Blogger Stories

Blogger Stories: The Back-Story

Thanks to Rico Mossegeld, Fool for Five, for the opportunity to tell the story behind Blogger Stories. Rico's blogger story, about friendship and kindnesses, is one more example of how bloggers are the nicest people!

Blogger Stories: Nettie Hartsock

Nettie Hartsock has been in the business of telling stories for most of her life. She went from reporting stories for a major television network to reading stories to her children. When her little ones went off to school she began to tell stories (interviews with authors) on blogs. Nettie quickly learned what all good bloggers, personal or business, discover .. that blog writing allows you to reveal a piece of your heart.

Blogger Story Teller: Nettie Hartsock,Allbusiness ProfessionalPR blog, Business Books Blog, NettieHartsock.com
 

On Being the Mom who Typed Late At Night To Becoming the Mom who Blogs Late at Night OR You Can Teach an Old Mom New Tricks

Twelve years ago at 29, I had my daughter Emma and left my job at the NBC – affiliate station in Austin. I went from interviewing Willie Nelson and the glitterati, to sitting Indian style, in a storytime semi-circle trying to get the words to Itsy Bitsy Spider right and keep up with the latest Brighton jewelry the other moms in the circle said I must “just have.” 

All the while, late at night and early in the morning, before my family arose, I typed fervent queries to online and offline editors in the hopes of still being an employed writer. I went from the Mom in the Blue Suit, to the Mom in Pajamas interviewing CEO’s around the world in short phoners, with Emma and then later, our son Gibson, on the floor with a plate of bananas, dried Cheerios and a jumble of Legos™.

Between storytime, naptime, dinner time and twilight, I sent off my stories and interviews of notable tech CEOs and the occasional fiction author like Salman Rushdie or Michael Chabon.

In May, my son six year old Gibson graduated from Pre-K. That also meant for the first time in my amazing life as a Mom, both my kids would be at school full-time.

Blogger Stories: Rico Mossesgeld

When he was just a little boy Rico Mossesgeld discovered he had a passion for the written word. He loved to read and he loved to write. However, instead of cultivating his talents teachers and classmates were far from supportive. Through the kindness of a friend Rico was introduced to the world of blogging. He eventually regained his confidence and rediscovered his love of writing. If his childhood friends could see him now .. today Rico is a successful freelance pro blogger.

Blogger Story Teller: Rico Mossesgeld, Fool for Five

Rediscovering Writing Through Blogging, Thanks to a Friend

Even when I was young, I loved to read. I'd leaf through children's bible stories, Aesop's fables, even encyclopedias, manuals, and brochures. Thus, my mind buzzed with ideas I simply had to write down. I'd pass the time in class by composing short stories, essays, poems, and even plays.

But in high school, my enthusiasm suffered. The teachers were stricter, confiscating my works, reading them in front, and punishing me for not listening. Probably the biggest blow was when I asked a girl to a prom, through a poem. That effort, inspired by a misguided sense of romance, was shot down with laughter.

I never took these personally, thinking these events simply indicated poor writing ability. And in no way do I condemn my school's methods. Like it or not, classics like Shakespearean plays, Don Quixote, King Solomon's Mines (a personal favorite), and even Latin versions of the Iliad and Odysseus were incessantly drilled into our heads. I am lucky to have read these at such a young age.

But I digress. Understandably, I unconsciously decided writing wasn't for me. I did write an article or two for my college newspaper. But my university years were spent exploring a new passion: graphic design.

When I finally graduated, my good friend Jayvee's passion for blogging was suddenly apparent to me. I realized the cause of his enthusiasm. Here was a platform that catered to his unfettered expressiveness. I was intrigued; perhaps this blogging thing would do the same for me?

Blogger Stories: Mary Hunt

For Mary Hunt blogging allows her to be a 21 century cultural anthropologist. One of Mary's passions is understanding how women are influencing changes in commerce, leadership, business and society in-general. Blogs provide an unique avenue for her to listen, to learn and to connect with people who are part of the greater conversation.

Blogger Story Teller: Mary Hunt, In Women We Trust

I came to blogging after 49 million others tested the waters. I was done teaching myself a system, only to have it replaced with the new, dominate app a year later. I had turned into a late adopter…

At first I had a bout of blogging laryngitis, but found my voice soon after I found myself… a change-the-world idealist of the 70s, beat up by the 80s, who gave up in the 90s and was now ready for that world project again.

Blogging gives me the excuse to play cultural anthropologist, to ask questions of those changing the way our world works. In sales terms, it’s a warm call. By reading their blog or website, I’ve already seen how they write and have a good idea of how they might respond to an interview request.

