Interviews with Top Bloggers: Jason Katzenback
What could a cow teach you about blogging and making money online?
No, that’s not a typo. I was fortunate enough to interview the owner of JohnChow.com’s rival – Jason Katzenback at JohnCow.com. What I find the most exciting thing about this blog is that’s so funny, entertaining and informative…
You not only will learn a ton of info on blogging and making money online, but also have a lot of fun at the same time.
Click here to download the PDF version of this interview, or read the text version below:
1. Would you mind sharing a few things about
yourself and your background for our readers?
I am married, have two beautiful children and have been fulltime online for 4 years now.
2. When did you get started blogging, and why?
My first experience with a blog was back in 2004 using the “Tag and Ping” strategy for generating traffic to my other web sites. I certainly was not a blogger back them, instead I simply used blogs as a form of promotion.
3. What’s the biggest mistake you
made getting started with this?
I had blinders on… since everyone was using blogs as a promotional type tool and the industry was so focused on “made for AdSense” type sites… the idea of creating unique and worthwhile content on blogs was not something I considered. There was so much focus on comment spam, pinging, trackback spam and more that I looked at a blog as nothing more then a spam tool.
4. How did you come up with the
idea of running a blog?
I actually got more serious about blogging back in November of 2005 with our new free software tool OrwellPro. The interaction you could have with your potential customers was eye opening. Since then I have started to use blogs in all my non IM niches but never really got into a blog about marketing online. I was so busy with teaching my members at http://www.PortalFeeder.com that it really did not seem like something worth doing. I think too I was a little intimidated to start giving away free information because of upsetting my paid customers.
When we launched DealDotCom.com a year ago, I had my eyes really opened to an entire different world of blogging and this really spiked my curiosity about creating a marketing focused blog. The audience of http://www.DealDotCom.com seemed to be largely related to blogging because of JohnChow who blogged about us. As I started to interact with these bloggers I realized that they really looked at things different from internet marketers… and not in a bad way, just in a different way. This is also the time I was introduced to the blog http://www.Johncow.com and thought that it was brilliant the way the owner tapped into the idea of being a knock off of JohnChow.
Over the next few months I was focusing on getting http://www.TrafficKahuna.com ready for launch and the entire time I played with the idea of starting my own blog until my business partners Jason Potash and Marc Quarles mentioned that http://www.JohnCow.com was for sale. We loved the “Brand” of JohnCow and thought this could be something very interesting to move forward with. So we purchased the blog in April and the rest is pretty much history J
5. How often do you publish and
how do you get content ideas?
I try to get a new post out everyday… but it is not always possible. There are some blogs that like short posts and lots of them, which I understand the reason for but that is not my style. Once I start writing, I need to tell a lot of detail… I want people to clearly understand what I am saying and have a hard time doing that in less then 400 words.
Most of my content ideas come from what I have come to know that people are interested in from my paid services like PortalFeeder and TrafficKahuna. I also write about what I find interesting and of course I listen to the comments and emails I get from readers.
6. How do you mainly receive (or generate)
traffic to your blog?
This is kind of an ironic situation right now. The majority of my traffic is repeat visitors… which is the best kind of traffic you can get, but Alexa has changed their algorithm and does not count repeat traffic at all anymore.
What’s ironic about this is I have put a lot of effort into generating a lot of repeat traffic through increased subscribers and I have not put as much effort into search engine traffic. Well now if you look at Alexa, my rank dropped dramatically (I posted about this a few days ago at…
http://www.johncow.com/alexa-sucks-and-i-think-you-will-agree/ ) however my Google Analytics shows I am receiving record traffic to Johncow.
Now that does not really answer your question but it relates to t because the main way I generate traffic is through encouraging my readers (through good content, contests, incentives and affiliate commissions) to spread the word about Johncow. I of course do a lot of link building but optimizing my content was put that on the back burner while I focused on increasing my subscribers.
7. What is your most closely-guarded
secret about blogging for money?
Stop making up excuses, Stop wasting time on busy work and stand out from the crowd. There really is no secret but these are the number one reasons.
