Blazing Minds » Blogger Interviews

Blogger Interview With Todd Walton From The Hip Hop Democrat

Karen — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:20:48 +0000

Greetings readers of Blazing Minds, I’d like to bring you a Blogger Interview and this time it’s with blogger Todd Walton from The Hip Hop Democrat, which incidentally relaunches on June 15th, so let’s get on with the interview

Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?

First off, I would like to say thank you for reaching out to me and adding me on Twitter, it’s a privileged to engage with you and everything your doing with Blazing Minds. To formally introduce myself my name is Todd, but I also go by Fokus which is my stage name. I would consider myself to be a “Social” Entrepreneur, being that a lot of the things I’m involved with I see to be ultimately for the greater good of someone other than myself. Well, not everything I do is directly for other, but I would say most, lol. I started out in music back in 2005 putting out a project entitled Fokus: Presents Chicago’s Kid Vol. 1. which had a pretty good turnout for a premiere independent release. Music from the project was also used for commercial/publishing purposes including some music I did for Playboy, which was fun, lol.

In 2008 I launched TheHipHopDemocrat.com and also formed Hip Hop Democrat, Inc. which I will go more into detail about later. The following year in 2009 I purchased 6 more domains, and incorporated 2 as companies for future development (Hopefully we can discuss those in a future interview). I am also the Chicago Events Reporter for Examiner.com, and recently this year in 2011 I co-Founded the Music Blogger’s Association of America which I’m really excited about and I feel will make a huge impact within media and journalism as a whole.

So tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?

TheHipHopDemocrat.com Launched October 2008, The name honestly came from an afternoon of leisurely web browsing, lol. I stumbled upon a website relating to Hip Hop and Republicans and was honestly blown away at what an oxy-moronish idea that is, if that’s even a word. I honestly feel that the ideology behind Hip Hop, the music as well as the culture and the ideology behind the Republican conservative party are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. So I felt I had to create that outlet for those people like me that were raised within the Hip Hop generation but believed in democratic principles.

So once the outrage passed, I started brainstorming other solid reasons for a site like this, what it REALLY should be about. It started as an idea to create an outlet for dialogue concerning the buzz revolving around Barack Obama and his connection with the Hip Hop community. That along with the question of how this tremendous idea of achievement within the black community can compare with what has been called a tremendous downfall of the black community with hip-hop/rap music. In the beginning the majority of the posts were editorial pieces, which stemmed from my own thoughts and opinions on various subjects, mainly linking in some form to hip hop, then kind of spread to actually cover more music and current events as I started organizing the business around the website. And with our relaunch June15th we’re going to start infusing a lot of both, more editorial content with the new music, and current events. As of now content spans the categories of Hip Hop, Entertainment, Politics, Breaking News, Technology, etc… I have a great team with 4 editors that really bring value and great content. We have been voted a Top 20 WordPress blog by WPHost, Nominated for Best Website at the 2010 Chicago Independent Awards, currently Nominated for 3 2011 Black Weblog Awards in the categories of “Best Music Blog”, “Best Hip Hop Blog”, and “Best Political Blog”, I’m pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish and look forward to many more great things.

Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?

Blogging takes up a whole lot of time, a WHOLE LOT OF TIME….lol.. Time you can’t get back. Lets see… It takes time to figure out what you want the blog to be about, it takes time to setup the blog, it takes time to try and design the blog, then it takes even more time to figure out you don’t know how to design a blog and go find a template, lol. Then… It takes time writing the blog, it takes time to do the research regarding whatever you’re writing about, finding the right pictures or video’s to add, spell check, etc.. etc.. etc.. Then you get to do it all over again the next day, or next week, or next month or how ever often you decide to keep blogging..lol.. I’m lucky I LOVE Hip Hop and I’m lucky I’m passionate about politics and current events..lol

Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?

I would say its about 60/40 with 60% coming from direct links and about 40% coming from search engine referrals.

Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?

Yes, I mainly use the big 2 Facebook and Twitter, I also recently started being more active on Tumblr and You Tube as well, but have accounts setup at 10 different sites for branding purposes, once I get someone on the team that can solely handle social media I would like to be active on all of them from Reddit, Digg, Stumbleupon, I think I’ve even seen 2 or 3 hits come from the links that automatically post to Myspace, lol..

How do you promote your blog? Have you created a promotion plan?

I promote the blog EVERYWHERE, of course it’s mainly been online. But with our relaunch I’m constructing an offline/online strategy that will hopefully help increase brand awareness as well as promote the different writers we have on board and the new content. Promotion starts with just the daily feed that gets posted to Twitter, my Facebook profile, and our Fan page. I also plan on doing some online advertising through Facebook and Google, I just launched a reader loyalty program through Punch Tab which I really will continue to drive traffic and build loyalty through various contests and rewards. Our offline strategy will consist of mainly pounding the pavement getting into local events wherever we are or might be covering and giving flyers, stickers, etc.. I also would love to get involved in more events where we will have the opportunity to create that live experience for our readers that they can tie in with what we give online.

If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?

Be consistent, Be Entertaining. Understand what YOU want out of YOUR blogging experience…

No related posts.

Blogger Interview With Todd Walton From The Hip Hop Democrat is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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A Blogger Interview With BodynSoil

BodynSoil — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:05:15 +0000

Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?

I come from a rural Vermont town growing up on a small homesteading type farm. We didn’t raise animals or produce to earn money for our family but to put food on the table, this was the foundation to who I am today. Homesteading is a lot of hard work; hand milking cattle, churning butter, splitting wood, harvesting, canning, working the fields, culling and processing meats for the winter months, it all takes a lot of time. However there were nice parts, like having my own horse to ride whenever my chores were done plus experiencing my early years living in such a bucolic place.

I have maintained an organic gardening all of my adult life and look forward to each new season. After leaving the farm I began weight training, yoga and cardio as my source for physical activities. At this time I am moving away from my career in accounting as I expand my knowledge base to study web design, programming and IT management, this has been a lifetime interest of mine.

So tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?

The name BodynSoil started with my first web design class over ten years ago, that course required me to design a page reflecting my personal interests. The roots of the name are a simple combination of my two main hobby’s of fitness and gardening. In 2008 I started my first blog on blogspot.com also using the name bodynsoil, that is a part of who I am at this point, in 2009 I registered my domain as bodynsoil.com. March 2011 was when I moved my blog from blogspot.com to a self hosted WordPress site, initially I was overwhelmed with all I needed to learn but now feel more confident with the process. I write about my personal interests of fitness, nutrition, organic gardening, green living, my travels and any points of interest I might happen upon any given day.

Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?

Before March of 2011 blogging was a casual hobby; I hadn’t taken it seriously until the WordPress site was moved over to my domain. Right now I have a huge time investment as there is a lot to the blogging process that I need to learn, no longer can I jot a few thoughts down and hit publish. You might be surprised to learn that I have a fear of writing; posting on a blog is like immersion therapy for this phobia and has helped me to move past it. I am sure as I become more familiar with the blogging format the daily time investment should be more manageable.

Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?

