Blogging Teacher

Blogger Interview: Henry Ferdiansyah of Time as Wine

Paul Cunningham — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:00:42 +0000

In this blogger interview Henry Ferdiansyah of Time as Wine talks about the importance of our health and the environment that we live in.

Tell us a little about your blog.

It’s a blog about health and the environment. I am working as an environment engineer on site so I have some experience that I want to share with the world. Another thing is that the environment really influences your health, so I guess that’s why I am also interested to write about health.

Do you think enough people take an interest in their own health and that of the environment these days?

Based on my experience, the hardest thing to do is to increase the awareness of people about health and environment. Not so many people really care about their own health and environment, because it’s also related with lifestyle.

For example, I believe it’s a good habit to go to bed and wake up early, but many people do their activities until midnight which is not so good for their health. The body has its own metabolism and we need to have enough time to sleep and recover the body condition. Another example is smoking. And the environment, it has a direct and indirect impact to your health.

How long have you been blogging for? What made you want to start blogging?

I’ve been blogging since less than a year, I guess. Blogging is a great media to exchange our ideas and get connected with the world. With blogging you can write what’s on your mind and build good relationship with other bloggers, which for me, is an interesting experience.

What were some of your biggest challenges when you first started blogging?

The technical aspect. I knew nothing about buying domains and installing wordpress for example. But I had the spirit to be a blogger since the beginning, so I guess it helps me very much to blog continuously.

How did you overcome these challenges?

Learned, learned and learned. We are lucky, there are so many sites and blog that write how to blog properly. This kind of information is very useful when you want to start blogging.

What is a recent milestone that you have accomplished with your blog? How were you able to achieve this milestone?

Well, I have to say that I’ve just started blogging recently. But what’s important for me is that now I can meet other bloggers and learn from them. Some of them are really inspiring me. You know that when you do something with your heart, you will get the best result. I want to try to apply that for my blog. I am also working together with my friend right now to develop the blog.

What is your next goal that you want to achieve with your blog?

I want to have more readers. I want more people to be able to read and get more advantage from the blog. The idea of the blog is to get more people have healthier live and respect the environment. I want to keep the objective.

What is your best tip for other people out there who might be new or struggling with their blogging?

Spend your time to see the other blogs. There are so many things that we can learn from other blogs and experience of other bloggers.

Thanks again Henry for taking the time to do this interview.

Henry is an environment engineer who works in an oil and gas company. His passion is to write and get connected to the world, which has led him to establish his health and environment blog Time as Wine. Follow Henry on Twitter at @timeaswine.

Reader Q&A: How to Respond to Blog Comments

Paul Cunningham — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:00:52 +0000

This is a reader Q&A post. Do you have a question you’d like answered? Submit it here.

Tom from Blue Highways of America asks:

I’m relatively new to blogging and I’m very confused about some things. The author of Google Blogging for Dummies says that you should always acknowledge comments made about your blog posts. But she doesn’t explain how. A private email? Or an additional post saying “thanks” beneath the one in question?

Good question Tom, and you’ve just about answered it yourself. There is no single, correct way to acknowledge blog comments. Instead you can apply a variety of different methods depending on the comment you are responding to.

Here are three suggestions.

Reply to the Comment

The simplest and most obvious method is to reply directly to the comment. Most blogs these days permit threaded comments where replies are shown immediately below the comment they are in response to, otherwise you can refer to the other commenter by name so that its clear who you are responding to.

Try to make your own comments on your blog as valuable as you would expect from your own readers. It is easy to fire off a few quick “thanks” comments to your readers (I’m guilty of that myself), but if you take a few extra moments to write something more substantial you can keep the discussion alive longer. And the more discussion that appears to be going on in your blog comments, the more other people are likely to leave comments too.

Respond With Another Blog Post

Every now and then someone will write a comment on your blog that takes the discussion deeper or even in a different direction entirely. If you find yourself writing a huge reply to the comment it might be a sign that your response would be better as an entirely new blog post.

Aside from taking advantage of the free inspiration you can also interlink the two blog posts so that readers can click through and read more of your content, and also to help a little with SEO.

Reply With an Email

The third method is to send an email to the person thanking them for their comment. You can take advantage of this opportunity to continue the discussion with them in private, which might even inspire some new blog post ideas for you.

If the commenter is someone who writes a blog that relates to your own you could also use an email response to propose such things as guest posting on each other’s blogs.

Do you have your own methods for responding to comments on your blog? Share them in the comments below.

Image Credit: Flickr

How Secure Are Your Blog Passwords?

