Time for a new Bloggers Face-Off.
In this edition we have two long time DBT readers who have very popular marketing blogs. The first one is Adam Singer, who blogs at The Future Buzz. If you are interested in marketing, PR and social media (not to mention the intersections between those fields), his blog is a must read.
The second one is Eric Friedman, author of Marketing.fm. On his blog Eric explores how technology affects marketing, and he is always coming up with interesting stuff, so check it out.
Adam Singer |
Eric Friedman |
| 1. How many hours per day do you dedicate to the blog? |
|
| Approximately 2 hours daily | 1-2 depending on the day. Sometimes more for interviews\podcasting editing time |
| 2. How many page views does your blog get daily? |
|
| On average ~1,500 but on days I go hot in social media, it spikes much higher | 700-1000 on average and exponentially more when I get solid traction on a post |
| 3. Do you make money with it? |
|
| I don’t make money from my blog directly – but indirectly it is worth far more. As a communications professional, it is appealing for clients to be able to have access to an active blogger. It also helps me experiment with how ideas spread and establish my credentials by sharing case studies/ideas/strategy in an open format | My blog played an important role in getting me my current job, so technically yes. I have run advertising to test out new forms of technology and ad units in the past, but all in an effort to experiment and learn. I have a better understanding of ad products once I have used them “in the wild” |
| 4. How long did it take for you to reach 1,000 subscribers? |
|
| Around one year | 2 years |
| 5. Can one build a popular blog on a free WordPress theme? |
|
| Absolutely – if you look at what Seth Godin has done with a default TypePad theme, you’ll see it is possible to create a white-hot blog based purely on strong content | Absolutely. Content is king and is proven by those popular bloggers on the default theme. It helps once you have an established readership to build a quality archive page and surface old posts, but good writing always trumps good looks |
| 6. What is the biggest blogging mistake you did? |
|
| Not starting a professional blog sooner. I had been keeping a personal blog since 2005, but only decided to launch a niche-focused blog in 2007. Wish I had done that far sooner, as I would have benefited from a strong wave of growth during that time | Making mistakes is the part of blogging that helps you learn the most – I would say blasting RSS readers with updates when I was editing podcast posts accidentally |
| 7. Twitter is a distraction or a good promotional tool? |
|
| Great promotion tool for your blog content, but also a distraction if you’re not careful. I spend most time focusing on producing the absolute best writing and not worrying about Twitter. People will share your material if they like it, doesn’t have anything to do with how much time you spend there | Clearly I am biased, but I legitimately feel it is a great promotional tool. It has been great for feedback, ideas, quick polls, and of course promotion too – but in the end it just extends the conversation of a good post |
| 8. Do you think AdSense makes a blog look unprofessional? |
|
| It depends on what you’re doing with your blog – if you’re keeping a blog to help your career and establish your credentials, ask yourself if it is really worth it to pocket a few hundred from AdSense monthly. I’d rather use screen real estate for things my audiences find interesting instead of making a little extra cash | Thinking about ad placement is key to a good design. AdSense can look silly when contextual relevance fails, but overall a well placed contextually relevant ad should ad value and in turn provide a more professional feel to a blog |
| 9. If you could give an advice for a novice blogger, what would it be? |
|
| Write on what you’re passionate about and you really can’t fail | Start today. I have helped tons of bloggers at all stages of life begin writing and the hardest hurdle, even more so than hosting, domain names, setup, etc… is starting to write |
| 10. What is the best way to increase website traffic? |
|
| Get on the radar of social media power users. They won’t share your content unless it is top-notch, but when it is, interested, connected people are the key to driving massive amounts of traffic | Treat your blog like an island. It needs supplies, traffic ports, trade routes, and visitors to remain habitable. Ignore one or more of these metaphors and your blog can become a deserted and desolate island fast – pay attention to each and you will have a favorite destination of visitors who want to come back |
Wow!!! Very nice discussion. I am also regretting not to start blog sooner. I think now it takes hard work and long time than before.
And the best thing is (I know of Adam’s work but not Eric’s until I had a look earlier) that the readers are not being treated as kids. Why can’t there be more adult focused blogs?
The other great thing about them both that I pick up from this face-off is that neither one of them is coming out with outlandish claims of wealth as most bloggers do. How very refreshing.
nice face off!!!!! lol ummm….intresting!
interesting interview 🙂 thanks for advices Adam and Eric! To see your blog as an island can be very useful and actually makes you fight for it like you would save people lives.
Nice interviews. That’s funny about accidentally posting his podcasts when working on it
This is a cool idea for a blogpost!!
Very inspirational. Also the content!
thank you for sharing! .-D
Greetings,
Claus D Jensen
Thanks for the feedback everyone – this was a great experience for me as well.
@Nicholas – it was a lesson worth learning 🙂
@Brandon – I think Seth is a pretty big outlier, but he still does amazing things with a design that is now years old.
@timinganddelivery – thanks! Yes problem fixed.
The rest:
Thanks for dropping by – this was actually a great experience and I am glad to go up against someone that constantly delivers awesome content. Thanks DailyBlogTips!
I liked Eric’s simile – comparing a blog with an island 😉 and I am glad that I don’t need to go mad to get 1000 subscribers – I probably have a few more months 😆
Adam’s Future Buzz is just one of a handful of blogs that I subscribe to because just like DBT, he always delivers value to me the reader and that is all I am looking for.
Great interviews, I like these Face-Offs – they’re always interesting and give some great ideas.
Nice interviews. That’s funny about accidentally posting his podcasts when working on it
Both have points and well taken. Thanks for this interview. It inspires me more.
Great Interview. For novice bloggers here is a ton of good advice. Start today. starting writing cos blogging IS unfortunately writing!
good advice/tips from both. my takeaways- start NOW, don’t wait, and write about what you know & love. and i add, don’t do it for $$$, do it because you want (and need) to!
thanks.
Adam: I agree with your ‘start early’ point. I too started our blog as a ‘personal’ blog and about a year or so later, transitioned into a professional blog.
Eric: appreciate the island metaphor. And the RSS mistake, ouch! Hope you rectified it!
My issue, is that I want to drive even MORE traffic, which wasn’t fully addressed here.
Loved both comments, but using Seth Godin is a bad, bad example. He does use the default Typepad theme, but he has thousands of very loyal readers and marketers that followed his books offline and followed him online when he made the jump.
A better example would be Chris Brogan, who started online and steadily built a loyal audience over time.
Nice interviews. That’s funny about accidentally posting his podcasts when working on it. Thanks for sharing about that! 🙂