansing, MI

What do you do when your not blogging?

Watch movies with my wife, play in a pool league & a volleyball league

What are your favorite blogs? What type of blogs do you usually read?

Too many to say. Technology (obvious), WordPress, SEO & blogs about blogging.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

The sense of community it brings around a blog, making friends and the constant learning to stay ahead of the curve. Plus tinkering with WordPress!

How many blogs do you have?

2. Shankrila.com where I write and SpicyTasty.com where my wife writes.

What is the best feature on your blog?

Firefox extensions.

Why did you start blogging?

I was getting tired of emailing my friends about the useful/fun/time wasting stuff I find on the Internet.

Now, everyone can read what I find.

Why do you blog?

What started as an attempt to share my finds has eventually helped me learn and understand a whole new world of marketing, networking, advertising, etc that comes into play in trying to monetize a blog. Plus, it has gotten my wife getting started with her WordPress development work by managing our own blogs. It’s just so much fun to watch those RSS numbers go up every morning.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

Setting up a WordPress/Web design portfolio/blog for my wife’s freelancing work.

Why did you choose your topic for your blog?

I love trying new software & web services. Now, I can tell my readers what I think about it even when it’s in beta. It’s easy to write about what you are really fond of.

What are your goals?

I have considered creating niche blogs but I have found my interest lies with what I do in ShanKri-la. I have hit 300+ RSS subscribers this year and hope to reach 600+ by the end of the year.

Where do you get the majority of your traffic?

  • 50%+ -Google
  • 30% – StumbleUpon
  • 20% direct/referring traffic

We’d love your opinions of BAYB, anything you’d like to share.

BAYB is a great idea and I saw it early on and am a part of it. Although I haven’t written anything lately, I just need to find the time as I have tons to share with your readers. It’s a thriving community and I am proud to be a part of it.

After interviewing him, he has expressed interest in posting more on BAYB and we love having him. Stay tuned for great posts from K-InTheHouse in the future!

Do you think you should be interviewed? Contact us and tell us why!

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2008/03/08/blogger-interview-with-karthik-of-shankrilacom/feed/ 8 Author Interview with Chad Gramling http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/05/03/author-interview-with-chad-gramling/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/05/03/author-interview-with-chad-gramling/#comments Thu, 03 May 2007 12:24:21 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/05/03/author-interview-with-chad-gramling/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Author Interview with Chad Gramling", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/05/03/author-interview-with-chad-gramling/" });]]> Chad Gramling from Word Up has been chosen for the next Blog about your Blog author interview. I have asked Chad a series of questions about some personal things, blogging and blog about your blog. I hope you enjoy the interview.

First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Are you married? Girlfriend?

I am married (of nearly 6 years) and I have one daughter.

What do you do when you are not blogging?

I work full time as a product manager at a credit union. It really is almost as glamorous and exciting as it sounds. Beyond that, I’m either writing, watching baseball, or spending time with my family.

I recently enjoyed the release my first book, Baseball in Fort Wayne, from Arcadia Publishing. I have had three signings (all of which went well). I hope to continue writing and one day do that full-time.

In addition to some follow-up ideas I developed in the course of Baseball in Fort Wayne, I have written a full novel manuscript that I am currently shopping to agents and publishers. For information check out Distant Replay.

I wish you success on any of your other future ventures, as well as Baseball in Fort Wayne. I am a proud owner of your book.

Let me ask you a few general questions about your blog.

When was your blog created?

WordUp was started in January of 2006. Before that, I had started several different blogs, but never stuck with any of them.

Why did you choose your blog topic?

WordUp was originally designed to help further my publishing efforts. It has evolved to become more of a creative writing outlet since its early beginnings. But I still use it to help promote my writing efforts.

Where do you see your website in one year?

Hopefully WordUp will grow in visitation from people who are looking to read it. I call that “legitimate traffic” versus the ploys and tactics used to get hits. I’d rather have 10 people who visit because they really do want to read it versus 1,000 people who stop for 2 minutes or less where they do little more than critique my design. I hope for the same with my other blogs too.

Do you have any new upcoming projects or ideas you want to announce?

At NoOtherRock, I am planning a web ring of sorts, but am still very early in the stages and cannot share the details. Sorry.

Well I’ll be looking forward to that. I’m not too much into religion, but keep us posted!

What do you rely most on to get traffic to your blog or website?

