Hey Frens, Here is the interview of Kavin Paulson who blog at TheiMarketingCafe.com. One of my most decent colleague and an expert Internet marketer.
Thanks Kavin for your sharing your blogging experience with all of us.
Please share something about you & your profession.
Hi! I’m Kavin. I live in New Delhi, India. I’m an Internet marketer by profession and I specialize in SEO, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Online Reputation Management, Online Media Buying and SEO Copywriting. I’m also a part-time blogger.
Tell us about all of your blogs. Among all which is your first one and which is your favourite?
I currently manage one blog namely The iMarketing Café , it’s an online marketing blog that publishes posts related to SEO, Marketing, Social Media, ORM, Blogging, Search Engines, PPC and more. My first blog was a highly controversial political blog which I started in 2009 and continued to run till mid 2010 and I discontinued it. I used to blog under a pen name due to obvious reasons. I wouldn’t like to mention the name of the blog here.
Have you written for any other blog/website? Please show us your work.
Yes, I have written guest posts/articles for a few sites in the past. I have also written some posts as a ghost writer.
Here are the links to some of my work:
Is Social Media a Revolution or Hype?
Facebook – the unstoppable! Brand Facebook is getting bigger!
Is twitter’s Competitive Advantage under Threat?
What process do you use to edit your work and ensure it is free of grammar and spelling errors? Any tips for us 🙂
Editing requires a keen eye for detail. Proof read twice or thrice. Online dictionary comes in handy while editing. I use Wordweb.
What are the hurdles you faced in your blogging journey?
One of the common problems faced by part-time bloggers is lack of time. For me time management was really a challenge. Another challenge newbie bloggers often face is lack of readership. Initially, it used to be really frustrating to see only a few visitors coming to my blog.
Is blogging a full time career option for you these days? Please explain.
No, as I said I’m a part-time blogger. I do a full-time job.
How important is SEO for a blog and which tactic is your favourite one?
When it comes to blogging your focus should be more on the quality of content. Create great posts that your audience would love to share, recommend and link to. But, yes at the same time creating great content is not enough you need to promote it. Gaining visibility on search engines is equally important.
As many people recommend these days, Guest blogging is a one of the best ways to gain visibility. I don’t see guest blogging as a method to acquire links but a great way to connect with new people, still no doubt guest blogging enables you to gain quality links to your blog which in turn helps your blog posts rank better in search results. So, guest blogging is highly recommended.
What should be the role of social media in a blogger’s life?
Social Media is like oxygen for a blogger. As a blogger you always need to be in the limelight so that your audience don’t forget you. Building great audience overtime on popular social platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Google+ is highly essential to survive in the long run. Social Media also helps you to stay connected with your loyal readers and interact with them. As Jay Baer puts it ‘Content is fire, Social Media is gasoline’.
Would you be available for an unknown newbie blogger for any help?
Yes sure, I may be able to provide some assistance if required.
How much did you use to earn from blogging initially? And what is the status now?
Well, I started blogging as a hobby. Later I used to do guest blogging for the company I worked with. These days I’m a part-time blogger. I don’t really make any money from blogging currently, but I look forward to some sponsorships.
What are the tools & sites that you would recommend to bloggers and why?
As a blogger you need to always stay updated about the recent trends and happenings in your industry. So, regularly follow sites that publish news or industry trends. For ex: if you are in the internet marketing industry sites like searchengineland.com, oz.org/blog, marketinglanding.com, mashable.com, econsultancy.com/us/blog etc are few recommended sites to follow.
Google alerts and Google trends are useful tools to keep tabs on your industry.
Twitter is a fantastic tool for bloggers. It can be effectively used to find topic ideas and it is also a great platform where you can meet interesting people and find new opportunities.
Social Media tools like tweetdeck.com, hotsuite.com, and tweepi.com etc immensely help in effectively managing multiple social profiles thus help you to saving a lot of time.
What do you think are best ways to drive traffic to a blog?
There are many effective ways to drive traffic to a blog. Some are commonly known ones. As discussed earlier Guest blogging is a great way to reach out to new audience and influencers and also to drive traffic to your blog. The key is to getting your posts published on leading blogs in your niche.
Another best way to drive traffic is to invite influencers or popular bloggers to write guest posts for your blog. This way you can leverage their popularity. If not guest post, many agree to do interviews.
How can someone get in touch with you? Please share your social profiles and contact details.
You can reach out to me on twitter http://www.twitter.com/elavator or email me at info@theimarketingcafe.com
Would you like to give some suggestions to newbie bloggers?
One thing I would like to tell upcoming bloggers is to focus on the quality of the posts. Only quality posts can help you to attract readers’ attention and make you popular. Do spend a lot of time on research.
Thanks!
”Readers, Don’t forget to say “Hello to Kavin” via our Comment Section.”