Initially the majority of my traffic came from customers, friends and twitter followers. I have a few older posts that are still very popular; I get a lot of traffic from keyword searches pertaining to those posts. As I learn more and expand my reach I am seeing traffic changes that now include twitterchats, blogengage and backlinks from my posting comments.

Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?

As a beginning blogger I couldn’t depend on word searches to generate my blog traffic. I do use social media sites as a tool to introduce my posts to people I interact with. I was on social media before I became an active blogger, I had a good opportunity to see how others handled promoting their blogs, what I felt was a positive experience and which approach I wanted to avoid. First and foremost, I wanted to build relationships and trust before I did a full on promotion of my page or posts, I didn’t want my followers to think I was all about pimping my page. I find that the best response is from Twitter, Facebook, forums pertaining to your interests and now I can add BlogEngage to the list.

How do you promote your blog? Have you created a promotion plan?

Promoting my blog is something new to me and I am just now researching all the various avenues available. As a new poster I am in the process of studying the experienced bloggers, I was excited to find that everyone so far has been happy to help a freshman blogger and take them under their wing.

As for blog promotion, I’ve learned the importance of commenting on other blogs. Until recently I would write a synopsis of a good blog with a link back to the original blog to read the whole post. I have now learned that not only should you comment on a liked post, but need to set up a means for people to track back to you from your comments. Gravatar is a very important piece to becoming an active blogger as many sites require a Gravatar account with an added advantage of having your avatar linked to your blog or website. CommentLuv is another extremely helpful tool when posting comments. Once you have your CommentLuv setup, with blog linked, you will have the opportunity to choose from 10 of your recent posts to attach to your blog comments. From there an interesting blog header might lead to a click-through from a reader of the blog posters comments.

If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?

I would say the best tool to improve your success as a blogger would be to connect with other bloggers and read, plus comment, as much as you can. Join blogging groups like BlogEngage, CommentLuv and others that offer learning tools and support to fellow bloggers. Subscribe to blogger tips that come directly to you, if you want to be a serious blogger you want to learn about improving SEO, RSS subscriptions and Alexa rankings.

Determine your why for blogging: are you promoting a business, writing for fun, who is your audience and what will your topics be about. Accuracy is always important and so is grammar, spelling and proofreading, which is my personal nemesis. Your blog layout is also very important, visit blogs/websites to see what layouts you find appealing. Most importantly, interact with your commenters and build a rapport with them; this will keep them coming back for more visits.

Note from Admin: A big thanks to @BodynSoil for submitting this interview to the @BlazingMinds blog.

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A Blogger Interview With BodynSoil is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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Blazing Minds Interviews Francisco Perez (DiTesco)

Karen — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:02:57 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned before each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions. This week I bring you an interview with DiTesco aka Francisco Perez, so let’s get on with it…

Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?

My real name is Francisco, also known as DiTesco, my online persona. I am a proud father of two wonderful kids, born in the Philippines, raised in Brazil, lived in a lot of places and now in between Europe and Brazil. I have a degree in Business Administration and mastered Finance at IMD (International Management Division – Switzerland). I have occupied several management roles in the past, such us, COO of American International Group in Europe, CEO of Sensormatic Sysytems, CFO of Banesto Group (banking), Auditor Supervisor of PriceWaterHouseCoopers, etc. Presently, I am an online business entrepreneur, while still managing (offline) my small Business and Management Consulting Company.

So tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?

I started to blog some three years ago because I had some friends who were doing it and said that there was money to be made, lol. I have to be honest that having the opportunity to make money online was the one that motivated me most and while this is so, over time, I found that it was also a great medium to build relationships, make friends, learn a lot of stuff, share my views and opinions, experience, and yes, identify some additional business opportunities. The domain name has no history behind it as at that time I was not so sure what I was doing. It was all new to me. I looked for available names and iblogzone.com was available That said, and since I mainly provide resources to help like minded individuals to build a successful online business, I call my website “Home Based Business Resources“. That’s right, its for people who are serious and prefer to work from the comfort of their homes, not the beach

Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?

YES, I devote a lot of time and effort “blogging”. Literally, I have built a small network of websites where I provide content to all those that are interested on the topics I talk about. Obviously my main focus is still iblogzone.com and today, it is mostly my online business that keeps me occupied, professionally speaking. One of the reasons that I spend too much time online is because, I manage way too much websites. As your online business takes off, the more time you should devote into it. You not only have to ensure that you are pumping in regular content, but there is also the matter of “everything” else attached to it. You need to build and maintain good relationships with fellow bloggers, you need to find good products, you need to promote, you have to socialize, and most importantly, build your reputation and gain credibility.There is no such thing as being in a pool and wait for the money to come in. You can even have a website that generates “passive” income but normally it does not stay that way for too long and you have to manage it somehow. So you have to work, and that takes time.

Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?

Fortunately, I have traffic coming from many different sources. According to my analytics my main sources are organic (search engines – 50%), followed by Twitter, SU, and from my awesome and great supporters

Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?

Let us put it this way. A blog is a communication platform and in a way is also a form of socializing. Getting your word out, providing your opinion, sharing other people’s stuff, interacting with commenters, etc. Isn’t that also part of the social web? As I have said previously, you should build your reputation and gain credibility and socializing is one of the best forms to achieve this. The “blogosphere” is no longer a single players game and you need to build your community of people, to help each other out, extend your reach and build credibility. It’s a “jungle” out there

Now, I agree that if you are on all Social Media sites that it can be a waste of time. There is no way you can be active in every single one of them. You should only pick a couple and be active, by interacting, exchanging information, helping other people, etc. My chosen networks for this purpose are Twitter, FaceBook, SU, BlogEngage and wordpress social network.

How do you promote your blog? Are you created a promotion plan?

verything I do, I plan ahead for it. Most of the time though, what I have is a “checklist” of things to do. For example, when I am writing a post, I research – check, write quality content – check, optimize for SEO – check, publish – check, and it goes on. The only forms of promotion I have used up until today and that have been proven effective for me is by using the power of socializing. This includes, communicating via my “websites”, Twitter, FaceBook, SU and WPJ, commenting on other people’s blog, guest posting and SEO. No major planning required for this. The only important thing is that you take action. Things don’t work on their own. At some point it needs a push, do it, that’s the plan .

If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?

There are quite a few actually , but here goes.

Determine upfront what you are going to blog about. Yes, you need to plan this right out, i.e, choosing the topic or niche, especially if you are thinking on building a small online business. If you are thinking of blogging just for fun, you don’t really have to worry about anything. SEO, quality content, blah, blah, are only important for business. If indeed, it is a small business you are looking for, aside from determining the topic or niche upfront, build a nice looking website, provide good content and value for your potential audience, build your readership by interacting, socializing and respecting other people’s views and opinions. Do not get lured by those “magic” systems that will make you rich overnight, they only work for those who actually sell them. Learn the ropes on basic html, internet marketing, and SEO. And finally, TAKE ACTION. Act upon everything you learn and put it in motion. I will try, I will do, are not actions, and they will take you nowhere, trust me. There is much information out there that teaches you how to do things. Everything else is up to you.