Blogger Stories: Jayvee Fernandez

Jayvee Fernandez's story begins in the Philippines winds its way towards Australia and Canada (via b5media) and eventually finds its way back home to the Philippines. Jayvee's virtual round the world paid journey is complemens of the blogopshere. He is proving that pro blogging can be a viable career path. Jayvee is also committed to giving back. He is working to develop a support network to help Filipino bloggers understand how they too can succeed in social media.

Blogger Story Teller: Jayvee Fernandez, A Bugged Life

In a few days I will be celebrating my first year anniversary as a professional blogger with b5media's Cellphone9. This is monumental for several reasons: "C9" is actually b5's very first blog domain to be registered. Second, because of b5, several other channels were opened up for me to grow in, including Know More Media's business network.

But beyond these two reasons is a third all-encompasing epiphany that has grown me into a place I never would have expected to be in, back in 2005. Last year, confused by the pangs of quarter life crisis, I was moving from one job to another - I'm an educator by course but have tried out stints in development work, real estate, and marketing. All this time though I have been writing and editing for a home grown tech mag in the Philippine Islands called Mobile Philippines.

Blogger Stories: Deborah Carraro

Blogging has taken Deborah Carraro from soup to nuts and beyond. With four blogs and counting, she is becoming a one-woman blog network. Next adventure for Deborah is writing the Great Novel on a blog .. but of course!

Blogger Story Teller: Deborah Carraro, My Partner Advantage, From Aunt Annie's Kitchen To Yours, Monday Nite Raw, TheBestBizResources 

A few years ago, blogging was a mystery to me. And then the magic started to happen. I got hired by one of the top internet marketers as his right hand gal - and got an online marketing education overnight.

Quickly I learned the ins and outs of shopping carts, article marketing, and opt-in lists - but my favorite tool was by far the blog.

I started one almost right away - on blogger - but within a year had moved over to TypePad where I now host four blogs and am continually looking for new and interesting ways to use blogs:
- I ghost-blog (writing posts on behalf of clients).
- I've created blogs that showcase affiliate links Biz Building Blocks & Monday Nite Raw .
- I've created a blog as a unique way to support a product I've developed From Aunt Annie's Kitchen

Blogger Stories: Cooper Monroe & Emily McKhann

I heard Cooper Munroe tell her story at BlogHer 2006 and knew I had to include it in Blogger Stories. Cooper and Emily McKahnn are two "mommy bloggers" who proved that social media can impact not one life - not two lives - but thousands of lives. Their one small act of kindness, to help Katrina Moms, led to a nation-wide relief effort of moms helping moms. Theirs is a story of a new way of giving using 21 century technology with heart.

Blogger Story Tellers: Cooper Munroe and Emily McKhann, The Been There Clearinghouse, The Motherhood

On August 31, after screaming at our televisions for two days, "Why isn't anyone helping these people?", we decided to turn our blog into a community corkboard of sorts where people could connect one-to-one, immediately and without intermediaries.

Having lived through 9/11 in New York and seen the mountains of donations flood into the city, only for the supplies to be stockpiled in distant warehouses because no one knew what to do with them all, we felt certain this could happen again in the Gulf States.

We -- two Moms who live in different towns and share a blog -- realized that the thousands of people fleeing their homes with nothing to their names would be going to temporary residences. They would have addresses. People could send packages to survivors directly.

We asked readers of our blog to list on our site the goods and supplies they would donate to people displaced by the hurricane.  At the same time, we arranged for housing placement services, which by Thursday, September 1, had hundreds of thousands of rooms donated and available to survivors, to send evacuees to us once placements were made.

Blogger Stories: Jeremy Wright

Blogs opened more than just a few doors for Jeremy Wright who runs the world's 3rd largest blog network. Social media paved the way out of the darkness and into a world where the lightness of success meant no more sleeping in the bottom of abandoned buses.

Blogger Story Teller: Jeremy Wright, Ensight

I’d like to say that I had a master plan. 5 years ago I was an unemployed bum with a few positive marks on my resume. Okay, two positive marks. First, I’d done Microsoft’s first website. And second, that I’d helped lead the Y2K project for the UK. The problem being that the Microsoft website was more than 6 years earlier, and the Y2K thing wasn’t very helpful immediately after the event (even though our project was a roaring success).

So I was effectively an unemployed bum with no prospects. And while going from that to a published author, marginally respected blogger, occasional speaker/consultant and owner of the third largest blog network in the world (b5media) might imply some kind of plan, the truth is that it was more blindness than planning. Literally.

