Le blog de Chanty

Questions

Mireille Raad

lifegeeked.com

Gino Raidy

 Ginosblog.com

1- How long have you been blogging?

First personal blog when blogger was out by google, diary stuff

Almost 2 months now (Started on the 1^st of January 2010)

2- How many hours per day do you dedicate to the blog?

To blogging in general, a lot, it is somehow a job , to lifegeeked , almost nothing now , used to be like 2 hour a week

An hour a day, sometimes more, and some days none at all

3- Has it been worth it so far?

Yes, cuz thru blogging I met very interesting ppl and relationship with like-minded ppl improved

Very much so. The feedback I’ve received from my friends and strangers alike has been magnificent (not to mention the 98 on ENGL 236)

4- How many page views does your blog get daily?

Currently dropped to 50

Anywhere from 120 to 350, depending on the day’s entry

5- How many blogs do you have or write for currently?

Blogs I manage are different from blogs I write for, but currently I am writing on Abaadblogs.com , migh.info , lifegeeked.com  , migh.info/yab , a photography blog

I manage a lot of blogs, some are for clients , some are non-profit orgs

I have one blog, but contribute to 2 other blogs

6- How many hours do you dedicate to them every day?

A lot

Less than an hour per week, if any

7- Do you think one needs to post daily to be successful?

No

For me, the traffic fluctuations help set the pace

8- Is there an ideal posting frequency?

Quality is what matters, not qty

I believe alternating between a researched, well-written entry and another which focuses on lighter aspects (reviews, tips, how-tos…) makes the perfect mix

9- What is the biggest blogging mistake you did?

Didn’t take personal blogs seriously and still wouldn’t…unless it is a job, it won’t be serious

I posted some of my best work very early on and went through a tough dry spell as a result

10- What is the biggest mistake you see in blog designs?

Lots of blogs don’t’ have a unique visual identity but it is fine since not everyone has time to customize themes…as for mistakes…stupid big colored fonts.. too crowded, too many images and un-organized where their content gets lost or becomes hard to read

Too visually crowded. If people need to put an effort into decoding your blog, it sort of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

11- Twitter is a distraction or a good promotional tool?

I don’t like to self-promote … if someone liked and tweeted, fine… social media tools are to share content not to brag/show off/ hammer ppl with personal links

To give idea about how important twitter is , the blogs I see their stats, google remains one of the top sources, then stuff like stumble, digg then twitter ( maybe twitter is a bit over rated or maybe I am missing to see full potential )

Twitter hits are also for short period of time then they fade

But With google putting search results from twitter and ranking tweeples  this will change of course

Twitter’s amazing, but I haven’t really had the time to keep up with the fast-paced microblogging site… I have my hopes set on Google’s Buzz though!

12- Do you think that any professional should have a blog?

Yes, it helps at least in self dev and doing research for articles + being recognized as a pro + it may change how a person view job and I don’t think it would hurt anyway

Yes. A blog humanizes the blogger and demystifies whatever business the professional is engaged in. In other words, it’s candid and honest, no marketing strings attached

13- If you could give an advice for a novice blogger, what would it be?

Ignore everybody.. blog about things how u see them, say things bluntly no matter who likes, comments or not, don’t worry about “how popular” ur blog is and saying things that will please ppl … use ur blog to have a true community, meet ur readers till they become ur friends ( the good ones at least )

Be novel and be spontaneous. Experienced something or had an epiphany? Put it into as few words as possible, add a couple of pictures and share it with the world

14- What is the secret of your success, expressed in one word?

I am not successful :P

Sharing

15- If you could write a post on any blog in the world, which one would you pick?

Xkcd.com

Failblog.org – I’d like to let out the heartless critic in me…