One recent morning at work I glanced down and saw an email notification pop up.

Maybe I’ve become complacent?

I think we all tend to become a little complacent with anything in our lives. Maybe our motivation is not up to snuff and there may be other issues going on in our lives. If our blogging is not our full-time endeavor, it becomes easy to slack off a bit and not give it the attention that it should be given. Maybe Jenny saw complacency either in my writing or my content, or both. It’s hard to say.

Do I have too many guest posts?

I have a page on my blog that says “Write for this blog.” And lately, you’d be surprised at how many requests for guest posts have been sent my way. And, to be honest, I have obliged those requestors and published their work and have featured them on my Guest Writers page. Maybe this is what turned off Jenny. Just maybe she subscribed to my blog to read my blog posts, actually written by me. Maybe she didn’t sign up for reading the guest posts I’ve been publishing. You see, it’s tough for me to say “No” to someone requesting to write on my blog. I take it as an honor and a privilege that someone wants to write for me without any compensation but exposure to new readers. It’s also tough to turn down fresh content. But, then again, maybe this also follows under the complacency heading. It’s simply easier sometimes to publish someone else’s content than to come up with my own.

Did it bother her that I haven’t visited her blog recently?

You know I work full time and honestly I don’t have a lot of time to peruse other blogs that I like to read. In fact, my work recently put a filter on our internet and most of my favorite blogs are blocked. That doesn’t excuse me from reading other blogs when I’m not at work. I’m guilty as charged when it comes to not visiting and commenting on other blogs that I like. I should simply make the time. It’s great to see what others are writing and it also advertises your blog.

So where do I go from here?

I did say wake-up call so obviously this event will change the way I do things in my blogging world. In what way, you might ask? I think the fact that my blog has become more of a guest-posting venue will change. I am going to limit my guest posts going forward. Since I tend to publish a new post every week, I’m going to limit guest posts to one per month. I’m going to take my blog back with my own content because I’m just going to assume that my readers have subscribed to my blog to read my work. And that is a good thing.

I’m also going to consciously reach out to my other blogger buddies and get back to visiting their blogs regularly and commenting. They haven’t abandoned me, except Jenny, so I’m not going to abandon them. I will do my best to take the time even though my time is limited.

I’m also going to rid the word complacency from my vernacular and give my blog, and more importantly my readers, the attention they deserve. Your blog is your brand and it represents you. Give it your all and the readers will follow. Slack off and you just might get that slap-in-the-face wake-up call that just might make you sit up and take notice.

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Through the wonder of Google Analytics, we, as blog owners, can monitor what posts or pages are popular on our blogs. It helps us to gauge what type of content is of interest to our audience. Continually reviewing and analyzing metrics related to your blog is one of the jobs of a successful blog owner. Talk to any successful blog owner and they will tell you historically what were their most popular posts. This goes hand-in-hand with the old adage that says:

“You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”

So I would like to share with you my Top 5 pages and welcome you to read them. So let’s get on with it.

1. 5 Important Benefits of Time Management for Students – This was a guest post by Adrienne Carlson and ended up being my most viewed page each month.  It details 5 benefits that come with a student managing their time.  This post also highlights the benefits of guest posting on another blog.  If your post is popular, you will continue to get more and more exposure.
2. Why I left SquareSpace for WordPress – When I started my blog I used a blogging platform called SquareSpace.  I loved it but it lacked much of the functionality I saw out there in WordPress blogs.  Also, I found the SquareSpace support unparalleled which made it really difficult for me to leave.  But, through the assistance of a WordPress consultant, I was able to convert all of my historical posts over to my new WordPress theme.  To be honest, it was the best thing I could’ve done and I’m very happy on WordPress. But, if you are contemplating such a conversion you may be interested in this post.
3. 5 Parental Tips for Dealing with College Separation Anxiety – In the past year, my wife and I have had to deal with living away from our eldest who left us for college.  We found some fairly simple steps in dealing with this life-changing event.  If you are a parent facing such an event, I’m sure you will enjoy reading this post.
4. Cubicle Bliss: 10 Steps to create an inspiring workspace – I have been living in a cubicle for many years as a full-time employee.  I put together 10 tips that just may help you live in this world a little more positively and enjoyably.  I hope you can take some of these tips and incorporate them into your working cubicle life.
5. Guest Writers – This is a page that I came up with upon seeing a similar page on another blogger’s website.  What I found very attractive about this page when I saw it elsewhere was that it highlighted a writer who agreed to do a guest post for you.  I always supply the link to the post that the person wrote for my blog and a link to their website should they have one.  This page has certainly become very popular on my blog. If you’d like to write for this blog please check out the guidelines here and contact me through my Contact Me page.

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I was recently interviewed by Paul Cunningham at BloggingTeacher. Paul is an experienced blogger who has been around the blogosphere for a while. Blogging Teacher provides articles, tips and tutorials to help bloggers overcome the many challenges they face building a successful blog. He occasionally requests interviews from fellow bloggers and I willingly obliged. I hope you enjoy reading the interview. Check it out here. If you are so inclined please leave a comment either here or on his blog.  You also may want to subscribe to Paul’s blog as it is extremely educational and informative.

