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Interview 5. Meet Peter Chen: Blogspot Expert for New Bloggers

Filed Under Business Life, Interviews, Successful Blog, Tips | 16 Comments

Meeting Peter Chen, Blogger

New Blogger Logo

Once in a while I surf the Google nav bar to see who’s there. It’s a fun way to do some random exploring and sometimes I land on a jewel as I did when I found the blog of a man named Peter Chen. What caught my eye about this blog, Blogger for Dummies, (now called Blogger Help) was that it had screenshots that were described and labeled with meticulous detail.

Blogger for Beginners Screenshot

Little did I know that this was one of several blogs that Mr. Chen has on two of which are dedicated to Blogger. This blog alone led me to want to interview the man.

Interview with Peter Chen
His Blogs:
Blogger for Dummies aka Blogger Help,
Blogger Tips and Tricks,
Enviroman Says, and
Food as medicine.
Liz notes: Peter has so many blogs. I went straight to the interview.

Peter, What led you to make your blog?

I am retired and have plenty of free time. I need some activities to fill up the free time.

I notice that you haven’t updated one blog since April 23rd. Why is that?

You must be refering to Blogger for Dummies. Someone told me of possible interference from Wiley Publications because of the “for Dummies” in the title. Rather than building up the content of the blog, and then having face the decision whether to take them down later, I decided to start a new blog at http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com. There is still sizable, useful content at http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com plus significant inbound links, so I am leaving it as it is and will be making an announcement of the shift on the blog later.

What are your blogs and what are they about?

These are my blogs:

Blogger Help at http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com
A resource for those using the very popular Blogger blogging service. Although meant for Blogger, many of the tips are also relevant for those using other blogging services.

Blogger Tips and Tricks at http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com

This is the replacement for http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com . It will eventually will be my main blog.

Enviroman Says at http://enviromansays.blogspot.com
An environmental blog. That blog was set up specifically for a cartoon character Enviroman and an artist friend was supposed to help out with it. That didn’t work out, so it has ended up with Enviroman making comments on the enviroment.

Food as Medicine http://foodasmedicine.blogspot.com
A blog focusing on using food as a mean to health. As Hippocrates had put it, let your food be your medicine and medicine be your food.

To what do you credit your very high site meter count?

This is probably due to the high number of people seeking solutions to blogging problems. And I think the content are well written, easy to follow and understand, so visitors tend to come back for more, as the statistics show.

What advice do you have for a new blogger starting out?

Pick on a topic in which you have an interest. Then you will never tire of the work involved.

What blogging platform do you personally recommend and why?

I use Blogger. It is free, unlikely to go out of business as it is backed by the Internet giant Google, relatively quickly picked up by search engines, easy to use even by beginners, and the template is highly customizable. Recently there were some glitches, and complaints about a non responsive support which has put off some people, but it has affected me relatively little, so I will continue to use Blogger. I personally had got a problem with a frozen blog unblocked by Blogger support after an email. And a reader has written in to say that his blog which he accidentally deleted got undeleted after a series of email. So Blogger support do respond to emails.

There you have it — the experience of blogger, Peter Chen. He’s made good use of Google’s free Blogspot platform and finds that it works for him. Using free accounts has it’s upside and it’s downside. Be sure you look carefully before you decide that’s the route you will go. Many successful bloggers, such as Improbulus and Freshblog have done fabulously and many others swear that you need an independent acount.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
I’ll be adding this inteview to the Inteview category and to the NEW BLOGGER PAGE.

Collaboration Link 5 Begs the Questions

Filed Under Community, Content, Interviews, Links, Marketing, Successful Blog | 6 Comments

Link 5 Begs the Questions

So I’ll ask them.

If you could meet anyone in the blogosphere world–living or dead–and ask one question . . .

Who’s the person?

and

What’s the question?

Oh and . . .

Do you suppose you’d get a complete and totally truthful answer?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Collaboration Link 1: Image and Text
Collaboration Link 2: Topical
Collaboration Link 3: An Event
Collaboration Link 4: Movable Posts
Collaboration Link 5: An Interview
Collaboration Link 6: Media Events

Collaboration Link 5: An Interview

Filed Under Community, Content, Interviews, Links, Marketing, Successful Blog | 8 Comments

Collaboration Link 5: An Interview
A Question and Answer format posting

You have probably seen the typical Q&A collaboration done in various formats. We’ve done multi-day interview and single-day interviews at Successful Blog. Here are a few examples.

