Bloggapedia Blog
In the information age, blogging brings with it it's own brand of celebrity and it can be just as tough to score a quick interview with a top blogger as a top actor. With bank accounts rolling and egos flying the bloggers who remain accessible, cream of the crop though they may be, are the ones who are more surely destined to even greater heights.
Maybe it's their ability to maintain both an online and a friendly offline persona, maybe - like in the case of Darren Rowse - they're just plain nice.
Darren, a native Australian, is perhaps the ProBlogger of all time, having started his blogging as a hobby while working triple time at three paying jobs in 2002. Fast forward just five years and Darren is now earning approximately $10,000+ per month from his collection of blogs. That's some cool cash for a guy who first hit the 'publish' button thinking it would be a 'bit of fun.'
Darren is now well known as the brains behind possibly the single most popular and well respected blog-information sites on the net: ProBlogger.net. He took the time out of his schedule to share the basics on his career as the ProBlogger, his currently favored addon, and his thoughts on why blogging has been and will continue to be such an awesome media format.
If you could have any title in The Blogosphere for the position you currently occupy, what would it be?
Just 'blogger' would do. I'm not a big one for fancy titles. I get 'the problogger' a lot and while I guess it's descriptive in that I do blog as my profession I'm a little uncomfortable with it as it can be interpreted in a different way - ie in that I'm somehow more professional than others - something I highly doubt.
Please tell us a little bit about your current blog project:
I have a few blog projects but the one I'm spending more and more time on these days is b5media - a new media network. We began it in 2005 with 14 blogs and a handful of bloggers but have managed to build it into a network of around 200 blogs with 100 bloggers.
My role there is to head up the blogger training program (a challenge as we have bloggers of all experience levels writing on hundreds of topics).
What was your first blog (or post) and when? Why/how did you start it?
My first blog was about spirituality, culture and emerging church (new ways of doing church). I started it because I was involved in a team starting a new church and I wanted a place to think out loud and record the journey.
Do you monetize your blog? If so, are you willing to share how much you make each month from you blog?
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Interview with Darren Rowse: ProBlogger.net
In the information age, blogging brings with it it's own brand of celebrity and it can be just as tough to score a quick interview with a top blogger as a top actor. With bank accounts rolling and egos flying the bloggers who remain accessible, cream of the crop though they may be, are the ones who are more surely destined to even greater heights.Maybe it's their ability to maintain both an online and a friendly offline persona, maybe - like in the case of Darren Rowse - they're just plain nice.
Darren, a native Australian, is perhaps the ProBlogger of all time, having started his blogging as a hobby while working triple time at three paying jobs in 2002. Fast forward just five years and Darren is now earning approximately $10,000+ per month from his collection of blogs. That's some cool cash for a guy who first hit the 'publish' button thinking it would be a 'bit of fun.'
Darren is now well known as the brains behind possibly the single most popular and well respected blog-information sites on the net: ProBlogger.net. He took the time out of his schedule to share the basics on his career as the ProBlogger, his currently favored addon, and his thoughts on why blogging has been and will continue to be such an awesome media format.
If you could have any title in The Blogosphere for the position you currently occupy, what would it be?
Just 'blogger' would do. I'm not a big one for fancy titles. I get 'the problogger' a lot and while I guess it's descriptive in that I do blog as my profession I'm a little uncomfortable with it as it can be interpreted in a different way - ie in that I'm somehow more professional than others - something I highly doubt.
Please tell us a little bit about your current blog project:
I have a few blog projects but the one I'm spending more and more time on these days is b5media - a new media network. We began it in 2005 with 14 blogs and a handful of bloggers but have managed to build it into a network of around 200 blogs with 100 bloggers.
My role there is to head up the blogger training program (a challenge as we have bloggers of all experience levels writing on hundreds of topics).
What was your first blog (or post) and when? Why/how did you start it?
My first blog was about spirituality, culture and emerging church (new ways of doing church). I started it because I was involved in a team starting a new church and I wanted a place to think out loud and record the journey.
Do you monetize your blog? If so, are you willing to share how much you make each month from you blog?
I have a number of my own personal blogs and I do monetize almost all of them. I don't share my exact earnings any more but have previously shared that my blogs earn in excess of six figures a year. So on a monthly basis they do earn me more than $10,000 USD quite comfortably.
How much traffic does your blog generate weekly?
How much traffic does your blog generate weekly?
