Aussie Bloggers

Neerav Bhatt is the author of two blogs:

1. Rambling Thoughts and
2. The Road Less Travelled

I recently had the opportunity to ask him a range of questions which I hope will help us all get to know the blogger behind the blogs just a little better.

To make things clear, I have used the colour red for all my own words from here on in.

My questions and Neerav’s responses (as well as a few added in comments by me , cos I just couldn’t help myself) are detailed below.

Firstly Neerav, I’d like to say thank you for agreeing to come on my new TV show be interviewed for the Aussie Bloggers Blog.

How did you first hear about the concept of blogging (and how long ago if you can remember)?

I was aware of it during 2002 and 2003 but I really took interest when Wordpress 1.0 was launched because I could see that Wordpress was really going to go places.

When did you first start blogging?

Around that time (end 2003/start 2004)

What is your favourite blog post you’ve ever written?

That’s really hard. If I have to choose one I’d go for Australia TV Radio Coverage Cricket World Cup 2007 West Indies

because:

• In a sense it was “exclusive news” because I found out about the TV schedule and published it weeks before anyone else
• It got over 60,000 pageviews and earnt well over $1000 in ad revenue
• I got interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reporter Asher Moses about that post which he wrote about here.

Unable to quite decide, Neerav mentioned 1 tiny little “equal place” getter. Being the lovely reporter I am (*snigger* I know, but won’t you indulge a girl for a minute???), I decided to let him choose 2.

My equal favourite post, even though not many people read it when I published it, is How One Person Can Make a Difference

How much time do you spend on blogging and blogging related activities?

Usually 15-20 hrs per week. However if I’m doing a major site revamp or researching to pre-write a lot of articles then this takes 50hrs-60hrs+ per week.

On the flip side if I’m really busy with other projects or personal stuff than I’ll spend perhaps 5 hrs a week just to reply to emails and moderate comments made on the blogs.

Do you find it easy to switch off and not think about blogging? Or do you find yourself constantly on the lookout for interesting topics to blog about?

I’ve always been someone who gets ideas 24/7

I used to write them down all over the place on scrap paper but now I’ve bought a new phone with organiser software so I enter all my ideas in there. (ooh….blogging gives an excuse to buy new gadgets……)

Where do you draw the most inspiration for your blog posts from?

Life, the Universe and Everything … I’m a big fan of the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

Do you have a favourite place to blog from?

My home office (and here I was hoping you’d say something like “the bathtub”. Okay, can’t really blame you, I blog from our home office too. )

Have you experienced bloggers-block (ie writers block)? If yes, how did you overcome that.

Never - if anything I have too many ideas and several hundred draft half written articles (I seem to start a new blog when that happens to me! )

You’ve obviously experienced a high level of success in earning money through your blogs. What 3 pieces of advice would you offer to any blogger starting on the road to earning money through blogging?

1. Read How I Earn Lots of Money By Blogging.
2. Be genuinely different, many bloggers rehash the same stories and think a large quantity of posts will lead to success. I would advocate that quality is far more important than quantity.
3. Subscribe to Darren Rowse’s problogger site after reading his reality check articles like A Reality Check About Blogging For Money.

In terms of income, is one of your blogs more successful than the other? If yes, which one and why do you think this is so?

Definitely Rambling Thoughts because it’s old (in Internet terms) and established with many links from other sites, lots of content and the search engines reward that.

When you started to blog as your profession, did it change the way you viewed blogging?

Yes, there are compromises which must be made (see this discussion as an example) but on the whole I don’t think it changed much.

The way I approach pro-blogging is that a small % of commercially oriented articles earn lots of money which “subsidise” the time I spend on the vast majority of other articles which earn little or nothing but provide useful information to readers.

Was it your intention from the very beginning to earn some money through your blogging?

Not at all, I just enjoy messing about with technology and thought “this new Adsense program sounds very interesting, lets give it a shot”

In the first 6 months I earned the princely sums of: $0.16, $5.40, $10.33, $15.31 and $28.93

Alright, time to get down to the more IMPORTANT stuff:

favourite food: chocolate (as if the question really even needed to be ASKED!!!!)
favourite colour: blue (I think we all know I prefer pink but then well, I didn’t expect you to say pink or anything!!!! I like blue too!!! )
favourite blog (that isn’t your own): Impossible to choose, if I mentioned one it would only offend other blogger friends
what you like to do when you’re not blogging: Many things including reading, listening to podcasts, watching TV, going for long walks in the city and in the bush.

favourite sport: cricket (Will I get kicked out of Australia if I admit that I find cricket boring???? )

You’ve done quite a bit of travelling and lived in many places. Do you have a favourite place to live?

I think my feelings are best summarised as:

“East, West. Australia is best ”

Top Answer!!!

I think that’s the ideal place to leave this interview. I hope you’ve enjoyed gaining a little bit of insight into the blogger behind the blog. Make sure you go and check out Neerav’s writings at Rambling Thoughts and The Road Less Travelled.