————

Many thanks for the interview Franciso.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Blazing Minds Interviews Francisco Perez (DiTesco) is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoyed reading this article, then please support Blazing Minds with a donation or Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Blazing Minds Interviews Devesh from Technshare

Karen — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:00:06 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned previously each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: Hey karen first of all thanks for the interview and it’s a pleasure to write something for your readers. I am Devesh, a 17 year old blogger from India. I started blogging back in 2010 just to make some money but later I found passion in this field. You can see my work on Technshare, WP Kube and Blokube.

Q: Hi Devesh, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: Technshare is a multi authored blog which i started back in 2010 and it was my first blog ever. I started it as a warez & nulled scripts blog and later changed the blog niche to blogging tips.

Actually I didn’t had that much knowledge about choosing a good domain name that time, so it was suggested by one of my friend.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Search Engines is my top traffic source and second one is social networking sites like Blokube, Twitter, Facebook, Blogengage etc.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: Blokube & Blogengage. These are 2 best social media networks to get traffic and build some relationship with other blogegrs

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: My advice for beginners is If you are looking to blog just to make some money then you probably shouldn’t but if you’re passionate about it then just go for it. Keep in mind, creating a successful blog takes a lot of hard work and patience.

Thanks Devesh.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Blazing Minds Interviews Devesh from Technshare is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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Blazing Minds Interviews Lauren from Think Spin

Karen — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:52:48 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned previously each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger, Lauren from Think Spin who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: I’ve been married for twenty-five years, accumulatively, to the same man, have a twenty-one year old son in college, as well as two dogs, and a cat (not in college but they are street smart). We live on the east coast of the U.S. in Ridgefield, Connecticut (about an hour from NYC) on top of a mountain with very few streetlights and no public sewage or water system. We have a well and a septic tank. Luckily, everything runs downhill.

My humorous essays have been published online and in several earthly publications, two of which have folded. I swear I had nothing to do with their demise. I also had a dark short story published in Shroud Magazine. Bottom line, I love to write.

Q: So tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: I started Think Spin in May 2009 several months after I was laid off. While looking for work, I found that blogging kept me somewhat sane but that’s still debatable. Writing humor made me feel great.

The name Think Spin is based on the way my mind works. It’s always spinning and never stops. The original tag line was “caught in the gravitational pull of the mind.” I’ve since changed it because I felt it didn’t provide readers with an overview of the blog’s content, which includes satirical posts on life, culture, and society.

When choosing a name for my blog, I felt two points were important.

1. It had to be a name that was easy to remember and
2. The domain had to be short and simple.

As soon as I created Think Spin on Blogspot, I registered the domain. I think that’s important. I should also mention that I first checked to see if the domain was available.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: Yes, blogging does take up a lot of my time, at least two hours plus a day when I’m not working. One hour a day when I am working. I am a freelance writer.

I also think blogging needs to be broken down into two sections.

1. Responding to comments, commenting at other blogging sites, and self-promotion.

2. Writing and guest posting.

Time spent on writing and commenting can be balanced somehow, although I haven’t figured it out yet. : )

It takes me several hours to write a blog post. After I’ve completed a draft, I let it sit for a while and then edit it.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Most of the traffic comes from sites I comment on, Google, Sites that carry my blog on their blogroll, Bloggers.com, Sites where I Guest Post.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: I use Networked Blogs on Facebook and Twitter automatically tweets a post every time I publish. I just started using Stumble and Digg.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Never give up, get listed in blog directories, i.e., Bloggers.com, BlogCatalog.com, get a Feedburner account or other similar service, write guest posts, and make as many blog friends as possible by visiting their sites regularly (whenever you have time) and commenting. Also, try to pace yourself and manage your time online, as I’ve been unsuccessful at both.

Thanks Lauren.

You can check out Lauren at @thinkspin and her blog Think Spin..

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Blazing Minds Interviews Lauren from Think Spin is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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Blazing Minds Interviews Roy From The Struggling Blogger

Karen — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:35:48 +0000

Yes folks it’s time for another Blogger interview. This weeks interview is with The Struggling Blogger himself Roy, so sit back and please enjoy the Blogger interview and please don’t forget to pay a visit to his blog …

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: I am Roy, a 42 year-old blogger from the Philippines, and father to three wonderful children. I can call myself a lot of names – a self-proclaimed poet, an entrepreneur-wannabe, a frustrated writer, an aspiring songwriter, and a dreamer. It is through blogging that I am able satiate all those frustrations, as I shared my poetry, my business experiences, attempted short story writing, sang my original compositions, and tell of my other dreams and aspirations. After three years of active blogging, my passion never waned and I am still looking as to how far this so called “love for writing” will take me.

Q: Hi Roy, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: I started my first blog in 2004 when I first heard of Blogger.com on a local techie show on TV, it was my REFLECTION which was on online version of my notebook (a compilation of my original poems, and later would become a book). I was not really active then, usually my posts were either rants or my old poems from my notebook.

It was in 2008 that I became active in blogging. After my wife “went home,” I was left on my own, taking care of my kids, jobless and all. It was a difficult time to find a job as companies from our place are very much particular about age (I was already 40 then). I took to blogging – I tried to learn more about earning online, networked with other bloggers, and began to create more blogs.

It was during those communications with other bloggers that I came up with my blogging mother ship, The Struggling Blogger, which became my pseudonym, so to speak. At the time, I was really struggling. In real life, I’m struggling from the loss of my wife, finances, and my sanity. Online, I was really clueless about all those earnings online I’ve been hearing of, so I was struggling to know more about that, but on top of that, I was struggling to gain respect as a blogger.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: It was supposed to be. I mean, it was intentional on my part to put more time in blogging. Being all alone, blogging became a therapy for me. As I began to share myself and gain more friends online, everything that I was going through then eventually became easier to bear. And the more I blogged, the more I want to blog! So yes, blogging takes a lot of my time…. and I love it!

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Traffics that matter – from friends. To be honest, I really do not have that much of a traffic nor a big number of readers. It’s my friends who are mostly “really” reading my blog posts and appreciate them. Sometimes, I do get a surprise visit from other bloggers, but it’s rare that some would come back for a second serving.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: Yes, I do. Before I was a blogger, I used to be active in online forums (or fora for the “purists”), and that is where I used to promote my blogs. Lately though, it is in Facebook and Twitter where I promote my blogs. It is in FB though that I get the most exposure as most of my friends are there – bloggers and non-bloggers alike. And because of the “teasers” and one-liners that I posts on my wall, they got to know me better and some even get curious as to how I would be like on a full blown blog post.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: This is the part that I really do not like, giving advice. Why? Because they might actually believe them!

Seriously, when asked for advice, what I usually say is that, “Do not believe every advice that you get. Yes, including this one.”

It is always best to remember what your intention in blogging really was. If you blog because you just “love to write,” then do not be disheartened because you aren’t earning like those other bloggers who claim they do, do not get much traffic and readers, and is not as popular as some bloggers who make a lot of noise.

I am all that – I don’t earn through my blogs, do not get much traffic and readers, and is not really as popular and influential as some of my colleagues, but I am blogger… I am The Struggling Blogger.

