John Kolbert is a blogger who writes about many topics such as technology, WordPress, software, blogging and more. He doesn’t consider himself to be anyone special but more along the lines of being an average Joe. John is also a self taught PHP programmer with a few WordPress plugins under his belt. In this interview, I ask John to describe why he blogs, the basis behind his new project Techlyzer.com and more.

How did you become involved with blogging? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do?

I like creating tutorials. Plain and simple. The whole reason I started blogging was because I wanted to share ideas I had discovered. For example, as I was teaching myself some programming languages, I would spend hours figuring scripts out. One day I started thinking, “I can’t be the only one figuring out this problem right now.” I decided to start a blog and share the things I had been discovering.?? Of course, it’s become more then that now, but that’s how I started.

Your personal tech blog, Simply-Basic.com runs on WordPress. What made you decide to use WordPress versus the other publishing platforms that exist?

When I first created by personal blog I was quite unaware of the different blogging platforms. A simple google search of blogging software quickly led me to WordPress, and I’m glad it did! WordPress has given me the flexability I need, the control that I wanted, and even a good number of paying jobs! As far as the other platforms go, I never found any as easy and enjoyable to use.

Speaking of WordPress, you have a few plugins under your belt that you have developed. How does it feel to be able to create something from nothing to solve a particular problem?

It’s a great feeling! Plugin development is one of my most enjoyable hobbies. My first plugin, Admin Favicon, was an extremely simple plugin. But honestly, it took me a few hours to create because I had to learn how WordPress worked. But once it was completed I was quite proud. The real test, though, is releasing it into the wild and getting feedback, support requests, and keeping up with comments. It adds a whole different aspect into blogging.

Do you currently earn any income through blogging? If not, is that a route that you’d like to pursue?

I’ve tried to monetize my sites with things like Adsense. I even tried text links for two months before I realized my mistake. I haven’t maximized the income yet because it hasn’t been a priority for me. The thing about blogging is you can monetize your site using various techniques. For example, during the summers when I have plenty of time I monetize my blog in a different way. I use it to advertise myself as a freelancer, even putting up a banner advertisement for my contact form. During the fall and winter months I remove those ads because I just get too busy.

It looks like you have launched a new project recently called Techlyzer.com. Can you give us a brief summary as to what this project is all about.

Techlyzer is my new venture into an aspect of blogging that I feel gets overlooked: video blogging. Techlyzer is (nearly) all screencasts of tutorials and reviews. I mentioned earlier that I really enjoy discovering things and then teaching others. However, I started to tire of the lengthy write-ups that came with typing out instructions and including a large number of screenshots. Plus, I’m a visual learner. It’s only been barely a week but I’ve been happy with the response I’ve gotten.

What software do you use for the screencasts on Techlyzer.com? What pointers can you give to those who are looking to do their own screencasts.

I use a really simple-to-use program called “Screenflow“. I believe it’s only for Mac OS, but it’s been a great program to use. It’s not as powerful as say Camtasia Studio, but you can’t beat it’s simplicity and how the final product renders. Along with that I use a simple $20 desktop Logitech microphone, nothing fancy. The trick to making a quality screencast is to not be afraid to fumble during it. If you make a mistake, pause, and start again from that same point. Screenflow makes the editing process very easy. My final product is not a seamless video, it’s all the good parts edited together

Before we let you go, there is one last question that must be answered. What is the future of blogging?

The future of blogging looks very bright. I believe that blogging to going to play a significantly bigger and better role in how the average person gets their daily information. Even major news sources understand the necessity of blogging (just look at CNN’s news blogs) and people reported news (iReport.com, anyone?). It is important to remember, though, that not everyone will be a big time, money making blogger. Blogging has basically no barriers to entry, economically meaning that there are lots of bloggers and low profit margins overall. But it’s not, and shouldn’t be, all about the money. Blogging is a healthy, enjoyable, lifestyle or hobby that’s here to stay.

You can catch John’s work at Simply-Basic.com and you can view his technical screencasts at Techlyzer.com. Also, be sure to check out his list of WordPress plugins he has developed thus far.

How did you get involved with blogging?

I was writing about my personal life for quite some time, using blogging as more of a diary.

At the time, I am not sure it was even really called blogging, though my lack of knowledge regarding the industry at that time, sometimes comes across as sounding like that it wasn’t really blogging until I started doing it.

I started learning about all things blogging when I found out about WordPress from Michael Heilemann of BinaryBonsai. I then started watching the industry closely, and secured an interview with Jacob Gower who was buying a variety of well known blogs. At the same time, I was able to secure a temporary gig as the guest blogger on Darren Rowse’s Laptop blog, where I did well. Various things came into play, and Jacob Gower hired me full time.

Your career path has lead you to write for some interesting sites. Care to share a list of the sites you have written for?

That would be a fairly long list. Suffice to say, I’ve written on over thirty sites by now.

Some of the better known would be BloggingPro.com, ForeverGeek.com, CSSVault.com, BlogHerald.com, Performancing.com, LifeSpy.com, AppleGazette.com, and Devlounge.net.

Of course then there are blogs that are no longer active that I’ve worked on, and my own blogs and sites. It has been a crazy career with many topics and niches I needed to get familiar with. I had even written a bit on a few celebrity sites, but really didn’t enjoy it.

You’ve worked for many blogs and blog networks. What advice can you give someone if they are thinking about the question of whether to blog for themselves or to be part of a network?

The question about blog networks is a simple one, do I need to get paid today, or can I wait a year? Blog Networks will pay you for your work as you complete it, where blogging for yourself can mean little to no income for a year, or sacrificing any income to help develop the blog and grow it larger. Either way, most of the decision comes down to money and your personal needs.

You appear to be going from being the jack of all trades to a more focused approach with BrandingDavid.com. What is it you hope to accomplish with your new home?

Well, BrandingDavid.com is all about figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. I have been working in the blogging world for three years now, and I really want to build up my career in consulting, speaking and helping others reach their goals and dreams with regards to blogging. From helping corporations understand the wild west that is blogging and social media to helping a single blogger understand what path he or she needs to take to get to their goal.

It seems as though everyone is developing a personal brand. Are you one of them?

I have to admit, I am getting sick of hearing of “personal brand“, but it is the new currency of the web. I think I have developed my personal brand over the last four years without even trying. I think most bloggers develop their brand without ever putting any effort into it. I think placing emphasis on building a personal branding is a little silly since the brand is “you”. Focus on doing the best you can, and putting out as much content as possible, and your brand will shine through.

The business of personal branding is about being able to focus that brand though, as you might think you are putting out one message, and instead be putting out a completely different one that you aren’t happy with. I’d love to help people fine-tune their personal brand, and yes, I am still focusing in on mine.

You have been co-host on a number of different podcasts. What has podcasting done to help you build your brand?