Paul Cunningham — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:00:48 +0000

Are you using the same password for all of your different blogs, email accounts, and social networks? Would you like to have a more secure password but find it too hard to remember lots of different, complex passwords?

In this short video I demonstrate how I use Keepass Password Safe to safely store all of my different passwords without having to remember them all. All I need to remember is the master password to the password safe.

Image Credit: Flickr

Blogger Interview: Julie Hubert of Big Girl Bombshell

Paul Cunningham — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:00:09 +0000

In this interview Julie Hubert of Big Girl Bombshell talks about how blogging built a sense of direction and community in her life.

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

Big Girl Bombshell came about as a result of affirmations and visualization of what I want for myself in terms of my health and appearance. Any positive changes, especially in this genre, needs to come from awareness of self. Way too many people struggle with weight and body image. The weight and the image can hold them back from what they desire in their heart. I hope to instill a sense of excitement about their life, create a balance, and get excited no matter what size or shape they are

How long have you been blogging for? What made you want to start blogging?

I actually tried my first round of blogging back in 2004 – 2005 while taking my first journalism class. I wrote in the personal development genre based mostly on creativity and metaphysical practices. I had no idea what I was doing but the journalism class sparked a true interest in writing for me. I tried to start my own online business, but gave it all up when I made the choice to return to a full-time job for the security of a paycheck and benefits.

Last year, I found that something was missing in my life. I did some deep self-reflection and learned that it was my passion for helping others that was missing. My full-time job is in a field based on retail and sales. It was not fulfilling an essential part of who I am. So, I returned to blogging. It has changed quite a bit from when I originally started. It was like I had never done it before.

In a short period of time, I went from starting out on TypePad, moved to Blogger and have just recently made the switch to WordPress. I read, not only blogs in my niche, but blogs about blogging. I joined ProBlogger forum seeking out a community but I know use it for as a learning tool. My community is being build within my niche.

That is why I blog. To have a sense of community with like minded people and to practice my writing and creativity on a daily basis. To provide a way to help others while helping myself become a better person.

What were some of your biggest challenges when you first started blogging?

Oh Gosh…. Many! Trying to fit in, finding the right platform for me, trying to follow all the advice at one time, and not trusting what I already knew.

How did you overcome these challenges?

I think the most important thing that helped me overcome the challenges was to trust in myself and not rely on the numbers. Just like my tagline on Big Girl Bombshell, It’s the Attitude, NOT the scale, it’s the same thing with blogging. It’s the Attitude and the content, not the numbers.

Once I let my creativity flow, Big Girl Bombshell emerged and took on a life all its own. The blog actually started out as with a totally different name and feel to it. It didn’t have my personality.

You’re blogging about something very close and personal, and the internet can be a harsh place. Do you have a way of dealing with this?

Yes, it is something close and personal, but it is also extremely real. Dieting, Weight Loss, Body Image has a huge presence in life and is seen or discussed in some form each day. I have encountered the complete opposite of what you are asking. It is a supportive and caring niche. It is a common ground among a large group of people who inspire, encourage, and share stories that make it personal. You can share their successes as well as their set-backs. I enjoy that sense of community. I guess that is why I blog in that niche. It combines technology and real life.

What is a recent milestone that you have accomplished with your blog? How were you able to achieve this milestone?

Milestones come in all sizes. Some of the first were having a day with 100 viewers. The first week, I had comments each day, and the first time I was asked to do a guest post. I have to admit, that some of the early milestones were from following the plan of ProBlogger, Darren Rowse, 31 days to Build a Better Blog and joining the ProBlogger.com community. It pushed me to practice different things in my writing which, in turn, gave me the confidence I needed to take a few chances and build upon what I already had within me.

What is your next goal that you want to achieve with your blog?

Since my niche is weight loss, you have to become comfortable with dreaming big and long term but focus on the tiny, everyday accomplishments. I want to have 1000 followers by the end of 2010. I want to have my blog represent a platform for future writing, a book, and a product line. But the tiny, everyday accomplishments come when reader’s comments let me know my writing has helped them in some small way.

What is your best tip for other people out there who might be new or struggling with their blogging?

Just keep at it! It cannot be said enough. Follow your heart, study the masters not only in your own niche but others outside your niche too. Remember that content is KING and writers are readers too. Read all that you can on other blogs. You don’t know which one may inspire you to great content!

Thanks again Julie for doing this interview.

