Blogger Interview: with Jon of FreelanceFolder.com

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In December, I had interviewed Jon of FreelanceFolder.com. Jon had successfully setup a “group blog” - something that I had plans for.

But that interview didn’t see the day of light because I’ve been busy with another project of mine and have neglected BlogClout a bit <shame-on-me>.

Better late than never - right? So here is the interview with Jon:

1. Can you give a quick introduction of who you are and what you do?

Hello, I’m Jon from Montreal Canada, my blog is located at SmartWealthyRich.com and I also run a multi-author FreelanceFolder.com with a bunch of really skilled writers

I’m a freelance writer, blogger, designer, and a musician.

2. Why did you start Freelance Folder? Did you have any specific goal in mind before you started blogging?

I wanted to start another blog and a multi-author blog was the way to go. I really enjoy starting conversations and networking with other bloggers, so after seeing pretty good results with my first blog I thought the next logical step was to start a multi-author blog.

I didn’t have any specific goal in mind before I started blogging. In fact I had no idea what WordPress was, I just downloaded it 10 months ago, installed it on my server, and voila. Now I have goals, but back then I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into - hehe

3. How has blogging changed your life?

Well a lot of things happened since I started my first blog. I quit my day job about 3 years ago leaving behind the security of the paycheck every 2 weeks. I now work my own hours, get to improve my writing skills and meet a bunch of cool people online, some of which became business partners.

4. What is the “one” ingredient or idea that played the biggest role in your blogging success?

‘It’s all about the conversations’

That’s sorta like my motto. I just love to engage in discussions with my readers, that’s the single most important thing for me. I always try to write posts that will make people want to leave a comment and connect with other readers. I love it when my readers share their own tips and tricks and give advices, that rocks. It’s all about the conversations.

5. How do you find and attract writers to write for Freelance Folder?

I first posted about it on my own blog which at the time had around 300 readers, and got a really good response. You could say I used this blog as a launch pad for FreelanceFolder. I simply asked my readers if they’d be interested in partnering up with me on a new blog. Some wanted to write on a regular basis while others were interested in writing just a post or two.

I also sent a couple of e-mails to fellow bloggers, but that didn’t work so well. Now I don’t really go out and look for writers, I just let people know I accept guest posts and I put up a ‘write for us’ page on the blog, and I usually receive 2-5 e-mails per week, which is really nice.

6. How do you generate traffic to your blog?

I’m really active on social sites like StumbleUpon (my fave), Digg, Reddit, Del.Icio.Us, and other smaller niche sites. It takes some time to build a profile, but it’s really worth it. I can spend anywhere between half-an-hour to 3 hours per day on social media sites just reading, bookmarking, subscribing, commenting, networking.

7. Whats your secret of getting so many of your posts on the front page of Digg?

I’m probably the one who knows the least what he’s doing. It never really happened I wrote a post especially for the Digg crowd, I know some people specialize in that, but I don’t. I just write and don’t really care about making sure my posts are ‘Digg-worthy’. Pretty much anything can make the Digg frontpage anyway.

One thing I do though is when I see a post is getting some traction on StumbleUpon, I’ll add the Digg button right away. It’s called the ‘domino effect’

• Stumblers see the Digg button and vote your post
• Diggers come to your site and bookmark your post on Del.icio.us
• Del.icio.us users Stumble and Digg your post
• and so on…

8. How do you monetize your blog?

I use different services like text-link-ads (not on FreelanceFolder though) and Google Adsense, but these two don’t generate much revenue. I prefer doing private ad deals. I regularly send e-mails to potential advertisers and just ask them if they’d be interested in advertising on my blog(s), sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes advertisers contact me first.

I also recommend services and products to fellow bloggers (hosting for example) and use different affiliate programs.

9. What does your average day look like? How do you budget your time?

I usually go to sleep really late and wake up… yes, late. I find my most creative time is between 11pm and 3:30am.

Here’s what a ‘typical day’ looks like:

• wake up
• make coffee
• check e-mails
• start reading blogs
• leave for the recording studio (I’m a guitarist)
• check e-mails again
• write/blog/brainstorm
• work on projects for clients (design, paid writing gigs)
• spend some time on social sites
• go out, take some time off
• sleep

It’s like that pretty much 7 days a week

10. Any product / service of yours that you would like my blog readers to know about?

I’m always looking for more work, whether it’s to design or customize a blog, write blog posts or articles, or if you simply need advices about blogging, I may be able to help.

Editors note: If you need to setup a blog - Jon is the guy to go to!

If you liked this post, buy me a beer. (Suggested: $3 a beer or $7.5 for a pitcher)

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Posted by Ankesh Kothari under Interviews on 14 Feb 2008

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