I’ve always been a huge fan of blogs, namely up and coming stars. Blogussion caught my eye a few months ago, and I’ve been following their articles ever since. Jam-packed with blogging and internet traffic-related SEO articles, Blogussion is one of the top blogging resources on the web today.
It’s young creator Alex Fraiser has agreed to hold a short interview with me, sharing some of his inside secrets to blogging and the creation of his ever-expanding network. Alex also runs a young entrepreneurs blog Asnio where he writes about similar topics, and you can find him on Twitter @alexfraiser.
What made you want to get into blogging, especially blogging to earn a living online?
I originally started out as a freelancer for web design. I built static HTML pages for a while, but never for anyone else! I was always trying to build a website for myself, like a portfolio kind of site, and sell the designs I made on DigitalPoint. I did that for way too long with very little profit, but I learned so much about designing, and even blogging.
I started making blog designs and trying to sell them on DigitalPoint, without even having a blog of my own. I knew that blog designs sold pretty well on that site, and I thought I was pretty decent at designing. One day I designed the Blogussion theme, and rather than sell it, I thought I would make a blog out of it. I really liked how it turned out, so I wanted it for myself. I can’t imagine how my online career would be different if I did sell that design to someone for the $20-$30 I sold my past designs.
But ever since the start of my own blog and seeing the success of others, I knew I wanted to give it a shot. And I think I’m doing pretty well for a 16 year old blogger, so we’ll just see where I end up in a few years!
Traffic and awareness of the blog has grown heavily over the past couple of months. Any tactics or tips you can share for blog marketing?
I don’t think of myself as a great marketer, and I really rely on guest posts and Twitter for traffic. A lot of the traffic that comes to my site through search engines has been from the Blogussion Theme I sell, but I really rely on Twitter as one of the largest sources of traffic.
Take advantage of Twitter, that’s all I have to say.
Where can you see Blogussion going within the next 6-8 months?
I hope to have achieved quite a few things by then. I want to get a newsletter of some sort going, and maybe even a forum community up. I would really like to see Blogussion bring in more traffic, and even have a higher RSS count. There are just so many things I want to happen for the blog, and I plan to make them all happen.
A lot of your articles are clear quality and provide great information to your readers. Where do you get the inspiration for your articles, and do you have any secrets for keeping on-point and constantly churning out great articles?
Here I thought I was talking about the same stuff over and over again, glad you think otherwise. 😀
I usually spend about 15 minutes a week coming up with post ideas. Some ideas just come to me easier than others, and some are a little trickier to come up with. But it’s important that you take time to just relax and brainstorm.
I try to tie in life with blogging. Most of the ideas I come up with are based off of a personal experience. Just to give you a little idea of how my brain works, here is how I came up with the idea for an article I wrote a few weeks ago: The Easy Blogging Life.
I’m in High School, and one of the things I hear from my teachers everyday is that “you have to work hard for your grades, I won’t just give you good grades for nothing.” That’s a pretty powerful idea, my teachers are basically saying that “nothing in life is easy, and things aren’t just going to be handed to you.” That sounds a lot like blogging too, doesn’t it? You aren’t a successful blogger unless you put in the work, and no one is just going to come by and do everything for you to make you successful.
So really, a lot of my ideas are based off of things I hear or read about in real life. That’s why I think my content is so well-received by many people, as there are some topics I talk about that can be turned around and help you in your own life.
Any final words of advice for aspiring professional bloggers out there?
You better love what you’re doing and never stop doing it. That’s all you need to hear.