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On March 1st my Dad passed away. This is my first post since that sad day. Today, May 13th, my Dad would’ve turned 87 years old. He meant a lot to me and, to be honest, since that day I have had no desire to blog. Since his death, I realized that the process of blogging was adding anxiety to my life. I was so concerned about my posting interval that it consumed me. I started blogging because I enjoy writing and I wanted to build something that was my own. I think now that I am going to start blogging again, my philosophy will change. I won’t care so much about the posting interval. It will not consume me. You know what? I haven’t blogged in over two months and apart from my traffic dropping considerably and my Alexa rating going from about 150K to almost 300K, the world goes on. What I have learned is that we can all take a break. I don’t do this for the money. Maybe someday it will be a source of income but, since it’s a hobby, it was no big deal to take some time off.

Another positive aspect of my hiatus was that some of my fellow bloggers, whom I have never met personally, went out of their way to contact me. They had a feeling something was wrong in my world. People that only know me by corresponding through our blogs went out of their way to find out to see if I was OK. It just shows you that there are some truly caring people out there in the world and a lot of them are in the blogging world. I want to thank those individuals for reaching out to me during a tough time. I may not post as regularly moving forward but I’m looking forward to getting back at it…

Best, Bob

This is a review of an eBook, entitled Make Money Blogging, by one of the foremost bloggers out there in the blogosphere, Daniel Scocco.  Daniel runs a small (tongue firmly planted in cheek) blog called DailyBlogTips. One of his goals is to hit the 50,000 subscriber mark by July 21st.  I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been able to guest post on DailyBlogTips.  My guest posts on his blog were entitled Top 5 Blogging Misconceptions and 5 Reasons to be Critical of other Bloggers. If you want to generate traffic on your site, submit a guest post to Daniel.  If he accepts it, consider yourself honored. You will also be amazed at the reach of his blog and the traffic it generates.  Make it a killer post though.  The link to your guest post may travel like lightning throughout the blogosphere.

I recently downloaded a copy of Daniel’s eBook, and found it to be very interesting and informative.  Some common mistakes bloggers make are referenced to by Daniel:

1. Making a blog gravitate around you.

2. Covering too many topics in your blog.

3. Choosing a niche you are not passionate about.

4. Many people create many blogs and try to manage them.

I feel that all of these make sense.  Of course you will always find exceptions to these rules.  For example, one of the most popular blogs out there is called Dooce, which evolves around Heather B. Armstrong, who was fired from her job back in 2002, for writing in her blog about her job.  I tend to agree with Mistake #2 but am probably guilty of it on my own blog.  But I do feel that I have a niche and that is in delivering solutions and tips for the everyday problems in life.  Bloggers must write about topics they are passionate about so I agree completely with Mistake #3.  Mistake #4 is interesting because in some places you read that the best way to make money is to have multiple sites so that you can potentially dovetail one into the other and could possibly make money with every one of them.

Killer Articles

Daniel talks about writing killer articles and I agree that these types of articles are very powerful.  I wrote one killer article in particular and it is entitled: How to get your child into their first choice college.  It ranks very well in Google.  This article took a ton of time to compile and put together but it was all worth it.  It helped me go from a pagerank 0 to pagerank 3 in one cycle and it continues to be one of my most highly-read articles today according to my analytics.

Headlines

As Daniel alludes to, a headline is so important in your posts.  Daniel mentions that the headline is so important because it is the first thing that your visitor will see.  And it could be their last, if it doesn’t pique their interest.  Daniel tells us about a tool that I had never used called the Google AdWords Keyword Tool.  This tool will give you a good idea of how people are searching certain keyword phrases.  As a result, it will give you a better idea of how to word your headlines. Daniel also gives us examples of headlines that work and create an emotional hook.  Concrete examples are given throughout this eBook which is a testament to Daniel.  If there is one thing that bloggers are looking for is examples of best practices in the blogging world.

Posting Frequency

This is one factor that new bloggers can have a hard time with.  How often should I post?  Daniel points to the fact that, if there is a choice, choose quality posts over frequency.  Daniel suggests that you should, at a minimum, be regular in your posting interval.

Design

Daniel goes into the design of your blog.  He mentions that there are many WordPress themes out there that are customizable.  He also mentions that if you are going to spend money on something, spend it on the logo.  I concur wholeheartedly.  In fact, I paid a graphic artist to design my logo and I am very happy with the look.  It is important in that your logo is your brand and your brand is SO important in the blogging world.  You want to be recognizable and your logo goes a long way to that end.