I hear all the time people complaining about how little time they have, how “if only” they had so and so… it is ridiculous. These people think that they are busier then everyone else… that there must be something special that the successful people have done. This is absolute bull!
I started my business while I was working a full time job for a large fortune 500 company, I had a young family, my wife was suffering some health issues and we were involved in our local church. We all only have 24hours in a day and 7 days in a week and it comes down to prioritizing how you spend that time and what you focus on.
I hear people say they only have time to either write a post or promote it… not both. I think that is complete crap. Turn off the TV, put down the book, set your alarm a little earlier in the morning and get done what needs to be done.
The last part is to be different. Yes you want to model what the successful are doing but that does not mean copy. Being different is what gets you noticed and you need to find out a way to be different and then capitalize on it.
8. What differentiates your blog among
all the others in your niche field?
The first is having a COW for a mascot… this helps make or blog brandable. I feel we are also one of the few that actually talk from experience… I lot of “make money” blogs are written from people trying to make money… not already making money. So we have a little more authority on the subject. We are also incorporating JOHNCOWtv…
http://www.johncow.com/johncowtv/
…a new initiative that is using the power of online video to both educate and entertain. Each video will contain worthwhile advice and also something entertaining. I am excited to see how this develops.
We also have been able to use contests very successfully. I have talked with other bloggers who have tried but have not been able to make them work but we have done well with them.
9. If you had to get a boost in comments
from your blog readers, how would you do it?
Post something controversial, add a poll to the post and then offer an incentive for the best comment.
10. Which are the blogs you visit frequently and why?
I don’t read that many blogs in all honesty. My most frequently visited are…
- http://www.copyblogger.com – Excellent content on writing
- http://problogger.com – the best blogging blog there is
- http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ – closest thing to being friends with someone in google
- http://blog.seorevolution.com/ – best seo advice available
- http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/ – Yaro is a good friend and a great blogger.
- And I used to read http://andybeard.eu/ but he stopped posting for while. – honest and to the point.
- Last of all I have started to visit http://imwithjoe.com/ a fair bit because his videos make me laugh and he writes some genuine content.
11. Which are your favorite bloggers and why?
I can’t say I have a favorite, each of the above have their own unique flare when it comes to their blog. I loved Andy Beard’s because it was very much in your face and honest but I like blogs that offer advice and get involved with their readers.
12. Which plugins you can’t live without and why?
My top plugins are…
Akismet – http://akismet.com/
This is the best spam plugin of them all
All In One SEO – http://semperfiwebdesign.com/
Makes SEO optimizing your blog a breeze
Brian’s Threaded Comments – http://meidell.dk/threadedcomments/
If you want to interact with your readers who comment then this makes it a lot easier
Comment Luv – http://www.fiddyp.co.uk/commentluv-wordpress-plugin/
Fantastic incentive for people to comment on your site
XML Sitemaps – http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/
Very fast and easy way to create a Google sitemap
OIO-Publisher – http://download.oiopublisher.com/
Best ad manager for blogs
Polls – http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/
I love adding polls to posts to get my readers engaged
13. What is the most important thing you learned about blogging that you could share with your best friend?
Find out how you can stand out from the crowd and get noticed. There are thousands of options and ask yourself “would I visit my blog if someone else owned it?”
People will not subscribe and return to your blog because you have a “Subscribe to my RSS” button on your blog, they will subscribe because there was something about your blog that stuck out to them. Find your unique angle and capitalize on it!
14. What plans do you have for
the future with your blog?
Johncow has lots and lots of plans, we are creating a lot of affiliate opportunities for readers to spread the word about us even more and get pad for it, we have started JOHNCOWtv, we are planning some great contests and lots more. http://www.Johncow.com will NOT be going on sale ever again… well unless someone offers me some insane amount of money J
We wish Jason success in the future and thank you very much for sharing your BLOGGING tips, tricks & secrets with us all!
If you want to get further into blogging, check out these resources:
- WordPress Profit Maximizer – The BEST WordPress Plugins sent to you weekly via e-mail:
http://www.remarkableblogging.com/rb-products/wp-profit-maximizer/
- Lazy Blogging dot Com – “Here’s Everything You Wanted to Know About Building a Small Blog That Rakes-In $300, $3,000.. and Even $30,000 Per Month!”