I rely on others to share the love. I do a lot of BOTB at BlogExplosion, but don’t know how much legitimate traffic that provides. I also do a lot of cross-promotion on my other blogs when there are posts of interest.

And the final series of questions, a little bit about Blog About Your Blog

How did you find us?

Matthew invited me at the very beginning while in ShoutBox at Blog Explosion.

That must of been forever ago. I just remember you as a good blogger and basically wanted you as a part of our blog.

What do you like most about BAYB?

I really like having the ability to have a forum to announce blog posts that have me really excited. Sometimes I create something and wish everyone would read it and comment on it. It makes me feel better to blog about it twice I guess (maybe I consider it to more like BRAG About Your Blog than BLOG About Your Blog).

What new feature would you like to see?

A BAYB Channels might be a nice feature. For instance, when someone visits, they can select the “Blogging” or “Sports” channel to isolate it down to posts only from those bloggers in the channel. I know the categories is kind of the same, but not sure it does it very effectively.

Not sure how we can do that, but that’s exactly why I added categories to our sidebar. With a blog ranging in so many different topics we need it.

A “BAYB Bloggers Profile” page would be cool too.

We have worked on something along those lines as you can see, however we don’t have anything solid. I don’t even have my own profile, but it’s something that will definitely evolve in the future.

What do you like the least?

Not to say they don’t provide a relevant niche’ but the “Make Money By Blogging” bloggers seem to overwhelm the blog. I’d prefer to have a little
more balance.

I’m not sure I agree, but I do see blogging as a topic seem to take over.

Who have you chosen to be the next one interviewed?

You mean I’m not last?
Simply because I think he is contributing a lot of good things to the blog-o-sphere and because I would personally like to read more about him, I am selecting Secret Simon of The Secret Life.

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/05/03/author-interview-with-chad-gramling/feed/ 0 Author Interview with Rhyswynne http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/28/author-interview-with-rhyswynne/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/28/author-interview-with-rhyswynne/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:12:11 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/28/author-interview-with-rhyswynne/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Author Interview with Rhyswynne", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/28/author-interview-with-rhyswynne/" });]]> Rhys from The Gospel According to Rhys has been chosen for the next Blog about your Blog author interview. I have asked Rhys a series of questions about some personal things, blogging and blog about your blog. I hope you enjoy the interview.

First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, I am a 23 year old Welshman from Colwyn Bay, and after graduating in 2004 with a degree in Computer Science and a brief spell in a call centre, I am back working in my home town as a website designer.

Are you married? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?

Alas no. I have been single for about a month now, though I have a jack russel and a wii, they keep me entertained.

What do you do when you are not blogging?

I am a big fan of my local football/soccer club Colwyn Bay, and I do help out occasionally through fund raising things (though not as much as I’d like). Away from football I enjoy video games (with Entropia Universe, Retro Gaming and my brand new Wii being my favourite things), drinking real ale, pub quizzes, and generally anything technology/internet related.

What is your favorite blog to read besides your own?

I’m afraid I actually don’t read as many blogs as I used to! My favourites are eruanna.net and mcgechan.co.uk, largely because both Han and Guy are both very good friends of mine (Han I met through our respective blogs). I am also a big fan of Simply Me, Fanboy Creative, and Meatpaddy

Let me ask you a few questions about your blog.

When was your blog created?

Originally, I started blogging on 30th May 2002, however I have been at my current blog since October 9th 2004, switching to Wordpress on New Years Day this year. So, take your pick! I like to say I’ve been blogging for nearly 5 years. It sounds more impressive.

Why did you choose your blog topic?

Largely because I needed to talk about myself. The whole reason I started blogging was largely due to my competitive streak. About a month before I started I read an article in a Web User magazine that explicitly stated “With the exception of this blog (it was a link to a personal depression blog) and bloggers who happen to be in the right place at the right time, the majority of them were boring.” At that point, I thought “I’ll show you!”. Unfortunately, Blogger – who at the time were a young startup – was undergoing “major server upgrading” and would “not be accepting any new signups for two weeks”, so my dreams of literary world domination were put on hold.

Since then though, the blog has become a vehicle for what I want to say to people. My friends and family read it, and just last night my mum thanked me for my mothers day post. So I guess my audience dictate what I write about, though they don’t admit it.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I love the buzz you get when a post just hits. The best one was when one of my posts was on About.com, and the traffic, the adsense clickthroughs and the comments take weeks to go down. The best one I’ve had recently was the community that has developed around my post for people who have British Gas Boilers. Just the fact that people are actually listening and taking note to what you’ve said.