Showcase your Content

Daniel talks about how important it is to show off your content.  You can create a Popular Articles section in an area on your blog, like the sidebar.  I have this section in my sidebar and what I have found from my analytics is that it works.  People read these posts first.  You can also have a page that is solely meant to list your most popular articles.  My opinion is that it is a better strategy to have the Popular Posts in your sidebar so that a reader doesn’t have to go into a specific page.  The less clicks the better…

Networking

Daniel has a whole chapter on networking.  He talks about how important it is to collaborate with other bloggers in your niche.  He says you should identify and contact directly other bloggers in your niche and tell them that you will recommend them to others.  Also, you should link to their blogs if you expect reciprocation.  Also, tell others when you publish killer posts and, chance are, they could link to your post.

Promotion

As I mentioned earlier, when I wrote my first guest post on DailyBlogTips it was called Top 5 Blogging Misconceptions.  In this post, the first misconception I wrote about was entitled: If you write it they will come.  The point was that you could be writing great content, but if no one knows about it, is it really worth it?  You must promote your blog.  Daniel mentions many ways that you can do this.  You can promote your blog through commenting on other blogs, guest posting, social bookmarking sites, and social networks.

Monetization

The main point about monetization that Daniel wants to make is that monetizing should be the final step in the blogging lifecycle.  You need to have top-notch content, high traffic, a loyal audience, and a clean design before you even decide to place ads.  He talks about the different methods for monetizing such as Google AdSense, CPM Ads, direct advertising, affiliate marketing, and email marketing.  Daniel talks about building email lists and services that offer email marketing.

Daniel leaves us with the fact that your blog is your connection with the internet and with the world.  You can use its reach and audience to launch a new product, network with others, and venture into new projects.  Daniel has put together an interesting and informative eBook on blogging and what you can do to make it grow and potentially make money.  Believe me, Daniel Scocco knows of what he speaks.  You cannot go wrong in taking the advice of one of the preeminent bloggers of his time…

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In my relatively short tenure in the blogging world, I’ve been fortunate to come across some really good people.  One of them I actually met after purchasing his WordPress theme, FrugalTheme.  His name is Eric Hamm, and his story is an interesting one if you are a blogger or not.  If you’ve ever considered making a living online this interview is definitely for you.  Eric was nice enough to thoroughly answer a number of questions I posed to him.  So let’s get right to the interview.

When did you first get involved in the blogging world and why?

July 21st, 2008, I wrote my first post on my personal blog Motivate Thyself.  It was just a week or so before the publishing of that post that I started thinking about starting a blog and maybe even an online business.

I have found this to be common with new bloggers.  They either get into it for pure pleasure or with the intent of making money and even better, a living.  I was in the latter crowd and the idea of making a living online was what drove me to really get into it and see what I could do.  It was only a few months later that I realized that it wasn’t going to be easy.

I recently purchased the FrugalTheme which was developed by you.  What was the motivation for developing your own WordPress theme?

My first real success in making a living online was through my WordPress Web Design Business (which later became a place to help promote frugalTheme.com).  I quickly found a great venue for advertising (I was the first to enjoy Leo’s new ad setup where he only displays a single ad a month and got TONS of traffic from it) and hit the ground running.  Within a week I had more business than I knew what to do with.

One problem I kept running into was that all the themes I had on hand were lacking in one way or another.  I wanted just one theme to house all the features and coding that allowed me the most efficient design experience.  After searching for and buying many different themes I finally decided that I just needed to create my own.  I had been playing with the idea of creating my own WordPress theme for some time so I was ready to dive in right away.

After a few weeks of long hours (trying to develop a new WordPress theme on top of tending to my current design clients) I came up with frugal.  It was very basic and super clean and perfect for what I was going for.  What I found, though, was that people became more interested in the theme itself.  They’d ask about it and where they could get it.  So I created the frugalTheme.com domain and made frugal a free download.  Within a month or so it had been downloaded thousands of times.  It was then that I realized I could actually make money off the thing.

The free version was very basic and offered few options to the user.  So I created a Premium Version that gave the user tons of design control over their WordPress website and charged for it.  Within a month I was making a living just off of theme sales and decided to close shop with the design biz and move all my attention over to the further development of frugal (I MUCH preferred the sales business model over services as I had just spent 5 years working as an independent computer consultant in my home town and had become quite sick of the “only make money while actually working” model).

Do you plan on developing more themes in the future?

At this point I don’t plan on developing anymore themes, though I am working on some other WordPress projects that aren’t quite in the ‘themes’ category.  But frugal is really meant to be a framework or blank canvas and therefore require no other themes.  In other words, the whole point of frugal is to give the user a WordPress theme that can be molded into whatever they want.  So creating another theme would kind of go against this idea.

With that being said, I think there’s still a place for pre-customized themes that give the user a nice and shiny theme right out of the box.  The problem with this kind of theme is that when you want to make it look like something else you run into a lot of trouble trying to un-customize the thing.  This is why you find that ‘WP Themes’ folder on our computer desktops filled with 500 themes, one for every possible occasion.  frugal is meant to help clean that mess up.