Podcasting is just fun for me. I would love to take it more seriously, but I haven’t really had the time. If it were up to me, I would be co-hosting a podcast each week day. My brand has long since been about text, and adding audio into the mix gives people a new way to connect to me and understand me, as text can sometimes be interpreted in different ways, where the inflections in my voice can make how I feel much more clear. Podcasting is a great medium that I hope to utilize more going forward.

At one point, you became a community manager for PicApp, an online service. What exactly does a community manager do?

A community manager is supposed to be the gateway between the company and their corporate ideals, and the community of people that they hope to serve. They are passionate people that are able to connect with potential customers or users in a way that normal marketing people cannot.

Every community needs some spark or catalyst to get it running and once running keep it organized and effective, and that is the job of the Community Manager.

Do you think it is better to be a jack of all trades or a master of a specific skill?

I have always marketed myself as a jack of all trades, and have started to realize that there is a ceiling related to branding and building yourself up as one. Say there are ten levels in the game of business, generalists can only get to level seven, while specialists can get to level ten. I know it is a bad analogy, but it is something I truly believe.

The funny thing in my mind though is how difficult it is to remain a jack of all trades over choosing a specialty. You would think it would be the other way around, but as companies grow, they want specialists and smaller companies can’t always afford higher wages, and so they hire generalists at a rate far below what some specialists would normally receive. I would love if people would correct me here if I am wrong.

What have been the highlights of your career thus far? Do you see yourself continuing down this path or will you eventually get an office job?

The highlights of my career have been speaking at conferences like Blog World Expo and WordCamp Toronto. Those experiences were absolutely amazing, and makes me want to speak at more conferences. Other highlights are really just in participating in this space, and interacting with people like you, Deb Ng, Jeremy Wright, Chris Garrett, Ryan Caldwell, and many, many others. I could list names all day. There are just so many amazing people that I’ve been able to talk to, meet and have relationships with.

As for getting an office job. I can definitely see that in my future if my other goals don’t work out. I am one of those people that consider all possibilities. The idea of sitting in an office has its draw, but I have also become accustomed to the life I lead, and so I am inspired to keep working hard so that I don’t “have” to work in an office.

What sort of career opportunities are available for bloggers these days?

I have become a pessimist regarding blogging jobs as of late. I think there is going to be a squeeze coming where we will see the number of full time blogging jobs quickly being reduced or downgraded in pay in a steep way.

On the flip side though, I still believe that anyone that wants to make blogging their full time job can do it through hard work and perseverance and that no niche is so saturated that it can’t be conquered by a newcomer with bright ideas and passion.

Last but not least, please tell me what you think the future of blogging will be.

I am not sure. Any guess would be pulling at straws. I see it continuing to take over more attention from mainstream media, enough so that those businesses continue to dump more money into the space to drag people back to their brands, but other than that, it really depends on the advancement of technology, and the sociological issues and changes.

You can still catch David’s work at Xfep.com as well as CollegeCrunch.org and BrandingDavid.com. David also co-hosts a podcast called Perfcast that airs live on Talkshoe.com every Thursday night at 7 P.M. EST.

BloggingTips.com has been around since March of 2007 yet it is already one of the top spots to go to for tips on blogging. How did you manage to take a brand new domain and turn it into a powerhouse within such a short period of time?

I am extremely pleased with the progress the site has made and I don???t want to downplay the sites success however I actually think that the growth of the site has been very slow. BloggingTips currently has 3,000 subscribers but since starting there has been around 1,450 posts, quite a lot more than similar blogs who have more subscribers. Also, there are many blogs which started around the same time who have a bigger following.

Although growth has been slow, the site is still growing every month and as long as that continues, I???ll be a happy man.

BloggingTips is a multi-authored blog. What are some of the challenges of managing a multi authored site versus managing only yourself.

When you are only blogging for yourself you only have to manage your own schedule but with many authors you have to make sure that everyone is singing from the same hymn book. If you set things up right from the start then this is actually quite easy to do however I have made some mistakes along the way.

All authors of BloggingTips post on set days so that posts are evenly distributed ie. so there isn???t 10 posts one day and 2 the next. I work my posting schedule around the schedule of the sites authors which is great because it allows me to work on other things when I know there are 2 or 3 posts already scheduled.

When I first started the site I gave authors the freedom to write about any blogging related topic they wanted but this was a huge mistake as many authors were writing about very similar topics, a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Due to this I parted ways with several authors and from then on in I asked authors to cover specific subjects.

I have to say I have been very lucky so far. 95% of the writers I have worked for have been great but unfortunately I have had a few problems. When I first launched the site I paid writers in advance on a monthly basis as I knew some writers had some problems getting paid in the past so I wanted to build a good solid relationship with them. This was a terrible mistake.

When a few writers left I had to chase them for monies owed. Normally this was ok but 2 or 3 writers were very unprofessional about this. A few months ago I parted ways with a writer who had been paid for the month ahead but when I emailed him about it and explained my reasons he never replied. A few emails later and still no reply so I had to start a paypal claim which unfortunately, never went my way (as usual Paypal stay out of these kind of transactions).

Due to these problems I now pay in arrears. Most bloggers are happy with this anyways though it is a shame that a few unprofessional bloggers act in this way as the majority of bloggers I have worked with have been great.

I know that other blog owners have had similar problems too but looking back I have been very fortunate. The current writing team is great and I speak with most of them on a regular basis. Whenever they can???t make a post for any reason, they always email in advance and let me know and then catch up with the post later.

Some people think that blogging about blogging now a days is like beating a dead horse. Do you agree with that sentiment or is there still a lot that can be discussed?

As long as blogs are popular there will be things to discuss. As long as new blog services are launching there will be websites who review and rate them. Many of the topics which blogging blogs cover are applicable to all webmasters (eg. search engine optimization, promotion, domain names, hosting, programming, social media etc) though I would say a larger percentage of bloggers need this type of help because they have less experience in web development.

I do think that there is still enough interest in blogging for their to be more high profile blogging blogs too. When I think high profile I think ProBlogger, DailyBlogTips, Performancing and The Blog Herald : blogs which all have a history of posting good posts consistently on a regular basis. I think BloggingTips is approaching that kind of status but it???s not quite there yet.

Hopefully within the next year or so BloggingTips will be around the 10k subscriber mark but by that time there will be several more blogging type blogs at the stage where BloggingTips is at just now. That???s the beauty of the internet!

How do you come up with ideas for content for BloggingTips?

When the site started many of my posts were tutorials explaining how I resolved problems which I had. As the site started to grow I got more emails asking for help so I rarely struggled for post ideas as I could answer those questions in my posts. I still get questions from visitors asking for help though most emails are from companies telling me about the launch of a new service or website and if they are relevant to blogging I usually post about them.

I also subscribe to a few dozen blogging related blogs, particularly those which are known to break news.

Last but not least, I look at common questions which crop up on blogging related forums. If I see a lot of people with the same problem I sometimes spend some time researching it so that I can write a tutorial which resolves the issue.