Thank you,
Codrut Turcanu.
Interviews With Top Bloggers: Reed Floren
How can a 22-year old semi-retired Internet marketer who never blogged before get 11,030 unique visitors,
and receive 1,300 comments in its first month blogging?
What does he know that you don’t?
This is shocking, yet it’s not some magic formula. Almost anybody could copy his strategy.
Click here to download the PDF version of this interview, or read the text version below:
1. Would you mind sharing a few things about
yourself and your background for our readers?
I’m a 22 year old semi-retired internet marketer who recently became a father and I have been marketing online since 1999 (I was 13). I have never had to apply for a job, write a resume or go to a job interview. A lot of people tell me my story is unique and interesting and if you want to learn a lot more about my background you can see it on my blog http://www.reedfloren.com/who-is-reed-floren/
2. When did you get started blogging, and why?
I had dabbled in blogging before but was never really passionate about it so I don’t think that counts.
On my http://www.reedfloren.com blog my first post was September 2nd 2008 and the time of this interview it is October 5th 2008 so I’ve been blogging about one month.
My blog’s PageRank is 4 and my Alexa 1 week ranking average is currently 75,667. For the month of September I had 11,030 unique visitors and 58,454 pages views, my blog also has over 1,300 comments on it.
I did spend some money outsourcing my blog design, I have writers who write for me and I did spend money on a press release but have NOT spent any money on advertising this site.
I reluctantly started blogging because my JV partners, friends, and customers wanted to see what I could come up with. So far I have enjoyed it a lot.
3. What’s the biggest mistake you
made getting started with this?
My biggest mistake was not starting blogging earlier. I have gotten new JV partners, new clients, recognition and a lot of testimonials that I otherwise wouldn’t have in the past month plus I have been building a deeper relationship with my list and creating content which I can use in other ways such as the basis for future products.
4. How did you come up with the
idea of launching your blog?
My customers and JV partners were asking for it. I reluctantly did what they asked.
5. How often do you publish and
how do you get content ideas?
I publish at least once per day, I have a team of writers who I give them a few ideas for articles and then they write and I approve or disapprove of what they wrote for me.
Each article costs around $5 and I’m not just using them for my blog so it is very cost effective and allows me to spend more time with my family.
I am turning the articles into PowerPoint slides and then recording them with Camtasia as:
1. Individual videos to give away
2. Putting them into a product to sell
My ideas come from seeing other articles, products and what my customers ask for.
6. How do you mainly receive (or generate)
traffic to your blog?
Since my blog is new 99% of my traffic comes from my email marketing list. I tell my subscribers every time I put up a new blog post. This has helped get this blog off the ground and has made an excellent community for my subscribers to go to and learn/share their thoughts on internet marketing.
7. What is your most closely-guarded
secret about blogging for money?
You don’t have to write the content yourself; my blog readers LOVE what my writers are doing and it’s really not very expensive to have someone do that for you while you spend time with your family. For instance it costs me around $5 to have each article written if you were to do the same and have one written per day it would cost you only $150 per month plus you can use this content for other things such as a product.
The site I use to find these writers is http://need-an-article.net/
8. What differentiates your blog among
all the others in your niche field?
Anyone who has studied internet marketing enough or can outsource could compete with my blog. The difference that I have is:
1. My story (22 year old semi-retired marketer)
2. My email list sends a lot of my traffic
If I can do this you can do this; blogging is about as difficult as using Microsoft Word or sending an email.
9. If you had to get a boost in comments
from your blog readers, how would you do it?
I would write something interesting or highly controversial. Currently my top post is on the birth of my son Zachary Thomas Iacono-Floren and that has nearly 200 comments on it.
Check it out here: http://www.reedfloren.com/marissa-parents/
10. Which are the blogs you visit frequently and why?
If I somehow get on a blog that has something that grabs my attention I will read it but I do not go out of my way looking for blogs to read or follow.
11. Which are your favorite bloggers and why?
None, I don’t specifically follow any bloggers at the moment.
