chanty

Questions

Lorena

From Lorena's Epiphany

http://lorenasepiphany.com/

Rana Bassil Eltschinger

From Bric à Brac

http://orayeena.blogspot.com/ 

1- How long have you been blogging?

Almost four years now.

I started blogging in December 2009, but I was active before on a wedding community, this is what pushed me to start my own blog.

2- How many hours per day do you dedicate to the blog?

Some days half an hour, other days more. It all depends on if I have something to blog about.

Around two or three hours, but sometimes I don’t really have time, so I do all my research on the weekend and I post everything during the week.

3- Has it been worth it so far?

Definitely. My blog is my therapy and my voice.

Well, I got some good feedback, and for me it’s a way to express myself and keep track of everything I like. So it is worth it yes.

4- How many page views does your blog get daily?

50-125

The numbers are not impressive yet, around 50 to 70, but for me this blog is a personal achievement before being a very popular thing.

5- How many blogs do you have or write for currently?

Two. The other blog is: www.onewigstand.wordpress.com. That blog is for a project I started to raise breast cancer awareness in Lebanon recently.

Only Bric à Brac.

6- How many hours do you dedicate to them every day?

Ranges between 30 minutes to hours. I'm a chronic editor :-)

As I said before from 2 to 3 hours. It depends on the research.

7- Do you think one needs to post daily to be successful?

No, but regularly enough to keep readers coming back. A site that hasn't been updated in more than three months is already dead in the online world.

For me it’s important even though I am not being able to do it, but at least every other day.

8- Is there an ideal posting frequency?

No. It depends on the blog and the content being posted. For some blogs, like Year of Teddy (http://yearofteddy.com) for example, updating daily is essential to the concept.  

Every other day is a good frequency. One day for research and another one for posting.

9- What is the biggest blogging mistake you did?

Not referencing a particular article (by accident) and getting caught. I'm very careful not to make that mistake anymore. :-)

Not creating a twitter profile from the beginning.

10- What is the biggest mistake you see in blog designs?

Using blogger instead of wordpress. (Wordpress rocks!) Also, using general templates that everyone else is using and images in the header that have nothing to do with the blog's topics.

As a graphic designer, design and legibility are very important to me. Some blogs are just not neat and not easy on the eyes…Already a blog contains a lot of info, so it must be well organized and designed.

11- Twitter is a distraction or a good promotional tool?

GREAT promotional tool - but to be used at the right times. Don't bombard your audience.

Twitter is a great promotional tool, since I have a profile page for the blog, the traffic doubled and tripled!

12- Do you think that any professional should have a blog?

No. I think there's enough as is. Someone thinking to start a blog should have something new or helpful to share, be committed to updating it and have good writing skills.

No not really, it depends whether you want to promote a professional service or just to share information, and now every professional have a website, so it’s not necessary.

13- If you could give an advice for a novice blogger, what would it be?

Forget that there are others reading your blog. Write freely and honestly about things you care about and it will show through.

Promote your blog on twitter or FB.

Get in touch with other bloggers and exchange links.

Don’t copy information from other blogs or websites.

And be organized.

14- What is the secret of your success, expressed in one word?

Comments. I find that the most rewarding part of blogging since after all you want to evoke some kind of response from the readers (positive or negative).

I am not really successful now, but I can give you one word: Passion.

15- If you could write a post on any blog in the world, which one would you pick?

My blog. It's traveled the world with me after all :-)

I would love to post on Oh Joy, green wedding shoes and Swiss miss.

http://www.swiss-miss.com/

http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/

http://www.ohjoy.blogs.com/