I’d personally love for one of my posts to get on digg front page, that’d really be special for me. Then I know a lot of people will be reading it and obviously enjoying.

Do you have any new upcoming projects or ideas you want to announce?

Ermm…there’s one which is in my head that I’d like to keep secret at the moment. One thing which I’d like to run on a weekly/monthly basis is The Website Visualization Gallery, which could be interesting. I’ll see how many submissions I get in the next week or so.

What is the best feature on your blog?

The community, without a doubt. My blog isn’t for everybody, I must admit, but there are a good few people who like it, and like it a lot. For my birthday this year we had a impromptu blogmeet in London, which was amazing. I know people who read my blog better than some of my real life friends. It has given me so much blogging, and long may it continue.

What do you rely most on to get traffic to your blog or website?

Google and feed clickthroughs. Google in raw numbers (though this has improved a lot since I optimized my site for search engines), feed clickthroughs for quality traffic.

And the final series of questions, a little bit about Blog About Your Blog

How did you find us?

I was asked by you to come and join! I think I was one of the first (some may say in terms of frequency “the worst”) writers on here. It was through the toplist that I got to know the people behind this blog though.

Yeah, the toplist used to be really good for us traffic wise, now the big boys are on the front page.

What do you like most about BAYB?

The sheer anarchy about it! Seriously, it’s so nice just seeing pretty much a free reign on posts. Of course, should hate filled propaganda be published then that’d be removed, but by and large you’ve got a good set of writers here, and the sheer diversity of them makes this blog a must read.

What new feature would you like to see?

I don’t know actually! Already you’ve ticked off a lot of the boxes that took me near on 5 years! I dunno, I suppose the one thing that you haven’t done yet is set up a myspace! Of course, it’s not for all blogs, but it could build up more of a community around here.

I don’t know about a myspace page, but we could possibly make a myspace community.

What do you like the least?

Well, it’s greatest strength is also the weakness. The best thing about it is that anybody can write anything. The bad thing about it is that anybody can write anything.

Who have you chosen to be the next one interviewed?

Well, seeing as he’s achieved a book published, which is one of my dreams, I’ll have to go with Chad Gramling. I’ve read his blog a few times, and it entertains me, so lets see what he has to say.

Thank you for the interview, I’d definitely love seeing more posts from you at BAYB. You can see Rhys last post about his adsense cheque here. If there is something you want to ask Chad in the next interview, please submit it by commenting on this post or emailing me at ff_n_stuff@yahoo.com

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/28/author-interview-with-rhyswynne/feed/ 3 Author Interview with Ed http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/06/author-interview-with-eds-wife-i-mean-ed/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/06/author-interview-with-eds-wife-i-mean-ed/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:26:48 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/06/author-interview-with-eds-wife-i-mean-ed/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Author Interview with Ed", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/06/author-interview-with-eds-wife-i-mean-ed/" });]]> Ed from The Pisstakers has been chosen for a Blog about your Blog author interview. I have asked Ed’s Wife Ed a series of questions about some personal things, blogging and blog about your blog. I hope you enjoy the interview.

Are you married? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?

Last year a very brave woman agreed to accept me with all my faults and she married me with all her faults. It’s amazing being in a team where faults complement each other, and I highly recommend holding out for that perfect partner.

She must of been over your shoulder while we did this interview! lol

What do you do when you are not blogging?

I like to eat my wife’s cooking, but I am not allowed to say that the food tastes good. Apparently it irritates her because I would eat an old sock if she served it up, and still say it was nice. I also spend a few hours a week assisting her in a long term project to tame a stallion. Patience will prevail and I am resigned to being the smarter of the two studs in the family.

What is your favorite blog to read besides your own?

That’s a tricky one. There are more blogs than people, aren’t there? After great deliberation, Ask Pud. He doesn’t post too regularly, but he always seems to have something funny or outrageous to say.

Alright enough about your wife, let’s talk about your blog.

When was your blog created?

I can’t remember, but according to Awstats, end of August 2006.

Why did you choose your blog topic?

There are actually 3 blogs within The Pisstakers. Tech, news and quirky. I am a closet wannabe geek but I only know enough about tech and web stuff to be dangerous. I also wanted to broaden the scope of the blog (and my own mind) with topical current affairs, and quirky weird stories. To mask my worrying lack of in-depth knowledge and scanty research, I thought it best to write it all up with a twist of humor. Voilá!

Did you think you were going to be instantly successful?