12. Which plugins you can’t live without and why?
These all seem to help my blog quite a bit.
Add to Any: Subscribe – this helps boost RSS readers
All in One SEO Pack – helps improve your search engine rankings
BredCrumb Navigation XT – improves navigation
Commentluv – if they have a blog and comment on mine it will show their last post under their comment
Comment Relish – sends a thank you email and reminds them to subscribe
FeedBurner – boosts and tracks RSS readers
Dean’s Permalkinks – I changed my permalinks and this redirects them
Get Recent Comments – show’s the people who comment the must, boost their ego
Google Analytics - tracks how visitors view my site
Most Comments – shows the posts with the most comments
Google XML Sitemaps – improve search engine rankings
NoFollowFREE – gives my readers another reason to comment because it boost their search engine rankings
Odiogo Listen Button (my readers LOVE this one) a computerized voice which sounds very human reads my posts and saves them as an MP3 for convenient download
Popularity Contest – displays the most popular items
Pyschic Search – tracks what people search for on my blog
SEO Post Link – makes my post link SEO friendly
Sociable – helps add my posts to social bookmarking sites
Subscribe Me – boosts RSS readership
Tweet My Blog! (updates everyone on my twitter and facebook that I posted something to my blog)
13. What is the most important thing you learned about blogging that you could share with your best friend?
It’s really easy to blog; directly making money from the blog has been harder than I thought though but I’ve only been doing it a month.
However indirectly it’s been very nice; lots of testimonials, new clients, content for future products and a bigger presence.
14. What plans do you have for
the future with your blog?
My blog at http://www.reedfloren.com will have more guest bloggers.
Currently when I see someone has put a lot of time and effort into their comments on my blog and I agree with what they are saying I invite them to write for me (this costs me nothing as they do it on a volunteer basis).
I typically will invite them and if they are interested I will share a few more details on how it works and benefits them and then they will write for me for free. It’s win/win.
I want to switch more and more to a publisher role in my business as opposed to a marketer and once that step is completed just as an owner who has someone else manage it all.
We wish Reed success in the future and thank you very much for sharing your BLOGGING tips, tricks & secrets with us all!
If you want to get further into blogging, check out these resources:
WordPress Profit Maximizer – The BEST WordPress Plugins sent to you weekly via e-mail.
Lazy Blogging dot Com – Everything I learned about blogging!
Thank you,
Codrut Turcanu.
Interviews With Top Bloggers: Mert Erkal
He started blogging just to make some extra money to pay his mortgage debt.
Now he’s ready to take the Internet by storm and rake-in big bucks with his latest blogging ventures: Bloghology Blogging Magazine and Bloghology Social Network.
Find about Mert’s trials, errors and success in this brand new interview…
Click here to download the PDF version of this interview, or read the text version below:
1. Would you mind sharing a few things about
yourself and your background for our readers?
My name is Mert Erkal. I am 34 years old, and from Istanbul, Turkey. I worked for Maersk Line Turkey as Marketing Analyst between 1998-2008. As of August 2008 I left my full time job after 10 years of hardworking and dedication to earn my living from problogging and Internet projects. I am the chief editor of Bloghology Blogging Magazine.
2. When did you get started blogging, and why?
I started blogging in 2006. My aim was to make some extra money to pay my mortgage debt. Between Dec 2006 till Sep 2007 I was using Blogger.com. Take a look at my blog at that time : Meeting-Continents. I used to write paid reviews from PayPerPost, Reviewme, Smorty etc. with that blog. I was making $20-30 per day with paid reviews. On the other hand I was writing about my lovely city Istanbul.
3. What’s the biggest mistake you
made getting started with this?
Even though I was making good money, I realized that writing paid reviews was taking so much time. I had no time left for social life. I was working for a full time job, and then at nights I was chasing for paid review opportunities to write. I started to think about smarter ways to make money online before it is too late. That was the biggest mistake I made when I started.
4. How did you come up with the
idea of launching your blog?