Thanks Roy.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Blazing Minds Interviews Roy From The Struggling Blogger is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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Blazing Minds Interviews Mitch Mitchell

Karen — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:45:26 +0000

The Blazing Minds Blogger Interviews are now back, yes folks, some bloggers have kindly agreed to have themselves interviewed here on my blog, there are some great bloggers lined up on the next few weeks, to start I’m interviewing Mitch Mitchell, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: I am an independent businessman and consultant that’s been blogging for 6 years or so. I have 4 blogs, one of them brand new, one of them very successful, and I have a lot of fun with them all.

Q: Hi Mitch, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: I’ll talk about I’m Just Sharing, the one most of you know about. I started it in December 2007 after getting tired of sharing my thoughts on those vanity blog sites, only to have the sites either shut down or fall apart. I came up with the name because I’m always saying “I’m Just Saying”, but it was taken so I switched to the other word.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: Yes, blogging does take a lot of my time, but not for the reason you might think. When I have an idea I write pretty fast, even when I have to do research first. But I write for other blogs as well that I get paid for.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Most of my traffic comes from referring sites, which probably means the blogging community at large.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A:I do use social sites. Every blog post shows up on Twitter, and I repost it directly usually 12 – 14 hours later. My business blog shows up on LinkedIn, and my IJS blog shows up on Facebook. All are automated in some fashion, which is pretty cool.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: You have to like writing in order to be able to sustain a blog. But you also have to be willing to spend at least a little bit of time trying to drive people to your blog in some fashion. If you don’t have at least an hour a week to write a blog or at least 30 minutes a week to visit other blogs, don’t even start.

Thanks Mitch.

You can check out Mitch on twitter @mitch_m and his website I’m Just Sharing.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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General Sarge A Build-A-Bear With A Blog!

Slappy Bear — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 09:30:13 +0000

Now I know I discovered @GeneralSarge and his blog a bit late, but thanks to @DrRus i’m reading the blog via my RSS and following the Twitter.

I have the honour of bringing you an interview with a fellow bear and of course Dr Rus So sit back and enjoy

Interview with General Sarge and Dr Rus

Slappy Bear: For those that don’t know who you are then please let my readers know a little about yourself?

General Sarge: My name is General Sarge. Actually, I just got my promotion on Christmas Day 2010. Ben, he’s my human-owner, made me at Build-A-Bear on December 28, 2002. At that time I was just “Sarge”. But for Christmas this year Ben’s parents gave Ben a new uniform for me and that’s when I was promoted to a One Star General! I was very happy to get the promotion. Of course since Ben is just a Private, I instantly told him to drop and give me 25 push-ups.

For as long as we can remember, Ben has always wanted to join the Army so it really came as no surprise that his Build-A-Bear was the Sarge bear. On his 18th birthday in August 2010, he joined the Army as an active duty soldier. He headed off for Basic Training at Fort Benning, GA in January 2011 with an MOS of 11-Bravo Infantry Division.

Of course through the years what was the original Sarge bear from the Build-A-Bearcollection saw a lot of wear and tear. For Christmas 2010 my wife and I decided it was time for Sarge to get a new uniform. Little did we know when we bought the new uniform outfit,Sarge was receiving a promotion from just plain Sarge to General Sarge.

SB: For those who haven’t read the blog, how did the idea of the General Sarge blog come about?

Dr Rus: General Sarge will differ the answer to this question to me, Dr. Rus. The idea for the General Sarge blog actually just grew out of a way for me to handle the fact that our 18 year old is in the Army. He’s currently in Basic Training at Fort Benning, GA where he’s training for the Infantry. While we always knew Ben wanted to join the Army, when the reality hit that our “baby” – (Ben is our youngest of three boys) – was actually getting ready to ship out, I had to find a way to work through what really became a roller coaster of emotions. Ben and I decided it would be a cool idea for me to take a daily picture of General Sarge doing something each day while he’s away at Basic. My initial thought was simply to post the pictures on my Flickr account and would just be a fun way to take pictures. It would also give Ben something to look at when he gets out of Basic. Just a fun way to pass the time. Ben was excited because he has something to look forward to in seeing all the pictures and I was having fun taking the pictures. It became evident rather quickly that the General Sarge pictures were striking a spot with a lot of people as I quickly noticed some of the pictures on Flickr were getting close to 200 views! That’s when I decided to set up a blog, initially as a sub-domain under one of my other websites. Then one day on Twitter I was contacted by Build-A-Bear! They were watching my tweets about General Sarge in my regular Tweet stream of @DrRus and said they loved what I was doing. The following week a representative from Build-A-Bear contacted me again and asked for my mailing address because they wanted to send General Sarge a gift. They sent him a dress uniform! At that point I knew this was really growing and that’s when General Sarge got his own domain of http://www.GeneralSarge.com.

SB: Have you found that people are showing support and interest in the blog?

Dr Rus: I am amazed at the support and interest people are showing for the General Sarge blog. I’ve been approached by a few other military support groups and I’m now getting a great response from other military families too. The idea of a teddy bear is just comforting no matter what age you are. People love seeing the different things General Sarge does every day. The Build-A-Bear people are wonderful too. Molly, who’s the Director of Digital Marketing for Build-A-Bear just recently gave me permission to use the Build-A-Bear logo on the General Sarge site too. She said they love seeing the daily activities of General Sarge.

SB: General Sarge now seems to be getting popular on Twitter, do you think that having a Twitter account will further the support for military families and bring more to the blog?

Dr Rus: Yes, you’re right General Sarge is getting popular on Twitter. I was thrilled, as was General Sarge, when we found out we could actually get his ID of @GeneralSarge . He’s picking up new followers and it’s always great to see others RT the daily pics. I also am thrilled when I see General Sarge show up in some of the “Daily News” papers that come out on Twitter. I do believe the presence of General Sarge on Twitter, as well as Facebook too with his fanpage is helping him reach a broader audience. Not only is he bringing support to military families, but military families are discovering General Sarge and following him too.

SB: After reading many of the posts on General Sarge’s blog it seems that people love to know what he’s up to, do you think he will be recruiting help in the near future?

Dr Rus: As you can well imagine, with two sons in the Army, we are very proud of our boys and very proud and supportive of the men and women serving in any branch of the military. As for providing recruiting help, that’s hard to say. But I can say this, General Sarge is a hit with the military and even the recruiters. I’ve been in contact with various people in the Army and we’re talking about different ways General Sarge can help in any area of encouraging the troops, military families, or even recruiting. General Sarge is standing ready and able to serve his country however he might be called upon to do so.

SB: Has there ever been a moment when someone has stopped you and asked what you are doing when General Sarge is having his photo taken?