Across all of my own personal blogs - its somewhere in the vicinity of 30,000 to 50,000 unique visitors a day. That doesn't include RSS readership which is around that level again.
Any tips or hints for other bloggers on how to make their own blogs more popular?
Any tips or hints for other bloggers on how to make their own blogs more popular?
Connect with other blogs, sites and forums that are on similar and related topics. These other sites already have readership that is interested in the topics you write about so if you can find ways to participate in them in ways that are not spammy and that add value to those sites then you can often find new readers.
What are your top five weekly blog reads and what information/angle do you look to each one for?
What are your top five weekly blog reads and what information/angle do you look to each one for?
I follow hundreds of blogs and rarely find the same one consistently producing the 'wow' content. ie every day is different and I wouldn't want to pick just a few out.
What I look for in a blog is useful content that will enhance my life somehow.
Has blogging affected your personal/family life in any way?
Has blogging affected your personal/family life in any way?
Sure thing - it's paid for the house that we bought a couple of years back and puts food on our table every day. It's also allowed us to travel and meet some of the most interesting people from around the world. Blogging's been very good to us as a family.
What are the biggest problems/challenges inherent to weblogs? How do you address that problem on your own blog?
What are the biggest problems/challenges inherent to weblogs? How do you address that problem on your own blog?
Comment Spam comes to mind - however with tools like Akismet most of that can be filtered automatically.
Perhaps the most concerning thing for me is the very very small minority of bloggers who use the tools in manipulative and dishonest ways. I've come across a number of circumstances in the last year where bloggers have been responsible for some fairly terrible acts that have hurt people.
I'm not sure that this is something that I can 'solve' but I am pleased to see that in most of these circumstances the blogging community has rallied and self regulated and moderated itself to deal with the situations.
What new blogging tool, toy, accessory, widget, addon, or whatnot do you recommend and why?
There are a lot of good tools out there. I like 103bees for it's 'questions' feature and have been using that a bit lately. I wrote how here.
What new blogging tool, toy, accessory, widget, addon, or whatnot do you recommend and why?
There are a lot of good tools out there. I like 103bees for it's 'questions' feature and have been using that a bit lately. I wrote how here.
Why do you believe blogging is so essential and important?
One of my early dreams for blogs was that they could be used to give marginalized people a voice - this is now happening in many instances. I guess I'd like to see this continue and would one day like to be a part of a project that does this in a more coordinated manner.
The two things that really attracted me to blogging was that it gave people a voice was all about conversation and community. Together these two aspects are a powerful force.
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To learn more about Darren, his past and current projects, and glean a bit of the wit and wisdom this very modest blogging guru has to offer visit ProBlogger.net.
One of my early dreams for blogs was that they could be used to give marginalized people a voice - this is now happening in many instances. I guess I'd like to see this continue and would one day like to be a part of a project that does this in a more coordinated manner.
The two things that really attracted me to blogging was that it gave people a voice was all about conversation and community. Together these two aspects are a powerful force.
---
To learn more about Darren, his past and current projects, and glean a bit of the wit and wisdom this very modest blogging guru has to offer visit ProBlogger.net.
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Spin your blog
Now, thanks to a company called SpinVox you can call in and voice record your next blog post!
The service, called Spin-My-Blog, enables registered users to call a phone number and dictate their blog entries which will then be displayed on the user's blog as a single post.
The technology is scheduled to be presented at the mobile industry event 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next week.
The technology is scheduled to be presented at the mobile industry event 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next week.
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Not just a blog, it's a virtual classroom!
PHP Blog Manager, the new blogging tool that gives us this fabulous customized look, has just upgraded the user control panel to include a live chat room!
What a cool idea!
Each blog account manager may add users, assign passwords and permissions, etc. allowing others to participate and post in the blog at their discretion. Now all of the members in a blog group can meet inside their blogging accounts via the Group Chat feature.
The feature is still in the beta stages, with lots of promising updates soon to be added in - but even in this early phase it provides a quick and easy way to generate ideas as a group, have meetings, and even run a virtual classroom.
You can check out the feature by registering for an account here.
What a cool idea!
Each blog account manager may add users, assign passwords and permissions, etc. allowing others to participate and post in the blog at their discretion. Now all of the members in a blog group can meet inside their blogging accounts via the Group Chat feature.
The feature is still in the beta stages, with lots of promising updates soon to be added in - but even in this early phase it provides a quick and easy way to generate ideas as a group, have meetings, and even run a virtual classroom.
You can check out the feature by registering for an account here.
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