The founder of online magazine LoveBento Melissa Peters (@its_mel) turned the blowtorch on me the other day to elicit responses to a number of questions for her wonderful Project Blogger series on the It's Geekchic blog.
Being a battle-hardened PR Warrior, I was able to withstand pressure received during the interrogation, but ultimately, I cracked - and Mel won!
Here is Mel's line of questioning complete with excerpts of answers (check out the full interview here):
#1 - What gave you the inspiration to set up your blog?
I wasn’t inspired by any particular blogger per se but more so a desire to learn more about blogging by diving in and getting my hands dirty. More
#2 - What does you blog mean to you?
My main blog prwarrior.com – it’s essentially a stream of consciousness “from the marketing frontline”; it’s skewed towards PR, communications and social media. More
#3 - What do you especially like to post?
I tend to focus on PR and marketing communications broadly, often with a skew towards the ever-changing new media landscape and what it means to our profession. More
#4 - Are there certain stories or categories you know will get a great reaction?
The two types of posts that in my experience have tended to generate more reaction are: Topical pieces -if timed right, with a hint of ‘strong opinion’, they’re generally good for getting people retweeting and talking about it. More
#5 - What are your top 5 tips for other bloggers?
Write about a space you’re absolutely passionate about - if you don’t love the topic, you’ll probably end up getting bored. Be persistent - blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get a lot of traffic early. Just keep going! Check out the other three tips here
#6 - What is your top tip for someone just starting out?
I read stacks of great blogs. Ummm, where to start? Locally, I like Steve Sammartino’s Start-Up Blog for its short bursts of start-up inspiration and insights; Servant of Chaos by Gavin Heaton. More of the PR Warrior's favourite blogs here
#7 - Would you say blogging is a creative outlet for you/ and if so how?
Absolutely! Writing is my schtick, and being able to get instant feedback on something you’ve written is pretty cool. But being able to incorporate images and audio etc just opens up a lot more avenues for the sharing of thoughts and ideas.
#8 - Has blogging opened up doors for you with new contacts and conversations you may never had otherwise had?
Again, absolutely. My blog is the hub, or heartbeat, of all my online efforts. It’s this combination of things – blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – that has grown my network exponentially. More
#9 - What’s the thing you like most about your blog?
I truly love the design! Generally I’m a bit hard to please in that respect, but the boys (Aaron & Blaz) from Eleven Media did a fantastic job, especially as they’re WordPress specialists and my blog is on Typepad. More
Here are some other Project Blogger interviews by Melissa Peters (above *) that you might like:
- Cheri from MsCritique
- Stan Lee from Brand DNA
- Lorraine Elliott from Not Quite Nigella
- Laura TJ from See Hear Say
Project Blogger is a great concept and is further proof of an emerging blogging community in this country - you might also be interested in my previous post: Australia's Blogging Community Comes of Age.