Dr Rus: Yes, whenever we take General Sarge out there are always two responses. The first one is “Ahhhhh, what a cute bear!” Then the next question is “What are you doing?” when I set up for a picture. I tell them the story of General Sarge and Ben and that brings a really great personal connection. Then I expand on some of the ideas I have for using General Sarge to help encourage military families and people are even more interested. I’m hoping to one day be able to offer families teddy bears during holidays or other key times of they year when a mother or father is deployed leaving a spouse and kids at home. One moving story was when a Patriot Rider told me about meeting a casket at an area airport of a 26 year old soldier who had been killed while serving in Iraq. He left behind a wife and three small children. As you can well imagine, the three children were divested when they saw the casket of their father coming off the plane. The story brings tears to my eyes right now. One day I want to be able to be there with General Sarge and be able to give kids like that a teddy bear. As I mentioned above, there’s just something about a teddy bear that brings comfort during any hard time.

SB: What does your son Ben, think of the General Sarge blog?

Dr Rus: Ben is absolutely thrilled with General Sarge. We don’t get to talk with him on the phone much, but we do get a lot of letters. He’s always asking what General Sarge is up to and he has asked for some specific pictures we’ve taken. He was amazed when we told him Build-A-Bear sent a dress uniform for General Sarge and he said “Send me a picture! I want to see that!” We’ve sent him a few other pictures of General Sarge that we know he would like. Such as the one of General Sarge digging snow out from in front of my Mustang, which Ben has always said he wants when I get a new car. We also sent him the picture of his recruiter, SSG Dillman and General Sarge too. The last time we talked with Ben on the phone he said “I can hardly wait until I get computer access so I can see all the pictures of General Sarge!” He’s really amazed at how popular his General Sarge has become and he’s also excited about how we can move forward and use General Sarge as someone to encourage military families.

SB: Have you ever had any responses from the military on General Sarges posts and travels?

Dr Rus: As mentioned above, I do have the one picture of General Sarge with Ben’s recruiter. The recruiting station here is very interested in General Sarge, but of course they also have a close connection with us since both our boys were recruited through their station. However, on Twitter, as well as Facebook, other military people are contacting me and love the daily posts. I’ve also been in contact with some other military personnel at higher levels as we discuss different things I’m doing with General Sarge and they all love the site. One person in particular really likes what I’m doing with General Sarge and that’s Hank Salmans from Devil Dog Brew. Hank is also on Twitter @DevilDogBrew and we’ve been in close contact with one another planning a few things for General Sarge and Devil Dog Brew. Hank is a Retired Marine Major and with his coffee he sends care packages to the troops, gives discounts to people and really supports the military in anyway he can with his company. Hank and I have been talking about a few ways to have General Sarge and Devil Dog Brew work together to encourage and support both military families at home and the troops serving overseas. As a side note, Hank has taken such an interest in General Sarge that if you go to the Devil Dog Brew site and order coffee, whether it’s for yourself or to send as a care package to troops overseas, when you check out make sure you put in the coupon code “Sarge” and you will receive a discount. So, the simple answer to your question is – “Yes, I’m getting some great response from the military about the General Sarge posts and his travels.

As a way to wrap this up, when it comes to travels, we are now working to make sure that General Sarge, and Sandra and myself of course, can make it to Ben’s graduation at the end of April. One of the things many people don’t think of is the financial strain having loved ones serve in the Army puts on their families. We live in Upstate New York so we need to fly to Fort Benning, Georgia. The cost of the trip for us to get there for graduation is approximately $1500. So, we are taking donations and support from people to help us get to Ben’s graduation. We simply don’t have that kind of money sitting around. So a few days ago I did a post entitled “Help Get Us To Fort Benning”. In that post there’s a donate button that people can use to make a donation to General Sarge to help with expenses. For those reading this in the United States, we also have a non-profit ministry called Fresh-Wind Ministries. So, people can click the donate button and make a donation to Fresh-Wind Ministries for General Sarge to get to graduation. The donation is tax deductible and we will send out tax receipts at the end of the year for those giving to use on the income tax returns. More information about “Help Get General Sarge To Fort Benning For Graduation” can be found at;

http://generalsarge.com/2011/02/15/day-35-help-get-us-to-ft-benning/

The donate button is contained right in that post so it’s really easy to help support General Sarge and help us with travel expenses for Ben’s graduation.

SB: Thank you General Sarge and Dr Rus and good luck with your on going Chronicles of General Sarge.

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An Interview With The Billboard Family

Karen — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:30:29 +0000

The other day I was surfing around the net and doing my usual Tweets, when I got an inviting tweet from @billboardfamily and it was something I just couldn’t resist:

@BlazingMinds We should get together for an interview/story about The Billboard Family http://billboardfamily.com
January 16, 2011 12:05 pm via webReply RetweetFavorite
@billboardfamily
The Billboard Family

So I decided to stop by The Billboard Family and see what it was all about and I was surprised by what I found, it basically boils down to a family that will advertise you for a day or days via T-Shirts that you send them and ask them to wear, crazy I know, but what a brilliant way to get a bit of advertising by a family of four wearing your merchandise and promoting you.

As I mentioned earlier the family of four Carl Martin, his wife and two children act as a human billboard and promote you to the masses. They promote via the FaceBook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and on their own website, they live in the St. Louis, Missouri area, but they travel and take vacations frequently. Some of the places have traveled to include Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, Walt Disney World™ Orlando, FL, and the Southern Illinois University (SIU) area in Illinois. But is this effective and does it work globally or just locally, lets find out shall we.

How did you come up with the idea of The Billboard Family and when did you start?

We are by no means the first people to get paid to wear t-shirts. There have been others in the past. After much thought, we decided that we could take the concept and tailor it to a very specific niche – the family market. Our research showed that there is nobody catering specifically to one market, but rather just offering their service to anyone interested in advertising. We are a real family, and we use a lot of family related products, so it is a natural fit that we market family companies whose products we can offer a unique perspective on. We are not celebrities, or random unrelated spokespersons. We use family products and have real opinions about them. Most people trust a recommendation about a product from someone with a life comparable to theirs more than that of a celebrity with whom they have nothing in common. We also try to be close friends with our fans and followers. Think about it. If a celebrity told you to buy a product, and your friend said the product was not worth the money because they had used it, would you still buy it? Highly unlikely. This connection is what allows us to market products more effectively than traditional, impersonal advertising methods. Additionally, what we do is all about interaction and immersion. You can;t get that from an ad in a magazine or a television commercial. We also reach a very broad audience (roughly 11,000 currently) every day, all day for a very reasonable fee, as opposed to traditional advertising methods.

Do you find that business mainly comes locally or do you get a collection of worldwide requests as well?

We have clients all over the globe currently. The majority of our clients are in the USA, but we have clients in Australia, Canada, and The UK, as well. The internet has changed marketing forever. Many companies compete on the global stage, and need global advertising. Our website, etc, is available worldwide, and our message can be seen by the world.

I’ve been reading some of the press releases etc on your website, have you found these helping with your venture?

Yes, the press has been very helpful. We have been in business since January 1, 2011 (17 days now) and we have sold out through March. Some of this was the result of the media attention we have received. We have been featured on the coveted landing page of AOL, and int he main news feed on Yahoo!, in addition to many other outlets, including many blogs.

When it comes to the starting of The Billboard Family was it easy finding those that believed in your business idea?

