Blog World Expo started on Saturday, Kevin could not make it this year but managed to catch up with Rick the man behind it all. Good luck with the event and thank you for agreeing to do this interview for the Fuelmyblog community.
What’s your name?
Rick Calvert
What’s the name of your blog?
BlogWorld Blog
What’s the URL of your blog?
How old is your blog?
About three years.
If you’re willing to share, how many visitors per day do you have to your blog?
It varies greatly depending on how close to the show we are. From a few dozen to several thousand.
How much time do you spend blogging every week?
Not nearly as much as I used to before launching BlogWorld which is crazy! Hopefully next year I will have more time to blog again. I used to spend 3 - 5 hours a day working on my blog.
Is it the creative process or the editing process which takes you longest when writing a post?
Research by far takes the longest. Getting reference material, linking to sources, etc.
What inspired you to first start writing a blog?
Politics. I am a news and political junkie. Political blogs really took off over here in the states after the 2000 election and then got another huge traffic spike after 9/11/2001. After reading dozens of blogs every day for five years I finally started therealuglyamerican.com in 2005. It took off pretty quickly.
What do you do to get inspired to write?
I just write about what I am passionate about. That used to be political stuff, which still interests me but I don’t write a political blog any more. I don’t want that effecting BlogWorld in anyway. This is not a political or partisan event in anyway. BlogWorld is about blogging and new media. So now I blog about new media. How it is changing the world, the way we get our news, and the way we do business, and connect with people all over the world.
How do you market your blog?
More than anything by linking to other bloggers. If you link out people will link back to you. Beyond that joining networks like Fuelmyblog, BlogCatalog, MyBlogLog, etc.
What are the blogging tools you cannot do without?
Windows Live Writer. I love it.
Is there anything that you simply refuse to blog about?
Not really.
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?
My gut reaction is to say hell no, however I have learned you never say never. I told myself I would never cut my hair for a job unless they paid me X number of dollars. Which I thought no one would ever be dumb enough to offer. Sure enough about 7 years ago some jokers did offer me my number and I cut my hair =p. I am still pissed about that.
Do you talk about your blog with your relatives and friends or do you avoid mentioning it?
With the political blog, it took some time, but as it gained notoriety I was proud of it and wanted to share it with friends and family etc. With the BlogWorld blog the very nature of it leads me to tell anyone and everyone about it. Honestly I am a little uncomfortable with it. I am really a private person and don’t like sharing too many details with complete strangers on the internet but that is the life I have to lead for BlogWorld.
What is the biggest mistake you made when starting your blog?
Not thinking long enough before writing that first post. I was a little surprised that it only took five minutes to create and post to a blog.
Any tips for aspiring bloggers?
Drawing on the last answer and following the theme of some of your other questions; think before you post. What you write on your blog, may not be forever but it will be out there on the interweb for a very long time for all to see. Beyond that, if you really want to be a blogger, you have to write about something you are absolutely passionate about. You have to practice your writing skills. No one wants to read a half hearted blog, and people get annoyed reading terribly written blogs.
Who are the bloggers that you look up to the most?
There are far too many to name here but just a few, Chris Brogan, Jeremiah Owyang, Hugh Hewitt, Ed Morrissey, Glenn Greenwald, Erin Kotecki Vest, Michael Yon, Bill Roggio, Wendy Piersall, Jim Kukral, Jerome Armstrong, and about 250 bloggers who are speaking at BlogWorld this year.
Do you still see yourself blogging in 5 years time?
I don’t know if they will call it blogging or not but I will definitely be involved in new media.
Belinha: come back! still having fun here as you can...