How long did it take before the BloggingTips forum ended up with a life of its own?

I launched the forums just a few months after BloggingTips was launched. Though there have been times with some activity, it???s only been the last few months that a loyal bunch of members have started hanging out there every day and chatting about blogging. Forums are notoriously difficult to get going but I???m really starting to see a sense of community developing there and it???s very encouraging.

Is there anything special you did with BloggingTips in terms of SEO?

Not as such. The sites design is optimized with the post title using a H1 on post pages etc and I???ve tried not to have too many characters on the home page too.

I do monitor keywords through Analytics semi regularly though I haven???t tried to target certain keywords extensively or written posts specifically for the search engines.

In general I???ve found that the more technical type posts get less comments however over time they generate more traffic through the search engines.

How important has the community been in terms of helping to make BloggingTips.com a success?

They have been vital. Right from the start they have been open and supportive of me and the blog. I have came across lots of subscribers who have recommended the site to other bloggers on other blogs and forums and help promote the site. Many also vote for articles via digg, stumbleupon and other social sites.

You appear to be someone who is continuously on the hunt for good domains or forums to purchase to add to your collection. Will you be doing your own blogging network some day?

It???s not something I have planned in the near future but I wouldn???t rule anything out. If I was in a good position to pick up a good blog and develop it more then I probably would a chance on it. BloggingTips remains my priority though and in the next year I will be looking at more ways to generate income from the site.

Any tips or tricks you can give our readers for building up an audience sooner rather than later?

The first thing you need to do is take the time to write good posts. Without good content, a blog is worthless. After that you need to generate some buzz for those posts and get your blog noticed.

To get traffic quickly to your blog you need to be active. Leave good comments on blogs and forums and become proactive on a social site like dig, stumbleupon or mixx. This can be timeconsuming though so a healthy advertising budget would certainly help, particularly in the first few months of a blogs life.

Last but not least, what is the future of blogging?

I think blogging will be here with us in some shape or form for a long time. Over the next few years I believe the major growth will be in mobile blogging. Most smartphones are now coming with blogging type software preinstalled (eg. lifeblog) and most can use Twitter and other microblogging software too. Just a few months ago Wordpress released a version for the iphone so that people could blog on the move.

Over the next few years I’m sure that we will see more and more blogs being launched as there are still many countries where internet usage is increasing by a large amount every year.

You can catch Kevin sharing his knowledge of blogging at BloggingTips.com and be sure to join his BloggingTips forums to participate in his community. Lots of great people over there.

First off Steve, tell us how your blog ended up with the name WinExtra.

WinExtra as a name predates the blog. It actually goes back to when it was just a set of nntp newsgroups that I setup after Lockergnome had closed down his newsgroups. It was intended as a way for people who had gotten to know each other on the LG newsgroups to keep on helping people with computer and software problems. It was also a static site for any development work I was doing at the time.

About three years ago is when I first started toying with the idea of setting up the site as a blog and moving the newsgroups over to a web forums setup. It wasn’t until 2 years ago that I actually started to blog seriously though after a few false starts.

What has it been like for you in your blogging venture to write about technology?

It’s actually been a lot of fun. Sure there are the typical frustrations and doubts that any new blogger will go through but I like being able to use my years of experience right across the computer field to try and keep things a little on the real side. I also tend to look at technology from the regular users point of view so that I can bring a different perspective to what is happening.

The technology niche is filled with rumors, drama, and egomaniacs. How have you managed to keep yourself and the blog away from that material?

I think my age and experience help there. I don’t have patience for people who are full of themselves or think they are better or more knowledgeable than others. We are all in a constant state of learning - or at least we should be.

What are your thoughts on the supposed A-list of tech bloggers?

Personally I think they are needed. They give those of us working our way up the ranks something to shoot for. Sure I make fun of them a lot of the time but it is stupid to suggest that such a thing doesn’t exist. It is part of human nature to rank things/people. We do it all the time whether it be celebrities, sports stars and even scientists - after all the Nobel Prizes area a form of ranking aren’t they? They tell us who some of the brightest and best are. So ya they are good to have around.

Is their a person or a style of writing that inspires your own writing style?

Hmm .. this is a hard one really because my tastes vary. I like everything from the snappy sarcastic posts of Valleywag to the long thoughtful post from people like Kevin Kelly to Alexander van Elsas.

How long did it take for you to make your first $100 from Google?

If I recall correctly I believe it took over a year for that first check but since then I’ve almost been able to cut the time between checks in half each cycle. Right now I’m approaching a check once every three to four months.

You have podcasting experience under your belt to go alongside of blogging. Where do you see mediums such as blogging, audio and video heading in the future?

Blogging will always be a mix of professional and purely personal but the personal will probably decline to a certain extent as things like Twitter and FriendFeed gain larger footholds. Professional blogging will probably consolidate around major brands and good solid individual pro news/opinion bloggers.

Podcasting I think will grow within the professional news and opinion arena but I don’t think it will grow much within the hobby/personal area. Videocasting though I think will grow in both areas but for the professionals they are going to have to make it a part of the mix as I don’t think that pure video ‘blogging’ is something that “right now” will be something that people will make time for. that might change as technology changes, peoples tastes change and we see more professional quality video; both short and long, come onstream.

What is it about technology that fascinates you?

Hmm … I think it fascinates me because of the potential it has both good and bad. And it never stops advancing. It continually gives us the opportunity to learn and grow.

Is there anything on the horizon as it relates to technology, software or blogging that really excites you?

If there is anything that really excites me at this point it would have to be cloud computing as I believe it will be trans formative. Not just of technology but also our society. But it also worries me so I guess that also adds to the interest and excitement.

At the end of each interview, I have a hall mark question that is asked and that is, what is the future of blogging?

I think blogging is definitely here to stay. Hell it hasn’t even really hit the mainstream yet as far as readership so the marketplace is still to be developed. I also think that over the next few years we will see a real amalgamation of heritage media and new media - we can learn so much from each other if we’d just stop being so territorial. Ya I think the future for blogging is still very bright and I hopefully will still be doing for a very long time to come. I look forward to growing with it.

Special thanks to Steven Hodson for taking some time to answer my questions. You can check out his work at WinExtra.com

How long have you been a blogger?

I guess I started doing what we now define as “blogging” in April of 2001. I saw “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and decided to try my hand (again) at keeping a journal. I opted to do it online, and for the next six years or so, recorded my thoughts and opinions online. Over time, it evolved from a personal diary (that happened to be semi-public) to more of a traditional personal blog.

I got my first paying “blogging” job in February of 2007. I was a frequent commenter on some of the USA Today music blogs and USA Today’s music editor contacted me about contributing to USA Today’s American Idol blog and a corresponding weekly column that ran in the print edition of USA Today. I got the job — my first professional writing job — because I was a frequent and articulate commenter on the USA Today blog.