Julie Hubert is a writer and artist who enjoys helping others overcome obstacles that they put forth in their life. Her personal mission statement is to help others discover their own potential through my own personal experience and examples, so that they may build a more positive outcome for the future. Follow Julie on Twitter at @BigGirlBombshel.

How to Make a Successful Blog Without Any Content

Paul Cunningham — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:00:48 +0000

Here are some blog posts to get you started.

Want to share what you’ve written? Leave a comment below with a link to your latest post.

Here’s a Quick Way to Create an Endless Supply of Blog Post Ideas

Paul Cunningham — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:02:07 +0000

Starting a blog with the goal of making money is fine, but monetization strategies won’t work if you can’t convert traffic into long term readers or subscribers. Converting that blog traffic means having the right content that will keep new visitors on your site. And creating that blog content begins by defining who your target audience is.

Your Primary Target Audience

A target audience can be as broad or as narrow as your blog’s niche allows, but requires definition so that your blogging efforts can be focussed on meeting the needs of that audience. If you don’t know who you are writing for how can you know if your blog content will resonate with the reader?

Take a few moments and think about who your blog’s target audience is in a broad sense. You might come up with definitions such as:

Photographers
Cooking enthusiasts
People who want to lose weight
Parents of school-age children

Next try to identify the types of problems or questions these people in your blog’s primary target audience might have that they will be searching online for.

For cooking enthusiasts you might come up with ideas such as:

Which basic ingredients to keep in your kitchen at all times
The most versatile or useful kitchen utensils to buy
How to make homemade pizza bases
How to cook for a large party
Low fat alternatives to delicious recipes

Those five ideas alone can expand out to dozens of interlinked blog posts – for example making pizza bases requires the correct basic ingredients on hand, the right utensils, and can then carry forward into a potentially limitless number of pizza recipes.

You can then write tips on how to cook a lot of pizza for a large party, and how to make low fat pizza recipes at home. All of those blog posts would satisfy your primary target audience.

Your Secondary Target Audience

After defining your blog’s primary target audience you should take some time to consider who your secondary audience might be. To me a secondary audience is someone who will find your blog content useful and interesting because of how it relates to their primary interest.

It is important to define secondary audiences because they can become a very large part of your blog’s traffic without you actually straying from your main topic.

If your primary audience is cooking enthusiasts then your secondary audiences might include the other examples I mentioned earlier – photographers, parents, and people wanting to lose weight.

Some photographers dedicate themselves to food photography and enjoy well photographed galleries of recipes and meals
Parents want to know which ingredients to keep on hand for quick and easy meal options, how to cater for their children’s parties, and how to feed their family low fat, healthy meals
People who want to lose weight are always seeking out low fat food recipes especially when they are delivered as daily or weekly meal plans to help manage their calories
Combining two of the above, busy parents who want to lose weight often struggle with finding the time to cook healthy meals, so if you can deliver them low fat, convenient recipes that their kids will also enjoy you’ve got yourself a killer piece of highly targeted content

Secondary audiences are important if you want to blog in a broad niche, but they can also help you define a much smaller niche to focus your efforts on. There is no reason you can’t be a successful food blogger focusing only on a specific cooking topic such as pizza, or tips for busy parents, or low fat diets.

As long as you understand who you are writing for there should be no shortage of on-topic content ideasfor your blog that solve reader’s problems.

Image Credit: Flickr

Birthday Giveaway Winners

Paul Cunningham — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:20:30 +0000

I’ve just drawn the results for my 5 days of birthday giveaways. The lucky winners are:

Twin Pack of SEO ebooks -Karen Ruby from A Meaningful Existence

Thesis Premium WordPress Theme -Fiona from Baby Steps to Fluency

Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting Guide – Jules from Big Girl Bombshell (via Twitter)

31 Days to Build a Better Blog – Tom from Recovery Helpdesk

Guest Post by Me – Tom from Build That List (via Twitter)

I’ll be contact the winners in the next 48 hours to verify their contact details and arrange delivery of the prizes. If for any reason one of the winners is not able to be reached or turns down the prize I will redraw that prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway contests, it was a fun week for me. I hope you all enjoy your prizes.

Image Credit: Flickr

Birthday Giveaway #5 – Win a Guest Post by Me

Paul Cunningham — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:00:04 +0000

For Day 5 of my birthday week giveaways the prize is a guest post for your blog written by me.

I set myself a goal for 2010 of writing at least 10 guest posts. The winner of this prize will be the first blog that I write a guest post for this year.

Casting such a wide net for my first potential guest post is probably a risky move. There is no telling what type of blog I will end up writing for when the random winner is announced! But I figure it is best to run with it and let fate decide where my first guest blog post will be, rather than try to attach any rules or limitations to the process.

