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As promised it’s time for another interview. I am glad that most of the bloggers I have asked for an interview have been very helpful. Learning from them on what they did to make their blog successful is a great way to achieve success for new bloggers.

I had a chance to interview Skellie from Skelliewag.org. Skelliewag is a blog about blogging and if you haven’t checked it out you are missing out on a whole lot.

Without wasting any time, let’s get right to the interview, here is Skellie from Skelliewag

I am just curious as to why skelliewag.org and not .com or .net? As it seems everybody shoots for the .com and .net first?

Skellie: I decided to use the .org extension after visiting GetRichSlowly.org. I thought it was a strange choice for a personal finance site, but there was something nice about it — it made the blog seem a little warmer and more community oriented. I decided to use it on my own blog for that reason.

I also think it’s a little more unique than the other options.

How long have you been blogging?

Skellie: I’ve been blogging as an idle hobby for a few years — maybe four years, but I have a terrible memory for that sort of thing. Skelliewag.org is my first personal effort at creating a popular blog, but I’ve been analyzing other blogs and websites for years.

What was your main motivation that drove you to blogging?

Skellie: I’ve always loved creating content for blogs and websites. I’ve dabbled in quite a few niches. After a while, I realized that the act of creating a blog, working out how to grow it, working out how to find new readers, was what I enjoyed more than the particular niche I might be working in. That’s when I decided I needed to start a blog about blogging!

What is up with Australian bloggers being so good at blogging - Darren, Yaro, You?

Skellie: Ha! You know, I get that question quite a lot… It’s quite annoying because I’m stuck behind all these fantastic blogs on the list of Top 100 Australian blogs and they just won’t budge! (I’m number 7). If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, as they say. I’ve been lucky enough to write for three of the blogs in front of me.

I haven’t seen any advertisemnts on your blog or affiliate links nor an advertise page? So this blog isn’t set up as a source of income, is it?

Skellie: I make money because of my blog, not through it. I do a lot of freelance blogging, and it’s work I never would have received without Skelliewag to back me up and open new opportunities. A lot of my clients are also readers. I think there’s heaps of potential in making money indirectly through blogging, something that hasn’t yet been adequately explored.

The “Guest Post Effect”, can you explain the benefits?

Skellie: Sure. Not everyone will click your link in the byline (many will), but other people will read your posts and remember your name. Every time they see it, in comments, in other guest-posts or in links, they get a little bit more curious about who you are.

I don’t have time to guest-post much any more, but it’s really been the back-bone of my blog growth strategy.

What’s your take on the importance of Social Media Marketing?

Skellie: It gets more and more important with time. As your audience grows, you have a lot more potential with social media, because you have a bigger pool of people who’ll vote for you. When my blog was new, I got a lot of benefit from StumbleUpon, because you don’t need a big audience for it to work for you. Now I have a bigger audience of potential voters, I’ve had some success with Digg. Even though Skelliewag has been on the Digg front page twice, StumbleUpon remains my biggest single referrer.

What would you suggest new bloggers should do to reach their goals?

Skellie: I think the most important thing new bloggers can realize is that you can’t wait for your audience to find you — you’ve got to find them. Work out who your target audience is and go where they go. Join forums they hang out in, comment/guest-post/get links on the blogs they read, optimize for the keywords they use and search for them on social media.

Once you get the ball rolling, things become a little more self-sustaining. Create great content and people will find you. It’s a lot of work in the beginning, but you’ll have more time later on you can use to enjoy the opportunities blogging has opening up for you.

Are you ever going to monetize your blog?

Skellie: I’m thinking about releasing an eBook or book, but the idea is still in its early stages.

How many hours do you spend blogging each week?

Skellie: I don’t work well from a schedule, so it fluctuates. It’s my primary hobby so it does soak up quite a bit of time. That being said, I schedule my blogging around everything else, rather than the other way around. I probably spend about 8 hours a week writing for Skelliewag, and 10+ hours writing freelance for other blogs, plus a few hours on blog-related tasks (emails, moderating, etc.) I’m on study-break at the moment, though, so those hours aren’t reflective of how I divvy up time through most of the year.

Any other projects that you are currently involved in besides your blog?

Skellie: I’m writing for ProBlogger, Daily Blog Tips, Freelance Switch and Daily Bits, if that counts. Besides the eBook I’d like to write, I can promise that there’s nothing else significant in the works. I have my hands full already.

What’s the secret to creating great content?

Skellie: I think you need to ask yourself the value question. How can I make this post as valuable as possible for my target audience?

Something else that helps is time. Spend a lot of time on something and you can bet it will turn out well.

What would you like to say to Work N Play readers before we end this interview?

Skellie: Thanks for reading this far! If you’re not bored yet, you’d probably enjoy the blog where I write about all these things. Finally, I want to thank Ritu for the opportunity to be interviewed and for his insightful questions.

Thanks for your time Skellie. I am sure many readers will gain an insight on blogging in general from this interview.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this interview. Skellie has been a great source of information when it comes to blogging and many other things. I really enjoy reading skelliewag because of all the great content and if you haven’t been reading Skelliewag, like I said earlier, you are missing out on a whole lot of excellent content.

Tags: Interview //