When did you realize that you could turn blogging into a full time job?

I’m still actually trying to figure out if I can make writing — whether it is through blogging or blogging and mixed media — my full-time job. It is the bulk of my job right now, but I also do freelance design work, tech support and I consult with businesses about social media presence and social marketing. Really, it wasn’t until I went to SXSW in 2008 that I saw and met people who do make their living off of blogging that I actually started to consider this as a viable career path.

Is their a difference between a blogger and a freelance writer?

There is and there is not. I approach any of my commercial writing, whether it is for a “blog” or a traditional publication the same way. As more and more newspapers and magazines start to expand their online divisions and coverage, the line between “blogger” and “freelance writer” can all but disappear. The difference, I think, is when you write for non-commercial publications. If you can monetize your own personal content, I don’t see that as exactly the same thing as freelance writing.

Have you been able to use your blog as an online resume for job positions?

Absolutely. I see my website as my visual face to the world. I’m actually designing a more professional site to highlight the different things that I do, but I always look at my personal site as a way to promote myself and my skills.

Why do you prefer to write from a Mac rather than a PC?

I was a long time PC user (and in college I worked as a PC and a Mac tech), but more and more, I found the transition of working on Macs for creative work at school, to my PC at home to be bothersome. For me, I write faster and can do more with my Mac than I could with my PC. Being a Mac user was also integral to me getting a job writing for TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog).

Between college, your writing gigs and Twitter, how do you end up managing your time?

I’ve actually finished school (I need to update my “About” page) — but I manage my time by trying to set goals for myself with my writing and also scheduling blocks for any other work that I have. I need to have a schedule, even if it is arbitrary, to get things done effectively. I’m not a huge GTD (Getting Things Done) follower, but I do use OmniFocus and does help me visualize and keep track of my schedules. When I was blogging a lot and still in school, I often wrote entries late at night or in-between classes.

I noticed you participated in BlogActionDay. What is your take on the goal of this organization?

I think any time technology can be used to galvanize individuals to help educate the public, it is positive. How ultimately successful campaigns like BlogActionDay will be is debatable, but I appreciate the idealism and am glad I participated.

What is it about pop-culture that has made you decide that it’s your passion?

In July of August of 1985, I saw my very first movie in the movie theater. I was about 2 and a half and it changed my life. Movies, television, books, music, magazines, technology — this is all our culture, both in the sense that it reflects our cultural and ideological trends, and it creates new trends. I love popular culture, both from the perspective of a viewer or voyeur and from the perspective of a critic. The meta level of popular culture discussions is one of my favorite areas of discussion.

You’ve obviously been through the rungs of writing for other people on their sites. Are their any annoyances you have come across?

With each site or publication, I have to adhere to their writing standards and practices, and sometimes that means editorial decisions that I might not make myself. If someone else is editing my work down for publication, I might not always be happy with the changes (but oftentimes, the changes are for the better). Some CMS systems are better than others. I have to say, I have been extremely fortunate to have supportive editors in all of my writing jobs; I have never felt compromised creatively.

I’ve notice you pop into various WordPress related conversations, what is it about WordPress that convinces you to use it for your own blog?

I remember when WordPress was first released, what, 5 years ago? I checked it out — but wasn’t overly impressed. I was still using a server-side journal service, but preferred stuff like MovableType for a hosted solution. In five years, WordPress has transformed itself into the defacto blogging platform. That’s pretty incredible. It is the easiest to get up and running and there is so much content, both in the information sense and in the plugin/theme sense, that it was the best choice for me when I decided to start my “pseudo-professional web space.” I do front-end design work and some back-end development work, and WordPress is popular there too. A designer friend and I were discussing the state of CMSs and web frameworks in general (we both like Expression Engine and are intrigued by Django), and we both agreed that even if WordPress doesn’t completely meet our needs for our personal sites, it is something that is extremely important and will continue to be important in the future of the web.

Last but not least, what is the future of blogging?

Microblogging (Twitter, Friendfeed, Tumbler, et. al.) is already changing personal sites and blogs — I think that will continue. I also think that blogs will continue to become more interactive, more immediate and that video will continue to grow in importance. I think the hard part about video is that for anyone wanting to do anything other than the stare at the webcam in bad lighting YouTube confessional, there are skills and techniques that are necessary to its success.

Mobile blogging and mobile communication is also certainly going to continue to take off. The iPhone has played a huge role in that and Google’s Android platform will help push that as well.

Special thanks to Christina for taking some time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions. You can check out her personal blog at ChristinaWarren.com

The TUTS network is certainly a growing one, and with marketplaces and whatnot to back it up! How many sites have you planned?
We’ve been very fortunate to have TUTS and the Marketplaces as two really growable brands so to speak, and they fit together really well. There’s certainly many more sites to come in both lines. Currently we’re consolidating the TUTS sites. Something I always struggle with is over-extending ourselves. It’s very easy to launch lots of sites, but it’s not so easy to keep them all at a consistently high quality level.

At the moment PSDTUTS is a mature site and is basically paying and holding up the other sites. As they themselves start to mature and we release Plus programs and sell adverts, then we’ll have the resources to launch another wave of TUTS sites. And then watch out!

Aside from the TUTS sites and Marketplaces, we have several other projects waiting in line - three blogs and a community site - all in the same creative/web niche that we operate in. I’m very excited about all of them, but for the moment they are just notes in my planning book.

Speaking of the Plus services, how are they working out? Charging for content online is something a lot of publishers dream about, so I’m sure any advice, numbers, or thoughts you have on this matter would be greatly appreciated by the readers.
Plus has worked out really well as a revenue source for the sites. It’s equaled our advertising income and should surpass it soon. Basically it is PSDTUTS Plus that has made the other TUTS sites possible.

I think the key success factors for us have been that the bulk of the content is free, that there is good value in the membership and that we are using a subscription system. Our plus memberships are only an addition to the regular content, not a replacement. So we continue to have a successful site and for the vast majority of people, plus might as well not exist. However for the 1% or so of our visitors who do want a bit more, we have a subscription membership. Because the site has a huge amount of traffic, it works out well.

For those people who do become plus members, they automatically get access to a dozen or so extra tutorials as well as PSD files for 150 or so regular tutorials. If they choose they can pay their $9, download the whole lot and then close the membership. We have a 100% money back guarantee so that the risk factor is lowered, since in fact if they are unhappy they can just ask for their money back too.

Because it is a good deal, almost everyone sticks around, subscriptions have a way of only ever increasing as people join and the revenue feeds back into the site to help pay for more plus content, more free content and more sister sites.

In terms of the software we use, the system is built on aMember and WordPress, so it wasn’t hugely expensive to develop. We’re now looking to upgrade our plus services to take them to the next level as well as add plus memberships for more sites. Overall it’s been a big success for the sites.