Collaboration Link–1. 5 Indie’s Advice–the fifth of a six part interview with the owner of The Synchronicity of Indeterminacy.

Collaboration Link–2.3 The Audience is Royalty–The third of a six part interview with the owner of The Reign of Ellen.

I’ve also seen the Five-Question Interview and the Ten-Question Interview. But you know me, I like to change things up a bit.

I’m working with Koray of Koray.ws to show us around his new design in a walking-tour interview fashion. So look for that in the next few weeks.

In a more creative collaboration, a fiction-based interview can a be fresh and entertaining way to pass on solid information. Okay so, this might not work on the most business of business blogs. But don’t give it up without thinking about it. You’d be surprised who might enjoy hearing you have a conversation with a paperclip. Look around. My point is not every interview has to be boring. I only make them that way to torture you. Here’s what we did.

In a collaboration with Teh Blogfather, Eric Mutta, we agreed that the interviewer should be The 65th Crayon, a character on my blog who has among his credits an interview with such the legendary toy, Mr. Potato Head. We thought it might be fun to have The 65th interview Eric’s character, the Blog Father. The resulting interview allowed for questions that were a little less ordinary and still led to answers about the man behind the blog. You’ll find that interview here.

Collaboration Link–Scribbles: Interview with Teh Blog Father

Who knows? Maybe I’ll send my colorful friend to interview Mark Wade next–now that his new design proves that he’s over his fear of crayons I’ve been wondering what his favorite color is. He should have one or two. After all, his company is called R Web Designs. I’m betting it’s red.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Crayon scribble

Collaboration Link 1: Image and Text
Collaboration Link 2: Topical
Collaboration Link 3: An Event
Collaboration Link 4: Movable Posts
Collaboration Link 5: Begs the Question
Collaboration Link 6: Media Events

Interview 4. Johan Sundkvist Knows Minimalist

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Johan Sundkvist blog


A Minimalist Interview with Johan Sundkvist
His Blog: Johan Sundkvist
URL: johansundkvist.com
Genre: Personal/Tech Blog
Audience: people who like to read about technology and culture
Thing to note when you visit: how the design and well-written content work together to make reading this blog an inviting and relaxing experience, no stress on this blog

Johan’s blog may be newer than some, but he’s been reading blogs for over two years. He understands and uses the values of minimalist design to keep his blog stressfree and focused on the content.

Johan, your blog and you share a name, what led you to that decision?

I wanted a personal blog, and therefore the choice to use my own name was pretty straight forward. It is hard though to choose a good site name. Some like me use their names (for example Kottke.org), but others come up with great domain names, such as Asterisk, StopDesign and Simplebits.

What made you start the blog?

Since I first discovered the phenomenon of blogging I’ve wanted to create a blog of my own. I’ve always liked writing and blogging as a writing style appealed to me; it’s somewhat more casual, and is focused to get to the point, to write stuff that is interesting.

How would you define a successful blog?

A successful blog is a blog that writes something that catches my interest and if the writing is unique, different, and entertaining it will certainly end up in my RSS subscriptions and daily surfing routine

What advice would you give a beginner?

I’m still a beginner, but I’m happy to share some thoughts with you anyway. I think it’s important to write stuff that matters, that is interesting for the readers. I don’t know if I am very good at this, but it is something that I strive to do. If you write about things you are passionate about, then people will sooner or later notice. Set a tone, distinguish yourself, and make an impression. It is about hard work, but it can be very rewarding in the end.

He may have just started a few months ago, but Johan has the world view of someone with more experience. This blog is both beginner and winner at the same time. Maybe that’s how he could achieve such elegant simplicity.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Interview 3 Patrick Makes California a Black Hole

Filed Under Design, Interviews, Successful Blog | 1 Comment

California is recipe patrick3header

A Conversation with Patrick about Blog Design
His Blog: california is a recipe for a black hole
URL: mojoshivers.blogspot.com
Things to note when you visit: what a blogspot template can become

I introduce you to Patrick and his blog to start the design conversation for several reasons: Patrick’s a writer not a designer. He has a good eye, but admits he’s no good at code. He’s a blogger who took a basic template and made it uniquely his own–so much so you have to look to see the blogspot underneath it.