At first, it was hard for many people to grasp. The more that I spoke with people, the more they began to understand and like the idea. Once we went public, we were inundated with requests for information, and praise. We received so many responses related to franchising, in fact, that we decided to franchise The Billboard Family in 35 states. That is rolling out soon. We also received some attention from Hollywood. We have signed a contract optioning our story as a Reality Show. We are currently in negotiations with several interested cable networks.

How is it working out for you, are you making a good profit from the business?

We are doing very well, so far. If we sell out the entire year we will make roughly $130,000, not including the monthly sponsorships and year-long partnerships. Including those, the grand total is close to $240,000 this year.

Was it easy talking the rest of your family into wearing the T-Shirts all day and night?

Yes, it was actually. My wife and I came up with the idea. Initially it was going to be just the two of us wearing the shirts, but our children wanted to get involved. We are a very close family, and our kids are usually involved in everything we do. After discussing it, we decide to let them participate, and they love it, so far. They love the idea of getting a new T-shirt int he mail every day, and being on camera, which we did quite often anyway before starting this company.

Is there anything that you say you will not wear and completely draw the line against?

Yes, we discuss this on our Terms & Conditions page on our website: http://billboardfamily.com/terms-and-conditions/

What do you do with all the T-Shirts after the days have finished?

We will donate them all to charity after the year is over. We plan to do this every year we are in business. We also donate a month long sponsorship slot to a charity every month throughout the year on our home page. At the end of the year we will donate 10% of our GROSS sales of days that year.

I must say a big thank you to the The Billboard Family for doing a quick interview with me and I wish them all the success for the future, so if you are looking for a promo for your business, then why not consider giving them a try or at least checking out their website.

The Billboardfamily are currently promoting HydroChic throughout out January, HydroChic’s UV Activewear is revolutionary- Fabulous swimwear that is fitness wear and leisure wear, too. Our cutting edge styles, with maximum sun protection, offer comfort and breathability. HydroChic allows today’s active woman to be sun safe while participating in all types of outdoor sports. Mix and match pieces to fit and flatter every woman’s figure.

And on Alex Martin’s birthday they will be wearing the T-Shirts of Benson’s Bottom Paint..

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Blogger Interview with Jeevan Jacob John from Techpupil

Karen — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:00:20 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned previously each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: I am Jeevan Jacob John, 16 year Old, from India. Currently settled in US. I am a Tech Blogger who loves blogging on anything related to Technology. I Blog @ www.Techpupil.com

Q: Hi Jeevan, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: I started Blogging in 2005. Since I didn’t know what Blogging was, I began experimenting with my first Blog, Education. I started Tech Pupil in June 2009. Finding a domain name wasn’t easy. My Ideas for domain names included Tech student, student tech. Non of these were available. Then I came upon Tech Pupil. Pupil means student. So, I purchased the domain and setup a blog in Blogger.

Since its birth, Tech Pupil is striving to provide the user with Quality Content related to Technology, Internet, Blogging and Computers

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: Yes, Blogging takes up a lot of time. The hardest part is thinking about an article to write on. I used to spent a lot of time in Blogging. That’s when I realized the importance of Promotion.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Most of the traffic for my site comes from Google, Blog Engage and Twitter. Rest comes from Social Networking sites like Stumble Upon.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: Yes. I believe that promotion goes hand in hand with Quality content. I would recommend Blog Engage, Twitter and Facebook.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Be Patient, Blog Quality Content, Be Yourself, Reply to comments, interact with your reader. Don’t forget about Promotion. Posting 5 articles a day while not promoting is going to get you nowhere. Honesty is the best policy. Keep Blogging until you succeed. Determination earns you success. Remember to Be Patient. And Don’t Look at Your Numbers…Use Social Media. Social Media is the key to Blog Promotion. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Remember the Quote “Failures are stepping stones to success”.

Thanks Jeevan

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Blazing Minds Interviews Matt Stratton From Good Old Rock

Karen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:20:31 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned previously each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: My name is Matt Stratton, and I am the the Manager of Technical Operations for a major real estate classifieds website. Previously, I have designed and architected systems for some of the largest companies in the world, including GE and JPMorganChase. In my current position, I am responsible for strategic decisions for the design and implementation of system infrastructure, and researching emerging technologies such as cloud computing.

I’m also an avid photographer and former independent filmmaker, and live in the suburbs of Chicago with my wife, twin sons, and a Sheltie named Scout.

My main blog is Good Old Rock, but I also maintain a blog for updates on my new twin sons at http://strattonboys.com and I am a contributor to Today’s iPhone.

Q: Hi Matt, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: My blog technically started in 2001 as a LiveJournal. I don’t remember exactly what the catalyst for the initial startup was, but I wrote in that LiveJournal for about 7 years. Then, in late 2008, due to rumors of LiveJournal being shut down by Russians, I decided to migrate off of LJ to a self-hosted blog. I’ve had the domain name mattstratton.com for almost 13 years, but mostly used it on and off for website hosting and email. But I moved all of my old LiveJournal content to a WordPress installation on that domain, and the rest is history.

The name of my blog comes from a Simpsons episode:

Lisa: Look, there’s only one way to settle this. Rock-paper-scissors.
Lisa’s brain: Poor predictable Bart. Always takes `rock’.
Bart’s brain: Good ol’ “rock”. Nuthin’ beats that!
Bart: Rock!
Lisa: Paper.
Bart: D’oh!
– “The Front”

Unfortunately, there’s no actual reason for me to have named by blog after this episode, except for the fact that it always makes me laugh. And now…well, there’s just no turning back!

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: It takes up about as much time as I allow it to. If I schedule myself well, I can usually write a week’s worth of posts in about 2 hours…but I am not as diligent about that as I should be, so I often find myself writing a post when I can squeeze in a few minutes here and there during the day. This month (Feb 2010) I have committed myself to the 28 Day Blogging Challenge, which has definitely added to the time I spent blogging each week. I also contribute to a major iPhone blog, which adds to the time that it takes.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Up until last week, the majority of my traffic was organic Google traffic. However, last Monday I received over 25,000 visitors from Reddit, which really changed that game. Generally speaking, however, I’m all about organic traffic. The rest of my visitors either come from shared links on Facebook or Tweets.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: I use both Facebook and Twitter heavily to promote my blog. Every blog post is tweeted,and I get a fair amount of traffic from those tweets (depends a LOT on the post, of course, and how well I structured the tweet!). I used to share every blog post as a link on my personal Facebook page, but I’ve recently switched to using a Fan page for my blog (even though I hate the term “Fan” page), so that the links were more “opt in”.

I recommend both Facebook and Twitter for any blogger looking to build traffic, but I caution them to make sure that they don’t SOLELY use those networks to promote. People will not be interested in following you on Twitter if all you tweet are links to your blog, for example. If you engage in those social networks, your followers/friends will be far more likely to click on your links and read what you have to say.

Personally, if someone just uses Twitter to spew out links to their blog, I will tend to unfollow them quickly.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Write. Write great content. Write a lot. Write original content.

Don’t worry about traffic. If you great interesting content, the traffic will come. Forget about SEO and keywords when you start. Figure out what you are smart about, or what you have a voice about, and write about that.