In fact, how have you planned the network itself? What is the overall strategy?
When it comes to building websites, I would describe our overall strategy as “Build as many awesome websites as possible”. I love starting new sites and I’ve learnt that the only way to get to work on new projects is if the old ones have a proper framework to keep them going. At Envato - our parent company - I am basically in charge of new projects. However by group consensus I’m not allowed to start anything new until the current stuff is under control. So I spend a lot of time thinking of ways to make everything work systematically … then I get to start new sites!

Currently with the TUTS sites we’ve been systematizing the way the management works. So now we have a TUTS Manager who oversees the Site Editors who oversee Writers and Contributors. There is also a Developer and a Designer, and we borrow Support, Legal and Accounting from the Marketplace part of the business. This is really great as it’s a nice systematic way for the operation to work, compared to 6 months ago when pretty much all those jobs were me in different disguises.

Of course all those jobs and people also mean there is a big strain on the revenue, so it’s essential to consolidate and grow the sites themselves before we extend the line any further. Still if I could give one piece of advice to bloggers looking to expand their sites, it would be to systematize how their sites operate so that other people can keep them going.

Have you experienced any growth pains with the network?
Lots and lots! We get a lot of requests for new sites in the TUTS and Marketplace lines, we also get a lot of requests (and offers) for translated versions of the sites. Keeping up with these requests is hard, but it’s a good problem to have and one I’m very grateful for, because it means we must be doing something right!

Screenshot of recently launched ThemeForest

You recently launched ThemeForest, a marketplace for website themes. What are the initial response from the users?
So far it’s going well, we are closing on a hundred files and I hope we’ll be opening to the public next week. I’m very optimistic about how the site will fare as it’s been long in the planning. I just wish I had time to make some themes and templates myself. I’ve always wanted to sell templates, but there was never a site around to do it at!

Initial responses have been mostly positive, the true test will really come when we go live. Still we’ve had some sales already, so it’s looking good!

You recently rebranded Eden to Envato, for trademark reasons. How come you went with Envato, and what were your thoughts with the rebrand?
Rebranding was a tough process! After we discovered Eden was going to be really hard to trademark, we sat down and looked for domains and names. As anyone who has looked for a good domain knows, they are rather hard to come by!

In the end we found a site called Brand Bucket that offers pre-registered domains at a premium price - from about $1,000 - $5,000. Most of the domains are made up words, so we went through and each of the four company directors picked our top six names. Then we compared lists and narrowed it down to three. Then we cross referenced with the local Australian trademark database and the US one. Finally we chose Envato as the winner.

Because it’s a made up word, there’s no inherent meaning and we have the chance to - over time - give it our own brand persona. Initially the umbrella brand wasn’t that important, but over time we’re using it more and more and we have some plans for the main Envato.com domain as well, so it was critical that we got the name right. So far the reaction has been good and I’m glad we got it done. It was one of those band-aid situations, it had to happen, so best to do it in one quick action!

Where do you hope to take your network? What’s the next big step, so to speak?
In the long run, we’re aiming to make Envato a heavyweight internet brand. It’s a big aspiration, but it’s important to think big! To get there I think we just need to keep doing what we’re doing - putting out high quality sites that serve and empower our audiences.

At the end of the day, Envato is only as successful as our readers, authors and members are. If they win, we win. So understandably, our mission is to make sure they win! Whether it’s by providing great educational resources, marketplace services, or anything else, our focus is always on the people who visit our sites.

I’d like to thank Collis Ta’eed for taking his time doing this interview. Be sure to check out his Envato network, including recently launched ThemeForest, as well as excellent sites like PSDTUTS and NETTUTS.

The most latest release is non other than an advertising network. Performancing Ads wants to be the ad network for bloggers, and it looks like they might be able to pull it off.

You recently heralded the launch of Performancing Ads, how does it feel a few weeks in?
We did over $2k worth of ad sales after our first full day of promotion, so it feels great, really. Reaction so far has surpassed my expectations… which were high in the first place. However, I won’t feel really, really great until PerfAds is the ad format of choice for bloggers. That will take a lot of work, but I know we have something that will make bloggers money, and that’s the most important ingredient.

Are there any plans to add other ad formats? Not everybody heralds the 125×125 button after all.
Right now, we do offer other ad formats to Premium publishers. But yes, if all goes well with the 125×125 format, we have many plans for expansion. Having said that, plans are one thing. Execution another.

Why does Performancing launch this service, and why under the Performancing brand?
You want me to be a politician or keep it real? Let’s keep it real. Performancing launched the service to make money, of course. But we also launched it with an eye towards creating a real, sustainable source of income for bloggers. After all, the Performancing brand is all about helping bloggers succeed.

Some readers might remember the previous owner’s ad network, how does today’s Performancing Ads compare and differ from that one?
Though I don’t know all the details, the problem with the previous network was that advertisers were not buying. Most of the buyers were other bloggers and an economy can’t succeed unless you have deep-pocketed advertiseres involved. With the new PerfAds, we are confident that we have the right relationships with advertisers this time around.

Selling ads is hard, most bloggers have understood that by now. Why will Performancing Ads bring in more money than, say, Google Adsense or Text-Link-Ads?
I think that the question goes in the wrong direction. It should be “How will PerformancingAds compliment and possibly exceed AdSense and TextLinkAds?” The fact of the matter is that we didn’t want to compete with current sources of income, but provide an additional stream that was substantial.

Two of the benefits of being part of PerformancingAds as a publisher is that 1) you get exposure in our marketplace and 2) we have a direct ad sales team working to sell ads for your site.

The sales team might be a selling point for a lot of potential users. Will the team work with all blogs, or just premium ones? What’s the strategy here?
Our sales team is actually selling across categories. So, we pitch all of our business blogs to some advertisers and all of our tech blogs to other advertisers. Advertisers like the ability to target their ads to certain types of readers, but also to get as wide a reach as possible.

Performancing is still looking more or less like it did when Splashpress Media acquired it. Don’t you think a redesign is way overdue?
Yes. But, we felt that before we got a redesign, we needed to create monetizable services. It took us 1.5 years to create some solid services, now we’re ready for the redesign that integrates the services into the blog.

Fair enough. Will you be sticking with Drupal as a backend?
This is an open question that will be answered with the next 2 weeks. One thing seems clear right now: as things stand, the Drupal backend is not adding any functionality that a simple WP install would provide.

I’m told there’s a great number of spam blogs hosted on Performancing. How will you tackle that?
By removing them. That’s one of the benefits of going with WP. We can keep the best content and get rid of everything else.

As you know I’m a member of Hive, the pay forum hosted by Performancing. Why did you launch it, and how have the pay model fared so far?
Honestly, the paid forum has worked out far better than I expected, mainly because of the quality community and content. People really care about each other in Hive. When someone is going through a tough experience, the community rallies around them. That’s rare for an online forum, and something that’s hard to acheive in a fully free and public forum.