Absolutely not. And I made doubly sure that instant success would not be mine, by putting together a 2 year plan to get the blog fully set up!

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

It may sound stupid, but I like lunch time! That means all the articles have been done, and it’s time to do something else until the evening run round my online buddies’ blogs.

Do you have any new upcoming projects or ideas you want to announce?

I am thinking about how to implement some sort of “you submit my best posts, I’ll submit yours” scheme – to get the maximum benefit from social bookmark sites.
I have also been writing material for Nick Pruett’s new baby, Top Funnies, which is building up into a good blog, if you are into stand-up comedy from around the world.

What is the best feature on your blog?

Ironically the page that takes the least work has the highest PR – Funny Quote of the Day. On the technical side, the archiving is very clever. Too boring to go into, but it’s a very neat solution.

You have an interesting blog design, how did you come up with it?

I didn’t want any old rectilinear cookie cutter theme, and it had to be colorful and fun. Having said that, the star attraction, the written content, still had to be legible, and findable. (Still trying to perfect the search capabilities, but overall, I’m happy with the rest.)

Are you the designer as well as author?

I guess I proposed the concept, but Oscar Furgoni came up with the layout and Giuseppe Caruso from Bonsai Studio coded it and polished it all up. All very international and good fun. My artistic contribution is to add the banner images for each post.

What do you rely most on to get traffic to your blog or website?

Luck most of the time. Reviewing other blogs is quite productive, so that is an avenue worth pursuing. Google traffic is building too. Keep on putting decent posts out there, and saying hi to other bloggers. I am slow about networking, a hangover from college where you spend the first 2 minutes making friends, and the following 2 semesters trying to lose most of them!

And the final series of questions, a little bit about Blog About Your Blog

How did you find us?

On MyBlogLog. Pre BAYB, I noticed you, or rather, you and Mike on other forums!

What do you like most about BAYB?

You and Lee are good leaders, and good writers are following your lead. It is cool, and I am sure this is one blog that won’t atrophy.

We are just getting started.

What new feature would you like to see?

An on-page option to change text size. Thus spake the blind man.

What do you like the least?

Very long interviews? Don’t beat me for this criticism, but the color of the text beneath the post title seems a little too light for instant reading. And related to that, I just tried to check for past author interviews and it took me a while to work out how you access posts by category.

Maybe we need the categories on the sidebar. Your interview is probably longest of all! hah!

Who have you chosen to be the next one interviewed?

First off, I would like to thank Stefanie for putting me forward. I hope I haven’t made her regret her decision. And passing on the baton, I would like to nominate Rhys. I believe it was St David’s Day earlier in the week, so he is sure to be on form.

Thank you for the interview, I think we know more about your wife than we do you though!(kidding) Remember if there was a question I missed that you want asked in the next interview please submit it by commenting on this post or emailing me at ff_n_stuff@yahoo.com

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/03/06/author-interview-with-eds-wife-i-mean-ed/feed/ 7 Author Interview with Stefanie http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/20/author-interview-with-stefanie/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/20/author-interview-with-stefanie/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2007 06:54:31 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/20/author-interview-with-stefanie/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Author Interview with Stefanie", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/20/author-interview-with-stefanie/" });]]> Stefanie from Random Encounters of We has been chosen for a Blog about your Blog author interview. I have asked her a series of questions about some personal things, blogging and blog about your blog. I hope you enjoy the interview.

When was your blog created?

Random Encounters of We was created November 11, 2006. My husband found an article by Steve Pavlina and that kind of inspired the whole beginning.

Why did you choose your blog topic?

My blog doesn’t really have a topic. It is about the random dealings of my life. It has a little something for everyone: money making tips, humor, sponsored posts, news articles. We (my husband and I) did some research about what kind of blogs do the best and such when we were deciding on a topic and title. We decided we really didn’t know too much about anything and so what other choice did we have than to make it random. It’s really eclectic.

I guess the best topic is no topic!

Did you think you were going to be instantly successful?

No, I hoped, but my realistic side knew I wouldn’t be immediately successful. I knew from our research that blogs with a specific niche did the best, but we didn’t have a specific topic so we jumped in and hoped for the best. I think I would say that we have had little successes.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I enjoy providing interesting or helpful content to the reader. I try to write articles about things that have really helped me. I try to convey my sincerity with the things that I post so my readers know that I’m not leading them astray or claiming false things. I also like to add some humor when I can find it.

Where do you see your website in one year?