I was so lucky that I somehow got an invitation from Yaro Starak for his mentoring program Blog Mastermind. The lessons were coming to my email address on weekly basis. Yaro wanted his students to take some action in every week. It was not a one way communication. Yaro honestly told us that there is no easy way to make money online.
Yaro was giving us some weekly tasks to accomplish. One of the tasks was having a self hosted blog with your own domain name. At the moment I was reading a book by Viktor Frankl titled “Men’s Search For Meaning”. I inspired from the book title and put the name as Search For Blogging — http://www.searchforblogging.com.
5. How often do you publish and
how do you get content ideas?
I publish 5-6 times a week. I got the ideas from my own experiences. I try out tools, products, books, websites, all kinds of idea related to blogging, and then share my own experiences with my readers. Main topic is making money online.
6. How do you mainly receive (or generate)
traffic to your blog?
It has been more than one year since my blog was launched. So I am an established blogger with 300+ RSS reader. Still I use social bookmarking tools like www.socialmarker.com to send my blog posts to 30+ social bookmarking sites. In addition I regularly use Blog Catalog, My Blog Log. Recently I discovered Twitter as a good promotion tool for bloggers.
7. What is your most closely-guarded
secret about blogging for money?
Don’t cheat your readers just to make some extra income. First try out before selling something to others. Don’t put money on the first place. Focus more on your content quality. Money will follow anyway.
8. What differentiates your blog among
all the others in your niche field?
My blog is powered by my personality. I believe that all bloggers should take a share from the online money pie. Today popular pro-bloggers are talking about ways of make money online with blogs, yet they are getting richer, majority of the bloggers are making less than 10$ a month. I want to break free from this vicious circle.
9. If you had to get a boost in comments
from your blog readers, how would you do it?
I would finish my blog posts with some questions to be answered by the readers. Also I would use some plugins which encourages readers to comment on one’s blog.
10. Which are the blogs you visit frequently and why?
I rarely spend my time reading other’s blogs. Having said that I visit blogs when I feel that there is something in them for me. Not a specific blog.
11. Which are your favorite bloggers and why?
Alex Sysoef at http://www.howtospoter.com/, Stephan Miller at http://www.stephanmiller.com/, Louis Liem, and Miguel Wickert at http://miguelpineiro.net are my favorite bloggers. They are quite natural most of the time, and adding value to their readers.
12. Which plugins you can’t live without and why?
Comment Relish and What Would Seth Godin Do. They help me increase my readership.
13. What is the most important thing you learned about blogging that you could share with your best friend?
Blogging is no different than running a marathon. It is not a 100 m race. You should keep running all the time.
14. What plans do you have for
the future with your blog?
I am the chief editor of Bloghology Blogging Magazine. Also we launched the new Bloghology Social Network for Bloggers with my partner Vasilis Pasparas, owner of Interactive Global Media and publisher of the Bloghology Blogging Magazine.
What is next? It is not a secret. I am planning to provide design, blog support, and blog mentoring services through my blog by making joint ventures with experts on these fields.
We wish Mert success in the future and thank you very much for sharing your BLOGGING tips, tricks & secrets with us all!
If you want to get further into blogging, check out these resources:
WordPress Profit Maximizer – The BEST WordPress Plugins sent to you weekly via e-mail!
Lazy Blogging dot Com – Everything I learned about blogging!
Thank you,
Codrut Turcanu.
Interviews With Top Bloggers: Darren Rowse
Believe it or not, your blog can make you a fortune online if you know how to use it.
I had the pleasure and opportunity to interview the pro blogger guy, Darren Rowse, his blog currently shows 66,740 RSS readers.
If you haven’t managed to get that many folks reading your blog yet, you have to listen to what Darren has to teach you about blogging. He gets the “lucky” chance to mail his blog readers every day…
If you had the opportunity to write for 66k people, do you think you could make at least $10,000? You bet! I suspect Darren makes a lot more…
Because he was too busy already and almost declined the interview, I decided to just ask him 8 easy questions
Click here to download the PDF version of this interview, or read the text version below:
- Would you mind sharing a few things about
yourself and your background for our readers?