How to Win a Guest Post by Me

Entering in the draw for this prize is simple. There are two ways to enter, giving you two chances of winning if you do both.

Get one entry by leaving a comment below explaining why you want to win the guest post by me on your blog. Make sure you leave your real email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

Get a second entry by following me on Twitter and clicking the Retweet button at the top of this post. If your Tweet is drawn as the winner I will contact you by DM so you need to be following me to win.

The prize will be drawn on Sunday 28th of February 2010 at 9:00pm (GMT+10). The winner will be chosen by placing all of the comments and Twitter entries into an Excel spreadsheet and using Random.org to generate the winner number.

Image Credit: Flickr

Birthday Giveaway #4 – Win 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

Paul Cunningham — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:00:24 +0000

For Day 4 of my week of birthday giveaways the prize is a copy of Problogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog ebook.

I remember when Darren ran the original 31DBBB project as a series of emails with daily advice and tasks for readers to complete. The impact on my blogging at that time was immediate. Some of the lessons I still carry on with today such as having an editorial calendar to manage my weekly blogging tasks, and using forums and other community sites to draw traffic to my blogs.

Those are just a few of the lessons that Darren teaches in 31DBBB, and I’ve seen nothing but good reports from other bloggers who also followed the guidance from Darren.

How to Win 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

Entering in the draw for this prize is simple. There are two ways to enter, giving you two chances of winning if you do both.

Get one entry by leaving a comment below explaining why you want to win 31DBBB. Make sure you leave your real email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

Image Credit: Flickr

Birthday Giveaway #3 – Win Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting Guide

Paul Cunningham — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:00:22 +0000

For Day 3 of my birthday week giveaways the prize is a free copy of Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting Guide and course.

I set a goal for 2010 of doing at least 10 guest posts but I knew I was going to need some help. I’ve always looked up to Chris for his prolific guest posting and so when I saw this workbook and mini-course combo I signed up straight away.

The workbook starts by teaching you the benefits of guest posting, how to find guest posting opportunities, and then creating and submitting guest posts. Chris then takes you through some of the perils and pitfalls of guest posting and teaches you how to avoid them. Finally he takes you through how to generate guest posting ideas using just a few simple techniques.

The workbook is so useful on its own but he didn’t stop there. Chris also provides a membership site with guest posting resources such as forms, checklists, and workflows, as well as a video lesson explaining how it all hangs together.

How to Win the Guest Posting Guide

Entering in the draw for this prize is simple. There are two ways to enter, giving you two chances of winning if you do both.

Get one entry by leaving a comment below explaining why you want to win the guest posting guide. Make sure you leave your real email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

Image Credit: Flickr

Blogging Teacher

Blogger Interview: Henry Ferdiansyah of Time as Wine

Tell us a little about your blog.

Do you think enough people take an interest in their own health and that of the environment these days?

How long have you been blogging for? What made you want to start blogging?

What were some of your biggest challenges when you first started blogging?

How did you overcome these challenges?

What is a recent milestone that you have accomplished with your blog? How were you able to achieve this milestone?

What is your next goal that you want to achieve with your blog?

What is your best tip for other people out there who might be new or struggling with their blogging?

Related articles:

Reader Q&A: How to Respond to Blog Comments

Reply to the Comment

Respond With Another Blog Post

Reply With an Email

Related articles:

How Secure Are Your Blog Passwords?

Related articles:

Blogger Interview: Julie Hubert of Big Girl Bombshell

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

How long have you been blogging for? What made you want to start blogging?

What were some of your biggest challenges when you first started blogging?

How did you overcome these challenges?

You’re blogging about something very close and personal, and the internet can be a harsh place. Do you have a way of dealing with this?

What is a recent milestone that you have accomplished with your blog? How were you able to achieve this milestone?

What is your next goal that you want to achieve with your blog?

What is your best tip for other people out there who might be new or struggling with their blogging?

Related articles:

How to Make a Successful Blog Without Any Content

Related articles:

Here’s a Quick Way to Create an Endless Supply of Blog Post Ideas

Your Primary Target Audience

Your Secondary Target Audience

Related articles:

Birthday Giveaway Winners

Other articles:

Birthday Giveaway #5 – Win a Guest Post by Me

How to Win a Guest Post by Me

Other articles:

Birthday Giveaway #4 – Win 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

How to Win 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

Other articles:

Birthday Giveaway #3 – Win Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting Guide

How to Win the Guest Posting Guide

Other articles: