Interview with Blogriffic
Special Interview with Blogriffic
On this web promotion blog I’ve learnt so many things about blogging. Recently, I’ve been fortunate to speak to Salwa the owner of Blogriffic the blog contains advice on graphic design, web design, search engine optimisation and of course blogging tips.
I was really surprised to have a conversation with another UK based blogger. (If you are a UK based blogger, please get in touch). Salwa and I got in contact from communicating through blog post comments. We had a telephone conversation where we exchanged ideas, creativity and techniques to help each other out.
It is a thrill and privilege to talk over the phone to another blogger. One of the most important things that a blogger can do is build partnerships with other bloggers and strengthen both brands at the same time. There is so much competition on the Internet. Many people have got these seeds planted about creating thousands overnight, we must be aware that this is a myth.
Blogging is no quick fix or magic bullet
The first thing that Salwa and I agreed on that blogging is a long term investment. You need to stay focused and continue to: read, learn, research and write on your blogs. We both have been blogging for several months and it is difficult to build a community. Where we are not gaining 100’s of RSS subscribers, however, we are continuing to see a steady growth in traffic over time.
We seeing some blogs online that are starting and reaching hundreds of subscribers and other are very slow. Both Blogriffic and atmmultimedia are in the early stages of blogging. However, we are both determined to continue with blogging.
Salwa is a working student as a well as a blogger. Myself I am full-time employee in web design and working full-time does place a constraint on the amount of time you can spend on a blog. However, it does boil down to: “what are your priorities?”
Why are you blogging?
Salwa’s reasons for blogging: To develop an online business to gain and maintain a level of financial freedom, where she can work on her own projects. There are many other reasons including: flexibility, freedom of time, choices of certain projects to work and have more control on her lifestyle.
My reasons (James King) for blogging: I hate working as an employee, I’d like to have my own business, have more flexibility and lifestyle, work on the projects I choose, have no caps on my income, travel the world, work smarter and most importantly enjoy working for myself.
How often to post?
Salwa M: “I’ve got some commitments as I am a student and working. It is hard to write every day. Writing 3-5 times per week is enough. If you write too often, your reader’s aren’t going to keep up with the content.”
James King: “I agree, I struggle writing at times, so if I can’t think of anything to write, I will do some commenting, SEO or network with other bloggers. There is always something you can do on your blog to improve it from: building links, installing new plug-ins, brainstorming new ideas, researching, improving your grammar and the list continues. Going back to the point of posting, 3-5 posts per week is ideal. The readers will digest your content, plus you’re not over loading them. I like to write one post then the following day find ways to promote my post. “
Salwa M:”For a small audience 7 posts per week is too much. If you’re a big blog with thousands of visitors you will be fine”.
How to choose a good web host
Salwa M:”The web host I am with is an over seller and is slow”.
James King:”I was with a hosting company it was awful! When I had problems I e-mailed the CEO, because the support team was useless. I suggest you don’t use an over seller for a blog, because the servers are overloaded. Go for a good host, preferably UK as you’re here. My hosting company provides excellent service that is 24/7, it may seem expensive, but you get what you pay for. “
Salwa M: “Which hosting provider do you use?”
James King: “Heart Internet, they are based in Nottingham, UK. A very good service provider. Over selling hosting is fine for pod casts, but not for websites or blogs.”
E-mail marketing list
Salwa M:”I’ve noticed that you’ve got a newsletter on your blog. This is something that I need. What can you suggest?”
James King: “A newsletter is a great way of generating leads; in fact this is the best method of gathering your web user’s details. A newsletter can be used to create a source of leads. The advantage of a newsletter is that you can send that information directly to their email address. Overtime, you must nurture that e-mail list from subscribers into potential customers. Provide excellent content on your newsletter and educate your readers, so in the long term they will become customers.”
Free, exclusive content on a newsletter
“A newsletter must provide exclusive information and a free product that will attract your readers will be a bonus. If you provide a free product you are trading some information for contact information. An interested potential customer is valuable. A mailing list with a good number of subscribers is an asset. There are two great products online for auto-responder software including: Awber and Interspire email marketer. I personally use the Interpsire email marketer as it is a one-off payment, but it is up to you which one you use. However, if you are serious about e-mail marketing you need a professional piece of kit.
How to improve your blog?
Salwa M: “You’ve read my blog James? Is there anything I can improve upon?”
James King: “You’re writing is fine and I am finding it easy to follow. I would suggest that you focus on your SEO techniques. Add the following: bold tags, link to other blog posts into your blog, do some link building with other bloggers. If you focus on your SEO skills and aim to get your content on the first page of Google it will make life easier. Use SEO in your content to gain more traffic.”
Blog commenting
James King: “I’ve found that by creating a link love post is a great method of gaining comments. I noticed you’ve done a link love post and it is a weekly thing. As I give links to other bloggers, I seem to get more comments, because bloggers take notice on if you link to them. Giving links is a good way to attract comments to your blog. PR is a great tool for any business.”
It was a pleasure to speak to Salwa and I enjoyed speaking to another blogger over the telephone. I wish Salwa all the success in the world with her blog.
Are you a blogger? How are you getting on? If you are a UK based blogger both Salwa and I would love to hear from you. I urge every blogger to speak to another blogger to exchange ideas; it is a wonderful method of improving your skills.
Salwa
Thanks for putting this up James!
Posted 3-25-2009
KushMoney
You both covered a lot in such a short interview. I have to agree with everything that has been said. I’ve been blogging for a year now as of the 22th. Its been a long road and love every minute of it.
Posted 3-26-2009
James King
You’re welcome Salwa,
It was nice talking to over the phone.
Posted 3-26-2009
James King
Hi Kushmoney,
I was on the phone with Salwa for over an hour and we were discussing many over things also. Inlcuding: site flipping, web design tips, RSS and email marketing.
I am in the phrase of writing of blog post for Blogriffic.
This will be related about being a successful web designer. There are many designers out there that think they rock, cause they can modify a template or use Frontpage and people will go for the cheapest option. It is not always the best option, because you only get what you pay for.
Posted 3-26-2009
KushMoney
You make great points there. I can’t wait to read the article.
Posted 3-26-2009
TechZoomIn
James,
Salwa is also my blogging friend from long back. We almost started blogging at the same time.
Recent days we are not in that much touch.But i do visit the blog daily.
Good work James, Do post good & useful interviews like this.
Posted 3-26-2009
James King
Thank you I am pleased you enjoyed the article,
Posted 3-26-2009
James King
Hi Lax,
That’s cool to hear that you and Salwa, started at the same time. I like blog interviews, if anyone is interested in an interview please let me know.
James,
Posted 3-26-2009
Home Business Blog
Hi James/Salwa,
I enjoyed following your interview. I’m not that fortunate to have the pleasure of speaking to anyone I know in my blogging community…yet. It must be a thrill to hear each other’s voices as your relationship is no longer virtual anymore from now. Tell me James how do you like Interspire…I know one day I’ll have to buy an autoresponder but the monthly payment for Aweber is a deterrent at the moment. So a one-time payt sounds good. How much anyway…will consider much later though.
Peter Lee
Posted 3-29-2009
James King
Hi Peter,
Thanks for reading the interview. I am currently searching for other people to interview in order to help other bloggers.
If you are interested please e-mail me and we can discuss something over Skype or MSN.
Virtual relationships are not as good as the real thing. Telephone communications provide so much more life and emotion. As you’ll begin to know the other blogger so much better.
Interspire is a great resource but it is about $450, I managed to get it for $250.
It really depends on if you prefer a one-off fee or a monthly instalment. I prefer a one-off fee.
Keep in touch Peter,
Posted 3-29-2009
John/jvanwyk.com
James,
Great article, you two packed a lot of information into a short chat. Maybe it is just me, but could you elaborate a little more on what the following items are?
“Over Seller”?
“Love Links”?
I didn’t quite understand what those are and how they can affect your blog.
Thanks,
John
Posted 7-31-2009
james
Over seller, people creates blogs and place too many adverts and too little content, then the site becomes an ads section in a newspaper.
Links help blogs to rank higher in the search engines. To get noticed online you need good links.
Posted 7-31-2009