Originally, I launched the Hive to foster a deeper, more tight-knit community of bloggers where experts and newbies could intermingle and help each other out. We already have over 100 members who have chosen to pay, and we have an amazingly high retention rate. That speaks volumes, IMHO.

What’s next for Performancing?
A redesign is our first priority. That will help us tie all of the great content and services together. Additionally, we have plans to start offering blogger oriented services like a one-click, off-site blog backup system.

Finally, any last words you’d like to pitch the readers? The soap box is all yours!
Yeah, I love the new Blog Herald design. Seriously. It’s your best yet.

Thanks Ryan, appreciate it!

I’d like to thank Ryan Caldwell for doing this interview, and for his kind words. Check out Performancing Ads, the new ad networks out there. I personally also encourage you to check out Hive (aff), which is a great forum and well worth the money. I’m there.

For some reason it is never quiet and boring when Duncan Riley is involved, which is probably a reason why he is such a prominent fish in the blogosphere waters. So let’s see what he’s got to say about The Inquisitr, blogging, Michael Arrington, and The Blog Herald, shall we?

Congratulations on The Inquisitr, your newest venture! How has these first months been?
Thx. There’s nothing quite like running a site yourself as opposed to working for someone else. The first couple of months have been a lot of fun, and being free to try new things and not worry about the next Techmeme headline has allowed me to be more of myself again in my blogging. The metrics are all headed in the right direction, with the site breaking into the Technorati top 5000 last week, less than 3 months in. The only missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle now is advertising, but now the site has been established a little while hopefully we’ll be successful in that area as well. If not, look for an eBay or Sitepoint listing around December

It is pretty expensive to run, isn’t it? How far are you from breaking even?
In terms of hosting/support no, but paying the bloggers isn’t a cheap exercise. I’m might not be paying top dollar, but I’m also trying to take care of The writers as well, and there’s no rev share or $x per page views in the current structure. Still a while to go in terms of breaking even. I budgeted out 6 months without making a cent from the site when I started it, it is making money now, but certainly not enough yet. The hardest part I’ve found is selling ads when you don’t have enough scale or history, but as the site grows and gets older this is changing.

Have you developed The Inquisitr yourself, or did you hire people to help out?
I completely developed myself in terms of building the site to launch, and all subsequent tech/ template changes/ tweaks. In terms of writing I’m currently employing 2.5 writers (2 tech, 1 pop) who cover the US timezomes, and all three are doing a great job. I looked at some outsourcing initially in terms of layout but I couldn’t find anyone I was happy with, and I may hit the outsourcing path again for future projects. My coding skills only go so far and API’s give me grey hairs.

You’ve built The Inquisitr on a premium WordPress theme, right? What do you think of premium WordPress themes, and would you recommend others looking to launch a site to take this route?
Yes, although as the site has evolved it continues to look less and less like the original. I’ve always been a strong supporter of both sponsored and premium WordPress themes, and I’d happily recommend them to others, particularly as a starting point and as an alternative to a lower quality template, or spending a fortune to have one designed from scratch. There is some amazing premium templates coming out now from people like Brian Gardner and Chris Pearson, and because premium templates aren’t free you can be pretty sure that you won’t see them on your friendly neighborhood spam blog any time soon. The one tip I make when starting with any theme is don’t be afraid to customize it; I’ve always looked at templates from the perspective of them being a starting point you can use to create your own end product.

The Inquisitr brand is building rapidly, with iQ, a job board, QMeme, and Qbase. What’s next?
We’ve got a couple of ideas we’re looking at in terms of a value ad for readers, that will hopefully provide more reasons to visit The Inquisitr, but they aren’t locked in yet. Currently on the agenda is the beta release of QMeme which I’m hoping will take the service into a more serious place as a contender in the meme tracking space. Plurkair, the Plurk Adobe AIR client we released is due for an update as well.

I was asked recently whether there was a method to the madness and to be honest, there isn’t always a set plan. QBase came along after we were approached by Tradevibes, Plurkair met my personal need for a Plurk client, the FriendFeed greasemonkey scripts that have been amazingly popular in the FriendFeed community with thousands of downloads were me waking up one morning wondering how hard it would be for me to add ReadBurner in a tab within FriendFeed. It’s spontaneous, it addresses unmet needs, and some times it just for fun, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Indeed, the less planned they are, the better traffic they tend to deliver

Are you on speaking terms with Michael Arrington after the whole Qbase/CrunchBase thing?
No, and I’d be surprised if he ever spoke to me again. I’ve said publicly that I’m deeply disappointed by the entire thing, and that remains true today. My problem is that I’m not a black and white guy, where as Michael is, and in Michael’s world you’re either 100% with him, or totally against him. The world doesn’t work that way, and neither do I, and there is many shades of grey. In some ways I guess that being on the outer isn’t a bad thing, for example it means I can link to Mashable without repercussions now, something Michael never tolerates, and something I’ve never understood. Neither does Pete Cashmore when I asked him the same question last year.

What did you bring with you from your time at TechCrunch?
That no matter the attention, prestige, pay, travel or benefits, life’s to short to ignore your family. Arrington is significantly older than me and has never been married; if the cost of being successful is being alone then I’d rather be unsuccessful and with my wife and son, and I’m sorry if that makes me soft in the eyes of some people. The best thing about The Inquisitr is being free to set my own timetable and taking a day off if and when I want to (and I hired a weekend writer to allow me to do just that). Sure, I still work long hours and spend far too much time in front of a computer (or iPhone) and the work/ family balance isn’t perfect, but its a damn lot better than it use to be.

What advice would you give people looking to launch an editorial site, to avoid these things?
You need to consider blogging like you would any other job, be it a great job. When you love doing something it’s easy to become so engrossed in it to the point that you forget to keep some perspective. Jobs are allocated times in your day, and so should blogging. Use blogging as a way to be more flexible with your family time, as an opportunity not a disadvantage. For example, one of the things blogging full time has allowed me to do is to take my son to school, and pick him up (Mr Mum, or Mom in US English).

Finally, I almost dread to ask this, but what’s your take on The Blog Herald’s development over the years since you sold it, you being the founder and all?
I don’t dread it at all. I will admit to having missed it greatly for the first 3-6 months (quitting a blog is like quitting drugs), but time allows you to move on, and The Blog Herald helped define me as a blogger, and I’ll never forget that. The first new owners, with Matt Craven as editor did a solid job. Under the third owner, Splashpress, it really went downhill for a long time. I mean that as no great disrespect for Splashpress, who are an ambitious, interesting company, who have helped a lot in defining blogs as a sales proposition over the years, but they didn’t really look after the site.

I’ve admitted publicly that I actually unsubscribed from it for a long while. When I started The Blog Herald the number one aim was for the site to be the go-to place for the latest news within the blogging community, and it did how-to articles as a value add well before Darren Rowse launched Problogger. Unfortunately for a significant time it turned into a second rate Problogger that was the master of nothing. In the last 6-9 months, with the inclusion of folks like Chris Garrett, TDH, and Matt Craven, it has become a good read again, and I read it, via Google Reader, daily.