But who knows, I may find a reason to create a different theme one day. **covering all my bases**

I blog but I also have another full-time job. Is this your situation as well or is blogging and developing themes a full-time gig for you?

I can happily say that I work full time online.  I have many streams of online income, but frugal is definitely my main one.

As I mentioned before, for 5 years I had a computer consulting business which was a full time gig, so even then I didn’t work for anyone else (I’m not a fan of J-O-B’s), but it’s now been a year since I moved fully online.

(Just because I think others may be interested in knowing, my other streams of income are (in order of significance) ebooks sales, monthly income from the sale of my computer business and affiliate sales.)

Tell us a little about your blog MotivateThyself.com.  How did it evolve?

As I mentioned earlier, Motivate Thyself is my personal blog and the first one I started.  The subject came about with my passion for living life to the fullest and doing what I want (not letting the world around me dictate this).  As I said, I’m not a fan of working for others so I’ve always had to work my butt off to steer clear of that ‘daily grind’.

The blog/website itself has been a fairly popular personal development spot, but has certainly gone through its ups and downs based on my effort.  It quickly grew from the get go as I was able to connect with some bigger bloggers and get some solid guest posts out so larger audiences could get a taste of my writing style and content.  But once I started working on web design and later frugal I had to significantly decrease my post frequency.

How did Motivate Thyself evolve?  I would say it started out as a passionate blog about making the most of your life and then became a bit more personal as time went on.  I’ve written posts about my dad who died way too young, my mom who remarried and about me, my son Tyson and my relationship with my beautiful wife Liz.  But I still stick to those core concepts of being truly successful and changing your life.

If you go to your MotivateThyself.com site and click on “The Book” it appears that you have written a book with Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.  That’s great company! How did this collaboration come about?

First, let me just say that Leo is one of the nicest, most genuine individuals I’ve found online.  The guy is freaking awesome!   He’s got a huge family and still finds time to do all that he’s done online while maintaining a great attitude.

Like many other personal development bloggers who started blogging after Leo, I saw zenhabits as a super successful blog to model and find inspiration from.  So I naturally became a regular reader.  One day, Leo emailed me to see if I could help someone with a WordPress issue and if I’d like to submit a guest post for zenhabits, which I happily did.  I later helped him with a few things on zenhabits and eventually we talked about doing a book about motivation.  But during the months in between we just became friends.  Like I said, a great guy.

If you were to give some advice to a new blogger what would you tell them?

It really depends on their online goals.  If they are just blogging for pure pleasure then it’s really just a matter of having fun with it.  Don’t let yourself get sucked into trying to figure out what the ‘right’ way to do things.  There really just isn’t a model that trumps all others.  But even for pleasure purposes you can’t have fun without an audience so there are certainly things you can/should do to attract that audience.

Yet, if you’re really trying to bring home the bacon the tips and tricks are similar, but the mindset is totally different.  You’ve really got to think of your blog as a business and treat it as such.  Just like work you won’t always want to do it.  Just like work you’ll have to keep some kind of schedule and just like a business, if you want to succeed you have to work harder and smarter than the next guy.

With that being said, here are a few tips:

• Pay for a basic web server (they’re like $80/yr, but totally worth it) and then find a WordPress theme that will give you blog the look, feel and function that you need to be successful.  Whether you purchase a Premium theme (usually the best idea) or can find a free one that can pull this off, the skin of your WordPress website is a key ingredient to blogging success as it not only provided the first impression, but is basically the window your visitors look through to ingest your content.
• Domain name DOES matter.  Sure there are some successful blogs out there with crappy domain names, but they are this way in spite of the name, not because of.  Fairly short, easy to type and remember and keyword right is good to.
• Guest post, guest post, guest post! There’s not better way to get a boost in traffic, subscribers and page rank than to guest post on blogs bigger (preferably MUCH bigger) than your own.  And tip about what to submit: When you’ve written something that is so good that you feel jealous about giving it to another blog, then it’s ready to submit.  If you don’t feel like you’re giving a part of yourself to that blog then it’s probably not going to translate well to their readers.
• Keep an eye out for a blogging buddy.  Blogging is hard enough, but doing it alone is near impossible.  You may have a local friend or spouse, but they can only empathize but so much and probably won’t be much help tactically.  Sean Platt is one of mine and we’ve worked on or help each other with many online projects.  Without Sean I probably would have given up a while back.
• Find resources that you can best connect with.  There are many different sites out there to help you become better bloggers, but each one has its own style and personality.  So don’t just read the one everyone else is reading.  Keep looking until you find that resource that specifically speaks to YOU.  ProBlogger, though, is a great place to start.
• HAVE FUN!! OK, this is that over done, over simplified blogging tip, but hey, it’s true.  You won’t always enjoy blogging, but if you can’t find ways to enjoy this time consuming online pursuit you’re going to quit and quitting is what most people do and why most never succeed.  Here’s a picture of Sean and I having some fun.  Who knew we’d first physically meet in Vegas?!

