Blogger Stories

Blogger Stories: Ruth Daniels

Blogs took Ruth Daniels on an interesting adventure. She went from working in the corporate world to writing about her passion of food and family. Now armed with an understanding of how blogs can help organizations talk to their customers Ruth is heading back to share her learnings with the suits. If they're lucky she might bring a chocolate zucchuini cake along with her.

 

Blogger Story Teller: Ruth Daniels, Once Upon a Feast (general food & travel, fave cookbooks & kitchen toys), Recipes From 4 Every Kitchen (just recipes), AskRuth (answers pesky kitchen questions)

My story: I took a "short" sabbatical from Training & Development Consulting a few years ago to write a family cookbook that grew and grew along the way....and found a new love- food writing!   

 

The blog world is an amazing place.  In fact 35 people from around the world volunteered to be recipe testers (from a single post I wrote) for the book, Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories which I finally self-published as an eBook & CD. It's filled with stories, and recipes that are easy to make.  I thought I'd just be handing these recipes down to my daughters, but so many friends wanted them that the book idea just grew.  I donate $2 for every book sold to Breast Cancer Research. 

 

Now, almost three years and three blogs later, I'm branching out into Corporate Blogging.  I think my own experiences can help organizations  speak with a human voice that can reach their audiences better.  Wish me luck and share any ideas...

 

Blogger Stories: Yang-May Ooi

One day mystery novelist Yang-May Ooi stepped from the characters of her imagination to engaging with real people online through blogs. Soon Yang-May found that she could successful use her blog to promote her books. In a little over a year her blog went from 200 visitors a month to over 8000. Soon people were asking her for advice on social media. Yang-May had expanded her fantasy world of writing fiction to include one of conversations with people from all over the world.

Blogger Story Teller: Yang-May Ooi, Fusion View

I was recently profiled in the journal of the International Association of Business Communicators, Communication World, about how I have evolved from a novelist into a blogger - download “A Novel Approach”. It started me thinking about how my love affair with blogging started and how, at the start of my venture into the online world, I had no idea that it would lead me to develop a valuable expertise that would become the foundation for my social media consultancy here at ZenGuide.

After publishing two novels, I stopped and started a number of third novels only to stumble into the doldrums after the first few chapters. I found that I did not have the inclination any more to sit quietly by myself and my imaginary characters, engaging in an imaginary landscape. The real world and all its real activities and people seemed much more interesting. I was also finding myself intrigued by developments in technology and in particular web-based technologies.

Blogger Stories: Alex Geana

A few years ago, Alex Geana was just an emerging, but talented, writer looking for a home for his work. With traditional media doors closed Alex turned to blogs as a publishing vehicle. Before long 750+ visitors a day were knocking on his virtual door, he wrote a play, is a  feature blogger at  Huffington Post.

Blogger Story Teller: Alex Geana, One Gay Date at a Time, Alex Geana, Three Tables

I started blogging a few years ago (I think 2004 or 05) because there wasn't a place for me in the small rags I wanted to publish and work in.

At the time, Sex in the City was ending and the hottest thing on the planet. I always thought it was from a gay perspective, so I wanted to write a unique column spinning off the end of show. I approached 60 or 70 gay rags, the small press kind that people send to bars with lots of local listening, I did it the old fashion way and sent a pitch letter. Across the board, the reply was the same (from the few that responded) "we like it, but we can't fit it in our pages, because we need the room for ads".

I gave it a bit of time, wallowed in my own disappointment and isolation as a budding writer, then turned to the web. That's when I discovered blogging and One Gay Date at a Time was born. I did research, liked Typepad, because all the free stuff was riddled with bugs or needed lots of tech knowledge to take off the ground. It was a good fit, like most new bloggers, I tinkered endlessly and commented mercilessly, that's how I found Toby and her sage blog.

Blogger Story: Nichelle Stephens

Creativity was the name of the game for Nichelle Stephens who began blogging as an outlet for her writing. One blog turned into two turned into several, which spun the world smaller and allowed her to share many unique ideas.  I met Nichelle at BlogHer 2005 where she told me about her delicious blog .. all about cupcakes. It's a wonderful example of the success of a niched focused blog.

