We are Fuelmyblog is a series of interviews dedicated to our bloggers on Fuel. We are glad to discover a little bit more about the person behind the blog and to see how you feel about blogging. Snailbird.com belongs to Nikki Jeske, artist and aspiring writer. If you would like to take part in this feature too, email sylvie(at)fuelmyblog.com

What’s your name?

Nikki Jeske

What’s the name of your blog?

Snailbird.com

What’s the URL of your blog?

http://snailbird.com

How old is your blog?

This particularly one is about 2.5 years old.

If you’re willing to share, how many visitors per day do you have to your blog?

According to my traffic logs, I get about twenty to thirty hits a day. That’s low – come on people, help me out!

How much time do you spend blogging every week?

Probably too much time. I try to blog at least once a day, but most of my “blogging” consists of reading other blogs, creating new wordpress themes, or getting inspiration for content from other, similar bloggers. So let’s say anywhere from seven hours to twenty, because I’m slow and much of my evening is taken up with blog-related things.

Is it the creative process or the editing process which take you longest when writing a post?

Both! I write slowly and to top it off, I tend to re-write things a lot. It takes awhile for me to finish something. The editing process is only faster than the creative process because of one thing: my girlfriend, who happens to also hold the position of my editor. She reads everything I write and makes sure there are no errors. I don’t know what I’d do without her.

What inspired you to first start writing a blog?

I started keeping a journal on the ever popular Livejournal way back in high school (starting in 2000). It wasn’t until 2006 that I really began to blog seriously though. I’ve always loved to write, and keeping a journal online seemed like a really great idea. Some friends pulled me into Livejournal and then I took the next step and created a blog on my website so I could have more control over the design and CSS. I’m not quite sure what my inspiration for it was, other than my own love for writing, web-designing, and wanting to share my thoughts with other people. “Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.”

What do you do to get inspired to write?

Read. Go through CNN.com or Newsfortheweird.com. Generally, though, I end up writing something that popped into my head because of some sort of conversation I had had during the day. My inspiration comes from my girlfriend, our kids, my job, and my day to day thought process. It’s hard to pinpoint just one thing.

How do you market your blog?

Money-wise, I really don’t make a ton of cash from my blog. I have a few Google AdSense ads up, but that’s about it. Maybe I’ll do more later on when I get more readers, but for now, I just get my blog out there by joining sites like this one, and joining communities of people who write similar-style blogs. Commenting on others’ posts and starting up discussions in forums really help build up the community; I love making connections and finding other cool blogs to read. I’ve recently started making Wordpress Themes as freebies and I’m hoping to see an increase in the amount of interest in them. What do you think?

What are the blogging tools you cannot do without?

Well Wordpress is what I use to run my blog, so I suppose I couldn’t live without that. All my themes and graphics I make myself using Adobe Photoshop CS3, and that’s the most used program on my computer. I love it.

Is there anything that you simply refuse to blog about?

I’m sure there are things I haven’t blogged about, but I don’t know if there’s anything I specifically refuse to blog about. I think, if asked, I would blog about anything. I’m a fairly open person, and if you ask, I’m usually apt to respond honestly no matter how embarrassing or inappropriate the question (and answer) is.

If you went for a job interview and were told that you’d have to close your blog in order to get the job, how would you react/feel about it?

Well, I’d wonder how they had learned about my blog in the first place. But really, I doubt this would happen, and if it did, I would wonder why I was applying for a job that was worried about censoring a small-time blog. What kind of business am I applying for?

Do you talk about your blog with your relatives and friends or do you avoid mentioning it?

I freely talk about it. My immediate family and some of my relatives even read it. Sometimes I have to either remind myself of this, or make some sort of warning to them, but otherwise, I don’t really hide anything. I don’t care who reads it. Welcome to my life.

What is the biggest mistake you made when starting your blog?

Maybe I’m too much of a perfectionist, but I’m not sure there are any big mistakes other than bad CSS coding. Maybe the biggest mistake is not blogging sooner.

Any tips for aspiring bloggers?

Write! Blog daily! The more posts you have, the more likely readers will keep coming back.

Who are the bloggers that you look up to the most?

One of the first blogs I ever started reading was Dooce.com. Heather Armstrong has asserted herself as one of the biggest and most popular female bloggers and has even written a book, all because of her blog. She’s definitely a source of inspiration, I suppose. Dave Shea of Mezzoblue.com is another one, but mostly for his innovative and beautiful CSS designs.

Do you still see yourself blogging in 5 years time?

Oh hell yeah. I can’t see myself doing anything else. What, you really think I’m gonna get a real job?