Blogger Stories: Chloe Spencer

Babysitting is passe in a world where a kid can earn money from Google Ads. Just ask Chloe Spencer. With help of her blogger dad, Stephan Spencer, 15-year old Chloe launched a blog about Neopets Cheats. With over 5000 daily page views and posts that get hundreds of comments Chloe's next venture may be pro blogger at a Fortune 100 company!

Blogger Story Teller: Chloe Spencer, The Ultimate Neopets Cheats Site

My Dad came up with the idea of starting a blog as a way to earn money and I've been blogging since February this year (2006). My blog and website is about Neopets cheats, because I know that neopets are very popular with kids all around the world and because I know lots about the topic.

There are lots of sites out there about Neopets. Some of them focus on graphics, others focus on hints. Mine is a mixture of both but, because my site is fairly new, it has been catching a lot of interest.

My aim is to blog about twice a week. Sometimes I blog about new cheats I’ve discovered, or new content I’ve added, like layouts that kids can use to customize their Neopets shop.

Traffic to my blog used to be up to 9000 pageviews per day, and is now holding at around 5000-6000 per day, which is pretty good. I make about $5 to $10 dollars per day from the Google ads, and I make that money whether I work or not. The money is in U.S. dollars, and since I live in New Zealand, that turns into $7 to $16 New Zealand dollars per day! I don't have a lot of options for part time jobs since I'm only 15. But having a blog to earn money sure beats doing a paper route!

Blogger Stories: Jody DeVere

Jody DeVere is involved in one of the fastest growing success stories in the blogophere. In fact some times she feels like a virtual rock star. However, for Jody the true success of her venture was not in the hundreds of thousands of visitors to her blog Ask Patty. Nor was it the many interviews in major publications. Social media gave Jody the ability and opportunity to mother her son.

Blogger Story Teller: Jody DeVere, Ask Patty – Automotive Advice for Women

Moving along in my middle ages and looking forward to slowing down a bit in the technology business world, I started a business consulting practice to help automotive related businesses develop cause related marketing programs, which would allow me more flexibility than the corporate structure allows.

As life would have it... at age 30, my oldest child was diagnosed with a progressive disease that required a lifetime of income to support. My plan to ease into retirement screeched to a halt, took a hard left and got my engines super charged again to handle my own personal “cause related” issue.

The Ask Patty – Automotive Advice for Women business opportunity came to me as a result of one of the consulting projects I was working on related to women owned automotive businesses and my role as the current President of the Women’s Automotive Association International. Once I realized the potential business opportunity, I agreed to the role of President of Ask Patty and committed myself to get this business up and running and quickly develop a income steam equal to the needs up to speed ASAP!

Blogger Stories: Stephan Spencer

Living in New Zealand doesn't stop Stephan Spencer from building relationships on a global basis. Blogs provide an opportunity for him to hobnob virtually with the digerati all over the world. In addition to writing a successful business blog, Stephan recently launched a blog for the greater good. He wanted to create a space where people can share ideas on how to make world a better place. One person. One blog. Building into ideas that may change a life.

Blogger Story Teller: Stephan Spencer, Stephan Spencer's Scatterings, Changes For Good. 

Most people who want to establish themselves as a thought leader write a book. I've heard from author friends how financially unrewarding writing a book is (in terms of compensation per hour) and how demanding it is on one's time (thousands of hours on a very compressed schedule). Recognizing that I didn't have that kind of time to invest, I decided to take an alternate path. I figured a blog could be just as successful in building up my thought leadership status, but with a lot less effort. That's not to say I'll never write a book, but to date it hasn't made it to the at the top of my priority list.

 

With my thought leadership goal in mind, I set out in 2004 to create a blog that, contrary to popular (business blogging) wisdom both then and now, would focus not on one small niche but a broad range of topics covering all types of Internet marketing -- including email marketing, e-commerce, search engine optimization, usability and so forth. Granted, it would have been easier to acquire links in the early stages if I had zeroed in on a particular niche, but I think this the approach I took has served me well.

 

Blogger Story: Andy Hayler

From London, Andy Hayler's story is about the influence a blogger can have on a stranger's career. Just goes to show you never know who is reading your work or how your words can change a life.

Blogger Story Teller: Andy Hayler, Andy One Enterprisesoft

Corporate blogs can be dismal affairs, as no one wants to read a (sometime not very subtly disguised) piece of PR for a company.  Hence I have tried with my blog just to talk about real projects I have been involved with, stories from the industry and reaction to software industry events. 

The most telling and unexpected feedback I have had was from a senior consultant who recently joined my company.  He was a very smart guy and had multiple job offers, but he emailed me to say that “the reason I joined Kalido was your blog”. I don’t think we have yet begun to fully understand the power of blogs.