Here are Patrick’s thoughts about his blog and its design.

Patrick, what made you start the blog?

I had been reading two blogs–5ilver.net (now defunct) and sdfsdf.wox.org. I always thought I could do something like that, but I fretted about the daily routine of keeping one up. Finally, after a few weeks off work and without any real reason not to, I decided it was about time. I wrote my first post, and I have been writing ever since. That was September 1st, 2004.

The name obviously had a part in the design. What’s its story?

The name’s actually a line from my favorite song, “Pictures of Success” by my favorite band, Rilo Kiley. It’s always been a favorite phrase of mine. It sums up the mixture of forlorn and wistfulness that I think permeates my life. Also, the inclusion of musical influences is one aspect I knew I wanted to include on my blog.

How did you get to the “look” of your site?

When I first started blogging I started off with a template. As I continued to write, I started tweaking the “look” of my site. I chose a palette of blacks and greys to adhere to the “black hole” theme. The header picture I took myself on a drive home from work, which I then tweaked with to produce the “black hole” effect.

As for links, I decided that, rather than plop down a huge blogroll, I wanted a small selection of blogs I actually read on a regular basis. Once a site stops being updated, or if the address changes, I drop it. I don’t want the huge lists that other sites have. I want everyone to know that the sites I like are a select few and that I can guarantee you that each one on my list of favorite things is worth the effort to visit.

Screenshot of ca is a recipe for a black hole

Why a partner?

I don’t think anyone can be interesting every day of the week. I brought Breanne in because I know she’s a good writer, and she has interesting stories to tell about her life. We both have similar views on what the site should be about and stand for. Also, our lives crisscross so much that it only made sense that I brought her aboard.

More importantly, she makes working on the site fun because I always know she’s right there to tell me what is and isn’t working.

What was your biggest mistake?

I suck at coding. I’ve had many meltdowns trying to “improve” the look of the site.

What change made the greatest improvement?

Getting away from that damn template.

What do you wish you could do for your blog?

I just want to gain more readers and continue to post on this site for many decades to come.

What was the best advice anyone gave you?

The customer is not always right. In fact, a pretty good average is to say they’re wrong about 50% of the time. In most things, especially my writing, I try not to limit myself in terms of what, how, or who I write about.

What advice would you give a beginner?

Breanne and I have a saying whenever we go into writing a deeply personal or uncomfortable topic:

“Ride hard and kill ‘em all!”

That’s pretty much the philosophy when it comes to being worried about what people reading might think.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Take a look at this unique site that shows what one guy can do with a blogspot template, some time, some hardwork, and some creativity. Patrick has made it his own. A place that’s unique, memorable and truly representative of the quality of the writing that it promises when you look further. Stop by Tuesday to be part cf the community discussion about works for you and what doesn’t in this unusual blog design. Maybe I can coax Patrick to be there too.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Tuesday Design Discussion Night

Filed Under Community, Design, Interviews, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

muddy teal strip A

Successful bloggers are constantly trading nuances, techniques, and strategies for how they keep their blogs growing. . . . When we find one, it’s hard to keep quiet. We want to know if other folks see the same things we do.

Wasn’t it fun when we had that discussion last week in the comment section of Brian’s sidebar article?

I want to do that again. Don’t you?

So I proclaim Tuesday Night Successful Blog Design Discussion Night.

This week we’ll talk about california is a recipe for a black hole–a quality blog with a unique design. The blog is co-authored by Patrick “Mojo Shivers” and his life-long friend, Breasier.

I tell you now in case you want to take a peek over the weekend. Before you go, you might want to print out the Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs that I’ve just put together. It’s a great tool for evaluating blog ideas wherever you find them. It’s in the next post. If you go, read a story. The writing’s worth reading. And do leave a comment. It’s an experience to get to the comment screen.