I recently interviewed Jonathan Fields, and he is a living breathing example of someone prospering in the new economy.  Can you speak a little about making a living in the electronic age and the opportunities that are out there?

Let me first say that this IS a new economy, no doubt about it.  We were headed this way already, but the recent economic woes just sped up the process and pushed people in this new direction.  What I absolutely LOVE about it is that the playing field has been effectively leveled so ANYONE can find success online.  This, though, is the problem for most.  Just about everyone is trying to find this online success so the task of standing out from the crowd is quite a feat.

That being said, there are new online opportunities arising on a daily basis so if you want the freedom of making a living online GO FOR IT!!

Now, for the practical bit.  I quickly found with the blogging idea that just creating great content and putting up some ads will rarely make you much money.  For most, it’s the behind the scenes stuff that offers the real opportunities.  It’s kind of like moving to Hollywood to become an actor.  A few find fame while most end up either waiting tables for much longer than they expected or they adapt their other skills to make a living in the background.  Editing film, lighting, props, etc…  This allows them to hang around longer while they keep an eye out for their real passions.  Then, they hopefully either become ‘discovered’ actors or they realize that some of the greatest opportunities ARE behind the scenes.

After make very little purely blogging I found that my technical skills could be adapted to help other with their own blogs.  This morphed into frugal and now I’m doing something I really enjoy.  And the cool thing is that every success you have you’ll find 5 new doors opened as a result.  As time goes on you’re choices broaden.  So don’t worry too much about what you have to do in the beginning of your online journey.  Be steadfast and you will find success, grasshopper.

The support you offer with the FrugalTheme, in my opinion, is unparalleled.  Can you tell me what your philosophy is when it comes to customer support?

Thanks Bob!  That means a lot.

I’m actually a super people pleaser (yes, I even have a link for that and this really plays into my support for frugal.  I enjoy helping people and seeing them succeed.  So frugal support is just an extension of this.

As far as my philosophy with frugal support, I simply base my support on whether or not I CAN help someone, not whether I SHOULD.  In other words, there are many times when the request for my assistance reaches way outside of the zone of frugal specific.  Here is where I feel I can distance myself from the competition.  I do my best to lend a hand, at this point as more of a fellow online citizen (sounds corny, I know).  But I do draw the line when I have to as I need to spend my time developing and promoting as well.

Logistically, I know people learn differently so I try to teach as adaptively as possible.  I provide video tutorials, blog posts and direct support via the frugal forum and email.

One more blogging question for you.  Could you talk a little about monetizing a blog?  For those of us who recently began blogging there appear to be so many options out there as far as monetizing is concerned. What is your take on monetizing a blog?

I’ve already mentioned some specific forms of monetization for myself, but I’d be happy to speak in more general terms.

There are a million ways to make money online and only some come from blogging.  I often find that most of the money made from bloggers is done indirectly from their blogs.  Blogs make great billboards (or email absorbers…newsletters), but not always the best store fronts.  I mean, I know technically a lot of store fronts are blogs as well (ie. frugalTheme.com), but when someone asks me what my blog is I mention Motivate Thyself.  It has way more posts, subscribers and purely blogging traffic, yet I make zero money directly from it.  Also, a successful blog (in terms of traffic and reputation) can make you money by just opening doors and creating connections that wouldn’t otherwise be there.

You can make money from Adsense, affiliate advertising, offering a product or service of your own and so on.  Just be smart about it.  If you’re promoting as an affiliate, make sure you have personal experience with that product or service.  Write posts about that experience (reviews) and never promote something you don’t fully believe in.

But when it comes to making real bill paying income you either need tons of traffic to funnel to your ads or a product or service of your own to promote which you receive full payment for.  In other words, 25% of something requires 4 times as much traffic to profit equally from when compared to something you receive 100% for.  And if you can match that tons of traffic with your own product you’re in the zone!

Just know that it takes time.  I didn’t start making real money for a good 6 months and I think my situation went quite quickly when compared to most.  You’re going to need some source of income in the mean time.  If you quit your job and try to live off savings for a few months, banking on finding instant success, you’re going to be quite disappointed.  Also, you’ll be making decisions based on what’s quickest, not what’s the best way to go for the long term.

One thing I have to mention when trying to monetize.  Traffic and comments means jack squat if they’re not in some way followed by dollar signs.  It’s very easy to get caught up with how many comments you get each post, for example, but bloggers notoriously comment for links and such.  So it’s absolutely crucial that you find some way to capture a direct connection with that audience so you can promote to them more effectively.  That’s where newsletters come in.

When I started blogging I’d see free products attached to newsletter signups on so many blogs.  I thought it was gimmicky and figured people would get annoyed with it (as if it were tacky to ask for an email).  Later I realized that having a growing list of emails of individuals who are interested in the topic of your content is a powerful tool for making money online.  Just provide an enticing reason for signup and an effective plan to promote and you’re on your way.