To be fair in all of that (particularly to Splashpress), the space The Blog Herald operates in is very different to the one I launched it in to. This was a time pre-Web 2.0, and I can remember covering some Web 2.0 apps that sort of related to blogging, and being a little lost on where the line was. The greater Web 2.0 movement has surpassed blogging as a news focus, and it’s a challenge The Blog Herald faces. I’ve been asked more than once to go back into the blogging news space, however my new loves are within the Blogging 2.0 space (Disqus, distributed commenting, FriendFeed) and microblogging. If I was to enter the space again, I’d be focusing on being the first with all major blogging related announcements, but more importantly, in relating how these matter to the average blogger. News alone does not make a great blog post, relating the story, and why it matters, is always the defining point between an average blog and a great one.

I’d like to thank Duncan Riley for doing this interview. You would do well to read The Inquisitr, of course, and his personal blog for all things Duncan.

Blogosphere nuts (like me) probably got in touch with Natali’s work on TechCrunch, which she left for Podshow and the tech news show Textra. That in turn lead to the Loaded show with CNET.

Yep, that’s some career, isn’t it? Should be an interesting interview, don’t you think? I sure did, anyway, and luckily Natali played nicely. Enjoy!

Congratulations on your show Loaded over at CNET! What were your initial reactions on your new workplace?
My initial reactions were more to the city than the CNET offices. Admittedly CNET San Francisco is a much nicer place. The offices in San Francisco were built specifically for CNET so the space is much nicer. I like our space in New York but we are a bureau and bureaus are always a bit less than the mothership. As for New York, well that is a question that you will get a different answer to almost every single day!

Most of the BloggerTalks readers already know you from TechCrunch, then Textra, and now CNet’s Loaded show. But before that, what did you do, and where did Natali come from?
You can find my full bio at www.natalidelconte.com.

Aww, that’s taking the lazy route, don’t you think? How do you like New York compared to San Francisco, from a journalist’s point of view?
Its funny because I thought that New York media would blow me away with its intensity and pervasiveness. It actually isn?t much different from San Francisco, there is just more of it. I definitely work harder than I ever have because there is more to be done but I don?t feel like I?m dealing with a totally different league of professionals. I guess that is because there are so many talented professionals in San Francisco too. Plus, when you compete in the blogosphere, you already know about hardcore!

You’re an active freelancer as well, correct?
When I was with Podshow, I freelanced a lot. With CNET, I really don’t have the time to do that. Plus, I can’t write for our competitors if it has to do with technology. Sometimes I’ll pick up a non-technology story for a magazine here and there but for the most part, my freelancing career is in sleep mode.

Do you miss writing, now that it is all video?
Well, I don?t really have time to miss writing since I am constantly writing Loaded and my Early Show segments. I write a lot but sometimes I?ll read something really well written and in-depth in the New York Times or Vanity Fair and miss having the opportunity to really put a lot of time and thought into my writing. The goal is that someday I?ll be able to do both in-depth writing and video writing.

What made you decide on taking the step from the written word at TechCrunch, to being the host of web show Textra?
I’ll admit I didn’t jump at the idea right away. I was really apprehensive about it all. I didn’t think I’d be able to make myself look camera-ready and I wasn’t sure if I could deliver the information on camera. I can’t take credit for making the transition though. It would not have occurred to me at all but one fateful day when I was writing for TechCrunch, I got a call from Adam Curry who pitched me the idea of doing a show for his network. He took me to lunch the following week and it took a lot of convincing but I eventually signed on because I trusted him and I believed that he knew what he was doing. Adam Curry is a pro so for him to come to me out of the blue like that was very flattering. I certainly would not be where I am today without his vision and what you could also call recklessness to take a chance on an unknown like me.

Did Textra turn out to be what you thought, and perhaps had envisioned?
Yes and no. Of course I wanted more for that show but I was really sad to leave it behind last year. It was my baby and I was really proud of it.

How did CNET convince you to move from Textra to what was to become Loaded? The George Lucas way, also known as a truckload of money?
Haha! Not really money, no. I wasn’t looking to leave TeXtra behind but CNET’s offer was just too good to say no to. They are an established network with very impressive resources. They also offered me the chance to explore a new city and be exposed to all the major news networks in the number one news market in the world. In just the five months that I’ve been in New York, I have made appearances on behalf of CNET for The Today Show, CNBC, The Early Show, BBC, ABC, The CW, WNBC, CBS, Fox News, Fox Business News, G4TV, and more.

Are you happy with the way Loaded is turning out, now that it has been running for some time?
I really am. The show is changing quickly now that it is a CBS product and it has been really exciting to watch that happen before my very eyes.

CBS bought CNET fairly recently. How has this changed your work? What could be the benefits of having CBS as the owner of the company, do you think?
It has changed my life significantly in the last few weeks. The fastest way for our two companies to integrate is on camera so I?ve been on the Early Show as many as four times per week in the last few weeks. I?m happy to be the person explaining the technology world to the general American population. It?s really exciting! Of course I also want things for Loaded like to be served on CBSNews.com as well as perhaps syndicated but I won?t have to wait long for these changes. CBS is making us a part of their family at warp speed and so far they?ve been really positive.

In brief, how’s your average workday at a web show like Loaded? Does it differ much from blogging the news?
YES! My workdays are long. I spend the entire day before each show preparing for the next day’s show. We film Loaded at 7 a.m. EST so I get up at 5, put on makeup for the cameras, finish writing my script to include any stories that may have broken overnight, and rush in to the studio. We edit the show together in about 2 hours and after that, I head out to shoot feature packages or do network news appearances. Then I start it all over again! With blogging, there is less preparation. If you see a story, you publish it. With video, there is SO much preparation and editing afterwards. I do miss the instant gratification of writing but I have more to show for a day’s work with Loaded, that is for sure!

That is some workday! To wrap this up, is there any words of advice you’d like to give aspiring online video wannabes?
Oh gosh, I am never good at this question mostly because I fell into video in a pretty backwards way. I?m not sure how I would have gone about it if I had deliberately set out to get here. The best advice I can give is to just start now. If you have something to say on camera, start saying it. Break out your Webcam and start your own show as soon as possible. I wish I had done that so that I wouldn?t have had to work out the kinks in public!

I’d like to thank Natali Del Conte for doing this interview. Be sure to check out her tech show Loaded, it’s great! Also, do drop by her blog. Thanks Natali!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t need more than that to get curious, so I went ahead and did this interview with Stephanie, about blogging NASA, and more. Enjoy.