I’ll run a mini-interview about it and gather some screen shots for you to see on Monday.

muddy teal strip A

So do come Tuesday night, if you can. If not I’ll end up talking to me–which will lead to my schizoform disorder coming out again, which will mean my dcctor will have to up my medication–and that just isn’t pretty. Oh no, it’s not pretty.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

2.6 Thanks for Coming, Ellen

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Interview with Ellen

Reign of Ellen Logo

Interview with: Ellen
Her Blog: The Reign of Ellen
URL: thereignofellen.blogspot.com
Her audience: easy-going, funny, non-judgmental readers–moms; dads; college-aged women
Things to note when you visit: the open spirit of community; the royal gallery; the blogroll; the multiple kinds of interactivity; the connection between Ellen and her readers; how the open, friendly, design supports the concept; the special features and unique ideas

2.6 Thanks for Coming, Ellen

THANKS ELLEN, for sharing your blog and yourself with us this week.

THE REIGN OF ELLEN has so much that makes it a successful blog–among these the deep and authentic feeling Ellen has for her readers and how everything about her blog communicates that. Before we concluded the interview, I asked Ellen to offer some weekend reading– “Best of” excerpts from her blog.

What do are your most visited stories?

The Battle of Waterpoo

Television Point/Counterpoint

Every Sperm Is Sacred?

The Ear Wax Story: Loser Date
The Ear Wax Story: Gross Ear Wax Information
The Ear Wax Story: Poll
The Ear Wax Story: Okay, You Asked for It

AND THANKS TO ELLEN’S FANS AND READERS who have been visitng all week. Please feel free to leave your comments and your favorite stories here too.

Stick cartoon

A successful blog, like a good movie, gives the audience someone or something they can relate to. This cartoon reminds me of me. :)

–ME “Liz” Strauss

2.5 Queen Ellen's Advice

Filed Under Audience, Community, Interviews, Strategy, Successful Blog, Tips | Leave a Comment

Interview with Ellen

Interview with: Ellen
Her Blog: The Reign of Ellen
URL: thereignofellen.blogspot.com
Her audience: easy-going, funny, non-judgmental readers–moms; dads; college-aged women
Things to note when you visit: the open spirit of community; the royal gallery, the blogroll; the multiple kinds of interactivity; the connection between Ellen and her readers; how the open, friendly, design supports the concept; the special features and unique ideas

2.5 Queen Ellen’s Advice

Ellen Flipped

Ellen has been building blogging expertise since May 2003. Her background in design and graphics also brings an additional dimension to the conversation. She shared some of her experience with the highs and lows of blogging.

What was the biggest mistake that you made?

I wrote some critical comments about one of my sisters on my old blog. . . . None of my family even knew that my blog “diary” existed, so I never thought that she’d ever read it. But search engines are tricky little things, and she . . . found my blog and read every archived post. She was very hurt and angry. I don’t regret writing my true thoughts and feelings on my blog, but I’ve learned that you must be willing to accept the fallout if you choose to do so. Needless to say, I don’t write about family anymore. I don’t know who is reading.

What change made the greatest improvement?

Besides the obvious switch from my boring old “Sugar” blog to “Reign,” I think that the addition of the “The Court of Ellen” cartoons bolstered the community on my blog. People love to belong and love to feel special and unique.

What do you wish you could do for your blog?

To be honest, I really like my blog the way it is. But I do wish I had more time to respond to all the emails and comments that I receive from readers. However, being a working mother with several personal hobbies outside of blogging, this is impossible right now.

What was the best advice anyone gave you?

“If you delete that blog, I will beat you, woman.”

Not really advice as much as a threat. Said to me by my husband after I received my first attacking comment from a “troll.” I get my feelings hurt easily, and I was about to delete my entire blog. Thankfully, I listened to him and have toughened up a bit.

What advice would you give a beginner?

Surf the network of blogs. You can learn a lot about blogging from other bloggers�the good, the bad and the ugly. And as the saying goes for writers, “if you want to be a good writer, read good books,� so it goes for bloggers . . . “If you want to be a successful blogger, lurk on a lot of blogs.�

Finally, make your template–“your template”–something you like to return to time and time again. My personal preference for my template is to keep “clean and uncluttered.â€? It’s about the only place in my life that is “clean and uncluttered.â€?