Hey Bob, I just wanted to say thanks for inviting me to come to your blog and share my thoughts with your readers.  You’re a great guy behind the scenes and I know your online endeavors will benefit as a result.

End of Interview

I want to thank Eric Hamm for his thorough and insightful answers to the questions I posed.  You can certainly do no wrong in following his advice if you are looking to make your living online.  As I said earlier in this post, I have been extremely fortunate to have met some very good people in the blogging world.  After having gotten to know Eric a little better, his story is certainly the antithesis of the quote “Nice guys finish last.”  Thanks again Eric!

[Disclosure - I purchased the FrugalTheme prior to knowing Eric and I have since become an affiliate.  The link for FrugalTheme at the top of my right sidebar is an affiliate link.  Eric is a great guy and you cannot go wrong in purchasing his theme.  And, if I failed to mention it, his support rocks!]

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It’s the New Year and, as always, the word “resolution” gets bandied about in many conversations at this time of year.  Here, at TotallyUniqueLife, I’m interested in what your resolutions are for the coming year when it comes to blogging.  I know that all of my readers are not bloggers, but I would imagine that a large majority are blogging regularly.  If you currently have a blog, I’d really like to hear about how you plan on increasing your blog traffic in 2010. For what it is worth, my priorities are to do more guest posting and to refine my blog design.  If you’re interested in reading any of my guest posts of 2009, please see the right sidebar under “Guest Posts”.

Now let’s hear from you… Please take my poll!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
I’d love to hear your comments about your plans for this year and, if you chose “Other”, I’d like to know what you plan on doing to increase traffic to your blog.

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I have never had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Fields face-to-face but I think I know a little bit about him.  I read his book, Career Renegade, a couple of times.  I also reviewed it in this post.  I have exchanged emails with him a few times and he has been very gracious to respond to me.  I also read his blog regularly because it is one of the most thought-provoking blogs I have found in the blogosphere.  If you do not know his story, maybe you should.  Just go visit his blog and go to the sidebar and download the first four chapters of his book, Career Renegade, for free.  You will get to know a fascinating, dynamic person who has a compassion and a spirit that will touch you as he has me.

After I read his book, I emailed Jonathan telling him that I was planning on reviewing the book on my blog and I would appreciate it if he could answer a few questions that sprung from reading the book.  He was very gracious that I had decided to review his book but he didn’t have time, at that time, to answer the questions thoroughly enough.  He did say he would do so when he had the proper time to devote to answering the questions.  Being a man of his word, Jonathan recently surprised me with a long email with all of my questions answered.  I am happy to be able to share these answers with all of you.

The Interview

Jonathan, one of my favorite quotes in the book is when you speak to the best part about being an entrepreneur.  It is the luxury of being able to hand-pick the people you want to work with.  You say, “It’s all about the Benjamins, not the benjamins”.  What a priceless quote.  This seems to follow along with one of your original goals which was to “Be around people I loved”. Have there been times when you have had to compromise on this premise in the interest of making a good business deal?

Jonathan Fields:

Sure, there’ve been many times I’ve been offered a shot at a business deal of a serious chunk of money that would have taken me farther away from my desire to surround myself with people who make me come alive. But, you learn pretty quickly, the money’s not worth the sacrifice. Because life–work and play–are fundamentally about the people you work, mentor with and serve. If they’re “your” people, you can tolerate ebbs and flows in the other qualities of work you hold dear. If not, no amount of money will make up for the experience of being surrounded, day in and day out, by people who incrementally suck the life out of you.

You talk about the power of “flow” where you are fully engaged in the world and in the moment. Reading this book and in reading your blogs, I sense that when you write you are so engaged. Do you still feel the power of “flow” on a daily basis or is it sporadic and are there certain times and places where you tend to get in the “zone”?

Jonathan Fields:

I wish I could say I drop into the flow zone every time I write, but I’d be lying. It tends to happen when I’m writing about things I’m deeply passionate about. When I drop the shields and filters and let my emotions perfuse the words. It’s almost like I’m in a mad dash, praying my fingers can keep pace with the thoughts and ideas that tumble forth. When that happens, day could turn to night without me realizing. And, writing is a gift. It’s not just writing that does that for me, though. I love to create…anything and everything. From business ventures to books, art, music, presentations, it’s all part of what I do and the diversity of outlets provides for frequent opportunities for flow.

You run two very successful blogs, one at JonathanFields.com and CareerRenegade.com. If you could give some sage words of advice to anyone who is just starting out in the blogging world what would you tell them?

Jonathan Fields:

I actually recently merged the blog part of CareerRenegade.com into JonathanFields.com in order to allow me to focus my energies more. Simple advice, pick a topic you’d write, speak or film videos about for free for the rest of your life, simply because it’s that much fun for you. It takes a huge effort to sustain an online content platform over time and, in order to do it well, you need to be captivated by the subject of your content or you’ll burn out and shut down.