First of all, tell us a little about yourself and what you do, preferably in layman’s terms…
I work for Science Systems and Applications, Inc (SSAI) as a contractor at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. I have a background in geology and science education. I stared working at Goddard part time when I was a geology graduate student. I was mapping craters and other geologic features on Mars using images from the Viking Orbiters. I was also teaching part time at a community college and had started doing summer workshops for middle school earth science teachers. It was a combination of classroom work, and field trips.

At Goddard, I was supposed to get funding to analyze data from a spacecraft called Mars Observer. NASA lost contact with it right before it was supposed to go into orbit around Mars. Long story short… there was no data to analyze. That was in 1993. I started spending my time doing more on the education side at Goddard, working with a number of small projects part time. By 1997 I was full time with SSAI as the Education Coordinator for the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at Goddard.

Since then I have worked with a variety of NASA mission in Earth and space science including Landsat 7 (land remote sensing), EOS Aura (atmospheric chemistry), MESSENGER (mission to Mercury), New Horizons (mission to Pluto) and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). I develop and implement education and outreach programs for these missions. I have a small team and we work with formal educators, museums and planetariums, film makers, youth groups and the general public to engage people in our missions. I have seen two spacecraft launch from Kennedy Space Center - MESSENGER and New Horizons. I have worked in Alaska with high school students who helped us conduct an investigation on earthquake hazards and was part of a team the developed an exhibit on the atmosphere for the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. I believe I have one of the coolest jobs in the world.. where I can be on the cutting edge of scientific discovery and be able to share that with everyone.

You’re blogging your NASA experience. Why is that?
We are always looking for new ways to reach different audiences. I kept hearing about Web 2.0 but really didn’t know what it was all about. I start the Adventures in Earth and Space blog as another way to reach educators. We do newsletters and have websites and conduct workshops, but that’s still a relatively small audience. I thought a blog might catch people’s interest and encourage them to take a closer look at our education materials and our missions.

Around the same time I signed up for YouTube and Twitter. I was really looking at a variety of ways getting the word out. When I first got on twitter I followed mainly teachers and I used Twitter to promote the blog and to get out the word on opportunities for educators or upcoming mission events. My list has greatly expanded since then, as I learned more about how social media works. I am amazed at the public response to “Send your Name to the Moon” and how through twitter it is ending up posted on blogs all over the world.

The “Send your Name to the Moon” project is really cool, and a great PR stunt. What sparked the campaign, and is there a social media plan to get it out there?
Thanks! The idea came from several places. The engineers on the LRO project suggested sending names and I had worked with the New Horizons mission to Pluto, where they sent names on their spacecraft. Our plans to “get it out there” included working with the Planetary Society, coordinating a press release and new webpage with NASA Headquarters as well as utilizing social media. Part to the social media plan was simple.. I started tweeting about “Send Your Name to the Moon” as soon as the press release went out and I set up a “Send Your Name” group on facebook. I was amazed at how many bloggers on twitter picked up the story from twitter and posted the info on their blogs!

Just recently we also set up an LRO twitter site, and I discovered three other facebook groups promoting “Send Your Name to the Moon”.

Note: The “Send Your Name to the Moon” project was just extended to July 25, so there’s still time!

What support from NASA have you gotten for your blogging?
The blog is outside of the NASA Portal (the Official NASA Website). I let the projects I work with know about the blog and have seen interest in blogging grow inside NASA over the last year. Last September I micro-blogged a two day meeting about NASA’s Discovery program using Twitter. I then took the tweets and posted them on my blog, with links and images from websites. I was a panelist on the Discovery Education Panel and I told the audience about the real-time blogging.

In the case of Send your Name to the Moon, my public affairs counterpart on LRO gives much of the credit for huge response to our use of social networking. We had half a million names submitted the the first two weeks.

I’d reckon there is a bunch of regulations on what you can say or do when working with NASA. Could you tell us a little bit about the problems involved, and experienced, with blogging for such an organization?
Because my blog is outside of the NASA website, it does not fall under NASA guidelines. But I am very careful with attributions, and make sure to link back to the NASA websites or the project websites that I blog about. My team and I are the writers and editors and our content is not reviewed by NASA officials before we post.

We do keep in mind suggested rules of the road for NASA employees who have outside blogs:

• Don’t represent that you speak for the agency.
• Unless it is part of your job or officially sanctioned, do it on your own time.
• If you talk about NASA, keep it within your area of expertise.
• Do not speculate about things you don’t know about.
• Do not engage in rumor, innuendo, slander, libel, abusive language, etc.
• Keep in mind that you can be held accountable for what you say.

When I facilitated a NASA blog from one of our scientists in the field, we worked with the Goddard and NASA Headquarters Public Affairs Office to establish guidelines. All of the posts came to me and I sent them to a NASA official for review. They had to be reviewed before posting. It was a quick and painless process. The edits tended to be grammatical corrections and the content was intact.

Within the NASA web domain all content, including video, images and text needs to be reviewed before it goes on the web. In most cases we work directly with Public Affairs or Scientists who are the officials responsible for the particular website. There are regulations related to technology, flight instruments and spacecraft hardware and that content needs to be reviewed before it is release to the public.

Here’s a link to the media policy.

Sounds like NASA isn’t standing in your way, that’s nice, with people getting fired for blogging and everything. Is that something you’ve considered, the risk that your blogging might get you in trouble with your employer?
I believe that my employer trusts me to keep the blog professional. We always link to materials in the public domain and see ourselves more as a clearing house for sound educational materials as well as promoting our NASA missions. In many ways we’ve been a little bit ahead of the curve when it comes to blogging and other types of social media in the NASA EPO (Education and Public Outreach) world. SSAI appreciates that.

Where would you like to take your blogging, and how would you want NASA to embrace the blogosphere?
I would very much like to build an audience for the blog and create more of a conversation with the public. It would be great to have input from on what they would like to know more about, or suggestions on how to engage their peers. I would love to see teachers who use our materials provide their perspective on what works and what doesn’t and share how they implement with their students.

As for NASA, I would like so see more employees blogging, so the public could have a richer understand of what it actually takes to build and launch a spacecraft, and what it takes to design the instruments and get the data back. NASA could also consider moderated commenting to promote exchanges of information with the public.

Someday I would like to see a NASA site with all kinds of NASA multimedia products where the public would be encouraged to visit, download and create their own ways to telling the NASA story.

Finally, for all the space buffs out there, what should they look out for in the future when it comes to NASA projects?
First of all, check out the NASA Launches website. There are over a dozen launches scheduled for the rest of 2008 and 2009, including LRO, GLAST, SDO, Kepler, OCO and Glory as well as the Space Shuttle’s Hubble servicing mission. Right now we have Mars Phoenix digging in the dirt in the north polar regions of Mars and in October MESSENGER will make it’s second flyby of Mercury, imaging a part of the planet never seen before. And in the fall of 2009, the newest Mars rover- Mars Science Laboratory will head to the Martian surface (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/)

I’d like to thank Stephanie Stockman for taking the time to do this interview. Do check out her blog, it is a fascinating read!