“Hey, you try having a baby, working part time, and pumping out artwork every week,” added Jason, Ellen’s husband.

In what ways, have you made your template your own? Stand back. Take a look. Does your blog reflect what happens there?

Is your blog a place you want to come back to time and time again?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

2.4 The Stats of the Blogdom

Filed Under Audience, Interviews, Marketing, Strategy, Successful Blog, Tech/Stats | Leave a Comment

Interview with Ellen

Interview with: Ellen
Her Blog: The Reign of Ellen
URL: thereignofellen.blogspot.com
Her audience: easy-going, funny, non-judgmental readers–moms; dads; college-aged women
Things to note when you visit: the open spirit of community; the royal gallery; the blogroll; the multiple kinds of interactivity; the connection between Ellen and her readers; how the open, friendly, design supports the concept; the special features and unique ideas
Google Page Rank: 5/10

2.4 The Stats of the Blogdom

Ellen uses Site Meter to keep track of what’s going on in the blogdom.This blog is a team enterprise. Ellen keeps her focus on the needs of her readers. Jason, her husband, keeps an eye to what the trends and the graphs might reveal.

What do you do and how much time do you spend these days to build up readership?

To build up readership I usually spend most of my time focused on my writing and the artwork during the week. I also invest time in conversing with my readers by responding to comments and emails that are sent to me. I used to spend about 20-30 min writing a post, and that was the extent of it. Now days I’m spending 1-2 hours of the day dedicated to my blog.

What is your most visited day of the week? Does readership change through the year?

Right now it looks like Wednesday is the busiest day of the week, and I’m not sure how my readership changes over the year since my husband just started tracking visits in June of this year. We’ll see what happens.

What stat totals can you share?

Ellen Stats

The site meter summary chart tells the story better than words.

Honesty, humor, creativity and a genuine relationship with her readers has made The Reign of Ellen a place where people come in large numbers and return again and again.

Are these stats where you guessed they would be? higher? lower? If your numbers need a boost to get to this level, how might you reconstruct some of Ellen’s ideas to make them work for your readers?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

2.3 The Audience is Royalty

Filed Under Audience, Community, Interviews, Successful Blog | 1 Comment

Interview with Ellen

Interview with: Ellen
Her Blog: The Reign of Ellen
URL: thereignofellen.blogspot.com
Her audience: easy-going, funny, non-judgmental readers–moms; dads; college-aged women
Things to note when you visit: the open spirit of community; the royal gallery; the royal blogroll; the multiple kinds of interactivity; the connection between Ellen and her readers; how the open, friendly, design supports the concept; the special features and unique ideas

2.3 The Royal Audience

Ellen\'s Queens and Kings

Ellen’s relationship with her audience shows up everywhere. The Royal Gallery, The Royal Blogroll, the Coronations, the interviews, the reader comments on her posts, and particularly the way her readers open up to her.

Who is your audience, your readership?

I suppose that I am a dreaded and oft ridiculed “Mommy Blog.� Most of my mom readers, though, are an easy-going, funny, non-judgmental lot. I also have a few men who like to chime in, as well as quite a few single college-aged women.

How do they find out about you?

BlogExplosion, BlogClicker, Technorati, links from infertility blogs, FreeKatie.net (they posted a link to my site awhile back and I got about 3,000 hits one weekend from other people who think Tom Cruise is psycho nuts), and of course your standard weird Google searches (“larva pickle Ellen baby�.)

What do they like best about your site?

Gathering from the emails and comments I get, people seem to respond to
(in no particular order): my cartoons, “The Court of Ellen,” “Lost” Discussion Thursday, stories and pictures about my fantabulous daughter, and the downloadable book on depression.

Ellen offers a consistent order of activities and fun. It’s in some ways like the regular television schedule or the features of a favorite magazine. People know what they can look forward to and when and where they will see it.

What consistent features do your readers have to look forward to? Are those features your readers could find anywhere? Do you offer some features tailored to your readers that could only be done by you? How do you give your readers a value-added experience?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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