In your blogs you talk a lot about having the freedom with your lifestyle to spend time with your young daughter. As a father of two daughters who are now older it was always a struggle for me to spend enough time with them when they were young. Can you elaborate a bit on what it’s like, as a Career Renegade, to be able to spend so much quality time with her?

Jonathan Fields:

It’s everything. I sometimes sit across the table and just watch her while we’re painting or working on a craft together or even just reading or hanging out. Wondering what’s going through her mind, marveling at who she is and wondering who she’ll become. I think most people get it seriously wrong, they slave away at work in order to pay for college during the years when kids need and want them in their lives most, then pull back from work when their kids are most autonomous.

You’ve got a whole life to work, but your kid’s only going to be 7 or 8 once. Being strongly present for the first 16 of their lives matters just as much and probably a lot more than the name of the college they get into. Maybe I feel this way, too, because being so present has revealed to me just how much I’d have missed were I not there. I get the struggle, really I do. I still constantly strive to find my place in it. I’ve just made a different choice than most.

To me, being a parent is about presence, not presents. And, with the evolution of technology over just the last 5 years, being present has become easier than ever before…if that’s your priority.

On September 10, 2001 you signed a lease for what would become SonicYoga NYC, the first Manhattan studio. This was one day before the tragic September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers. I’m wondering what effect, if any, the attacks had on you starting the business. Also, did you have any friends or associates who were either lost or affected by the tragedy?

Jonathan Fields:

Yes, I knew people who were killed that day, as did pretty much anyone who’d been living in NYC for more than a few years. And, it affected me deeply, both because of an experience I had working 10 feet from “The Pile” a few days after the tower fell and what unfolded in the week that followed.

I remember being in a friend’s home the next day, a young dad, as his wife wondered and still hoped for his return (that would never come). I remember everyone else leaving as she and my wife put their 9 month old to bed and I was asked to read a story to their 2 1/2 year old boy. I remember walking into his room, a virtual stranger to him, seeing him sitting upright, legs snuggled in his covers, book on his lap, gazing up and wondering why I, and not his daddy, was reading him to sleep that night.

So, yes, it absolutely had an impact on me and on the business I was about to launch. I’d planned all sorts of marketing events, parties and messages. Everything had to change overnight. I had to figure out how to launch a company into a city whose economy was crashing and burning. I had to explore how to build a business that put food on the table for my own family, while being respectful to the sense of loss that blanketed the city. But what I realized, too, was that the city needed what I was about to offer more than ever before.

The pier where many of the relief workers were staging was only a few blocks from us, so when we opened, we sent people out to let everyone know they could come by the studio for class, meditation or just to be in a peaceful place without paying anything. It was just the right thing to do, from both a human standpoint as well as from a business standpoint. The studio grew very quickly, I believe, in no small part, because of the intention we put out into the community. And as the energy in the city began to shift, we slowly evolved and took on a more upbeat, energetic tone that captured who we were, without disrespecting what’d happened in the city. That first year was truly an extraordinary experience on so many levels. Not one I’d want to relive, but one I’m glad I survived.

Conclusion of Interview

I want to thank Jonathan Fields for his thorough, thoughtful answers to the questions I posed. I knew they all wouldn’t be easy ones to answer, especially the one about September 11th.  But Jonathan, in his typical candor, gave all of us readers a little insight into a day that most of us thankfully did not have to witness first-hand.  More importantly, we were able to learn a little bit more about a man who has been able to live out his dreams as an entrepreneur, a father, and a husband.

Jonathan is known for his morning Tweets that say “Morning, everyone! Who can I help today?” Well, whoever it is, on any given day, that person will be well served by listening to a man whose sheer intellect and business acumen may be overshadowed by his warm and generous heart.

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Seeing that this is a holiday week in the States I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.   And now that I am clearly entrenched in a WordPress environment, it is probably a good time to reflect a bit and to also talk about what is upcoming. I started this blog back in July of 2009 and it has been quite a trip. You might ask what have I learned?

The work is all worth it…

Blogging is a lot of work but, more importantly, I think it has been well worth it.  I’ve always had a penchant for writing but I haven’t always had an outlet to do so.  My day job is in software so being able to create and grow a blog during off-hours has certainly been a creative and welcome opportunity.

The relationships gained are priceless…

I have gotten to know people on the other side of the world through blogging.  In this post I was able to interview two life coaches, one based in Italy, the other in the UK.  I have also exchanged emails with giants in the blogging world such as Daniel Scocco from DailyBlogTips and Jonathan Fields.  There are so many wonderful, giving people out there who are willing to help.  All you have to do is ask politely and chances are your questions will be answered.

The resources are abundant…

The resources out there to aid you in developing and growing a blog are abundant.  Explore forums like the ProBlogger forum or Yaro Starak’s forum and you’ll be able to get advice from bloggers at the highest level.  I joined ProBlogger forum a couple of months ago and there have been occasions where I will get answers to my questions from none other than Darren Rowse, the founder of the ProBlogger blog.