Along with Random Encounters of We we have some other blogs. We self titled the collection our “random world.” We have Random Games and Random Super Heroes. In a year we hope to have a few more blogs added to our random world. We want Random Encounters to evolve along with our knowledge of blogging.

I can see a little random ring of blogs forming.

Do you have any new upcoming projects or ideas you want to announce?

Random Encounters of We just received a face lift actually. We were sick of having a standard blogger template and so my husband has been learning a few tricks on how to personalize it and make it our own. That was the major project that we just completed. I’m sure he has something else up his sleeve for improvement.

I was so stuck until I contacted Lee about BAYB template. Once you find your own template and features you can then finally emerge as your own blog.

What is the best feature on your blog?

Since we are new to blogging and programming we have kept our blog malleable. I love how it evolves with the new things that we learn. It is constantly growing along with us which helps to keep it fresh (in my opinion).

When will you feel like an accomplished blogger, or do you already? If so, why?

I’m proud of what we have completed so far with the blogs but I wouldn’t say I feel accomplished. We have a few personal goals that we set in the beginning and perhaps when we reach those goals I’ll feel more accomplished. I feel like there is so much to learn and I have been blogging for such a short period of time that I am definitely still a novice.

Share some of those goals with us.

What do you rely most on to get traffic to your blog or website?

Link Referral brings in a TON of traffic to our site. It is a great program and doesn’t require much maintenance. The most important thing we do to bring in traffic is write quality or interesting content and then get it on either digg or reddit. When we manage to get some articles on those sites our stats really soar. Plus being apart of Blog About Your Blog helps since this site is huge and growing every day!

Thanks for the plug! We also use Link Referral, but unless you spend time on it daily, it doesn’t pay off as much.

And the final series of questions, a little bit about Blog About Your Blog

How did you find us?

I found Matt in blogger forum. He had a post about wanting to make a community blog and wondered if anyone would be interested or thought it was a good idea. I commented that I thought it was a great idea and would love to be apart of it. I hold a little pride in that I was one of the first to join Blog about your Blog. It’s like I can say “I knew you before you were famous!”

I am taking everyone to the top with me when we make it! I have daydreams about being able to cut everyone a fat check.

What do you like most about BAYB?

I love the community feel. Even though I don’t really know anyone on this blog in person I feel like I have some friends here. I loyally check a lot of the other authors blogs. I also love how huge this community is getting to be. Not only with register authors, but on MyBlogLog the stats are always crazy high. It’s incredible.

I like that the most about us, with one post, you will at least attract the fellow authors of the blog, let alone our readers. I have set personal goals for MyBlogLog and have spent a nice amount of time trying to get more people to join our community. We are on our way to the top 50.

And for the hardest question of all…

What do you like the least?

I feel like the articles on BAYB are of really good quality and content and I don’t feel up to par, so I don’t contribute as much as I would like.

Any contribution is a good contribution. What is great about us is like your blog, there is no topic. You and your husband have tons to offer and I hope you blog with us more.

Who have you chosen to be the next one interviewed?

I have chosen Ed the Editor from The Pisstakers. I wrote an article once and he found it and included it on his blog and that really perked my spirits and made me feel like I was doing some good. He then reviewed our blog. He is a fun guy and I think he would make for a funny and interesting interviewee.

I hope I am up to par about asking Ed some questions. I already have a few extra submitted to ask, if anyone else has some questions for Ed please feel free to submit them. We’d love some more original and unique questions. Are you ready Ed?

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]]> http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/20/author-interview-with-stefanie/feed/ 9 Author Interview with Tom http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/08/author-interview-with-tom/ http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/08/author-interview-with-tom/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:11:21 +0000 Matthew Henrickson http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/07/author-interview-with-tom/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Author Interview with Tom", url: "http://blogaboutyourblog.com/2007/02/08/author-interview-with-tom/" });]]> Sorry for the delay on this, it won’t happen again, this was supposed to be up last week!

Tom from Tom Jackson Online has been chosen to be our third Blog about your Blog author interview. I have asked him a series of questions about some personal things, blogging and blog about your blog. I hope you enjoy the interview.

First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Tom Jackson, I’m 26-years old and I’m a chemist from the rural northern county of Northumberland in England, UK. Anyone who wants to know more can read my welcome post at Tom Jackson Online. I’ve been blogging for about 6 months now and I thoroughly enjoy it, although I’ve had to scale back recently because of work commitments.

Are you married? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?