I’m a 36 year old guy living in suburban Melbourne Australia with my wife and two boys (they are 4 months old and 2 years old). After high school I studied Marketing for a while and then switched to Theology (a strange mix I know).
I’ve worked in a number of jobs over the years but most have centered around working in churches as a minister. I’m also a keen photographer and avid reader (although both have suffered since having a family I’m afraid).
2. When did you get started blogging, and why?
I began blogging in November of 2002 on a personal blog which covered a lot of topics – everything from culture, spirituality, politics, movies, church and a lot more.
I originally got into blogging as a result of being sucked into and intrigued by a number of other blogs (particularly those talking about emerging forms of church). I was fascinated by the way that they gave people a voice and amplified that voice globally while also helping the blogger to form community around the topics that they wrote. I started a blog the very day that I stumbled upon these blogs.
Over the years I expanded that first blog into a number of more commercial or entrepreneurial blogs including Digital Photography School (a blog on digital photography) and ProBlogger (a blog with blog tips).
I’ve been lucky enough in the last few years to build these blogs into a full time income – blogging progressed from a hobby, to a part time job to a full time thing. I also started (with two other bloggers) a blog network called b5media.
3. What’s the biggest mistake you
made getting started with this?
My mistakes happen on a daily basis – the key is to learn from them and to use those lessons so that you improve what you do.
One mistake that I made was to start ProBlogger with ProBlogger.net instead of ProBlogger.com. The .com version was not available in the early days but I could have bought it for a lot less than I eventually paid for it.
Similarly Digital Photography School is a URL with hyphens in it – something I wish I’d not done. However even mistakes like these don’t mean you’re doomed – I managed to build successful blogs, even on dodgy domains (phew!).
4. How did you come up with the
idea of launching your blog?
With ProBlogger the idea simply came about because I myself wanted to find information on how to improve my blog and make money from it – however I couldn’t find that kind of information anywhere – so I started my own to document my journey and in the hope of connecting with others doing similar things to me (ie to learn from others).
With Digital Photography School the idea came out of another blog which I was running that was aggregating digital camera reviews from around the web. I got a lot of emails from readers who appreciated the reviews but wanted to know how to use the cameras that they bought.
The logical response was to start writing tips on that topic – a new blog was born.
5. How often do you publish and
how do you get content ideas?
On ProBlogger I attempt to publish two posts each weekday and one per day on the weekend. On Digital Photography School I aim to post once per day.
Content ideas come from a range of places including reader questions, extending ideas I’ve previously written about, building on ideas I get in ‘real life’, from interacting with people on social media sites like Twitter, offline sources (like magazines) etc.
I find that the longer I’ve blogged the more open I am to getting ideas in the day to day of life. It’s about looking out for these ideas and having ways to capture them.
6. How do you mainly receive (or generate)
traffic to your blog?
Ultimately it comes down to writing quality content over the long term and letting traffic grow naturally through readers sharing it with their friends, other bloggers linking to you, readers submitting content to social media sites etc. I’ve never really advertised my blog or begged for links from anyone – I spend the bulk of my time concentrating on writing the best content that I can.
Having said that – I learned a little about search engine optimization and am also actively participating on social media site – learning these skills can definitely help to get your site out there.
7. What is your most closely-guarded
secret about blogging for money?
I don’t really have any secrets – I write everything I know about blogging for money on ProBlogger. If there’s a ‘secret’ it is simply that it takes a lot of work and a long term view. It’s not really a ‘secret’ but many times people skip over the fact that it takes a long time and a lot of work – they think it’s possible to get rich quick blogging. The reality is that it’s not (unless you get extremely lucky).
8. What plans do you have for
the future with your blog?
My main plans are to continue to expand my blogs. I’m not really in a position to talk more about these expansion plans yet but hopefully by the end of the year there will be some news to share.
We wish Dareen success in the future and thank you very much for sharing your BLOGGING tips, tricks & secrets with us all!
If you want to get further into blogging, check out these resources:
WordPress Profit Maximizer – The BEST WordPress Plugins sent to you weekly via e-mail!
Lazy Blogging dot Com – Everything I learned about blogging!
Thank you,
Codrut Turcanu.