Blogger Story Teller: Nichelle Stephens, Nichelle Newsletter, Chicks and Giggles, Fame of the Land, Keeping Nickels, All Cupcakes All The Time
 
I started blogging in October 2003 because I needed an outlet for my writing.  Blogging was never meant to replace my hardback journals, but more as a way to express myself in a creative way.  I called my blog Nichelle Newsletter because I used to write a weekly newsletter about events in New York.

My blog is a mix of pictures, events, book recommendations, links to other cool sites and humor.  I have made so friends through blogging, and we share our passions. Two of my friends and I have a blog about cupcakes called Cupcakes Take The Cake.  It is a very popular blog and now I am considered to be a "cupcake enthusiast."

The best thing about is blogging is that now everyone has a voice and any crazy idea can be shared to the world. I think it is making the world a smaller place.

Blogger Story: Melissa Fletcher

You never know where this adventure in blogging will take you. Or how your blog focus will change. Just ask Melissa Fletcher. Melissa launched her blog to keep in touch with friends and family as she chronicled what her tag line describes as - "living life one mistake at a time." Love that line! This summer Melissa began including posts about her passion .. helping people easily live sustainable "green" lives.

Blogger Story Teller: Melissa Fletcher, Alotta Errata

I  love your concept, and enjoy reading about why and how other people got started blogging. For me, blogging began as a way to keep in touch with my friends and write down the little bits of humor I found in my life. I also found it was good practice for writing effectively. Who couldn't use a little practice?

Over the last few months I have found that  blogging has become a way for me to learn about myself. Writing down my thoughts and feelings so that others can understand forces me to really think about what I am feeling and what my goals are.

I have learned more about myself through blogging than through simply talking and thinking. While some people keep a private diary for  this reason, I feel as though the written word is a commitment to my readers. Even if I have one reader, my words are my promise and my truth.

Now my blog is helping me to chronicle the changes I am making to live a more environmentally and socially responsible life. I hope that maybe others will see that the changes can be simple and very rewarding; that you don't have to be "crunchy granola" to be green!

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: 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: 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 Stories: Nadia Muna Gil

Nadia Muna Gil stepped off the tried and true path to follow her passion. She left a well-paying job, at a prestigious Wall Street firm, to pursue cheese blogging and education full-time. The Cheesaholics Anonymous, blog is more than a blog about cheese .. it is also a woman's dream to tell the world about artisan cheesemakers.

Blogger Story Teller: Nadia Muna Gil, Cheesaholics Anonymous

Hi my name is Nadia and I am a cheesaholic.

This is different from a casual cheese eater, which to me suggests someone who gets his or her cheese once a week on a burger. I write for the cheese-obsessed, the caseophiles, and the queso-heads of this world. My commitment to telling the world about cheese was so strong that I quit a well-paying job at a prestigious Wall Street firm to pursue cheese writing and education full time. I’m curd-obsessed, and loving it.

I started off soliciting cheese questions from friends and family and answered one a week. Initially, I just covering the basics – how do I store cheese at home? Can I still eat cheese if I’m lactose intolerant? After a couple of months of the weekly post I felt the need to write more. So I developed profiles of cheesemakers and cheese shops, and threw in some recipes and kitchen tips (and my very own mac’n’cheese recipe!).

Blogger Stories: Kim Klaver

Kim Klaver is a self proclaimed blog addict. Not only is she having fun with her successful blog, but blogs have provided Kim with with a community of like minded people where she can share and brainstorm ideas. For a small business owner that type of interaction is priceless.

Blogger Story Teller: Kim Klaver, New School of Network Marketing

My blog story ... My blog's just over a year old.  I didn't "get" blogging at first, but once I got started, I became addicted. Yep, addicted to putting down thoughts each day; addicted to reading ever more stuff so I could report on it and discuss it with others. Addicted to the comments.

My readership has gone from like 30 to close to 1k people per day now. It's just a trip! My readers want non-traditional tips on how to do their home based businesses - mostly network marketing. So my blog has become an international classroom for a community of people who have a business of their own they want to maintain and grow.

I research everything from the Harvard Business Review to the fun South Park stories to pass on to my readers.  A recent post was entitled, "If drug dealers make so much money, why are they still living with their mothers?"