Start and end with WordPress…

I did it the hard way.  I started out with a blogging platform called SquareSpace and, after much deliberation, moved to WordPress.  It was not an easy transition and I am still asking people who commented on my previous blog posts to re-comment so that I will have those comments on my new site.  WordPress has all the functionality any blogger would or could need.  And the WordPress community is vast so finding an answer to a question you may have about blog design or capabilities is probably just a few clicks away.

…And now… Coming attractions…

Every blogger is looking to drive traffic to their blog.  Next week I’m hoping to have a high traffic week.  On Monday, November 30th, I’m kicking off a post called “An Interview with Jonathan Fields”.  Jonathan has been so kind to answer a number of questions I posed to him a while back.  You won’t want to miss this interview!

And then on Wednesday, December 2^nd, Daniel Scocco owner of DailyBlogTips, one of the highest rated blogs on the planet, has agreed to publish a guest post of mine.  I’ve been waiting a while for this guest post and Daniel has been so kind to schedule me in next week.

So there you have it.  Looking forward to an exciting week and enjoy the holiday!

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Squarespace WordPress, that is the question. I want to say one thing right off the bat.  This was not an easy move for me.  I really liked SquareSpace.com for a lot of reasons.  I certainly understand the fact that the vast majority of blogs out there are on the WordPress platform.  I just didn’t realize why when I started blogging back in the summer.  Now I think I clearly understand why most new bloggers start with WordPress and stick with it. Squarespace or WordPress are platforms that all bloggers may consider. If I were going to give a Squarespace review, it would be very positive. In this post I’d like to detail my reasons for joining the WordPress community. I am hoping that this post may help others who want to compare Squarespace vs WordPress.

Content is king but comments are queen.

I tend to think that commenting is second to content when it comes to blogging.  Shortly after I started reading some blogs out there I realized that having an Avatar was VERY important.  An Avatar is an image which you set up at  www.gravatar.com.  This image will be shown if you

comment on a WordPress blog if you have set one up previously.  And when a reader leaves a comment on a blog they are leaving it for more than one reason.  Obviously the reader has something to say but they also want other readers to see what they have to say and potentially visit their site by clicking on their Avatar.  Well, SquareSpace commenting does not support Avatars which really makes it unpleasant for a reader to leave a comment.  This was the overriding factor for making the move to WordPress.

Commenting builds community.

Go to any of the most popular blogs out there and you will see the same people leaving comments after each blog post.  Sometimes there is a race to leave the first comment after a particular post.  This is done so that when other visitors to the blog read the post they will see your comment and image first.  The expectation is that if you are at the top spot for comments then other readers may tend to click on your link and visit your site.  After a while a blog owner will develop a relationship with the readers through commenting.  One of the most interesting

blogs that I read is written by Jonathan Fields. Jonathan beckons his readers to leave comments and to join in on the discussion.  He isn’t looking for the customary “Great post Jonathan” response, he is looking for contributions from his readers that further the discussion and gets everyone involved.  I believe that this is the true magic of comments.  It builds relationships between blog owners and readers and between fellow readers.

Plug-ins, plug-ins, and more plug-ins…

SquareSpace was very rigid in what they offered as far as functionality is concerned.  And if you tried to implement any 3^rd party applications like Disqus or IntenseDebate SquareSpace support would say that you are doing this at your own risk.  So I tried but with SquareSpace they were buggy so I removed the code and went back to generic SquareSpace.  After reading a lot of WordPress blogs I noticed functionality that was really dynamic and I learned that most of this functionality was due to the implementation of various plug-ins.  The multitude of plug-ins out there made decision to switch very easy.

Support is everywhere…

SquareSpace support was about as good as it gets!  I could enter a question and they would get back to me oftentimes in what appeared like seconds.  But, if you try to search for answers related to SquareSpace functionality on the internet it is hard to find the answers because the community is not there.  But, when it comes to WordPress, you can typically find an answer to your question easily.  Chances are that there are other users out

there who have tried to do what you have done.  I also belong to the FrugalTheme Forum, Catalyst Forum, and the ProBlogger Forum.  If you post a question in either of these locations you will get an answer.  FrugalTheme has evolved into Catalyst Theme. I have a number of sites using the Catalyst Theme and I highly recommend it! This blog is still on FrugalTheme which is supported but Catalyst Theme is a tremendous upgrade over FrugalTheme. In the FrugalTheme Forum and the Catalyst Forum the support is fantastic and you may just receive a response from the developer of the themes, Eric Hamm, himself.

This adventure of moving into the WordPress environment was a little scary but hopefully it allows my blog to become more functional and flexible.  Do your own research when it comes to WordPress vs SquareSpace and you may end up with the same conclusion. I’m also glad to be joining the vast community of WordPress bloggers out there and look forward to meeting you all through future comments.

Disclaimer: The Catalyst image and text link above are affiliate links. Should you click on them and purchase the product, I will make a small commission. As I mentioned, I use this product and absolutely love it!

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