Blogging has become a huge part of the internet sub-culture. Hell, look at Inside the Webb! New bloggers appear online every day, and along with these bloggers there are some novice and some professionals. Blog2Life is a blog that offers its readers tips and tricks about how to blog, latest trends, and so much more!
They even offer free icons, downloads, templates, and even teach you how to make money blogging through internet marketing and using social networking and bookmarking sites! I got a great interview with the blog’s creator, Jamie Carter. So please do enjoy, and if you are an upcoming blogger looking for some tips please consider visiting Blog2Life.net.
What is Blog2Life’s main niche or focus of writing about?
My original aim for Blog2Life was to provide an output of ideas to help bloggers make their blog more successful and I focused on blog branding, design and development with a few helpful internet tools.
Quite recently that focus came under scrutiny as several friends and reader mentioned about focusing my niche more specifically and since then I’ve become unstuck as to which direction to take Blog2Life.
As soon as I get some free time to spend on coding my new theme I will be re-launching the blog most likely focusing on branding, WordPress themes, and free icons .
How many visits do you see daily to your blog? Can you share who some of your top referrers are to your blog?
At the peak the site was getting 2500 hits a week but that has hugely declined because I’ve not been able to post of so long. It is now a measly 200-250 visits a week.
Some of my top referrers are weblogtoolscollection.com, simplehelp.net, stumbleupon, geniushackers.com.
How do you market Blog2Life, whether it be through internet or other means?
As for marketing I let the content market itself. I will often ask a few friends to stumble some of my more popular articles just to get the ball rolling.
Developing WordPress themes is a marketing method in its self, and based on blog popularity bigger blogs can send a constant steady stream of traffic. I had a few large blogs using my Word Press’d theme and not only did it send my traffic up it also hugely increased my Google page rank.
Another method I use to help spread the word about blog to life is commenting. I try to comment in detail on topics I find interesting. If people like what you read they will almost definitely visit your site. I do it myself, while browsing comments I will use the middle mouse button to open about 10-15 tabs from interesting commenters and proceed to browse each one in turn.
My final method of marketing Blog2Life was to just throw myself into the online world and target website that I thought could use a helping hand based on their current design. I targeted blogs with a large fan base but that lacked a design wow factor and I did it all free of charge in exchange for a link or post and future recommendations. This meant that I could help improve the site quite dramatically and I’d gain a much bigger audience, both sites benefited from the experience.
What would you consider are your top 3 articles that you’ve enjoyed writing just as much as your readers did reading them?
Three of my favorite posts that enjoyed writing and taking part in are as follows:
Word Press’d: WordPress Admin Inside Out (Link)
This was the launch of my first (and currently only theme I’ve got many more designed just not coded) which is called Word Press’d. It was a blog adaptation of the old 2.5 admin theme for the frontend and it fell victim to a large amount of interest.
The Benefits Of Commenting (Link)
This was another of my popular posts talking about the pros of commenting properly, the benefits that both parties can see and a short guide as to how to comment.
Boxy: What Features Would You Like To See? (Link)
I always aim to keep my readers informed and in some cases allow them to influence the direction of a design, which I find very exciting and fun to follow.
The logo for Blog2Life has a very web 2.0 design to it. How did you come up with this design, and were there any specific inspirations when designing this?
I wanted a simple design that was appealing to the eye. With the help of a friend we managed to pull the current logo together.
What advancements would you like to see Blog2Life have within the near future?
I hope to convert Blog2Life into output for my creative development by using it as a method for others to see and talk about my latest works as they develop, sort of like an inside seek peak to my other projects such as wpcodex.com.
I do hope to publish a few more of my themes and post some icons I’ve been working on.
I see that your latest post was made around late April. Do you have any great ideas for some new posts to add?
I have about 10 themes designed on my computer but currently no method (or time) of getting them coded and finished. I will hopefully be able to get these themes coded and published over the next 6 months as I finish my next year in university in just a couple of weeks time.
My university workload and personal life have largely effected the time I have to blog and design but hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have more time to get started on my long “to do” list.
What are some of your favorite web 2.0 / social networking / social bookmarking applications and why?
I am a huge fan of Stumbleupon and always love to see what new content is appearing on the site. I do occasionally delve into Digg for a quick browse on some of the upcoming design topics.
If you had any advice for someone creating their own web 2.0 blog, what would it be?
Be yourself and blog about only hot topics that interest you. Do not over stretch yourself because you will burn out. I have burnt myself out several times and getting back into blogging can then become a chore more than an enjoyment.
I intend to work at a slower pace and post at a more consistent time like once or twice a week as my personal life becomes more and more busy with university this will allow me to fit blogging into that lifestyle and because my readers don’t expect new content everyday they will not be disappointed.