I’m single – probably just as well because when you’re in science, particularly research, your life kind of gets taken over by your work. It’s not a job you can forget about when you get home – you’re always thinking about which piece of work needs done next and how to tackle it.

What do you do when you are not blogging?

When I’m not doing my day job I’m a part time Army Officer, so that’s really work too! I steer well clear of that aspect of my life when blogging because it’s rather a delicate issue in the current political climate. I’m also a part time First Aid trainer and assessor and do some work for training agencies around the North of England, as well as for St John Ambulance.

Jeez how do you find the time to blog?!

What is your favorite blog to read besides your own?

This is going to sound a cop out, but most people on BAYB read the same sort of blogs. I’m following Mike’s Money Making Mission, My Quest To Make Money On The Internet and The Million Dollar Experiment Heads Down Under. Don’t ask me to choose a favourite! I read them because I like to follow their progress without risking failure myself! I also believe they provide a very valuable testing ground for blogger’s wishing to monetise their work.

Well we do have the best blogs here, impossible to chose a fav.

Ok, now the personal is out of the way, let me ask you a few questions about your blog.

When was your blog created?

YouTube Karaoke, my newest venture, was created in October 2006. My other blogs can be found on the sidebar in there. Why did you choose your blog topic?In Soapbox Jury I did a review on a blog called Name That Tube (by Mike, the friendly chap who gives you money at Money for Blogs). The things I admired most about Name That Tube were the originality and quirkiness of the concept, audience participation and the ease of maintenance. I wanted a blog with similar traits – particularly the ease of maintenance and audience participation, which only a very small proportion of blogs currently offer. A karaoke oriented blog puts a tick in all the boxes. It has worked well so far – PR4 after only 3 months and 150+ uniques every day, 95% of which is from the search engines.

We get a few hits a week from that exact term ‘youtube karoake’ from one of your posts lol

Did you think you were going to be instantly successful?

With YouTube Karaoke I had done some homework beforehand and received a lot of positive feedback from my work colleagues. I had an inkling it was a good concept and it has been from my point of view because I enjoy adding to the collection of music videos – it’s like my own online record collection for the world to enjoy (or not as the case may be). About 20% of the visitors are returners, so it obviously works for them too.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
To be able to network and share tips and ideas with my fellow bloggers. I often leave small nuggets of information for Mike, Martin, and Rob and they do the same for me which is nice.

That’s one of the most important things to becoming a successful blogger I think, networking.

Do you have any new upcoming projects or ideas you want to announce?

No new blogs in the pipeline because I have my hands full already! I am hoping to refine the layout of YouTube Karaoke. It has one distracting flaw at the moment – when you scroll to see the song lyrics you lose sight of the music video. Ideally I’d like to have videos that floated as you scrolled, but that’s for the future.

What is the best feature of your blog?

A good feature of my blog is that you can crank up the volume, scroll, sing and be merry. I think everyone, even the most miserable of people, likes to sing along to music sometimes.

What do you rely most on to get traffic to your blog or website?

Search engines – in particular the big G. When you give posts a straightforward, focused title like ‘Song Name – Artist’ you tend to fair well in the search results.

And the final series of questions, a little bit about Blog About Your Blog

How did you find us?

I could be wrong, but I believe you asked me to do a review about BAYB on Soapbox Jury. You could say I helped launch this community.

Haha yep, that seems like such a long time ago though, we were still at blogger. We need a re-review!

What do you like most about BAYB?

I like the concept and ease of maintenance. I know PoEt didn’t like it when I mentioned this in my review, but BAYB is elegant in its simplicity – the idea of getting other people to write your blog posts is borderline genius if you ask me.

I don’t really like it put that way. I am trying to help out other bloggers and send them traffic as well as getting their articles read by more people. With the review and linking that I want to start doing with pr4 blogs we’ve built I think we can help bloggers even more

And for the hardest question of all…

What do you like the least?

Tricky one this. I have to answer diplomatically here! I think that some posters are shifting the focus away from blogging about their blog and tending towards blogging about their product or advertisement. Hope that was tactful enough!

Who have you chosen to be the next one interviewed?

Stefanie from Random Encounters of We. Bless her, she got a tiny slating from Soapbox Jury too but she took on board our recommendations, so obviously thought they were worthwhile.

Ok Stefanie, we are coming for you next! I’ll send out your questions right away so the next interview can be posted on tuesday!

Thanks to Tom for the interview! We hope to see you blogging with us more!

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