Blogger Interview with Ian from TheRandomForest.com
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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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3 Comments on this post
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Forest Parks said:
Thanks very much for the interview.
April 5th, 2008 at 9:08 am -
Dennis Edell said:
Great intrview guys, I’ll check out the niche finder 🙂
April 5th, 2008 at 2:36 pm -
ANCA said:
Inspiring interview, I envy you so much for making a living from blogging (in a very good way). I can only dream to be able to do that some day. Like Ian, not being geographically constraint and working on my own terms is my ultimale goal. Good luck to you!
April 6th, 2008 at 4:13 am