Write well. Use spellcheck. Like it or not, your reputation and credibility will suffer if you look like a lazy writer.

And finally – network! Get to know other bloggers, but more than just for a link exchange. Engage other bloggers on Twitter or Facebook and build relationships.

Thanks Matt.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Blazing Minds Interviews Blogger Brad Reason

Karen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:23:17 +0000

Welcome one and all to another in my serious of [intlink id="536" type="category"]blogger interviews[/intlink], these interviews may bring you more about bloggers you may know and even bring to your attention to a blogger that you may of never heard off and will of discovered through Blazing Minds, so please read on and enjoy.

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: My name is Brad Reason. In the virtual world “Second Life” I am known as Doubledown Tandino. My hometown is Baltimore, Maryland. I am currently living in South New Jersey and also in Manhattan, New York. I am a professional music creator and DJ, Second Life specialist, and a new media marketing specialist. I combine performance and creative arts with technology and the internet.

Q: Hi Brad, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: My blog: http://djdoubledown.blogspot.com started in 2007. Originally, it was a niche blog that focused on the DJ, music, and nightlife scene within Second Life. As time went on, I expanded my blogging topics to include music technology, internet broadcasting, social media, viral and trending aspects of the web, while still also keeping up with Second Life and virtual world music, performance, art, and creativity.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: Blogging specifically does not take up a lot of my time, but being inside Second Life to find topics to blog about does. Using Second Life is a full-time job. Using social media and web 2.0 is also a full-time job. Blogging is an integral aspect to everything that I do. Getting people to read and follow my blog sometimes takes up more time than actually blogging.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: My traffic comes from a combination of utilizing Second Life, as well as using social media outlets such as twitter, facebook, friendfeed, linkedin, and many more. The combination of aggregation I have set up is the force that drives people to my blog.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: I find myself testing generally all of the social networking and social media sites out there. Any new media site that comes along, I give it a try, and test it’s tools. Facebook, Twitter, and now Google Buzz seem to work best currently, but because the social media world is shifting constantly, I am adjusting on a daily basis.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Just start! Do it! Stop thinking about it and just start! Now! immediately! There’s no reason to wait. There’s no reason to second guess. There’s no reason to put it off thinking that you may not gain readership or a following. Initially, a blog is about you and what you feel you can write about… so do it. Disregard thinking about what may or may not happen. Just get some blog posts posted. Claim your presence in the blog world by actually posting blog articles. Later in the blogging game is when you will want to consider how to gain readership. Consider the first weeks of blogging as a journal for yourself. Months down the road is when opportunities, connections, and possibilities open up.

Thanks Brad.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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Interview with Blogger Heather Kephart from Happymaking

Karen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:46:26 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned before each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: My name is Heather Kephart. I just moved to the Dallas, Texas area a month ago. I am a native Californian and have lived all over the state – North Monterey County, Placerville, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Folsom, San Francisco, Palm Springs. There’s more, but I’d only just embarrass myself by revealing the amount of times I’ve moved of my own volition.

Q: Hi Heather, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: My blog Happymaking is the product of evolution. I started just over a year ago at Howtobeawoman.net, focusing on what I needed to learn in order to be a “real” woman, rather than an extended adolescent. I got myself a Twitter account and started to learn about branding, so I thought – well heck, I’m going about this all wrong. I changed my name on Twitter from womanintraining (never really worked for me, people seemed to assume I was in recruiting) to RetroHeather, purchased the domain of the same name, and promptly suffered a crisis of identity. Who was RetroHeather? What did she care about? I hadn’t the slightest clue. I accidentally deleted that blog (twice!) while trying to figure out Filezilla, so I moved over from WordPress self-hosted to Blogger where I felt reasonably sure that it wasn’t possible for me to delete my blog (again!).

That blog name was Happymaking, a play on words. It was initially supposed to be a crochet blog, and I was supposed to be happy making crocheted hats. I couldn’t stand writing about crochet all the time, and eventually a little bit of “me” seeped into that blog. Before I knew it I was writing about my life, my dreams, and my personal observations. During that time I realized that I had an interest not in simply blogging, but in writing as well. I became interested in the placement of words and their effect on me and my readers. So (sigh, I know) I immediately started a writing blog called Textual Medium at heatherkephart.com. Eventually I dropped the Blogger version of Happymaking, exported it to heatherkephart.com, changed the title of that blog to Happymaking and called it a day. Are you as exhausted as I am? Barring a complete mental breakdown, I am there to stay.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: The actual blogging, not so much. The blogging and social media “scene”, yes. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of person. Moderation remains an elusive, unattainable goal. I promise myself I’m only going to comment on five blogs today, then turn off my computer and take the kids for a walk. However, after I’ve commented on five blogs I find myself feeling guilty about the blogs I didn’t comment on. After all, don’t they deserve my attention as well? Of course they do. And what about my Twitter friends? And friends and family on Facebook? Don’t they deserve my attention? Next thing I know, the day is gone and there are bags under my eyes and I’m wondering how I let it happen again.

I’m currently working out a way to keep on blogging without having it be so all-consuming. I need to focus more on my family and on learning to write, and networking and learning from those in the writing community, so that I may learn from them. And then I need to turn my computer off. After all, what is one to write about if one is always on the computer? I’m simply going to have to get over my all-or-nothing and guilt issues, and do what is right for me and my family.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: I’d say most of my traffic comes from my friends and family on Facebook, and from my Power50 seo group. Most of my posts are of a personal nature, so I don’t get a whole lot of organic traffic.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: I love Facebook. I find it to be more personal than Twitter. I recently sucked up my reservations and created a Facebook Fan Page, and most of my friends responded in a supportive manner. Nobody threw rotten tomatoes at me! (Yet!) At this point, I recommend a combination of a Facebook personal page and a Facebook fan page for blog promtion and social networking. Also, the Networked Blogs application on Facebook. There are so many fabulous bloggers who use the application. It’s not hard to find like-minded individuals that way.

I am also a member of Twitter Moms and Mom Blogger’s Club. I find them useful and entertaining, but I simply don’t have the time to utilize them as I should.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Stay in one spot! Pick your web address and stay there. Don’t keep hopping all over the web. It’s awful for your seo, and it makes you look like a goofball. Also, figure out what kind of blogger you want to be. If you want to make money at it, you will have to create a niche blog, or a series of niche blogs, and stay very focused within. If you are not interested in making money from your blog, then you have more leeway.

Write with authenticity. Be yourself. Don’t give away too much, but do share bits of yourself. Comment on other blogs of interest to you, and try to develop relationships that way. Get yourself a Gravatar and a Twitter account. Join Facebook and Networked Blogs. Comment on other blogs, and check out other blogs’ sidebars for widgets or clubs that might be of use to you. Don’t be afraid to try things. Like me, you will certainly make some missteps, but you will learn as you go. And most of all, have fun with it!

Thanks Heather.

———————–

Enjoyed what you’ve read, then check out Heather on Happymaking and follow her on Twitter.

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Blazing Minds Interviews Dr. Rus D. Jeffrey

Karen — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:16:24 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned previously each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: I’m Dr. Rus D. Jeffrey. My Doctorate is in Ministry. Aside from being a Pastor for a number of years, I’ve also been involved in broadcasting for the past 30 years. In 2005 my wife and I started reviewing movies. We are now official movie critics. Our first book of movie reviews was published in 2007. While there are plans for future yearly books, our reviews now appear on our website – Frame by Frame: A Family-Friendly Guide to the Movies – http://framebyframe.godlaughs.net – We also do weekly recorded movie reviews which currently air on three radio stations. We live in Upstate New York, just outside of Rochester, New York.

Q: Hi Rus, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: As mentioned above, our blog is Frame by Frame. It started as a direct outflow of our movie reviews. The name comes from the idea that we review movies “frame by frame” as we see them. The main branding point for us is our rating system. We call it the Lloyd system. We rate movies out of 5 Lloyds. Our main logo we have named Lloyd. It’s short for “celluloid” which is a spin on the celluloid, or film, that movies are made on. We have a number of different variations of Lloyd which you can find on the website.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: I’m the News Director at a local radio station – http://www.1420wack.com – As News Director I do the morning run which means I work Monday through Friday 4am to 12noon. Much of my blogging is done there. Aside from the movie reviews on the blog, I post weekly Box Office Results posts, as well a New In Theaters post every week. Aside from those set posts, I also blog about other movie and entertainment news on pretty much a daily basis. The posts are usually done in the morning.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: Traffic to the blog comes from a number of sources, but the main source at this point is probably StumbleUpon. I usually try to Stumble all of my posts. However, depending on what’s going on in the world of entertainment, Google searches can increase my hits a lot too. For example, when the story broke about Will Ferrell posing in the background of a couple’s engagement picture, my traffic saw a huge increase. I’ve written about Ferrell on a number of occasions so when people searched his name, the Frame by Frame blog came up in the search engine.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: Yes, I’m very active on social media networks. Most of my time is spent on Twitter. However, also use FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Plaxo. But, I feed those networks via my Ping.fm account. As I’ve been building our Frame by Frame and Lloyd brand, it’s been via Twitter.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Find your niche and work on your brand. It’s a sea of bloggers out there on the Internet and it can be a very busy place to try to get yourself established. But, with focus and the use of social media such as Twitter and then using some bookmarking avenues like StumbleUpon, Digg, etc., you will find your readership building. Nothing is an overnight success. Keep at it, and stay focused on your passion.
Thanks Vic.

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Blazing Minds Interviews Dr. Rus D. Jeffrey is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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Blogger Interview with Quirky Jessi

Karen — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:04:12 +0000

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned previously each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?

A: I’m Quirky Jessi, of course. When profiles ask where I’m from, I always say “The Quirky World” or “A little hole online,” or something silly like that because I’ve moved around a lot. I’ve never lived in a place for more than 3 years, but unfortunately, the places weren’t very exciting either…Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri. I thrive online, though, and have kept in touch with people from everywhere I’ve been, so it’s really cool.

I love making people laugh and I’m easily entertained myself, so you’ll rarely find me complaining. “Bored” was considered a bad word in my house growing up and as an adult, I continued with that same principle. There are always things I could be doing or ways to have fun, so that’s one of my core philosophies. Who has time to be bored?

Q: Hi Quirky Jessi, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?

A: I started Quirky Jessi a little over 3 years ago. Technically it’s “The Quirky World of Jessi.” A couple years ago when I decided to move to my own domain, I couldn’t decide between using “quirkyjessi” or “quirkyworld,” so I let my readers decide. An overwhelming amount said I should go with Quirky Jessi because it was more personal, but really, the site isn’t about me at all. Ha!

I ‘am’ the writer behind it and I do have my fair share of quirks, though. The focus of QJ is really all the quirky, silly, odd things I find across the web or in day-to-day life. Over 3 years’ time, the content has shifted some so it’s less about stories from my actual life or retold humour bits, and more about the strangest sites or products I find online.

In that last month alone, the variety has ranged from maternity dresses that grow with your baby, to air freshener shaped trees to cover up your pet’s butt, to shapeable vases and origami tea bags. I posted about giant purple rocking hotdogs, Mr. E.T. (a composite image of Mr. T and E.T.), cats eating with chopsticks, funky bindis, and tree scarves. The month of November I dedicated entirely to crazy gaming stuff for NaBloPoMo. Really, you never know what’s going to show up next there, but it’ll always be something quirky, and that’s what makes it so fun.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?

A: Yes and no. The actual writing portion doesn’t. I spend a huge amount of time reading feeds, hanging out on forums, keeping in touch with other bloggers, etc, though, which is all somehow connected to my blog. I love what I do and all the people I’m surrounded by, but as a whole package, I do spend way more time than I should admit doing it all, hehe.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?

A: Search engines, hands down. Although I’ve been at this for 3 years, I really only have about 700 posts (I cut back to posting every other day, and early on, I didn’t know what I even wanted out of it, so there were some breaks). Even so, that’s a lot of content. People are always looking for the wackiest stuff, and somehow end up on my site because of it.

Many times the post they land on is exactly what they’re looking for. For several months, I ranked #1 on Google for Snuggies and lots of Snuggies-related questions, so thousands of people showed up for that, and I still get a fair bit of traffic from it. Questions about Smooth Away and requests for knuckle tattoos are strangely high, too. Others show up on QJ because they worded their search requests wrong, and oops, got something quirky instead!

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?

A: This is another yes and no question. I do use several social networks, but I don’t go out of my way to promote my blog. I go with the more natural approach of making real connections, talking with real people, reading those real people’s blogs and commenting, and hey, if I get some traffic kicked back my way in the end, then all the better. Of course I could get a lot more traffic if I actively promoted, but I always have liked doing things backwards. :p

Recommendations depend on the people who want to use them. Twitter can be awesome, but it’s definitely not for everyone and can be a huge waste of time. Forums like Blog Engage and Bloggeries rock, but if you aren’t very social, don’t like posting, or are selfish, then enthusiasm at one won’t last long. I don’t use Facebook to its fullest potential, but I know it can be really good for traffic and networking if used regularly. I hear a lot of people say that they don’t want their family and friends knowing about their sites, but that’s when people should create a separate account just for their site or at the very least, create a fan page instead. StumbleUpon can bring a lot of traffic, but it comes in spikes and most times, those people don’t stay for more than a couple seconds and never come back, so think about if that’s what you really want.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?

A: If you’re writing about content you don’t enjoy, you’re going to burn out or constantly struggle. If you’re focused on making money, you may eventually make some, but it’s going to be a dull, lonely road, and you’ll probably be frustrated more often than happy, at least in the very beginning. Even if your focus is on keeping your readers happy and not on your site numbers, be sure to keep your offline life in check, too. If posting twice a day means sacrificing time with your family, nip that in the bud early on or it’s just not going to be worth it in the end.

Thanks Quirky Jessi.

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Blogger Interview with Quirky Jessi is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2012. Please link back when using this source material.

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